Chapter 131: Great Battle Bursts Forth
The wooden door shattered with a bang, but didn’t immediately explode outwards. Under the control of a rapidly spinning force, it transformed into a swirling vortex, tearing into thousands of fragments.
Following this, sharp winds howled, and the thousands of fragments pierced through the air, becoming a sky-covering barrage of sharp arrows.
Within the house, the Red Lotus Holy Lord let out a long cry, his large sleeves waving, stirring up a fierce qi. The spacious room was immediately swept by a hurricane, pushing aside the incoming fragments.
The Illuminating Envoy’s eyes instantly became bright like a mirror, and visible ripples emanated from his body. The incoming fragments lost their force before even touching his clothes, falling down one after another.
The Nirvana Envoy snorted coldly, his response even simpler. With his hand as a blade, he slashed through the air. Where the qi passed, the fragments all turned to dust and dispersed.
The remaining dozen or so Red Lotus Sect masters also cried out. Without time to draw their weapons, they either dodged or began to defend.
To be among the Red Lotus Sect’s high-ranking members, these ten individuals were all exceptionally skilled. Some were masters of obscure arts, others specialized in poisonous cultivation or hidden weapons, and those who walked the path of force had almost all reached the level of free control, with one even being a Microscopic Level Grandmaster.
Even so, there were still sharp and brief screams, and casualties had already occurred.
“Senior!”
Outside the house, Nan Guyun’s hand rested on his sword hilt, poised to act, his face filled with stunned disbelief.
He had been brought into the city by Hong Yuan, and it felt as if he were riding the wind through emptiness, as fast as clear light, darting through the city, sometimes east, sometimes west, sometimes left, sometimes right.
While dizzy and disoriented, Nan Guyun suddenly found himself whisked into this secluded residence.
He had absolutely no idea how Daoist Ten Thousand Calamities had tracked down these demons and ghosts of the Red Lotus Sect.
Hong Yuan pointed a finger, shattering the wooden door, and his figure immediately shot into the house. He didn’t attack the Red Lotus Holy Lord or the two Envoys; instead, he leaped up like a bolt of lightning.
His five fingers hooked like claws, piercing into the house’s main beam as if digging through rotten soil. Immediately, the house rumbled and trembled, accompanied by the sound of the beam breaking. The surrounding roof pillars also collapsed, and roof tiles rained down with a clatter.
Hong Yuan clutched a section of the beam with one hand and swung it into the air. Amidst the howling wind, several people were smashed, their bones broken, and their flesh and blood splattered.
Hong Yuan fell like a meteor, strangely adjusting his body in mid-air, head down and feet up. He suddenly struck out with a palm, and a sharp, murderous wind spread, enveloping the Red Lotus Holy Lord and the others.
The next moment.
Amidst the sounds of the house collapsing and roof tiles shattering, a violent collision erupted, like a hundred-zhang waterfall plunging from the sky into a deep pool, with a deafening roar.
Force surged, fists and palms clashed. In less than a breath, there had already been over a hundred collisions. The flagstones on the ground shattered and, swept by the gale, flew in all directions.
Walls and doors were repeatedly smashed through!
Dust billowed.
RUMBLE!
Finally, with a resounding tremor, the main house completely collapsed, shaking the ground. Four figures were still engaged in a rapid battle, darting out like lightning.
BANG!
Palms met, and a scorching force like molten lava boiled in Hong Yuan’s palm, clashing with the Red Lotus Holy Lord once more.
Using the force of this palm strike, his body flipped and soared, clearing four zhang through the air before landing on the roof of a house opposite.
WHOOSH!
Three figures shot out, uttering a single sound, and landed in the courtyard, facing Hong Yuan with stern gazes.
From beneath the broken and collapsed roof tiles, figures also emerged, covered in dust. However, seven or eight of them had already died beneath the ruins.
The remaining ones were also almost all injured, looking with terror at the young man in the blue robe on the rooftop several zhang away.
Daoist Ten Thousand Calamities!
