Uproot the Grass

"These Buddhist Soldiers are too troublesome—fearless of death, their battle formations complementing each other without a single flaw!"

Outside the temple,

Liu Qi chopped back the Buddhist Soldier before him with a single slash. Panting heavily, he said in a grave voice, his eyes filled with concern.

Yan Dan held a saber in hand. After cutting down one man, he spoke in a deep voice:

"The eight hundred main Buddhist Soldiers have all been wiped out. Only remnants remain. Hold on a little longer, and the overall situation will be decided!"

Peng Shan stared intently toward the main hall, a heavy weight hanging over his heart as he said softly:

"I wonder whether Brother Lu... can defeat the Drooping-Ear Monk? He's a top expert at the Tenth Layer of Meridian Opening!"

Before his words had even faded.

Creak~

The wooden doors of the Thousand-Eyed Bodhisattva Temple's main hall were slowly pushed open from within.

A black-clad youth drenched in blood stepped out slowly, carrying a dripping monk's head in one hand.

Dust covered his body, blood stained his robes. The youth stood straight as a pine, his aura vast and steady, showing not the slightest trace of exhaustion. Only a bloody, murderous aura surged skyward from him.

The entire peach grove, once filled with unceasing slaughter, fell instantly silent!

The clashes of weapons, furious shouts, and screams all came to an abrupt halt.

Hundreds of martial artists present froze in place, their pupils shrinking as they stared fixedly at that figure.

In the end, every gaze settled on the Drooping-Ear Monk's head in Lu Li's hand, its eyes still open in death!

The air completely froze!

Peng Shan's entire body shuddered, his eyes widening sharply. The mechanism crossbow in his hand nearly slipped and fell to the ground. He stood there dumbfounded, his mind violently shaken and utterly blank.

He had imagined that Lu Li had good odds of winning. He had imagined that Lu Li's strength was extraordinary. But he had never dared imagine...

That Lu Li would single-handedly crush and kill the Drooping-Ear Monk head-on!

That was a renowned top expert of the Tenth Layer of Meridian Opening in Qing Prefecture's martial world!

And he had just died like that?!

Yan Dan gripped his saber hilt tightly, his hand trembling. His face was filled with disbelief and utter shock, his throat moving, yet he could not speak a word for a long while.

Liu Qi was even more dumbstruck. As he looked at that blood-soaked figure, nothing remained in his heart but endless horror and reverence.

Their earlier attempts to dissuade him, their worries, and their secret preparations to rush to his aid now seemed utterly laughable.

They had been fighting desperately against the remaining soldiers, while he had already crushed the enemy commander alone and severed the enemy leader's head!

Such strength, such killing intent—it was simply monstrous!

Amid the deathly silence, Lu Li's gaze swept indifferently over the remaining Buddhist Soldiers.

Only a little over a hundred remnants remained, yet they still held their formation and defended stubbornly. Their numb, cold eyes were fixed on the crowd, their killing intent undiminished.

Lu Li's eyes were calm as he held Xuandu and stepped forward.

"Purge every last remnant."

As the words fell, his figure suddenly shot through the air!

He pushed the Ride Things, Roam the Mind Manual's movement technique to its limit, afterimages streaking across the entire peach grove.

Xuandu's cold blade light filled the sky. Wherever its edge passed, armor shattered and blood sprayed!

These remaining Buddhist Soldiers had no right even to resist against Lu Li, now at Half-Step Astral Condensation with his blood and qi boiling.

One slash per man, one slash taking several lives!

There were no flashy techniques, only pure strength, speed, and suppression!

He cut them down like melons and vegetables, harvesting them like weeds!

Intransigent Qi protected his body, leaving him unafraid of encirclement. The Erosion Essence Scripture automatically drew in the scattered blood qi. With every person he killed, a strand of blood qi entered his body, replenishing his expenditure and nourishing him.

In just a few breaths.

The last hundred or so Buddhist Soldiers all fell dead in the peach grove, leaving not a single survivor!

No sounds of battle remained in the entire peach orchard. There were only dried corpses strewn across the ground and vivid bloodstains.

Lu Li stood atop the mountain of corpses, scarlet currents of qi coiling around him as endless blood qi flowed into his body, thoroughly refined and absorbed.

