Chinese martial arts! Grandmaster

"Regus! I thank you for your generosity. You sacrificed the essence of your life's cultivation, which was just captured and refined by my 'Dragon Claw Hand'!"

"As long as I thoroughly refine and absorb the life essence you sacrificed, I will have enough primal power to break through to the peak of martial arts—to become indestructible!"

Chen Jie looked up at Regus's limp body and said calmly.

After Regus sacrificed himself, the enormous life potential within him disappeared and was refined and absorbed by Chen Jie's Dragon Claw Hand.

Silence returned to the surroundings.

The powerful life force dissipated with the wind.

After a martial artist has cultivated to a certain level, they can sense the life state of their opponent.

After Regus completely exhausted his fighting power, Chen Jie crushed his head with a single claw.

At this moment, his life force had vanished; he was completely dead.

call--!
Chen Jie exhaled and turned to look at the approaching Ximentang fleet in the distance.

at this time,

A terrifying killing intent emanated from the void behind them.

The sudden change!

Swish!
Chen Jie was taken aback and suddenly turned around.

A blade of light appeared in the sky, like a falling meteorite, enveloping the surroundings.

This strike sealed off everything around it.

The blade flashed down, aimed directly at Chen Jie's head.

too fast!
In heaven and on earth, there is only one blade!

Chen Jie had no time to think and unleashed his full combat power.

Wuji Sword, Thirteen Protectors' Horizontal Training, Dragon Claw Hand!

The three martial arts techniques were combined into one, and a claw reached upwards to grab at the void, attempting to use the power of the Dharma Form to block the attack.

However, it couldn't be stopped!

The power of this strike far exceeded Chen Jie's expectations.

The instant his Dragon Claw Hand erupted, a Void Blade cleaved into his vital chest.

Bang-!
The protective aura surrounding Chen Jie's body, the [Horizontal Training Dharma Image], instantly shattered and exploded.

The blade flashed and pierced through his chest!

Fortunately, at the last moment, he shifted his body two centimeters to the side.

Otherwise, this blow would have shattered his heart instantly.

Even so, the knife still pierced his lung.

Blood spurts out!

The sword-wielding Dharma form and the dragon claw hand Dharma form collapsed accordingly.

boom--!
The residual power of that strike was still present and had not diminished.

That domineering killing intent, after piercing Chen Jie's lungs, spread to his internal organs and even impacted his mind.

The Sea of ​​Consciousness Sword Dao Dharma Image, known as the 'Ultimate Sword Dao,' is an invincible sword dao capable of cutting across borders.

Unexpectedly, at this moment, the knife struck so violently that a crack appeared.

The cracks around it resembled fissures on parched earth, gradually spreading towards the entire 'sword body', on the verge of complete collapse and shattering.

too strong!
This strike not only possesses power surpassing all others, but also inflicts devastating damage on mental strength.

A single strike cleaves through the soul, unstoppable in its path!
After being struck by the knife, Chen Jie was sent flying backward.

The terrifying impact left him utterly defenseless; his body flew backward like a cannonball and landed on the sea.

Puff-!
After falling into the water, Chen Jie was struck by a terrifying force and sank to the bottom of the sea.

His body plummeted towards the seabed like a weight.

After a knife pierced his body, the blood stained the seawater red.

Chen Jie struggled to open his eyes and looked up at the sky.

He saw the phantom image of the figure that had almost killed him with a flash of light.

One strike can cleave a hundred miles!

This was a strike made from a hundred miles away, and a human figure manifested.

He was tall and wore a white Japanese samurai outfit, with no expression on his face.

—Miyamoto Musashi!
Although Chen Jie had never seen Miyamoto Musashi in person, he had seen his portrait.

He never expected that Miyamoto Musashi would make a move at this moment!
He had just killed Regus and was in his most relaxed state of mind.

Om-!
next moment,
The image of Miyamoto Musashi, manifested as a divine form, began to fade and disappear after the flash of the sword.

Silence returned to the surroundings.

It was as if he had never appeared at all, nor had he swung that fatal blow.

With a single slash, Chen Jie's body flew backward and crashed heavily into the sea hundreds of meters away.

The terrifying force of the blade showed no signs of abating, relentlessly assaulting Chen Jie's body.

He was falling into the ocean, and his speed was increasing.

One hundred meters!

Two hundred meters!
-

The water pressure started to increase.

Chen Jie had experience surviving in the deep sea and happened to see a whale swimming nearby.

Without the slightest hesitation, he instantly entered the whale's mouth.

Next,
He swam further and further away with the whale.

Many other sea fish swam past the whale, and Chen Jie hid in the whale's gills, becoming one with its body.

After the whale descends to a depth of 600 meters, the water pressure becomes too great, causing it to stop sinking and instead swim towards the deeper sea.

