Slaughter

Peach Grove Road.

Lu Li spotted the peach grove lining the road from afar.

"We're here."

Lu Li slowed slightly. Through the Weapon Lord's perception, he sensed more than a hundred weapons within a radius of two hundred feet.

And the number of weapons kept increasing.

"Looks like my whereabouts have been exposed."

The thought crossed Lu Li's mind, but he did not care. He had intended this from the start. If even one of the eight hundred Buddha soldiers were missing, it would mean a loss of blood qi for him.

He stepped into the peach grove.

The Buddha soldiers lying in ambush on both sides instantly charged out!

At the very front, more than thirty Buddha soldiers clad in yellow armor and wielding iron staffs rushed ahead. Behind them, soldiers with sabers and spears surrounded Lu Li in groups.

Lu Li drew Xuandu and slashed straight at the staff-wielding Buddha soldier in front.

The soldier raised his staff to block, but the instant it collided with Xuandu, the iron staff shattered on the spot. Xuandu smashed into his iron cap as though nothing had blocked it.

The iron cap exploded down the middle, and the skull inside shattered!

Such a horrifying sight stirred no reaction in the Buddha soldiers' eyes. Calling them walking corpses would not have been an exaggeration.

"Kill!"

At the command, sabers, spears, and staffs poured down upon Lu Li like a torrential rain.

Lu Li circulated his Stubborn Qi, gathering the force of the Heart-Breaking Buddha Body over his surface. With one hand, he swung Xuandu in a sweeping strike.

No matter how numerous ordinary weapons were, they were like paper before a precious weapon, shattering with a single sweep.

Relying on his tremendous strength, Lu Li was like a spear tearing through a formation amid the Buddha soldiers' battle array. Whenever Xuandu struck someone, they died; even the gust from its swing could rip away a layer of flesh.

If anyone managed to get close, his other hand unleashed the Bloodhead Claw. Once he seized their throat, another dried corpse hit the ground.

Crossbow bolts occasionally shot in from afar. Though the Heart-Breaking Buddha Body protected him, he was still struck by an arrow or two at times. Yet the arrows piercing his body did not affect his movements in the slightest.

After being wounded, Lu Li would leap into the crowd and casually drain someone's blood qi dry. Countless streams of blood qi surged through his body, rapidly healing his injuries, while the arrows lodged in him were forced out amid the battle.

Moreover, as he continued slaughtering, the Blood-Weeping Phoenix Head of the Blood Phoenix Manual kept exerting its power, increasing his strength during combat!

Lu Li moved through them as if mowing grass, growing stronger with every kill!

The blood-draining advantage of Xiangliu Martial Arts was displayed to the fullest at this moment.

Among the eight hundred Buddha soldiers, Lu Li moved as though no one stood in his way. Before long, he had charged back and forth through their ranks several times.

The coarse cloth on his body had long been slashed into rags, and his silver-white skin was soaked in blood, yet not a single wound could be seen.

Every corpse on the ground was shriveled, with pitifully little blood remaining.

Bang!

Like a tireless machine, Lu Li finally smashed the last Buddha soldier's head apart with the Heart Mace.

He reached out and seized the headless corpse, swiftly draining every drop of blood from it.

In that brief moment, blood qi surged explosively. Lu Li felt as though he were soaking in a hot spring, utterly comfortable.

Not only was he not the least bit tired, but his strength grew ever more abundant.

Rustle~

Lu Li swept his gaze around, sensed someone watching him from behind, and turned his head slightly.

Several miles away, a Thousand-Eyed Bodhisattva Temple scout met the pair of demon-like eyes amid the dried corpses.

That single glance made the scout's mind tremble. He hurriedly used his lightness skill and raced toward the Thousand-Eyed Bodhisattva Temple to report.

Lu Li casually tossed aside the dried corpse in his hand, hefted the Heart Mace, and looked toward Peach Spring Temple.

The more blood qi he held within his body, the lighter the Heart Mace, which had originally weighed over a hundred pounds, seemed to become, even without refining it. He even faintly felt addicted to it.

