Chapter 428: Kamar-Taj Eighteen Bronze Men

Chapter 428: Chapter 428: Kamar-Taj Eighteen Bronze Men

Strange had been at Kamar-Taj for some time now.

Yet he hadn’t even caught a glimpse of the magic he wanted to learn the most; instead, he spent all day tempering his physique and practicing close-quarters combat.

The training content was also simple and brutal—getting beaten up, beaten to within an inch of his life.

According to Mordo, to learn how to hit others, one must first learn how to take a beating, using the body to feel the pain so that progress would be fast.

Strange suspected that the guy simply wanted to beat him up, but he had no proof.

Over these past few days, Strange’s magic level hadn’t improved at all, but his ability to take hits had advanced by leaps and bounds.

Strange had originally thought that Darian brought him into this secret realm to teach him some proper magic, even if it was just basic theoretical knowledge.

Who could have known that Darian actually made him learn so-called kung fu.

He finally reached the limit of his patience and raised an objection on the spot.

Darian shook his head. "Strange, look at you, your old bad habits are acting up again—arrogant, conceited, and narrow-minded. Who says mages cannot practice martial arts? Dual cultivation in magic and martial arts, combining Eastern and Western elements, that is the true path."

Strange grew anxious and blurted out, "But I only want to learn magic! Who wants to learn any kung fu!"

As soon as the words left his mouth, a layer of cold sweat instantly broke out on his back.

Oh no.

In his anxiety, how could he have forgotten that the Sorcerer Supreme was no easygoing pushover, and this person’s pettiness was even sharper than the tip of a needle.

To talk back to her face-to-face like this was simply courting death.

Sure enough, Darian’s gaze turned cold, and he said expressionlessly, "This is not up for you to decide. Whether you want to learn this kung fu or not, you must learn it."

With that, he waved his hand, turned around, and walked away quickly.

Panic gripped Strange’s heart, and just as he was about to chase after him to explain, eighteen figures suddenly dropped into the courtyard, surrounding him tightly in the center.

These people were all broad-shouldered and thick-waist, with fierce expressions. Their entire bodies were smeared with gold powder, and each struck a different posture, forming a murderous formation.

"The Kamar-Taj Eighteen Bronze Men!"

The eighteen mages shouted in unison, their voices vibrating so hard that it made one’s eardrums buzz.

Strange:

"I’ve read a lot of books, don’t try to fool me."

Aren’t the Eighteen Bronze Men from the Eastern Shaolin Temple!?!

The lead mage sternly shouted, "You want to leave after offending the Sorcerer Supreme? It’s not that easy!"

"Wait..."

Seeing this formation, Strange swallowed hard and hurriedly opened his mouth to explain.

As a result, before he could finish speaking, a punch landed squarely on his mouth, forcing the remaining words back down into his stomach.

The next instant, a dozen figures swarmed forward, fists and kicks raining down on him fiercely from all directions.

A series of shrill screams immediately erupted from the center of the crowd.

Space was truly limited, and a few mages simply couldn’t squeeze in. They had to surround the outer circle, practicing famous moves by themselves and acting as the mood squad.

Outside the courtyard, Mordo listened to the screams coming from within, his eyelids twitching a few times.

"Sorcerer Supreme, isn’t this a bit too cruel?"

"Cruel? I am doing this entirely for his own good."

Darian wore an expression of heartbreak. "Look at how Sorcerer Ancient One died—a dignified Sorcerer Supreme, yet she actually plummeted from a height to her death. Because of this, I must force him to practice kung fu diligently to avoid repeating that tragic mistake. I believe he will understand my good intentions in the future."

Since Ancient One didn’t want any face herself and forcefully exited the stage in such an outrageous way, she couldn’t blame him for taking her out as a negative example to be flogged repeatedly in death.

Hearing this, Mordo remained silent.

Deep down, he knew very well that Darian clearly couldn’t do anything to Ancient One, so he put all of this debt onto Strange’s head.

But who asked Strange to be the disciple valued by Ancient One.

However, Mordo had no intention of pleading for mercy on Strange’s behalf.

After all, he was also a disciple of Ancient One; if this fire burned onto himself, that would be troublesome.

Therefore, Strange could only be wronged for now; at worst, he would just go a bit lighter when beating him up in the future.

Darian patted Mordo’s shoulder and said earnestly, "You must practice hard too. A mage has no future relying solely on magic."

This sentence of his wasn’t wrong.

The physical fitness of Kamar-Taj’s mages was indeed quite good, but it was still limited to the standard of ordinary humans; any casual bump or bruise could potentially result in severe injury.

Being able to cast powerful magic, only to kick the bucket when stabbed by someone with a knife—that would be too foolish.

That was why Darian made them learn K’un-Lun’s cultivation methods to temper their own physiques, lest they go offline in a panic like Ancient One.

Mordo nodded. "Understood."

In the past, he would never have accepted this so easily.

