Chapter 88

An Guo Xie's palms changed continuously, blocking Meng Qi's path of retreat, but Meng Qi remained calm. He took a step to the left, then suddenly lunged forward, his movements bizarre and unpredictable.

Meng Qi was very clear that although his Fourth Level Golden Bell Shield had increased in power by thirty percent due to the *Yi Jin Duan Gu Pian* (Muscle and Bone Tempering Chapter), it would still be shattered by a single palm from a grandmaster with all nine orifices open. Therefore, he either had to avoid the fight or fight to the death to find an opportunity to escape!

An Guo Xie, with all nine orifices open, had sharp senses and had already judged Meng Qi's evasion route from the changes in his muscles and skin. He crossed his palms and blocked Meng Qi's path, as if Meng Qi's left face had collided with his palm on its own.

However, An Guo Xie's palms felt empty, as if they had hit air!

He immediately knew something was wrong and quickly retracted his palms to protect his entire body.

Meng Qi's forehead throbbed, and his head ached. He had forced the creation of some illusions with the *Huan Xing Da Fa* (Grand Illusion Technique) to create this opportunity. How could he let it slip away?

Thus, he immersed himself in a world of tranquility and peace, swung the precept knife, and a cacophony of sounds and memories of his parents' affection flooded his mind, disrupting his Zen heart and destroying his tranquility.

The blade glowed, like a candle flickering in the wind and sand.

In a daze, An Guo Xie saw a stubborn young man swinging a knife at him. He had to fight back because his grandmaster had said that the loser must die. So, even if the opponent was his own younger brother, he couldn't show any weakness!

However, the body in front of him offered no resistance, only those eyes that seemed to be free and smiling.

Brother!

His heart ached, and his body felt intense pain, which made him regain his senses. He realized that the precept knife had already cut through his neck.

Damn bald monk!

His cervical vertebrae suddenly loosened, twisting like a venomous snake, making the precept knife slide over his skin and flesh.

Then he grabbed the precept knife with his right hand, which was already deep and bleeding, but he dared not make a move!

A monk who hadn't even opened his orifices had such terrifying knife skills!

If it weren't for his *Mad Sand Divine Technique* requiring the refinement of his entire body's bones, he would have been seriously injured by this knife!

For a grandmaster like him, who already had a protective aura, the precept knife could only cut through his throat, causing severe injuries but not severing his neck!

Meng Qi, having succeeded in his attack, immediately pulled back the knife and turned to the side, using the *Wind God Leg* technique "Capture the Wind and Shadow" to run out of the gathering place!

His speed was so fast, it seemed as if he was riding the wind!

He knew that one "Sever Purity" strike wouldn't kill a grandmaster with all nine orifices open, so from the beginning, he had planned to use an offensive strategy to force An Guo Xie to defend, focusing all his attention on his vital points, thus creating an opportunity to escape!

It was a matter of timing!

An Guo Xie was blocking the path to the inn, so he could only escape into the vast desert.

After practicing the *Yi Jin Duan Gu Pian*, Meng Qi no longer felt exhausted after using "Sever Purity" once. Although he couldn't use another similar strike, he still had the strength to use "Capture the Wind and Shadow" to escape!

An Guo Xie, deceived by the *Huan Xing Da Fa* and hit by "Sever Purity" on the neck, immediately fell into a disadvantageous position. He couldn't even catch his breath and had to rely on the special abilities of his orifices to block the attack. After Meng Qi pulled back the knife, he had to take a step back, his palms closed, seeking a chance to catch his breath and regroup to kill this annoying little bald monk.

But just as he raised his hand to defend, he saw Meng Qi fleeing like a whirlwind, disappearing at the end of the street, his posture graceful and elegant, making it impossible to catch up.

"I will kill you, you bald monk!" An Guo Xie gritted his teeth, feeling a sense of being fooled.

Taking advantage of the wind, Meng Qi fled out of the gathering place and into the desert, where the sand and gravel obscured his figure.

Based on his experience from previous cycles, he constantly changed direction, erased his tracks, and set up false trails, not daring to relax for a moment.

An Guo Xie's left hand covered his neck, blood dripping down, and the deep wound on his right palm slowly healed, like any trace in the desert being buried by the wind and sand.

"Can he project his spirit to create illusions? Could he have a special technique to open the Third Eye?" "White-Headed Vulture" An Guo Xie didn't immediately chase after him but carefully reflected on the battle, as there was something unusual about it.

He had already opened his eye, ear, and nose orifices, giving him a significant ability to see through illusions, but he never thought a monk who hadn't even opened his orifices could project his spirit, interfere with his senses, and create some illusions. Thus, he was caught off guard and was deceived, losing the initiative and almost being severely injured by the knife.

This left him astonished. He himself, with all nine orifices open, hadn't yet opened the Third Eye, the Bridge of Heaven and Earth, and entered the semi-external realm. How could a monk who hadn't even touched the edge of opening orifices achieve this?

Could it be some special technique? Or a great secret?

Moreover, his knife skills were terrifying, almost like his grandmaster's "Eighteen Ghostly Strikes"!

Thinking that this could help him advance further, An Guo Xie couldn't help but feel inexplicably excited, his gaze toward the direction where Meng Qi disappeared becoming more intense.

He sneered to himself, "Why did you choose to escape into the vast desert? Truly, you don't know when to die!"

He was a lone bandit who roamed the vast desert and the surrounding countries, and he had a close relationship with one of the leaders of the desert bandits, Zhe Luo Ju. He was very familiar with the terrain and climate of the area, far more than a novice monk like Meng Qi.

Therefore, he was very confident that even if Meng Qi had already fled into the vast desert for a while and had enough time to cover his tracks, he could still follow the unique "language" of the desert, slowly catch up, and capture him, interrogate him for the secret manual, and torture him to death.

