Chapter 387

Hearing this, the Master just smiled indifferently and looked at Xie Guan.

"Is this the backup plan you laid out?"

Yu Ke swept his gaze over the four people before him, especially Lu Hua, thinking to himself, weren't they working with Xie Hong to design the assassination of the Second Scholar?

How could they suddenly appear here!

Lu Hua had already walked slowly to Xie Guan's side, and although she had guesses in her heart, she still asked tentatively.

"Xie Guan?"

Yu Ke smiled, "Heavenly Master Lu, long time no see."

Hearing this, Lu Hua breathed a sigh of relief, then turned to size up the Master, a trace of hidden wariness in her eyes.

Yu Ke looked at the Demon Master and Master Lianchi, nodding slightly, "Master Master Lianchi, Demon Master."

His gaze finally fell on the unfamiliar youth, "Great Scholar."

Master Lianchi pressed his palms together, a complex look flashing in his eyes, and said in a low voice: "So it is little donor Xie Guan. Sure enough, the fate of the world has its destined numbers."

Demon Master Xu Xu Jiangxian also revealed a smile and said slowly: "Little friend, I never expected today's events to be started by you."

The Great Scholar bowed slightly to Xie Guan, already understanding—Xie Guan's appearance meant that the Master's plot was a foregone conclusion.

This person was the supreme existence of this world, the so-called immortal.

But it also seemed not quite right!

The four stood in tacit agreement, vaguely shielding Xie Guan behind them.

The Master swept his gaze over the crowd, his tone calm.

"I have not fought with anyone for four or five hundred years. Today, let me see how much weight the so-called Great Grandmasters of this generation truly have."

The four dared not be careless in the face of the Master.

The Demon Master raised his left hand, the finger bones clearly defined, with crystal-clear light flowing over them.

The holy relic of the Demon Sect—the Heavenly Demon Hand.

Instantly, the entire arm was enveloped in eerie demonic qi, which dripped onto the ground like liquid, as if a brush dipped in ink, staining the earth.

With the Demon Master as the center, the demonic qi spread for more than three zhang and was still constantly expanding.

His aura had already surged to the Ninth Realm of martial arts, the Tenth Realm of the Yang Spirit.

The Master noticed the "God-Startling Array" that had completely closed in the sky and watched the Demon Master with composure.

"I didn't expect that someone could practice the 'Blood River Bone-Eroding Technique' of the Blood River Sect, one of the nine lineages of the Demon Sect, to the realm where blood marrow turns to ink. The baleful qi of this Blood River Thousand-Entanglement Hand... is indeed much stronger than the Blood-to-Mist transformation of that generation of the Profound Yin Old Demon."

"This generation's Demon Master is not bad."

The Profound Yin Old Demon was a contemporary of the Blood River Sect ancestor and the Master.

However, he had been dead for over a thousand years.

Hearing the Master's evaluation, the coldness in the Demon Master's eyes grew heavier.

Master Master Lianchi set up his boxing stance, gently lifting his monk's robe to reveal half of his bare chest.

Master Master Lianchi set up his boxing stance, lifting his monk's robe to reveal half of his lean, iron-like torso.

Each rib on his chest was clearly visible against his skin.

Suddenly!

The gray-robed old monk's figure suddenly expanded, instantly growing to eight feet, his upper garment torn, fragments scattering.

The muscles on his chest were knotted, the muscles on his arms bulging, as if he had transformed from a thin old monk into a true Arhat body that shattered the painted lacquer of the Thunder Sound Treasure Hall.

Yu Ke watched in surprise; Master Master Lianchi's physical transformation was truly shocking.

The Master also nodded in praise: "This generation's walker of the East Saint Sect has actually practiced the 'Golden Body Indestructible Divine Art' of the outer sect to the realm of the Vajra Subduing Demon Body, and he is also cultivating the 'Compassion Six Paths,' the most difficult Buddhist technique to master."

"Buddhism says, if you do not have thunderous means and a Vajra protector, do not harbor a compassionate heart."

"The martial lineage of the Buddha Sect has withered for three sixty-year cycles, and finally, we see the Angry-Eyed Vajra reappear in the world!"

Master Lianchi's eyes were half-closed, his palms pressed together like the evening drum and morning bell:

"The Buddha has thirty-two appearances; not only is there the compassionate appearance, but there is also the time of the Vajra's angry eyes, to subdue the four demons, while the Bodhisattva lowers his eyebrows to save all living beings."