Influenced by his teacher Ancient One, Mordo was originally a relatively traditional mage who always adhered to the laws of nature and precepts, constantly keeping his distance from powers outside of magic.

However, ever since Darian arrived at Kamar-Taj, his worldview began to be led astray bit by bit by the other party.

As the saying goes, it takes three years to learn to be good, but only three days to learn to be bad.

From his initial resistance to gradually accepting it, and then to completely immersing himself in it later on—

There was no help for it; this feeling was simply too exhilarating. Once hooked, it was impossible to quit.

Because K’un-Lun’s chi was extremely abundant and cultivation efficiency doubled, Kamar-Taj’s mages all stayed here to train.

Lei Kung was also a bold and straightforward person, immediately clearing out hundreds of empty rooms that very day to let the group of mages settle down and train with peace of mind.

Darian didn’t take his benefits for nothing, immediately returning the favor with a few bottles of life potions, plus a dozen enchanted firearms.

Looking at the munitions sprawled all over the floor, Lei Kung’s expression was indescribable.

"Sorcerer Supreme, we are people who practice martial arts; we don’t use these... weapons."

Although firearms possessed immense power, K’un-Lun warriors had always kept their distance from such things.

Practicing martial arts was inherently a long path with no end in sight; some people might not even train true skill in their entire lives.

If they ended up finding that decades of bitter cultivation weren’t as useful as a single bullet, their dao heart would probably collapse on the spot.

Darian said with a smile, "These are not ordinary firearms. I’ll demonstrate it to you once and you’ll know."

As he spoke, he picked up an AKM assault rifle and pulled the trigger at a thick, ancient tree in the distance.

Tat-tat-tat-tat-tat-tat—!

Dense gunfire instantly exploded. Countless bullets gushed out from the muzzle, their surfaces wrapped in scorching flames, dragging orange-red trails as they fiercely pierced into the tree trunk.

Wood chips splattered everywhere, and the tree body was battered into a sieve in the blink of an eye. Flames darted within the heart of the tree, quickly burning the entire tree pitch-black.

Lei Kung was stunned on the spot, failing to snap out of it for a long time.

Had weapons in the outside world already developed to this extent?

With his martial arts attainment, he certainly wasn’t afraid of most ordinary firearms, but the power displayed by the firearms before him left even him without much confidence to retreat unscathed.

Not to mention other K’un-Lun disciples, even Lei Kung’s dao heart was a bit unstable at this moment.

Seeing his expression of doubting life itself, Darian explained, "The firearms themselves are ordinary, but I have attached magic to them, so their power is several times stronger than before."

Hearing this, Lei Kung finally breathed a sigh of relief. "No wonder, so it was enchanted with magic."

After saying that, he felt it was a bit Strange again.

magic plus firearms, what kind of bizarre combination was this?

But undeniably, the power of these enchanted equipment was indeed formidable. If a full magazine of bullets went down, even warriors who practiced hard qigong might not necessarily be able to withstand it.

Lei Kung pondered inwardly.

Since magic plus firearms could have this kind of effect, did kung fu plus firearms also have potential?

"Ahem, since the Sorcerer Supreme is so sincere, then I won’t stand on ceremony."

Lei Kung decisively accepted this batch of magical firearms.

When such good things were delivered right to his face, only a fool would push them away.

As for martial artists not using guns?

What a joke, if you have a gun and don’t use it, how can you become a grandmaster!

Seeing Lei Kung accept them, Darian smiled and said, "If Elder Lei Kung likes them, besides firearms, I have other enchanted equipment here."

As he spoke, he continuously pulled things out—necklaces, bracers, combat boots, inner armor...

Piece by piece, the enchanted equipment was laid out, and Darian casually introduced their functions, leaving Lei Kung dazzled.

Compared to enchanted firearms, this enchanted equipment leaning toward support and defense seemed even more suitable for people who practiced martial arts like them.

Lei Kung was an old hand after all; as soon as he saw this stance, he understood.

Those enchanted firearms earlier were merely a prelude; the things in front of him right now were the real focus.

He narrowed his eyes and stroked his beard with his hand. "Sorcerer Supreme, I wonder what you want to trade from our K’un-Lun using these items?"

Darian smiled and didn’t beat around the bush, stating bluntly, "I heard that after Shou Lao dies, it leaves behind some dragon bones, which have the effect of extending life. I am quite interested in these dragon bones and am willing to exchange these enchanted equipment for them."

Lei Kung frowned and pondered, "Dragon bones are the supreme treasure of our K’un-Lun and one of the most precious treasures in all of K’un-Lun. If they are casually handed over to outsiders, that violates K’un-Lun’s rules."

Darian asked, "Then how can we make the exchange?"

"As for that... you have to add more."

"Deal!"

The two looked at each other and smiled, quickly reaching a cooperation.

Darian delivered a certain amount of enchanted equipment in exchange for a large quantity of dragon bone fragments, and both were quite satisfied with this result.

