Chapter 412: Fist of Xuanwu, Second in Fierce Might

Chapter 412: The Fist of Xuanwu, Second Only in Prowess

Zhao Changhe had followed them inside precisely to hold the perimeter, ensuring that the fanatical cultists, who were potentially impervious to blades and spears, would not rush over and disrupt the fray.

Otherwise, this hunt was already fraught with uncertainty, and everyone had prepared to stake their lives; if a horde of reckless devotees charged in to recklessly block blows, it was highly probable they would tilt the battlefield.

He was not the sole bearer of this duty; Yuancheng and Guichen accompanied him in this task.

It was just that these two old codgers held a keener interest in the Bodhisattva, desiring to exchange blows with her. Then so be it, so long as they did not get trapped within and battered to death... they ought to know when to withdraw and hold the perimeter.

Guichen had once ranked twenty-ninth on the Earth Board, and since the demises of Helei and Cai Wenque, he had ascended to twenty-seventh; such strength was just right to suppress this group of protectors.

He had not pinned much hope on Yuancheng’s arrival; his acquaintance lay only with Master Yuanxing of Huayan Temple, while Yuancheng was the abbot, whom he had never met... yet upon Ying Wu’s reminder that Yuancheng would surely be deeply interested in such Buddhist matters, Zhao Changhe had nonetheless sent a letter via the Demon Suppression Bureau. As it turned out, Yuancheng had come scurrying over with great eagerness, arriving even earlier than Guichen...

With them holding the perimeter, they would largely be spared the needless interruptions of these allegedly invulnerable protectors; this so-called invulnerability was closely bound to Buddhist and Daoist incantations, which the two monks could indeed shatter...

Yet at this very moment, Zhao Changhe instead had no desire for Yuancheng and Guichen to come and help.

The protectors here were weaker than he had initially imagined; only Fachi could be deemed an expert, while the others were merely a rabble of shrimp soldiers and crab generals... it was evident that after numerous crushing defeats, the Maitreya Sect was short-handed, unable to produce any decent figures.

Rank thirty-eight on the Human Board...

Forty-four is too low, so it is you I shall fight!

With a sharp whistle, a blood-colored blade-light sliced through the vacuum, cleaving straight toward the head of the leading Fachi.

Fachi raised a Buddhist staff, parrying it overhead with a resounding clang, and both sides swayed slightly.

In terms of sheer strength alone, they were evenly matched... one possessed the Blood Asura Body, while the other was augmented by divine and Buddhist blessings.

The intent to battle overflowed within Zhao Changhe’s eyes.

Only such an opponent possessed true meaning!

"Blood Asura Zhao Changhe..." Fachi held his staff against the blade, his eyes betraying a profound hatred: "Starting from Yangzhou... the very root that has made the Holy Sect’s steps so arduous in Jiangnan... is you!"

"What of it?" Zhao Changhe remarked casually: "I only regret that my cultivation is too slow... otherwise, against you band of ruinous and evil cultists, this father of yours should have taken your heads long ago to offer to the white bones of Jiangnan."

"This is the path to Buddhahood, the voyage to eternal life! You have witnessed the prowess of the Bodhisattva with your own eyes, yet you remain stubbornly unawakened?"

Zhao Changhe could not be bothered to waste breath on an idiot brainwashed by an evil cult; the Dragon-Sparrow sword suddenly pivoted, and the head of a Maitreya disciple, who was attempting to bypass him to reinforce the lotus throne, soared into the air, spraying fresh blood.

"This father of yours said it, your opponent is me!"

...

The Bodhisattva paid no great heed to Zhao Changhe, even though Fachi claimed he was the root... to be brought to ruin by a mere ant who was once at the fourth or fifth layer of the Mysterious Pass? How could you have the face to say it!

A crowd of Heaven and Earth Board masters could never have been organized by such a youth from the Human Board; judging by the scene just now, it was highly probable that Ying Wu had spearheaded the venture.

Ying Wu was also remarkably broad-minded, leaving a mere youth of the Human Board to handle this matter... his rank was not even as high as Fachi's, not to mention that Fachi currently enjoyed divine augmentation, with other protectors at his side.

Let this Zhao Changhe go to his own death.

The Bodhisattva had no mind for idle thoughts; at this moment, the siege by a crowd from the Heaven and Earth Boards forced her to concentrate entirely.

Yang Jingxiu and a few other Earth Board masters merely interfered and contained her, while the true mainstay of the siege comprised three individuals.

Ying Wu, Cui Wenqing, and Xuanwu of the Four Symbols Sect.

As for Ying Wu’s martial cultivation, she could not discern its origin... not discerning it was quite normal, for she had not witnessed everything during antiquity, so she set it aside for now.

Cui Wenqing carried the heritage of the ancient Qinghe Sword; that sword master back then was far stronger than she, but let that be, it was not too excessive, and though Cui Wenqing bore the Qinghe Sword, he seemingly could not exert its full power.

The one who warranted careful deliberation was this Xuanwu...