Lu Hua reached back and drew a copper coin magic sword from her Daoist robe, the sword body wrapped in red rope soaked in cinnabar, the talisman patterns coiled like dragons and snakes.

With a flourish of the sword, she pressed two fingers together and wiped from the hilt to the tip; the copper coins hummed and vibrated, red fire and blue light flickering, the chilling sword qi reflecting on people.

Seeing this, the Master stood with his hands behind his back, "The Myriad Dharma Sword of the Sanzhen Heavenly Pulse! It is rumored that this sword was sacrificed and refined with the essence and blood of past ancestors, psychic and manifesting holiness, and is the supreme treasure of Mount Zhongnan. Unexpectedly, this divine object, sealed for a thousand years in the Tomb of the Living Dead, would emerge with you."

He sized up Lu Hua meaningfully: "To be entrusted with the three-thousand-year Daoist lineage by the ancestors at such a young age, I do not know if it is your exceptional talent or if the Sanzhen lineage has reached a point where there is no one else to entrust."

Lu Hua's knuckles turned white, her tone cold, "My grand-uncles, in order to hunt down you demon, did not hesitate to break their own bridge to longevity. Two generations of Sanzhen successors were all broken at your hands. This blood debt..."

She turned the sword edge, the cold light biting,

"I, Lu Hua, shall naturally use the Myriad Dharma Sword to collect it!"

The Master was noncommittal, sweeping his gaze over the crowd, finally looking at Xu Li Xian,

"Among my several disciples, the talented ones include the second, the self-taught ones whose intelligence is enough to open a sect include the third, and the innovative ones include the fourth."

"Only you, tirelessly refining the Haoran Righteous Qi into a three-foot green blade; its sharpness is so great that even I dare not say I can defeat you in this path."

"Many years have passed since then, I do not know to what extent your 'Spring and Autumn Righteous Qi Technique' has reached; back then, the Great Qi Prime Minister's seal hung in the East Pavilion for three months, and you refused to bind your hair or wear a crown; yet today, to prove the ultimate realm of the 'Spring and Autumn Righteous Qi Technique,' you have actually accepted the position of National Preceptor in the Great Sui."

"What a pity, you were originally a free man."

The Great Scholar looked at the Master and said slowly: "Then please enlighten me, Teacher."

According to Xie Guan's memory, Yu Ke knew that this "Spring and Autumn Righteous Qi Technique" was the cultivation technique of the Academy.

The "Spring and Autumn Righteous Qi Technique," passed down through the Academy for a thousand years, uses subtle words to cast the sword bone and great righteousness to condense the sword soul.

Practitioners hide the "Spring and Autumn Brush" in their chests, their eyes contain the "Blade of Rites and Music," and sword qi can erupt from their hair tips and clothing corners, capable of splitting gold and cracking stone.

It has four realms: Cultivating the Self, Regulating the Family, Governing the State, and Pacifying the World.

This technique secretly aligns with the Confucian principle of "when successful, benefit the world"; those who hold the power of the state can use the destiny of the masses to temper the righteous qi in their chests. In the seven hundred years of the Academy, those who have been able to cross the threshold of "Regulating the Family" can be counted on one hand.

And the Great Scholar, standing with his hands behind his back at this moment, had the phantom of mountains and rivers faintly appearing as his Confucian robes fluttered, clearly having reached the highest realm of "Pacifying the World."

Seeing this, the Master just smiled it off.

"You all attack together."

Witnessing this scene, Yu Ke's heart was filled with expectation.

After all, this was three Great Grandmasters of the world and one Heavenly Master of the Sanzhen Sect joining forces to confront the Master who looked down upon the world.

The three did not wait for the Master's words to fall before they tacitly attacked.

The Demon Master's five fingers stroked like harp strings, the "Blood River Thousand-Entanglement Hand" transforming into five evil dragons, rushing toward the Master while wrapped in a bloody storm.

The Master flicked his sleeve, and the "Blood River Thousand-Entanglement Hand" was scattered in the air.

The Demon Master's divine thoughts moved, and the shattered pitch-black blood marrow instantly transformed into steel nails, tearing through the sky and whistling toward him.

Dong Cheng flicked his sleeve again.

A fist wrapped in golden glazed light appeared before his eyes.

