Chapter 521: Who Opens the Temple? (Makeup Update 5)

A martial artist's fighting style is inseparable from his own Wu Gong, methods, and personal temperament.

Through repeated battles—chiefly the true-transmission trials of the Daoist Tianyun Daoist Tianyun Xuanbing—Li Yuan had long since figured out the fighting style that suited him best, one that encompassed the Palm-Banner Register.

That style was: either do not strike, or strike to kill!

The moment he realized the newcomer was at least a top-tier Grandmaster, Li Yuan had already begun gathering his strength. The blessings of nine divine weapons—among them the Sea-Splitting Yu Xuanjing Hammer, the Dragon-Tiger Longevity Furnace, the Yu Xuanjing Battle Hammer, the Dragon-Kun Jun Tian Hammer, and the Thunder Dragon Jun Tian Hammer—layered themselves onto him one by one!

In the end, at the instant Zhu Zhu Shengzhi rushed through the temple gate, he erupted with a thunderous blast!

Dragon-Elephant Combined Strike, Dragon-Tiger Jun Tian, Soldier's Dao Killing Blow.

Boom!

A thunderous roar beyond description jolted Zhu Zhu Shengzhi awake from the momentary daze of crossing the threshold!

Ah.

Zhu Zhu Shengzhi's eyes suddenly flooded with blood!

That hammer came too fast and too heavy, like a wall that sealed off every direction he might dodge to, so that he only just managed to raise both hands before the heavy hammer smashed into his chest.

To enter the Eight Directions Temple, he had made extensive preparations—inner armor, half-armor, a divine-grade armor, healing Longhu Longhu Dadan, his own Grand Perfection Horizontal Training, and the Golden Bell formed from his true qi!

With all these layered defenses, he was confident that even a full-force strike from a Great Grandmaster could be withstood for an instant!

And it was precisely to guard against this person that he had entered the temple at top speed!

Yet, the instant that heavy hammer fell, his mind went blank, and he felt an incredible, overwhelming force!

A power distilled to its purest extreme.

Boom.

The instant the heavy hammer descended, the Golden Bell of true qi Zhu Zhu Shengzhi had projected outward shattered into powder, followed by the divine-grade armor, half-armor, and inner armor he wore!

How could this be…

Zhu Zhu Shengzhi felt his spirit almost shaken out of his body; in his daze it was as if he had collided at extreme speed with a meteor falling from the heavens. His outer armor, his true qi, and even his proud, undefeated True-Gang Horizontal Training body were all pierced and crushed by that overwhelming force with irresistible momentum.

So much so that he had no time to resist before his feet left the ground,

and what had been a shooting entry became a shooting exit!

As he flew backward, his sinews and bones cracked explosively, blood gushed wildly from him,

as if he would be smashed to pieces!

"He blocked it."

With one strike, grievously wounded and near death, yet a fierce grin surfaced on Zhu Zhu Shengzhi's face—as long as he had blocked that hammer!

Crack!

A palm searingly hot came crashing down on his head!

After the hammer strike, Li Yuan decisively reached out and, with a Dragon-Snake Great Grappling Hand, exerted his full strength to clamp onto Zhu Zhu Shengzhi's skull!

"He survived even this?"

Li Yuan was quite astonished; with a sudden burst of tremendous force, he dragged the man's head and forcibly hauled him back.

The force of this back-and-forth was staggering—Zhu Zhu Shengzhi's

neck made a sickening grinding sound and was stretched out by about a meter, his entire spine nearly pulled out along with it!

No!

Zhu Zhu Shengzhi's eyes nearly split with rage!

That temple-opener's control over combat and timing was exquisite to the extreme, and his methods utterly vicious, leaving him not the slightest breath of respite!

What was more despairing was that, when he once again passed through the temple gate, another instant of daze struck; by the time he came back to himself, a knee strike that had been gathering force for a long time had already reached his face.

Bang!

With this strike, Li Yuan even heard the cracking of his own kneecap—even a body tempered to the Marrow-Washing Great Completion, bearing the augmentation of so many divine weapons and Daoist Tianyun Daoist Tianyun Xuanbing, could not avoid the backlash; yet the burst of that instant was terrifying enough!

