Urban Martial Saint

”Is it really nothing or are you just pretending?” The Wolf Monk walked over and said, ”The Snake Gentleman is an experienced master. Even though his main focus is raising snakes, his strength is formidable. How could a full-force strike from a peak master not cause any harm?”

”Whether there’s any harm, I can tell by coming over to check.” Bai Li Xi had already walked over, touched Ye Qing’s back twice, and said with astonishment, ”It really seems like there’s nothing wrong?”

Inside Ye Qing, two forces were constantly in contention. However, Bai Li Xi could not sense these at all. Because the transportation path of inner strength inside the body is the meridians, outsiders feel inner strength through the meridians. But Ye Qing didn’t even have meridians in his body, so Bai Li Xi naturally couldn’t feel any inner strength situation in him.

”Could it really be nothing?” Helian Tiehua looked at Ye Qing in surprise and said, ”How is that possible? Didn’t the Snake Gentleman give it his all with that strike?”

”Impossible, he must have struck with full force.” The Wolf Monk said, ”I was watching at the time, the dust all around was stirred up, how could he not have exerted force?”

”Then what on earth happened?” Helian Tiehua looked at Ye Qing, even more puzzled, and said, ”By the way, how did you suddenly gain strength just now, and even critically injure the Executioner Scholar?”

”Yeah, you also mentioned you couldn’t control your body just now, what was going on?” The Wolf Monk asked.

”Oh dear, can’t you ask these questions when we get back?” Bai Li Xi said impatiently, ”Those four people might not have gone far; asking here doesn’t seem very suitable, right? Once we get back, we can discuss this matter thoroughly.”

Helian Tiehua and the Wolf Monk exchanged a glance, nodding simultaneously. Asking these questions here indeed seemed inconvenient.

The members of Sha Men stood up at this moment. Although they were all injured, they had ingested the Devouring Demon Flower earlier, so their injuries recovered quickly.

Helian Tiehua made a phone call, instructing his men to drive over to pick them up. Afterward, Helian Tiehua went back into the abandoned plant area to check on the overturned vehicle. Inside the car were three members of the Seven Steering Committees of Hong Alliance that Helian Tiehua had brought along. Following the accident, Helian Tiehua rescued Ye Qing and Bai Li Xi, having no time to save them. So many poisonous snakes had swarmed over them, subsequently biting them to death, leaving Helian Tiehua unable to rescue them.

Upon returning, the snakes had already dispersed. However, those three people no longer resembled human beings. Surrounded and bitten by so many snakes, their bodies were covered with bite marks, and with the venom penetrating their bodies, they turned almost pitch black, looking utterly miserable.

Helian Tiehua had seen countless lives and deaths, but upon witnessing the state of his three subordinates at this moment, his expression grew mournful.

”Alas!” He sighed melancholically, removing his coat and walking over to cover the corpses of these three people, all the while his face held even more of a murderous intent.

Originally, he had intended to deliver a warning to the Three Great Villains, letting them know the strength of the Seven Steering Committees of Hong Alliance. But now everything had changed. The feud was completely instilled with the Three Great Villains’ tragic deaths here!

Ye Qing stood beside him, looking at the tragic conditions of the three people. He sighed softly and said, ”General Helian, I’m sorry, it was all for me…”

”No apologies!” Helian Tiehua interrupted Ye Qing, raising his hand firmly, ”I’ve said, you ended up like this because we owe you. So, no matter who it is, if anyone wants to harm you, they’ll have to walk over my corpse. The Seven Steering Committees of Hong Alliance will undoubtedly fight to the end for you!”

Upon hearing Helian Tiehua’s words, Ye Qing was at a loss for words, feeling an indescribable surge in his heart. Helian Tiehua’s loyalty to his friends was truly beyond words, indeed virtuous.

The group didn’t wait long before people from the Seven Steering Committees of Hong Alliance arrived. Helian Tiehua personally loaded the bodies of the three deceased onto the car before heading back to the mansion together with the group.

The members of Sha Men, having suffered injuries, went to rest separately upon returning. Helian Tiehua, the Wolf Monk, Ye Qing, and Bai Li Xi naturally were unharmed, thus headed to the hall first. The three were quite curious about Ye Qing’s situation, eager to know what exactly had happened. So, just as they sat down in the hall, Helian Tiehua promptly asked the question again.

Ye Qing himself hadn’t figured out the situation regarding the Buddha’s Relic entering his body. Initially, he intended to keep this hidden to avoid causing trouble. But now, at this juncture, Ye Qing knew there was no concealing it any longer, so he directly extended his right hand and said, ”Why not take a look at my hand first?”