So this was Daoist Ten Thousand Calamities!
From the news brought back by the Illuminating Envoy, these Red Lotus Sect higher-ups already knew of his strength, but this display still far exceeded their expectations.
It wasn’t even a direct attack on them.
They were collateral damage.
The real battle was between the Red Lotus Holy Lord and the two Envoys, yet those caught in the ‘crossfire’ had already suffered heavy losses.
Each of them could be considered a rare master in the Jianghu, but facing Daoist Ten Thousand Calamities, they were even more fragile than infants.
“Clang!”
The sword’s hum was clear and resonant. Nan Guyun held his sword, his face filled with solemnity.
He was the face of the younger generation in the Flower Stream Sword Sect, his own force already at the microscopic level, and he had gained considerable renown in the Jianghu.
The people of the Red Lotus Sect had also paid attention to him.
But at this moment, very few of them were focusing their attention on him.
In the reflection of the setting sun, a cold wind blew. The young man on the rooftop’s gaze was calm as he looked down at the crowd below, his blue robe billowing in the wind, his hair strands fluttering.
Standing there quietly, his powerful presence filled everyone’s vision, making it impossible to look away.
“Illuminating Envoy…”
Hong Yuan’s gaze fell upon the Illuminating Envoy, a smile on his face: “When I last sparred with you, your martial arts greatly interested me. Unfortunately, it wasn’t enough to satisfy me. This time, I’ll make up for it.”
He glanced at the Nirvana Envoy again, and finally settled on the two who were guarding the center.
“Are you the Red Lotus Holy Lord?”
A ripple appeared in the Red Lotus Holy Lord’s deep eyes. Without answering, he retorted, “Do you have a grudge against my Red Lotus Sect?”
Hong Yuan examined the Red Lotus Holy Lord strangely and chuckled, “Originally, I didn’t. But since I ruined your Red Lotus Sect’s grand plans and killed your Dharma King, the grudge has become significant.”
The Red Lotus Holy Lord said calmly, “If you release our sect’s Goddess and Dharma King, return the ‘Nirvana Dharma Eye,’ and then convert to our Holy Religion, all can be forgiven.”
“You want to reconcile with me?” Hong Yuan asked noncommittally.
The Red Lotus Holy Lord’s voice was steady, “The Red Lotus Sect has endured for thousands of years, possessing both ruthless methods and the magnanimity to accept others. If you convert, I can bestow the position of the next Sect Master upon you.”
As soon as these words were spoken, the expressions of the Red Lotus Sect members changed.
Nan Guyun’s hand, gripping his sword, also trembled, his face showing surprise. He hadn’t expected the Red Lotus Holy Lord to make such a promise to win over Daoist Ten Thousand Calamities.
“It’s not impossible, but the position of Sect Master is unnecessary.”
Hong Yuan said, “How about you tell me what exactly the ‘Nirvana Dharma Eye’ is? What is its purpose? And I’m very interested in the Red Lotus Sect’s martial arts, could I borrow them for a look?”
The Red Lotus Holy Lord’s eyes darkened, “Once you become the next Sect Master, you will naturally know these things.”
“I’m an impatient person. If I kill you, can I become the Sect Master immediately?” Hong Yuan chuckled lightly.
The Red Lotus Holy Lord lowered his gaze, his robes billowing like clouds. He suddenly sighed, his voice seeming to come from the deepest abyss, “I saw you as a promising talent and wanted to give you an opportunity. Why must you be so unappreciative?”
“Insisting on seeking your own death!”
As the word ‘death’ left his lips, the Red Lotus Holy Lord suddenly looked up, his deep eyes transforming into blazing golden flames, burning fiercely.
Hong Yuan immediately saw lines of fire snakes spontaneously emerge from the void, instantly enveloping him. The flames did not burn his physical body but instead drilled into the depths of his mind, penetrating everywhere.
Following this, the Red Lotus Holy Lord disappeared, and the surrounding houses vanished, replaced by a world of void and chaos, where a colossal god, supporting heaven and earth, suddenly manifested.
