No Buddhist Arts, Just a Little Fistwork!

A dim light swirled in Zhang Xuan's left eye as he suddenly murmured, "What about the statuses?" His confusion remained unresolved—whether it was Xu Ming's "Heart-Ruling Sword Control," the Corpse Buddha's "Nirvana," or even the "Formless Prajna" that had flashed over the monk earlier, none of the statuses marked by his mystic eyes had ever come with a detailed explanation.

In a haze, several lines of pale golden text surfaced at the edge of his vision:

[Honored inheritor, your "Nether Candle Mystic Eyes" are currently level 1 (experience: 121/1000)]

[Observing all things accumulates experience. Leveling up will unlock divine abilities such as status analysis and tracing karmic origins]

Apparently, that was all the information the [Nether Candle Mystic Eyes] could provide for now!

Seeing that he could learn nothing more, Zhang Xuan swiftly gathered his thoughts and focused on Xu Ming. An enemy with a deep-red threat rating left him no room for carelessness!

Zhang Xuan narrowed his left eye slightly, its dim light flickering, as he began working out his next move...

Meanwhile, Xu Ming was about to speak when his pupils abruptly contracted. The burly monk, who had been staggering forward as though he might fall at any moment, suddenly lowered his body. The earth cracked beneath his feet, and he lunged like an arrow loosed from a bow. His speed made him seem an entirely different man from the wretched figure of a moment before.

Xu Ming's heart clenched. Before he could react, the monk's sandbag-sized fist hurtled straight toward his face, trailing a fierce gust!

"You serve the Demon Suppression Bureau, yet you let demons ravage this land and feed them the common people! This humble monk shall act on Heaven's behalf—Heaven's punishment!" The monk's voice boomed like a great bell, every word a thunderclap that shook the surrounding air.

A glimmer of approval flashed through Zhang Xuan's eyes.

From the moment Xu Ming had spoken his first words, Zhang Xuan had already reached a conclusion—the Headless Corpse Buddha was actually a demon raised by the Demon Suppression Bureau! The august guardians of Great Zhou were committing atrocities that outraged men and gods alike. It was enough to make one's hair stand on end.

So Zhang Xuan had pretended not to know the truth and treated Xu Ming as his last lifeline. To his surprise, the monk had understood at the slightest hint and played along seamlessly. Together, they had exposed an opening and given the monk a chance to close in.

Bang!

With a tremendous crash, the monk's fist slammed into a point one foot in front of Xu Ming, only to be stopped cold by a blue-green screen of light. It could advance no farther. Xu Ming stumbled backward in alarm, while the jade pendant at his waist glowed faintly blue-green. It was clearly a protective magical treasure.

At the same time, the gray falcon on his shoulder spread its wings and swiftly left the battlefield, settling on a branch of a towering tree to watch with cold eyes.

The "Long-Beaked Messenger" was responsible only for warnings and communications. It never took part in combat.

Once he recovered his composure, Xu Ming steadied himself. His face was dark and grim, and murderous intent blazed openly in his eyes. "A mere ant dares lay hands on me? You're courting death!"

He was furious. Had the monk and Zhang Xuan not worked together without a single seam showing, had those cries of "We're saved!" not sounded so heartfelt, how could he have let down his guard and allowed the monk to close in and seize the initiative? The thought that two mortals had made a fool of him sent Xu Ming into a towering rage. With a ringing shing, the Demon-Slaying Sword at his waist left its sheath.

Blue-green light flowed along the blade, its cold gleam biting. It was clearly no ordinary weapon. Xu Ming flicked his wrist, and the frost-bright edge chopped straight toward the monk's crown!

"Namo!"

With a low cry, the monk pressed his palms together and shifted half a step back, catching the lightning-fast blade firmly between his hands. No matter how Xu Ming drove his spiritual power into it, the Demon-Slaying Sword remained as motionless as if it had been driven into a boulder.