Chen Jie didn't know where the whale was taking him.

He continuously circulated his internal energy, activating the life potential within his body, in an attempt to repair the knife wounds he had sustained.

Unfortunately, the life potential within him was quickly dissolved and swallowed up by the terrifying power of that strike.

Chen Jie's body seemed to have turned into a ball of flame, burning fiercely.

The flames looked as if they were about to completely ignite him, while his life potential for healing his injuries acted like water to extinguish the fire.

It is clear,
The body's life potential was insufficient to stop the spread of the injury.

This knife wound was extremely serious.

Even if he fully activated his life potential, it would be like a drop in the ocean in the face of such terrifying injuries.

"Replenish life essence!"

Chen Jie's mind cleared, and he calmed himself down.

He happened to have a jar of healing pills from the imperial palace on him.

Although he didn't know if his injuries could be healed, he couldn't care less about that at the moment.

He felt his life potential draining away, and even his body temperature was starting to drop.

He gritted his teeth and poured the entire bottle of pills into his mouth, swallowing it whole without even thinking.

Fortunately, the knife only pierced the lung and did not damage the heart or throat.

Otherwise, they wouldn't even be able to swallow the pill.

boom--!
As expected of the most premium elixir in the imperial palace, it melts in your mouth.

Feeling the medicinal power of the pill spreading throughout his body, he couldn't help but exhale.

Next,
With a sliver of mental control in a state of deep concentration, he circulated the internal energy of the Vajra Skill to absorb the medicinal power and repair his injuries.

With such severe injuries, can they be fully healed? Can the medicine stop the injuries from worsening?

Honestly, he didn't know!

This wound was so severe that it brought him to the brink of death, far exceeding any previous one.

His only thought now was that he had to stop the injury from spreading at all costs.

As the whale moved further away from Ryukyu Island and the Ximentang fleet, the surroundings became very quiet.

He couldn't feel any light at the whale's gills, and his mind was foggy.

He wanted to use his spiritual senses to explore his surroundings and send a message to Gongsun Ze, Guan Shanyue, and the others.

unfortunately,

He was completely exhausted and listless. "Forget about everything else for now, let's focus on healing my injuries first."

"Miyamoto Musashi, you bastard, as the strongest man in the East, you actually took this opportunity to ambush me! Once I recover, I will definitely destroy the East Empire!"

Chen Jie sat cross-legged at the whale's gills and slowly closed his eyes.

at this time,

He was highly focused, simultaneously circulating his cultivation technique to absorb and refine the medicinal power while controlling the worsening of his injuries.

Only one thought remained in his mind—!
revenge!

Miyamoto Musashi's martial arts skills have broken through to the true [Saint level]!
He was not only the greatest swordsman in the East, but also a true "Sword Saint," capable of killing enemies from hundreds of miles away.

Damn it—
Isn't it said that once any martial artist breaks through to the [Saint level], they will be bound by the world's rules and easily suffer backlash?
Even martial artists who break through to the Saint level will involuntarily shatter the void and suffer the punishment of lightning.

Why was Miyamoto Musashi unharmed after breaking through to the level of "Sword Saint"?

Is there something special about it that I don't understand?
I was careless!
-

On the sea above the small islands near Ryukyu.

The sudden turn of events had completely stunned everyone in the Ximentang fleet, including the chief stewards.

When they saw Chen Jie kill the Western Holy Knight with his extremely strong combat power, everyone couldn't help but cheer.

Judging from the aura emanating from Regus, one could sense that he possessed Saint-level combat power.

but,

Even such a powerful Western paladin was slain by 'Lord'!

Our lord has already acquired the combat power to 'slay a saint'.

The Great Qian Dynasty is destined to become glorious, and Ximen Hall will usher in an unprecedented era of prosperity.

but,

Before everyone could even cheer, a shocking change occurred.

Chen Jie was killed by a sword strike that came from mid-air; his body flew backward and fell into the sea.

Blood stained the sea red!
All of this happened so fast that it was impossible to react in time.

Many people saw that Chen Jie's chest had been pierced by a knife.

this moment,
Everyone in Ximentang stared wide-eyed, their minds blank.

They couldn't believe what had just happened, and even began to doubt themselves.

What just happened felt like a dream.

Gongsun Ze and Guan Shanyue, along with other top imperial guards, were the first to react.

They cried out in terror:
"Quickly! All sailors, get in the water! Get in the water! Save our lord!"

"We must find our lord's whereabouts, we must—!"

Bang!
Before he could finish speaking, Gongsun Ze jumped off the deck and plunged into the sea to search for Chen Jie.

Thud—thud—thud—!
All the sailors in the Simondang fleet jumped overboard without prior agreement.

In less than a minute, the sea was teeming with people, all conducting an intensive search in the area where Chen Jie had just fallen into the water.

