“Teaching you – why would I need a blade!”
In that instant, almost every cultivator within the Silver Tower was stunned. Her opponent was the infamous evil monk Shanxing, who came from the Buddhist Chan sect and had built a fearsome reputation!
What kind of confidence, what kind of arrogance, could produce such words?
The tower naturally erupted in uproar once again.
But those with keen eyes, upon glimpsing that streak of golden light emerging from Jian Chou’s brow, felt their entire bodies tremble. A bone-chilling coldness seemed to rise from the soles of their feet…
Dragon Gate!
Dragon Scale Dao Seal!
This female cultivator who claimed to be from Yashan had actually used Dragon Gate’s secret technique that was never passed to outsiders?!
“No way…” A gasp mixed with shock and admiration escaped from Xue Wujiu’s slightly opened mouth within the Gen Mountain chamber. His eyes were nearly bulging as he stared at Jian Chou in the arena, feeling as if his brain was about to explode.
“Old… Old Qu, did you see that?”
“…”
How could he not have seen it?
The “little junior sister” who had once been “bullied” by him with no ability to fight back now stood on this platform that so resembled the Sword Drawing Stage. With all eyes focused upon her, she remained completely unmoved.
Powerful.
Calm.
Even carrying a hint of arrogance that one couldn’t help but admire.
Dragon Gate’s Dragon Scale Dao Seal…
In that moment, Qu Zhengfeng recalled the Black Wind Cave, recalled the “Human Artifact,” recalled all the events of the past, but ultimately said nothing.
His somewhat darkened eyes narrowed slightly. The wine cup in his hand turned twice before he finally set it down slowly.
Turning away, he walked to the window and cast his gaze downward—
Below on the Isolated Shore Platform, the evil monk Shanxing was completely dumbfounded. Upon hearing Jian Chou’s words that seemed to treat him as nothing, his face turned green with rage.
Yet Jian Chou remained completely calm.
Amidst all the clamor, her entire mind and spirit concentrated on the ancestral aperture at her brow.
The first golden scale, the size of a fingernail, appeared, then continuously spread outward. The fine, dense golden scales had a translucent quality like colored glass and were wrapped in faint golden light, quickly covering the skin of her entire body.
In the end, even those deep black pupils were tinged with mysterious dark gold!
Indifferent and aloof, yet supremely lofty.
When the wind came, her ink-black hair fluttered.
In this moment, she seemed completely untainted by mortal dust, her entire being radiating a strangely extraordinary beauty. For a moment, she appeared like a celestial immortal from the nine heavens!
This was visibly manifest power!
Everyone could sense that the moment these pale golden dragon scales appeared, Jian Chou’s aura underwent a terrifyingly dramatic enhancement.
An explosive sense of power!
Though her form remained as slender as before, her every gesture now emanated an aura that made all who witnessed it feel suffocated!
A direct clash!
Her stance clearly indicated she intended to engage in direct combat with Shanxing, who came from the Chan sect and excelled in body cultivation! Madness – it was utterly mad!
After the crowd belatedly realized this, they were all struck speechless with shock.
Even Shanxing himself hadn’t expected this development and showed a hint of surprise.
But then, as if witnessing the most absurd and ridiculous scene in the world, he couldn’t help but laugh uproariously: “You actually want to compete with me in body cultivation?”
The hand that had been gripping his staff was still stained with dripping blood, looking quite gruesome. But the moment these words left his mouth, all the dishevelment on Shanxing’s face was suppressed, leaving only that coldness and viciousness that could be deeply carved into one’s heart!
How long had it been since entering the Star Sea that he had tasted such humiliation?
A long-missed brutality.
Being struck down, being looked down upon, being severely taught a lesson! All of it reminded him of those days of punishment in the Chan sect’s Discipline Hall, the reluctance when receiving punishment, the wretchedness when being expelled!
Yet even so, he was still the disciple of that generation in the Chan sect with the highest talent for body cultivation and the deepest mastery of staff techniques!
This wild, unknown female cultivator who had appeared from nowhere actually summoned these flashy but useless dragon scales and thought she could clash directly with him?!
How laughably overconfident!
“If you’re looking for death, this old man will send you on your way!”
