Chapter 439

Chapter 439: Ascension (1)

A breeze blew by.

At this moment, there were no rustling of tree leaves, no sound of the Thousand Soul Banner fluttering, and no sound of martial arts experts fighting and the strong winds swirling.

The previous forest had turned to dust in the recent intense battle, leaving only a mess and a few bodies at this moment.

Wu Qizheng and Wu Jing stared blankly at the scene, still not fully recovered from the sudden change earlier.

"Is this how it ends? Martial Saint, Qiao family member, and all these former martial arts experts are dead?" Wu Qizheng stood there somewhat dazed.

Next to him, Wu Jing, who looked nine parts like him as if a mirror image, was focused on Qiao Mu’s body.

"What is he doing?" Wu Jing frowned.

"He clearly won with the Heavenly Slashing Swordsmanship, and also mastered the Taotie Swallowing Heaven Skill. Why is he hesitating when he’s so close to success?"

Wu Jing could see that even though Qiao Mu seemed to be running out of energy, he still had a chance.

Since he already possessed the "Taotie Swallowing Heaven Skill," there was a great recovery method available.

As long as he approached it like Martial Saint, victoriously stepping forward and consuming the flesh and blood of the strongest warriors of the previous martial arts generation…

Then he wouldn’t die, and if he could get through this challenge, his martial arts might reach an unbelievable level.

In the world, someone named Qiao would appear as the next "Martial Saint."

"Don’t you understand yet, Wu Jing?" Wu Qizheng shook his head beside him.

"When you questioned me earlier, you were actually questioning yourself, who is influenced by Martial Saint’s power, right?"

"And this Senior Qiao had already made his decision."

"Martial Saint has his own script, but Qiao family members have their own thoughts," said Wu Qizheng with a deep look.

"He gave up the chance to be Martial Saint, not wanting to repeat the battle of thirty years ago and continue this disaster."

Wu Jing fell silent for a moment, feeling a sense of undeserved pity.

But at this moment.

A faint sigh was heard at the peak of the index finger.

"You are right, it is indeed a pity."

Wu Qizheng and Wu Jing were suddenly shocked and frightened, looking at Martial Saint’s body almost cut in half.

"That old fox Martial Saint is really playing dead…"

However, to their surprise, there was no movement from Martial Saint’s body. Instead, the sound came from an old monk behind him.

This old monk looked dignified, but he was thin. He didn’t seem impressive, but he had the lightest injuries among them.

The terrifying sword light from the Heavenly Slashing Swordsmanship left a one-meter long, bone-deep sword wound on him, but it didn’t cut him in half like the others.

After seeing the old monk’s appearance, Wu Jing fell silent once again.

"Could it be… Martial Saint and the Qiao family member are dead, and the one laughing last is this old monk?"

"This is not just any unknown old monk…" Wu Qizheng shook his head.

Although he couldn’t recognize the faces of these powerful people, as someone who planned to kill Martial Saint deliberately, he had actually studied the deeds of the past martial arts experts.

Just like the seemingly thin and unimpressive old monk in front of them.

Forty years ago, he was actually a famous Shaolin monk renowned in the martial arts world.

When this young monk was young, he was a single-minded wanderer in the martial arts world.

When he was young, he believed the absurd rumor from a storyteller at Tide Listening Building that "the most powerful person in Cangjing Pavilion of Shaolin Temple is the floor-sweeping monk," and he was filled with hot blood…

He insisted on entering Shaolin Temple, mastering all martial arts, challenging Cangjing Pavilion every day, insisting that among the floor-sweeping old monks there must be some low-key martial arts masters, and then he defeated all the old monks…

The floor-sweeping old monks had never seen such a battle before, and they were bedridden for three months after being beaten…

The abbot, who was informed of this, was furious and punished the wandering monk by making him take over the duty of sweeping the floor for the old monks in Cangjing Pavilion. The wandering monk realized his mistake and felt ashamed of punching the old monks, so he agreed willingly.

He gritted his teeth, determined to settle the score with those gossiping storytellers at Tide Listening Building.

This sweeping continued for fifty years.

During those fifty years, he not only swept the floor in Cangjing Pavilion, but also studied and served as a fatherly figure to the old monks he had injured.

Fifty years later, when he walked out of Cangjing Pavilion, he had become famous and was listed on the Tide Listening Building Martial Arts Ranking List, known as the "Floor-sweeping Monk of Cangjing Pavilion" who shook the Jiu Province as storytellers told.

The legendary monk Dried Leaf, using his own strength, turned the famous stories of the Tide Listening Building storyteller into reality.

A well-deserved legend in the martial arts world.

He mastered the seventy-two unparalleled skills of Shaolin, with his best skill being the Vajra Immortal Skill from the Jiu Province, known for its great strength.

In the previous generation of martial arts, the top expert Earth Sword Immortal came from Wudang, excelling in swordsmanship and inner power, representing the pinnacle of martial arts skills in the Jiu Province.

This monk, originally from the Shaolin Temple, was a top expert in martial arts in terms of energy and blood.

Despite being a renowned legend in Jiu Province’s martial arts world, it had been over thirty years since his passing, along with other strong martial artists who died at the hands of Martial Saint.

"Wu Jing, this Divine Monk Dried Leaf is not just an ordinary person," said Wu Qizheng.

"Their names and deeds are not remembered by people today, but that doesn’t mean they were weak or insignificant; they just lived in the wrong era."

