Mind's Eye Effects

Inside the temple.

Lu Li lightly clenched his hand. Qi force flowed around his fingertips like a tiny vortex, accelerating the air and producing a hiss.

The Dog Children sensed something unusual and let out strange whimpering cries, tinged with delight.

Madam Peng seemed to sense it and slightly turned her head. Though her eyes could not see clearly, her hearing was sharp, and she heard every sound in the air.

"Good lad. Sure enough, this weapon and martial art should belong to you. Leave quickly!"

Madam Peng chuckled, turned around, and spoke with urgency and gravity in her voice:

"Huang Erlang is dead. Huang Dalang will surely begin slaughtering people today. My whereabouts in this town are no secret. You saved the Dog Children, and Huang Dalang will certainly suspect me."

"Take the little girl and leave. With your talent and gifts, you will surely avenge me someday!"

With that, Madam Peng headed toward Rebirth Temple by the gambling house.

She had raised a group of Dog Children. If she fled, Huang Dalang would surely torment those pitiful children afterward. Rather than that, she might as well go to him herself and use her life to quell Huang Dalang's fury.

Madam Peng's expression was calm, wholly devoid of any fear of death.

But before she had taken two steps, Lu Li and the Dog Children blocked her path.

"This matter began because of me. How could I let you bear the consequences for me, Sister?"

Lu Li smiled faintly, fastened the scabbard at his waist, and looked out at the pitch-black rainy night beyond the temple.

"I hate trouble most of all. If you do not pull up the roots, there will be trouble later. Besides, Huang Dalang of the Huang Household is a festering tumor."

"I obtained a divine weapon, so I should also cut away the trouble."

Lu Li could tell that Madam Peng possessed martial arts, but after being near her, he found her blood and qi depleted and the inner qi in her hidden meridians thin. Her body had clearly collapsed long ago.

If she went to Rebirth Temple, she would certainly die, and at most delay things a little.

Lu Li had now obtained the treasure weapon Xuandu and the accompanying Heart-Breaking Buddha Body. His Intransigent Qi had also advanced. His strength had already undergone a complete transformation, more than doubling.

Even a Fifth Layer of Meridian Opening martial artist might not be impossible to kill!

The rain gradually eased into a fine drizzle. The night was thick as ink. Madam Peng stood frozen where she was, able only to hear Lu Li's footsteps gradually receding outside.

"I'll have to trouble you, Sister, to look after the little girl at the inn for now..."

Lu Li's voice carried far through the curtain of rain. One hand rested on the scabbard at his waist, while an invisible barrier seemed to surround his body. Raindrops abruptly shattered and bounced away when they came within an inch of him.

Madam Peng remained where she was for a long while, her gray-white eyes fixed blankly in the direction Lu Li had left, speechless.

Inside Rebirth Temple, red lanterns had been knocked to the ground. Rain dripped from beneath the eaves, and the ground outside the door was a muddy mess.

The Huang Household's Profound Guards had sealed off the inside and outside of the temple as tightly as an iron barrel.

Within the temple, the wooden walls separating the inner and outer grounds had been smashed apart.

Outside the pit beneath the Buddha statue, Huang Shang stood at the edge, his bloodshot eyes locked tightly on Huang Ling's corpse, shriveled like tree bark. Violent fury surged within him, and his body trembled uncontrollably.

"Aaaahhh!!"

An indescribable blaze of resentment had built up in his heart, and Huang Shang released a mournful, savage howl.

The sound waves rolled outward, shaking dust from the ground. Even the nearby Profound Guards had their vision darken and their heads split with pain.

"Who? Who dared kill my blood brother?!"

Huang Shang suddenly turned around, his face twisted to the extreme as if he were about to crush his teeth.

"Dig three feet into the ground if you have to, but find him for me! If you cannot find him, everyone in this entire town will be buried with my brother!"

Huang Shang roared hoarsely, his eyes crimson. His hairpin flew loose, and his black hair whipped wildly around him. He looked as vicious as an evil ghost.

The Profound Guards standing nearby felt chills rise in their hearts.

