Chapter 361

Chapter 361: Rising Waves Again

As they say, when enemies meet, they see red. The moment Fang Lie saw Monk Kongtang, he remembered how close he came to being killed for no reason by Jie Yan Chan Master.

How could the mighty Fire Tribulation Immortal disregard his status to chase him down, and still have so many fools helping him? It was simply unbearable!

Without wasting any words, Fang Lie spread his wings and shot toward Monk Kongtang, unleashing a Soulfire Lance even from several miles away!

Seeing Fang Lie furiously charging at him, Monk Kongtang felt a twinge of fear. However, when he realized that Fang Lie was only using the Soulfire Lance and not a super treasure like the Blazing Dragon Cannon, he suddenly recalled what Jie Yan Chan Master had told him.

Jie Yan Chan Master had warned that he could not unleash powers above the Golden Pool level here; otherwise, he would face fierce Heavenly Tribulations, and even he wouldn’t dare to defy that rule.

Now it made sense to him; otherwise, Fang Lie would have wielded a more powerful treasure, not just a Soulfire Lance.

Realizing this, Monk Kongtang regained his confidence. Since it would be a battle relying on true strength, he was not afraid of Fang Lie, this rookie.

With a sneer, he raised his hand and summoned a lotus-shaped treasure, effortlessly blocking the incoming Soulfire Lance. With a triumphant laugh, he declared, "Haha, so you really dare not use overwhelming power and can only fight with your own strength. In that case, I am not afraid of you, Junior!"

As he spoke, Monk Kongtang pressed his palms together, conjuring large Buddhist hands that aimed fiercely at Fang Lie. This was the divine skill he mastered in the Buddhist sect, called Great Stone Hand!

Fang Lie had already seen this technique earlier, performed by an illusion of Jie Yan Chan Master. Although that illusion only wielded Golden Pool-level power, its strength, speed, and timing far exceeded those of Monk Kongtang, proving that their understanding of this technique was on entirely different levels.

Fang Lie could defend against Jie Yan Chan Master’s fierce attacks, so he was certainly not worried about Monk Kongtang’s divine skill.

With a wave of his hand, Fang Lie activated his Five Elements and Bagua Immortal robe and summoned a Wutu Shield, cleverly blocking the incoming giant hands. The ground shook violently, yet not a single hair on Fang Lie was harmed.

Then, Fang Lie maximized his agility. His Divine Phoenix Golden Wings fluttered rapidly, transforming him into a streak of light darting around Monk Kongtang.

Due to Fang Lie’s incredible speed, Monk Kongtang found it hard to keep up. Roughly half of his attacks missed completely, while the other half was blocked by Fang Lie’s shield, failing to pose any threat.

At that critical moment, Monk Kongtang suddenly realized there was a problem with the golden lotus he was using for defense. The consumed Magic increased, yet it became sluggish and harder to control, indicating a clear issue.

Now, being passively attacked, Monk Kongtang was in trouble. He couldn’t hit Fang Lie and was relentlessly struck by the Soulfire Lance. Over time, even his protective treasure began to show problems, struggling to hold up. If this continued, he would likely be the one to lose.

In fact, it was due to Fang Lie’s own enhanced strength. Now, he was not what he used to be; his Magic was deep and both his offense and defense were exceptional.

The Soulfire Lance was highly powerful, capable of affecting even treasures. The Five Elements and Bagua Immortal robe provided excellent protection that was hard to break at the same level.

Combined with the Divine Phoenix Golden Wings that allowed him to move swiftly and easily avoid attacks, Fang Lie became nearly unapproachable while launching sharp attacks.

Especially during battle, he opened two self-injury techniques: the Explosion Qi Technique and the Blood Ignition Technique, instantly increasing his Magic by 20 times, creating an almost endless loop. This significantly closed the gap in power between him and the Golden Pool cultivators, placing them on a more even playing field.

When their strengths were similar, Fang Lie’s advantages in attack, defense, and speed would be greatly magnified, ensuring that against an opponent like Monk Kongtang, who wasn’t much stronger, he would typically gain the upper hand.

After exchanging blows for a mere dozen rounds, it became clear that Monk Kongtang was showing signs of defeat. He no longer dared to waste Magic on attacking and had to summon another treasure for self-defense while looking around, clearly considering escape.

Fang Lie quickly guessed his intentions upon seeing him scanning the surroundings and couldn’t help but let out a cold laugh: "Bald devil, everyone knows that you monks have tough skin and flesh but aren’t good at fleeing. In front of my Divine Phoenix Golden Wings, even the Purple Palace Immortal might not be faster than me. Do you really think you can escape from me today?"

"Damn!" Monk Kongtang couldn’t help but curse, then bitterly added, "Fang Lie, we have no grudges from the past, and no enmity in recent times. I even offered you the Ten-thousand-year-old Yellow Essence I had. Why do you want to eliminate me completely? What reason is there?"

