Chapter 123: Facing The Masses, Illusory Flowers In The Void
Force filled the air.
Hong Yuan’s figure soared straight up, twisting like a dragon, his vast qi energy resembling a heavenly river pouring down, enveloping the three Huis of Vajra Temple entirely.
Amid the howling gale, Huiming’s monk robes fluttered loudly, his eyelids twitching uncontrollably.
In an instant, he had instantly killed Dharma King Qingjing with one claw shattering his heart, and in a flash of lightning, clashed with Illuminating Envoy, Dharma King Baosheng, and Hundred Poisons Corpse Puppet, forcing them all back one by one.
The speed of his reactions and composure in battle—this martial arts was enough to be called shocking and unprecedented.
Yet while facing multiple top masters from Red Lotus Sect at the same time, not only did he not join hands with them, he actually attacked them.
What Daoist Ten Thousand Calamities did was too arrogant.
Even if a grandmaster came personally, they wouldn’t dare underestimate them like this.
Huiming’s expression shifted, but his response was extremely fast too; with a fierce shout, force surged within his body, filling his wide monk robes with qi energy, like a steel balloon.
His face and skin glowed, his demeanor solemn and majestic, with a faint halo faintly emerging behind him, resembling the divine light of a sacred immortal Buddha, extraordinarily mystical.
No words were needed; at Huiming’s shout, Huitong and Huizhi swiftly arrived at his side, standing to left and right, hands forming seals, poised and ready.
The three had been senior and junior brothers for decades; though their cultivation methods differed somewhat, they stemmed from the same source, instantly linking harmoniously as one, their qi energies merging, faintly like a massive mountain rising from the ground, enough to withstand any heavenly calamity or earthly disaster.
What greeted them was neither heavenly calamity nor earthly disaster, but force!
“Now this is getting interesting!”
With a light laugh, as the three Huis looked up, Daoist Ten Thousand Calamities’ figure had already vanished, yet seemed omnipresent; his surging qi energy substantial like reality, filling every inch of space, inescapable wherever they looked.
That qi energy turned into gang wind blades that shattered everything, blowing down; the ‘giant mountain’ that had just erupted from the ground seemed to suffer millions of years of erosion and weathering, crumbling into dust.
How was that possible?
Huiming, bearing the brunt, felt a massive shock and impact on his mind.
He could clearly sense that what the opponent used was ‘force method’, not the ‘strange force’ from true skill, but force so abundant to this extent—what kind of tough physique was needed to nurture it?
A Dan Dao grandmaster who refined pills and took medicine?
But there had never been word in the world of a Dan Dao grandmaster called ‘Daoist Ten Thousand Calamities’!
Huiming felt his thoughts wavering and hurriedly recited sutras to dispel the negative emotions, then saw a palm reaching down.
That palm was fair and slender, with even bones and flesh, not even stirring much wind, lacking any intimidating presence.
But having seen Dharma King Qingjing’s tragic state earlier, how could Huiming dare be careless? His body light blazed, he rooted himself to the spot, hand forming a fist seal!
With a booming punch, it pierced the air.
As he moved, under the linked qi energy, Huitong and Huizhi also moved; the two shouted in unison, one unleashing palms like flying, force swirling with a howling roar, fiercely unstoppable, the other with palm force heavy as a mountain, attacking while reserving defensive power.
The next moment, in midair, several palms clashed together; after a momentary stagnation, force exploded outward, followed by broken stones and tiles splashing, a large cloud of dust rising.
Huiming, Huizhi, and Huitong’s figures shook; they had ultimately blocked this strike, but all three faces darkened.
The three of them attacking together against one, yet falling to a disadvantage in just one exchange?
Their tightly linked qi energy was also broken; Hong Yuan seized this instant gap, his figure flashing and arriving before Huiming.
Huiming was startled, thunderous sounds resounding as a punch swift as fierce lightning blasted toward Hong Yuan’s face.
What he cultivated was Vajra Temple’s highest secret transmission true skill ‘Great Sun Vajra Body’; this method focused on ‘spleen’ and ‘bone marrow’, greatly stimulating human potential, closely combining cultivated strange force with the flesh body; once achieved, every gesture carried a thousand-jun force, splitting monuments and cracking stones, shattering metal was commonplace.
It could even be like a gang body, impervious to ordinary blades and swords.
This punch had no other subtleties, but was both fast and ferocious; Hong Yuan didn’t dodge, clenching his five fingers into a fist and striking out similarly.
Whoosh!
Striking later but arriving first, fist against fist.
Huiming’s fist momentum was fierce and domineering, ruthless and vicious, but Hong Yuan was even more brutish; this punch of his also didn’t pursue changes, executing Diamond Palm with a fist, full of hard force.
The two fists like fierce lightning, like raging waves, collided in an instant without the slightest deadlock, immediately erupting in a dense crackling of bones like frying beans.
Huiming’s entire face twisted, feeling as if this punch had smashed into a falling meteor; surging agony, his massive fist swelling with blood, skin and flesh bursting open.
