Black List's Ninth: Profound Qi Method

Zhu Yingxiong understood as soon as he heard that familiar catchphrase—the newcomer was likely Tan Yingshou, master of Ten Evils Manor and a renowned expert on the Black List.

Though Tan Yingshou ranked at the bottom of the Black List, he was still one of the ten greatest experts in the world's underworld.

That was precisely why he dared to act so arrogantly, openly intercepting and trying to kill him on the official road before Luoyang.

Tan Yingshou stood with his hands behind his back, making no move.

Yet Zhu Yingxiong felt the flow of energy around him tighten, as though an invisible net had descended over his head. No matter which direction he tried to dodge, he would remain within the reach of Tan Yingshou's palms and fingers.

The pedestrians on the bridge had long since sensed danger and hurried down to take cover. Yet some bolder souls remained at the far end of the bridge, craning their necks to watch.

Before long, a crowd had gathered on both sides of the bridge, pointing and whispering among themselves.

"It's Tan Yingshou, an expert of the Black List!" someone cried softly. Clearly, some martial artists had recognized this notorious man ranked on the Black List.

"Who's that handsome little monk? How did he offend Tan Yingshou? He's probably done for..."

At that moment, Tan Yingshou moved.

It was merely an ordinary step, yet he crossed a distance of three zhang in an instant. He extended a huge hand and slapped down at Zhu Yingxiong's head.

Tan Yingshou was already a towering man, but as his palm descended, it suddenly swelled, like the Five-Finger Mountain, blotting out the sky and engulfing Zhu Yingxiong completely.

Before the palm arrived, its fierce wind had already crushed the breath from his lungs.

Zhu Yingxiong's pupils contracted—this palm gave him the feeling that there was nowhere to evade. No matter which way he retreated, he could not escape the shadow of that Five-Finger Mountain.

The bridge lay beneath his feet, the Luo River flowed east beneath the bridge, and at its end, some people cried out in alarm while others turned away, unable to watch—

That little monk was probably going to die here.

Tan Yingshou's single palm came crashing down upon Zhu Yingxiong's head!

Before the palm arrived, its fierce wind had already crushed the breath from his lungs. The true qi of the Muscle-Tendon Transformation Scripture within Zhu Yingxiong stirred instinctively, like a hidden dragon leaping awake, surging straight toward the Shangyang Acupoint on his right hand! The acupoint throbbed violently, as though it were desperate to burst through his fingertip.

In a flash, Zhu Yingxiong's clasped hands abruptly separated. His right index finger rose like a peak and pointed toward the sky!

One-Finger Zen!

It struck Tan Yingshou squarely in the center of his palm.

"Boom—" A muffled sound rang out, like a stone sinking into deep water, like a heavy hammer striking leather.

Both men grunted at the same time.

Zhu Yingxiong felt a mountain-toppling surge of true qi pour backward through his fingertip, rampaging through every acupoint along his Hand Shaoyang Meridian. It sent his blood and qi churning and made his organs tremble. Fortunately, his meridians had long been widened and tempered again and again by the innate true qi of the Muscle-Tendon Transformation Scripture, making them far tougher than those of ordinary people. Otherwise, his meridians would already have been injured, and he would have suffered grave wounds on the spot.

He did not dare slacken. He hastily circulated the true qi of the Muscle-Tendon Transformation Scripture, dissolving that rampaging force like spring sunlight melting snow. Yet his footing had already become unsteady, and he staggered back seven steps, each one landing on the stone slabs with a heavy thud.

Tan Yingshou's body swayed slightly. He lowered his head to look at his palm—it was faintly red, as though scorched by burning coals, and the stinging pain remained. Alarm rose in his heart. This little monk's inner strength is so pure, and his finger force so solid. It is nothing like the skill someone his age should possess.

When he looked up again at the young monk, who had retreated seven steps yet remained standing, Tan Yingshou's expression had changed completely.

He was a grandmaster of the underworld, a renowned expert on the Black List, yet before so many witnesses, he had failed to subdue a mere little monk with one palm strike? If word got out, would he not become the laughingstock of the world?

Moreover, this man had attained such cultivation at such a young age. Given time, he would surely become a pillar of the righteous martial world, a formidable expert of the orthodox path. If he was not eliminated early, he would become a great threat in the future.

At that thought, the killing intent in Tan Yingshou's heart churned like boiling water, growing ever fiercer.

He drew in a deep breath. His long hair moved without wind, whipping wildly through the air, while his embroidered robes billowed like sails with a loud rustle.

Zhu Yingxiong had only just steadied himself when he felt a vast, unparalleled aura press down upon him like a mountain, locking onto him tightly.

He had intended to use his favored lightness skill to retreat, but now he could only stand his ground.

He could not flee. If he fled now, he would surely die.

Is this the might of an expert from the Black List?

Zhu Yingxiong no longer dared harbor even the slightest hope of luck. He circulated the Muscle-Tendon Transformation Scripture with all his strength, and his mind naturally entered the state of "Contemplation."