If there had been a ranking list during antiquity, the Night Emperor would bound to be among the strongest few, or even highly likely the first! The four divine generals under the ancient Night Emperor had each majestically dominated a region, among whom Qinglong was even a mortal emperor! Taking any single one of the Four Symbols alone, they had roamed the world unopposed in those years, existences she herself had to look up to.

Had she encountered a direct disciple of Xuanwu back then, she might have had to kneel and offer greetings, so how would she dare fight her...

Yet a self-proclaimed Xuanwu was no true Xuanwu, just as who would acknowledge Maitreya when he self-proclaimed as Maitreya...

Back then, Xuanwu never used any snake whip; they used swords, and their fist intent was fierce, fierce and heavy, peerless under heaven... this path of the whip did not possess quite the right flavor. Had this woman devised it herself? It indicated that her Xuanwu inheritance was also greatly fragmented, a product of her own blind pondering?

As these thoughts flashed through her mind, her hands had already exchanged more than ten moves with the crowd. The golden light within the Consort’s eyes blazed fiercely, and her bare, jade-like hand thrust with incomparable speed toward Xuanwu’s chest!

Her primary target shifted from Ying Wu to Xuanwu! An incomplete heritage would bound to be lacking in certain aspects.

A whip was a fine thing to use normally, but when fighting above one's tier, its inadequacies were often laid bare; the wind of her own fist alone could suppress all variations of the whip style, making it difficult to execute no matter how exquisite. So long as she forced out her deficiency and flaw, this battle would be decided!

The usual smile was absent from Sanniang’s eyes, replaced by gravity and sharpness.

The snake whip was compressed into coils by the opponent’s fist-wind, winding back onto her snowy wrist.

That lazy hand suddenly clenched into a fist at this moment, striking out with a resounding boom amidst the circular shadows of the whip.

Serpentine shadows encircled them, as if a dragon's head roared forth from within, unleashing a heaven-shaking bellow!

"Boom!"

The golden light swayed radiantly, the aftershocks shocking a hundred li, and the entire secret realm trembled to its foundations.

Even Zhao Changhe, who was engaged in combat with Fachi, felt a terrifying impact upon his back, nearly stumbling forward, and he turned his head in horror.

A line flashed through his mind, one that Xuanchong had mentioned to him long ago when introducing fierce fists and palms...

The Fist of Xuanwu of the Four Symbols Sect is the second most fierce under heaven!

If Xia Longyuan, who exceeded all bounds, were excluded, then the Fist of Xuanwu was the fiercest!

Fierce and mighty...

My goodness... this is Sanniang?

This contrast... if he had been made to witness this fist first before knowing that lazy, coquettishly smiling, and slow-reacting Sanniang, he would likely never have dared guess that Sanniang was Xuanwu...

Amidst the golden light, the dragon shadow collapsed, and Sanniang flew backward, her body slightly lowered in a half-squatting stance, her soles scraping several chang across the ground before she finally ground to a halt. Then she raised her head and narrowed her eyes, the Dharma manifestation materializing around her body—a giant tortoise holding the ground, a dragon head slightly raised, its eyes fierce and naturally majestic.

She then extended her index finger to lightly wipe away the blood trickling from beneath the mask at the corner of her lips, and said coldly: "The ancient power, this seat now knows it... this trip has not been in vain!"

"Bang!" Her jade foot stomped the earth, and she shot back like lightning. The Dragon Fist rose once more, crashing into the fray.

Zhao Changhe’s jaw nearly dropped.

So handsome, my word...

Xuanwu is not a tortoise; it is the head of a dragon. Tortoise and snake entwined, action and stillness in harmony, hardness and softness complementing each other, majestically dominating the North Pole.

Wishing to pinch a soft melon but instead pinching the sharp spines of a tortoise shell, the Bodhisattva paid the price for her misjudgment.

Though Sanniang had indeed been shaken back by her, this strike likewise caused a slight stagnation in the flow of her energy, and on the right, a purple qi like a ribbon of silk had already pierced into the side of her neck.

The Bodhisattva urgently waved her hand to slap the flat of the sword, while Ying Wu’s fist also crashed into her left side at this exact moment.

The Bodhisattva, who had remained cross-legged upon the lotus throne, could finally no longer maintain her seated posture, rising and flying backward.

To everyone's astonishment, that naked, cream-like body actually began to crack everywhere, bleeding incessantly.

The Bodhisattva’s own power might be passable... yet this body could simply not withstand the force of these three Heaven Board masters, and under the violent clash, her physical form had actually broken down...

She had remained cross-legged upon the lotus throne precisely because the life force within it could bind her divine soul to this Consort body; once she departed from it, this body would be unfit for use.

"You people..." The Bodhisattva, whose pretty face was cracked into a chaotic mess, unexpectedly brought forth a male voice: "Do not force me..."

Wisps of deathly qi seeped from the wounds, and within the blink of an eye, the bleeding ceased, while that originally tender skin visibly transformed into a steel-like hue.

A corpse transformation?

Or a boss’s second-stage transformation?