Under the gaze of numerous Dayun court officials below the Star Observation Terrace, Zhu Zhu Shengzhi's skull was flung out of the temple gate and, after a bang, utterly shattered.

In but an instant, a top-tier Grandmaster of the Heavenly Gang level died before the eyes of all—and for a moment, beneath the Star Observation Terrace, there was a deathly silence!

Then, it boiled over completely!

"How dare you, wretch."

"Brother Zhu."

"Commander Zhu, no…"

The onlookers were all furious; Imperial Guard Commander-in-Chief Wang Jin even let out a long, furious howl, and had he not known the whip could not reach, he would have charged forward at once!

"Your Majesty."

The several Imperial Guard commanders were all beside themselves with rage, their qi and blood surging, shocked and furious to the extreme!

"Commander Zhu shall not have died in vain."

The Qian Emperor pinched his fingers, his face dark as water. He swept his gaze over those present: "Whoever dares slay a great minister of my Dayun, whether this person be anyone, I shall surely kill him and exterminate his clan."

His voice was cold yet laced with fury; as it echoed, it suppressed the clamor and calmed the thousand Imperial Guards. The Qian Emperor looked toward Wan Wan Zhuliu, Wu Wu Yingxing, Huang Huang Longzi, Shen Shen Qisheng, and the others: "With Old Zhu's Horizontal Training Wu Gong, even with intent against the unprepared, those who could slay him in a single breath—apart from ourselves—there are only a handful in all the world!"

Wang Jin forcibly suppressed his fury, his eyes reddening: "When Old Zhu was beaten out of the temple, his chest had caved in, his armor shattered—Old Zhu clearly was no match. Yet this beast still had to smash his head, mutilate his corpse—this, this is a slaughter, a slaughter."

Wang Jin was shocked and furious, and the Imperial Guards were all equally outraged!

Commander Wang, please accept our condolences!

Wu Wu Yingxing toyed with a few coins, his brow slightly furrowed: "Since Commander Zhu could enter the Eight Directions Temple, that proves the ritual is effective. Then, we need only do it again, and we shall know who this person is!"

While Wang Jin spoke, he had already cast a divination, but the trigram signs were jumbled—just as when he had previously divined the Eight Directions Temple—clearly, the one who entered the temple could not be spied upon!

But he did not divine again; as he had said, the ritual was effective, so whoever the culprit was, he could not escape!

I'll go.

Wang Jin strode forward, swept his gaze over that group of aged Grandmasters, his eyes reddening: "Your Majesty, this humble minister is willing to go capture and slay this beast."

The Qian Emperor frowned, but looked toward Huang Huang Longzi beneath the umbrella: "What is your opinion, sir?"

Huang Zilong shook his head: "This is not easy to say!"

Huang Huang Longzi shook his head: "Though the ritual and sacrificial method here originate from the academy, this poor Daoist is not truly proficient. Success this time does not guarantee success every time!"

Commander Zhu may succeed, but that does not mean Commander Wang will!

Huang Huang Longzi left himself room in his words; first, regarding the sacrificial method of the Eight Directions Temple, he knew what happened but not why; second, if a Grand Master were to perish, he did not wish to bear that responsibility!

Moreover...

His peripheral vision swept over the Eight Directions Temple reflected in the Great Sun Heaven-Monitoring Mirror, and his thoughts grew subtle!

His eyesight was excellent; though he had only glanced once, he could determine that the one entering the temple possessed Wu Gong inferior to that of Zhu Zhu Shengzhi!

"Not necessarily?"

Wang Jin's brow was filled with killing intent; he then bowed to the Qian Emperor: "This humble minister is willing to risk death to try."

This...

The Qian Emperor hesitated slightly, looking at Wan Wan Zhuliu, "Wan Zhuliu thinks..."

"...?"

Wan Wan Zhuliu was slightly dazed; hearing this, he clasped his hands and said: "This minister is willing to try!"

"Brother Wan."

Wang Jin's expression changed!

