Chapter 237: The Escort Pressures the Tou Tuo, The Eastern Heretic Adds New Grudges
Baoxiang’s body suddenly sprang up, his voice preceding his arrival, his left hand resting on the back of his right palm.
The Qi flowed through the Hand Shaoyang Sanjiao Meridian and the Hand Jueyin Pericardium Meridian, a surge of internal force erupting from the “Zhongzhu” and “Laogong” acupoints on his left hand, propelling his right palm. Another torrent-like palm force was contained within his right palm. The palm strike, which appeared earth-shattering, stirred no disturbance in the heavens and earth, as if all its power was concentrated within a small area.
“Vajra Prajna Palm, Young Hero, be careful,” warned Tianming Chan Master, the head of Shaolin Temple’s Dharma Hall.
Zhou Yan did not fear Baoxiang. They had clashed a year ago in Zhongdu, their cultivation then being neck and neck. However, the distance between them had long since widened. Even if his opponent had practiced diligently, it could not compare to his own cultivation’s advancement after a series of fortunate encounters.
The turn of events was even more perfect than he had anticipated. Bao Xian and Bao Shu could maintain their composure, but Baoxiang, enraged and provoked, was exactly what he wanted.
Zhou Yan parted his palms, his left hand upward and his right hand downward, as if pushing apart the heavens and earth with a roar.
Hong Qigong, standing before the crowd, his eyes lit up.
Zhou Yan was using the “Kanglong Regret” from the 《Subduing Dragon Eighteen Palms》.
This technique emphasizes subtlety, hiding skill within apparent clumsiness. It is a defensive move designed to keep enemies at bay. If an opponent closes in, this move can be broken down into three forms, first protecting the upper, middle, and lower routes, while simultaneously using palm force to strike the opponent’s wrists, forcing them to withdraw their attack.
Zhou Yan’s palm strike suddenly rose, a defense as impenetrable as a drop of water. He applied this move with the grace of a hanging horn of a sheep, leaving the opponent with no opening. This young man’s talent continued to surprise the old beggar, a pity, a pity, that he would not join the old beggar’s sect, not a disciple of the Beggars’ Sect. This was the first time Hong Qigong felt regret that Zhou Yan was not becoming his disciple.
Baoxiang’s heart tightened. No matter how he shifted his palm strike, it seemed impossible to break through the opponent’s airtight defense. Just as this thought arose, Zhou Yan’s palm suddenly descended, pressing down on Baoxiang’s wrists.
Zhou Yan and Baoxiang’s bodies sank simultaneously. To the onlookers, it appeared as if Zhou Yan was pressing down on Baoxiang’s palms, guiding the force downwards. The bluestone beneath their feet first stirred ripples of dust, and then, with a “crack,” it split open. Before those with lower cultivation could clearly see the movements, Zhou Yan, after using the “Collapse Force” from the “Kanglong Regret” to dissipate the force, sprang up. With a “boom,” the surging power of “Iron Mountain Lean” directly sent Baoxiang flying.
A clamor of “buzzing” erupted, with some martial artists murmuring, “Iron Mountain Lean again!”
Among the martial artists present who practiced external styles, there was no one who did not know “Iron Mountain Lean.” However, to be able to use it repeatedly and still succeed in repelling strong enemies, only Zhou Yan could do it.
This was the rich experience accumulated from his hundreds of battles. He could seize any fleeting opportunity in the blink of an eye. With Baoxiang’s strength, he could last dozens of rounds, but Zhou Yan, by seizing the opportunity, had gained the initiative.
Baoxiang’s qi, spread throughout his body, was scattered by the impact. He retreated step by step. As Zhou Yan advanced, he grabbed the opponent’s shoulder, tearing off half of his monk’s sleeve with a “swish.” Baoxiang used “Great Strength Vajra Finger” to claw and seize, but Zhou Yan smashed his claw force with one punch and landed another punch on his ribs, breaking several of them.
