Longevity by Grinding Skills-Chapter 67: Monster

RIP!

A sound as crisp as tearing silk echoed before the utterly silent ruins of the Buddha Hall.

A sickeningly sweet Blood Qi suddenly rose from among the crumbling walls of the Buddha Hall as the gnarled old monk’s skin began to slough off, rustling like a snake shedding its skin.

Liu Xiong’s expression shifted. He looked up just in time to see a gash split open on the old monk’s back, from which an arm as pale as jade stretched out from within the monk’s body.

Under the moonlight, the sculpted, jade-like arm had a grayish pallor. Its five fingers were so long and slender they were almost deformed, and translucent webbing grew between the knuckles.

As the sound of tearing flesh grew more intense, a new head broke through the Skull and pushed its way out. It wasn’t a human cranium at all; it looked more like a Buddha statue crushed by a heavy object. A depression in its left forehead exposed writhing, pinkish-white brain matter, while the right half of its face retained the compassionate, downcast gaze of a Bodhisattva.

The complete body, trailing threads of blood, finally emerged from its chrysalis. Under the moonlight, its spine was clearly visible, twisted into a bizarre spiral.

Its left shoulder blade bulged into a deformed, fleshy tumor resembling a dead branch, while its right arm was half a foot shorter than a normal person’s, its fingertips barely reaching its waist.

Most horrifying of all were the dense protrusions on its chest and abdomen. Beneath the twisted, tangled muscles, a closer look revealed what appeared to be the outlines of countless tiny hands writhing under the skin.

Its feet resembled crudely pieced-together Buddha Lotuses, with its ten toes fused into three thick, stubby pillars of flesh. The soles of its feet were split by five crimson gashes that oozed a mixture of golden-red pus and blood every time they touched the ground.

On the back of its neck were two symmetrical rows of fleshy pores that spewed a blood mist scented with sandalwood, staining its tattered monk’s robes a mottled, deep purple.

A horrified Liu Xiong noticed the new body’s eyes never opened; its eyelids were like a membrane, concealing two eyeballs that darted about wildly underneath the skin.

As the deformed body straightened completely, the only sounds in the ruins were the sizzle of scripture burning on flesh and a strange, crisp snap, like wet wood breaking.

"This is wrong, all wrong!"

The deformed body suddenly let out a shrill shriek that was a mixture of male and female voices.

Bloodshot eyeballs bulged beneath the skin of its face. It staggered forward, its three-toed flesh-pillars crushing the green bricks underfoot as pus and blood bloomed in the cracks.

The dead-branch-like tumor on its left shoulder trembled violently, and the mass of muscles on its abdomen writhed like a knot of snakes.

"How could my body-borrowing rebirth technique turn out like this? How?!"

It whipped its head around and sliced open the membrane over its eyes with a long, thin finger. Two bloodshot eyeballs were instantly revealed. It stared at the statue of the Powerful Awakening Bodhisattva inside the ruins of the Buddha Hall—a statue whose head was now half-shattered—and roared.

"Powerful Awakening! You tricked me! You tricked me!"

Liu Xiong’s heart pounded. He finally understood. ’This old monk was raising a Wild Evil God, intending to use its power to shed his aging shell and be reborn.’

He watched as the monster frantically swung the Gilded Mace. With a sudden explosion of Qi Force, the statue of the Powerful Awakening Bodhisattva disintegrated into fine powder, which mixed with the blood mist to create an eerie iridescence in the moonlight.

The entire statue was obliterated, reduced to a pile of rubble.

"There’s another way, there’s another way..."

The monster mumbled as it roamed the courtyard, its three-toed feet cracking the green bricks into spiderwebs with every step.

Suddenly, the monster monk looked over at the Swordsman lying nearby. It went to inspect the body, only to find the man was already dead.

"Useless!"

It rushed back into the ruins, dug through the debris, and dragged out the person in black who wielded the Chain Blade. Their tendons were severed and their bones were broken; they were breathing out more than they were breathing in.

’This one won’t work either.’

