Wood Remnant Fist, Buddha Face Seal

Yuwen Tongxin had a grudge against the Inner Guard.

There are two famous Yuwen families in the world today. One is the Yuwen family of Chang'an, which is the family left behind by a prime minister during the early period of Emperor Xuanzong of Tang. They still have some people in the court and in the countryside, but their influence does not extend beyond the vicinity of Chang'an.

Then there's the Yuwen Family from the martial arts world.

The Yuwen Family has a rather complicated history. It is said that they were originally orphans of the Northern Zhou royal family who fled to the common people, hiding their identities and living in seclusion.

Towards the end of the Sui Dynasty, the powerful minister Yuwen Huaji rebelled and declared himself emperor. However, his rebellion soon failed, and his Lineage declined as a result. His relatives fled and joined forces with the remnants of the Northern Zhou Dynasty, plotting to grow stronger among the common people.

After the An Lushan Rebellion, the Yuwen Family in the martial arts world seized the opportunity to expand and prosper, specializing in training assassins, killers, and spies.

Rather than calling it a Lineage, it's more accurate to say that it's an organization with characteristics very similar to the Inner Guard.

However, the Inner Guard were loyal to the imperial court, while the Yuwen Lineage served the regional military governors.

In previous years, the military governors of Weibo and Pinglu, among others, successively rebelled.

The Yuwen family was ordered to send a large number of people to help counter the imperial power and try to change the world's structure.

In the end, the rebels were suppressed, Yuwen Family was also in the Inner Guard, suffering considerable losses.

Yuwen Tongxin's son was also among those who lost their lives at that time.

This time, the Yuwen Lineage was going to Nanzhao on business, and the patriarch personally discussed the matter with Yuwen Tongxin, appointing him to take charge of the personnel sent to Nanzhao.

Yuwen Tongxin was very concerned about the existence of the Inner Guard at the time, feeling that the Inner Guard must also pay close attention to the situation in Nanzhao and would not remain indifferent.

But the head of the family told him not to worry too much and to focus on his work.

Now it seems that I was indeed more prescient than the head of the family.

Upon realizing this, Yuwen Tongxin's murderous intent grew even stronger.

As for Chu Tianshu's strange remarks, he regarded them as mere rhetoric to disrupt his opponent before battle and paid them no heed.

Instead, he stared at Chu Tianshu's Adam's apple.

As Chu Tianshu finished muttering to himself, he seemed to glimpse a flaw in the tremor of his Adam's apple and decisively drew his sword.

Clang!!

It was that slight, tingling sensation again, like something had vibrated.

A flash of light appeared, and the blade pierced Chu Tianshu's neck.

When most people are nearing the end of a sentence, it's a time when they subconsciously shift their breathing.

Even for experts, whose breathing ability far surpasses that of ordinary people and who can speak for a long time without feeling short of breath, the smoothness of their breathing is not as good as in a normal state.

Faced with this strike, Chu Tianshu suddenly swayed, only managing to dodge about half a foot to the side.

His right hand had already drawn his sword at the same time.

In an instant, the color of both his hands changed dramatically.

His left hand clenched into a fist, turned red for a moment, and then completely turned into a bluish-black color.

It wasn't the kind of fist with a few bulging veins; rather, the entire fist, along with the skin of the forearm, had turned into a hard, inhuman bluish-black color.

His strength is like iron, and his decisiveness like steel.

This is precisely the Storming Shaolin Heartfire Fist Form, the Wood Remnant Fist!

The remainder of wood becomes charcoal.

When wood is exposed to high heat, it will either ignite if it has vapor, or turn into charcoal if it does not.

Wood Remnant Fist refers specifically to a state in which, while holding one's breath, muscles are forced to exert force, blood pressure rises rapidly, and power becomes more intense than usual.

Just as wood only needs an ordinary fire to burn to ash.

However, to burn charcoal into good quality that produces a metallic sound, it is necessary to withstand even more terrifying high temperatures in a gas-free environment.

In Shaolin, this is already a superior fist technique, but in Yu Dayou's writing, it is merely a convenient and quick way to draw a sword.

Chu Tianshu's right hand was also bruised and blackened. He touched the hilt of the sword and pulled it out with lightning speed.

Choke!!!

The scene was like a piece of sheet metal spiraling off a steel pillar.

Even though it was just the blunt part of the sword's spine touching the skin, the sound it made was like the blades of two Great Saber pressed tightly together, rubbing against each other.

Yuwen Tongxin' first thrust missed.

The blade immediately veered off course and slashed, only to meet the sword Chu Tianshu had just drawn.

Clang!!!!

Swords clashed.

