Chapter 23: One Finger to Defeat the Enemy
Chapter 23: One Finger to Defeat the Enemy
Bai Yunfei had been in seclusion for a long time, and had finally achieved a Breakthrough.
He descended beside Lin Jiufeng, his entire bearing more ethereal than before. Even his baby-faced features now carried a trace of composed gravity. The aura he brought with him had yet to dissipate, its thunderous pressure still bearing down on the Three Wandering Monks.
The Three Wandering Monks were visibly strained under that pressure, their expressions grave and solemn. Old age had long since eroded their former glory, and facing Bai Yunfei now, they felt the weight of it keenly.
Only by combining their auras together could the three brothers hold their ground against him.
Yet Bai Yunfei remained perfectly at ease, without the slightest strain — he didn't even glance their way. Instead, he stared at Lin Jiufeng with undisguised astonishment.
"Senior Brother, you've broken through to the Seventh Seal?" Bai Yunfei said in disbelief.
How did Senior Brother always manage to surprise him like this?
How long had it been since his last seclusion? And in that time, Senior Brother had gone from the Sixth Seal all the way to the Seventh?
That was absurdly fast.
Was this truly a moment of sudden enlightenment — a step toward ascending beyond the mortal world?
Lin Jiufeng, in his Divine Soul state, looked at Bai Yunfei and gave a slow nod. "I had some insights, and the Breakthrough followed naturally."
"At this rate, Senior Brother, it won't be long before you catch up to me — or even surpass me," Bai Yunfei said with a sigh of admiration.
"Let's deal with these three Eighth Seal cultivators first," Lin Jiufeng said, gesturing toward the Three Wandering Monks.
"Three relics abandoned by their era — Eighth Seal and decrepit with age — and they still dare come to our Yuhua Sect demanding the Yuhua Ascension Scripture. They're walking to their own deaths." Bai Yunfei's expression turned cold as he fixed the Three Wandering Monks with an icy stare.
The Three Wandering Monks looked from Bai Yunfei to Lin Jiufeng, their brows deeply furrowed.
"So you are the Sect Master Bai Yunfei of Yuhua Sect," the eldest said. "What is your answer to the proposal our brothers made just now?"
Bai Yunfei gave a light smile, his expression still cold. "The Yuhua Ascension Scripture was passed down by our founding patriarch. It is not to be shared with outsiders — not under any circumstances."
The second of the Three Wandering Monks issued a threat: "Even though our time is nearly up and our blood and vitality have waned, if you push us to the brink, we can burn our very essence to briefly return to our peak. Sect Master Bai Yunfei, do you truly believe you can withstand three Eighth Seal cultivators?"
"I challenged the Eighth Seal while still at the Seventh," Bai Yunfei replied with contempt. "Now that I've entered the Eighth Seal myself, do you think I fear the three of you?"
"Bai Yunfei, are you truly refusing to hand over the Yuhua Ascension Scripture?" The eldest's face darkened as he glared furiously.
"If you want the Yuhua Ascension Scripture, here's what you do — reincarnate in your next life, join Yuhua Sect as disciples, and if your talent is exceptional and your loyalty unwavering, you may have a chance to learn it," Bai Yunfei said.
"How dare you mock us! If you won't give it, we'll take it ourselves." The hot-tempered third brother could no longer contain himself. With a thunderous shout, the energy around him surged violently. His withered frame swelled as if inflated, returning to its full and powerful state in an instant. His white hair darkened to black and whipped wildly in the wind. He rose to his feet, transforming from a frail old man into a figure of formidable strength in the blink of an eye.
The third brother activated his secret technique to reclaim his peak state, and the eldest and second brother wasted no time following suit.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
In that moment, the Three Wandering Monks seemed to have returned to three hundred years ago — vigorous, spirited, and radiating a magnificent aura that directly overwhelmed Bai Yunfei's pressure.
They were no ordinary Eighth Seal cultivators. They had stepped into the Eighth Seal three hundred years ago.
"Hand over the Yuhua Ascension Scripture, or today will be the day Yuhua Sect is annihilated," the eldest declared, his expression merciless.
The second and third brothers instantly flickered into new positions, forming a triangular formation that trapped both Bai Yunfei and Lin Jiufeng's Divine Soul within its center, watching them like predators circling prey.
Bai Yunfei said calmly, "Senior Brother, since you've broken through to the Seventh Seal, why not test whether you can challenge the Eighth?"