Master Master Lianchi's "Vajra Subduing Demon Fist" could not be avoided and struck head-on, shaking the floor tiles within a ten-zhang radius into pieces.

The Demon Master's mouth curled into a cold smile, and he dived into the bloodstains.

The Demon Master's figure suddenly collapsed into blood mist, having performed the "Blood Shadow Escape" to the realm of no-form.

Compared to Zhu Zhu Zhiqian's bloody violence, Xu Xu Jiangxian at this moment seemed like ink dissolving into rice paper, not even causing a ripple in the blood on the ground.

Without a trace of worldly fire.

The Master just raised his hand to resist Master Lianchi's Vajra fist seal.

Wrinkles suddenly appeared in the void behind him.

Xu Li Xian stepped out from the void in his Confucian robes, the "Spring and Autumn Brush" in his palm spitting out sword qi filled with Haoran Righteous Qi—it turned out that he had used his life-bound "Free Wandering" to intentionally nourish the sword qi while the Demon Master was making trouble.

In front was Master Lianchi's Vajra Subduing Demon Fist, the fist wind stirring up the phantom of the Eight Heavenly Dragons.

Behind was the Spring and Autumn sword qi, with mountains and rivers manifesting in his sight.

The Master was attacked from both front and back!

And above, Lu Hua had already sacrificed the Sanzhen Myriad Dharma Sword.

A giant sword phantom spanning a hundred zhang condensed in the void, the ten-zhang sword shadow falling while wrapped in the Big Dipper's gang-sha, the "Slay Evil" characters engraved on the sword body falling like a collapsing heavenly pillar.

It crushed straight down toward the Master.

Lu Hua stood in the air, stepping on the hilt of the giant sword phantom.

The most dangerous killing move was in the square inch—unknown when, the Demon Master had seeped into the blue stone floor using blood escape.

When the pitch-black demonic palm broke through the ground, a blood-colored vertical pupil opened in the center of the palm; it was the forbidden absolute technique of the Blood River Sect, the "Heaven Weeping Blood Hand"!

Yu Ke's pupils condensed; the four people's killing moves erupted simultaneously before the Master's words had even fallen.

The qi of the four supreme experts of the current generation bit together perfectly the moment the Master spat out the last word.

The net of heaven and earth had already closed—

In a flash of lightning, the net of heaven and earth was formed.

If it were anyone else, this all-encompassing killing momentum would be inescapable.

Yu Ke initiated the Demon-Slaying and Ghost-Slaying twin swords in his heart-sea, only to find that he had no room to intervene.

Xie Guan, at the Fourth Realm of martial arts and the Seventh Realm of the primordial spirit, was indeed difficult to intervene in the level of these Great Grandmasters of the world.

But... they wanted to take down the Master just like this?

Yu Ke was not so optimistic in his heart?

Such an old monster had drifted on the earth like a ghost for nearly two thousand years.

It wouldn't be so easy to fall!

The Master's expression was as usual, as if what was coming toward him was not a world-destroying killing move, but willow catkins brushing his face in the spring.

The Sanzhen Myriad Dharma Sword fell, but it seemed to strike into a ten-thousand-zhang deep sea;

The Vajra palm seal struck, like hitting an empty valley;

The Spring and Autumn sword qi pierced, like a clay ox entering the sea;

The Heaven Weeping Blood Hand invaded, like a stone sinking into the sea.

There was no earth-shattering roar, no destructive force.

The four heaven-shaking killing moves, landing on the Master, only stirred up a few light sounds, not even lifting his sleeves by half.

Like "rain hitting banana leaves."

Seeing this, the four, although they had long expected it, were still shocked to the core.

Lu Hua withdrew her sword and retreated before her sword momentum was exhausted, her figure like a startled swan, appearing several zhang away in an instant.

The blood shadow transformed by the Demon Master slithered on the ground, escaping back like a bird returning to its nest.

Xu Li Xian's figure had long since disappeared; two zhang off the ground, he tapped his toes in the void, his Confucian robes fluttering.

The sword qi condensed in front of his chest gathered again, and under the blessing of several strands, the sword intent grew even higher.

Only Master Lianchi did not retreat but advanced, the Vajra Subduing Demon Fist seal blooming with golden light.

Where the fist wind passed, phantoms of golden lotuses actually grew on the blue stone ground.

"Mount Sumeru Collapses!"

