Chapter 180

"What do you mean, Brother? Do you think I can't handle this Wang comrade?" The young monk fell silent, then replied in an equally cold voice.

The tall, thin monk frowned slightly but answered with a slightly softened tone:

"This disciple of the Four Symbols Sect is no ordinary person. Though he's only at the late Qi Refining stage, he's almost certainly a Guarding Force who has trained in body cultivation, and one who has already brought his breathing technique to First-Stage Mastery—someone with a real chance of becoming a Second-Stage Force."

"You know well that your Arhat Golden Body is a profoundly mysterious technique of our temple, but compared to a First-Stage Mastery breathing method, it's hard to say which is stronger in body cultivation. The Arhat Golden Body merely has the rare advantage of generating spiritual power while cultivating the body—it's a true dual cultivation method."

"First-Stage Mastery of a breathing technique? Did you hear that through your Heavenly Ear Penetration?" The young monk sounded doubtful.

"Hmph, do you think the true marvel of Heavenly Ear Penetration lies elsewhere? A person's breath and the flow of their blood and qi produce sounds imperceptible to ordinary ears. When my Heavenly Ear Penetration detects them, I can gauge the strength of their body—and with greater focus, even discern traces of the cultivation methods they've practiced." Yuan Ming replied without expression.

"Even so, in body cultivation, I'm at least evenly matched with him. Don't forget the greatest strength of the Arhat Golden Body: its invincible defense at the same stage. Even if his body strength equals mine, if I stand still and let him strike, he still won't break my Golden Body." The young monk spoke coldly, clearly still unconvinced by Yuan Ming's words.

"But according to my Heavenly Ear Penetration, this Wang Yu's body cultivation technique isn't limited to just breathing methods—he's clearly trained another extremely potent body cultivation art, one whose effects aren't much weaker than that First-Stage Mastery breathing technique."

"If this body cultivation art comes with deadly offensive techniques, I can't guarantee your Arhat Golden Body will withstand his full-force strike."

"You were born with Buddha Bones, raised since childhood on rare pills to nourish your body and blood, and you practice the Arhat Golden Body—one of our temple's top two body cultivation methods for Qi Refining cultivators. It's natural you carry some pride and don't treat other peers as true rivals. I understand."

"But this isn't our temple—it's a deadly secret realm where we fight the demonic sects. If you still treat a powerful enemy like a game, even with me guarding you, you risk death. After all, I sacrificed my own cultivation to enter this realm—how can I be sure other sects haven't done the same?"

"Especially among the demonic sects—cruel and ruthless individuals abound. They might employ even more brutal methods." The tall, thin monk spoke at length, yet his expression remained blank.

This time, the young monk did not reply immediately. Instead, he fell into deep thought, then suddenly bowed one hand in a Buddhist gesture to Yuan Ming and said respectfully:

"Thank you, Brother, for your guidance. Yuan Tong has fallen into 'anger' without realizing it. When we return to the temple, I will go to the back mountain to face the wall and repent, purifying my inner demons."

"Good, very good! Yuan Tong, your awakening is not too late. As long as we work together and proceed with caution, our chances of gaining benefits from the Jialan Secret Realm remain high."

"After all, I brought a secret treasure that can sense the Fan Shen Fa Ti. As long as we're within a certain range, we can locate it directly." The tall, thin monk's eyes softened with relief.

"I leave everything to Brother's judgment," the young monk said, as if transformed into a different person.

The tall, thin monk nodded, about to speak further, when suddenly, from below the mountains, several pale white beams shot upward, vanished in an instant, and struck the lotus artifact beneath them.

With a thunderous boom, the lotus artifact, riddled with damage, plummeted from the sky—but the two monks atop it stood unharmed in midair, one with faint golden patterns glowing on his skin, the other enveloped in a silvery light shield.

At that moment, rolling black mist surged upward from the mountain peak, within which faintly appeared five or six shadowy figures.

"Amitabha"

"Excellent, excellent"

The two monks, calm and composed, descended directly to meet them.

…

Wang Yu did not know the exact location of the secret realm's core, but he felt heading deeper into the mountains was unlikely to be wrong.

Now that he knew the demonic sects could track members of the Four Sects, he intended to find other True Disciples of the Four Sects and form a group. Whether he gained any benefits from the secret realm was secondary.

At this moment, he was passing through a valley between two small mountains, casually slaying several low-grade demonic scorpions, each several chi long.

Suddenly, he felt the crystal ball in his pocket tremble again.

Wang Yu paused, pulled it out, and saw three faint red dots glowing along the edge of the crystal's pointing direction—rapidly approaching him.

Without hesitation, he shifted his body and hid beneath a massive rock. Then, with a single hand gesture, several wisps of white cloud passed over his skin, and he vanished completely from sight.

Moments later, a crimson orb flew overhead, within which three disciples of the Sunset Sect, clad in crimson robes, were riding a crimson flying vessel. Behind them, a massive bone bird, entirely white and skeletal, carried seven or eight black-robed figures in hot pursuit.

The dozen or so black-robed figures continuously unleashed spells to attack the crimson vessel from afar, while the three Sunset Sect disciples countered with their own defensive spells.

In an instant, both groups vanished from the sky.

Throughout this, Wang Yu made no move to intervene. He waited a little longer before dispelling the Cloud Concealment Technique and continuing his journey.

Yet barely half an hour passed before the crystal ball in his pocket vibrated again.

This time, Wang Yu leapt onto a nearby large tree and once again cast a concealment spell.

This time, a pair of figures dressed in the attire of the Joyous Palace—man and woman—rode a giant green butterfly across the sky, pursued by a yellow flying vessel carrying four disciples of the Thousand Bamboo Sect, all clad in blue robes. Again, one group fled, the other chased, swiftly vanishing into the distance.

Moments later, Wang Yu leapt down from the tree, staring at the direction the figures had vanished, his eyes flickering. Just as he turned to continue forward, two black hands, gleaming with metallic luster, suddenly burst from the ground beneath his feet, gripping his ankles with crushing force—intent on shattering them.