CHAPTER 108: CHAPTER 108: SKULL

Such a perverse attack control ability, even Li Ziqing could only sigh with admiration if he were here.

It’s not that Tie Feng isn’t formidable, but because of the Skill Proficiency System, every time Lu Ren upgrades his fist technique, the astonishing power he acquires grows all-around. Perhaps due to the characteristics of his fist technique, his agility is relatively high, but with this level of understanding of the Fist Technique, even if the founder of the Phoenix Falcon Fist faced him at the current fist realm, they wouldn’t dare to say they know more about the Phoenix Falcon Fist than Lu Ren.

In the instant and ever-changing blink of an eye combat, accomplishing such feats, even the top martial arts family would marvel at Lu Ren as extraordinary and godlike!

Tie Feng is thoroughly dead!

With the final punch, Lu Ren had directly shattered Tie Feng’s heart through a layer of muscle, and even with extremely resilient life energy, no top martial artist, who has tapped into the peak human physical strength, would survive such an attack.

His opponent’s immensely powerful life energy let him struggle on the ground for a long time before losing all sign of life.

Such a horrifying punishment made even Lu Ren somewhat reluctant to look directly.

"Ding, because you killed a formidable enemy, you have an epiphany in your Phoenix Falcon Fist, Skill Level +1000."

"Ding, because of years of breathing practice, you have a faint comprehension of breathing."

"Ding, because you..."

To put it bluntly, the battle against Tie Feng has given him the highest skill level gain so far, with the notification sound in his mind buzzing for half a minute before stopping.

Lu Ren let out a long breath, sat down with a thud, leaning against the half-broken stone lamp column, panting for a minute. After slightly calming down, he slowly stood up, focusing on this so-called Treasure Light Buddha Realm.

This was his most difficult battle so far, and if examined under X-ray, his arms and fingers would reveal delicate bone fractures from the fight with Tie Feng.

He couldn’t withstand Tie Feng’s punch, even if only swept by the opponent’s wind of fist, it felt as if the skin was burning.

His opponent’s power is truly astonishing, fast and agile, in speed, power, and reaction, his opponent is undoubtedly at the level of a top martial artist. It’s hard to imagine his opponent’s body, nearly two meters tall, could be as agile as a leopard.

Five minutes later, Lu Ren took out a Highly Concentrated Nutrient Pill from his waist pouch and swallowed it, controlling his stomach to secrete gastric juice, breaking down the pill, and restoring his physical strength.

He slowly moved his body, looking towards the temple ahead.

He hadn’t noticed when he first arrived, but after the victory and death had settled, the silence revealed its eerie nature.

Especially the dim light of this small world, creating an overall gray and desolate sensation.

At this moment, even his own hands looked as if they were arms of someone long dead, lacking any blood color.

This world is like a horror movie or video game where the colors are intentionally dulled, making the world appear hopeless, desolate, and devoid of life, immersing it in an apocalyptic illusion.

How to get out?

This is the question Lu Ren is pondering now, as he looks at the plaque in front of him, the writing faded from age, making it unclear what Buddhist hall it is.

It seems the previous second prompt from the system should be pointing the way out.

Ancient profound secrets...

He pondered for a while and slightly moved his arms, because of the ’recovery’ special effect of the Phoenix Falcon Fist, at this moment there was an itch of numbness sensation. When the fist technique’s training reaches deep levels, it manifests many incredible powers.

This is the body’s latent power being stimulated and wanting to quickly repair the body, but such recovery often requires a massive amount of energy consumption.

Fortunately, he has experience entering space gaps several times, so he always carries a certain amount of Highly Concentrated Nutrient Pills when traveling. These thumb-sized pills, being highly compressed and concentrated, have considerable hardness, just like iron pills crafted by ancient alchemy masters using lead and iron, making them extremely easy to preserve.

Many times these elixir pills are regarded as poison by common folk, because typical stomachs can’t digest the highly concentrated nutrients in the elixir pills. Whatever goes in comes out, and sometimes it gets stuck in the throat, making it akin to poison.

After confirming there was no abnormality around, Lu Ren walked slowly towards the dilapidated deserted temple. At the temple entrance, there were plaques erected on both sides, written in seal script, with carvings made by knife carving. Although the ink had completely faded away, the profound traces on the wooden plaque could still be found.

Buddha’s Day High Hanging in the Bright Realm,

Great Wheel of the Law Spinning for the Benefit of the Universe.

Lu Ren raised his eyebrows, this Buddhist Zen Sect couplet is quite famous, which means that inside is the Great Sun Buddha’s Golden Body Dharma Aspect.

It seems this small world has considerable connections with the Buddhist Sect, making him realize the spatial gap that appeared might have happened in a very distant era, even used by both Buddhist and Taoist sects.

In ancient times, a Buddhist temple with the qualifications to worship the Great Sun Buddha’s Golden Body Dharma Aspect needed a very high status, even within the Buddhist Zen Sect.

He slowly stepped into the hall, the collapsed and broken Buddha statue had scattered all around, with the scattered hundred and eight Arhat statues lying in disarray around the hall.

Even the air in the hall was filled with a sense of despair.

...

...

With Lu Ren entering the temple, Tie Feng, deprived of life, lay on the ground facing the sky, eyes bulging angrily.

Suddenly, patches of black gelatinous liquid emerged from the ground, winding and enveloping Tie Feng’s corpse.

Like filmy cytoplasm constantly churning on Tie Feng’s body, it flowed like waves, fluctuating and rising.

The fingers that should have been still now twitched spasmodically, as if nerves were being manipulated.

Those wide-open eyes began to move as the black liquid seeped in.

...

...

Having circled the entire hall once, despite the dilapidated temple looking rather eerie, the thick dust indicated that no one had set foot here for at least hundreds of years.

The sutra fabric hanging in the hall was already shattered beyond recognition, falling into countless pieces at the slightest touch, and the Arhat copper statues had collected a layer of dark ash. The shattered Buddha’s golden body was genuinely made from red gold, yet now lying collapsed on its pedestal, long gone its previous majestic and precious appearance.

Dammit, can’t cut a way out?!

With heat in his heart, Lu Ren circled the golden dharma aspect weighing at least a thousand pounds. Waiting for a chance, he would drag it all out.

These monks are truly wealthy!

What surprised Lu Ren was that behind the broken curtain of the Buddha statue, there was a golden skeleton sitting. The skeleton was quite large, at least nearly two meters tall, with bones shining a metallic hue looking quite sturdy.

The robe on it was worn out by time, with only some strips hanging on.

This golden skeleton had its head bowed, sitting in the Kashyapa posture.

Though it’s a skeleton, the overall aura it revealed was in stark contrast to the decrepit ambiance of the desolate temple.

An aura of peace and dignity carrying an abundant Zen essence and a solemn contemplation of Buddha’s will.

As if this skeleton was the last source of life in this broken world.