Chapter 25

The golden light was dazzling, breaking through illusions to reveal the truth.

In an instant, Li Xiang channeled his divine ability to look at the black leopard.

Beneath its flesh and blood, there was actually a human body twisted beyond recognition!

The feet were folded backward, and the intestines and stomach were displaced.

A robust man had been stuffed into the leopard's flesh in an extremely twisted manner.

Cruel, insane, half-human, half-demon!

A human body was crammed into a narrow space, flesh and blood fused, breaths mingled; it was already impossible to distinguish whether it was human or beast.

Such a sight was enough to make one feel physically ill.

Looking closely at the man's face, who else could it be but Yan Xiu?!

Only now, this fellow, while clearly human, was more akin to a demon; a human wearing a beast's skin, with demonic Qi rolling off his body.

"Beast-Making Technique?"

Li Xiang was astonished!

It was rumored that deep in the Miao frontier, there existed evil witchcraft capable of turning children into monkeys or dogs, and men into livestock.

This was no mere trick of the eye, but a genuine technique of turning a human into a demon, altering their nature and usurping their true form.

He did not know the specific details of this Beast-Making Technique, only that it was extremely cruel; the victim had to endure unimaginable pain, making it a most vicious evil art.

Whoever practiced this technique would surely face divine retribution!

"Yan Xiu!"

At this moment, Li Xiang could easily see what had happened.

This Yan Xiu, half-human and half-demon, had long since lost his mind.

It was he who had orchestrated the plan to lure the men of the village away.

Half the men were searching for Li Laosan on the mountain, and the other half had likely been lured away by him using the Village Chief's token.

Now that Shihe Village's defenses were empty, he only needed to face the women and children in the village.

Once those women and children were sacrificed, it would allow that demon cultivator to recover his magic power.

Li Xiang frowned.

This Yan Xiu was clearly a native of Shihe Village; why would he commit such an inhumane act?

One had to know that his ancestors were worshipped in the ancestral hall, and his own wife and children were also in the village.

Before Li Xiang could think further.

An earth-shattering roar suddenly rang in his ears.

From the herd of beasts, a tiger with hanging eyes and a white forehead jumped out from nowhere.

Leading a dozen wild beasts, it looked at Li Xiang with fierce, imposing power.

This great beast was ferocious; the moment it landed, the ground shook.

With eyes like torches, Li Xiang stared fixedly at the great beast.

The great beast crouched on the ground, its fur standing on end, its muscles clearly defined, giving off a terrifying sense of oppression.

Only by facing it directly could one feel this oppression, this suppression of power coming from the King of the Forest.

Compared to such demons that roared through the mountains, the human body was still too frail.

Awoo!

The great beast let out a roar toward the sky.

The surrounding black mist began to change, strands of it merging into its body.

Before long, the muscles on the great beast's body bulged rapidly, becoming increasingly robust.

Strands of crisscrossing black Qi squirmed madly under its skin like insects.

Its eyes were blood-red, and demonic Qi overflowed.

The black mist seemed to have greatly enhanced its strength!

"What a fierce beast; its power is no weaker than that black bear from the Zen monastery!"

An eighth-rank demon tiger had a formidable physical body; a human eighth-rank martial artist of the same level would be no match for it.

This tiger demon was strong!

Li Xiang did not underestimate the enemy; he moved his Qi and blood, a red dragon circling his body, and strange imprints began to appear on his skin—looking closely, they were actually like Buddhist scriptures.

This was a Buddhist martial divine ability!

Buddhism values martial arts, entering Zen through martial arts to seek the cultivation of both body and mind; one of its sects, the Zen Sect, uses martial arts to enter the Dao, proving the immovable heart to see the other shore.

Some also say this is using the physical body as a boat to cross the world, using the physical body to traverse the years, seeking a concept of "truth" in the long passage of time.

First know its truth, then seek its illusion, thus mastering the nine consciousnesses to attain supreme enlightenment.

Now, Li Xiang was focusing on the body-refining method within it; his copper skin and iron bones could shatter rocks.

