The thirteen styles of one round of Faulty Punch was remaking the body one time. The searing pain had gradually become a stiff numbness. The awesome-pawsome Faulty Pumch had become an instinctual, mechanical repetition.
Wen Leyang was like a fully winded Iron doll. He executed the Faulty Punch over and over again at the foot of Nine Peaks Mountain, not knowing exhaustion nor hunger.
After three days, the Wen family disciples had erected a small house around him…
Most of the people had scattered, but Mumu and Xiaoyi were unwilling to leave. The two girls who were as beautiful as the waters of Spring did as they did when they were guarding the toad Xiu Er in the Miao Stockade Village the last time, guarding Wen Leyang every day.
Wen Leyang knew what was happening around him, but he dared not stop the movements of his limbs, nor could he open his mouth and speak. He could only communicate silently with the two young girls with his eyes. Every morning, Mumu and Xiaoyi would tell his the date of the day in a loud voice. Then, they would look at him in silence with a smile, sometimes in tears.
On the fifteenth day, Wen Leyang finally gave a strange cry. After his bones had been continuously crushed and mended by the Yin and Yang forces and Poison of Life and Death for who knows how many times, the Yin and Yang forces were finally exhausted! Only a small amount of Poison of Life and Death remained. After making a show by flowing once throughout his body, it slowly scattered into his limbs and bones.
Mumu and Xiaoyi leapt jubilantly. They plunged into his embrace together. This time it was not a parting of life and death. The two young girls never knew the pain and perils experienced by Wen Leyang throughout the entire process. They firmly believed in the words of Grand Elder Wen, this is Wen Leyang’s good fortune.
A comforting sentence had miraculously turned into Wen Leyang’s good fortune within the two young girls’ stubborn beliefs!
Mumu and Xiaoyi had not left Wen Leyang’s side even for a minute for these past fifteen days. However, they could not hold themselves back now. Although they had been together for the past fifteen days, but a longing which erupted like a volcano from the bottom of their hearts had blew away all reservations. Only a strong firm embrace could make them happy.
Wen Leyang was also extremely excited. He was about to say something when a big group of people appeared in front of him like a scene in a haunted story.
The four Wen Elders, old demon rabbit Nu Le, Wen Tunhai, Bushuo Buzuo, Shui Jing, Hope Voice, Wind Rain Rainbow, Nineteen, Wei Mo… The group had rushed forth after hearing the girls’ cheers.
Wen Leyang was not the least bit tired. The bones of his body had dissolved all Yin and Yang forces and Poison of Life and Death stream in their numerous shattering and remaking. He currently felt a comfort as if he had just taken a boiling hot shower. His lazy energy was magnified by ten thousand times. All the thirty-six thousand pores on his body were in extreme bliss, happily opening and closing!
The sword wounds on his body had also been healed without him noticing during the remaking of his bones.
Wen Buzuo was the first to jump out. He pulled Wen Leyang and asked, “What happened? You don’t have to tell from the beginning, just start from when you triggered our own Prohibition Spell. What did you execute the Faulty Punch for?”
Wen Leyang had just said Yin and Yang forces when Wen Buzuo immediately asked, what were Yin and Yang forces.
Wen Leyang mentioned magic bead and Yin Army when Wen Buzuo interrupted him wonderingly, “What magic bead and Yin Army?”
The monk Ji Fei’s Buddhist prayer bead Magic Weapon had been shattered by the flying sword of a Eyang Sect disciple on the highway, and he was also injured, though not too seriously. When Wen Leyang was remaking his body, he was recovering and did not have the chance to properly explain.
Wen Leyang had no choice but to start from Painting Town, Leyang Tian, and San Wei. Wen Buzuo hesitated for a moment, then gave up, “I think you’d better start from the beginning!” At this moment, Wen Leyang felt his feet sink slightly. Ah Dan had made his way through the crowd and squatted in front of him, familiarly hitting his instep in greeting. Wen Leyang laughed and hoisted Ah Dan up his shoulders. Then, he remembered that he had not greeted his elders. He hastily pulled Ah Dan back down.
Ah Dan immediately hugged the head in front of it. Its face was red and pale with anxiety as it did not want to go down no matter what. He mumbled some incomprehensible words. Even Mumu’s scolding was of no use.
The four Wen Elders, old demon rabbit Bu Le and First Uncle Wen Tunhai were amused. Seeing his beloved grandson was not only unharmed, but having strange encounters, he was happy beyond means. He waved his hand and smiled, “That’s enough. Let’s talk more on the mountain!”