In an instant, everything around him became as clear as reflections on water—the whispering spectators beneath the bridge, the trembling peddlers in the distance, every thread of aura flowing through Tan Yingshou's body, all of it reflected clearly in his mind.

He clearly sensed Tan Yingshou's broad back suddenly arch, like a tiger gathering strength; true qi condensed in both hands, on the verge of bursting forth; his entire body leaned slightly forward, ready to pounce.

Once unleashed, it would surely be a heaven-shattering blow.

The next instant, Tan Yingshou turned into a blur of gray, charging straight at him with the force of wind and thunder!

Though Zhu Yingxiong could see every movement reflected in his mind, seeing it was one thing; his body could not keep up.

He had only just begun traveling the martial world, and he was already facing an expert of the Black List. This was utterly beyond his level.

He could only raise his hands and meet the attack.

Bang!

Their palms collided, and a wave of force exploded outward!

Zhu Yingxiong felt a mighty torrent of true qi cascade down upon him like a river falling from the heavens, rampaging through the meridians in his arms. That force was heavy, dense, and layered upon layer, like raging waves rising ever higher, battering his blood and qi until his organs trembled.

This was Tan Yingshou's Profound Qi Method.

Rumor had it that Tan Yingshou had cultivated for more than forty years, and the depth of his true qi had reached the pinnacle of the acquired realm.

Though he had not yet broken through the Mystic Gate and entered the innate realm, he had relied on this incomparably vast inner strength to kill nine renowned experts of the righteous path in succession, forcibly claiming a place on the Black List.

And now, that vast inner strength was pouring down upon Zhu Yingxiong without reservation.

Though Zhu Yingxiong had cultivated innate true qi through the divine art of the Muscle-Tendon Transformation Scripture, before this vast true qi accumulated over more than forty years, it seemed so thin and frail.

The innate might have been precious, but it was too shallow; the acquired might have been ordinary, but it was too deep.

Bang!

Zhu Yingxiong retreated three steps in a row. The stone slabs beneath his feet cracked in response, spiderweb fractures spreading in every direction.

The third palm strike came. Zhu Yingxiong retreated another seven steps, his back nearly striking the bridge railing. A metallic sweetness surged into his throat, but he forcibly swallowed it, even as his chest burned like fire.

At this moment, he could no longer execute any exquisite finger techniques.

It was not that he did not want to. He simply had no opportunity.

Before an absolute disparity in power, even the most exquisite techniques were useless.

Tan Yingshou's fourth palm strike had already reached his face.

The fierce wind bore down on him. Zhu Yingxiong's back was against the bridge railing, the surging Luo River behind him and the full-force attack of a Black List expert before him.

There was nowhere to evade, nowhere to retreat.

A trace of madness flashed in Zhu Yingxiong's eyes.

He raised both palms again and met it head-on.

Bang!

Their palms connected.

Yet Tan Yingshou felt emptiness beneath his palm, unable to find any force to bear against, as though he had struck a patch of pure void.

Zhu Yingxiong had actually forced out a move from the Prajna Zen Palm—All Phenomena Are Empty.

Zhu Yingxiong had not truly mastered this move yet, but at this moment, he could only stake everything on survival.

He opened all the meridians throughout his body, allowing the opponent's mountain-toppling palm force to surge into him.

He gambled that his meridians were tough enough, that his innate true qi was pure enough, that there was still a sliver of life.

Tan Yingshou was startled. His palm attack faltered slightly, inevitably exposing an opening at his chest.

Sweetness filled Zhu Yingxiong's throat, and he finally spat out a mouthful of blood. The bloody mist burst through the air, a shocking sight. Yet unprecedented brilliance erupted from his eyes—

Both palms suddenly struck back!

Straight at the opening in Tan Yingshou's chest!

Caught off guard, Tan Yingshou could only circulate the Profound Qi Method to protect his chest and take the blow head-on.

Bang~

Zhu Yingxiong's palms struck solidly.

Tan Yingshou felt a tremendous force surge from Zhu Yingxiong's palms—it was his own palm force, rebounding back at him!

Though only thirty to forty percent of the force had been sent back, it still made his true qi stagnate and threw him backward in a miserable stagger. Only after dissipating the force and flipping himself around did he barely regain his footing.

But Zhu Yingxiong had already borrowed the force to flip backward, vaulting over the bridge railing and falling straight toward the Luo River!

With a splash, he plunged into the water.

"Little bastard!"

Tan Yingshou roared and rushed to the edge of the bridge in a single step, slamming his palm downward! The fierce wind howled, and the Luo River exploded in a spray three feet high.

But the figure in moon-white monk's robes had already sunk beneath the water, vanishing into the dark depths of the river in the blink of an eye.

Only then did the crowd at the bridgehead recover their senses, erupting into an uproar.

Tan Yingshou stood at the bridge's edge, his chest heaving violently as he glared at the ripples slowly spreading apart. His face was livid.