Chapter 289 - 286: Utterly Rotten

Chapter 289: Chapter 286: Utterly Rotten

Celestial Eye Technique?

Hearing the old man’s words, Fang Can’s heart stirred. He was reminded of Luo Yanmo’s Telepathy.

Meanwhile, within the Brahma Sound Temple, the abbot heard the Third Turn’s words and chanted a Buddhist mantra.

"Abbot, how does the Sacred Heart lineage possess our temple’s Celestial Eye Technique?" one of the elders couldn’t help but ask.

"Because a century ago, a member of the Sacred Heart lineage came to me late at night to request it, and I gave it to him."

The abbot answered truthfully, "I observed that the petitioner was an elder of the Sacred Heart lineage, filled with immense malevolent energy. I also gifted him several Buddhist scriptures to help him overcome his Heart Demon."

’Someone came asking, and you just gave it to them?’

Even knowing that the abbot had cultivated to the Fourth Turn Realm and possessed profound Buddhist knowledge, they knew that—to put it nicely—he was pure of heart and filled with great love. To put it bluntly, he was as dense as a block of wood.

The elders were left speechless. How could he be so utterly unguarded?

One elder reminded him, "But... giving away a Divine Power so easily could lead to a great disaster."

"The fault is mine," the abbot said with a sigh, clapping his hands together.

"I originally believed that anyone capable of cultivating a Buddhist Divine Power must be pure of heart."

"I thought that no matter who cultivated the Divine Power, they would use it to benefit the people. That’s why in my early years, I gave it freely to all who asked. Now, I see my thinking was shortsighted."

"And now, we have forged a great karmic bond with the Sacred Heart lineage."

"Abbot, are you preparing to intervene in the battle?" the elders asked, only to be denied by the abbot.

"The Fourth Turn masters made the first move, and Fang Can retaliated. This is a worldly dispute over fame and fortune. As long as it does not bring disaster upon the common people, we have no right to interfere."

The abbot placed his palms together and said, "However, since that Chixiao has cultivated the Celestial Eye Technique, he has formed a karmic bond with our Buddhist tradition. Coupled with his pure nature, once this conflict is over, we should guide him to our temple to live out the rest of his days in peace."

As the abbot made his decision, the elders in the temple put their palms together and said, "It is only right."

...

Returning to the battle, the Third Turn elder explained with a smile, "The Buddhist Celestial Eye Technique requires a pure heart to cultivate. Once mastered, the user feels neither fear nor terror."

"This is because no matter how terrifying something is, the image is ’harmonized’ in the eyes of a cultivator who has mastered the Celestial Eye Technique."

"Blood is seen as flowing water, and gore is viewed as mundane. In the eyes of Chixiao, who has activated the Celestial Eye Technique, everything is beautiful. Naturally, he won’t be startled by jump scares."

’So his eyes come with a built-in mosaic filter and a holy light effect, is that it?!’ A dark line appeared on Fang Can’s forehead as he looked at Chixiao, who had been turned into a human weapon.

Even he had to admit that this Sacred Body was flawless from every angle, immune to any external information.

’His eyes have a mosaic filter, his ears have their own profanity-filtering system, his body defends automatically, and his mind warps reality. What kind of turtle shell inheritance is this?’

’However... it’s not impossible to beat him...’

An idea surfaced in Fang Can’s mind. ’The Celestial Eye Technique might only immunize against simple images, but what about conceptual implantation?’

’For example... a meme?’

’I think the King of Lame Gags has a superpower related to memes. This guy is really about to become the MVP.’

Fang Can thought to himself. Regardless, he had to separate Chixiao from Xiang Hongtu first.

But that wasn’t too difficult for him.

"Are you ready?" Fang Can asked the King of Lame Gags through their mental link.

"OK, the ability is ready. I can use it anytime," the King of Lame Gags replied, his face twitching with fear. This was an extremely dangerous plan.

"Good. Teleport," Fang Can said. As he spoke, the King of Lame Gags vanished on the spot.

Within the Death Realm, Xiang Hongtu’s heart filled with joy as he listened to the Third Turn elder’s explanation.

His Ignorance Counter-current inheritance was most vulnerable to quick-kill abilities. Now, with Chixiao’s Fifth Turn-level defense, it was a match made in heaven!

He was even thinking that after this battle, he would just keep Chixiao for himself and use him as a human weapon.

However, a question soon arose in his mind.

’We’ve been fighting for three or four minutes now. Why haven’t my subordinates arrived yet?’

In reality, he used Ignorance Counter-current once more, pulling Chixiao’s body in front of him to block Ji Donglai’s fist.

As a blinding light from the high-speed impact once again flashed for miles around, Xiang Hongtu felt a hand gently press down on his shoulder.

At that moment, on the live broadcast, Xiang Hongtu’s hands were clamped tightly onto Chixiao’s body, refusing to let go.

Ji Donglai’s right hand was gripping Chixiao’s head, while behind Xiang Hongtu, a man with the exact same appearance and clothes as Ji Donglai was grabbing him.

’It’s that ability user who can borrow other people’s powers!’ Xiang Hongtu immediately realized. ’He’s borrowed Ji Donglai’s ability. What is he going to do? Attack me?’

The answer was—teleportation!

It was a simultaneous teleportation by both Ji Donglai and the King of Lame Gags!

Previously, teleportation could only move a single, contiguous unit. Since Xiang Hongtu was holding onto Chixiao, Ji Donglai’s teleport could only take both of them together.

But what if two people used teleportation at the same time?

Ji Donglai grabbed Chixiao, the King of Lame Gags grabbed Xiang Hongtu, and they both teleported in different directions at the same instant.

