Martial Sovereign of the Turbulent World

Chapter 176: Chapter 174: Heart Scene and Heart Intent, Sickly Li Hongyuan

"Why are people from the Blue-clothed Gang walking onto the Xuanwu Platform? Are they here to help defend the stage or to challenge it?"

As the crowd below murmured, someone from the Martial Arts guilds sneered.

"They’re here to help us defend the stage, of course.

What, are you the only ones allowed to call for assistance?"

The two ugly twin brutes from Toad Palace ascended the Xuanwu Platform, standing shoulder to shoulder on its second tier. They were equally short, fat, and hideous, and to top it off, they wore identical pitch-black robes. From a distance, they looked like two sturdy stone pillars planted there, drawing a wave of laughter from the crowd below.

But very quickly, no one below was laughing.

The rule for the pair from Toad Palace was that they had to fight together, no matter what. The challengers could also send up two people, and if they passed, they would receive two Red Jade Tokens.

The Qinglian Gang sent up two Tongxuan Martial Artists. The fighters providing assistance who had been held back until now were either too weak to even qualify for a match, or they were among the strongest, saved as the final trump cards.

The two fighters sent up by the Qinglian Gang were both at the Middle Stage of Tongxuan. One was a high-level expert Madam Ding had paid a fortune to hire. The other was a Town Level figure from her Lu’an Hall, a man with considerable seniority even within the Qinglian Gang itself. By no means were they weak.

Yet after getting on stage and exchanging barely a dozen rounds with the two ugly brutes from Toad Palace, both were knocked off one after the other.

The twin brothers had the advantage of a shared consciousness. Their coordination was seamless, their offense and defense complemented each other perfectly, creating an effect where one plus one was far greater than two.

Even stranger was their Cultivation Technique. When they activated it, their cheeks and abdomens would swell up as if inflated. Coupled with their pimple-ridden faces, they looked exactly like two giant demonic toads.

Of the two fighters for the Qinglian Gang who were knocked off the stage, one seemed fine at first. But after leaving the platform, he broke out in a red rash. An unbearable itch set in, his skin and flesh began to fester... and in the blink of an eye, he had scratched himself into a bloody, unrecognizable mess, too horrible to look at.

"It’s the Poisonous Toad Skill."

Big Cat examined the injured man, his expression calm. He turned to Madam Ding to request permission. "Madam, why don’t you let me and Kitty go this round?"

Madam Ding nodded.

Kitty took off his suit jacket, revealing a lean, powerful physique, and strode onto the stage.

Twins versus twins. Both pairs at the Tongxuan Realm. Both with physiques far from ordinary. The battle between Big Cat, Kitty, and the Toad Palace brothers immediately captured the entire audience’s attention.

Both sides were incredibly strong and the matchup was a spectacle. Vitality crisscrossed the stage as gasps and cheers rose and fell from the crowd below. The fight washed away much of the grim, bloody atmosphere from before, bringing the event to a small climax.

Fu Juemin watched the battle for a moment. Seeing that Big Cat and Kitty were not at a disadvantage, he looked away and asked Madam Ding in a low voice,

"Aunt Ding, where did you manage to find a complete set of Martial Arts passed down from the Celestial Blessing Temple for Big Cat and Kitty?"

Fu Juemin possessed the Pharmacist Buddha’s Glazed Body and the Dragon Elephant Wisdom Seal. According to his plan, he would sooner or later collect and master all four of the great Iron Body Strange Skills from the former dynasty.

All four great Iron Body Strange Skills of the former dynasty came from the Celestial Blessing Temple, sharing the same origin as Big Cat and Kitty’s inheritance. He hoped he might find a clue from Madam Ding.

"You could say that Big Cat and Kitty are practically half-disciples of the Celestial Blessing Temple themselves."

"Hm?"

Fu Juemin was taken aback. He then heard Madam Ding continue, "There is a remarkable man at Mr. Wen’s side, a high monk from the former Celestial Blessing Temple. His Dharma name is Huai Kong, and he is one hundred and eight years old.

"Big Cat and Kitty have been cultivating under Master Huai Kong since they were children. They only came to be with me when they were in their teens..."

’A high monk of Celestial Blessing, Master Huai Kong...’

Fu Juemin murmured the name, feeling quite surprised.

He had only asked casually, not expecting to actually uncover a real clue.

"Aunt Ding, do you know what level of strength this Master Huai Kong has?"

