Chapter 442: Shooting

Li Xuanfeng waited for a while; the two monks had already begun to squabble among themselves.

Ever since Ewu had disguised himself as a member of the Situ family, Li Xuanfeng knew that a good show was very likely to follow. Standing in the air on his golden shuttle, he waited quietly.

Seeing the two monks fly north and fight fiercely in the air, Li Xuanfeng raised his left hand and drew the longbow from his back. Gripping it firmly with one hand and preparing the string with the other, he cast a cold glance and unhesitatingly chose Mutuo.

"This one is easy to kill, and also prone to being startled and retreating into their formation. Kill him first."

He exhaled and spoke, his fierce beard bristling and eyes wide. His dark golden armor shimmered brightly, and a golden mystic arrow, crafted from refined gold, sprang from the quiver at his waist and obediently settled on the bowstring.

The Golden Geng longbow in his hand had long been reforged in Yishan City, now far superior to its past form. The bow measured eight feet and six inches long, with horns three feet and five inches long, slightly longer than before. It was dark golden in color and shimmered with radiant light.

If stood on the ground, it would be a head taller than an ordinary Zhao person; held horizontally, it resembled a heavy siege crossbow.

This golden mystic arrow was also a magical artifact, approximately four feet long. It had no overly complex patterns, was smooth and sharp with elegant lines, and, forged and refined by the alchemists of the Southern Frontier, it was as heavy as an iron ox.

Li Xuanfeng slowly drew the bowstring. The golden bow in his hand rotated from a horizontal to an angled position, spanning eight feet. From a distance in the air, it looked like a great eagle spreading its wings.

A brilliant flash! The golden light grew increasingly intense. Li Xuanfeng narrowed his eyes, his gaze spanning a hundred miles, coldly fixed on Mutuo's ugly face.

"Strike!" Li Xuanfeng suddenly released his grip, and the golden mystic arrow in his hand abruptly vanished into thin air. He didn't check the result, instead nocking a second golden mystic arrow onto the string and aiming again.

Mutuo had just wiped blood from his face when a deep dread suddenly gripped his heart. Blood spurted from his face in continuous, successive drops, like dew. He shrieked:

"Help...!" He had only uttered one word. The four guest cultivators had already noticed his unusual state and had to retreat, intending to work together to save his life, but then they heard a hum.

A buzzing sound... The others looked intently: Mutuo's clean head had vanished.

The cut surface of his neck was as smooth as a mirror. Many thin, thread-like strips of flesh protruded from the edge of his neck, waving incessantly in the air as if trying to regrow his head, but as they extended past the cut, they snapped off at the root.

Zhao Shi's vitality could only be compared to that of a demonic cultivator. Mutuo's hands flailed wildly in the air in panic. It seemed that even being crushed to smithereens under Kong Tingyun's golden mountain years ago hadn't caused him such panic as he felt now. He took two steps in the air, his hands touching his neck, but his five fingers snapped off at the root with a squelching sound as they touched the severed surface.

A hum... A second hum rose again. Mutuo vanished, leaving only a few wisps of blood mist in the air.

Almost simultaneously, the statues in several temples on Jindou Island shattered, turning into piles of stone powder on the ground. Several infants spontaneously exploded into blood mist, staining the ground with gore.

The several guest cultivators in the air and Ewu were all stunned. Mutuo had been utterly annihilated on the spot in front of these five Foundation Establishment cultivators. For a moment, those fighting forgot to fight, and those fleeing forgot to flee.

Ewu felt an invisible connection slowly creeping up his body. His senior brother Mutuo had been utterly annihilated before his eyes, and the inheritance of Qinling Temple had naturally transferred to him. What he had dreamt of day and night was now effortlessly within his grasp. Yet, there was no trace of joy on his face; he muttered dazedly:

"What was that… What is this… It's an arrow… an arrow…"

He coughed, spitting out a little blood foam, feeling as if his face were being cut by knives. Tiny beads of blood seeped from his left cheek. With no time to wail, he quickly formed hand seals and cast a spell, releasing a hundred rays of golden light.

His own strength was already greater than Mutuo's. Now that Mutuo was dead and the temple's inheritance had transferred to him, his power increased by another third. But he was already scared out of his wits. A hundred rays of golden light enveloped his body, and he flew through the air as if desperately fleeing for his life.

The several guest cultivators from Jindou Island were both shocked and terrified. The person they were ordered to protect had been utterly annihilated in front of them, filling their hearts with an indescribable complexity of emotions. Looking at the blood mist in the air and Ewu, who was frantically fleeing eastward, one of them said:

"This monk has many life-saving techniques... perhaps he has already resurrected on the island."

Another person, his face full of fear, shook his head and said:

"Are we still pursuing?"

The several people exchanged glances, each seeing the fear in the other's eyes. They silently rode the wind northward, but their speed was so slow it was as if they were admiring the scenery.

Ewu had only fled two *li* when a chill spread through his body. He felt a buzzing sound in his ear and desperately tried to move aside. A tearing pain shot through his arm, and looking down, he saw a blood-hole had appeared in his palm.

For a Buddhist cultivator, such an injury was nothing. Buddhist cultivators did not value their physical forms; their bodies could be easily replaced or reshaped. Normally, a light touch would be enough to heal the hole in his hand.

But now, this wound was gushing blood. Ewu only felt a stinging numbness there, with no sign of healing. His pupils dilated, and his heart was filled with despair.

Li Xuanfeng's attack was extremely powerful. Ewu had encountered powerful enemies like this before; the spells mastered by direct descendants of immortal sects often looked this way. But what truly terrified Ewu was:

"Where is he?"

This attack was incredibly fast, as if it had traveled from the void and seemed boundless and endless. Ewu didn't even know the opponent's direction. Was his desperate escape taking him further away from the opponent… or closer?

The unknown was more terrifying than power itself. He couldn't even see the enemy's shadow. How much energy did this consume for the enemy? What was the time interval between attacks? What was the attack range? Ewu knew nothing at all. He only felt a silent chill creep up his back, and his chest began to seep blood drop by drop.

"He's toying with me, damn him!"

A hint of understanding dawned on Ewu. He quickly formed hand seals again and cast a spell. Behind him, a figure with three heads and six arms materialized. He roared:

"Empowered by the divine law, Jieti Golden Body!"

His skin suddenly brightened, changing from red to brilliant gold, as if forged from brass, incredibly robust. Tiny incantations appeared and danced across his skin.

Splat! However, the next moment, he spat out a mouthful of light golden blood. The golden mist spread through the air, appearing quite fantastical in the sunlight.

Ewu's chest was hollow, leaving a hole the size of a forearm. Through it, one could see the greenish-red sea behind him. With the blessing of this dharma body, he finally saw the golden shadow clearly for the first time:

A golden arrow, like a slender phoenix-bird, bright and translucent, radiating brilliance.

He forcefully suppressed the dread in his heart. He lightly touched the wound and finally understood:

"So this is the power. If this were before Mahakala's fall, this dharma body might have been able to block it... What a pity."