Meng Qi originally thought the meeting would be a private conversation. However, upon discovering that Lady Bai Hua had chosen a place notorious for gatherings of sinister sects, and with the Soul-Stealing Demon Monarch present, he mentally prepared himself for any provocations or tests that might come his way. His previous words, demeanor, and aggressive attitude were all carefully orchestrated to establish an image of an immensely confident and unfathomable demonic overlord, aiming to affect his opponents’ minds and make them hesitant and cautious when taking action, thereby increasing his chances of victory.
Therefore, after a quiet sigh, Meng Qi remained calm and composed, continuing to sit upright with a refined and reserved temperament. He cast a glance at the Soul-Stealing Demon Monarch with an expression of faint amusement, seemingly indifferent to such a formidable opponent, showing not the slightest concern.
The Soul-Stealing Demon Monarch closed his half-open eyes slightly, slightly surprised. Could this “Poisonous Hand” truly possess such unwavering confidence in his own strength?
Unconsciously, he raised his estimation of Meng Qi a notch. Even figures like Linghu Tao and Duanmu Bei shared a similar feeling—remaining calm amidst crises and unshaken when facing enemies stemmed from self-confidence, and the source of self-confidence lay in one’s actual strength!
What level had he truly reached?
The Soul-Stealing Demon Monarch had long been notorious among the sinister sects, his ferocity widely feared, by no means an ordinary figure easily intimidated. Dressed as a white-robed scholar, he softly inhaled and, without opening his eyes, smiled toward Lady Bai Hua, saying, “Your ‘daughter’ is pure and heavenly beautiful, captivating the heart. This one, though unworthy, would like to become her fortunate son-in-law.”
This was the domain of the “Six Polarization True Demon” Linghu Tao. Even if Poisonous Hand was powerful, could he surpass seasoned Black List experts? Even if he failed personally, his life would remain unthreatened!
With a retreat plan and motivation, why not give it a try?
Lady Bai Hua, soothing her “daughter,” chuckled with girlish laughter: “Mr. Soul-Stealing, you truly are heartless and fickle. Not long ago, you praised me as surpassing even fresh young maidens, desiring to become a secret lover. Now, upon seeing my daughter, you’ve instantly forgotten this old woman?”
She flirted openly without restraint, drawing chuckles from the surrounding sinister martial artists and easing the slightly tense atmosphere.
The Soul-Stealing Demon Monarch laughed heartily: “Fish and bear’s paw—I wish to have them both. I wonder, Lady, what do you think?”
As he spoke, his eyes slightly opened, revealing strange glimmers like scattered souls, gazing provokingly toward Meng Qi.
Meng Qi’s eyes remained calm as he smiled faintly: “Soul-Stealing, how about we exchange a few moves?”
Before the final word faded, he extended both hands forward. His right palm lightly trembled while his left palm drew inward. Without threats or pleas, he directly chose to attack!
Meng Qi was acutely aware of his own limitations. Only during the brief moments when he unleashed the Heaven-Imitating and Four-Armed techniques did he possess the ability to rival a top-tier expert at the fourth heavenly stage. If the opportunity was ideal and he employed Dharma Body techniques, there remained a chance to defeat or assassinate such an opponent. Under normal circumstances, however, the first heavenly threshold remained an insurmountable gap.
Now, disguised as Poisonous Hand Demon Monarch, he couldn’t fully unleash his strength. The Soul-Stealing Demon Monarch was a genuine expert who had crossed the first heavenly threshold. In a standard duel, there was absolutely no chance of victory.
Most importantly, he needed to avoid exposing his true capabilities in front of sinister experts like Linghu Tao. He couldn’t allow his previously mysterious and profound image to become a joke, nor could he afford to be underestimated and casually dismissed by Lady Bai Hua, cutting off future opportunities.
Therefore, in a situation where neither his cultivation level nor strength was superior, Meng Qi had to seek opportunities through external advantages such as timing and terrain!
This location was Linghu Tao’s hideout, Ci’an Temple. Initiating the fight directly within the meditation hall would make the Soul-Stealing Demon Monarch hesitant, forcing him to restrain his demonic techniques to avoid collateral damage.
Under such circumstances, the power of the Dharma Form would be greatly neutralized. Therefore, Meng Qi could not allow the Soul-Stealing Demon Monarch the opportunity to venture outside for a “sparring match”!
The decisiveness of launching an attack immediately after speaking startled even the merciless sinister martial artists. Poisonous Hand truly embodied the demeanor of a demon monarch, not uttering a single unnecessary word!
