Chapter 53: Show of Force

“So, you truly intend to bestow the Great Nurturing Heavenly Demon Scripture, that treasure canon of the Demon Cult, upon Mu’er?” Cripple queried.

Granny Si nodded lightly. “He surpasses me. The Fate Transformation Heavenly Demon Skill is but a single divine ability within the Great Nurturing Heavenly Demon Scripture. My method of flaying skin to craft garments, while perhaps somewhat wicked, never led me to consider using the Fate Transformation Heavenly Demon Skill against the Sunlight Yang Soul Air Refining of the Thunder Sound Eight Styles. He, however, conceived of it.”

The Apothecary affirmed, “Using the Fate Transformation Heavenly Demon Skill to seal the soul against the Sunlight Yang Soul Air Refining is indeed a stroke of divine inspiration.”

Granny Si chuckled, “Thus, if he learns the Great Nurturing Heavenly Demon Scripture, perhaps he will expand upon the Demon Canon, cultivating techniques we had never before imagined.”

Mute gestured twice with a series of emphatic "Ah-ahs." Deaf shook his head, “Don’t tell him. If you tell him, it won’t be any fun.”

A knowing smile spread across the faces of the old men and women, their hearts filled with mirth.

Within the Disabled Elder Village, wave after wave of thunderous roars echoed. Qin Mu and Ma Ye’s figures weaved and intertwined, each employing the very same move, Nine Dragons Control Wind Thunder, as they surged towards their opponent.

*Boom—*

Thunder rolled, threatening to deafen the ears. Qin Mu and Ma Ye’s fists collided with a muffled thud. Both stumbled back a step, their footwork like coiling divine dragons. It seemed like a retreat, but in reality, they were gathering momentum.

In the span of several steps, Qin Mu’s power amassed to its apex. His body, like an enraged dragon emerging from a deep abyss, surged forward to attack Ma Ye!

“Little brat, you even altered the Steal Heaven Step I taught you,” Cripple remarked in surprise.

He recognized the footwork Qin Mu had just employed. It possessed the essence of a coiling dragon, retracting its body to accumulate momentum, poised to strike. Although it appeared as a retreat, it was in truth a retreat that led to an advance, incredibly vicious.

His Steal Heaven Step was peerlessly exquisite, yet Cripple, being a creature of habit, always employed it for trivial matters like chicken-snatching or dog-stealing. He never bothered to elevate the power of the Steal Heaven Step. Cripple’s footwork was typically used for fleeing after theft or launching sneak attacks; it wasn’t the forte of the Steal Heaven Leg.

Qin Mu, through a mere slight modification of his footwork, unknowingly imbued it with the aura of a divine dragon. His body movements possessed the momentum of a dragon, like a serpent coiling.

*Bang bang bang*, a string of violent impacts resonated. Qin Mu and Ma Ye had only exchanged a single fist, yet the sound of their collision had reverberated forty-five times, a truly bizarre phenomenon.

Qin Mu was sent flying backward. In mid-air, his body twisted like a swimming dragon, dissipating the force of Ma Ye’s blow. When he landed, his body was steady and balanced.

“Ma Ye is still Ma Ye,” Cripple sighed in admiration.

Ma Ye spoke, “Mu’er, have you comprehended the essence of this move?”

Qin Mu’s face revealed a shocked expression. He exclaimed in a hushed voice, “Your fist strength is different from mine! Within my fist strength are forty-five streaks of dragon power, all of the same kind of dragon, while within your fist strength are forty-five different kinds of divine dragons! The power of each kind of dragon is not the same!”