The venting force traveled up his arm; Huiming involuntarily staggered back, knowing deep down this hand was ruined, his face changing in horror.
Such powerful hard force was something he had never seen in his life.
“Senior Brother!” Huitong roared lowly, seizing the gap as Hong Yuan heavily injured Huiming, closing in with Mount Sumeru Palm unleashed.
Boom rumble!
Dual palms sweeping empty air, qi waves surging; he had abandoned defense, striving with all his might to squeeze out internal strange force, mountain-like onslaught pressing in.
Hong Yuan spread his five fingers, force spurting from fingertips; if Huitong’s palm momentum was like a mountain, his claw fingers held dense net-like cutting power, tearing the peak apart.
Tiger Fiend Mountain Splitting Strength!
After Hong Yuan cultivated Six Void Force and reached the unprecedented fourth layer of force transformation, all the microscopic level force techniques he had practiced were progressing every moment.
Tiger Subduing Sect’s microscopic secret methods were long lost; this ‘Tiger Fiend Mountain Splitting Strength’ was something he had self-deduced from ‘Tiger Subduing Strength’.
But even if the original true version reappeared, it couldn’t match his current attainment, unless Dragon Tiger Patriarch had also pushed force transformation to the fourth layer.
But that possibility was nearly zero.
After all, Hong Yuan could do it because he had a cheat!
Huitong only felt the force filling his vision, followed by a muffled ‘chi’ sound like tearing cloth; he felt slight pain at his throat.
Yet Huitong’s eyes held excitement and anticipation, because Huizhi had silently circled behind Hong Yuan, silently printing a palm toward his back.
Huizhi, head of the Goodness Courtyard, now had sinister eyes; he had seen earlier Dharma King Qingjing’s surprise attack on this Daoist Ten Thousand Calamities, yet force had suddenly arisen from the opponent’s back, dense as needles, causing Dharma King Qingjing to suffer his own backlash.
Thus, this palm to the opponent’s back heart was a feint; at the moment of near contact with the clothing, his hand suddenly slashed, using hand as blade, lightning-fast chopping at Hong Yuan’s neck.
Bang!
Huizhi first rejoiced, then showed astonishment; feeling this palm blade didn’t land on flesh, but on a ball of cotton or flowing water, his force dispersing and sliding away the moment it landed.
Moreover, a counter-shock force triggered, making his figure pause and float back.
Hope froze on Huitong’s face, then the faint pain at his throat spread, piercing to the bone marrow; immediately he felt a palm press on his scalp.
“The second one!”
Indifferent words entered his ears; suddenly the world spun, Huitong’s eyes widening to see a stiffly standing headless corpse, quite familiar.
Hong Yuan’s five fingers gripped Huitong’s head, twisting his neck; to resist Huizhi’s palm blade, he had naturally used the force dissipation method from Flowing Cloud Wuding Strength.
How many force techniques did he master?
Leaving aside ordinary methods, just microscopic level force techniques—there were seventeen or eighteen if not twenty; using them casually in battle was endlessly wondrous, impossible to guard against.
Unfortunately, though Six Void Force incorporated various forces, at present it could only use one at a time, but Hong Yuan was already comprehending Eight Forces Merged; with his comprehension, it wouldn’t be long before he could unleash two, three, or multiple forces in one strike.
At that time, the ferocity and mystery of force wouldn’t pale against strange force, and might even surpass it.
With a thought, Hong Yuan’s hand gripping Huitong’s head suddenly hurled it toward a direction.
Bang!
Song Yinglong’s embodied Hundred Poisons Corpse Puppet lunged again, but was smashed in the face by this head, instantly bursting like a watermelon, colorful brains splattering its face.
Hundred Poisons Corpse Puppet was also struck flying back, crashing into ruined walls again.
“Junior Brother Huitong!”
Huiming ignored his injured hand, Huizhi also steadied himself; seeing Huitong’s tragic state, their eyes instantly filled with bloodshot rage.
“Thief! Vajra Temple will fight you to the death!”
“Fight to the death?” Hong Yuan smiled faintly, looking at Huiming and Huizhi, faces twisted in hatred and eyes nearly splitting: “Better not say such words, lest I truly fight you to the death later, and you aren’t willing.”
Hong Yuan felt no guilt for killing Huitong; after all, this wasn’t some good person, and to obtain Vajra Temple’s true skill, he needed some killing methods, or they’d think he was vegetarian.
As for whether they’d hold out stubbornly and die rather than reveal, Hong Yuan didn’t care; he acknowledged such tough guys.
Besides…
Hong Yuan lightly clenched his palm; strands of force were absorbed into his body from his palm—this was the true skill strange force he had absorbed during the clash with the three Huis.
Strange force was far more complex than force methods, extremely obscure to crack, but not impossible.
It was just that Illuminating Envoy—Hong Yuan glanced over; the other’s figure was faint, as if hidden in layers of mist; this person was too slippery, Hong Yuan hadn’t absorbed any of his power.