Lu Li did not suppress that feeling.

Eight hundred Buddha soldiers were nothing. It was still not enough!

Since he had already begun the slaughter, he would press onward in one burst!

Lu Li charged onward in one burst, rushing once more toward Peach Spring Temple.

At the Thousand-Eyed Bodhisattva Temple, a long road stretched toward the central hall. Both sides of the road were bare earth, from which clusters of skeletal hands and feet grew. The closer one came to the center, the denser the bones became.

Inside the hall, a solemn Buddha statue held its palms together, eyes lowered toward the ground. Before an incense burner, a tall monk in a kasaya with a cloudy left eye continuously chanted scriptures at a long shaft protruding halfway from the ashes.

"He's here! He's here!"

The scout returned, shouting breathlessly.

Drooping-Ear Monk turned slightly. Seeing the scout, he calmly asked, "How many people? How many Buddha soldiers remain?"

The scout replied, "One person. All eight hundred Buddha soldiers are dead!"

Upon hearing that, Drooping-Ear Monk abruptly turned to stare at the scout, his cloudy eye seeming to tremble without end.

Eight hundred Buddha soldiers—he himself could never have killed them all so quickly!

Not long after, the temple gates burst open, and a blood-soaked figure flashed inside like an afterimage.

The moment Drooping-Ear Monk saw him, he knew the intruder was formidable.

As Lu Li transformed into a bloody shadow and charged toward the main hall,

Drooping-Ear Monk recalled Yin Duanyue's instructions from the day before. He abruptly pulled the long shaft from the incense burner, and three cold gleams instantly tore through the incense ash.

A halberd radiating wicked intent landed in his hand.

It was the evil armament forged by the Thousand-Eyed Bodhisattva Temple according to the Withered Evil Halberd Blueprint left behind by the previous dynasty!

Drooping-Ear Monk felt a chill surge from the incomplete evil armament, instantly spreading through his entire body.

The Bodhi Heart Sutra he had cultivated for years was infected at that moment, and faint murmurs seemed to ring in his ears.

He swept the long halberd behind him. The scout who had just come to report only saw a flash of cold light. A horizontal line appeared across his cheek and began to bleed, and half his head fell to the floor.

The wound grazed by the evil armament turned a bizarre grayish white, like withered flowers and grass.

This evil armament had been forged entirely from the strange metal Baleful Yin Steel, tempered with the blood of a thousand people and carrying countless baleful energies. If it could be completed, the baleful energy on it alone would corrode the blood qi of martial artists thirty feet away, while any flesh it wounded would wither.

Though the evil armament was not yet fully completed, and its baleful energy gathered and dispersed without forming a baleful domain, its power was still extraordinary.

Clang!

Lu Li entered the main hall with Xuandu in hand.

Drooping-Ear Monk stood before the Buddha statue holding the Withered Evil Halberd, smelling the stench of blood on his opponent.

Although Lu Li had drained nearly every corpse dry, far too much blood had splattered across him, and his blood qi soared to the heavens.

With Lu Li's blood-drenched appearance and Drooping-Ear Monk standing together in the hall, it was impossible for a moment to tell who was truly on the evil path!

"What terrifying killing intent. In the Jing Dynasty's martial world, there are only a handful of martial artists capable of killing a hundred people in one day!"

Drooping-Ear Monk could not help but sigh as he gripped the Withered Evil Halberd.

But Lu Li had no intention of speaking. He activated Blood Speed, raised the Heart Mace, and smashed it viciously toward the demonic monk!

Drooping-Ear Monk raised the Withered Evil Halberd. The long halberd spun, leaving no opening around his body.

Xuandu came slashing down and collided with the Withered Evil Halberd!

Precious weapon against evil armament. The materials used to forge both weapons were extraordinary. The Withered Evil Halberd was not damaged by the clash, but Lu Li's immense strength nearly jolted it from Drooping-Ear Monk's hand, splitting the web between his thumb and forefinger.

Drooping-Ear Monk's pupils abruptly contracted.

What terrifying strength!