Fu Juemin asked again. Madam Ding mused for a moment. "Master Huai Kong is an expert in Buddhist Teachings. While he knows a little bit of fist-and-foot work, the Martial Dao is not his main focus, after all...

"I heard Big Cat and Kitty mention once that Master Huai Kong’s Heart Scene had formed long ago in his Martial Dao. I’m not sure what realm that’s considered."

After hearing this, Fu Juemin was momentarily at a loss for words.

’A "Heart Scene" has formed... isn’t that the Martial Dao Heart Intent Realm?! One more step and he’d be a Grandmaster. And she calls that "knowing a little bit of fist-and-foot work"?’

’No wonder he’s called an eminent monk of the Buddhist Sect. His humility is truly on another level.’

A thought stirred in Fu Juemin’s mind—’A great and virtuous high monk from Celestial Blessing Temple, and a top-tier expert of a Martial Family at the Heart Intent Realm... it would be absurd if he didn’t know at least a few of the temple’s top Martial Arts, right?’

After receiving the legacy of the Dragon Elephant Skill from Li Tong, he had tried to search for the whereabouts of the remaining two Strange Skills, but he had never found any leads. He never expected that after searching high and low to no avail, the real clue would be right beside him all along.

’No wonder Big Cat and Kitty had such a peculiar reaction back when they saw him cultivating both the Pharmacist Skill and the Dragon Elephant Skill.’

"For a Heart Scene to form on its own... his strength must be immense."

Fu Juemin sighed with admiration and couldn’t help but ask, "Aunt Ding, when could you take me to meet this Master Huai Kong? I have long admired the former dynasty’s Celestial Blessing Temple..."

"You’re just like your mother."

Madam Ding said with a smile, then thought for a moment. "I’ll find a time to ask him. Master Huai Kong doesn’t like to be disturbed. When he secludes himself, he won’t even see Mr. Wen.

"Some time ago... we already had to trouble him once."

The "trouble" in Madam Ding’s words seemed to have a hidden meaning. Fu Juemin suddenly thought of Li Huaisuang, whom he had sent away a while ago.

Li Huaisuang carried the secret of the Gold and the treasure. She was also the daughter of the Revolutionary Faction leader, Li Mingyi. In the treacherous, undercurrent-filled city of Shenghai, she was a key figure that every faction wanted to get their hands on.

’It was perfectly reasonable for her to be "protected" by a Heart Intent Realm master.’

Just as he was thinking this, Big Cat and Kitty came down from the stage, holding two Red Jade Tokens. Cheers erupted from the Qinglian Gang’s side.

"The Poisonous Toad Skill is naturally countered to a certain degree by the Child’s Skill. Those two also clearly weren’t willing to fight us to the death, so they proactively yielded the Jade Tokens."

Big Cat reported the situation to the two of them in a flat tone.

It wasn’t that Big Cat and Kitty were uninjured—they had several dark bruises—but unlike the previous person hit by the Poisonous Toad Skill, their wounds showed no signs of poisoning.

All Martial Arts in the world have their counters and complements. The interaction between the Child’s Skill and the Poisonous Toad Skill couldn’t help but remind Fu Juemin of the relationship between the Five Beasts Skill and the Five Aggregates Profound Slaughter Technique.

At this point, the challenge had progressed to the fourteenth barrier.

The "exciting" martial duels of the past few barriers seemed to make the crowd of onlookers gradually forget the bloody carnage of the first six White Jade barriers. They began to discuss the Martial Artists from both sides who had already fought and those yet to come, and the atmosphere grew more and more heated.

For the fourteenth barrier, the Red Jade Barrier, a wiry and gaunt, sallow-faced middle-aged man walked out from the side of the Martial Arts guilds.

He stood on the stage as if devoid of energy, his eyelids half-closed, yet his eyes were fixed intently on the Qinglian Gang’s side.

The man looked for all the world like a "sickly weakling," but to be sent out by the Martial Arts guilds to defend a Red Jade Barrier, his status and strength were clearly anything but ordinary.

Yet he was an unfamiliar face; the vast majority of people in the audience had never seen him before.

At this moment, several powerful Tongxuan Martial Artists were still seated at the Qinglian Gang’s Supporting Seat. As was her custom, Madam Ding had someone bring out thick red envelopes stuffed with Gold Yuan Banknotes.

One of them was about to rise to his feet when someone in the crowd cried out in alarm, revealing the identity of the sallow-faced "sickly weakling" on the stage.

"He’s... Li Hongyuan!"

ROAR—

At that, the crowd instantly erupted.