"Boom..."
The three old monks were swiftly moving through the mountains and forests when suddenly a loud rumbling sound came from not far ahead.
"Quick!"
The leading old monk gave a soft shout and quickly used all his strength to speed up towards the direction from which the sound came, with the other two old monks also hurrying to follow.
They were the most senior and accomplished monks of Shaomu Temple, known as the Three Hongs, whose seniority was two levels higher than that of the current Fangzhang of Shaomu Temple.
As one of the leaders of the righteous martial arts world, Shaomu Temple was naturally very well-informed. After receiving news that Puyin had been intercepted and killed, Fangzheng decisively sent the Three Hongs to provide support.
Sending out these three patriarchs was a last resort, as they had received intelligence that several Half-step Innate experts might appear to intercept and kill them, and only experts of the same level could withstand such beings.
Even Grandmaster would just be throwing their life away!
Although there are only three people in the Three Hongs, they have cultivated the Vajra Demon-Subduing Divine Ability. When this combined attack formation is unleashed, it is enough to withstand an opponent several times their size and to protect Puyin's safety.
The only question now is whether it's too late!
Hong Xu and his two companions used their lightness skills to rush forward at high speed, and soon arrived at the edge of a valley. Looking down, they saw a pale golden giant, about sixteen feet tall, standing at the bottom of the valley.
The pale golden giant seemed to hear the noise and looked up. Faced with those golden eyes, Hong Xu and the other two felt as if they had been struck by lightning, and even felt a great terror as if they were facing death.
This is a powerful figure, an unparalleled expert whom they could not contend with even when they unleashed their Vajra Demon-Vanquishing Divine Ability.
The last time they faced such terrifying pressure was by the ancestor of the Sweeper Sweeping Monk lineage of Shaomu Temple, but he was a Innate expert!
Could this person also be a master of Innate strength?
"No, he is Puyin!"
Suddenly, Hong Jie, who was standing on the left, seemed to have noticed something and couldn't help but exclaim in surprise.
Are you sure he's Puyin?
Hong Xu turned his head seriously; the news was truly astonishing.
He knew Puyin, after all, they were among the few Half-step Innate experts in Shaomu Temple, and they were all familiar faces.
But as far as he knew, Puyin was only Half-step Innate expert, and his cultivation was even weaker than the three of them. How could he now be a Innate expert?
"Although it has grown quite a bit, its appearance is definitely that of Puyin!"
Hong Jie replied solemnly.
Of the three, he was closest to Puyin, so he was certain that the person at the bottom of the valley was Puyin, but he didn't know why this change had occurred.
"Let's go down!"
Hong Xu gave a shout, then swung out the black rope wrapped around his waist, which he slowly lowered, nailing it bit by bit into the stone wall.
The three of them quickly reached the bottom of the valley and slowly walked up to Puyin.
" Amitabha Buddha, this old monk has finally waited for this moment!"
Upon seeing the arrival of the Three Hongs, Puyin chanted a Buddhist prayer, his face beaming with joy.
"My three senior uncles need not say more. This old monk's time is running out. Please escort this set of Golden Bell Shield techniques for the first four levels back!"
Puyin slapped his abdomen with his palm and spat out eighteen small, egg-sized steel prayer beads, the very same string he used to wear around his neck.
When he obtained the original Golden Bell Shield Cover technique on Mount Hua, he foresaw that the journey would not be peaceful.
His death is a small matter, but the loss of this original Golden Bell Shield would be a much greater sin.
So, back on that night at Mount Hua, he had already inscribed the cultivation methods for the first four stages of the Golden Bell Shield onto the prayer beads he carried with him, and swallowed them to preserve them.
This way, he could be guaranteed to avoid losing it or having it stolen. Fortunately, he finally saw Three Hongs arrive before he died.
" Amitabha Buddha!"
After spitting out the prayer beads, Puyin, having let go of his obsession, uttered a Puyin chant. Although he still wore that compassionate smile on his face, his vitality had vanished.
Strangely, after his death, the sixteen-foot-tall body he had conjured using a secret technique did not shrink back to its original size, and even his pale golden skin and golden eyes remained unchanged.
Like a golden Arhat statue, it appears majestic and solemn.
This is the instability of that secret technique; even Wang Hao, its creator, could not foresee the consequences.
In fact, this secret technique could be restored after it was used, but unexpectedly, with the help of the technique's power, Puyin broke through the bottleneck and reached the Innate Realm, and his body underwent a transformation.
This transformation solidified the physical changes resulting from using the secret technique to enlarge the body, and then this phenomenon occurred.
" Amitabha Buddha!"
Sensing the dissipation of Puyin's life force, Hong Xu and the other two uttered a Buddhist chant in sorrow.
Hong Sheng put away the string of prayer beads in Puyin's hand, while Hong Jie prepared to take Puyin's body back to Shaomu Temple. However, when he touched Puyin's body, he was suddenly shocked.
" Indestructible Vajra Body!"
Hong Jie stared wide-eyed at Puyin's body in disbelief.
Upon hearing the sound, Hong Xu darted forward and pointed a finger at Puyin's arm, but a metallic clang rang out, as if he were facing not flesh and blood, but a piece of stubborn iron.
"Could this Golden Bell Shield Divine Art be real?"
Hong Xu looked at the prayer beads in Hong Sheng's hand in disbelief. As the patriarch of Shaomu Temple, he knew all the martial arts techniques of Shaomu Temple except for the Yi Jin Muscle-Tendon Changing Classic of the Fangzhang's lineage, which he naturally knew as well as the Golden Bell Shield Cover.