This god stepped on the ground, and flames ten thousand zhang high erupted from the earth. He pointed to the firmament, and a sea of fire poured down from above.
This was the karma fire that judged all, surging like a sea, raging forth.
“Sinner! Kneel!”
“Submit!”
“Repent! Atone!”
The colossal god roared, his voice echoing between heaven and earth.
‘Force Transformation or genuine combat, the Void Soul Gang can already drag people into illusions. So true skills also have mental secret techniques?’
Hong Yuan’s mind remained unmoved. He regarded the sea of fire and the malevolent god as if they were nothing. He suddenly imagined a giant sword in his mind and immediately cleaved the world of flames in two.
‘This method, if one’s will is not firm enough, even the top-tier masters would have their minds impacted in an instant, feeling repentance and fear, and be instantly defeated, left to slaughter!’
Thoughts flashed, all within the space of a lightning strike. Hong Yuan clenched his fist!
CRACKLE!
Hong Yuan’s entire body’s muscles and bones creaked. Every muscle fiber, every drop of blood, every meridian, and even his internal organs were generating power.
This was not force condensed from qi and blood, but the purest power of the physical body!
In Vajra Temple, Hong Yuan had seized three true skills.
The Great Sun Vajra Body, primarily cultivating the spleen and bone marrow.
The Great Strength Vajra Palm, cultivating the heart, spleen, and the three yang meridians of the hand.
The Mount Sumeru Palm, cultivating the spleen, bone marrow, and the dantian.
The nature of the strange force produced by these three true skills was either scorching, heavy like earth, or sharp like metal, but their greatest effect was the development of physical strength.
In terms of the robustness of his root bone and physique, Hong Yuan was already inhuman. However, he was far from unleashing this strength. Otherwise, even without condensing force, his physical strength alone would be terrifyingly extreme.
With these three true skills, he had finally stimulated a portion of his body’s potential.
A single clenched fist caused an explosion in the air, as if crushing the airflow!
Punch!
A punch that came like thunder and stopped like the sea was thrown out with apparent plainness.
There were no exquisite changes, no qi and blood condensing force, only that peerless, immense power.
Hong Yuan’s initial punch had a force of only a few hundred jin, nearing a thousand jin. This current punch, however, likely possessed tens of thousands of jin of force.
Where the fist was aimed, a figure lunged forward, precisely the Red Lotus Holy Lord.
While using a secret technique with his eyes, this person had also shot up to the roof, launching a killing blow.
At this moment, his glabella twitched wildly. He let out a long cry, and waves of heat surged outwards, distorting the air. A faint light flowed over his palms, as if capable of melting gold and forging iron, destroying everything.
This skill was named ‘Red Lotus Karma Fire True Gang.’ Once the force penetrated, it tempered the heart, kidneys, and brain – three major organs.
It could nurture heart fire within the heart, generate yang fire in the kidneys, and condense karma fire malevolence within the sea of consciousness in the brain, shaking the soul and terrifying the spirit.
Even for an ancient evil god sect like the Red Lotus Sect, this skill was one of their highest-level techniques.
Previously, the Red Lotus Holy Lord had unleashed ‘karma fire malevolence’ through his eyes, intending to destroy Daoist Ten Thousand Calamities’ will to resist with this malevolence.
Before he could ponder why it failed for even a moment, the air at the point of impact between fist and palm seemed to boil, and the flames on the Red Lotus Holy Lord’s palms suddenly dissipated.
The Red Lotus Holy Lord’s body trembled violently. He felt an infinite force strike, as if his entire arm were about to burst. He quickly used the Force Dissipation Method and withdrew, intending to retreat.
He was still a step too late. The fist, with almost no pause, struck towards his head. The Red Lotus Holy Lord’s black robe suddenly lit up with patterns, followed by a golden light that manifested as a golden bell, inverted and descending.
CLANG!
The fist collided with the golden bell, producing a resounding boom, like the morning and evening bells in a temple on a distant mountain, echoing for over ten li.
