Chapter 618 - 266: A Vicious Blow

Chapter 618: Chapter 266: A Vicious Blow

"I once asked the Old Lord of Time about this very point years ago."

The old man smiled and said:

"He told me that the Martial Arts the Dragon Lord cultivates are far beyond the realm of ordinary reason. It is a world-rending art, the greatest Divine Technique of all time.

"Nothing in this world it cannot contain, no technique in this world it cannot absorb!

"The more it absorbs, the stronger it becomes. Only then will he be able to turn the tide when the time comes!"

’Nothing in this world it cannot contain, no technique in this world it cannot absorb?’

Fang Shuwen felt something wasn’t quite right with those two lines. ’They’re absurdly exaggerated, especially the part about it being a ’world-rending’ technique, the ’greatest Divine Technique of all time.’ That claim is utterly preposterous.’

’But the people of Dragon Abyss are all raised from a young age and brainwashed there. Of course they’d have a blind, fanatical devotion to their Dragon Lord that outsiders could never understand.’

’It’s impossible to reason with them about things like this.’

Fang Shuwen gave a slight nod.

"Thank you for the clarification, senior. I will be sure to keep this in mind."

"Very well."

The old man stopped there, glanced around at the vast sea, and let out a soft sigh.

"Twenty years have passed like a fleeting dream. It is time to return...

"We... shall meet again in the Five Domains Martial World!"

With that, he turned, about to leap into the water.

But just then, Fang Shuwen’s voice reached his ears:

"One moment, senior."

The old man froze. As he turned back, a palm was already inches from his face.

Great Black Heaven God Palm—Prison Suppression and Evil Extermination!

The palm strike came without a shred of warning. In an instant, the world itself became a prison, the palm blotting out the sky.

And yet, the old man wasn’t entirely unprepared. He moved his hands, True Qi coiling around him with the force of a world-shaking dragon’s roar. A brilliant purple light coalesced into a Divine Dragon. With a forward thrust of his hand, the massive dragon’s maw opened wide and lunged, "biting" at Fang Shuwen’s Prison Suppression and Evil Extermination!

BOOM!!!

A tremendous roar thundered across the surface of the sea, kicking up monstrous waves in all directions.

The purple lightning shattered inch by inch, and Fang Shuwen’s Palm Technique disintegrated along with it. Amid the roiling chaos of True Qi, Fang Shuwen shot forward like a weaver’s shuttle, his momentum unstoppable, closing the distance to the old man in an instant.

Without a moment’s pause, he launched another palm strike.

The old man’s expression turned grim. He drew his arms in tight, then suddenly thrust them out, meeting Fang Shuwen’s palm with both of his elbows.

BAM!!!!

It was like two mountains colliding. A powerful force erupted from beneath their feet.

The sea beneath them collapsed in an instant. The two men plummeted with the water as if falling into a giant crater, surrounded on all sides by towering walls of waves.

A muffled grunt escaped the old man’s lips, and blood was already trickling from the corner of his mouth.

Yet his movements were not hindered in the slightest. On the contrary, he pressed his advance, driving a knee into the back of Fang Shuwen’s leg. At the same time, he spread his arms to clamp down on Fang Shuwen’s shoulders, attempting to drag him down.

But when his knee made contact, the back of Fang Shuwen’s leg didn’t budge an inch.

The old man’s arms closed on empty air. Fang Shuwen had already slipped from his grasp, his Plum Blossom Scattering Hand flowing smoothly to seize him by the throat.

But in the instant his fingers closed, the old man’s form dissolved into a current of water.

This was "Seeing Clouds, Transforming into Water" from the Clouded Leopard Book, an exceptionally advanced Body Technique. It was especially potent when used on the open sea, capable of producing miraculous effects from an ordinary situation.

Fang Shuwen wasn’t the least bit surprised. He turned to find a palm strike already upon him.

The old man was unleashing the very same technique Fang Shuwen had just used: Prison Suppression and Evil Extermination!

The "Cloud Dream Chapter" had three layers of mastery, derived from the conceptual states of the Zen Sect: "Seeing mountains as mountains, and rivers as rivers." "Seeing mountains not as mountains, and rivers not as rivers." "Seeing mountains once again as mountains, and rivers once again as rivers."

The old man had cultivated this art for many years and had long since reached the supreme state of the Third Layer.

Upon reaching this layer, one is no longer deceived by superficial forms. One can parse the illusory from the real; everything one sees becomes truth.

By then leveraging the "Cloud Dream Chapter," one could achieve the ultimate principle: "What is seen, is obtained."

Applied to Martial Arts, this meant one could see a technique once and immediately make it one’s own.

The old man had witnessed Fang Shuwen perform Prison Suppression and Evil Extermination, and now, with a turn of his body, he was giving him a taste of his own medicine.

He was using Fang Shuwen’s own Martial Arts against him.

But Fang Shuwen only smiled at the sight. Without a moment’s hesitation, he met the attack with a Prison Suppression and Evil Extermination of his own.

The two palms collided with barely a hair’s breadth to spare, once again unleashing mountainous waves.

The old man’s body shuddered. He lifted his gaze to Fang Shuwen, his eyes filled with pure astonishment.

Fang Shuwen let out a booming laugh.

"Again!!"

As the word left his lips, he unleashed another Prison Suppression and Evil Extermination!

The power of this technique was far beyond that of the Demon-Suppressing Seal. The Demon-Suppressing Seal was simple and direct—just a straightforward palm strike. When facing a master, there was still room to dodge.

But once Prison Suppression and Evil Extermination was unleashed, the world became a cage. The palm blotted out the heavens, and even if one wanted to flee, there was nowhere to run.

The old man flew into a rage. With a furious roar, he too unleashed a Prison Suppression and Evil Extermination!

After the second exchange of palms, the surrounding waves suddenly reversed course. They were at the very core of the maelstrom, and as the water surged back on itself, it formed a massive spout that lifted both men higher and higher into the air.

But Fang Shuwen had put even more Inner Strength into this palm. As their attacks collided, the spout of water beneath their feet instantly shattered.

Leaving both men suspended in mid-air.

But Fang Shuwen paid it no mind. He simply clapped his palms together.

A colossal Dharma Aspect materialized behind him.

The old man’s eyes shot wide, round as saucers. The urge to flee had already taken firm root in his mind.

’In truth, I shouldn’t have even tried to block that second palm... Taking the first one head-on was already pushing my limits. The second one has already damaged my internal organs.’