"Stop your nonsense!" Fang Lie retorted coldly, "Don’t tell me Jie Yan Chan Master wasn’t lured by you! In such a vast Lost Forest with so many restrictions, he can precisely lock onto my position—aren’t you the one behind it?"

"That~" Monk Kongtang realized that arguing was meaningless and could only helplessly reply, "That was an elder’s command from the sect! How could I dare not obey?"

"In that case, you can go die!" Fang Lie declared, intensifying his attacks in an attempt to kill him as quickly as possible.

Fang Lie suddenly realized that the Heavenly Tribulation for eliminating Jie Yan Chan Master was far too powerful, sending shockwaves for countless miles. Within that range, other people would surely come to investigate.

Regardless of who it was, anyone who sensed the strange occurrence would likely come to look.

Fang Lie had not yet collected all the Śāriputra relics and did not want to be disturbed.

At this moment, Fang Lie’s battle intent surged like a storm, and his hands waved continuously. With each movement, he unleashed a crimson fire spear, attacking furiously like a violent wind and torrential rain, all striking against Monk Kongtang’s two protective treasures.

Under the relentless attacks, the divine light of the two treasures gradually dimmed, and it seemed they would soon lose their effect.

Monk Kongtang immediately realized that he could not delay any longer; he had to escape right away. However, ordinary methods clearly could not break through Fang Lie’s defenses. Therefore, a fierce light flashed in Monk Kongtang’s eyes.

He simply took action without hesitation, pulling out a divine symbol made of yellow jade and activating it with full force.

The divine symbol shattered instantly, exploding with a brilliant Buddhist light. Amidst this radiance, a Buddha’s hand, about a foot in size, appeared and struck down towards Fang Lie with lightning speed.

This Buddha’s hand was not ordinary; it not only moved astonishingly fast but also possessed immense power.

Fang Lie knew he could not dodge in time, so he hastily activated the Eight Trigrams Immortal robe, using all five shields to block the blow.

Unfortunately, it was of no use. That hand shattered all obstacles along the way effortlessly and struck forcefully against Fang Lie’s chest.

With a crisp crack, Fang Lie’s entire upper body exploded into fragments, blood splattering the ground, dead beyond recovery in an instant!

After killing Fang Lie, Monk Kongtang laughed joyfully, "Hahaha, no matter how powerful you are, you can’t withstand the divine symbol crafted with full effort by the Wind Tribulation Immortal. You idiot, you’re already dead!"

However, just as Monk Kongtang was laughing aloud, dark clouds began to gather overhead.

Soon, the powerful pressure from the clouds disturbed him. He quickly looked up and was astonished, unable to hold back his despair, "Damn it, it was just a divine symbol! Is it necessary to be this ruthless? Heavenly Tribulations? That’s only for true Immortals! I’m just a mere Golden Pool cultivator; this clearly means no way out!"

No matter how Monk Kongtang complained, it had no effect. After just a few breaths, the Thunder Tribulation arrived on schedule.

Although this guy was only a Golden Pool cultivator, who could blame him for using the power of the Wind Tribulation Immortal? Thus, the standard for the heavenly tribulation was raised.

Although he did not summon countless Yi-wood Divine Lightning like Jie Yan Chan Master, his heavenly tribulation was still terrifying, a thick green thunderbolt of ten zhang.

In just one strike, Monk Kongtang completely vanished from the world.

Two hours later, Fang Lie revived from the Cycle of Fire of the Mo Sect.

He muttered, "Damn it, that guy actually had such a hidden trick!"

"Haha~" the old bird laughed and said, "Though unexpected, this won’t change the big picture. In that kind of place, it’s a move for mutual destruction. I bet you can collect his corpse when you return!"

"With his poor state? There probably isn’t anything good!" Fang Lie complained, then used the teleportation array of the Cycle of Fire to appear directly at the spot where he died.

This was because Fang Lie had left a marker before his death, knowing he couldn’t stop the opponent’s strike, so he made sure he could return easily.

However, when Fang Lie returned to the same spot, he was shocked to find that it no longer belonged to him. Two figures dressed in Dao robes, each carrying a treasured sword, were searching around persistently. They were even playing with the Śāriputra relic left by Jie Yan Chan Master!

Without a doubt, Fang Lie knew these two were elites from East Kunlun; aside from them, there wouldn’t be any other Taoists here.

At that moment, the two noticed Fang Lie. Initially taken aback, they promptly halted their search, revealing their swords and cautiously surrounding Fang Lie.

"So it is Dao friend Fang Lie!" said the white-haired middle-aged man on the left calmly. "Greetings!"

"We arrived here first, so we ask you to accommodate us a bit, Dao friend!" said the handsome Taoist with sword-like brows coldly from the left.