Chapter 302: Nailed

Shit! He's seen me!

In the next instant, Chu Qiguang abruptly vanished from the spot with a resounding boom.

Where'd he go?

The Greed Demon hurriedly scanned his surroundings with a bewildered gaze. However, in the next instant, he felt as if he had been thrown into a steamer as a wave of suffocating heat washed over him.

"Whatcha lookin' for?"

The Greed Demon's entire body stiffened, but his battle instincts instantly kicked in. Suppressing the fear in his heart, he sent hundreds of blades shooting out of his back toward Chu Qiguang.

However, instead of hearing the blades pierce flesh, he heard a rapid series of loud clangs, as if they had struck a wall of iron.

"Oh? That's not a bad ability," Chu Qiguang praised, a hint of elation in his voice.

The Greed Demon immediately activated his ability with all his might, sending hundreds of blades shooting out of his body in all directions to create a metallic storm of death.

The surrounding trees were quickly pierced through and toppled, but as the Greed Demon spun around, he discovered that Chu Qiguang's radiant golden body remained completely unscathed.

The combination of the fourth level of the Steel Tendon Iron Bone Arts and the fourth level of the Primordial High Zenith Demonic Arts had enhanced Chu Qiguang's physical constitution to an absurd degree, granting him incredible protection.

The Greed Demon immediately shot backward with a stunned expression. At the same time, he swung his arms through the air, sending a dozen more sabers flying toward Chu Qiguang's head.

Chu Qiguang casually swatted the oncoming sabers aside before channeling his Demon Refinement Technique. To his surprise, however, the fleeing Greed Demon was completely unaffected.

Oh? It looks like not all of the demons refined by the Tribulation Religion possess blood circulation.

As the Greed Demon continued to flee, Chu Qiguang squatted down slightly, and the muscles in his legs bulged with explosive power.

In the next instant, he launched himself through the forest like a cannonball, and the ground beneath his feet exploded violently, leaving behind a pair of large craters.

The Greed Demon felt a fierce gust of wind sweep over him from behind, and in the blink of an eye, Chu Qiguang had already closed the gap between them.

The Greed Demon frantically retaliated, sending blades surging out of his body like crashing waves. However, if those blades were waves, then Chu Qiguang was an indestructible rock, and they merely clanged off his body in futility.

Chu Qiguang thrust a palm forward, releasing a burst of gale force that parted all the oncoming blades before striking the Greed Demon squarely in the chest.

All the blades protruding from the Greed Demon's chest were instantly shattered, and he was sent flying with blood gushing from his mouth.

Chu Qiguang immediately gave chase and unleashed a second palm strike, swatting the Greed Demon through the air like a rubber ball.

With each successive palm strike, Chu Qiguang's power grew stronger. By the time he unleashed the tenth of the Twelve Infernal Palms, the Greed Demon was already lying at his feet in a crumpled, lifeless heap.

It's a real shame I can't control this demon. I really wanted to make use of its ability.

Chu Qiguang took a moment to examine himself, and discovered that the Primordial High Zenith Demonic Arts had caused his body to swell to over 190 centimeters in height[1] while his bulging muscles gave him the appearance of a hulking golden giant.

As his body slowly returned to normal, he was suddenly assaulted by a barrage of hallucinations filled with vivid flashes of golden light and high-pitched Buddhist chanting.

Recently, he had also been catching occasional glimpses of golden palaces, burning Buddha statues, and certain tall, mighty figures.

During those moments, it felt as if he had been transported to another world.

The hallucinations caused by the Sumeru King Scripture are becoming more and more severe. I wonder how the monks of the Vajra Monastery dealt with them.

With the Greed Demon lying dead at Chu Qiguang's feet, Qiao Zhi jumped down from a nearby tree. From Chu Qiguang's perspective, Qiao Zhi's body appeared to be enveloped in a layer of golden flames.

However, the illusion quickly faded. This wasn't the first time Chu Qiguang had experienced such a hallucination, so he wasn't alarmed.

"Is he the only one who followed me here?" he asked.

Chu Qiguang had instructed Ning Chigong to tip off the Tribulation Religion, intentionally setting a trap for whoever was sent after him.

"That's right," Qiao Zhi replied. "What're you going to do with him? Take him back to the village and throw him into the blood pool?"

Chu Qiguang shook his head. He already had other plans in mind.

***

Inside the Ba Manor Daiost Temple, Han Jueyong was seated in a chair with the three Dao Comprehension Seeds standing behind him. Seated across from them was Zhang Yunfeng.

"I didn't think you would also be sent to the Ba Manor, Deputy Han," she remarked with a surprised expression.

"The pressure from the Tribulation Religion is mounting by the day, so I've been sent here as an additional safety precaution," Han Jueyong explained. "The fiends in the snowy mountains have also been growing more restless in recent years. We've made many requests to the imperial court for reinforcements, but unfortunately, Shu Province isn't the only region dealing with turmoil, so the imperial court can't send us any more troops than it already has.

“The ethnic minority groups here only respect power, so if we can weaken the Tribulation Religion, it should buy us at least a few years of peace in Shu Province."

It suddenly occurred to Han Jueyong that Zhang Fengyun was also a member of an ethnic minority, and he hurriedly opened his mouth to apologize. However, Zhang Fengyun brushed off his apology with a dismissive wave.

"It's fine. I agree that this is how the ethnic minority groups have always been. They can only be beaten into submission. Any attempt to appease them will only be perceived as a sign of weakness."

"The four scourges all possess extremely troublesome abilities, and I'm afraid we don't have enough personnel to take them down," Han Jueyong said. "Is your Heavenly Master Religion expecting any further reinforcements?"

Just then, a chorus of startled cries rang out outside. Zhang Fengyun and the others immediately rushed out of the room and saw a body nailed to the entrance of the Daoist temple by a saber driven through its chest.

"That's the Greed Demon!" Zhang Fengyun exclaimed.

1. Around 6'3". ☜