Chapter 660: Mongke and Kublai Both Passed Away

However, danger still exists; if they fail to react in time, they will likewise perish.

Du Zhen nodded at Ye Qin and said, "I'm fine, just feeling a bit emotional; it won't affect our actions."

Although he and Jin Gang both belong to the Buddhist faith, one is from Shaolin, the other from the Esoteric Sect, and their respective countries differ as well.

Two days later.

"This is the great tent of the royal court on the steppe; nearly all the major tribes have gathered nearby. The water and grass are abundant, making it suitable for establishing a ruling center." Ye Qin, seated on his horse, pointed ahead at the various-sized yurts and explained.

Du Zhen nodded somewhat ambiguously, then said softly, "Let's go; the steppe has become a grave threat. We must do what little we can to curb their momentum, even if the chance of success is slim."

Upon arriving at the royal court, the two split up to gather information. According to their earlier plan, they had only one day to learn the details.

After parting with Ye Qin, Du Zhen alone walked toward a yurt. He had previously disguised himself, so no one could tell he was a monk. Although he spoke Chinese, simple communication was still possible.

After discovering the National Preceptor's residence, he sneaked over. Along the way he encountered several patrolling steppe squads, but after a brief inspection they let him pass.

"According to the information we gathered, Jin Gang Fawang should be in the tent ahead—at least that is his residence. Regardless of whether he's there, I ought to have a look first." After carefully checking that no one was watching, he slipped inside.

A foreign monk was holding a sutra and reading it. Du Zhen's appearance startled him at first, but he quickly calmed, as if he had expected it, and said, "You arrived later than I imagined."

Du Zhen startled, immediately looked around, thinking: "Could there still be an ambush?"

But after looking for a while and seeing nothing unusual, he asked puzzledly, "You knew I was coming?"

On the main seat, Jin Gang Fawang gave a faint smile, "Just a guess."

"Oh?" Du Zhen's eyes narrowed slightly as he involuntarily asked, "Do you know who I am?"

He is now disguised, making it hard for ordinary people to discern his true identity. Yet this Jin Gang Fawang before him seemed to know, smiling lightly: "You are the genius monk Du Zhen from the Shaolin Bodhidharma Court, correct?"

"..."

You know all of that?

Du Zhen gasped, his face turning grim and frightening as he said, "Then you should also know why I've come."

His tone sounded especially unfriendly, and he grew wary. He knew that since Jin Gang Fawang was aware of his coming, he must have made preparations and would not simply wait to be killed.

"Come to kill me." Jin Gang said lightly, a strange hue at the corner of his mouth, sneering, "But we are both in the Acquired Perfection Realm; do you think you have a chance to kill me? Perhaps I will be the one who kills you."

"In one-on-one combat, your martial skill is inferior to mine!" Du Zhen said confidently, "Even if we are in the same realm, there are still differences between people."

At that moment, Jin Gang Fawang shook his head and said calmly, "I have a younger brother named Jin Lun, who will bury me after I die. But what about you?"

"You'd better hurry back; this is none of your business."

Du Zhen the monk raised his brows in surprise and said, "You're afraid!"

Jin Gang: "..."

Du Zhen secretly relaxed in his heart and sneered, "Regardless of whether anyone will bury you, you cannot escape death, can you?"

His words sounded faint, then he added coldly, "Come on; I've long wanted to settle this with you. Though we both belong to the Buddhist faith, my Shaolin is the orthodox tradition under heaven—how could the Esoteric Sect compare?"

His voice carried a chill, both to resolve the turmoil of the age and to contend with the Esoteric Sect for supremacy. Having spoken, he immediately assumed a fighting stance.

"You are quite confident." Jin Gang Fawang smiled faintly, slowly lowered the scripture in his hand, picked up a string of prayer beads, and said, "Come on; I've been waiting for you a long time."

Only the two of them were present—this was an excellent opportunity to determine superiority.

"Bodhidharma Divine Palm!"

Du Zhen casually threw out a palm, lunging at Jin Gang Fawang like a mad tiger; this palm possessed boundless power, strong and terrifying.

Jin Gang Fawang smiled faintly, the prayer beads hanging from his hands, palms together, and said, "All Buddhas Pay Homage—you should be familiar with this move, right?"

He raised his palm, true qi circulating upon it, his body leaping up as he fiercely struck down at Du Zhen the monk.

Boom!

Their palms clashed, each being shoved back a step, then they both leapt forward, using hands and feet together, becoming entangled in combat.

"Interesting!"