“You sensed it,” Ma Ye’s face showed a look of gratification. “Within the Great Thunder Sound Temple are carvings of a hundred Heavenly Dragons, known as the Hundred Dragons Picture. The First Generation Tathagata carved these based on a hundred different Heavenly Dragons he had personally witnessed, providing them for later disciples to cultivate the fist strength of Nine Dragons Control Wind Thunder. When I cultivated Nine Dragons Control Wind Thunder, I did not behold true dragons, but these carvings. Nine Dragons Control Wind Thunder contains forty-five kinds of dragon strength, requiring the use of forty-five different dragon pictures. However, the Great Thunder Sound Temple possesses a hundred kinds of dragon pictures. Do you understand what that signifies?”

Qin Mu’s heart trembled. He whispered in a low voice, “Every time you use Nine Dragons Control Wind Thunder, the dragon strength contained within your fist is different from before!”

Ma Ye nodded, “The move Nine Dragons Control Wind Thunder, while seemingly a simple fist, in reality conceals countless variations. This kind of change is hidden within the force contained within the fist, making it impossible for others to discern. Mu’er, watch closely!”

Ma Ye extended his arm and unleashed a fist. With a booming sound, a dragon’s roar resonated, followed by the rumble of thunder. A streak of dragon-shaped vital energy surged forth, an enraged dragon impacting, as if breaking free from an abyss. Once it burst forth from the deep abyss, it appeared ready to devour people!

Then, two more dragon roars echoed. Twin dragons surged forth from his fist, intertwining and passing through each other. The bodies of the two massive dragons coiled around one another, continuously drilling forward!

Three dragon roars sounded, three kinds of dragon strength, fierce and overbearing, capable of splitting stone and cracking monuments!

Then came four dragons pouncing to kill, five dragons refining demons, six dragons wheeling back, seven dragons overturning the sea, eight divisions of the Heavenly Dragon, and finally, nine dragons of wind and thunder!

Ma Ye unleashed forty-five streaks of dragon-shaped fist strength with this single fist, his fist strength so vivid and lifelike it was as if true dragons were soaring forth.

He unleashed this fist towards the sky. Within the sky above Disabled Elder Village, a patch of scattered clouds suddenly shattered and vanished.

As this patch of scattered clouds dispersed, a human head suddenly fell from the shattered cloud, landing at Qin Mu’s feet. Qin Mu was startled, but upon closer inspection, he saw it was a monk’s head. He wondered why it had been hidden among the clouds.

“Could it be that some demon or monster killed this monk and carried his head into the clouds?”

Just as Qin Mu speculated, several more thuds echoed. Two arms and two legs fell from the air, and a body landed outside the village.

“It wasn’t a demon monster who did this!”

Qin Mu’s heart jolted. “It was this monk hiding in the clouds!”

Inside the village, Mute, Deaf, Butcher, and the others seemed unperturbed by this strange occurrence, paying it no mind.

Ma Ye also appeared unaware that he had just killed a monk with his fist. He glanced up at the Demon Cult Patriarch outside the village, clearly showing off.

He was showing off to the Demon Cult Patriarch, deterring the many strong individuals of the Demon Cult!

In the neighboring village, the young Patriarch’s expression shifted slightly. He remarked, “The fist techniques and divine abilities of the Great Thunder Sound Temple are indeed formidable, though they still lack the finesse of the Old Tathagata. I know who this One-Armed man is. He is the abandoned disciple of the Great Thunder Sound Temple, the Horse King God, Venerable Horse. That year, he fought his way out of the Great Thunder Sound Temple, becoming famous in a single battle. I did not expect him to be hiding here. This small village is not to be underestimated.”

The Enforcement Elder glanced at the body that had fallen from the air, saying, “This is a monk from the Great Thunder Sound Temple, killed by the Horse King God. Strange, how would a monk from the Great Thunder Sound Temple appear here?”

The young Patriarch chuckled, “Presumably, he came to monitor the Horse King God. This is a minor matter. The Old Tathagata is old and will not be venturing out of the mountain anymore. Instead, that young one’s fist technique is quite interesting, quite interesting. It’s of a very high standard. He clearly hasn’t learned the Tathagata Great Vehicle Scripture, yet he can still fully unleash the power of the Thunder Sound Eight Styles…”

Inside the village, Ma Ye withdrew his gaze and continued, “Mu’er, what did you discern from my fist just now?”