His upper and lower teeth clenched tight, his voice seeming to grind out from between his teeth. Shanxing raised his head and stared fixedly at Jian Chou, yet let out a laugh.
A laugh that made one’s hair stand on end!
Like the cry of a night owl, it pierced people’s eardrums and made them feel extremely uncomfortable.
Jian Chou’s brow immediately furrowed.
Facing Shanxing’s provocation, she had no intention of responding. She simply slowly lowered her body, dropping her center of gravity while making her aura increasingly condensed!
Battle was about to erupt!
Everyone’s heart was suspended in suspense. But what no one expected was that at such a crucial moment, Shanxing, who had just made his threatening declaration, actually—
Took a step back!
“Bang!”
A heavy step immediately left a deep footprint on the hard surface of the Isolated Shore Platform!
“What?!”
This was beyond too many people’s expectations. The arena immediately erupted in puzzled exclamations.
Facing Jian Chou’s steadily climbing aura, he neither gathered his spirit and energy to resist nor wielded his long staff to counterattack, but instead retreated? Could it be that he recognized he was outmatched and was preparing to back down?
That shouldn’t be right!
There weren’t many cultivators in the arena who held such naive thoughts, let alone Jian Chou herself.
Having experienced life and death multiple times, having seen many ups and downs, she naturally wouldn’t assume she had victory in hand just because she saw her opponent’s backward movement.
On the contrary, when something abnormal occurs, there must be something sinister behind it!
This step backward must have hidden meaning!
Almost at the same moment this thought arose in her mind, Jian Chou was surprised to discover that Shanxing before her had changed!
The originally outward-radiating violent arrogance instantly converged. Like a prairie fire that had suddenly contracted back into a small spark, it was deeply hidden in the depths of his pupils.
An aura of righteous peace and harmony emanated from within.
Shanxing, who had just shown a completely vicious appearance, now appeared solemn and dignified. His sturdy frame suddenly took on the imposing bearing of a wrathful guardian deity!
Where was that desperate villain from before?
He looked simply like a completely normal Chan sect disciple!
Just from stepping back once, such a heaven-and-earth transformation had occurred!
No one had expected this, including Jian Chou.
In that instant, she suddenly recalled the little monk Liao Kong she had once encountered in the Crimson Kill Small Realm, recalled those Chan sect monks in the eighteen levels of hell in the Extreme Domain, and also recalled Zong Tu from the Snow Region Esoteric Sect!
The current Shanxing was so similar to them!
Holding his long staff in one hand, his other hand had its thumb slightly bent, raised before his body.
With a solemn expression, Shanxing actually bowed to Jian Chou, but what he proclaimed was not a Buddhist mantra, but that resonant phrase: “Take one step back, and the sea and sky become vast!”
Take one step back, and the sea and sky become vast?
Jian Chou understood immediately that this should be some special Chan sect technique. But it was truly too miraculous, actually able to make a person’s temperament undergo such a complete transformation in an instant!
Think about it – didn’t this secretly accord with the true meaning of the verse “Put down the butcher’s knife and immediately become a Buddha”?
Only…
Could someone like the evil monk Shanxing truly master such a technique that possessed great wisdom?
“Legend has it that the Chan sect’s body cultivation techniques are recognized as the best in the Nineteen Continents. Even Dragon Gate’s famous ‘Dragon Scale Dao Seal’ must temporarily avoid their edge…”
Gazing at those eyes that seemed benevolent and compassionate, a long-dormant excitement finally arose from the depths of Jian Chou’s heart, igniting the calm blood in her body and igniting those indifferent golden pupils, making them brilliantly dazzling in an instant!
“Today, why not give it a try!”
“Bang!”
Her body’s instinctive reaction was faster than her thoughts!
Before her words had even finished falling, her entire being had already transformed into a shooting golden shadow. Her five fingers clenched tight as she threw a punch!
Her pale skin was covered by golden scales, condensing the radiance of the sun above.
Power flowed between each scale, accumulating the momentum of thunder – domineering and fierce, as if to tear the sky apart!
Around her fist within a one-foot radius, a circle of wandering black wind blades surrounded it!
Black wind!
It was actually the extremely rare black wind of the Nineteen Continents!
Upon seeing this, Shanxing was quite startled, immediately feeling that something was wrong. He had seen Dragon Gate’s Dragon Scale Dao Seal before, but when had it become so formidable?