The strange vibrations on the blade were revealed by this sword strike.

As you can see, this knife has what appears to be a colorless outer shell, slightly larger than the knife itself.

When Yuwen Tongxin draws his sword, he doesn't need to exert any shockwave; he only needs to focus on swinging the sword as fast as possible.

The Weapon Soul automatically creates a colorless outer shell that vibrates at high speed, with a frequency and intensity exceeding that of the weapon master's own vibration force.

This is the kind of force that Yuwen Tongxin used to smash the second-floor floor.

But now, this "air shell" looks like a blurry crystal shell.

Chu Tianshu's sword blade sliced directly into the crystal shell and collided with the blade.

BOOM!!!

The air shell shattered, and the swords bounced back.

The powerful airflow swept away the surrounding dust, causing the broken wooden walls and windows to rattle and creak.

For a moment, the bluish-black color on Chu Tianshu's arm spread to his face, turning his face into a mountain god statue with dark eyes filled with murderous intent and his sideburns flying wildly.

This means he was using all his strength, even his face.

The only outlet for the power that was eager to expand and explode was his right hand.

In less than the blink of an eye.

Chu Tianshu's right-hand sword left dozens of afterimages.

Yuwen Tongxin couldn't even see where the real sword was, and didn't even have time to be surprised. Driven solely by his desperate desire to survive, he unleashed a flurry of rapid strikes.

The afterimages intertwined, culminating in a long, resounding clang!

A dozen or so twinkling sparks, seemingly indistinguishable, briefly shone amidst the ethereal afterimages.

Yuwen Tongxin withdrew abruptly.

The number of sparks he ignited proves how many swords he blocked.

But he couldn't stop them all.

His clothing had tears on the right side of his neck, left shoulder, right waist, and right leg.

The cut was thin, and no blood had yet oozed out, but he knew that the tendons in those areas had been severed.

In this sudden retreat, he even lost his balance and rolled away on the ground.

Three figures suddenly sprang up from all sides of the room, covering Yuwen Tongxin's movements.

Those were the three people Chu Tianshu had previously thrown into this room.

They were barely injured and had already recovered.

Just now, the two clashed with their swords too quickly, and the three of them didn't have time to join the attack.

The three pounced, blocking Chu Tianshu's entire field of vision from the front and both sides.

Chu Tianshu's eyes flashed with murderous intent, and in an instant, two sword shadows pierced through the hearts of the two people on either side, releasing and withdrawing in a flash.

The person holding the dagger suddenly had their head flattened, blood splattered, and the head disappeared, leaving only the body like a nail, with the waist and below firmly planted in the ground.

Chu Tianshu struck him on the head with his sword, destroying his head and smashing his body into the ground.

Even if you used a sword blade to cleave his body in two, you still wouldn't get such a clear view immediately.

Yuwen Tongxin, who was rolling around in the room, was kneeling on one knee, his long sword propped at his side, spitting a mouthful of blood onto the blade.

A strange pattern suddenly appeared on the surface of the blade.

A golden Buddha face.

It was a golden Buddha face, about an inch in size, brought to life by the blood, smiling compassionately amidst the bloodstains, splitting open from the forehead.

At the end of the Sui Dynasty, there was a great general named Zhang Xutuo who defeated Wang Bo and Pei Shi, conquered Beihai, and suppressed Qi Commandery. He can be called the last pillar of the Sui Dynasty.

It was a pity that the building was about to collapse and a single pillar could not support it. He led his troops east and west, and later encountered the Wagang Army. The stalemate lasted for a long time, and his subordinates scattered one after another. He himself fought on horseback and died in the chaos of battle.

His prized sword became an evil weapon after this battle.

Those were chaotic times; even knowing they were evil weapons, many people still dared to use them.

The commander often calculates the time carefully, and before the sword master becomes a complete puppet, he forcefully separates the sword master from the evil sword and bestows it upon the next sword master.

In this way, the wild Saber Soul within the evil sword can barely prolong its existence without becoming too ferocious and devouring its master.

There were even a large number of people selected specifically to take turns using the evil blade to charge into battle and boost morale.

This knife thus passed through many hands and eventually ended up in the hands of the Yuwen Family.

The Yuwen Family possesses a set of Blood Refinement Weapon Method passed down from Emperor Wu of Northern Zhou, called "Buddha Face Seal." It contains content on cultivating one's own Weapon Soul and also specifically explains how to restrain the spirit of the wild Saber Soul.

They would take a Buddha statue from a prominent temple, cut off the face, grind it into powder, mix it with blood essence, and apply it to the blade, practicing day and night.

Turn evil weapons into our own.

This method eliminates many steps involved in nourishing the Saber Soul.