Illuminating Envoy was also watching Hong Yuan, fingers hidden in his sleeve changing; water-wave patterns rippled in the air, as if mirrors generated, reflecting Hong Yuan’s image.
Illuminating Envoy’s eyes like mirrors, expression indifferent, staring tightly at Hong Yuan, brows furrowed.
Using secret technique to reflect and observe Hong Yuan’s moves, he was greatly shaken; this person had clashed with Red Lotus Sect, Vajra Temple, and others in a short time, all using force.
Force was inherently inferior to strange force, so when strange force emerged, it could shake the qi and blood of entering force martial artists, making it hard for them to condense force.
But through alchemy and pill-taking to boost one’s own qi and blood, one could resist strange force with sufficient quantity.
Illuminating Envoy shared Huiming’s view: this Daoist Ten Thousand Calamities was a Dan Dao grandmaster, his physique and qi and blood already shocking.
Most terrifying was that in successive breaths, the opponent had used seven different forces, all microscopic level—this was what Illuminating Envoy could discern.
This was too terrifying.
Dan Dao grandmaster-level physique and qi and blood, plus layered multiple microscopic level forces—in combat, no one could predict his moves, enough to elevate the terror by a grade.
If not for Nirvana Dharma Eye falling into the opponent’s hands, Illuminating Envoy absolutely wouldn’t want to provoke such an enemy.
Illuminating Envoy turned to look at Huiming; they exchanged a glance, saying nothing, but already understood each other’s intent.
Ding ding!
Bell rang crisply; Hong Lian’s figure graceful and seductive, slowly stepping forward; in this round of clashes, only she hadn’t truly acted.
Hong Lian’s eyes like water, gaze toward Hong Yuan filled with charm: “Daoist Ten Thousand Calamities Brother is so majestic, making this slave’s heart pound, wishing only to offer my body.”
Her voice ethereal, charming and alluring, involuntarily stirring pity; as she spoke, a lan-like, musk-like fragrance spread.
That scent unlike any worldly fragrance, with a mesmerizing, intoxicating taste; Hong Yuan felt the scene before him suddenly dim, then a light shone, arriving in a whole new heaven and earth.
Hundred flowers bloomed brilliantly, exotic blooms and fruits clustered; heaven and earth filled with fragrance, soul-stirring bell and chime music resounding from the firmament, instantly a rift cracking in the firmament.
Heavenly gate bloomed with divine light; in endless radiance, peerlessly beautiful heavenly maidens descended, dancing around Hong Yuan!
‘【Empty Flower Painted Skin Gang】?’ Hong Yuan’s gaze calm, as if watching the dancing heavenly maidens, yet staring at the void ahead, spiritual sense sensing this strange change.
From the start, he felt this Hong Lian’s cultivated gang body utterly different from inner gang or outer gang he knew; now it confirmed his thought.
Immediately, Hong Yuan stomped fiercely; instantly this fantastical splendid immortal realm shook, the whole world seeming to fade, those heavenly maidens emitting shrill shrieks, their smooth colorful robes falling as mud, skin and flesh turning to skeletons, maggots spawning.
Hong Yuan’s figure spun abruptly, dual palms creating trails of afterimages; with banging sounds, the illusion exploded, yet blocked attacks from Huiming and Illuminating Envoy who had struck at an unknown time; one hand extremely fast point, suddenly pressing on Huiming’s chest.
Huiming spat blood, crashing into ruins; the other hand spread five fingers wide, strands of qi energy weaving into a net, enveloping toward Illuminating Envoy.
Rip!
Illuminating Envoy’s clothes tore, body cracking with blood gashes; he grunted, ripples spreading before him toward Hong Yuan.
With a ‘crack’ crisp sound, a mirror layer shattered; Illuminating Envoy fled again.
“Retreat!” His figure flashed swiftly, quickly vanishing.
On the other side, Hong Lian screamed, throat suppressing pain, eyes bursting blood tears, incredulously: “How is it possible? How could my divine technique be broken so easily?”
“Others be damned, but you must die here…”
Hong Yuan didn’t pursue Illuminating Envoy, figure flashing straight toward Hong Lian.
Hong Lian sensed massive threat, ignoring shock, wrist flipping to shake the bell again.
With a ‘chi’ sound, her wrist throbbed in agony, a blood line spreading, half her fair arm falling to the ground; before it hit, the bell was already in Hong Yuan’s palm.
Hong Lian hadn’t felt the agony yet when a large hand grabbed toward her face; she retreated violently, but no matter how she dodged, that hand followed like a shadow, with a sharp aura lingering.
Hong Lian emitted a shrill screech, face skin rippling like water waves; Hong Yuan felt some strange fluctuation twisting his vision and perception, but with a mere thought, he suppressed it, then finger claws spurted force.
Rip!
A light tearing sound like cloth; Six Void Force turned into countless fine dense blades, merely touching Hong Lian’s face skin, which immediately peeled inch by inch, revealing a pale, twisted face covered in many mystical patterns and stitch marks.