Du Zhen glanced, a strange smile curling his lips. He leapt, infusing his legs with true qi, and swiftly kicked at Jin Gang Fawang. Jin Gang Fawang lazily rolled to dodge, but the low table on the ground suffered.

Clang!

Du Zhen's foot swept the low table; the originally sturdy table instantly shattered. Jin Gang Fawang's face darkened, a chill rose, and he quickly hurled the prayer beads in his hand at Du Zhen.

These prayer beads infused with true qi were likewise immensely powerful.

"Indeed, you live up to being a genius, but I am no inferior to you!" A cold voice trembled as Jin Gang Fawang suddenly spun in midair, after several swift turns he pointed a finger at Du Zhen.

Du Zhen exclaimed, "Mighty Vajra Finger?"

Isn't this one of the Shaolin Seventy-Two Supreme Skills? How could this kid know it?

After a moment of shock, he quickly adjusted his mindset and unleashed the Seventy-Two Supreme Skills as well, various means emerging one after another. This battle consisted solely of fist and foot techniques; aside from Jin Gang Fawang's prayer beads, there were basically no other weapons.

There were no legendary heavenly flying immortals, no earth-shaking omnipotent force, nor any truly destructive methods.

Boom!

After half an hour, they had exchanged over a thousand moves, neither gaining an advantage, the forces evenly matched.

"No, if this continues, although I cannot defeat him, he cannot defeat me either. What shall we do?" Du Zhen anxiously thought; failing to kill Jin Gang Fawang would mean the mission could not be accomplished, and the turmoil of the age would persist.

He clearly understood that, given Jin Gang Fawang's talent, he would break through into the Innate Realm within a few years. "Once he reaches the Innate Realm, his strength will become far more terrifying. Should he support a tribe on the steppe and march southward, it would be as easy as turning over one's hand."

He must be eliminated!

Du Zhen gritted his teeth and lunged forward again. Although they had fought countless times and knew each other's moves like the back of their hands, this time Du Zhen's methods were harsher: "Jin Gang Fawang, if you do not die, how can we be at ease?"

A chill flickered in his cold eyes; this Golden Person National Preceptor must not remain alive.

"I have my choice, you have yours." Jin Gang Fawang coldly said, "Wanting to kill me, with your ability, Du Zhen the monk, is still insufficient."

Both being cultivators of the Acquired Perfection Realm, he did not consider himself weaker than Du Zhen. They clashed again, yet strangely, no one nearby noticed their fight, as if nobody knew they were brawling. "It seems time to employ another method," Du Zhen thought, the corner of his mouth turning cold; suddenly his aura surged and he threw a fierce punch at Jin Gang Fawang. Jin Gang Fawang had wanted to dodge, but suddenly found his body unable to move.

Boom!

Jin Gang Fawang was blasted away, slamming hard into the ground and tearing everything on the surface to shreds.

He stared in astonishment at Du Zhen the monk and shouted, "You, you actually used a forbidden technique! Boosting your strength this way will only damage your martial potential; you will never be able to break through to the Innate Realm!"

"To slay a thousand foes while losing eight hundred oneself—what good is that?"

At the side, Du Zhen clenched his fists again and said coldly, "What of it? As long as you die, that's enough; even if I can't break into the Innate Realm, I'm willing."

The two had no prior dealings, but Du Zhen was willing to follow the arrangements of the Granduncle Master of Dharma Appearance. There are wolves on the grassland, so he came to kill.

The Vajra Dharma King was angered by Du Zhen's words, his face turned cold, and he finally shouted in exasperation, "You madman!"

Only a madman would act so recklessly. He shouted with a trembling voice: "Du Zhen, if you withdraw now, I can pretend nothing happened. Otherwise..."

He was so angry at Du Zhen that his old face ached; encountering a madman was truly helpless.

At that moment, Du Zhen said coldly, "Otherwise what? Do you also want to use the forbidden technique? I think you lack the guts!"

!

He dares to sacrifice himself for all the people under heaven, but the Vajra Dharma King may not dare.

For the Vajra Dharma King, the situation hasn't yet reached the most critical point; he still has a chance to escape. As someone striving to break into the Innate Realm, how could he use the forbidden technique?

"Bastard!"

In his exasperation, the Vajra Dharma King even had murderous thoughts. This bastard is deliberately playing with me!

"Subdue Demons!"

Du Zhen's face turned fierce, his killing intent palpable.

The Vajra Dharma King is no fool; he naturally noticed Du Zhen's killing intent. But he neither wants to use the forbidden technique nor flee. "If I can defeat or kill this guy, wouldn't that prove my Esoteric Sect surpasses the Young Forest Sect?"

