Chapter 77: Bai Yuan Smashed, Loot Counted!

Boom!

Li Yuan felt only a sudden heat in his palm as his hand plunged into the extinguished incense burner.

In the blink of an eye, he tossed all the weapons from the gray Dingxin Dingxin Shitai into it, and then the massive incense burner vanished into thin air.

Li Yuan's entire sequence of movements was swift and decisive, taking no more than a few seconds from start to finish.

By the time he vaulted back over the outer wall and looked behind him, the slaughter behind the main hall had reached a fever pitch, and no one had noticed him at all.

"Go!"

Li Yuan acted with decisive speed, turning and leaving this place of trouble.

But he did not go far, instead finding a relatively hidden spot to gaze at the Thousand-Eyed Bodhisattva Temple in the rainy night.

Like a fierce tiger hunting, he crouched in the darkness, waiting for his prey to come to him.

"White Cloud Palm!"

"Kill!"

"Ah!"

Slaughter, screams, and collisions.

After a long while, Yu Zhen burst through the door, backhanding Wang Ding, whose eyes were about to burst from rage, sending him flying off the ground, while Yu Zhen himself used the momentum to leap forward and plunge into the rain curtain.

"No!"

Wang Ding's eyes bulged with fury, swallowed by the force from behind.

Internal energy erupted!

Erupted!

In the heavy rain, Yu Zhen, his body stained with blood, ran for his life; his leather boots were trampled to pieces in a few steps, and each stride carried him over thirty meters, leaving the cries of battle far behind.

"He broke out!"

With blood qi steaming from his body, Yu Zhen snapped out of his frenzy, glanced back at the Thousand-Eyed Bodhisattva Temple, and felt his heart grow cold.

He had sensed an extremely ferocious aura in the temple's rear courtyard.

That aura was violent and ruthless, as if a tangible hand had tightly gripped his heart, instantly sobering him and driving him to flee for his life.

Even more fierce than Qiu Long...

"This temple, this temple..."

Gnashing his teeth as he fled, Yu Zhen swore that upon his return, he would definitely destroy the Bai Shen Fa he had cultivated.

This Wu Gong was too bizarre, too evil, and far beyond his ability to control.

"Only by finding the Path of Weapons..."

As Yu Zhen exerted himself to run, suddenly a chill ran through his heart; he looked up sharply and felt the world go black before his eyes.

An iron hammer, as large as a child's head, smashed down upon him from the front above!

"Where did this damn thing come from?"

Yu Zhen's eyes turned red.

The timing of this ambush was too precise; having just sprinted this far, he had no time to retreat or turn, and moreover, the hammer was quite large yet seemed to make no sound, preventing him from noticing it immediately.

He could only hastily summon his internal energy; the blood qi boiling from his frantic running felt as if it were about to burn, causing him to let out a roar of rage.

Whoosh!

His reaction was not slow; his muscles instantly swelled, nearly tearing his tattered black clothes, as he used all his strength to slash his long blade upward!

Meeting a hammer with a blade is a grave taboo.

Yu Zhen knew this well, but he also saw that although the hammer was large, the one wielding it seemed to have very poor Wu Gong, for the hammer appeared light and insubstantial.

Bang!

The great hammer fell, crashing heavily onto the long blade.

"Damn..."

At the instant the hammer met the blade, Yu Zhen felt the world go black before his eyes.

With just one strike, the long blade was knocked flying, and his Hukou split open!

"Ah!"

His eyes bloodshot and veins bulging, he decisively crossed his arms, his blood qi surging and internal energy bolstering them, attempting to block the hammer strike.

'Long hammers indeed do not fear internal energy!

Li Yuan felt the vibration of the hammer shaft, but with the hammer head and a shaft one point eight meters long in between, he felt absolutely nothing.

With this strike, he unleashed his full power.

A thousand jin of force, heavy and powerful, lifting the heavy as if it were light, the might of the tiger, mastery of long weapons...

Both great hammers were fully activated, actively bolstering himself!

"Roar!"

Yu Zhen heard the tiger's roar, and Yu Yu Xuanji felt as though he

had been struck by a mountain; his arms instantly snapped, his eyes went black, and he spat out a torrent of fresh blood.