The golden bell instantly shattered into specks of golden light that dispersed.
The Red Lotus Holy Lord had already used this opportunity to retreat violently.
Hong Yuan’s actions in this instance had not utilized qi, so his footing lacked nimbleness. The rooftop cracked inch by inch, and he directly fell below.
Immediately, there was a loud “RUMBLE” from within the house. Like a bulldozer, large sections of the wall broke open, and a wall section taller than a person flew into the air. It was actually used by Hong Yuan as a weapon, swung down to cover the Red Lotus Holy Lord’s head.
The Red Lotus Holy Lord dared not meet the blow directly and retreated again. The giant wall section fell to the ground, shaking the earth violently and sending gravel flying.
Nan Guyun felt the ground tremble, his body swaying. He was already utterly dumbfounded.
So fierce! So fierce!
He had lived for nearly thirty years and had never witnessed such a ferocious fighting style. Recalling ancient books and classics, even the most peerless fierce generals and paramount masters in all historical and unofficial records were not as ferocious as this god of war.
This was true power to uproot mountains and energy to cover the world!
“Attack together!”
The Illuminating Envoy let out a fierce cry, his body moving gracefully, like a ghost. His figure was vague and illusory, and his techniques were even more wondrous and unpredictable.
In an instant, strands of ripples spread out, the air seeming to turn into a mirror. The Illuminating Envoy appeared to split into dozens of figures, attacking from all directions.
The Nirvana Envoy’s eyes also showed solemnity. Joining with the Illuminating Envoy and the Red Lotus Holy Lord, the three attacked together.
However, as they attacked, the Nirvana Envoy’s lips moved, rapidly murmuring something, but not a single sound was uttered.
The remaining high-ranking members of the Red Lotus Sect also intended to attack. A sword light shot forward, and then Nan Guyun arrived like a gust of wind, his voice clear and resonant.
“Esteemed members of the Red Lotus Sect, Nan Guyun of the Flower Stream Sword Sect has come to exchange moves!”
One person stepped forward from the group. He was wearing a wide robe and large sleeves, around forty years old, with a stern expression. He was also a Microscopic Level Grandmaster. He said coldly, “Nan Guyun, you dare to block us. Aren’t you afraid of bringing disaster upon your Flower Stream Sword Sect?”
“You should first survive today’s ordeal before talking about future matters.” Nan Guyun’s expression remained unchanged. With his sword in hand, his entire demeanor transformed into one of extreme sharpness and ferocity.
“Good! Then we shall fulfill your wish. Kill him, and then go help the Sect Master!”
The stern middle-aged man shouted, swinging his sleeves. From his two sleeves, he spat out two cold blades, which suddenly intertwined into a swirling light and slashed out.
Nan Guyun thrust his sword straight, causing brilliant flowers to bloom. As it collided with the swirling light, the others also surged forward.
“They’re fighting!”
“It’s happening here!”
The city walls of Lotus County could not stop skilled martial artists. The vast majority dared not act rashly due to the Red Lotus Sect’s notorious reputation, but there were also some who, considering themselves skilled and brave, had quietly infiltrated the city.
Hearing the commotion of collapsing houses, some martial artists who were nearby quickly rushed over. Figures either landed on distant rooftops, courtyard walls, or stood atop large trees to observe the battle, their mouths agape in astonishment.
The confrontation between the stern middle-aged man and the other Red Lotus Sect masters with Nan Guyun could be described as spectacular and full of unexpected moves. Nearby observing masters could still discern some of the techniques.
However, the battle between Daoist Ten Thousand Calamities and the Red Lotus Holy Lord and the other three had surpassed their imagination. Figures crisscrossed, flames soared, malevolence boiled, and the Illuminating Envoy moved like a ghost, his transformations bewildering, truly like the gods and spirits of legend.
Clip-clop!
The sound of hooves echoed as a large contingent of black-armored soldiers, under the command of the Red Lotus Sect’s leaders, rushed forward.