The group immediately leaned in to take a closer look, all staring at Ye Qing with surprise and saying, ”What are you showing us?”

”The palm.” Ye Qing shook his palm and said, ”Don’t you see anything unusual on my palm?”

”Except for being a bit dark, there’s nothing wrong with it.” Bai Li Xi said.

”Ah?” Ye Qing looked at the three, noticing their expressions of confusion, and couldn’t help but be astonished. Such a large bead in the palm of his hand, yet they couldn’t see it?

”No way?” Ye Qing raised his hand, glanced at it, and instantly became dumbfounded. Initially, the Buddha’s Relic in his palm was very prominent. But now, he couldn’t see it at all, as if it had completely disappeared.

”What’s happening?” Ye Qing scratched his head, finding the situation extremely strange. Where did the Buddha’s Relic go?

”Are you out of your mind?” Bai Li Xi asked curiously, ”You were supposed to tell us what happened, what are you doing?”

”This...” Ye Qing looked at Bai Li Xi and suddenly remembered something. Previously, Bai Li Xi and Ning Qianshu checked his body multiple times but never found the Buddha’s Relic. Could it be they didn’t see it either?

Logically, the Buddha’s Relic was right in his palm, Ye Qing could see it, so others should be able to as well. But Bai Li Xi and the others never saw it, what was going on? Was the Buddha’s Relic in his palm not always visible, but only occasionally? Yet when does it appear, and when does it hide?

Reflecting carefully, Ye Qing realized he didn’t frequently check his palm. He only did when the Buddha’s Relic’s power appeared, at which point it was very obvious. Once the Relic’s power subsided, he didn’t keep staring at his palm, not knowing if it could be seen during this period. But what was certain was that when the Relic’s power emerged, it became visible. Hence, when the power subsided, it might also be concealed.

With this thought, Ye Qing felt a slight stir within. He gestured to the others and said, ”Wait a moment.”

”Wait for what?” Bai Li Xi asked in surprise.

Ye Qing didn’t answer. He slowly sat cross-legged, held his breath, focused all his attention on the right palm, and tentatively tried to sense the Relic’s situation. Over time, he gradually understood the dynamics of the two forces within him. The Buddha’s Relic and Devouring Demon Flower’s power appeared at random daily; this was uncontrollable. However, if externally stimulated, these powers would emerge. Like today, the Executioner Scholar’s demonic sect power activated the Buddha’s Relic’s force. Similarly, the Snake Gentleman’s attack provoked the Devouring Demon Flower’s power, an external stimulation.

Ye Qing held his breath, slowly locating the Buddha’s Relic’s position, then pulled out a piece of Devouring Demon Flower, stuffed it in his mouth, chewed, and swallowed. The flower transformed into a cool liquid, nourishing his body, and simultaneously converted into a power flowing within him.

With the Devouring Demon Flower’s power surfacing, the Buddha’s Relic in Ye Qing’s right palm also began to stir. The Relic was highly sensitive to demonic sect power. Reacting to the flower’s force, it immediately became agitated, with its internal power eager to emerge and confront the flower’s force.

Sensing the Relic’s disturbance, Ye Qing quickly opened his eyes. He raised his right hand and looked closely, finally revealing a spherical bead in his palm, none other than the Buddha’s Relic.

Seeing the Buddha’s Relic, Ye Qing finally understood. It seemed he guessed right; the Relic only appeared during power fluctuations, otherwise, it was invisible. No wonder Bai Li Xi and Ning Qianshu couldn’t find it when they checked him; it was due to this reason.

”Look quickly!” Ye Qing hurriedly extended his right palm for the others to see.

”Still looking?” Bai Li Xi hesitated but eventually took a glance. That single look froze his expression, his gaze became fixed.

Not only him, even Helian Tiehua and Wolf Monk shared the same expression, both faces filled with astonishment and shock. The spherical bead in Ye Qing’s palm was that prominent, that shocking.

”This... this... this...” Bai Li Xi’s eyes nearly popped out, pointing at Ye Qing’s palm, he stammered, ”Thing... what... what is this thing...”

”This...” Wolf Monk looked at the Buddha’s Relic, then at Ye Qing, his face showed shock, he trembled and said, ”This can’t... can’t be Shakyamuni’s... Buddha’s Relic, can it?”

”Is this the Buddha’s Relic?” Helian Tiehua called out lowly, though he doubted, hearing Wolf Monk question it out loud left him extremely shocked as well.

Who would have thought that the Buddha’s Relic resided within Ye Qing’s palm?