Chapter 277 – One Sword Slays Four Demon Monks, One Talisman Awakens the Heart Demon

Tall Monk, Short Monk, Fat Monk, Thin Monk.

These four were all expelled disciples of the Central Province’s Buddhist school, Little Thunderclap Temple.

Though these four looked peculiar and had eccentric personalities, their cultivation was not weak in the slightest—all had reached the Sharira realm, akin to the Golden Core Stage.

More crucially, these four lacked any semblance of the demeanor befitting Golden Core experts.

Not only did they always act together as a group of four, but they also possessed a special Divine Ability similar to a “Formation.”

This allowed their individual strengths to multiply when combined.

Coupled with the Buddhist Body Refining techniques, which were quite extraordinary,

they, despite being only four Golden Core Stage cultivators, had a record of escaping from Nascent Soul Stage cultivators, making them exceptionally troublesome.

Yi Hanqing never expected that just as he was about to reach the border between the Eastern Divine Continent and Central Province,

he would encounter the troublesome “Four Arhats” here.

“Boss, if you ask me, there’s no need to waste words with this kid. The four of us should just charge together. Capturing a mere Sword Cultivator who just entered the Golden Core Stage should be as easy as taking candy from a baby.”

“As for that so-called Dao Integration Realm Sword Domain, forget that he’s heavily injured—whether he can even unleash the Sword Domain is unknown.”

“Even if he does, with the methods we brothers have, are we really afraid of his Sword Domain?”

“Let’s act now, no more hesitation. If we hesitate any longer and the Azure Cloud Sect’s Stoneface Leng arrives, all our efforts will be wasted.”

Seeing the boss, Tall Monk, still hesitating,

the fourth brother, Thin Monk, couldn’t hold back any longer.

The second brother, Short Monk, and the third brother, Fat Monk, didn’t speak,

but judging by their eager expressions, they clearly agreed with Thin Monk’s words.

Unexpectedly, upon hearing his fourth brother’s thoughtless words, Tall Monk immediately slapped him on his bald head.

“Idiot! If even you can understand this, do you think I wouldn’t have figured it out?”

“If things were really that simple, do you think I’d just be standing here?”

“Don’t forget, the master of Heavenly Heart Villa is a Nascent Soul Stage cultivator. Although his cultivation was forcibly elevated through Lifespan and rare treasures,”

“a Nascent Soul Stage is still a Nascent Soul Stage. We must be cautious, absolutely no mistakes.”

However, after saying this, Tall Monk suddenly shifted his tone and looked at Yi Hanqing.

“But don’t you get cocky, kid. We’ve already received word that the reason you managed to defeat that old waste, the master of Heavenly Heart Villa, wasn’t because of your own strength, but because you had a Great Divine Power Talisman given to you by your School.”

“Although I’ve never used a Great Divine Power Talisman myself, I’ve seen plenty back in my days at Little Thunderclap Temple.”

“Never mind whether you still have the ability to activate that Great Divine Power Talisman now—even if you do, I don’t believe you can pull out another one. Do you really think these things are as common as cabbages, available whenever you want?”

Tall Monk’s expression was filled with confidence,

as if he was certain Yi Hanqing absolutely had no Great Divine Power Talismans left.

Yi Hanqing didn’t know where this confidence came from, but he had to admit that Tall Monk was absolutely right.

Because the reason he had defeated the master of Heavenly Heart Villa back then was indeed due to the power of a talisman.

And that talisman had been used up back at Heavenly Heart Villa.

Now, all he could rely on was his own cultivation and Swordsmanship.Relying solely on these two aspects, he might not truly be a match for the Four Arhats before him.

But Yi Hanqing would never reveal such thoughts.

He gazed expressionlessly at Tall Monk, not concealing the pure killing intent in his eyes.

Under Yi Hanqing’s stare, Tall Monk grew uncertain about the intelligence he had received.

What if this young man truly possessed Great Divine Power Talismans?

Hesitant due to this concern, Tall Monk couldn’t decide whether to act immediately.

Just as the standoff persisted, the infant in Yi Hanqing’s arms suddenly cried out, clearly starving.

The cry acted like a signal, dispelling Tall Monk’s hesitation as he decisively made his move.

He suddenly recalled that their mission was never about confronting Yi Hanqing directly.

They only sought to seize the Innate Spirit Body in his arms to refine the legendary ‘Spirit Transformation Pill’.

This would mend the foundations of all four of them, allowing them to break through to a higher Realm.

To fight them while protecting the infant in his arms—

Tall Monk believed Yi Hanqing lacked such capability.

The moment Tall Monk and the others attacked, Yi Hanqing fled the inn instantly with the infant.