They saw Meng Qi’s right palm tremble, sending a visible wave of icy coldness rapidly spreading across several meters toward the Soul-Stealing Demon Monarch. Meanwhile, his left palm turned pitch-black, swirling like a vortex, emitting tremendous suction that subtly tilted the Soul-Stealing Demon Monarch’s body, as if he might be drawn into the cold wave at any moment.
The combination of suction and tremor was executed with perfect precision.
Rather than anger, the Soul-Stealing Demon Monarch felt pleasure. Although the attack from Poisonous Hand was strong, it hadn’t reached the first heavenly threshold.
Still cautious, he suspected Poisonous Hand might be intentionally feigning weakness, setting a trap. Thus, he remained vigilant, activating all acupoints. Behind him emerged a demonic deity figure, stepping on a black dragon, ears pierced with colorful snakes, body colored bluish-green, face featureless except for a single enormous eye mostly black with little white, radiating rings of strange light that seemed to draw in souls and spirits.
The Soul-Stealing Demon Monarch clenched his fist and struck. The demonic deity behind him remained unchanged, blending reality and illusion, intertwining principles of martial arts.
The punch appeared simple and unadorned, yet the surging bluish-green light instantly tore through the cold wave, disrupting the suction force, directly targeting the central position.
At that moment, Meng Qi suddenly twisted both palms. The ruptured icy coldness abruptly turned scorching, bulging outward like a miniature sun erupting between him and the Soul-Stealing Demon Monarch, dazzling with light, burning with intense heat, and releasing terrifying shockwaves that blocked the simple yet powerful punch!
Transforming yin into yang!
Meanwhile, his left palm’s black vortex grew even colder, forming a stark contrast with the miniature sun. Though not physically near each other, the two forces complemented each other from afar, splitting the void into half yin and half yang. It seemed as though a massive black-and-white grinding disc had formed, neutralizing the bluish-green fist force, tearing through martial principles, and trapping the Soul-Stealing Demon Monarch’s right hand at the core of the grinding disc, slowly crushing and eroding him!
Witnessing this transformation, Linghu Tao slightly nodded. Poisonous Hand had indeed improved. Although the power wasn’t sufficient, his mastery and application of yin-yang transformation and Solar Primordial techniques were masterfully executed, nearly reaching the level of a grandmaster. Effortlessly displaying such skill without any artificiality instantly placed the Soul-Stealing Demon Monarch in a dangerous position.
As for the lack of strength, Linghu Tao believed it was because Poisonous Hand was holding back out of consideration for him, not exerting full force. This subtly conveyed a message—that the Soul-Stealing Demon Monarch wasn’t even worthy of Poisonous Hand unleashing his Dharma Aspect power!
The void turned half black and half white as the grinding disc slowly rotated. The Soul-Stealing Demon Monarch showed slight surprise but remained unflustered. If Poisonous Hand lacked even this level of skill, he would have doubted him!
Considering the current situation, he extended his left hand, changed his right fist into a claw, and the demonic deity behind him bulged its muscles.
With a grating, creaking sound, his hands slowly pushed outward, actually tearing apart the black-and-white grinding disc as if it were paper.
But that wasn’t the crux of the matter. Suddenly, his eyes snapped wide open—deep and dark as an unfathomable abyss, radiating an eerie glow. Simultaneously, the solitary eye on the demonic deity’s face bulged outward, its surface crisscrossed with intricate patterns of martial principles that began to warp and reshape the very fabric of the surrounding heaven and earth!
In an instant, Meng Qi felt the surroundings plunge into darkness, a bone-chilling cold piercing his primordial spirit as waves of desires surged within him. His soul grew increasingly blurred and disoriented. In the distance, a towering demonic deity loomed—majestic and awe-inspiring, its bluish-green form standing atop a black dragon. An endless demonic aura radiated from it, causing one’s heart and soul to tremble uncontrollably.
In a situation where collateral damage was to be avoided, the Soul-Stealing Demon Monarch chose the “Soul-Stealing Demon Eye” among several deadly techniques, directly suppressing Meng Qi’s soul with the demonic deity’s presence!
The demonic deity stepped forward, filling the heavens and the earth, extending both hands downward in an attempt to seize Meng Qi’s soul.
Suddenly, the scholarly and aged image of the figure in the blue robe rapidly expanded in its vision, transforming into a golden Buddha—solemn and compassionate, radiating great purity, great liberation, great wisdom, and great bliss. Transcending heaven and earth, surpassing all limits, it pushed the demonic deity into a corner.