Qin Mu suppressed the doubt in his heart. Those forty-five green dragons just now were not only different in form, but even the types of dragons were entirely distinct, truly shocking him.

Suddenly, Ma Ye once again used the move Nine Dragons Control Wind Thunder. In the air, forty-five different kinds of green dragons appeared again, interlaced with thunder, the wind and clouds rolling furiously, surging towards the high sky!

Ma Ye unleashed one fist after another. The dragon-shaped fist strength in mid-air grew more and more numerous, dense and thick. An area of a hundred *li* in radius was filled with flying and dancing green dragons!

These green dragons formed a magnificent array in the air, their dragon bodies coiling around each other, surrounding a massive dragon plate. The dragon heads faced outward and suddenly roared mightily!

Ten thousand dragons roared in unison, shaking heaven and earth!

This was no longer a demonstration of the profound meaning of Nine Dragons Control Wind Thunder towards Qin Mu, but a naked display of power, a show of force towards Great Ruins, towards the Heavenly Demon Cult, towards those who harbored ill intentions towards Disabled Elder Village!

Qin Mu stared with wide eyes. The other people inside the village were also full of praise, nodding continuously. The crowd of the Heavenly Demon Cult in the neighboring village also changed color slightly, filled with endless admiration. The young Patriarch spoke to the cult members beside him, “In the future, if you encounter the Horse King God alone, give way by three points.”

The Enforcement Elder whispered, “Does our Heavenly Demon Cult need to fear this small village?”

“Fear, not to that extent,” the young Patriarch smiled faintly. “They are already remnants, cripples, their abilities not what they once were. But there are two who are at my level: one with no hands or feet, and that blacksmith. As for the others, they are stronger than the twelve Protector Saints and the four Great Town Cult Heavenly Kings of my cult. The Saintess is likely the weakest among them. Do you see that Butcher with only an upper body? If you see him, you will certainly have a profound impression of him, because he has a title, called Heavenly Knife!”

The Enforcement Elder’s heart trembled greatly. He looked towards Butcher in disbelief, murmuring, “Is that the Heavenly Knife? Didn’t he die long ago?”

“I also heard he died,” a Protector Cult Elder said. “I heard he went mad, drew his knife towards the sky, and killed his way into the firmament. Someone saw the shadows of numerous gods appear in the sky, and this madman killed his way towards the gods. It is said that at that time, the sky was filled with dark clouds, and the knife light shuttled through the thunderclouds. Before long, Heavenly Knife’s corpse fell from the sky. If this Butcher is indeed that Heavenly Knife, how could he have survived?”

The young Patriarch said, “For an existence like him, even dying is not too easy.”

The Enforcement Elder said doubtfully, “Patriarch, why did you agree to the Cult Master’s wife and let this young child become the Young Cult Master of our Holy Cult? I don’t see his strength as being particularly strong.”

“This young one’s strength is indeed not very strong, and he is still very green at the moment. But who are the people by his side?” The young Patriarch narrowed his eyes and smiled, “The strong individuals by his side are truly terrifying. These strong individuals were all existences who commanded the wind and clouds in the past, each with their own specialties! This young one is their child. They will impart their lifetime of learning and insights to him, coupled with the Great Nurturing Heavenly Demon Scripture of our cult. Heh heh, when he becomes the Holy Cult Master of our cult, our Holy Cult will gain greatly!”

The Enforcement Elder sighed in admiration, “Patriarch is wise and brilliant. But why does the Patriarch still wish to test him?”

The Patriarch countered, “What if he is a blockhead? Therefore, he must be tested. Notify the hall masters of the three hundred and sixty floors, and instruct them that they are only allowed to use abilities from the Spirit Embryo Realm! Tomorrow, we will await his entry into the floor!”