His body manifested Buddhist scriptures through Qi and blood, and his fists and kicks carried the power to suppress demons.

The great beast opposite him pounced, its weight of several hundred pounds crashing down with great ferocity.

Seeing the great beast charge up, Li Xiang was not afraid in the slightest; he even wanted to engage in hand-to-hand combat to test the strength of his current physical body.

He stepped forward in a bow stance and swung his left fist violently!

With the red dragon coiling around his shoulder and rolling heat waves, his fist was further imbued with golden Haoran Qi.

With the Brocade Kasaya, martial Qi and blood, and Haoran Righteous Qi, the three combined to condense a terrifying power.

One punch delivered, like a scorching sun crossing the sky!

Even the black mist was shaken away by more than half.

The long punch arrived first despite being thrown later, smashing fiercely into the great beast's forehead.

It actually sent the beast flying directly, landing in the wild boar herd behind, leaving them scattered in a heap.

With the bright red Kasaya draped over his body and his long punch subduing demons, he truly possessed the power of a Buddhist Wisdom King suppressing all things.

"An eighth-rank demon, nothing more than this."

Turning sideways and taking half a step back, he slowly condensed Haoran Qi in his hand; a faint "Suppress" character flashed with golden light.

At the same time, the Brocade Kasaya on his body began to emit flowing light, faint Buddhist light emerging from it; vaguely, one could smell the scent of Buddhist incense.

【Warding Off Evil: The Kasaya condenses the power of Buddhist incense, capable of suppressing evil spirits and repelling gods and demons. The wearer will gain the Intimidation attribute, producing intermediate-level deterrence against evil spirits, demons, gods, and heavenly demons.】

"Suppress!"

Li Xiang did not intend to waste any more time; he prepared to end the battle quickly.

The tiger had just been smashed to the ground and had not yet reacted to what had happened.

It saw a large hand filled with Haoran Righteous Qi descending toward its forehead, with a mysterious character on it emitting the great power to suppress everything.

A single breath of Haoran Qi, and heaven, earth, gods, and ghosts tremble!

With this slap, black-red blood sprayed from the tiger demon's seven orifices, and it died instantly!

One palm, and an eighth-rank demon was killed.

After killing the tiger demon, Li Xiang looked coldly around, an invisible sense of oppression spreading out.

The Kasaya's inherent deterrence against evil, combined with the death of the tiger demon, caused the entire herd of beasts to fall into panic.

In the distance, a few clever jackals had already run away and disappeared.

"Come back! All of you, come back!"

"Kill him!"

"He is only one person! Go! Go up and bite him to death!"

"Go!"

In the mist, Yan Xiu scolded the herd in a panic.

He could not understand at all; clearly, all the men of Shihe Village had been lured away by him, so how could there still be someone blocking him?

And such a powerful martial artist at that.

This kind of terrifying oppression was something he had only felt from the lords of the Demon Slaying Division in the county town.

"Is it you who is causing trouble behind the scenes?"

"Where on earth did you take Li Laosan!"

Before Yan Xiu could summon the herd, he looked up to see a large hand descending, grabbing toward his neck.

Thud!

Yan Xiu lay on the ground, his tail lashing out fiercely; the ink jade ring on his tail met Li Xiang's fist.

The next moment, Yan Xiu was sent flying, his entire tailbone broken into five pieces as he landed on the ground.

Li Xiang frowned.

He felt an evil, cold aura on his fist, like a maggot on a rotting bone, winding its way up his arm.

"Get out!"

Pale golden Haoran Qi erupted violently, and in an instant, the uncomfortable feeling dissipated completely!

With the ninth-grade Confucian Dao, ninth-grade Martial Dao, and the demon-suppressing Brocade Kasaya, all evil was swept away.

Li Xiang stood up and walked over, frowning as he looked at Yan Xiu.

"You thing that is neither human nor demon."

"What exactly are you planning?"

If you think this is short, you can go read my old book; the supporting character is Li Xiang.

(End of chapter)