The sword was far too sharp. Leaving it in Xu Ming's hands posed too great a threat to him, so the monk violently twisted his palms, trying to snap the blade.

Yet even bent into a semicircle, the blade remained as resilient as ever, without the slightest sign of breaking.

"Hmph, scum!" Xu Ming sneered, the mockery in his eyes deepening. He suddenly released the hilt. Carved with the image of a fearsome azure dragon, it swept toward the monk's head with tremendous momentum.

The monk reacted swiftly. A shake of the hands gripping the blade sent the sword flying.

But in the instant he countered that move, Xu Ming had already finished forming hand seals. Three wind blades coalesced at his sides and shot toward the monk's vital points with shrill whistles!

"Go!" Xu Ming barked coldly. The wind blades flashed like lightning, arriving in an instant.

As Great Zhou's special agency for dealing with demons, the Demon Suppression Bureau counted many extraordinary talents among its ranks. Xu Ming, a company commander of the Azure Dragon Guard, was naturally no ordinary man.

To be precise, he was a cultivator—one who could summon wind and rain, slay demons, and pursue immortality.

At such close range, all three wind blades plunged unerringly into the monk's chest, bursting into great sprays of blood. Xu Ming pressed his advantage mercilessly. Raising his right hand with two fingers extended like a sword, he chanted with a vicious gleam in his eyes, "Sword control, slay the demon!"

With a ringing shing, the Demon-Slaying Sword that had been flung into the distance suddenly shuddered. It became a streak of blue-green light and shot toward the monk's back with an ear-piercing shriek!

The next instant, its tip burst out in front of the monk.

Xu Ming's customary mocking smile returned. "Scum like you dares fight me? You deserve death!"

Yet no sooner had he spoken than his smile froze.

Something was wrong!

The Demon-Slaying Sword had pierced the monk, yet not a single drop of blood had spilled. Stranger still, the monk raised his thick, rugged brows and looked down at Xu Ming. "Ant this, ant that. Did you think learning a few scraps of magic meant you'd sprouted wings and ascended to immortality? You're nothing but... a pile of dog shit!"

Xu Ming took a closer look. Only then did he realize that his Demon-Slaying Sword had passed beneath the monk's armpit and was clamped firmly under his powerful arm. It had not injured him in the slightest.

As for the three wind blades, though they had struck the monk's chest, they had left wounds less than half a finger deep in his powerful muscles. Injuries like those might have proved fatal to an ordinary person, but to the monk—

They barely even tickled!

Horror surged through Xu Ming, and his expression changed drastically. "You... who exactly are you?"

Not only had this burly monk endured three of his Azure Phoenix Spikes head-on, he had also caught his flying sword behind his back, without looking, in the nick of time! No ordinary martial artist could have managed that!

Damn it, the Long-Beaked Messenger had misjudged him! Though the burly monk had no spiritual power, his monstrous strength was terrifying. Even Xu Ming's protective Azure Luan Veil had been battered until it showed faint signs of collapse. Such strength was beyond even a low-level cultivator's reach!

The monk grinned. His formerly honest, simple features now radiated an aggression like raging fire. "This humble monk is Sanjie. No Buddhist arts, just a little fistwork!"

Before his words had faded, the monk's iron-tower frame suddenly stretched to its full height. Muscles writhed across his body like coiling dragons, and thunderous cracks erupted from his bones and sinews. He stepped forward, shaking the ground, like an ancient savage beast awakening, his imposing aura surging to the heavens!

A body like a dragon-elephant, a tiger's stride and a dragon's gait!

In the distance, Zhang Xuan stared blankly at Monk Sanjie's mighty back, which resembled that of a vajra guardian walking the mortal world. Was this really a body an ordinary person could train?

Seeing Zhang Xuan's astonishment, the monk flashed him a broad grin. He might be helpless against ghosts he could neither see nor touch, but as long as something had a physical body, whether man or god, this humble monk would beat it up for you to see!