The killing intent of a wild Saber Soul is often even greater than that of a normal Saber Soul, which is exactly what an organization like the Yuwen Lineage wants.

But because several generations of the Yuwen Family had used this knife, even with deliberate control, they had unknowingly nurtured the wild Saber Soul to a considerable degree.

After it was passed on to Yuwen Tongxin, he suppressed it with the "Buddha Face Seal" and only dared to use half of the power in the Saber Soul.

Now that the Buddha's face has cracked, the Wild Saber Soul has fully awakened!

Yuwen Tongxin's face was deathly pale, his eyes were filled with an icy blue light, and an ice spike the length of a finger grew from every wound on his body.

A chill, like a white line, suddenly extended to Chu Tianshu's feet.

In the blink of an eye, several inches of ice had frozen up to his calves and was still spreading.

Yuwen Tongxin let out a low roar, brandished his sword with both hands, took a big step forward, and slashed down at Chu Tianshu's head.

The power of the Weapon Soul, the Snow River Avalanche!

This was Zhang Xutuo's signature skill during his lifetime.

The chill penetrated to the bone, coupled with the shockwave from the blade.

Even a statue made of cast iron could shatter under this one strike.

Bite!!

The blade that was meant to cleave Mount Hua was stopped by the thrusting sword tip, just like a long sword striking the ram of a chariot.

Despite being invaded by the cold air, Chu Tianshu's sword strike was still extremely precise and powerful.

With this single sword strike, the downward momentum of the longsword was halted, and the sword itself swayed for a fleeting moment.

Yuwen Tongxin's eyes bulged with pain, and his two raised arms were severed at the elbows.

The sword struck the evil blade again, sending it flying sideways with its two severed arms, the two-foot-long blade embedded in the pillar.

Click!!

Chu Tianshu's left hand flashed, reaching over the headless corpse and grabbing Yuwen Tongxin's neck.

"You've become slower after activating the cold energy."

The bluish-black tinge on his face faded, and the drops of blood that had splattered on his face became bright red and conspicuous, but his expression seemed somewhat unsatisfied.

"Everyone knows that the Weapon Soul is just a part of martial arts, merely an auxiliary skill, yet you're pinning your hopes on turning the tide with it?"

Yuwen Tongxin was breathless, overwhelmed with pain, anger, and horror.

He knew, of course, that activating the Wild Weapon Soul at full power would have adverse effects on him.

However, the person in front of him was too fast with his sword. Just now, without using Wild Weapon Soul, he couldn't think of any other way to deal with it.

How could it be so fast?

Once the opponent draws their sword, the outcome is essentially decided in just one round.

Chu Tianshu applied a little more force, knocking him unconscious, then grabbed his collar and carried him away.

The ice beneath his feet was torn apart with a crack as Chu Tianshu lifted his foot.

As Chu Tianshu walked outside the guest room building, he looked up.

After the evil blade pierced through the pillar, a foot of the blade protruded outside the pavilion.

A transparent flame ignited on the Sanqi Divine Sword, which Chu Tianshu then swung with great force.

With a clang, the snow-white evil blade was severed in two.

Wild Saber Soul let out a bird-like roar, and its icy, bloodthirsty aura began to dissipate.

Chu Tianshu had overheard that the enemies in the main hall had all been killed by the Blind Cheng, so he wasn't in a hurry to leave.

Sure enough, when he arrived in the lobby, most of the guests had already fled, leaving behind a mess of cups and plates and overturned tables.

There were at least seven or eight corpses on the ground.

The Blind Cheng pinned a corpse to the counter with his knife, and then walked over, pulled out his knife, and turned his face toward Chu Tianshu.

"Your opponent is no ordinary opponent; they're making such a big fuss."

Blind Cheng sighed and said, "I was eager to help, but then I heard you complaining that the other person was too slow."

"If I had known it would be like this, I wouldn't have gone all out. I should have spared two lives."

Chu Tianshu glanced at the corpses.

At least three bodies were found, killed by injuries sustained from Bone-Breaking Hand.

It seems that Blind Cheng threw his knife away halfway through the fight to save the landlady, and then he killed everyone else with his bare hands.

"It's alright, I left one alive."

Chu Tianshu threw Yuwen Tongxin on the ground, then suddenly his expression changed as he heard a group of footsteps approaching from the street outside.

Blind Cheng also looked outside. "These people are committing assassination in broad daylight, in full view of everyone. It's too conspicuous. It seems the royal city is reacting quickly this time..."

He frowned suddenly halfway through his sentence.

"Wait, why does it sound like armored soldiers' footsteps?"

(End of this chapter)