Seeing this, the Four Arhats immediately gave chase.

The innkeeper and waiter peered out from behind the counter, staring fearfully at the hole torn through the ceiling.

Though distressed by the damage to his inn,

even with a hundred times the courage, he wouldn’t dare seek compensation from those Immortals.

Besides, losing money was far better than losing his life, wasn’t it?

Three days later, about a hundred kilometers from the border between Central Province and Eastern Divine Continent.

By then, Yi Hanqing had lost the composure he had three days prior, his clothes now tattered and torn.

Several distinct wounds marked his back—

injuries from a Staff, a pestle, and fists and Feet.

Ugh!

In the forest, Yi Hanqing hadn’t taken more than a few steps before vomiting a mouthful of blood.

Leaning against a large tree with one hand and clutching the infant with the other, his face was deathly pale.

“The Four Arhats truly live up to their reputation as former esteemed disciples of Little Thunderclap Temple. Even though they’ve forsaken the Thunderclap Buddhist teachings, their Physical Bodies and Sharira, tempered by Buddhist Power, still possess formidable might.”

“This won’t do. I must find a way to eliminate them.”

“Otherwise, I’ll never leave Central Province, nor fulfill my promise to A Hong…”

With that thought, Yi Hanqing immediately retrieved some Elixirs from his Storage Bag and swallowed them directly.

Ignoring his injuries, he pressed on toward the entrance to Eastern Divine Continent.

Once he entered Eastern Divine Continent, he could find a way to shake off the Four Arhats.

But this final stretch was destined to be arduous.

Not long after Yi Hanqing departed, the Four Arhats arrived at his location.

Short Monk sniffed the air and quickly found the spot where Yi Hanqing had just vomited blood.

Seeing the dried blood under the tree, Short Monk exclaimed excitedly, “Boss, he just left. We can catch up to him soon.”

Hearing this, Tall Monk—whose face now bore a fresh Sword scar—grew fierce.

“Then what are we waiting for? After him!”

With that, the four pursued in the direction Yi Hanqing had fled.

Boom!

As a thunderclap tore through the sky,

bean-sized raindrops began to fall incessantly.Before long, the entire mountain forest seemed draped in a hazy veil, indistinct and blurred.

An hour later, the previously tranquil woods erupted with astonishing commotion once more.

Countless trees toppled, and the ground was pitted with craters everywhere.

At the epicenter of the battle, a massive crater over a hundred meters in diameter had formed.

Within the crater, Yi Hanqing’s eyes had turned completely crimson, his expression shifting from calm to utterly ferocious.

A distorted, malevolent sword aura of immense power radiated from his body.

Surrounding him, the Four Arhats had merged through a unique method, transforming into a living Vajra with four heads and eight arms.

However, this living Vajra was now in poor condition.

Three of its eight arms were severed, and one of its heads had been cleaved in half.

Fortunately, this living Vajra was merely a fused Dharma Body conjured by the Four Arhats.

As long as the Dharma Body remained unbroken, the four monks composing it wouldn’t face immediate mortal danger.

Observing Yi Hanqing’s apparent descent into madness, the Four Arhats instinctively sensed peril.

The Short Monk timidly suggested, “Boss, this kid seems off. Should we retreat for now?”

The Fat Monk chimed in, “His mind is disordered, his emotions impure. Even if we leave him be, he’ll soon succumb to Qi Deviation and won’t last long.”

The Thin Monk uttered tersely, “We can go.”

After hearing his three brothers, the Tall Monk—who prided himself as the most strategic among them—pondered briefly before saying, “Alright, we’ll withdraw for now. We can return after this fellow completely loses control to Qi Deviation.”

But just as they turned to leave, a cat and a person emerged from the heavy rain.

Their position happened to block the Four Arhats’ intended escape route.

The cat in this pair was insignificant.

Its cultivation merely at Foundation Establishment Perfection posed no concern.

Yet the person accompanying it instantly made the Four Arhats feel threatened.

This person and cat were none other than Lu Chen.

The Vajra head representing the Short Monk in the living Vajra was the first to catch Lu Chen’s scent.

This proved to be a mistake, as the Short Monk’s expression drastically changed, his pupils contracting sharply.

He then shouted urgently, “Run, now!”

When combined into the living Vajra, the four brothers shared a mental connection.

The other three monks immediately sensed the Short Monk’s profound fear.

Though uncertain of its source, trusting their brother’s instinct, they controlled the living Vajra to flee desperately away from Lu Chen.

Their haste suggested even a second’s delay would mean certain death.

But wanting to escape at this point was already too late.

Observing their retreating figures, Lu Chen took a single step.