He wanted to observe more carefully to understand what was happening, but Jian Chou’s punch was so dangerous, striking directly at his head. Even an immortal would need to be careful. How could he be given even a moment to think?
All of the Chan sect’s techniques focused on the word “stability.”
No matter what was encountered, one could not fall into chaos. Moreover, Shanxing was confident his cultivation was not inferior to Jian Chou’s, and he didn’t believe this egg could crack his stone.
Therefore, at this moment, he felt no fear!
The “Vajra Indestructible Heart Method” rotated in his mind, and pure, thick Buddhist power immediately poured out from his brow, gathering into a torrent!
Similarly, it concentrated in one palm!
Countless Buddhist light, countless Buddhist power, enveloped the entire Isolated Shore Platform!
Everyone’s features became blurred in such blazing radiance.
The only thing that remained clear was that broad, thick Buddhist palm itself, and… that fist showing not the slightest hint of retreat, that fist carrying a circle of eerie black wind!
“Boom!”
Like a meteor falling from the sky, striking the ground with unstoppable momentum – an explosion that could nearly shatter people’s eardrums!
Fist met palm—
The resilient golden scales collided with the Buddhist light wrapping the thick palm, trembling and dimming for an instant. But immediately after, a tremendous force like that which could move mountains and fill seas surged outward from within!
“Swish swish swish!”
At the same time, those black wind blades that had originally surrounded the fist seemed to be drawn by some force, flying out like shuttles at high speed!
Directly toward Shanxing’s face!
What a strange transformation!
What a dangerous scene!
Shanxing’s pupils immediately contracted. His originally calm expression also changed dramatically in an instant, forced by this oncoming black wind to suddenly lean his head back!
“Puff puff puff puff!”
One after another, the black wind blades flew directly past his eyes, angling downward and shooting into the ground behind Shanxing, each one creating a deep hole!
Shanxing didn’t need to look back to know that the area of ground behind him was already a sorry sight.
This was the Silver Tower’s Isolated Shore Platform!
Not to mention that it was currently protected by formations, just the material of the stone itself was hard enough, showing no signs of weathering after hundreds of years.
But under these wind blades, it had become as fragile as tofu!
What kind of terrifying attack power was this?
They were clearly just inconspicuous-looking wind blades!
Shanxing was secretly alarmed, completely unable to understand, but what shocked him even more was yet to come—
The fist!
This female cultivator’s fist was also completely different from what he had imagined!
Dragon Gate’s Dragon Scale Dao Seal emphasized both defense and attack.
Generally speaking, the externally manifested Dragon Scale Dao Seal could ward off some attacks for the cultivator, but the Chan sect’s body cultivation techniques were unrivaled in the Nineteen Continents, naturally having their unique aspects.
Among them, the “Sea and Sky Vast” Buddhist power that coordinated with the “Vajra Indestructible Body” could easily penetrate dragon scales!
When that happened, he only needed to lightly vibrate, and Jian Chou’s hand would immediately be torn to bloody pieces!
In the moments after his fist and palm collided with Jian Chou’s, the situation indeed developed as Shanxing had initially envisioned. The righteous and peaceful Buddhist power, in a manner that caused the opponent no harm whatsoever, passed through the outer layer of dragon scales and penetrated deeply into Jian Chou’s flesh and blood.
But after these few moments, it felt like hitting a quagmire!
Unable to advance an inch!
Moreover, there was a scalp-numbing aura faintly emanating from the opponent’s body…
It was those black wind blades he had seen before!
Right inside Jian Chou’s body!
What kind of joke was this!
With such incredibly high attack power, almost able to treat the Isolated Shore Platform’s defenses as nothing, how could they safely exist within flesh and blood? Wouldn’t that cause the body to explode?
At this moment, Shanxing looked at Jian Chou as if looking at an incredible monster. But Jian Chou, meeting his gaze, only returned a meaningful smile.
Dragon Scale Dao Seal?
What she knew was not just this!
Nourishing blood and qi, refining flesh and blood, forging bones into jade, locking pearls into joints, black wind patterned bones, lightning-tempered body!
Long before the cycle of sixty years, her mastery of a certain body cultivation technique had already reached the sixth level of great perfection. Now, employing it with her mid-stage Nascent Soul cultivation, it was even more handy.