"Bai Yuan Hammer Strike?!"

Coughing up blood in great mouthfuls, Yu Zhen actually used the force to violently retreat; seeing the dark figure dragging the hammer down the long street, he suddenly understood:

"It's you, it's you! You killed Qin Xiong, you killed Nian Jiu!"

Crack!

The bluestone was crushed underfoot in a single step.

Having guessed the identity of the attacker, Yu Zhen, after retreating once, launched himself forward again to kill, acting like a madman:

"Return my weapon..."

"Roar!"

The tiger's roar rises again!

In the heavy rain, Li Yuan exerts force beneath his feet, twists his body and rotates his waist, his entire body and face flushed crimson, swinging a massive hammer that carries a wind like a tiger's roar, accompanied by the rumbling of thunder from the sky,

striking out once more!

It is still the White Ape Hammer Strike, yet more than that; it incorporates the first form of the Soldier's Way Dueling Hammer technique, 'Weapon Strike!'

White Ape Weapon Strike!

Bang!

Hammer meets man.

A single dull thud; Yu Zhen's arms are reduced to flesh and blood, beaten off the ground to a height of fully one meter, the sound of his bones and tendons snapping 'crack-crack-crack.'

"You..."

This hammer strike seems to have woken Yu Zhen; as he flies backward, a look of terror flashes in his eyes.

The massive hammer that struck true withdraws, swings in a wide arc,

coming down from above to pursue!

Boom!

The hammer falls between head and neck, smashing Yu Zhen, who was lifted off the ground, heavily back into the earth.

The bluestone shatters, stone chips and rainwater flying together.

"Hah!"

In the heavy rain, the scent of blood is thick.

Li Yuan exhales a murky breath, enduring the soreness throughout his body, picks up the items from Yu Zhen's body, turns, and vanishes into the curtain of rain.

Soon, footsteps approach.

"Chase quickly... Eh?! Wait..."

Several fierce Monks, carrying monk knives, chase to this spot; seeing the black-clad man who resembles minced meat, they pause slightly, then, after bending down to inspect, their expressions change drastically:

"Such a vicious hammer technique—could it be Han Han Chuijun?!"

The Monks exchange glances, all horrified and terrified; they dare not even touch the corpse, turning and fleeing hastily.

"Rainy days are indeed lively!"

On a certain eave, Han Han Chuijun, wearing a bamboo hat, gazes toward the Thousand-Eyed Bodhisattva Temple; sensing something, he narrows his eyes slightly:

"The people of the Wutang should not be such trash. Or perhaps he was just a passerby? A pity, not even a single big fish was caught..."

After standing and watching for a while, seeing the lights within the Bodhisattva Temple dim, he finally turns and leaves.

Walking through several streets, just as he is about to return to the courtyard, he suddenly smells a strong scent of blood.

A martial artist's vital energy far exceeds that of ordinary people; the scent of blood is likewise far stronger.

"A Body Tempering martial artist?"

Han Han Chuijun's heart stirs slightly; after pacing a few steps, he sees a corpse resembling rotten mud on the street in the heavy rain.

"These injuries..."

The heavy rain continues until the second half of the night.

When Li Yuan returns to the small courtyard soaked in rain, most of the blood scent on his body has been washed away, and all traces of his coming and going have been thoroughly rinsed clean.

"The combination of lifting heavy weights lightly and striking with great force and momentum is far more powerful than I imagined!"

Wringing out the hemp clothes and rags and tossing them onto the table, Li Yuan is still savoring the previous battle.

When killing Qin Xiong, he struck fully eighteen times, but when killing Yu Zhen, who was stronger than Qin Xiong, he used only three and a half strikes.

This is not only due to his increased strength, but also the combination of the Control effects.

Lifting heavy weights lightly, Tiger Might, Long Weapon Mastery, combined with the Control effect of the Jade-Green Bronze Hammer, plus the Wind-Breaking Hammer weighing over a hundred jin, allowed him to catch Yu Zhen off guard and severely injure him with a single blow.