Wen Leyang chuckled in reply. Then, he went to the old demon rabbit Bu Le, “The divine monk Shan Duan is…”
Old demon rabbit smiled as he shook his head, “He’s not awake yet, but he’s not going to die. He’s been too severely injured this time, he’ll only open his eyes after some time.”
Wen Leyang was relieved. He followed behind the four Wen Elders out of the ragtag house. He looked at the bald Nine Peaks Mountain as he asked First Uncle Wen Tunhai beside him in hushed tones, “I won’t… attract the Prohibition Spell’s poison again, right?”
First Uncle glared at him, “Every Root Network was destroyed! This time, without a hundred and ten years’ worth of effort, the Prohibition Spell on Nine Peaks cannot be restored!”
The utilisation of poison by the Wen Bucao, was not as easy as hiding a bag of arsenic in their hands and wracking their minds to insert it into other people’s beverage. The layers of Prohibition Spell’s poison on Nine Peaks Mountain was no ordinary ambush mechanism either. Every potent poison Prohibition Spell had its own Root Network.
When the Wen family ancestors started to live in seclusion, they had kept all kinds of poison among the mountain. Under normal times, these poison were dormant and reserved, appearing no different from ordinary rocks and plants. As long as one did not plunge headlong into the poison nest, one would be alright. When a strong enemy comes, the Wen family disciples need only follow the secret recipe and add a medicinal powder that was neither poisonous nor harmful into the water vein which ran through the entire mountain, the tame plants would immediately transform into a man-killing poison Prohibition Spell. Outsiders would have a hard time trying to take even a single step on the mountain.
The Poison of Five Elements on the mountain were not casted, but planted, each having its own Root Network. Like a long-living plant, it had slowly grew over the course of two thousand years, propagating under the purposeful care of the Wen Bucao. Even when Qing Niao had ascended the mountain last time and broke the Prohibition Spell on the mountain, the Root Networks of Five Elements of the various poison were still intact, hence the Prohibition Spell would be restored in no time.
The Red Leaves Forest’s Prohibition Spell of the Place of Birth, Life, Sickness and Death was also like that. After the Yin Chi’s invasion which had completely activated the Prohibition Spell, the red leaves on the branches quickly grew back out, restoring the Prohibition Spell.
When Wen Leyang first returned to Nine Peaks Mountain from Red Leaves Forest, the Poison of Life and Death inside his body also needed to absorb poison. However, the Prohibition Spell on the mountain was sealed, hence nothing happened when he ascended the mountain.
However, this time, all the Prohibition Spells had been triggered and Wen Leyang’s Poison of Life and Death needed to absorb toxins. As a result, he was like an Earth sheep that had starved for three and a half years, not only finishing all the grass and leaves but consuming even the roots. The potent poison Prohibition Spell which was passed down from generation to generation for two thousand years had entered into his body without reserve.
The Poison Roots which had been continuously growing and purifying for two thousand years, although they were not as potent as the primordial Poison of Earth or Mo Ya’s Poison of Metal, but their purity and strength were a rarity among the the Five Elements in this world. That was why Wen Leyang’s Poison of Life and Death grew stronger in an instant, fighting on a level with the Yin and Yang forces and finally crushing and remaking his bones with the help of the Faulty Punch.
Wen Leyang was an Inner Disciple. He stuck out his tongue with a fright. He had swallowed two thousand years’ worth of blood and sweat of his ancestors.
First Uncle Wen Tunhai stared at him with his head askance, “I have already told the elders. After this, you’ll live on the hillside. Now that there’s no Prohibition Spell on the mountain, you’ll go and be the Prohibition Spell. Once I give the command, you’ll beat all who dare to ascend the mountain to death!”
Wen Leyang replied glibly with a hippie smile, “Then you’ll have to get me a new phone. My current one’s not good on reception.”
Wen Tunhai laughed, “You don’t need a phone, just use a beep-pager!”
Wen Leyang laughed twice, then he remembered something. He asked First Uncle carefully, “Try sprinkling some poison at me, see if I’m still absorbing them.”
Wen Tunhai was truly tired out, even his eyes were red. He strongly stamped his foot and cursed, “Nonsense. It ain’t easy for me to refine some good poison!” The elites of Wen family all refined their own poison. Especially for the likes of First Uncle and the four elders, the poison that they keep with them are not only very precious, they had also put in a lot of effort in the refining process. When faced with an average enemy, they would not even bring themselves to kill them with poison. This time they had suffered a great loss.
Wen Leyang had absorbed a lot of poison this time. The poisons were also purer and stronger. The Poison of Life and Death already had its fill. If it were not, it could not have remade his bones, but Wen Leyang did not know that.