The Qian Emperor also frowned; he was unwilling for Wan Wan Zhuliu to test the danger with his own body.

"If this sacrificial ritual proves effective, I will naturally be unharmed; if the ritual goes awry, with the Zhenhai Shan Xuan Gui Armor upon my person, I am confident I can extract myself!"

Wan Wan Zhuliu glanced at Wang Jin: "This beast is connected to the Eight Directions Temple and cannot be easily killed. Once this matter is concluded, shall we hand him over to Brother Wang for disposal?"

"Very well, then it is up to Brother Wan!"

Wang Jin could only clasp his hands and agree, though inwardly he understood that before the Eight Directions Temple was thoroughly subdued, few present would be willing to kill the one who opened the temple!

"In that case..."

The Qian Emperor looked at Huang Huang Longzi, who merely lowered his head slightly!

"So be it!"

The Qian Emperor still agreed, ordering those on the left and right to prepare for the next ritual. The crowd on the empty ground finally dispersed; soon, only Wan Wan Zhuliu remained on the field!

He glanced at Huang Huang Longzi's retreating back, then followed the Qian Emperor into the Piandian not far away!

Buzz,

Almost the moment they entered the hall, silver light shimmered in Wan Wan Zhuliu's eyes, flowing out like water, and before the sovereign and minister, transformed into a blurred figure!

"Does the senior have any teaching for me?"

The Qian Emperor was not surprised by his appearance; he clasped his hands to inquire, neither too familiar nor too cold!

"There was once an opener of the temple in Tian Shi Yuan!"

The figure formed of silver light spoke lightly: "At that time, a vast number of people followed him, using methods not much different from those taught by Huang Huang Longzi!"

The sovereign and minister exchanged a glance; neither spoke!

"Fate in the world is often strange; who could have imagined that this realm of heaven and earth could produce an opener of the temple? Thinking of it now, even I find it incredible!"

The silver-formed figure sighed, then said: "It is said that only those personally invited by the Eight Directions Temple to enter qualify for true blessings!"

"Hmm?"

Wan Wan Zhuliu frowned slightly: "According to you, even if we conduct a grand sacrifice to enter the temple, we cannot obtain true blessings?"

"Nothing is absolute!"

The silver-formed figure sneered: "Capture this person, seize his qualification, and naturally one can obtain true blessings."

"Seize his qualification?"

The Qian Emperor's heart stirred slightly: "May I ask the senior, how can one gain the recognition of the Eight Directions Temple?"

"Difficult, difficult, difficult!"

The silver-formed figure glanced at him lightly: "Rather than indulging in wild thoughts, it is better to consider how to capture this person."

"Do you think this King cannot capture him?"

Wan Wan Zhuliu naturally heard the meaning in his words.

"It is not that simple."

"When the Martial Immortal Sect Master entered the temple in years past, how many followed him, among whom were many with profound cultivation!"

The silver-formed figure shook his head: "Those far superior to him at that time, yet not a single one could capture him!"

This was not only because he blended into the crowd of followers, but also because those invited to enter the temple seemed to possess some method to shift and dodge within the You Jing!

"Shifting within the You Jing?"

Wan Wan Zhuliu narrowed his eyes!

"To capture this person, one must first know who he is; if there is a way to force him to reveal himself voluntarily, that would be even better!"

"Force him to reveal himself?"

The Qian Emperor's expression shifted slightly: "Does the senior have a method?"

"Ordinary methods cannot peer into the Eight Directions Temple; even the Poison Academy lacks such capability, but..."

The silver-formed figure flicked a finger, and a streak of light transformed into a silk scroll, landing upon the table; immediately after, the figure vanished, reabsorbing into Wan Wan Zhuliu's gaze!

"Spirit-Peeping Method?"

The Qian Emperor opened the silk scroll; after only a glance, his heart skipped a beat: "Using Daoist Tianyun Daoist Tianyun Xuanbing as a guide to set up an altar! And so much incense? Moreover..."

Flipping through several pages, the Qian Emperor instinctively looked up toward the window; in the night, four great moons hung high in the sky, the moonlight hazy!