As far as he knew, the Golden Bell Shield did not possess such an ability, at least not the Golden Bell Shield of their Shaomu Temple.
Although they had obtained some brief information from Fangzheng, they didn't quite believe it, as it was too incredible.
But now it seems to be true!
"Senior brother, quickly look around!"
Hong Jie glanced around instinctively and was immediately horrified.
They had been so focused on Puyin that they hadn't paid attention to their surroundings, but upon closer inspection, they were quite surprised.
The entire valley floor was a mess, with dozens of large pits and jagged cracks all around, which looked like they had been created by human hands. Many sections of the mountain walls on both sides had also been forcibly collapsed.
The Three Hongs believed they couldn't match this level of destructive power, even if they combined their full strength using the Vajra Demon-Subduing Divine Ability.
This has surpassed the limit of the Half-step Innate; it is the true power of the Innate Realm expert.
"Could it be that Puyin killed all those Half-step Innate experts who tried to intercept them?"
Looking at the lump of flesh and blood in a deep pit, and the fragments of weapons around it, a terrifying guess suddenly flashed through Hong Xu's mind. Although it seemed unbelievable, it wasn't impossible for Puyin to do it in his current state.
After all, Puyin had intimidated him with just a glance!
"Junior Brother Hong Jie, take Puyin's body with you. Junior Brother Hong Sheng, your mission is to safely bring this string of prayer beads back to Shaomu Temple. No matter what happens, this string of prayer beads comes first. Even if Junior Brother Hong Jie and I perish, you must do everything in your power to bring it back. Do not let Puyin's sacrifice be in vain!"
Composing himself, Hong Xu solemnly gave his two junior brothers some instructions.
"Senior brother, I... I understand!"
He opened his mouth, but in the end, Hong Sheng agreed, after all, he was also deeply aware of the importance of the Golden Bell Shield Divine Art engraved on the prayer beads.
After all, that's a peerless divine skill that can help someone break through to the Innate!
The three were unaware that Puyin's breakthrough was also full of coincidences and luck, mistakenly believing it was all thanks to the Golden Bell Shield Divine Art Skill.
Wang Hao was unaware of how Three Hongs and Shaomu Temple would handle the matter; he was currently reviewing the intelligence sent by Xie Feng.
The Beggars' Sect truly lives up to its reputation as the largest sect in the world. Even though it has declined and decayed in this era, it still possesses extraordinary heritage.
In three days, Xie Feng swept through the Beggars' Sect ' Sect branches in the border martial arts world and gathered intelligence on the major forces in the area.
Although this intelligence wasn't as detailed as the one from the Jiangnan martial arts world back then, it wasn't bad either.
After all, the Beggars' Sect' Sect's headquarters were in Jiangnan at the time, so they naturally attached great importance to infiltration and investigation there.
"Damn it, these forces are courting death!"
Before he could even finish reading the intelligence report, Wang Hao couldn't help but slam his hand down on the wooden table beside him, shattering it. His face was filled with barely suppressed rage, and his heart burned with murderous intent.
Bordering martial arts circles and nomadic tribes of the grasslands share a border, so it's natural that they would have interactions with each other; this is unavoidable.
Even the imperial court established trade zones in the border regions, but these were only for the exchange of normal goods and did not include prohibited materials, especially military supplies.
According to the intelligence obtained by Xie Feng, the various forces in the border martial arts world have been trading large quantities of steel and even finished weapons with the nomadic tribes of the grasslands, including forbidden items such as bows and crossbows.
The nomadic tribes of the grasslands did not engage in production and were far behind the Huaxia in forging techniques; even their arrows were made from animal bones and teeth.
Therefore, there is a severe shortage in this area, and where there is demand, there will be supply.
These traitors saw the potential profits in this area and, disregarding the interests and safety of Huaxia, traded large quantities of these forbidden goods with the nomadic tribes of the grasslands.
The nomadic tribes of the grasslands did not use horses, which were in high demand in Huaxia, for trade; instead, they used gold and silver treasures they plundered during their southward raids into the Central Plains.
This is no different from the behavior of Japanese pirates; they both use the wealth they steal from Huaxia to buy resources from the Central Plains in order to strengthen themselves.
Unfortunately, there are some traitors and collaborators in Huaxia who cooperate with others in doing their bidding.
Wang Hao wasn't very clear about the history of this martial arts world, but in the real history of Earth, there were so-called Shanxi merchants during the Ming Dynasty who specialized in selling stolen goods for the Later Jin foreign tribe.
I never imagined such a being existed in this martial arts world; they truly deserve to die!
" Xie Feng, let's change the plan this time. We'll launch a Inazuma against the martial arts world here!"
Setting down the intelligence report, Wang Hao stood up, walked to the window, and gazed at the distant horizon with a cold, murderous expression.
More than 80% of the forces in the martial arts world here have engaged in dirty deals with the nomadic tribes of the grasslands. These people deserve to die!
He was prepared to unleash a massacre here, slaughtering all these traitors and collaborators—this was what a radical youth should do!
However, to prevent these people from escaping or hiding, he could no longer take action slowly like the martial arts world of Jiangnan or Guanzhong. He had to launch a Inazuma to eliminate these traitors as quickly as possible. As for collecting martial arts manuals, he could leave that to Xie Feng.