"These top experts from the past martial arts world were the greatest of their time in talent, character, and martial arts achievements, the top ten individuals of their era, surely they would have shone brightly if they were born in this era."

"So if the Divine Monk Dried Leaf, who is skilled in the Vajra Immortal Skill, survives until the end, then…"

Wu Qizheng said.

Then the Divine Monk Dried Leaf slowly walked up to Qiao Mu’s body.

With a dignified appearance, he put his hands together and calmly said:

"Heavenly Slashing Swordsmanship, truly lives up to its reputation."

"If Earth Sword Immortal’s Heavenly Slashing Swordsmanship existed over thirty years ago, what would Martial Saint look like today? Perhaps we wouldn’t know."

"Martial Saint’s reputation is well-deserved, Qiao family’s reputation is upheld. ‘Know its white, uphold its black’, truly extraordinary in character, able to become Martial Saint but chose to die on the spot."

Wu Qizheng nodded silently, feeling a strange sensation in his heart.

He understood the reasoning.

But why did the monk quote the "Tao Te Ching" instead of Buddhist teachings?

The old monk fell into thought for a moment before continuing:

"The donor has their beliefs, and the old monk has his convictions."

"Since the donor is unwilling to become Martial Saint…" At this point, the old monk’s serene face slowly contorted, transforming into a visage that rendered Wu Qizheng and Wu Jing silent.

"Then I shall accept your body."

Divine Monk Dried Leaf took a step forward, his fingers penetrating the abdomen of Qiao Mu’s body, causing the dried-up flesh to squirm.

Wu Qizheng and Wu Jing watched from afar, a strange chill creeping into their hearts.

………………………………

Current Assessment of Death: B- (Fought against former martial arts strongest, exhausted all strength and perished)

Death consumes lifespan: 500 (5*100) years.

Remaining resurrection chances this week: 2 out of 5.

Current age: 5085 years old.

"B-? Long Life Dream isn’t too long, but also not bad."

In his dream, Qiao Mu was holding the pages of the book "Taotie Swallowing Heaven Skill" on the peak of his index finger, deeply engrossed.

At 5085 years old, his knowledge of martial arts was extremely profound, unmatched by anyone in Jiu Province.

Therefore, he knew the profoundness of the "Taotie Swallowing Heaven Skill" in his hands.

Just like the "Flesh Changing Skill," it wasn’t just the wisdom of its creator, Martial Saint, but also of Wu Qizheng’s refinement.

This "Taotie Swallowing Heaven Skill" is such an extraordinary skill, not created out of thin air. Apart from Martial Saint, it also involved the wisdom of 72 wise martial arts geniuses under his command.

Its predecessor, "Martial Saint Spiritual Technique," was created by Martial Saint.

If we trace back further, it was a top general in the ancient Great Yan Army who died in the hands of Li Changshi, the eleventh superb martial artist in the Hundred-mile Desert, with the "Spiritual Technique."

By the time of "Taotie Swallowing Heaven Skill," it had become a quite perfected form of Taotie Martial Art.

Martial Saint delved deep into Taotie Martial Art, to the extent that this unique "Taotie Swallowing Heaven Skill" proved challenging even for 5085-year-old Qiao Mu.

"Different paths do not cross."

"But as a accumulation in my martial arts arsenal, as nourishment for my martial path, it can be done."

Qiao Mu also practiced the "Martial Saint Spiritual Technique."

He knew that the essence of "Martial Saint Spiritual Technique" and "Taotie Swallowing Heaven Skill" was not about devouring flesh and blood, but a method of spiritual refining.

Martial Saint’s dominance in martial arts and prowess in spiritual refining cultivation can be considered unparalleled.

But the complete "Taotie Swallowing Heaven Skill" isn’t very valuable for Qiao Mu, it’s not suitable for him to practice directly.

In the martial arts world, there are types of martial arts that progress rapidly and far exceed ordinary techniques, these are usually referred to as "evil skills" or "demonic skills."

Practitioners of these evil skills certainly progress very quickly, but behind this extraordinary progress speed, there are often huge risks and side effects hidden.

The risk of losing control is often much higher.

The cost of practicing the Taotie Swallowing Heaven Skill is already in front of Qiao Mu.

Behind the rapidly growing strength, it requires a very high level of spiritual refining ability to control, otherwise there is a risk of losing focus and losing control.

Martial Saint, relying on the "Martial Saint Spiritual Technique," has unparalleled spiritual refining ability, but even so, in just two years of creating the "Taotie Swallowing Heaven Skill," he has come to this point today.

Qiao Mu is different.

He directly boosted his skills, so the foundation of his martial arts is extremely solid, without the risk of losing control.

He was exhausted, not because of his martial arts skills, but because he had been pursuing the Long Life Dream for too long.

As long as he stopped taking dangerous risks and started following the path of moderation in the world, his heart ailment would naturally heal on its own.

Therefore, the Taotie Swallowing Heaven Skill was not considered very valuable to him.

Now, he was attempting to do something during these five hundred years.

His goal was to deduce and refine the true essence from both the Martial Saint Spiritual Technique and the Taotie Swallowing Heaven Skill.

In his dream, Qiao Mu spread out a piece of paper and wrote down five big words.

Taotie spiritual refining method

Sharpen iron with iron, refine the spirit with spirituality!

…………………………..

In the blink of an eye, a century passes.

At the peak of a dreamworld.

Swish!

A sharp explosion of sound rang out, Martial Saint moved swiftly through the wind, trumpet-shaped sonic booms gathering behind him.