This strange sight immediately stirred unrest among the martial artists.

Some looked doubtful and whispered in low voices:

"This cultivation technique... it actually devours human blood and qi to cultivate? This is a completely evil secret art!"

"Ordinary righteous martial arts all involve breathing techniques and tempering one's own blood and qi. What method devours another's cultivation and flesh? This youth's technique is strange. He may be an inheritor of the demonic path!"

The discussions gradually grew louder, and wariness and vigilance emerged in many people's eyes.

Just then, Yan Dan spoke sharply, his voice ringing out across the entire area!

"Utter nonsense!"

"There are countless paths of martial cultivation. Cultivation techniques themselves hold no righteousness or evil. Good and evil are determined only by one's heart and actions!"

"Brother Lu risked his life alone, stormed the Thousand-Eyed Demon Temple, slew eight hundred Buddhist Soldiers, killed the demon monk, and saved the children of the entire city from disaster. What he has done is righteous and just!"

"Look instead at this Thousand-Eyed Bodhisattva Temple. It wears the guise of Buddhism while slaughtering infants and forging Evil Armaments. What is righteous? What is evil?"

His righteous words instantly silenced all the whispers.

Everyone fell silent upon hearing them. The wariness on their faces vanished, leaving only shame and reverence.

That was right.

Cultivation techniques were not at fault. Those who committed evil were.

Lu Li used a technique feared by the world, yet what he did was save the world and eradicate evil!

At this moment, Lu Li had completely refined and absorbed all the remaining blood qi in the area.

Feeling the surging blood qi within him, vast as an ocean, Lu Li was satisfied.

Now he also had the cultivation resources for Early Astral Condensation.

He slowly withdrew his technique, and the scarlet currents around him all receded into his body, restoring his calm appearance.

Peng Shan strode forward. Looking first at the corpses covering the ground, then at the composed and indifferent Lu Li, his expression was incomparably respectful as he cupped his hands and bowed deeply.

"Brother Lu's divine might is rarely seen under heaven! If not for Brother Lu today, all of us would have been buried here, and Qing Prefecture's children would surely have been slaughtered as well! We will forever remember Brother Lu's great virtue!"

Yan Dan, Liu Qi, and the members of the various gangs and alliances all bowed in salute, their hearts filled with admiration.

Lu Li raised a hand slightly, smiling as he returned the gesture. "It was nothing. Save the children first."

Everyone immediately came to their senses and hurriedly dispersed to search every part of the temple, rescuing the innocent children held captive inside.

Oppressed sobs and childish whimpers gradually came from deep within the temple. One ragged, terrified child after another was brought out and saw daylight again.

As they watched the children regain hope of life, the crowd felt a tangle of emotions. Their hatred for the Thousand-Eyed Bodhisattva Temple deepened, as did their reverence for Lu Li.

Lu Li, meanwhile, turned alone and returned to the ruined main hall.

His gaze swept over the wreckage littering the floor before finally settling on the Withered Evil Halberd, most of it broken apart but still radiating an undispersed baleful aura.

The incomplete Evil Armament had already shattered for the most part, yet it still retained dense baleful qi and the blood essence of a thousand people. It was quite valuable and could be kept as material for forging weapons and artifacts later.

Moreover, he could sense that the Weapon Lord had reacted to these fragments.

Lu Li casually put away the damaged Withered Evil Halberd, then swept his grave gaze across the entire hall.

The Drooping-Ear Monk was dead, and the temple was destroyed, but he had not found the token of Bo, his true objective for this journey.

"Could it be in the temple within the city?"

Lu Li's eyes shifted slightly as he pondered in secret.

It seemed quite possible.

The Xue Household wanted to forge their weapon in advance, but how could they have known that Lu Li's group would destroy the temple today?

The crucial materials for the Evil Armament were likely still kept in the Thousand-Eyed Bodhisattva Temple within the city.

"Perfect. That person from the Xue Household and Yin Duanyue are still in the city. I can use this chance to strike back at them."

Lu Li considered it carefully.

The Xue Household was powerful and had deep ties to Fusion Cave. If the Xue Household learned what he had done today, he would never know peace while traveling the martial world in the future.

To uproot the grass, one had to remove the roots!