Half an hour later—!
On the deck of the main cruiser of the Ximen Tang, Gongsun Ze, Guan Shanyue and other chief stewards had extremely solemn expressions.

Their clothes were soaked through, and their faces had turned deathly pale.

this moment,
They had long lost their composure and were filled with worry.

"No trace was found! I just saw my lord stabbed through the chest, a fatal wound—!"

As Cao Shaoqing spoke, his eyes turned red.

The surroundings fell silent, and none of the chief eunuchs uttered a sound.

call--!
Guan Shanyue couldn't help but take a deep breath, grit his teeth, and say:

"The fate of the Great Qian Dynasty has arrived, and the Lord has single-handedly saved the Great Qian Dynasty from the brink of collapse."

"He used his Qi Condensation Realm to kill a Western Paladin with his combat strength and averted several crises."

"He's a celestial being sent from heaven, he can't possibly die like this!"

"Don't worry, everyone. Our lord will definitely not die. No one in this world can kill him."

He wasn't trying to comfort the others; instead, he seemed very serious.

Guan Shanyue indeed had absolute confidence in Chen Jie; he didn't believe that Chen Jie would die in the sea like that.

Gongsun Ze took a deep breath, a resolute look also appearing in his eyes.

"How could someone like our lord be killed so easily?"

“I also believe that no one can kill him. If he dies, my sixth sense will definitely be able to sense it.”

Upon hearing this, the other experts in the palace couldn't help but nod in agreement.

"So what should we do next?" Kou Yin asked in a low voice.

Gongsun Ze thought for a moment, a determined glint in his eyes, and said in a deep voice:

"We'll keep the news of our lord's injury and disappearance a secret for now. We'll discuss everything once we find him."

"The Fourth Fleet of the Ximen Hall is stationed on Ryukyu Island to prevent a counterattack from the Japanese. In addition, the news that our lord has killed the European saint Regus has been sent back to the Ximen Hall's submarine force and announced to the world!"

"As for attacking Kagoshima in Kyushu, Japan, let's postpone it for a while. The most urgent task is to stabilize the situation in Daqian."

Grand Steward Gongsun Ze usually did not participate in the military affairs of Ximen Hall.

but,

All the generals in Ximen Hall knew that Gongsun Ze and the other three chief stewards were all the lord's confidants.

Gongsun Ze possessed the 'Tiger Tally' troop mobilization order from Ximen Hall.

Therefore,
When Chen Jie was away, Gongsun Ze had the authority to command the fleet.

Whether it's Jack Bonaparte, Deng Yonghe, Shen Zhenhe, or others, they all need to obey Gongsun Ze's orders.

-

the next day,
A piece of news spread throughout the martial arts world of the Great Qian Dynasty.

—On the East Sea, the Qian King killed Archbishop Regus, one of the three strongest figures of the Western Holy Church.

Slay Regus!
In an instant, the news caused a sensation throughout the world.

In the martial arts world of the Great Qian Dynasty, the reaction was actually quite small.

Many people in the martial arts world don't know much about Western martial arts, and they also know very little about 'Holy Knights'.

but,

The Kwantung Army stationed in Northeast China, Prince Li Hongyu stationed in Guangfu City, and Guan Qilin and others stationed in the northern grasslands.

They were all shocked when they learned of this news.

For a while,
Countless top experts, and even Westerners who were conducting overseas trade in the Great Qian Dynasty, were shocked and speechless.

Countless people found it hard to believe when they heard this news.

If we say that more than half a month ago, when Qian Wang Chen Jie challenged Miyamoto, the number one swordsman in the East, and Miyamoto accepted Chen Jie's "Battle of the East Sea", it shocked many people.

Then,

Now, King Qian is in the East Sea, and has taken the lead in killing Archbishop Regus of the Western Holy Church.

This news was like a nuclear bomb, blasting the European Catholic Church.

Om-!
Many followers of Western religions felt their heads buzzing.

Archbishop Regus is dead?

No, this is impossible!

Regus is a Holy Knight of the Holy Church, one of the three strongest figures in the European Holy Church!

He stood at the pinnacle of European martial arts, a spiritual icon of the Holy Church, and the faith of European knights and believers.

but now,

He was actually killed on the spot by a young prince of the Eastern Great Qian Dynasty!

Regus became the Archbishop of the Western Holy Church through his own strength, not through mere prestige.

Now, he's dead, his head was crushed!
Absolutely impossible!
Every Westerner who heard the news was completely stunned and remained speechless for a long time.

but,

Everyone knew that this news was very likely true.

This was an official document issued by the government of the Great Qian Dynasty, serving as a warning and deterrent to the Western religion.

In the coming days, the Great Qian Dynasty will face a great storm! (End of Chapter)