What would happen to the conjoined pair of Chixiao and Xiang Hongtu?

SWOOSH—

In an instant, Xiang Hongtu felt his hands become empty. His surroundings had changed, and he was now thousands of miles away.

But he had no time to think about that, because Chixiao, his Absolute Defense, was gone.

Moreover, because his location had changed, his Ignorance Counter-current was centered on his own position.

If he reversed time by 0.3 seconds at his current location, Chixiao wouldn’t return, because 0.3 seconds ago, Chixiao was at Guiyun Peak.

’Damn that power copier.’

Xiang Hongtu was filled with rage. He turned to strike the King of Lame Gags.

But the man had already teleported back into the space within Ji Donglai’s body before his attack could land.

Almost immediately after teleporting, the King of Lame Gags’ appearance had completely changed. He had transformed into a plain-looking, middle-aged man and borrowed a new superpower.

’Wait!’

In an instant, Xiang Hongtu’s anger turned to elation.

Because the King of Lame Gags was no longer in Ji Donglai’s invincible defensive state! This meant he could be attacked!

[Ignorance Counter-current]

In an instant, the entire world was once again plunged into the pitch-black of reversed time.

Within the reversed time, the King of Lame Gags emerged from the pocket space, appearing before him still disguised as Ji Donglai.

Looking at the King of Lame Gags before him, Xiang Hongtu was overjoyed. ’No matter how meticulously they plan, there’s always a flaw.’

’Your only mistake was being too hasty in switching abilities to save time.’

Xiang Hongtu slammed his right fist into the King of Lame Gags with all his might. He then waited calmly for the damage dealt during the Ignorance Counter-current to carry over to the present.

But after landing the blow, his brow furrowed. He vaguely sensed that something was wrong.

He hadn’t had time to think it through in the heat of the moment, but now that he’d calmed down, it felt strange.

Wasn’t all of this... a little too easy?

Would Fang Can—the man who seemed to calculate everything, who countered every move like a fortune-telling master—really give him such an opportunity?

"Oh no! I’ve fallen for that bastard Fang Can’s trick!"

Almost instantly, Xiang Hongtu’s expression changed drastically.

But looking at the King of Lame Gags, who had already been struck, he found he couldn’t take back the punch he had just thrown.

The 0.3 seconds passed quickly. As time returned to the present, the damage dealt during the time reversal was instantly transferred.

At that moment, inside Ji Donglai’s pocket space, the King of Lame Gags didn’t even have time to react before his entire body was blasted into dust.

Against the full-force blow of a Fourth Turn master, a mortal body would be obliterated without a trace.

The King of Lame Gags... was dead! 𝑓𝑟ℯℴ𝓂

But nothing happened to Xiang Hongtu.

Feeling his body completely unchanged, he breathed a sigh of relief while wondering, ’Was I overthinking it? Did Fang Can really miscalculate?’

However, the reaction from the superpower users’ side made Xiang Hongtu’s heart leap into his throat. They were too calm.

Fang Can’s expression was completely placid. Superman F, on the other hand, was cheering with a slight smile in the mental link, celebrating that the idiot King of Lame Gags was finally dead.

"You’ve realized something is wrong, haven’t you, Xiang Hongtu?" Fang Can said with a smile via his Heart Image.

"The ability the King of Lame Gags exchanged for this time... is Damage Feedback!" (Mentioned in the King of Lame Gags’ ability list, fifth to last paragraph of Chapter 242).

As he finished speaking, Xiang Hongtu’s face immediately turned grim.

Fang Can stated, word by word, "This ability can only be activated once a day. It reflects the damage dealt back onto the attacker in equal proportion. It will activate even upon death."

"The ability’s only restriction is that it can only be activated after the attacker understands what it does."

"And now... you can say goodbye to your first life!"

Hearing Fang Can’s Heart Image message on the live broadcast, a flash of disbelief crossed Xiang Hongtu’s face. He shook his head. ’Impossible. I’m a Fourth Turn. How could the ability of a mere mortal who isn’t even at the First Turn...?’

"Who’s talking about power levels? We superpower users care about information depth," Fang Can said, waving his hand dismissively with a mocking expression.

In the next instant, the damage feedback from the well and truly dead King of Lame Gags activated.

An invisible force acted upon Xiang Hongtu’s body. The invincible Fourth Turn body of Xiang Hongtu immediately exploded.

As Xiang Hongtu exploded, the Divine Sunderer almost instantly deactivated the Forbidden Demon Domain.

With the Forbidden Demon Domain dispelled, the dust-like fragments of the King of Lame Gags’ body began to piece themselves back together in the void.

This was the one-time ability, [Revival of the Dead], created after the King of Willpower brainwashed a Third Turn Martial Artist!

It could only be used once on a single living being who was below the First Turn Realm, was named "King of Lame Gags," whose appearance differed from their perceived identity, had died within a one-meter radius from an accidental death by pure physical attack, had been dead for no more than two seconds... (countless other qualifiers omitted), to reverse their life state back to two seconds prior to death.

The resurrection of the dead is a miracle, even for Martial Artists.

Only after adding countless restrictions and basically limiting it to the King of Lame Gags personally did this Third Turn-level ability barely reach the life-saving threshold.

As the King of Lame Gags resurrected as expected, even Fang Can, who had divined that there would be no accidents, secretly breathed a sigh of relief.

Outside, in the brief moment before Xiang Hongtu revived with his second life, the other spectators were stunned to see:

Outside the pocket space, Ji Donglai and Chixiao were rolling around in the mud!