Following closely, Zhou Yan’s punches struck. The “Fanzi Fist” first hit his chest, then Baoxiang’s ribs and face. Afterward, Zhou Yan grabbed Baoxiang’s shoulder with one hand and dragged him, spinning him halfway around.
This series of attacks actually happened in an instant. Bao Shu and Bao Xian, seeing Zhou Yan’s deadly intent, roared in unison and lunged at Zhou Yan. As they approached the combatants, Tianxin and Tianming Chan Masters, like angry arrows, intercepted them.
In the arena, Zhou Yan kicked Baoxiang in the crotch, followed by a knee strike to the face. This rapid sequence of attacks was as swift as the “Fanzi Fist” manual described: “Fists fly like a torrential rain, crisp as a string of whips.”
Huang Rong watched with delight. She had recognized Baoxiang from his physique as the masked big man who had fought her after the assassination of the Jin Emperor in Zhongdu. She had almost been injured by him then, so how could she not be happy seeing Zhou Yan strike him hard?
Suddenly, Huang Rong felt something fly past her. Glancing sideways, she saw that Huo Gong Toutuo had already appeared several zhang away.
“Be careful.”
Huang Rong darted into the woods and immediately shouted a warning in a high-pitched female voice.
In the arena, Zhou Yan smashed Baoxiang’s head into the ground.
Tianxin Chan Master and Tianming Chan Master, who had been fighting Bao Shu and Bao Xian, retreated step by step. Master Ku Cheng’s figure roared like wind and thunder, his internal energy surging. The kasaya on his body suddenly flew out, falling towards another figure in the air.
Using the kasaya as a weapon, this was precisely the “Kasaya Subduing Demon Skill” from Shaolin’s Seventy-Two Unique Skills.
As the kasaya flew, Master Ku Cheng unleashed a palm strike. Midway, his palm suddenly wavered, transforming one palm into two, then two into four. The changes multiplied, evolving into thirty-two palm imprints on the kasaya. In the audience’s view, the kasaya suddenly became like a solid iron plate.
The figure in the air moved his hands like giant claws stirring the clouds, tearing through the kasaya before him in an instant. The bright yellow kasaya exploded, then was enveloped by the surging energy, flying and swirling like countless fluttering butterflies.
Following this, Master Ku Cheng and the newcomer exchanged a palm strike. With a “bang,” an arc of qi bloomed in the air, and the two figures separated, falling towards the ground.
The Abbot of Shaolin Temple retreated several large steps, a hint of blood at the corner of his mouth. The figure landed beside Zhou Yan.
Zhou Yan had gathered all his strength when Huang Rong warned him. As the figure landed, before the opponent could make a move, he preempted them with “Kanglong Regret.”
The person raised a palm, striking as if lifting something light yet heavy. The moment their palms touched, Zhou Yan felt a ferocious palm force surge through his meridians like a rampaging beast, utterly overbearing.
Kanglong Regret, Fullness Cannot Last. Several waves of Zhou Yan’s internal energy, gained through his diligent practice and enlightenment, advanced like a tide, dissolving the palm force that was about to shatter his heart and lungs into nothingness. He himself retreated several large steps in the process.
The person advanced agilely, and suddenly a sharp whistling sound and human voices rang out.
“Chii!”
“Watch your palm.”
The figure swung a fist. With a “bang,” pebbles scattered in the air. In an instant, the person exchanged another palm strike with Hong Qigong, who had agilely advanced.
The dust and smoke around them swirled like a collapsing vortex. Hong Qigong swayed, while the figure steadied himself after two steps. Then, with a sinister smile, he said, “Hong Bangzhu, are you planning to gang up on the young one?”
Within Hong Qigong’s sight, an old monk, about seventy or eighty years old, had a ferocious expression in his eyes. Even his smile carried a strong sense of ferocity. He was also surprised by the opponent’s cultivation. He had exchanged a move with Golden Wheel Law King in Zhongdu, and a direct comparison showed that the old monk’s cultivation was above that of the Law King, with an unparalleled and overbearing internal force.