"That's exactly what I had in mind," Lin Jiufeng replied with a smile.
"Senior Brother, pick one. I'll take the other two," Bai Yunfei said, pointing casually at the three brothers, as though they weren't peak Eighth Seal masters at all — just three heads of cabbage by the roadside, to be picked up at will.
At those words, the faces of all three brothers darkened.
An insult.
A blatant, naked insult.
But before they could erupt in fury, Lin Jiufeng raised a finger just as casually: "That one, then. He looks like the strongest."
The eldest, who had been pointed at, stared at Lin Jiufeng in disbelief — then exploded with rage. "You actually dare to choose?"
But the only answer he received was Bai Yunfei's overwhelming, mountain-toppling aura crashing forward like a tidal wave. With a thunderous boom, it surged through the rainy night beneath the moonlight, slamming into the second and third brothers with torrential force, sweeping them both into its wake.
"Yuhua Ascension!" Bai Yunfei raised his hand and unleashed a streak of white immortal radiance that transformed into a vast ocean, blanketing the second and third brothers beneath the rainy sky.
The second and third brothers dared not let their anger distract them. They poured everything into their techniques, desperately resisting Bai Yunfei's assault.
The three of them erupted into a fierce melee, weaving through mountains and valleys at blinding speed. Each exchange rang out with the sound of wind and thunder — fitting accompaniment to the lightning-streaked, rain-drenched night.
Only the eldest and Lin Jiufeng remained where they stood.
The eldest's face had gone iron-grey with fury. "You'll regret choosing me," he snarled.
"You'll do nicely as a warm-up," Lin Jiufeng replied, utterly composed.
"I'll kill you in one move and go help my brothers." The eldest straightened his frame, swept both hands through the air, and Spiritual Energy boiled around him. In his palms, it condensed into a long spear — and then he struck, shattering the heavens with a single thrust.
Roar!
The next instant, the spear tore through the air and transformed into an azure dragon, slashing toward Lin Jiufeng with killing intent.
Its presence was magnificent, its momentum earth-shaking.
In the rainy night, an azure dragon hundreds of meters in size opened its gaping maw, as if to swallow Lin Jiufeng whole.
But in the very next instant, Lin Jiufeng's Divine Soul power surged forth like a great river — vast and unstoppable — condensing into a single finger. Then, with absolute calm, he pointed.
Boom!!
Behind him, a boundless ocean manifested. Within that ocean, a bright full moon rose slowly into the sky.
The moon rises over the sea.
Before that great ocean and luminous moon, a large white crucian carp leapt clear of the surface. Its eyes held the balance of yin and yang; with a flick of its tail, Dao Rhythm rippled outward.
A fish leaps from the sea at this moment.
And within that infinite ocean, a golden lotus bloomed in full splendor — radiant and resplendent beyond measure.
A golden lotus planted in the sea of suffering.
In that moment, two great visions and one profound insight converged as one, pouring everything into that single finger.
Lin Jiufeng also unleashed a technique from the Yuhua Ascension Scripture, channeling his Divine Soul power to question the heavens.
Amid the torrential rain, that one finger shattered the azure dragon and ground forward with unstoppable, matchless force.
The eldest felt the pressure bearing down on him. He poured every ounce of energy within his body outward, gathering it before him into a protective barrier.
He would block this strike — and then kill Lin Jiufeng.
But the finger landed directly between the eldest's brows.
Boom!
The eldest of the Three Wandering Monks contorted his face in a savage grimace and roared, "Hold it!"
Crack!
But his hope shattered in an instant. Lin Jiufeng had poured every insight he possessed into that single finger, and in a moment it broke through the protective barrier and struck the eldest squarely between the brows.
The eldest had no power to resist. He was dissolved entirely by Lin Jiufeng's Dao.
In the surrounding area spanning thirty meters in every direction, the earth sank a hundred meters with a thunderous boom, centered on where he had stood.
Smoke and dust billowed outward.
Rain washed everything clean.
The physical body of the eldest of the Three Wandering Monks was no more.
And Lin Jiufeng's scattered specks of Divine Soul power slowly gathered back together into a human silhouette, hovering in midair, gazing down upon everything below.
Like a god descended into the mortal world.
Lin Jiufeng now had a clear understanding of his own strength. Though he had only just entered the Seventh Seal, with the Yuhua Ascension Scripture, those visions, his insights, and his other techniques combined —
He was already capable of challenging the Eighth Seal.