No one knew that an unprecedentedly powerful feeling was expanding within her!
Nearly perfect control!
Every part of her body had reached the most terrifying coordination.
—My body is already like a sword, naturally a sharp weapon of the human world.
Why need a blade? Why must there be a blade!
In the brilliant golden depths of her eyes, a thread of deep killing intent, accompanied by that hint of cold smile, finally dispersed!
Without hesitation, Jian Chou mobilized the power within her body, letting it flow like a rushing river along her arm’s meridians toward the evil monk Shanxing, toward his Buddhist light-shrouded palm!
“Rumble!”
The Buddhist power that had originally surged like a tide into Jian Chou’s body, intending to devour her, instantly shattered and became nothing!
“Crack—”
A crisp shattering sound!
The pure Buddhist light shrouding Shanxing’s thick palm was immediately shattered to pieces!
A force stronger and more vicious than the Buddhist power Shanxing had just injected immediately counter-attacked from where their fist and palm met!
Caught off guard!
Shanxing’s facial expression didn’t even have time to change before the knotted muscles on his arm and shoulder visibly twisted under this tremendous force.
The monk’s robe sleeve that had originally tightly wrapped his arm also couldn’t withstand the impact of this force. With a “tear,” it split open and burst into pieces of torn cloth scattered on the ground!
Everyone heard a muffled “bang!”
The robust and sturdy Shanxing, who had been like a wrathful guardian deity, couldn’t support himself for even a moment under this wave of counter-attacking force. Just like a small boat overturned by giant waves, he was sent flying backward!
While in mid-air, he hastily rolled several times before stumbling to a stable stance on the ground!
His right arm, no longer covered by sleeves, was now exposed, showing an alarming purple-red color. His right hand hanging at his side was trembling uncontrollably!
The Buddhist Golden Vajra Indestructible Body actually couldn’t defeat this female cultivator before him?
Was there really such a domineering body cultivation technique in the world?
At this moment, Shanxing looked at Jian Chou with complete disbelief: “Human Artifact?!”
Human Artifact?
What Human Artifact?
Many cultivators in the Silver Tower couldn’t even discern the depths of their combat, only feeling that Shanxing had suffered this loss inexplicably. Now hearing these two words, they were even more confused.
Only a very few cultivators who had heard of such things jumped slightly when they heard this, nearly exclaiming aloud!
Jian Chou was also slightly surprised.
But it was only for a moment. The next moment, she laughed coldly, without any warmth: “You do have some eye for recognition!”
Too bad that mouth was really too insolent!
It needed teaching, and it would be taught!
After saying that sentence, Jian Chou had no intention of wasting more words with Shanxing. After withdrawing her fist, her movements were not slow at all. Without the slightest hesitation, she directly pressed forward and attacked Shanxing again!
Attack!
Attack!
Attack!
A series of attacks, using both fists and feet, like a violent storm, crazily raining down with almost no pause to be found!
From the brief exchange just now, she had already determined that she possessed a huge advantage. At a time like this, she only needed to attack to maintain her advantage and sustain it until the end.
For Jian Chou, this battle could be called easy.
But for Shanxing, who was being struck by these insane attacks, everything was not so easy. The situation became increasingly dangerous and severe.
If he allowed Jian Chou to continue attacking while he only defended, he would probably be lying on the Isolated Shore Platform within a moment.
The only chance was also to attack!
Attacking still had hope of victory. As long as the opponent made one small mistake, everything could be reversed!
“Bang!”
Shanxing gritted his teeth. After using his horizontal staff to block Jian Chou’s chopping palm, he seized the opportunity, curled his five fingers into claws, and struck toward Jian Chou!
It was mutual attack!
Moreover, it was mutual attack between body cultivators – complete direct confrontation!
The situation in the arena immediately became extremely dangerous and exciting.
Palm!
Fist!
Elbow!
Leg!
Every part of the body was a weapon for mutual contest! The overly fast combat speed meant that some cultivators in the tower with insufficient cultivation could no longer see the two figures clearly!
Shanxing’s attacks were fierce and unmatched, while Jian Chou’s counterattacks were ruthless and domineering.
Neither yielded to the other!
Leaping and turning, decisive and ruthless!