They were chatting happily when a loud sound of metal rubbing against metal sounded under their feet suddenly. The two Mo Ya tunnelled out of the ground, surrounding Wen Leyang relentlessly. Their antennae were shuddering. The two had obtained a palm-sized Poison of Stream after they were badly injured in the Gold-Consuming Nest. When the mountain-load of Prohibition Spell erupted, the two ants were brave, immediately releasing their poison. In the end, it was all poured to Wen Leyang in vain.
In short, when Wen Leyang ascended Nine Peaks Mountain, all the poison that were exposed in the air and were not sealed were all absorbed by him.
Wen Leyang’s own big patch of dense Poison of Stream undercurrent, due to its mixing with the Poison of Life and Death, it was still silently lying on one side. When Wen Leyang left Painting Town, he tried hard to gather them together and stuck them under his feet.
Wen Leyang quickly separated two chunks of pure Poison of Stream. This time they were the sizes of washbasins. The two Mo Ya finally relented.
While they were ascending the mountain, Wen Buzuo had followed closely beside Wen Leyang. He discussed with him in hushed tones, “Wen Leyang, can you spit out the poison that you have absorbed? You know, I’m not really adept in refining poison, I have worked very hard to finally refine some good stuff, but it was all sucked away by you…”
Wen Leyang only found out after he reached the mountaintop, that Delicate Pony was traumatised when the demon Buddha fought the elites of the Five Blessings. It fell sick after a few days. No wonder Ah Dan was riding on his neck, unwilling to come down.
With Mumu’s help, they managed to coax Ah Dan into coming down. Then, he recounted the happenings since he left the mountain, starting from when he entered Mount Qilian right until the remaking of his bones. When he finished, the skies had already transitioned from noon to dusk.
Grand Elder Wen and the others had already heard about the first half of the story from Bushuo Buzuo, Chi Maojiu and the others. The juicy part happened after that. The bizarreness of the incident and the complications of the relationships made everyone dumbstruck as they listened.
The setting of Grand Master Tuo Xie two thousand years ago, the loyalty of the line of Lue Luo, Wicked Soul being reared inside Hanba’s body, undying, immortal, pacing among Yin and Yang, Kunlun Sect was single-handedly founded by Black and White Island, Taoist priest San Wei was Wicked Soul’s cultivator’s body which did not die but refined a double, You’ve Got Me summoning Molten Metal Fire Bell… There were too much unbelievable happenings. It made the bunch of meticulous old-timers and old demons felt dizzy.
After a long while, Wen Buzuo was still the first to open his mouth. He pointed at Wen Leyang’s chest. Wen Leyang nodded with a grim expression before Wen Buzuo said a word. He stretched his hand and pressed on the jade knife which was hung upon his neck, “I know. Guo Huan tricked me.”
Second Grand Master Mi Xu killed demons to extract their primordial energy was because Tuo Xie had asked him to. If Guo Huan had been stripped of his demonic Primordial Energy, Grand Master Tuo Xie could never have come to his rescue.
Wen Leyang paused briefly before continuing, “That said, he did save my life before. I’ll ask him about it when he wakes up. Heh, he’s actually a demon with a hard lot, if I could help…” Guo Huan’s experience was indeed unlucky.
He had not finished when Wen Buzuo shook his head, “No, I wanted to ask you how’s You’ve Got Me doing now.”
Wen Leyang coughed. It was not as he thought it would be. He chuckled as he pulled on his garments to reveal his chest. You’ve Got Me was coiled on his chest and sleeping soundly, “Ever since it got drunk, this thing never woke up!”
Wen Buzuo laughed, astounded, “You practising the Faulty Punch for fifteen days did not wake the worm?”
When he mentioned the Faulty Punch, everyone was invigorated. Grand Elder Wen chuckled. His old face was full of anticipation. He said to Wen Leyang, “Boy, try it!”
Wen Leyang had been itching to do so. However, he was more anxious to recount the incidents that have happened, not daring to try proactively. Now that he got Grand Elder Wen’s instructions, he agreed jubilantly. His body shook fiercely.
The crowd only saw a blur before their eyes. Wen Leyang did not change, he was still sitting on his original position. His face, however, was a good-for-nothing wild joy. Quite a few chalks had appeared in his hands without anyone noticing.
Old demon rabbit forcefully took in a cold breath. He had saw clearly that Wen Leyang had left the house with a shake and returned as fast as lightning. Only, he did not know where he went.
Wen Leyang explained as he looked at the crowd’s wondering eyes with a hippie smile, “I had took this from Wei Mo just now!” He raised the chalks in his hand.
