Chapter 254: Chapter 145: Reward Settlement
In an instant, it was so quiet you could hear a pin drop.
Though many people were present, there was no sound aside from their urgent, ragged breaths.
The old monk was none other than the Abbot of the Joyful Zen Temple.
His name was Jue Tong!
His mastery of the Celestial Desire Divine Technique had reached the pinnacle of perfection.
It was rumored that the old monk’s Martial Arts were so profound, they were on par with the Seven Sect Leaders.
He could even hold his own against the leaders of the Seven Great Sects.
The main reason he still avoided the Seven Great Sects was that he could not contend with all seven leaders if they joined forces against him.
However, most of those who made this claim were the lecherous monks of the Joyful Zen Temple themselves.
As such, their claims were not to be trusted.
But seeing him today, everyone knew the old monk was truly formidable.
His Inner Strength was profound and his techniques were ferocious. On top of that, he had the Paradise Dharma Body and the Celestial Desire Chaotic Heart Palm. The latter could throw a person’s mind into chaos, stirring their most primitive urges and eroding their reason.
The former, his Paradise Dharma Body, made him nigh invulnerable; no Martial Arts or weapon could pierce its protective layer.
Facing this man, everyone was beaten into a steady retreat.
If Shui Qianliu hadn’t been with them, and if Little Madman Zhang Xuanfeng, Ghost Slave, Su Heng, and Leng Yanqiu hadn’t been there to intercept the old monk’s onslaught, he likely would have slaughtered every last one of the Jianghu people present all by himself.
But even so, the old monk’s ferocious power was undeniable.
Yet, who could have imagined that this incredibly skilled old monk would be sent flying out of sight by a single palm strike from Fang Shuwen?
"This is... the Demon Evil God?"
Little Madman Zhang Xuanfeng couldn’t help but mutter to himself.
But in the dead silence, his voice instantly reached everyone’s ears.
And with that, everyone had a sudden realization.
"So he’s the Demon Evil God!"
"The legendary Demon Fiend... he’s truly incredible!"
"I never thought he’d be the one to save my life today... He doesn’t even look that vicious. In fact, he seems rather gentle and scholarly..."
The man who spoke last immediately caught Fang Shuwen’s attention.
He glanced at the man, gave a slight smile, and nodded.
He never imagined, however, that this gesture of goodwill would scare the man so badly that his face turned pale:
"He... he smiled at me...
"Could it be... could it be because I said he wasn’t vicious enough... so he’s, he’s threatening me?"
Even if Fang Shuwen knew his reputation had been demonized in these people’s minds, he probably never imagined it was to this ridiculous an extent...
His well-intentioned smile was being interpreted as a threat.
He had intended to go find Shui Qianliu, but his brow suddenly furrowed.
’He’s still not dead,’ he thought.
He said to Yu Yaoguang, "Help me look after her. I’m going to kill that monk."
Yu Yaoguang froze for a moment. ’I’m one of the Seven Sect Leaders, and now my only role is to babysit for him?’
’Little scoundrel...’
She grumbled to herself, and for some unknown reason, a faint blush crept onto her cheeks.
"Go on. Leave this to me."
Fang Shuwen thought her voice sounded a bit odd, but didn’t give it much thought.
He had always been a firm believer in taking the initiative in a fight—if you can get the upper hand, take it.
As the saying goes: strike first to gain control, strike second and be controlled.
It was a lesson learned from street fighting in his youth. He’d lost count of how many opponents, arrogant and complacent because of their burly physiques, he had brought down with a single Groin Kick, leaving them unable to even stand up straight.
And at a moment like that, you had to be ruthless, beating your opponent so thoroughly they couldn’t possibly retaliate.
That meant pressing the attack relentlessly.
The opponents he faced now were far more powerful, so once a fight started, he had to go for the kill and give them no chance to turn the tables.
With a light tap of his foot, Fang Shuwen’s figure shot forward, giving chase through the hole the old monk had smashed in the wall.
Meanwhile, the old monk, Jue Tong, was struggling to his feet.
He coughed, spraying a mouthful of fresh blood.
His face was a mask of savagery. "What a Demon Fiend..."
Before he could finish speaking, he looked up and found Fang Shuwen already right in front of him.
He swallowed the final word—"God"—and, without a second’s thought, performed a perfect kip-up. He lunged forward and viciously thrust out his right palm.
There was no time to execute the Celestial Desire Chaotic Heart Palm; this palm strike was his most practiced technique, the Joyful Nirvana Palm!
The Palm Power was infused with the Inner Strength from his Celestial Desire Divine Technique; not only was it immensely powerful, but it also contained a trace of its mind-disrupting ability.
BOOM!!!!
The moment their palms met, a violent roar erupted.
Jue Tong felt an overwhelmingly powerful force, one that was simply impossible to resist, surge from his palm and into the meridians throughout his body.
He couldn’t stop himself from violently spitting out another mouthful of blood.
Fang Shuwen, for his part, was somewhat surprised.
"You’re surprisingly tough, old man."
"..."
Jue Tong’s eyes blazed with fury, and he desperately wanted to open his mouth and scream curses.
’What do you mean, "surprisingly tough"?’
’Are those the fucking words of a human being?’
’I am the great Abbot of the Joyful Zen Temple!’
’My Celestial Desire Divine Technique has reached the pinnacle of perfection, and my accumulated Inner Strength is so profound that I wouldn’t even deign to look at the likes of the Three Immortals, Two Kings, and One City Madman.’
’But in Fang Shuwen’s eyes, I’m just "surprisingly tough"?’
And yet, he couldn’t even refute Fang Shuwen’s words... even if he wanted to, he couldn’t open his mouth.
Because Fang Shuwen’s second palm strike was already on its way.
There was no chance to catch his breath, but Jue Tong was, after all, the Abbot of the Joyful Zen Temple. His Martial Arts Cultivation, not to mention his combat experience, was far beyond that of any ordinary person.
In a single thought, he circulated his Celestial Desire Divine Technique, instantly covering his body with a layer of the Paradise Dharma Body. At the same time, his Joyful Nirvana Palm transformed into the Celestial Desire Chaotic Heart Palm.
