Chapter 163: Lucky Survival

Bai Lang could confirm that he didn't know what this demon was called, but that didn't stop him from thinking, if he could speak, he'd say something like "Big bro, I'm your little brother Bai Lang"—even someone as strong as Zhizunbao still had to bow before the Bull Demon King, so what was Bai Lang, just a nobody; now it seemed he was still far inferior to Zhizunbao, who was a Great Sage transformed. He couldn't even lift these two books now, so he didn't know what they were—at that moment, from the direction where the demon had vanished, something traced a graceful arc and landed on his chest.

When Bai Lang saw the object fall, he saw, "A cigar?" He didn't know why the demon had thrown him a cigar; in his current sorry state he couldn't smoke even if he wanted to.

"'Many bones are broken; I didn't feel it when those forces hit, but now it really hurts.' Bai Lang struggled to gather the innate internal force of the Golden Bell Shield, trying bit by bit to realign the broken bones with internal force, then circulating through the meridians to begin healing. 'How are the others?' he thought, but he lacked the strength to attend to them, only able to say that if luck was good they should still be alive."

"But if they stayed on this mountaintop, the aftermath of the battle would surely tear them apart completely—not everyone has Bai Lang's cheat. Time passed bit by bit; Bai Lang realigned the bones in his arm, endured the pain, picked up the cigar, pinched off the tip, lit it with his fingers, and took a puff. Smoke rose, and the pain on his body seemed to lessen considerably."

"After that baboon left, no more gods, Buddhas, or demons came here. Bai Lang puffed on the smoke; although he had never smoked a cigar before, he now felt it wasn't bad. He felt the two books, picked them up, and held them before his eyes. The cover read, 'This book is purely a product of imagination; any resemblance is purely coincidental.' Below, the author's name was illegible, and there was no publisher."

"The crude diagram of the human body on the cover reminded him of his past Thirteen Tai Bao Golden Bell Shield training; 'Arhat Renwang Fist?' Bai Lang stared at the five characters on the cover, dazed. The other book was the same: 'Southern Dipper Holy Fist?'"

"How could they give him this? He wanted to learn the Wave Fist technique, but they tossed him this muscular-man's martial art... which actually wasn't bad. But could he use it? Could his cultivated internal force be compatible with these two fist styles? Surely a demon that could fight a big shot like the Buddha wouldn't give him two useless martial arts? Bai Lang struggled to stuff these two books into his tattered clothes."

"The placement was still rather low, since the collar was torn; the only way to keep them from falling out was to tuck them at his waist and tie them with his belt."

"Time was up; Bai Lang was enveloped in a white light and taken back to the Adventure Hall. 'What the heck is this broken place supposed to do?' That was another question Bai Lang couldn't figure out—why dump them at Spirit Mountain? To solve what problem? Having such power, did they still need to unravel some mystery of Spirit Mountain? And when did this happen? Bai Lang saw that the others seemed miraculously lucky to still be alive, though their conditions were not great."

"Besides Bai Lang, everyone's body was mutilated; the most unfortunate, Marulong, was left with only half a body, presumably kept alive solely by spirit pills and internal force sealing so he didn't die before returning. By comparison, Bai Lang's broken bones seemed a minor injury, and indeed they were—he could soon get to his feet, but upon checking his points he found only three hundred remained."

"At that very moment, the Adventure Hall suddenly shook violently, as if something were slamming hard into it."

"Bai Lang stumbled on his feet and almost fell; the others had finished treatment, yet they stared anxiously at the mist outside. The blow was huge—by Bai Lang's reckoning, Marulong was about to go mad—anyone left with just half a body, relying solely on sheer will to struggle back to that moment, would likely lose their mind. Muronghua was better off, though he had lost all his skin, with bones exposed in places."

"As for the two girls, Bai Lang didn't go look, because it was simply too embarrassing. The three men were unanimous in never glancing that way. 'What's hitting the Adventure Hall?' Muronghua asked. 'I don't know, but I realize the Adventure Hall might be something a great power could mess with.' Bai Lang replied, then he asked how those two had managed to survive."

"The answer they got was useless; the two had been blown away and already fallen unconscious, then dropped down scrambling to save themselves—especially since both were critically wounded and dying, they had no bandwidth to worry about anything else. On the contrary, Bai Lang had plenty to say, and he had no intention of hiding it—aside from the Yu Yu episode, the rest, like the baboon monster battling the Buddha, and earlier the Victorious Fighting Buddha and heavenly bodhisattvas, left those two stunned."

"'All Dharma Body big shots?' 'At least Dharma Body; as for above Dharma Body, I think that's real too.' Bai Lang said earnestly, 'I survived only by hiding in a ditch!'"

"The two girls also put on their clothes and came over to hear Bai Lang's story; this time everyone's gains were meager—just treating their injuries probably cost them a lot of points—the key point being that this time everyone still only had basic points. The only gain might be those immortal crane feathers... even though skin, clothes, and even flesh were gone in places, Muronghua still clung tightly to his storage ring."

"The two girls' ordeal was similar to the two men's—after being blown away they just focused on staying alive; by comparison, Qin Lianer was a bit better off, her injuries actually only slightly worse than Bai Lang's. 'By the way, Bai Lang bro, have you entered the innate realm?' Qin Lianer whispered. 'Heh heh, yeah yeah, if I hadn't entered the innate, I'd be dead this time with just me up there—even hiding in a ditch wouldn't help.'"

"Muronghua and the others were still envious: 'Sigh, who knows when we'll achieve the innate realm? Don't look—just one step away, but who knows how long this step will take!'"

"This time it basically had no training effect; perhaps it tempered the will of those who persisted, but basically it just scared everyone present. Bai Lang gained something he didn't prepare to make public; everyone just traded their points for some medicine and then dispersed. 'By the way, I'm now a Silver Guard Captain. I eat the imperial court's rations—if there's anything you need, come find me in Jicheng.'"

"In return came Muronghua and company's laughter: 'Oh, you've been promoted and made rich! We'll definitely look you up in Jicheng, and I still have those secret manuals I collected for you.'"

"Bai Lang returned to the Mountain God Temple, took out the two manuals to study them. 'Arhat Renwang Fist...... Southern Dipper Holy Fist......' He felt the secret behind these manuals was even more amazing. He fiddled with the jade fish; now this jade fish made no sound at all, and Bai Lang had the feeling that the 'spirit' attached to it was gone."