Sounds of people taking in cold breaths erupted in unison in the house. Wei Mo had always been doing his calculations on the green rock slab behind the village. Although it was not too far away from the Village Head’s house, but to have gone there and back in an instant, Wen Leyang had truly become a demon. Xiaoyi exclaimed in shock and joy, “I don’t think the Thunder Heart Sand can even keep up with you now!”
Old demon rabbit Bu Le’s expression can only be described as terrified. He thought seriously before saying, “If I weren’t injured, I think I could manage that with all my power!”
Bu Le was an old demon who had achieved mastery for about two thousand years. Other than Chang Li, Hanba, Tian Shu and a few others, no one in the world could go against him. When Wen Leyang had left home not too long ago, he was only at the level of an ordinary Five Blessings elite. Now, his abilities had caught up to the old demon rabbit’s.
Wen Leyang, however, blushed, as if there was something he had wanted to say but was too shy to say it.
Old demon rabbit laughed hysterically, “Quit acting thin-faced. Say what you want to say!”
“Just now I… was worried that I could not control the force, I did not dare to use my full strength.” Wen Leyang chuckled, his face flushed red. His voice barely faded when two cheers sounded consecutively. Xiaoyi and Mumu jumped up together, their eyes and brows were full of extremely happy expressions.
Grand Elder Wen’s old chest was relaxed, he was feeling happy from the bottom of his heart. He pulled Wen Leyang out of the house and pointed at the empty space in front of the village, “Use your full strength, let this geezer expand his horizons!”
Wen Lyang thought about it for a while and said to Grand Elder Wen, “Can you call everyone out?”
Grand Elder Wen was astonished. He laughed, “Alright, I’ll let you show your face!” Then he yelled in a deep voice. He summoned all the Wen villagers in front of him. Then, he said to Wen Leyang, “Do it!”
After a brief moment, the old man looked at Wen Leyang wonderingly, “Anytime would be…”
Wen Leyang quickly moved his mouth next to Grand Elder Wen’s ear, saying with a voice which only he could hear, “I’ve finished!”
Grand Elder Wen was utterly startled. He immediately made an expression of understanding and paused briefly for continuing, “Heheh, not bad. It’s quite strong, quite strong…”
However, on the empty space in front of the village, there was not an ounce of movement. Even a toddler from the Wen family would have punched a small hole in the ground. Other than old demon rabbit Bu Le who was trying hard to suppress his laugh, everybody looked suspiciously at Grand Elder Wen. Grand Elder Wen’s own gaze was a hundred times more suspicious than everyone else’s. He stared at Wen Leyang and asked with a voice as soft as his, “You’ve… really finished?”
Grand Elder Wen’s voice had barely faded when a muffled ‘bam!’ sounded, like a bulging flour sack exploding after being thrown on the ground.
Layers of dust rose in the entire village without warning.
In an instant, the entire Wen family village had quieted down. Two hundred houses of the entire village, were gone!
Only the houses disappeared. They did not collapse, but all the courtyard walls, house walls and roofs had turned into fine powder. With a ‘bam’, they turned into fine dust particles in the air, floating and lingering, blown away by the wind only after a long while.
The furniture inside each house was unharmed.
Now, every Wen family disciples had turned into wax statues and clay idols, either stunned, or wondering in grief and indignation, where did their houses go?
Grand Elder Wen’s bulging eyes were only slight smaller than the size of his mouth. He stammered and asked Wen Leyang beside his who was just as dumbstruck, “What… what happened?”
Wen Leyang swallowed his saliva twice before coming back to his senses. He answered carefully, “Before I released my punch, my telegnosis ability had covered the entire village. The force of my punch can flow freely with my telegnosis ability… I thought it would only shake slightly, I didn’t think that… it’ll all be gone!”
Wen Leyang had accumulated his energy before that one punch. He felt that the energy erupting from his bones was truly more vigorous than a volcano which had been accumulating its load for a thousand years. When the force flowed through his body and poured out in a torrent, his entire body felt a comfort beyond words. At the same time, his telegnosis ability had presented everything in the village clearly. The force of the punch completely followed the directions of his telegnosis ability. Wen Leyang’s intention was to make all the houses jump once with his one punch, comical and majestic. But he was worried that an accident may happen, which was why he asked Grand Elder Wen to call everyone out.
He himself did not expect that his one punch would be as powerful as this. The stone walls and roofs which were so clearly drawn in his telegnosis ability, were crushed into powder by the poison force. Wen Leyang had punched with his right fist. In his left hand, he was still holding the chalks taken from Wei Mo.
The chalks were unharmed.
