Chapter 40

Time rushed by, and the Enchanted Forest continued to play out its law of the jungle, where daily battles and devouring took place, and new beast kings were born. Numerous mercenary teams traversed through various dangerous and chaotic lands, earning the capital for survival through slaughter and exploration, embodying the tragic grandeur of the wild.

In the vast, boundless depths of the dense forest, a surging river cut through, with turbulent waves and flowing water, and majestic peaks on both sides, creating a grand and magnificent landscape.

Tang Yan sat cross-legged at the edge of a cliff, focusing on refining two vials of Spirit Source Liquid. Thin, blood-colored mist swirled around him, and his wounds, which were visibly gruesome, rapidly healed. A faint, evil aura spread around his closed right eye, as if some resentful soul was struggling to escape.

After nearly fifty days of bloody battles, he had hunted seventy third-tier beasts and five fourth-tier beasts. The power of the Spirit Source Liquid was fully displayed, and Alinda had broken through to the Second Rank Martial Ancestor ten days ago and successfully consolidated her strength.

The seventy vials of third-tier Spirit Source Liquid were mostly absorbed by Tang Yan, equivalent to devouring sixty third-tier beasts. This massive amount of spiritual energy was enough to break through to the peak of the Martial Spirit realm, but Tang Yan's current strength was only consolidated at the Second Rank Martial Spirit, which he had just achieved half a month ago.

What Tang Yan wanted was not just a simple level of strength, but genuine, solid strength! He hoped to lay a solid foundation in the most basic stage of martial arts!

During this fifty-day training, Tang Yan fought every day and suffered severe injuries every day. Most of the spiritual energy in the Spirit Source Liquid was used to heal his wounds and refine his muscles, making his body nearly perfect, brimming with explosive power.

In Tang Yan's words, he wanted to temper every cell of his body, turning it into a weapon of slaughter!

After fifty days and sixty vials of third-tier Spirit Source Liquid, he succeeded!

During the nearly two months of training, the greatest gains were undoubtedly the Extinction Eye and the Life Blood Mist. Most of the spiritual energy from the sixty vials was used to temper his body, but the Life Essence and the Resentful Aura were not wasted. They nourished his Qi Sea and his right eye, respectively. The Life Blood Mist began to show signs of compression, and the vague blood infant mist was about to take shape. The right eye, with its seven acupoints, had imprisoned the strongest resentful aura from eighty beasts.

Of course, the Flame Technique, which he had never given up on, finally completed its first step, successfully slashing out two Flame Blades in two seconds. The coordination of spiritual energy was perfect, indicating the initial formation of the 'Double Flame Strike'!

Alinda stood not far away, staring in a daze at the young man in shorts at the edge of the cliff. In this short period of less than two months, she had almost witnessed his growth, seeing his relentless and frenzied training, his disregard for life and death in desperate battles, and his transformation of his once tender body into a steel-like form through constant self-infliction.

The only regret was that the mystery of the green flame had not been fully understood, as it would burn and refine anything it touched.

Just like a young beast growing stronger through harsh trials.

Alinda often lost herself in thought, wondering what had happened to this young master of the Tang family, why he had suddenly reformed so thoroughly that she often doubted whether it was really Tang Yan or someone else!

Whether it was his terrifying recovery ability, boundless energy, or the strange green flame, she was amazed. Moreover, the evil power of the Extinction Eye made her feel a chill, making it hard to imagine the terrifying impact this evil martial technique would unleash when fully mature!

Sometimes, as she thought, Alinda would feel a chill, because... beneath Tang Yan's playful and frivolous exterior lay a heart of ruthless slaughter, which she saw clearly!

"Stop looking at me, someone is coming." Tang Yan gazed at the opposite side of the cliff, took two steps back, and quickly retreated into the dense forest behind him, hiding in a relatively messy treetop.

"Is it the pursuers from the royal family?" Alinda hid and peered through the branches at the opposite side of the cliff.

In the dense, chaotic forest, a gray-clad figure quickly rushed out, moving like a light bird, unimpeded by the chaotic environment, astonishingly fast.

Soon, the figure stopped on the opposite side of the cliff, and they finally saw its appearance.

A young monk in a coarse linen robe, with a fair and clean face, a plump and round figure, and a robe that seemed a bit too large, making him look like a wrinkled white meatball.

It was hard to imagine that the light and agile figure was such a strange and otherworldly being.

Tang Yan and Alinda were somewhat stunned.

