Chapter 113

The enraged Vajra raised his right hand, clenched his fist, but did not swing it directly at Tang Luo.

Instead, he pulled it behind him, his whole body like a taut bow pulled to its limit, then swung backhanded at Tang Luo.

A dull sonic boom came screaming, his arm no longer an arm but a massive cylindrical sweep!

"Patron, your patience is not very good." Tang Luo raised his hand and casually slapped.

Pa-ta!

The crisp sound of a palm strike, the Vajra's right hand was lightly brushed aside by Tang Luo.

At the same time, the palm resting on the Vajra's left shoulder emitted light, blindingly bright, like a small sun.

When the light faded, Tang Luo had already withdrawn his hand and stepped back.

One hand held upright before his chest, the standard monk's posture, though it looked a little strange with a small cat perched on his shoulder.

Clearly, sitting cross-legged like a striped tiger would have been more fitting for his earlier display.

Having gathered some merit power, Tang Luo looked at the burly man before him and smiled faintly, holding a flower.

The Vajra's expression showed no dazed stupor, nor did he look at his already restored left arm, but at his right arm.

Just now, the fist I swung out—was it simply "slapped" back by this person?

This monk...

The Vajra suddenly turned his head to look at Tang Luo: "Master!"

"Patron, please speak." Tang Luo nodded satisfactorily. Indeed, after displaying true skill, one earns others' respect.

My Master Xuanzang's enlightenment—no one can treat it lightly.

"Master! Please teach me!"

The Vajra roared loudly, shifting from kneeling on one knee to both knees, and directly slammed his forehead into the ground.

There happened to be a small stone on the ground, which he shattered with his head.

Tang Luo said, "The poor monk's enlightenment technique is not to be transmitted externally."

"No." The Vajra raised his head and said, "I don't care about any enlightenment; Master's strength is what I want to learn!"

A real man should have splendid muscles and surging strength! Everything else is heresy!

"..."

This script is all wrong! Although he did bow his head in submission, why is it "subduing people through force"?

This is not what Tang Luo wanted. As a dignified god-level support, Bone Regeneration • Enlightenment Technique is what he wanted to display as his specialty.

"Master! Please still teach me!"

Dong-dong-dong!

The Vajra is an honest man; without another word, he kowtowed several more times.

Though this monk looks "frail and unable to withstand the wind," his immense strength makes the Vajra feel reverent.

Hidden within such a "weak" physique is this terrifying power.

If his muscles were a bit more developed, wouldn't that be excessive?

"... Patron, first tell the poor monk about the monsters in this place." Tang Luo said.

"Good." The Vajra nodded. The Dharma must not be lightly transmitted; he still understands this principle.

Next, the Vajra fabricated for himself the identity of a wandering knight named Vajra, saying he, like Tang Luo, enjoys traveling far and wide, entrusted by others, and came here to rescue "Grandfather."

Aside from that, Tang Luo knew nothing.

After careful observation by the acting master Tang Luo, he discovered the Vajra truly did not know, rather than deliberately concealing relevant information.

After all that trouble, saving a clueless novice, Tang Luo couldn't help feeling a little disappointed.

"Where did this toad come from?" Tang Luo asked.

Up to this point, Tang Luo had seen only a small stream not worth mentioning in the "water area"; it shouldn't be able to hide a toad demon the size of a young calf.

"I don't know. I was looking for Grandfather when it suddenly jumped out, and then we started fighting." The Vajra said.

"..." Tang Luo felt that compared to this Vajra, he himself hardly counts as a reckless man.

"Since Patron is here to save people, and I am here to subdue demons," Tang Luo said, "why not work together?"

"Master, you decide." The Vajra agreed without another word.

The last time Tang Luo encountered something, it was a tiger parasitized by a strange snake, moving silently through the mountains and forests, leaving no trace.

But this toad is different.

Even without letting the Heavenly Howling Dog display its true tracking skills, the Vajra can easily find the traces it left while moving along.

The flattened grass clumps, broken trees, and the slime left behind have all become excellent indicators.

As for following this trail all the way—would it not directly crash into the enemy's lair, encountering a horde of demons—this is not within Tang Luo and the Vajra's consideration.

What if we encounter enemies?

Hammer them to death! That is the Vajra's answer.

Let the Vajra trade blows with them, give him enlightenment healing a few times, then kill the demons we encounter—that is Tang Luo's answer.

Why only a few times?

Because after multiple enlightenments to save people, at best one can only maintain a balance between consumption and acquisition of merit; it's impossible to give Tang Luo infinite merit farming.

Sometimes consumption even exceeds gain, resulting in a loss.

Although both harbor their own thoughts, their purposes are simple enough, and traveling together has been pleasant enough.

On the other side, things are not so pure for Tang Luo and the two of them.

Due to differing opinions, the six-man gourd-shaped team has vaguely split into several small factions.

Represented by the painter Gu Feng, one group solely wants the fate fragments—the Fate Fragment Party.

The Fragment Party, in their discussion of attacking Tang Luo, remains highly consistent with the just allies Garen and Qīwá.

As a fence-sitter, Li Qing chose to go with the flow.

The openly opposed Qin Menglan began to be subtly isolated by everyone.

Li Qing, walking beside Qin Menglan, chatted with her a few words, though the topic occasionally brought up Tang Luo, which gave Qin Menglan a headache.

What kind of karma did she create to end up knowing Tang Luo, that trouble-maker?

She shouldn't have become a God-Demon Walker in the first place; if she hadn't become a God-Demon Walker, she wouldn't have joined Walk Into Science; if she hadn't joined Walk Into Science, she wouldn't have taken on the important role of liaison.