Hong Qigong’s mind raced, and he guessed the opponent’s identity: the sect leader of the Vajra Sect from the Western Regions. Thinking this, he felt it was understandable; given his age and cultivation, this level was normal.
Hong Qigong laughed heartily, “Are you perhaps the sect leader of the Vajra Sect? It’s not the old beggar who’s ganging up on others; it’s your disciple who broke his promise, and you attacked sneakily first.”
Bao Shu, Bao Xian, Bao Lei, and others had already answered for Hong Qigong. They and the Vajra Sect martial monks stepped forward in unison to pay their respects.
Huo Gong Toutuo waved his monk’s sleeve with a “snap” and said, “Retire!”
Hong Qigong scoffed inwardly. This arrogance surpassed even Huang Yaoshi and Ouyang Feng.
Zhou Yan exhaled a breath of turbid air to calm his qi and blood. He also made a comparison: Huo Gong Toutuo’s cultivation was below Ouyang Feng’s, but his internal force, like the “Toad Stance,” was overbearing and powerful. Master Ku Cheng was inferior to Huo Gong Toutuo, primarily due to his age. Not everyone was like Zhang Sanfeng in the world of Heaven Sword, whose internal force became even more refined and reached a higher realm after reaching a hundred years old.
He inwardly considered himself lucky. Before engaging with Gongsun Zhi and others, he had looked around and seen Huang Rong, and also noticed the monk wearing a conical hat beside her. He had intended to use heavy blows to force Bao Shu to act, but he hadn’t expected Huang Rong’s companion to be Huo Gong Toutuo. He wondered how she had encountered him.
Zhou Yan looked towards where Huang Rong had been standing, but she was nowhere to be seen.
He withdrew his gaze and fixed it on Huo Gong Toutuo.
Huo Gong Toutuo happened to shift his gaze as well, smiling arrogantly, “Kid, your martial arts are good.”
“I can take a few of your palms,” Zhou Yan replied with a low chuckle.
“You’ve injured several of my disciples. How do we settle this?”
“That depends on whether you want to reason or fight.”
Huo Gong Toutuo laughed heartily, “A newborn calf fears no tiger.”
After Huang Rong’s warning, Huang Yaoshi used “Finger Flicking Divine Skill” to momentarily obstruct Huo Gong Toutuo, then found Huang Rong and leaped into the forest.
“After I separated from Father, I met Huo Gong Toutuo at Songshan. He is the sect leader of the Vajra Sect. He used to be a kitchen monk at Shaolin Temple, stole martial arts, betrayed his masters, and fled to the Western Regions. He threatened me to become his disciple.” Her voice was rapid and urgent.
“And then?”
Huang Rong giggled, “I tricked him out of a set of fist techniques and a medicated paste that could mend bones. Father studied it, and he said it could mend broken bones.”
“You weren’t subjected to any other mistreatment?”
“If the Head Escort hadn’t lured the Toutuo away, it would have been hard to say. I might have been taken to the Western Regions by the Toutuo.”
Huang Yaoshi let out a cold snort, his anger flaring.
Threatening his daughter was an offense, and stealing martial arts and betraying his masters reminded Huang Yaoshi of Mei Chaofeng and Chen Xuanfeng. His body flickered, and he landed in the arena.
Huo Gong Toutuo had asked Zhou Yan how to settle the score, and Zhou Yan had replied whether to reason or fight. Huang Yaoshi said coldly, “I have an account to settle with you as well.”
“The Vajra Sect has no connection with Peach Blossom Island.”
Huang Yaoshi stood with his hands clasped, his demeanor arrogant.
The Eastern Heretic acts as he pleases, requiring no explanation.
“Hahaha…” Huo Gong Toutuo was also an arrogant man. He let out a strange laugh, “Do you think my Vajra Sect fears your Peach Blossom Island?”