His figure flickered, and he ran into the vast desert, disappearing into the sandstorm like a snake moving through the sand.

...

The desert and the sand dunes were different. The gravel was coarse, like small stones eroded by the wind, not as eye-catching as the vast yellow sand. There were often hidden streams forming stone beaches and small lakes, and the desert was even more desolate. Occasional water pools, small lakes, occasional green spots, occasional antelopes and camels, and occasional rugged rocks did not soften this feeling but rather made it more vast and desolate.

Large eroded rocks stood on the desert, their shapes rugged, like stone monsters. Meng Qi was hiding in a secret spot between several rocks, meditating and preparing for the final step.

He took a deep breath, took out a small porcelain bottle from his chest, and poured out the wax-sealed pill inside.

He slid his thumb, breaking the wax, and a fragrant aroma spread, making his body and mind feel light.

"Truly, the Heavenly Wisdom Pill..." Meng Qi praised inwardly.

He had fled to this place, and because his Third Eye was well cultivated, his spirit could project slightly, giving him some supernatural abilities. He vaguely felt that he hadn't escaped An Guo Xie and had almost been caught several times, but fortunately, he had changed his route in time.

Continuously projecting his spirit was very draining for Meng Qi, making his head throb and feeling extremely tired. He couldn't sustain it, so after finding this place, he decided to calm his mind and try to open his eye orifice. He had originally planned to break through in the next few days, and now he just couldn't burn incense and fast, but there wasn't much difference.

Once he entered the orifice-opening stage, the gap between him and An Guo Xie in terms of cultivation level would be greatly reduced. Although his strength was still much weaker, he wouldn't be completely helpless and could find better opportunities to escape. Perhaps he could surpass An Guo Xie's judgment of his strength and lose him completely.

Peeling off the wax, a light green pill appeared before Meng Qi, the fragrance lingering.

Meng Qi, fearing the loss of the pill's power, didn't hesitate and immediately swallowed the Heavenly Wisdom Pill.

The Heavenly Wisdom Pill dissolved in his mouth, like a stream of coolness rushing into his chest and abdomen.

Meng Qi closed his eyes and slowly refined the pill's power. Initially, it was relatively calm, but gradually, he felt his eyes throb, and the darkness behind his closed eyes seemed to be set on fire, with fiery clouds filling the sky.

He knew it was a critical moment, so he activated the final chapter of the Fourth Level Golden Bell Shield. His skin turned a dark gold, and golden light gathered around his eyes.

In the dark vision filled with flames, the nine related orifices gradually lit up like stars, shining brightly and purely, illuminating his heart.

The Golden Bell Shield continued to circulate, and in the darkness between the nine "stars," there was a deep, invisible darkness, absorbing all the light.

This was a great secret of the human body, the hidden nine orifices. If the related orifices were not refined, they could not be found.

All the golden light flowing from Meng Qi's eyes merged into the Golden Bell Shield's true energy, which followed a special path and combined with the cool power of the Heavenly Wisdom Pill, crashing like a tidal wave toward the center of the line connecting the nine "stars"!

Boom!

Meng Qi's scalp tingled, and he felt a soul-piercing pain, as if his liver was being torn apart and his eyes were being dug out. If it weren't for the power of the Heavenly Wisdom Pill, he would have fallen into an illusion and gone mad.

Boom!

The "light" that merged exceeded the eye orifice's absorption limit, and rays of light burst out, illuminating the darkness and extinguishing the fiery clouds.

Boom!

Meng Qi couldn't help but open his eyes, and a faint light seemed to shoot out, with a green aura floating on his face, continuously renewing itself.

But these quickly dissipated, leaving only a pair of eyes that were even deeper and darker.

The patterns on the rocks revealed the natural melody and the secrets of creation, appearing before Meng Qi's eyes.

The sky was still as blue, the wind still as dry, and the gravel still as dull, but in Meng Qi's eyes, everything felt different, deeper, clearer, and more detailed.

For example, the gravel contained coarse sand and pebbles, each with a unique pattern on its surface.

For example, the desolate and bleak atmosphere of the entire desert was so profound and heavy.

For example, the things blown by the wind seemed to move more slowly, clearly visible.

For example, the previously separated things seemed to be connected by invisible threads, forming a harmonious and indescribable whole.

Seeing mountains is not seeing mountains, seeing water is not seeing water—this was Meng Qi's feeling after opening his eye orifice.

Originally, with the help of the Heavenly Wisdom Pill, he had a good chance of opening his eye orifice, and after half a year of practicing the *Yi Jin Duan Gu Pian*, it was a natural progression.

"No wonder the orifice-opening stage can suppress the Qi Accumulation stage. Once the eye orifice is open, the opponent's movements will seem 'slow' and clear to me..." Meng Qi withdrew his gaze, feeling content.

This wasn't because the opponent's movements were slowed down, but because Meng Qi's ability to capture the opponent's movements had greatly improved, making it seem like a "slow motion" in combat, which was a significant advantage.

Moreover, the benefits of opening the eye orifice were not just this. The eye is the orifice of the liver, so opening the eye orifice also means opening the liver orifice. This refined the liver, making the liver qi vigorous and continuously renewed, greatly enhancing the recovery ability, and increasing true energy and strength. Once all the internal organs were refined, the secret stores of primordial energy and vitality would naturally open.

Meng Qi adjusted his breathing for a moment, stabilized his cultivation level, and quickly got up, fleeing again, his *Wind God Leg* technique making him look quite graceful.

...

A moment later, An Guo Xie appeared between the rocks, his eyes cold as he looked at the place where Meng Qi had been meditating.

Although most of the traces had been erased, for someone who had been traveling the vast desert for a long time, he could still see the subtle signs.