Such a thought arose and would not dissipate. He hardened his resolve and said, "Since you want to play, then I, the Dharma King, will play with you!"

Besides, he still has a younger brother, so he doesn't fear leaving a corpse unclaimed.

He never expected that the monk Du Zhen would suddenly produce a hidden dagger from his boot. With the Vajra Dharma King completely unprepared, a thrust was made.

Pfft!

"You..."

The Vajra Dharma King clutched his belly, his hands devoid of strength. He never expected Monk Du Zhen to play dirty, trembling as he said, "What a fine scheme of openly repairing the gallery roads while secretly sneaking through Chencang!"

Had he not been schemed against, he wouldn't have been done for so quickly.

Monk Du Zhen's move was purely a surprise, even catching him off guard and getting him killed. The Vajra Dharma King had thought they would still exchange blows, but who knew it would end like this?

Damn it!

The greatly angered Vajra Dharma King suddenly panicked, muttering, "It's over, am I going to die?"

Before he could think further, his consciousness was about to plunge into darkness. At that moment, Monk Du Zhen added a few more stabs, leaving the Vajra Dharma King utterly beyond saving.

Vajra Dharma King: "I am not resigned!"

This is likely his last thought. A generation of Esoteric Sect Dharma King has fallen, and then there is nothing after.

On the grassland beside several large tents.

Ye Qin gazed at these finely crafted tents ahead, faintly seeing the brocade patterns spreading from the top outward, and thought to himself, "Based on the earlier inquiries, this should be the encampment of Old Iron's descendants."

His obvious target was Huoblie, the grandson of Old Iron, who came after Menge in the family and was the fourth son.

He had asked many people before, but none could give a definite answer; he was only told that Old Iron's descendants lived in some special tents. Since Old Iron had not been ennobled, his sons were basically called by their names, let alone the grandsons.

"Forget it, let's go in and have a look first." Ye Qin raised his brow, thinking to himself, "Anyway, they're also Old Iron's descendants; the host here ought to know where Huoblie's tent is."

With that thought, Ye Qin sneaked into a yurt. He had thought he might be discovered, but suddenly heard a snore: "Is this guy still asleep?"

He walked toward the large bed inside the tent and saw a somewhat rough-looking man lying on it. Fortunately it was hot weather, otherwise he might have frozen to death.

Ye Qin slowly approached, sized up the rough man, thought he wouldn't wake up anytime soon, glanced around, and saw no guards or the like. His gaze fell on the table.

On the table lay some letters written in Mongolian script, but also a few in Chinese. He could faintly see that one letter was signed with the two characters "Zhin".

"Isn't this Menge's courtesy name? He is the eldest son of Tuolei, courtesy name Zhin, once participated in the western expedition of the Commander-in-Chief's Eldest Son Army, later ascended the throne and was historically known as Khan Menge." Ye Qin had originally been looking for Huoblie, after all Huoblie is the greatest threat.

"But since I've run into Menge here, that's just his bad luck." Ye Qin's eyes flashed with a hint of ferocity as he walked toward the sleeping Menge.

Bang!

He threw a heavy punch that smashed into Menge's face; Menge jerked awake, sat up, but Ye Qin kicked him to the ground. Ye Qin coldly asked, "Where is Huoblie's tent?"

He then slapped Menge hard across the face; Menge was about to flare up, but felt a chill at his neck—a sword had somehow been placed against his throat.

He was naturally endowed with divine strength; if he had reacted immediately, he might have been able to employ some means to preserve his life, at least avoid death. But now he could no longer resist.

"Who, who are you?" Menge's face changed, he frowned and asked, "I am a prince of the steppe, you..."

Before he could finish, Ye Qin punched him again.

"Shut up! I didn't give you permission to speak. I'm asking where Huoblie's tent is—just answer honestly." Ye Qin said coldly as before.

Menge's face turned ashen, he nearly spat out a mouthful of blood. He finally realized that Ye Qin was looking for his fourth brother Huoblie. He said angrily, "Why are you asking me this? I don't know."

He intended to refuse to answer this question.

But Ye Qin had no intention of indulging him, saying coldly, "Speak quickly! Otherwise don't blame me for being rude."

He gripped his sword tightly and instantly drew a line of blood across Menge's neck. Menge finally felt fear, realizing Ye Qin was not joking.

A chill rose from his heart, and he hurriedly said, "The fourth one on the left!" (End of chapter)