From Under One Person: Sincere Journey Through the Heavens

Zhang Zhiwei gritted his teeth, "That's my own junior brother! My dearest friend and family! If I don't trust him, I'll be acting like a real senior brother!"

"Then I'll pay more?"

Jiang Liu blurted out a sentence as if by conditioned reflex.

Zhang Zhiwei: "..."

# Chapter 291 Lu Jin VS Zhang Huaiyi

On the arena.

Zhang Huaiyi, enveloped in golden light, approached Lu Jin, but was knocked back seven or eight meters by a single palm strike. A bead of sweat dripped from his forehead as he thought to himself, "The opponent is stronger than me."

Wen has no first, Wu has no second.

While on the mountain.

He had been hiding his true identity, and disregarding the older generation, he believed that his mastery of the Golden Light Mantra was second only to Zhang Zhiwei.

If Zhang Zhiwei is the number one among the younger generation on the mountain.

Then he might be considered second.

But now that I've come down the mountain, I've truly witnessed the vastness of the world.

There is a river flowing——

When he gets serious, he can easily outperform Zhang Zhiwei.

Now there is another Lu Jin, whose strength is so great that he feels he is no less than Zhang Zhiwei two years ago. His strength is like that of a dragon and a tiger, and his breath is as long as that of a surging river.

He can cultivate his inner life force to reverse the cycle of life, and control the magnetic field of people to move in all directions. He also knows some Tai Chi and Bajiquan close combat techniques, and has nine steel needles about the length of his forearm attached to his waist. Perhaps he also has a kind of ability to manipulate objects.

【trouble!】

Zhang Huaiyi took a deep breath, and his body shone with golden light, which all condensed on his arms, forming two golden swords about three meters long.

"Your junior brother... in order to defeat you, he cultivated the Golden Light Mantra towards human form to increase his combat power? He's fallen into a heretical path!"

Jiang Liu said with a smile from below the stage.

Upon hearing this...

Zhang Zhiwei rubbed his forehead and said helplessly, "There's nothing we can do. Master secretly trained him for two years. I guess he put more than half of his energy into the transformation of the Golden Light Mantra in order to improve his combat power."

Honestly.

Zhang Zhiwei was actually quite surprised that Zhang Huaiyi could achieve this level, but as he said before, the essence of the Golden Light Mantra practice lies in the two words: life and health.

Ignoring these two words and changing the method of practicing the Golden Light Mantra just to increase combat power is like picking up a sesame seed and losing a watermelon.

Just like those demons in "Journey to the West" who only cultivate supernatural powers and magic but not the path of life and destiny, it was only because Zhang Huaiyi had a celestial master watching over him that he did not deviate from the right path.

"Even unorthodox methods can lead to enlightenment."

Jiang Liu chuckled, nudged Zhang Zhiwei's shoulder with his own, and said with a grin, "Do you think it's possible that your master wants to train him to be your 'protector'?"

Zhang Zhiwei: "...Do I need a protector?"

joke!

When he gets serious, who in the Celestial Master's Mansion, besides his master, is his match? It's no exaggeration to say that even if all his fellow disciples attacked together, it would only take him a little effort.

"You can't be good at everything, can you? You can protect yourself with golden light and attack with thunder magic, but what about other aspects? Don't you see that Guanyin Bodhisattva has the Dharma protector Muksha and Tathagata Buddha has the Dharma protector Jinzha?"

Jiang Liu chuckled, “You are strong, more powerful than most people, but being powerful alone cannot solve problems. It’s like cutting wood. Your junior brother’s golden light can leave a smooth log, but if you were to cut it, you would probably leave a bumpy, wrinkled one.”

Upon hearing this, Zhang Zhiwei acknowledged his shortcomings in the Golden Light Mantra, but said he would not change his direction of practicing the Golden Light Mantra because of it.

Cultivating one's nature and life force is the key.

As for transformation—

It's just a side path, a minor one.

"By the way, to what extent can you make the golden light take shape?" Jiang Liu asked again.

“A person with the appearance of Junior Brother Huaiyi can make it, but the blade cannot be made that sharp.”

Zhang Zhiwei didn't hide anything, "Compared to his flashy stuff, I prefer simplicity in the art of transformation. That is, I create small golden orbs or draw a line. This is a way to improve my control over golden light. In combat, it's mainly used to deal with some enemies with rather bizarre abilities from a distance... You know, innate superpowers are diverse. They might not hurt me, but if they do get hit, it's very troublesome to deal with."

"That's true."

Jiang Liu nodded repeatedly.

Just like yesterday's Miss Liu's "time-flash skill," which almost ruined his reputation!

at this time.

Zhang Huaiyi had already clashed with Lu Jin multiple times, but had been unable to break through his defenses.

Helpless, he gritted his teeth, transformed his hands into swords, and took a step forward, continuing to choose close combat with Lu Jin. He crossed his arms and slashed at Lu Jin, like a giant pair of scissors.

Faced with the "golden scissors," Lu Jin covered his hands with a layer of magnetic energy, and crossed his arms, one on the left and one on the right, and actually blocked the pair of swords.

"what?!"

The golden light transformed into swords, incredibly sharp enough to cut even metal and stone, yet they were caught by the opponent's bare hands!