Instantly, heaven and earth shifted, stars transposed.

The familiar mountain forest vanished from the four monks’ sight.

In its place stood four colossal Immortal Swords piercing the clouds.

Before these four swords, the Four Arhats felt utterly insignificant, incapable of mustering any resistance.

“Sever.”

In their dazed state, a calm voice resonated in their ears.

An intangible blade edge then passed through their bodies.

Throughout this, the Four Arhats couldn’t react in the slightest.

The next moment, their living Vajra—capable of overwhelming most Golden Core Stage cultivators—shattered accordingly.Subsequently, the heads of the Four Arhats landed conspicuously on the rain-soaked muddy ground.

Lu Chen showed not the slightest fluctuation in emotion after slaying four Golden Core Stage disciples of Little Thunderclap Temple with a single sword strike.

It was as if he had merely done something trivial.

Witnessing Lu Chen’s power, Meow King once again felt that his decision to summon Lu Chen was absolutely correct.

Though both were at the Golden Core Stage, Lu Chen’s Golden Core was completely different from others’.

Meow King even suspected that even if they encountered a Nascent Soul Stage cultivator, Lu Chen might possess the capability to kill beyond his realm.

After all, this was the first monster in ten thousand years, or even tens of thousands of years in Central Province, who could master a Great Divine Power of the Transformation Dao Realm with Golden Core cultivation.

After beheading the Four Arhats with one sword, Lu Chen approached Yi Hanqing.

At this moment, Yi Hanqing seemed to have completely lost his sanity, with disheveled hair and bloodshot eyes.

Fortunately, he appeared to retain a shred of reason, as he hadn’t harmed the infant in his arms.

But aside from that infant, everyone else in his eyes was a target that must be killed.

“Roar!”

After emitting a meaningless roar, Yi Hanqing raised his sword and charged at Lu Chen.

Seeing this, Lu Chen calmly raised his hand.

Primordial Qi, resembling Immortal Qi, enveloped Lu Chen’s arm and transformed into countless fine threads flying toward Yi Hanqing.

Facing these numerous white threads, Yi Hanqing seemed to sense danger and raised his sword coated with eerie black Qi, attempting to sever them.

However, these white threads were incredibly resilient. Even though Yi Hanqing wielded a Peak third-grade Spirit Sword, and the black Qi covering the blade faintly emitted astonishing killing intent, when his sword met the Primordial Qi casually released by Lu Chen, it produced metallic clashing sounds.

His sword… simply couldn’t cut through Lu Chen’s Qi.

Soon, Yi Hanqing was captured on the spot by Lu Chen.

No matter how he struggled, the Primordial Qi binding him remained completely immovable.

Facing the now powerless Yi Hanqing, Lu Chen immediately walked up to him.

Looking at his former sect brother reduced to this demonic state, Lu Chen felt quite complicated.

Although he knew many people in Azure Cloud Sect, those he was close to weren’t particularly numerous.

After all, he needed to balance both the real world and the game world.

In the game, he often spent time in seclusion.

Therefore, within Azure Cloud Sect, Lu Chen considered only Yi Hanqing and Meow King as true acquaintances.

While he recognized others’ appearances and names, their relationships couldn’t be considered particularly close.

This was also one reason why Lu Chen was willing to descend the mountain with Meow King.

Gazing at the still struggling Yi Hanqing, Lu Chen sighed and said, “Senior Brother Yi, as fellow disciples, I hope this sword strike can awaken you.”

“Otherwise, it can only be said this tribulation was destined in your fate…”

As he spoke, Lu Chen’s Fiend-Severing Sword materialized in his hand.

Then Lu Chen used his finger as a brush, drawing a ‘Calming Charm’ on the sword blade.

The Calming Charm formed from Primordial Qi far surpassed ordinary ones in effectiveness.

Under Meow King’s astonished gaze, Lu Chen thrust his sword, piercing three inches deep into Yi Hanqing’s brow.Just as the Meow King thought Lu Chen was about to slay Yi Hanqing with his sword, he suddenly noticed something was very wrong with Lu Chen’s blade.

Although the Fiend-Severing Sword had pierced Yi Hanqing’s forehead, not a single drop of blood flowed out, as if it were an illusion.

Seeing this, the Meow King immediately understood that Lu Chen wasn’t trying to kill Yi Hanqing—he was trying to save him.

And reality indeed confirmed his thoughts.

As the Fiend-Severing Sword pierced Yi Hanqing’s Divine Soul, the Calming Charm on the sword blade naturally took direct effect on his Divine Soul.

Gradually, the crimson redness in Yi Hanqing’s eyes began to clear away…

(End of Chapter)