The young monk held a black bowl in his left hand, which seemed to contain something divine, emitting a crystalline light. He continuously pinched and muttered to himself, sometimes frowning in thought, as if calculating or searching for something.

After a moment, the young monk's small, almost invisible eyes lit up, and he looked straight at an ancient tree on the opposite side of the cliff, where Tang Yan and Alinda were hiding. He smiled and waved from a distance of several dozen meters.

"Uh... Is he waving at us?"

"Did he see us?"

Tang Yan and Alinda looked at each other, feeling somewhat incredulous.

Alinda was even more puzzled: "Why is there a monk here? The Great Zhou Empire has never been fond of them."

"Does the emperor of the Great Zhou Empire dislike monks?"

"Not exactly. The bald monks mainly exist in the central region of the continent, always preaching peace, which is completely opposite to the martial dominance promoted by the major empires. The Great Zhou Empire, deep in the borderlands, has been at war for years, and its promotion of martial arts and slaughter is the most severe, so it naturally dislikes these monks."

"Hey? Oh! Damn!!" Tang Yan suddenly stared straight ahead, his eyes almost popping out.

The little fat monk actually... actually flew... He threw out a few branches and then stepped lightly on them, crossing the twenty-meter-wide cliff with ease!

If this had happened to a beautiful woman or a refined scholar, it would have been a delightful sight, but on a plump monk, it looked out of place, like a large meatball being thrown through the air.

Alinda was also stunned, her mouth slightly agape.

The little fat monk landed lightly on the cliff, the fat under his coarse linen robe rippling, and he adjusted his clothes, smiling more warmly as he walked toward where Tang Yan was hiding: "Little layman, after a thousand miles of fate, we finally meet. This is a bond of a hundred lifetimes. I, the poor monk, pay my respects."

What is this all about! Tang Yan was full of curiosity but still jumped down from the tree. Although the little monk looked strange, he seemed harmless.

"Hello, are you... looking for me?" Tang Yan looked at the little monk curiously, the more he looked, the more he marveled at what these monks in this world ate to grow like this.

The little fat monk carefully examined Tang Yan, circled him twice, and nodded in satisfaction.

"You..."

"Be patient." The little fat monk used his thumb to dip some crystalline water from the bowl and lightly wiped it on Tang Yan's forehead, a fine golden pattern appearing as the water passed, but it quickly disappeared.

Tang Yan did not feel anything unusual, and Alinda, standing behind him, did not see anything abnormal either. The little fat monk's smile deepened: "Congratulations, young man, you have formed a bond with the Buddha."

Young man? Tang Yan's eyes twitched slightly. This monk was really out of place: "What kind of bond? What are you looking for me for? We don't seem to know each other."

The little fat monk smiled and moved closer to Tang Yan: "You look very kind, do you feel close to me?"

Looking at the big, fat face moving closer, Tang Yan's expression twisted. It looked like a boiled egg! "Master, what do you want from me? We don't seem to know each other."

"We didn't know each other before, but now we do, and we will become even more familiar in the future." The little fat monk clasped his hands, put away his smile, and bowed solemnly: "I am called Wuzhen, from the Pure Land—Dust Bond Pavilion."

"Dust Bond Pavilion?!" Tang Yan's expression changed slightly. He had always been guessing about this mysterious organization, never expecting to meet it in this way.

Alinda was equally surprised: "Dust Bond Pavilion, the Master of the Pure Land, one of the six great holy places on the continent, transcending the major empires, gathering monks from all over, with countless powerful figures, a vast holy place that even the imperial families dare not offend."

The Great Zhou Empire did not favor monks, but it did not dare to offend the Dust Bond Pavilion. No wonder this little monk could enter the empire and operate in the Northern Wasteland. However... one cannot judge a book by its cover. This plump little monk was actually a successor of the Dust Bond Pavilion. From his skills, he should be quite powerful, likely at the Martial Ancestor level!

"Little layman, I have come from the Pure Land for a thousand miles to form a bond. Would you like to go somewhere with me?" The little monk alternated between playful and solemn.

"Where?"

"To where you should go." The little fat monk gestured, leading the two into the forest.

Alinda whispered a reminder: "The Dust Bond Pavilion has a good reputation and is respected by all forces on the continent. They should not harm others, but the premise is that he is really from the Dust Bond Pavilion!"

"Let's go and see." Tang Yan did not pay attention to Ren Tianzang and the Blood Doll's warnings. He was just curious why both of them had mentioned this organization, the most likely reason being... the golden light in the abyss!

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