That strike, seemingly light and floating, was actually one he had been charging for some time, chosen specifically for the moment when Yu Zhen's momentum was most fierce.

"Body Tempering martial

artists are indeed too tough; even Yu Zhen, who does not practice Hard Body cultivation, could withstand my three strikes..."

Kneading his sore hands and feet, Li Yuan feels he overestimated his own tolerance; this outburst still caused muscle and tendon strains.

He now possesses a thousand jin of strength himself; with the enhancement of the Jade-Green Bronze Hammer, his power exceeds two thousand jin. Adding the great force and momentum, the final three strikes exceeded four times what his body can withstand.

How could he possibly endure it?

"Hard Body cultivation remains very important. If I had mastered Hard Body cultivation, perhaps I could endure the enhancement and outburst for a long time. Unfortunately, without controlling the Inner Armor, the progress of the Seven Stars Hard Body is too slow..."

Relieving his muscles and tendons, Li Yuan touches the Inner Armor.

He has only one Inner Armor; if he controls it, there is nothing left to wear on his body...

"Yu Zhen was much stronger than expected, but even if he had not been trapped in the Thousand-Eyed Bodhisattva Temple, my ambush killing him would not have exceeded eighteen strikes! His strength is less than two thousand jin; he cannot withstand my heavy hammer!"

"The advantage of long weapons is great; internal energy bursts cannot possibly reach two meters. Therefore, even if he bursts with internal energy, he cannot harm me."

"All martial artists guard their vital points very strictly. Therefore, do not strike the head or chest with the first hammer; strike the hands first! Once the hands are disabled, ninety percent of their skill is lost!"

Lighting a candle, Li Yuan reviews this battle in his mind.

His practical combat experience is very little, so after every battle, he analyzes for a long time, summarizing gains and losses; this is very important, and for him, even more so than the spoils.

"And that Thousand-Eye Bodhisattva Temple… today, counting me, at least three groups have arrived at the Bodhisattva Temple. This temple, I'm afraid, really does hold some secret…"

Li Yuan tapped the tabletop lightly.

A normal temple—who would keep dozens of vicious dogs?

Recalling those two pendants, he grew more certain that the Bodhisattva Temple must be hiding quite a lot of things…

"Hoo!"

After a long while, Li Yuan finally got up, took a Zeng Xue Dan, ran through several sets of Soldier-Body Postures, and only when the pain had eased did he lie down in his clothes.

Time to tally the haul!

"This time, I really struck it rich!"

Li Yuan murmured to himself.

On the gray Dingxin Dingxin Shitai, only a single large incense burner two chi tall at the legs remained; all the Weapon items, including the Gale-Splitting Hammer, had been placed inside it.

Just this one incense burner alone made the whole trip worthwhile!

"How much can this thing hold? Hmm, tomorrow I'll find a place to dump out the incense ash…"

Li Yuan's heart brimmed with joy. With an incense burner like this, he wouldn't have to worry about the Dingxin Dingxin Shitai being too small for a while.

Not to mention, this incense burner is also a second-grade item.

"Although I haven't mastered this incense burner, I seem to feel my heart is much calmer. Carrying it on me also has some effect?"

Having finally gotten his hands on the incense burner he'd been eyeing for a long time, Li Yuan was quite pleased for a while.

Only then did he begin tallying the haul he'd gotten from Yu Zhen.

This Fuxiu Fuxiu Daoren from the Hidden Dragon Prefecture clearly hadn't treated the Weapon-Forging Shop as his own home—his entire fortune had been on his person.

Yu Zhen's waist pouch was very full, literally full. Inside were not only three bottles of pills and over a dozen taels of broken silver, but also, remarkably, two banknotes of a hundred taels each.

Besides that second-grade long saber and the Green Serpent Root Bone Diagram, there were also two first-grade items: a flying dagger and a poison pouch.

"Lucky it was a sneak attack—otherwise, fighting him head-on, I'd have had to guard against being poisoned…"

After tallying the haul, Li Yuan's thoughts settled on that scroll of the Green Serpent Root Bone Diagram:

"Can my root bone still be altered?"