“Brother Huaiyi, if this is all you’ve got, you’re going to lose.”

Lu Jin gripped the golden sword, his body clenching the blade tightly. His feet barely touched the ground as he glided close to Zhang Huaiyi. With a pull and a tug, he straightened his arms, causing Zhang Huaiyi's feet to leave the ground and move closer to him.

Because Zhang Huaiyi focused on the power of transformation in his practice of the Golden Light Mantra, once the transformed golden light swords were controlled, it was difficult for them to dissipate immediately.

At this moment, Lu Jin had already released his grip on the golden sword, transforming his claws into fists. He bent his legs, twisted his waist, and shook his shoulders, using his Qi to transform into power, covering his magnetic field, and adding the dragon and tiger power brought by the Reverse Life Technique—

A punch was thrown!

Boom!

With a deafening roar, the fist slammed into the golden light!

At the critical moment, Zhang Huaiyi managed to disperse the transformed swords and blades, which then reformed into a golden light covering his body, protecting him.

The booming sound reverberated throughout the arena, causing the spectators closest to the ring to cover their ears.

But the golden light only lasted for a second before being shattered by Lu Jin's punch. Just before the fist was about to hit the opponent's chest, Lu Jin's five fingers instantly spread open, turning the fist into a palm. At the moment the fist pressed against the opponent's chest, Lu Jin also exerted force to push the opponent out of the arena.

The moment he landed, Zhang Huaiyi finally regained his balance and steadied himself, but he still staggered back nearly ten meters, leaving two marks on the ground before finally stopping. He then knelt on one knee, feeling the tremors in his chest, the shaking of his body, and the twitching of his muscles, and couldn't help but gasp for breath.

"You flatter me, Brother Huaiyi."

Lu Jin walked to the edge of the arena and bowed to Zhang Huaiyi with clasped hands.

"Brother Lu Jin, you're amazing!"

Zhang Huaiyi slapped his thigh, took a deep breath, stood up, and returned the greeting to Lu Jin. "I originally thought that among the younger generation, I was only weaker than my senior brother and Jiang Liu, but I didn't expect to be defeated by you today. There are indeed people more capable than you."

If he hadn't changed his punch into a palm strike and altered the way he applied the force, his ribs would probably be completely broken!

"Shall we spar again sometime?" Lu Jin smiled and extended an invitation to Zhang Huaiyi.

"must!"

Zhang Huaiyi's eyes lit up, believing that he should find some suitable candidates to follow, rather than looking for people like Zhang Zhiwei and Jiang Liu who seemed like immortals descended to earth.

Compared to them—

Looking for torture!

"You win."

This outcome was entirely within Zhang Zhiwei's expectations. He asked Jiang Liu, "Tell me, what do you want me to do?"

"Help me investigate the whereabouts of the Smiling Tiger."

This was Jiang Liu's request.

Among the participants in this martial arts tournament, many are Taoists, and they must be familiar with Zhang Zhiwei, a high-ranking disciple of the Celestial Master's Mansion. It would be most appropriate for him to speak on this matter.

Why investigate him?

Admittedly, Zhang Zhiwei also noticed that the "host" had seemingly disappeared, but it was best for extraordinary people to avoid conflicts with ordinary people.

"Oh, you can't accept defeat?"

"I just want to know some specific details," Zhang Zhiwei said. He added that he was fine with personal help, but the identity of the Taoist priest was very sensitive. If things got out of hand, it would involve the Taoist temples and monasteries behind various sects and schools, which would be troublesome.

# Chapter 292 I'm Arrogant, But Not Foolish

"I suspect that Smiling Tiger's purpose in holding this conference is to attract the attention of all the extraordinary people in the five provinces, so as to conceal his true intentions."

Seeing Zhang Zhiwei staring at him, Jiang Liu could only reveal his guess, "Originally, I thought he wanted to take this opportunity to subdue the supernatural forces; or perhaps he was indulging in superstition, after all, I caused the Leifeng Pagoda to collapse on the day he entered Yuhang..."

"You caused the collapse of Leifeng Pagoda?"

Zhang Zhiwei's eyes widened, then he hooked his arm around Jiang Liu's neck and chuckled, "Shouldn't you pay him hush money?"

“Then you’ll have to pay hush money along with ten monks and Taoists, including Elder Rusong of Lingyin Temple and Yuxiaozi of the Jade Emperor Palace,” Jiang Liu said with a grin, pulling away his arm.

"That's it."

Since the collapse of Leifeng Pagoda involved Buddhism and the Quanzhen School of Taoism, Zhang Zhiwei could only pretend not to know about it.

[Is it worthwhile to make Jiang Liu take the blame?]

Zhang Zhiwei rubbed his chin, pondering a bad idea.

Jiang Liu looked at him with disdain and got back to business, asking, "What do you think he's up to behind the scenes?"

How would I know?

Zhang Zhiwei looked indifferent, but seeing Jiang Liu staring at him, he could only force his brain to work and ponder, "Those who want to be emperors, especially founding emperors, more or less have the idea of ​​recruiting people like us to their own use."

Putting aside your second guess about 'being superstitious'...

Is he secretly targeting the supernatural forces behind the competition?

On this point, Zhang Zhiwei's thoughts were similar to Jiang Liu's.