It handled the bodies with the practiced air of a butcher picking out cuts of meat. Finally, the monster monk came to a stop in front of Liu Xiong.

Its slender fingers, slick with brain matter, suddenly clamped around Liu Xiong’s throat.

Terrified, Liu Xiong tried to move, but the monster monk’s slender arm pressed him down.

"Don’t move."

A strange force entered his body, leaving him unable to summon his strength.

The monster monk’s hands roamed over Liu Xiong’s body as it muttered to itself.

"Broken sternum, displaced and damaged organs... His Vitality isn’t very strong, and his aptitude is abysmal. Useless, useless... That’s right."

Liu Xiong’s face was pale. He wanted to fight for his life, but under the light pressure of the monster monk’s long, slender arm, he was completely immobilized. He, who could normally control his muscles at will, could not muster the slightest movement. He could only let the monster monk inspect him as if he were a piece of merchandise.

"That’s right."

The monster monk suddenly straightened, a hint of delight on its face.

"That young man... he’s not even twenty-one and already on the verge of Great Mastery in the Third Level. If I use his body for my rebirth, I might just obtain a perfect vessel."

Suddenly, it twisted its head around. The three fleshy pillars of its lower body contracted violently, then snapped taut in the next instant.

THWANG!

The monster monk shot forward like a bolt from a crossbow, carving an arc through the air before vanishing from Liu Xiong’s sight.

...

...

Xu Yunfan’s toes tapped lightly as his figure shot like an arrow loosed from a bow, leaping among the flying eaves and ornate brackets on the outskirts of the Thousand Buddha Temple.

With every leap, his muscle fibers tensed and relaxed like a bowstring, reducing the ten or twenty meters between eaves to a single stride.

His breathing was long and steady, his heart beating like a powerful war drum, pumping hot blood to his every limb and providing him with an endless supply of strength.

The sounds of fighting within the temple grew fainter. Amidst the rising and falling whoosh of the Martial Monks swinging their Familiar Copper Rods, the intruders were being quickly suppressed.

Most people had already seen the streak of golden light from the rear of the Thousand Buddha Temple, and many were now rushing madly in that direction.

He glanced over before turning his attention away, his mind filled with the grotesque image of the old monk. ’It’s a sight that completely upends my understanding of the world.’

Although he knew this world contained more than just the Martial Dao—that there were also True Bloods capable of Celestial Human Transformation—the appearance of this Wild Evil God, in all its grotesquerie, was enough to make his skin crawl.

’When faced with things I don’t understand, it’s best to stay as far away as possible.’

Suddenly, Xu Yunfan’s gaze narrowed. He glanced to the side and saw Su Shiyu and the woman in black fleeing in a sorry state, cornered by several burly Martial Monks wielding Familiar Copper Rods.

His gaze quickly passed over them, and he picked up his pace.

’This is no place to linger. I’ll head to Qingzhou State City Changyi first, then find the nearest and most renowned Sect to check out.’

’I’ve already achieved a basic grasp of the Linn Character Technique. My purpose here is fulfilled.’

’As for that Divine Gilded Mace... it rendered four or five Flesh Refining Realm masters utterly helpless. Logically speaking, it’s not something I can get my hands on right now.’

Xu Yunfan raced onward, crossing mountains and ridges. He only slowed his pace after reaching the main road.

He had raced on for two Hours without slowing, putting at least sixty li between himself and the Thousand Buddha Temple. He had most likely left the territory of Jiyun Mountain.

Though the moon was high and the stars were sparse, a few scattered travelers still walked silently along the main road.

Xu Yunfan gave them a passing glance before looking away. He shifted the Jar Gold Hammer back onto his shoulders, unfastened his waterskin for a drink, and washed his hands. Only then did he take out some previously prepared rations and begin to chew slowly.

He had not gone far before he stopped dead in his tracks, stuffing the last piece of his rations into his mouth and swallowing it whole.

Ahead, a woman dressed in light, white gauze stood atop a large boulder by the road, her back to him. She exuded a distant aura, a coldness that seemed to emanate from her very bones, setting her apart from the mortal world. She stood like an Exiled Immortal.