Every gesture carried wind and thunder!
“Bang!”
“Bang!”
“Bang!”
…
Only those dense and terrifying collision sounds shook people’s eardrums, stimulated their nerves, and demonstrated the beauty of power!
This female cultivator who called herself “an unknown small soldier under Yashan’s tutelage” completely refreshed everyone’s understanding of the four words “mid-stage Nascent Soul” and completely refreshed their understanding of “body cultivation.”
So female cultivators practicing body cultivation could also have such amazing beauty and amazing power!
Whether it was Shanxing or the spectators, they could hardly find any exploitable flaws in her attacks. Every attack was precise and direct, striking at vital points!
Moreover, her fighting style…
Was almost harsh, even cold!
The baptism of that killing feast in the Extreme Domain Cauldron Competition had indeed left some traces on her, making her seem more like a desperado than someone from a prestigious orthodox sect…
But what did any of that matter?
She never cared about such things, and Yashan never cared either!
Dense attacks fell like rain without a moment’s pause.
Jian Chou’s figure would sometimes be at the edge of the Isolated Shore Platform, sometimes move to the center, sometimes transform into light smoke drifting up, sometimes fall like a meteor!
Dazzling to watch!
If spectators found it taxing to watch, Shanxing, who was under the “siege” of Jian Chou alone, naturally suffered even more.
If he had previously hoped that Jian Chou lacked combat experience and would make mistakes under continuous intensive attacks, leading to failure at the crucial moment…
Then now, after a long half-moment of mutual attacks, he had already awakened to despair—
It was impossible.
Mistakes simply didn’t exist in this female cultivator before him! Her calculations were precise to a hair-raising degree with every attack, forcing him to scramble defensively!
If they continued fighting like this, he would definitely lose!
“Swish!”
Before his eyes was again a brilliant golden radiance flashing!
It was Jian Chou’s palm covered in golden scales, fingers joined like a blade, piercing through his thousand phantom Buddha hand shadows, directly aimed at his neck!
If it had been earlier, Shanxing only needed to retreat and dodge to temporarily resolve this attack.
Only…
Must he continue this endless mutual attack until he was exhausted and ultimately lost this match?
In this instant, countless complex thoughts flashed through his mind, but his gaze unconsciously drifted toward the arena’s edge: there, Liang Tingyu, one of the three chief libationers of the Night Sailing Ship, still stood with arms crossed, coldly watching him with indifferent eyes…
And there was the cage ten zhang to his left front!
Lose?
How could that be possible?!
A trace of sinister ruthlessness suddenly flashed through Shanxing’s eyes.
As Jian Chou’s blade-like palm swept toward him, he unexpectedly didn’t dodge, but took Jian Chou’s hand chop directly!
“Slash!”
The sharp dragon scales on the edge of her palm immediately scraped past his neck, blood immediately splattered everywhere, also staining the thick string of Buddhist beads hanging on his neck bright red!
“Boom!”
The entire Silver Tower immediately erupted in chaos.
A mistake! After such a long period of mutual attacks, Shanxing had actually made the first mistake! The victory or defeat of this match finally showed signs of clarity!
Countless people saw this scene and were all greatly excited.
But Jian Chou, who was in the middle of the arena, suddenly paused: clearly she felt that Shanxing still had remaining strength. Although this hand chop was sharp, it was merely an opening move, far from being so powerful that the current Shanxing couldn’t avoid it. How could…
A thought suddenly flashed through her mind!
The despicable method Shanxing had used against Bai Yin earlier appeared completely in her mind. Looking again at where Shanxing’s gaze was directed, how could Jian Chou not understand?
This was using the same old trick again!
Bai Yin had also been continuously watching the battle situation. When he noticed the change in Shanxing’s expression, he also thought of this and immediately couldn’t care about anything else, directly shouting: “Be careful!”
Be careful?
Shanxing heard this and didn’t care at all!
Realizing this now was already too late!
He directly sneered coldly, not even glancing in Bai Yin’s direction, stamping his foot without hesitation. Completely disregarding the wound on his neck, he borrowed the force to leap up!
His massive frame immediately cast a large shadow on the ground.
The long-unused staff of his brow’s length was raised, and sure enough, just like in his previous battle with Bai Yin, he once again moved toward Zuoliu’s cage!
