In the underground cave, beside the pool of blood.
Jingming shouted loudly, each punch like a divine axe splitting heaven and earth, thunderously smashing down.
However, Jing Fan kept retreating, creating profound footprints in the ground, his eyes, ears, mouth, and nose all bleeding.
Clearly, although his body protection technique was remarkable, he couldn’t completely block the shaking force and his internal organs had been injured.
"After enduring a dozen more punches, even if not beaten to death, he would be shaken to death!"
Zhong Shenxiu stepped sideward, arriving behind Jingming Monk and delivered a palm strike.
Jingming Monk struck back with his own palm, forcing Zhong Shenxiu to retreat.
Just then, right in front of him, Jing Fan placed his palms together and fiercely pushed forward, his momentum formidable, forcing Jingming Monk to withdraw his palm in defense.
Seizing this rare opportunity, Zhong Shenxiu’s right hand suddenly turned pitch black like ink.
It was a display of pushing the Kidney Water Qi to its extreme, fiercely delivering a palm strike to the vital point of Jingming Monk.
The opponent’s Five Elements Qi was dense and refined, nearly flawless, but he could create flaws!
Directly hitting his target, Zhong Shenxiu felt as if he had struck a lump of iron, not only did it create a sound of metal striking metal, but also a terrifying counterforce.
He floated back, "I thought a monk’s kidneys were useless, didn’t expect that Jingming had trained them to be indestructible—what is he planning?"
Although he spoke thus, having been hit by Zhong Shenxiu’s full-strength Five Elements Thief Palm, Jingming Monk ultimately showed some change.
His footsteps faltered, and his movements naturally slowed, allowing Jing Fan to escape.
After all, Jingming was only Human List strength.
Unless faced with an Earth List Master, a full-strength blow from a Human List Martial Artist would still cause injury.
"Great Demon! Great Demon!"
However, after Jingming was wounded, his eyes became clearer. He chanted the Buddha Sound Zen Chant, his hands forming a lotus shape, and suddenly delivered a palm strike.
Buddha’s Anger Generates Lotus!
This was one of the three deadly moves from the Fighting Victory King Scripture, as infamous as Bodhi’s Bloodshed and Guanyin’s Tears, deemed forbidden by the Stone Buddha Temple due to its ruthless cruelty.
But such rules mattered little to Jingming.
Jing Fan remained calm, his face suddenly revealing a slight smile; his right thumb and middle finger twisted like pinching a petal, releasing a strange Qi.
Forbidden move—Guanyin Tears!
Buddha’s Anger Generates Lotus against Guanyin Tears!
In the void, there seemed to be an inexplicable sound of bugs chewing, that was the two strange Qi forces neutralizing each other.
Suddenly, Jing Fan’s figure flew backward, his Qi as thin as a thread.
Zhong Shenxiu quickly stepped forward to catch him.
The next moment, he saw Jingming rushing towards them.
Clearly, in the previous battle of brothers, this Demon Monk had the upper hand.
He opened his mouth wide, like a Buddhist Sect’s fierce lion’s roar, a powerful Sound Wave Skill hurtled forth.
Just as Zhong Shenxiu prepared to take it head-on, he suddenly heard a zither note from the sky.
Like a heavenly breeze around jingling ornaments, the clear sound lingering.
A Sword Qi appeared, mutually neutralizing the two sound waves mid-air.
Su Yin Sword Sect’s Heavenly Zither Sword Sound!
"Haha... Lucky I wasn’t a step too late."
Duan Mingyu sat on an empty stalagmite, with a zither placed upon his lap.
After luring away the troop of apes, he had circled back, stealthily entering the cave, just in time to catch this grand battle.
"Perfect timing, this one is almost finished."
Zhong Shenxiu laughed heartily.
Although Jing Ming still looked ferocious, through observation, Zhong Shenxiu could clearly see a bloody hole in his chest, left by Guanyin’s Tears.
Additionally, he had been struck in the back by his own move, Five Elements Thief Palm.
Though still seemingly vigorous, from the depleted state of his Five Elements Qi, it was clear he had suffered serious injuries.
In fact, even Li Qinghe, the top-ranked martial artist on the Human List, would not fare well facing a three-person attack !
Duan Mingyu pressed his hands on the zither, and suddenly, like a fierce wind rustling leaves, plucked the strings.
Waves of Sound Wave Qi Swords vibrated and shot out, creating multiple small wounds on Jing Ming’s body.
Jing Ming suddenly howled and abandoned Zhong Shenxiu, pouncing towards Duan Mingyu.
Duan Mingyu, undaunted, pulled a long sword from the zither, and brilliant sword light immediately illuminated the cave.
He thrust out his sword, the stroke thunderous, only to see Jingming Monk bringing his hands together, trapping the sword between his palms, causing Duan Mingyu to be greatly alarmed.
As a direct disciple of the Su Yin Sword Sect, his swordsmanship was exceptionally profound, and his zither-contained sword was a divine weapon.
He had never encountered an opponent who could catch a blade barehanded since he debuted!
Realizing he had met a formidable foe once in his life, he continuously poured his inner strength into the long sword.
The two were locked in a stalemate; although Duan Mingyu immediately broke out into a cold sweat, clearly at a disadvantage, he was not fighting alone.
Zhong Shenxiu moved as if floating, his right hand rotating through the Five Elements, delivering another palm strike to the back of Jingming Monk.
Struck severely again, Jingming Monk’s Five Elements Qi instantly became chaotic, his protective hard qi broken. Not only that, his hands relaxed, and Duan Mingyu’s sword pierced through him!
Duan Mingyu instinctively followed up with a palm strike to Jing Ming’s chest.
The Demon Monk was sent flying, blood scattering across the sky, and he plunged into a pool of blood.
At this point, Zhong Shenxiu was certain, this demon had finally died.
He hurriedly stepped forward, helping up Jing Fan: "Master... how do you feel?"
Jing Fan spat out a mouthful of fresh blood, staring blankly at the pool of blood.
Jing Ming’s corpse floated on the surface of the blood pool, and suddenly underwent a bizarre transformation.
Half of his face rapidly withered, sprouting black hair, while the other half seemed even more ruddy, almost like a baby’s skin.
The eerie and ferocious aura still echoed within the cave.
Whispers of "Great Demon, Great Demon," seemed to reach Zhong Shenxiu’s ears.
On the hanging stalactites, as Jing Ming died, those half-transformed Demon Apes, far from improving, only stared with blood-red eyes, statue-like, quietly observing them.
"Amitabha, this place has become a Demon Realm! If not dealt with, it might endanger the common people..."
Jing Fan Monk brought his hands together, approaching the edge of the blood pool, then suddenly smirked, "If I don’t enter Hell, who will? Thousands of sins, let them be mine... Stone Buddha Temple elders, did you already know the ins and outs by sending me here? Did you also know that only my practice of the Fighting Victory King Scripture could resolve this blood calamity?"
Step by step, he walked into the blood pool, embracing Jing Ming Monk’s mutated corpse, and the two of them sank together.
The air seemed to be flowing with a slight breeze.
Zhong Shenxiu saw, within the blood pool, a vortex suddenly formed, swallowing vast swathes of blood.
On the stalactites, those half-transformed Demon Apes withered away, losing all vitality, only the corners of their mouths slightly curved, as if receiving salvation, or perhaps wearing a mocking smile...