A sharp and hoarse voice was the first to break the silence, “My torture room, must be the first to be erected.” The quickest to react was unexpectedly the old cripple Wen Yiban.
Two genuine cheers that were pleasing to the ears erupted forcefully. Xiaoyi and Mumu held hands. The two beautiful faces were filled with heartless excitement and joy.
Big monk Hope Aware also regained his senses. He let out a strange cry and ran hastily to look for his abbot. Little demon rabbit Shan Duan was still lying in a house, recuperating.
Wen Tunhai did not talk nonsense, he fished out his phone and contacted the engineering team…
Grand Elder Wen had risked his life to calm himself down. He instructed the disciples beside him while shuddering, “Go and fetch some chairs…”
At this moment, Wei Mo suddenly ran over in exasperation. When he saw the chalks in Wen Leyang’s hand, he let out a face that said ‘so it was you’, “Give me back the chalks, I’ve just reached a crucial point in my calculations!”
Wen Leyang had turned all the houses in the village into homesteads. He was feeling anxious and uneasy. He returned the chalks to Wei Mo as he desperately tried to strike up a conversation, “You have so many chalks already, if I’ve taken yours then you could’ve just taken another one!”
Wei Mo was stunned. Then he smiled lamely, “I was too serious in my calculations, I didn’t think…”
Old demon rabbit’s expression was still slightly puzzled, “How did you know that it was Wen Leyang who took your chalks?”
Wen Leyang was unbelievably quick. Logically speaking, with Wei Mo’s abilities of refining Qi for health, he should not be able to see who was messing with him.
Wei Mo smiled proudly, “I calculated it!” After he finished, he raised the chalks and did not explain further. He hastily ran back, but he stopped after running a few steps. He turned and said to Wen Leyang, “There’s something that I should tell you. Do you remember that I have said that it’s impossible to do any calculations in your village?”
Wen Leyang searched his memories before nodding. When Wei Mo had just arrived, he had complained that it was impossible to divide Wen family village into sections to do a telling no matter what method was used.
Wei Mo continued, “These days I’m starting to understand. It’s not that I’m not adept at the calculations of the fine numerical values of the world, but rather… it’s that Wen family village had been deliberately set up by someone, making it impossible for me to do my calculations!”
Wen Leyang was stunned, “What do you mean?” Wei Mo had erupted in anger last time, because he had wracked his brain, using his life’s knowledge and was still unable to divide Wen family village into sections using mathematics. Whether it was the Two Phases, Four Seasons, Bagua or Sixteen Instruments, there would be various things, maybe houses, maybe trees, even birds’ nest or rocks sitting on top of the dividing line. That made him unable to derive the situation of the world, not even succeeding in foretelling what they were going to have for dinner.
Wei Mo shook his head impatiently, “Which means there must be another expert in Divination Skill who purposely made Wen family village’s setting a mess, forbidding anyone else from doing derivations!” After he finished, he ran off on a hurry.
Wen Leyang’s recent experiences have been too strange and filled with twists and turns. Add that to his immensely improved powers after his bones’ remaking, his brain was slightly lagging behind. When he heard Wei Mo’s words, something pulled at his thoughts, but it eluded him.
At this moment, big monk Hope Aware came running back. He heaved a sigh and said to Wen Leyang, “The abbot is fine, just that his body is covered in some powdered dust.”
Wen Leyang smiled with regret. He turned and asked old demon rabbit Bu Le, “Divine monk Shan Duan had already been badly injured before the Eyang disciples’ sneak attack…”
Old demon rabbit Bu Le knew what he was going to say, he opened his mouth without waiting for him to finish, “The wounds on his body are neither old nor new. It must’ve been from about six to seven days before he met you.”
Wen Leyang nodded out of habit. Then, he shook his head violently, “That’s not right! He came and find me a day before we met coincidentally on the highway. He gave me the Buddhist prayer bead. It was initially intended to be used against Hanba…” Halfway through his sentence, Wen Leyang paused, then thought of another possibility, “What you’re saying is… when divine monk Shan Duan passed me the Buddhist prayer bead, he was already wounded, but hid the fact from me?”
Old demon rabbit Bu Le nodded heavily, “Or else he wouldn’t have allowed you to endanger yourself in Painting Town even if he were facing some serious issues.”
Wen Leyang was hit with a sudden realisation. During that time, little demon rabbit had said that he suddenly noticed some urgent matters that he needed to settle. He did not suspect anything, but he did not think that he had been badly wounded already. He immediately asked, “Divine monk Shan Duan is…”
Old demon rabbit Bu Le shook his head and interrupted him once more, “Shan Duan also had his fill on this journey. Be patient and let me start from the beginning.”