Before it, this towering demonic deity seemed no more than an ant!
From the moment the fight began, Meng Qi had been waiting for this very opportunity!
Knowing he couldn’t match the Soul-Stealing Demon Monarch in strength or cultivation level, Meng Qi meticulously planned every step, aiming to exploit timing and terrain to draw his opponent into a battle of minds. After all, demonic martial artists often practiced techniques involving killing and desires, taking pleasure in corrupting others’ minds, frequently employing similar methods. With other techniques restricted, they would instinctively choose this path. As for the Soul-Stealing Demon Monarch, Meng Qi had long known about his “Soul-Stealing Demon Eye”!
To know both yourself and your enemy ensures a hundred victories. Meng Qi was confident that his mental cultivation and various arcane techniques surpassed those of the Soul-Stealing Demon Monarch, and he also possessed the “Only One Under Heaven” true intent to suppress his primordial spirit!
The golden Buddha joined both hands in a mudra, pressing down on the demonic deity, its appearance solemn, voice like thunder:
“If one sees me through form, or seeks me through sound, that person walks a heretical path and cannot see the Tathagata!”
Wave after wave of Zen intent reverberated through the soul. The Soul-Stealing Demon Monarch’s primordial spirit became unstable.
He saw himself making love to his concubine, time passing, her body rotting beneath him, pus flowing, turning into bones, no longer beautiful;
He saw himself indulging in feasts, dish after dish, ravenous hunger, eating until his belly burst open, yet unable to stop, like a hungry ghost, suffering endlessly;
He saw himself transformed into a gazelle, a knife piercing him, unbearable pain, then cut into pieces, chewed and devoured by different people;
He saw himself experiencing countless misfortunes, filled with anger, hatred, and resentment from the depths of his heart, flames burning his soul, never finding liberation;
The Six Paths of Reincarnation do not reside in the underworld, but in the mortal realm. When the mind is impure, every place becomes hell!
All worldly illusions are but fleeting shadows. The Soul-Stealing Demon Monarch underwent repeated cycles of reincarnation, his primordial spirit growing increasingly unstable.
Suddenly, a thunderous Chan sound echoed in his ears:
“Form is emptiness, emptiness is form. Lay down the butcher’s knife, and you shall see the Tathagata!”
A Buddha expounded the Dharma, voice like thunder!
In a trance, the golden Buddha before his eyes suddenly transformed into a figure clad in a blue robe—sharp features, temples frosted with age, exuding an air of refined wisdom. Raising his right hand, the figure delivered a gentle yet deliberate palm strike.
This palm appeared ordinary at first glance but upon closer inspection contained indescribable profundity. It seemed to exist everywhere in the void, yet nowhere at all.
Not on this shore, not on the other shore, nor in the middle stream!
This palm bore deep Chan intent, yet also carried an aura of ruthless annihilation and sensual indulgence, two contradictory sensations perfectly unified under the Chan essence!
Instinctively, the Soul-Stealing Demon Monarch raised his hand but blocked nothing. Then he noticed this clean, powerful hand had unknowingly stopped right before his forehead!
This palm technique! Linghu Tao and Duanmu Bei’s pupils constricted, disbelief in their eyes. If they were in his place, they feared they wouldn’t be able to block it either!
Poisonous Hand truly was unfathomable!
Meng Qi withdrew his right hand, sitting as steady as a bell, profound and reserved, calm and composed.
The “Only One Under Heaven”-centered Undying Seven Illusions were no easy feat to counter!
This was an extraordinary martial art, the ultimate palm technique under heaven and earth. Even if Meng Qi had only scratched the surface and couldn’t directly employ it fully, the Soul-Stealing Demon Monarch had already lost his mental composure, revealing a major vulnerability!
Lady Bai Hua’s expression slightly changed as she forced a smile: “So Poisonous Hand has entered the Buddhist path!”
Meng Qi smiled faintly: “I had a fortunate encounter in Bo Mi, obtaining the legacy of a high monk. Initially, I scoffed at it, but later, out of boredom, I flipped through it, realizing my past mistakes, eventually attaining great enlightenment, integrating Buddhist teachings with demonic techniques.”
As he spoke, he joined both hands, his expression refined and solemn:
“The world is like a sea of suffering, all beings drowning. Everything is illusion—why not destroy it all!”
The sinister martial artists felt a mix of absurdity, amusement, and shock, their gazes toward Meng Qi unconsciously filled with reverence.
Easily defeating the Soul-Stealing Demon Monarch—could this mean Poisonous Hand had approached the strength of the Black List?
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