Exchanges between Kamar-Taj and K’un-Lun continued.

Although Kamar-Taj’s mages had never cultivated chi, their physical fitness was inferior to K’un-Lun disciples, and they didn’t know any kung fu, their proficiency in controlling cold weapons was not inferior to K’un-Lun disciples in the slightest.

Moreover, they had another advantage over K’un-Lun disciples: rich combat experience, pursuing high efficiency in their moves with no redundant actions—the Great Dao is simple.

But when it came to the strength of close-combat capabilities, K’un-Lun disciples were clearly superior.

The kung fu they excelled in could be described as all-encompassing, such as the Five Elements Fist, Wing Chun, Tai Chi, Iron Crotch Skill, Lightning Five-Consecutive Whips...

It almost gathered most of the Eastern kung fu schools; calling it a kung fu library wouldn’t be an exaggeration.

It was just a pity that they didn’t know any Sunflower Manual or Evil-Warding Sword Manual; otherwise, Darian would really consider training a rootless legion.

Of course, if they really fought, the win rate would definitely be higher on the side of Kamar-Taj’s mages.

Not to mention that they were equipped with a full set of enchanted equipment, the mere ability to cast magic alone was enough to easily defeat K’un-Lun disciples.

After all, one side relied on hard work, while the other side relied on risking their lives.

The two were simply not in the same league.

Apart from daily cultivation, during this period, Kamar-Taj’s mages and K’un-Lun disciples sparred with each other and exchanged insights, and both sides gained a lot.

However, Strange was not having such a comfortable time.

He was locked in the previous courtyard, with the requirement that he was not allowed to go out until his cultivation achieved great success.

Strange had also witnessed K’un-Lun’s kung fu, but in his view, that simply couldn’t be compared to the magic Darian had displayed initially.

He was single-mindedly devoted to pursuing the mysteries of magic and tried to find Darian to renegotiate several times, but the mages guarding outside didn’t give him any chance to step out of the courtyard gate.

A few days later, Strange finally couldn’t take it anymore.

Taking advantage of the night, he groped his way out of the room secretly, intending to climb over the wall to find Darian.

Clank!

Before he could even approach the wall, a large floodlight suddenly shone upon him.

Strange instantly froze in place.

Through the blinding light, a dozen figures gradually enlarging were vividly projected onto the wall ahead.

He stiffly turned his head and sure enough saw that those eighteen figures had already formed their formation behind him.

"The Kamar-Taj Eighteen Bronze Men!"

"It’s you guys again... Wait, don’t come over!"

Before Strange could react, he was tackled to the ground by a dozen big men.

For a moment, strong men locked in a man-lock, men upon men, surrounded by men on the left and right, trapped in a manly dilemma...

Strange: 0（:3）～（:3"∠）

In the days that followed, Strange did not give up and tried to break out multiple times, but all ended in failure.

Every time he tried to escape, he was inexplicably discovered by the Kamar-Taj Eighteen Bronze Men, and then subjected to all kinds of inhumane ravaging, beaten half to death before being tossed back into the room.

Yet amidst this tempering, Strange’s physique grew increasingly resilient, and he even sensed a special kind of energy emerging within his body.

It was precisely chi.

Upon learning this news, Darian didn’t show much surprise.

Strange’s talent was one in a million to begin with, whether in magic or physique.

In the comics, Strange used magic almost unrestrictedly, stubbornly using ultimate moves as basic attacks. If any other mage played like that, they would have died long ago from being unable to bear the cost.

Yet he stubbornly withstood various backlashes; even with a perforated stomach and missing some organs, he still lived on soundly, truly deserving to be called an immortal god of war.

Therefore, Darian wasn’t surprised at all that Strange could train chi so quickly.

Instead, Lei Kung was extremely shocked, his eyes widening as he said, "How is that possible? Generally, someone learning martial arts takes at least a few months of cultivation just to perceive the existence of chi. How many days has it been, and he’s actually managed to channel chi into his body."

Darian wore an indifferent expression. "This talent is just so-so, barely considered mid-tier in our Kamar-Taj. With just a little bit of nurturing from me, he achieved this result; it can be considered not losing face for me."

Mordo: "..."

You weren’t saying that earlier.

So losing face means Ancient One, and winning face means you, Darian, right?

Lei Kung was endlessly envious of this.

He only hated why the one who fell into K’un-Lun back then was Daniel, and not Strange.

Otherwise, K’un-Lun might have given birth to another powerful Iron Fist, at least maintaining K’un-Lun’s glory for another two seasons.

How could he know that his own apprentice Daniel was also filled with regret at this moment?

Watching the dazzling magic displayed by Kamar-Taj’s mages, and then comparing it to his own pair of fists that only glowed, it was simply like heaven and earth.

He only hated why he hadn’t fallen into Kamar-Taj back then; otherwise, he would be Archmage Daniel right now.

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