Martial King's Retired Life

Book 15: Chapter 119

Liaoliao sauntered without a sign of tension. At the same time, the Qilin Guards came to fathom the reason that the folks of Suzhou supported him faithfully. In what universe would an evil monk carry himself with such class and speak with such an eclectic variety of words?

“Please forgive this one for not comprehending what you are trying to imply. It is you who is trespassing on our temple. Seeing his temple be subjected to trouble, he wants to spread the word of how the imperial court is harming the innocent in order to protect Cold Mountain Temple’s reputation.”

Yi Ya grinned. “One of my close childhood friends is really good at reading people based off their mannerisms and deeds. He told me your kind is selfish, petty, narrow-minded and distrustful of everyone, yet you live amongst those who have no intention of doing you any harm. When your façade comes down, anyone will be able to see how much you stick out like a sore thumb. What makes you think your disciples won’t see past your façade?”

Liaoliao started to pull his brows in as he gradually made sense of what was being implied.

“We have no intention of raiding Cold Mountain Temple. We are entering the temple merely to put on a show.”

With his brows locked, Liaoliao shook his head without changing his expression. “This one never knew you were so adept in strategy. Would everything you have been doing these past two months be the advice of your childhood friend?”

“Just contacted two people, one being me and the other being Mianhua. I bet your senior disciple has sworn his allegiance to the imperial court and inherited leadership of the temple. Cold Mountain Temple will become the second Champion White Prince to voluntarily surrender their crown after Luo Sword Manor. It is set in stone, and there is nothing you can do about it any longer.”

“Do you not think you are too optimistic if you think that is the conclusion after a mere two months of investment?”

“Don’t put yourself on such a high pedestal. My friend is just using you as a stepping stone to become a closed-door disciple of Confucianism’s leader. You’re just that – his stepping stone. No more. No less.”

Although Liaoliao’s expression did not budge, someone as conceited as him was unquestionably seething inside. “Your young age shows. If you genuinely believe you can stop me with a meagre three hundred troops, you are underestimating heroes of the world.”
Qian Diaojin arranged the warriors holding the torches in a specific formation to create the illusion of a thousand soldiers from just a few hundred. Considering how close their camp was to Cold Mountain Temple, it would have been impossible to mobilise a large force even under the cover of the night. Liaoliao actually overestimated the number as there were only 270 of them, although he only took a single glance.

“Hero? Where?”

“Cocky kid.” The riled-up monk floated across the water surface and created multiple violent palm waves upon separating his hands.

After Shang Bieshi overcame Unfettered Mental Cultivation and Zero smashed apart Lotus Every Step, Liaoliao tried to recover during the two months. Alas, there was nothing he could do to compensate for the lack of foundations. No exterior resource could make up for his incomplete mental cultivation. Experiments with pills and unorthodox methods only made it worse. Still, a Divine Realm adept was a Divine Realm adept. Even without Lotus Every Step, Liaoliao was still a menace in combat and a veteran.

Yi Ya charged into the air to engage Liaoliao blow for blow. Despite Liaoliao’s sophisticated palm skills, he was unable to overpower the young general.

Liaoliao knew that the imperial court saw huge potential in Yi Ya, so he did not underestimate his young opponent. Even so, varying his hand techniques between grabs, spears, claws, punches, chops and palm techniques was not enough to make his foe break a sweat. To describe Yi Ya’s style as powerful, sophisticated, complex or clever would all be inaccurate. He seemed able to command every part of his body at will at a high level. Liaoliao did not evaluate the ability as highly-desirable ability, yet it was frustratingly impossible to drop him.

Left without a better option, Liaoliao placed his palms together, spawning green energy. Although he did not form a lotus out of it, he did successfully cast his Enlightenment. “Your folly is assuming that three hundred ants can stop me.”

Liaoliao condensed the green energy onto one fingertip to stab Yi Ya’s cross guard, sending the latter reeling. Though he lost control over himself upon impact, Yi Ya was able to regain control to land almost silently before rolling up to his feet.

Liaoliao could not believe Yi Ya did not suffer any damage. He did not stab Yi Ya with all his might. Nevertheless, that was the strongest Enlightenment he could muster up at the moment. He could perform it again, though it would not have been any stronger.

“You have reached the cusp of Divine Realm, but you can’t break through?” questioned Liaoliao.

“Grand Commander has his orders.”

The memory of the man who demanded respect with his presence alone put an uncharacteristic smirk on Liaoliao’s face.

“Wang Muren… wants to create a second God of Battle?”

Liaoliao whipped his sleeve, coating himself in green energy. While he had no means of remedying his broken discipline, he was able to formulate the style that did not wreck his balance, enabling him to enhance all his physical attributes far above his natural abilities through his green energy coat. Even without his illusion skills, he was not a pushover. In fact, the three hundred troops stood no chance against him with his Enlightenment activated.

“Whatever he’s planning, he’ll only be left with disappointment after tonight all because of your foolishness. You and your brothers behind you shall all perish here and now.”

Liaoliao’s grin shook the Qilin Guards, but their commander gave them strength.

“Try me.”

Liaoliao was genuinely perplexed over whether Yi Ya was confident or had lost his marbles. Either way, Yi Ya did not grant him time to figure it out. Notwithstanding Yi Ya’s uncanny ability to decelerate whenever he wanted, it was no threat to the defensive capabilities of Enlightenment. However, Liaoliao could not take his eyes off his opponent advancing in a straight line – not after the results of his last attack; the utterly failure of an attack was the primary reason he wanted Yi Ya dead, too.

Once one reached Quasi-Divine Realm, they could have potentially accessed Divine Realm at any given moment, particularly in desperate situations. In Yi Ya’s case, where he was constantly “roaming” at the door, the likelihood was even higher. In the scenario that Yi Ya did achieve the feat, then Liaoliao would have had to fight someone of his own calibre in addition to three hundred warriors. Whether or not he could defeat Yi Ya and then all of them was an uncertainty.

Due to how close Yi Ya got in the time it took for Liaoliao to think and refocus, the latter only had one option – finish Yi Ya in a single palm strike even if it meant going beyond safe limits.

As green energy formed a lotus seed, Yi Ya slowed his pace. It was impossible to feel unless one was experiencing it in the flesh, but he lost control over his limbs. Meanwhile, Liaoliao started to spill blood from the corners of his mouth, while his facial appearance turned hideous. Liaoliao knew using Lotus Every Step in his condition was dangerously taxing and risky. Unfortunately, it was his only hope of ensuring Yi Ya’s demise.

Liaoliao firmly believed he just needed to clench his fist to secure the kill. To fix the problem he was facing, all he had to do was finish Yi Ya, crush the three hundred ants, return to Cold Mountain Temple to kill Mianhua, then link up with Mount Lu and Valley of Yearning to negate the imperial court’s threat. Force was the only solution left for his predicament, and he had enough force to enact his vision, one that would lead to the marvellous ending in his mind. Everything was flowing according to plan until he heard the sound of some machine amongst the crowd.

Liaoliao felt he remembered the sound from somewhere that sent a chill down his spine. Like a demon out of hell, an enormous arrow flew straight towards him, crushing his illusions and lotus.

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