From what they knew of their master, if they failed to find the culprit, Huang Shang truly might slaughter everyone in the town as burial offerings.

Wind and rain howled. At that moment, a sudden commotion arose outside the temple, accompanied by the clatter of the Profound Guards' armor.

Huang Shang seemed to sense something. He abruptly turned to look, only to see a figure slowly approaching through the rain. Wind and rain fell upon him, only to be repelled by an invisible force, unable to draw near.

The newcomer was Lu Li.

His gaze met Huang Shang's from afar. Huang Ling furrowed his brows and stared fixedly at the newcomer, then heard a calm voice beside his ear.

"Huang Dalang, there is no need to search. Lu has come to send you and Huang Ling below to reunite."

Lu Li's voice was not loud, yet everyone heard it clearly. Huang Shang's pupils contracted. His twisted face broke into a furious laugh.

"Good, good, good. You do have some courage. But..."

Before he could finish, he shot forward like an arrow loosed from a bow. His killing intent was fully exposed, and his voice was thick with icy menace.

"A mere Second Layer of Meridian Opening cultivator dares play the hero against my Huang Household? Who gave you the nerve?!"

"I will break and grind every bone and tendon in your body, tear out your sinews and skin you alive, slice you apart a hundred times, then bury you alive in the earth!!"

The force of thirty zhang crossed the distance in an instant. Huang Shang's blood and qi boiled. Thick metal knuckledusters covered his hands as he clenched his fists and smashed them straight at Lu Li's face!

Ripples stirred in Lu Li's calm eyes, reflecting Huang Shang's charging figure. He lightly pushed the blade guard with five fingers, and a flash of silver blade light suddenly rose!

Clang! Clang!

A clear blade cry rang out. Invisible blade qi seemed to split the rain curtain apart as Lu Li swung his blade in a simple, direct strike!

He did not know any blade techniques, but he knew that he only had to swing the long blade. God-Devouring Blade Qi burst forth, layered with the Field Domain of Intransigent Qi, instantly raising an invisible barrier!

Within a radius of three feet, Huang Shang's swift body slowed slightly, and his expression changed.

It felt as though he had fallen into a swamp, bound by something invisible. Even the circulation of his inner qi had become sluggish.

Xuandu collided with the knuckledusters, sending blinding sparks flying.

Lu Li shifted his feet slightly, yet forcibly withstood that heavy, powerful punch.

Bolstered by Intransigent Qi and the Heart-Breaking Buddha Body, the fist force felt as though it had struck thick hide, its power dispersed layer by layer. Lu Li's eyes blazed.

He was completely unscathed!

"What?!"

Huang Shang's heart shook, and the flesh of his face twitched.

Separated by three minor realms, his full-force punch had actually failed to injure his opponent!

"You practice body-tempering arts? And more than one?!"

Huang Shang noticed a clue. The Six Harmonies Fist he cultivated was known for its fierce, tyrannical power. After decades of unceasing training, it had long reached great mastery and possessed considerable might.

In other words, even a body-tempering martial artist should not have been able to take one of his punches without a scratch!

"Is this your reliance? You will still die!"

The shock in Huang Shang's eyes was quickly swallowed by hatred. He let out a long howl, and rolling sound waves swept outward. In an instant, he became violent, his fists raining down like drops of rain.

Even the air seemed to be swept up by his fist winds, and sharp tearing sounds filled the air. Lu Li's gaze turned grave.

A succession of clanging impacts rang out.

After all, they were separated by three minor realms. Their speed, strength, and inner qi were not on the same level. Though the Field Domain had weakened him, Huang Shang still held a slight advantage.

Yet Lu Li was not flustered in the slightest.

Bolstered by Intransigent Qi, he could not feel any pain at all. And the instant those fists struck him, he entered a special state.

Humans possessed five senses: sight, smell, taste, hearing, and touch.

The five senses were the channels through which the human body perceived the outside world. All five perceptions could stir thoughts within one's heart.

The Heart-Breaking Buddha Body fundamentally operated through the sinews and bones. When attacked, qi force vibrated, allowing the condensed network of qi force to extend the five senses outward.

So this is the Mind's Eye state...