If she hadn't served as liaison, she wouldn't have met Tang Luo.

If she hadn't met Tang Luo, she would now, like others, be clenching her fists ready to fight—at the very least, she'd be like Li Qing, a fence-sitter with no psychological pressure or burden.

Speaking of which, Tang Luo is clearly one of our own, so why does he have different faction missions?

Could it be that the Lucky One has reached the extreme, and backlash turned him into an African?

Multiple pieces of equipment, a powerful destiny, rapidly rising strength in a short time, and a one-of-a-kind pet.

Has such Lucky One treatment come to an end?

"I feel it! I feel it!" Suddenly, the Seven Babies Gourd carried by Garen shouted loudly, "Right in front of us!"

"Found it?"

"Hurry up! Don't let him get away!"

Everyone's spirits were shaken, and they immediately shifted from walking to a light jog, rushing quickly in the direction indicated by the Seven Babies.

"Ribbit!"

"Ribbit!"

"Croak!"

After advancing about half an hour, waves of eerie, strange sounds entered everyone's ears—like frog croaks mixed with crow caws.

Just hearing it made one feel restless and agitated, even prone to nausea and dizziness.

"Ascending Dragon Fist!"

Immediately followed, a roar that shook the heavens and earth, then the sound of a tiger's roar and a dragon's chant.

People saw in the sky not far off, more than a dozen giant toads soaring……not "all" toads, though.

Sharp-eyed individuals noticed that several of the toads strangely had crow heads and wings growing on their bodies.

It looked as if the toads had swallowed the crows, yet the crows had burst out from within.

The soaring toads exploded in midair, faintly revealing a transparent, massive dragon-shaped energy surge.

"It's Jin Gang!"

Yunxiao Huan said, recognizing the roar—it was the one who had chosen to act alone from the start, Jin Gang.

"Right there, hurry up, hurry up!" urged the Seven Babies Gourd.

"Did Xuanzang and Jin Gang meet?" Gu Feng was stunned, and with the toads blown away, a three-way battle?

No, it's about to become a four-way battle right now.

His heart instantly burned with excitement; if luck was on his side, he might just sit back and reap the benefits like a fisherman.

Liu Jian couldn't wait any longer, suddenly accelerated, his movements becoming agile and graceful, and in a few leaps he surpassed the leading Garen.

"I'll go find a place to support." Liu Jian paused, and in his hand appeared a gray, very simple wooden bow.

After declaring his identity as "long-range damage," Liu Jian accelerated again, vanishing from everyone's sight.

Others also didn't linger, all quickening their pace.

"Whoo——whoo——whoo——"

Jin Gang panted loudly, fresh blood and fragments falling around him, hitting the ground and forming a scene like a slaughterhouse.

The two thoughtless guys, sure enough, charged straight into the toads' nest—deep in the forest, a lake.

The lake's total area is estimated to be about three football fields, not very large.

But it's very deep; when they first approached, nothing seemed abnormal.

When Jin Gang threw a large stone into the lake, it was like poking a hornet's nest.

The previously calm lake surface surged with waves, and large numbers of toads appeared, rushing frantically toward the shore where Tang Luo and Jin Gang stood.

The number exceeded fifty.

Fortunately, unlike the first toad Jin Gang encountered, these didn't spit poison on sight.

In this direct confrontation, Jin Gang has always been fearless!

After killing several toads, Jin Gang was surrounded, and he broke out using the skill "Ascending Dragon Fist"—as the saying goes, all martial arts under heaven originate from the Ascending Dragon.

Although it consumed a lot, he also successfully killed nearly all the toads that had lunged at him.

At the same time, it fully ignited Jin Gang's battle lust.

"Come on! Who else!" he roared, and there were no toads left in front of him.

So, Jin Gang turned around, looked behind—come on! Let's have a clash of power!

"Master!"

Upon seeing this, Jin Gang was startled.

Aside from the toads he had drawn over and dealt with using Ascending Dragon Fist, the remaining toads had actually all gone to surround Master Xuanzang.

Although he knew Master Xuanzang's strength absolutely surpassed his own, so many toads swarming at once—imagine being hit from all directions, even thirty-plus high-speed vehicles flying through the sky, like one person charging straight at you.

A slight mistake, and it would be a scene of shattered bones and body.

Jin Gang also saw the toad leading the charge open its mouth and actually spit out a stream of poison!

The poison spread in midair, directly cutting off all of Tang Luo's dodging space.

Using such a critical moment, do the toads also have old yin beings inside them?

"Doomed!" Jin Gang only had time to think this in his heart when he saw Master Xuanzang leap up.

Leaping up while covered in venom, he casually swung his hand, whipping a toad that had lunged at him into a cloud of blood mist.

Tang Luo leapt to a height of ten meters, flipped his body upside down, head facing downward, aimed at the ground beneath his feet, and extended his left hand.

The fingers of his left hand spread wide, pressing down emptily.

"Boom!"

Jin Gang felt the earth beneath his feet suddenly tremble.

In an instant, those toads vanished without a trace, following the motion of Master Xuanzang pressing down.

A pit appeared on the ground, its interior layered with a black-red hue.

Jin Gang focused his gaze, stretched his neck, and suddenly realized—the shape of the pit was unmistakably a handprint!

"……" Jin Gang gaped, his mouth wide open. What is this? The Tathagata's Palm?!

"Are you really planning to steal his fate fragment?" Qin Menglan, standing firm, spoke up.

Beside her stood the others who had just arrived, fists clenched and palms rubbed, ready to fight but not yet able to act, frozen in place—Gu Feng and the others.