A Buddha name shook the air, the phantom of Mount Sumeru manifested behind Master Lianchi, the fist force like a collapsing mountain.

The Master was forced back three steps by this punch.

Yet a smile appeared on his face.

Master Lianchi's fist momentum changed again, the fist shadows dividing into thousands, like three thousand Arhats punching simultaneously, as numerous as the sands of the Ganges.

Three thousand fist seals, each punch hitting flesh, yet it seemed like striking the surface of a lake.

The Master stood with his hands behind his back, letting Master Lianchi's fist force land on his chest like raindrops, the smile on his face remaining.

"Amitabha."

As the old monk chanted the Buddha name, the red mole between his eyebrows turned into a bleeding lotus.

The Vajra Angry-Eyed appearance was completely revealed, and behind him actually emerged the angry body of the Great Sun Tathagata—the Dharma body of Acala!

"Red Lotus Purifies the World!"

The old monk's fist wind ignited "karmic fire," like a burning fire wheel, lifting the Master and throwing him fiercely onto the ground over his shoulder.

The Master's figure was rolled up by the fire wheel and fell heavily to the ground.

"Boom—"

The blue stone ground cracked like a spider web, and a five-zhang radius collapsed into a pit.

A great fire ignited within the smoke and fire pit.

The sword intent in Xu Li Xian's chest had long been full, and at this moment it transformed into a white rainbow piercing the sun, straight into the sea of fire.

The phantom of the Spring and Autumn Brush appeared in the sword qi, and where the tip pointed, the characters "Gentleman" actually manifested.

Master Lianchi leaped back, standing with the Demon Master and Lu Hua in a three-talents formation.

White light spat out in the abyss, the sword qi piercing five zhang into the ground, yet not a sound could be heard.

Xu Li Xian landed gracefully, his green robes fluttering without wind, but his face was ugly.

Within the great pit, only the raging fire was silently wreaking havoc; the four were all frowning, but did not attack again.

The Master had let them attack from beginning to end without defending, and although the four had not used their full strength, they had used most of their skills.

However, the Master was unscathed!

As the smoke and dust in the pit gradually dispersed, the fire also gradually subsided.

The four's expressions grew increasingly solemn.

Suddenly, a voice rang out from the pit.

"Not bad!"

As the last syllable fell, the figure of an old man was already standing outside the great pit, gently brushing the dust off his body.

"However,"

The Master swept his gaze over the four, "this kind of strength is probably not enough."

"It's my turn, isn't it?"

The Master's words carried a smile, and like Xu Li Xian's "Free Wandering," he disappeared abruptly from everyone's sight.

Seeing this, Yu Ke hurriedly warned Lu Hua: "Be careful!"

At the same time!

Master Master Lianchi had long been alert and had already performed his life-bound supernatural power, "Three-Zhang Golden Body," casting glazed golden light over the Demon Master, Lu Hua, and himself.

This was Master Master Lianchi's life-bound effect, capable of bestowing a "Vajra Body" upon others.

Xu Li Xian also quickly used "Free Wandering" to shift Lu Hua's position.

Although Lu Hua was the weakest among the four, with the help of the Sanzhen Myriad Dharma Sword, her power was not inferior to the other three Great Grandmasters.

Nothing could go wrong!

Yu Ke suddenly thought of something and hurriedly said to Master Master Lianchi:

"Master, protect yourself first!"

However, it was too late!

The Master had already appeared, pointing a finger at Master Lianchi's chest.

Master Master Lianchi had just initiated his life-bound effect, but he was ultimately a step too slow and had not yet managed to perform the "Golden Body Indestructible Body."

There was no suspense!

The old monk's chest was pierced by the Master's finger, exploding like a watermelon, a cloud of blood mist bursting out behind him.

Lu Hua's pupils shrank sharply, watching helplessly as Master Master Lianchi's body exploded into two halves, his vitality completely lost.

Seeing this, the Demon Master immediately performed the Blood Shadow Escape, instantly distancing himself several zhang from the Master.

The Master just smiled indifferently: "To kill you, do I still need to break you one by one?"

"No need to pick a weak one, killing anyone is the same!"

Master Lianchi's corpse lay prone, and the three's expressions grew increasingly unbearable.

The Demon Master's heart trembled; it was just a single strike.

He had killed Master Lianchi, who was in the same realm as him.

How much of his strength had the Master actually used just now?

(End of chapter)