Too despicable, too shameless!
The spectators in the tower who had thought victory was already decided were all stunned at this moment, completely unprepared for Shanxing to use the same method twice!
In the previous match, Bai Yin had suffered from this tactic, and now Jian Chou was much farther from that cage than Bai Yin had been at the time!
It was over.
Many people’s hearts inexplicably went cold.
Zuoliu, who was still pressed against the cage bars watching the battle intently, had been concentrating on the combat. Others might not know Jian Chou’s identity, but how could he not be clear about it?
From the moment he saw that deer-cutting blade, his heart had already completely settled, not worrying about his own safety in the slightest.
How could he have thought that now he would see Shanxing turn around and come for him again!
“Son of a bitch!” Zuoliu was simply dumbfounded and immediately burst out with a curse, “No way? Coming to mess with me again?!”
“…”
In that instant, everyone who heard this extremely fast sentence was somewhat bewildered.
Not because Zuoliu had suddenly cursed or suddenly spoken, but because—why did his tone sound so unconcerned?
That feeling was as if someone wanted to take his life to calculate against Jian Chou’s reluctance to act freely, yet this was nothing important and nothing to worry about.
How could this be possible?
Even Shanxing hadn’t expected this.
The staff was already raised high, and the remaining Buddhist power in his exhausted body was completely channeled into it, creating endless staff shadows.
But within these myriad staff shadows, there wasn’t the slightest panic on Zuoliu’s face.
Looking down from mid-air, Shanxing only caught his gaze filled with infinite pity and sympathy in that lightning-fast instant—
Like looking at a fool!
His heart suddenly palpitated, and an extremely ominous feeling suddenly struck Shanxing’s heart.
Something seemed wrong…
But it was already too late!
In this instant, the world seemed to be still.
The clear skylight illuminated the square Silver Tower, as translucent as a celestial palace in the heavens. The broad, ancient Isolated Shore Platform, covered with mottled traces, was situated within the tower but was a line lower than the surroundings, like a giant bowl placed flat.
But at this moment, an aura rose from this bowl, shooting straight to the clouds!
Carrying endless fury and killing intent!
No one knew how that golden phantom, covering almost half the Isolated Shore Platform, had appeared. Everyone could only see it coalescing at where Jian Chou stood, and vaguely it seemed to look like…
A leg?!
Its appearance was like a giant vortex.
The spiritual energy of the entire Silver Tower, and even beyond the Silver Tower, was converging toward it crazily at this moment, quickly becoming part of it and making its emanated aura even more terrifying and magnificent!
Destructive and earth-shattering!
So oppressive that people couldn’t breathe!
Locked by this aura, Shanxing only felt he couldn’t move at all!
Let alone that from seeing this golden phantom to being struck by this terrifying attack, the entire process took no more than a flash of thought. Where was there time for him to react?!
“Rumble!”
Like a ten-thousand-zhang raging tide, thunderously descending.
Shanxing, caught in this impact, was already at his limit. At this moment, he was like a weak ant with no power to fight back!
Directly sent flying!
Blood sprayed across the sky, drawing a brilliant yet cold trail. His entire body, like broken copper and iron, actually smashed into the window of an elegant chamber on the top floor!
“Bang!”
A tremendous sound that shook the entire bamboo curtain.
Xue Wujiu was immediately startled, his nerves tightening as he almost struck out with a palm!
Even Qu Zhengfeng, who happened to be standing by the window as well, couldn’t help but twitch his eye corner, completely unprepared for Shanxing to fall toward this location…
Coincidence?
There was no way to verify.
He only suddenly recalled that terrifying hole that had once appeared in Yashan’s Scripture Pavilion, and also recalled that figure who had stood proudly on the Sword Drawing Stage with only Foundation Establishment cultivation.
In a moment, it seamlessly overlapped with the figure currently on the Isolated Shore Platform.
The endless spiritual energy that had gathered into the Heaven-Flipping Seal, after thunderously breaking through Shanxing, scattered and flowed away like a receding tide. Thus, the figure that had been obscured behind it also became clear.
Jian Chou stood in place, actually not having moved a single step.
At this moment, under the focus of countless gazes, she only calmly and coldly retracted that long, straight leg: “I concede to you. Next!”