My brother is so cunning

Chapter 943 Subduing the Dragon and Bowing, Kasyapa Holding Up a Flower

The metal puppet walked onto the arena, stood opposite Venerable Kasyapa, and assumed the same starting stance as him, the Arhat Subduing Demon Fist.

The onlookers couldn't help but chuckle, mocking the puppet for its clumsy imitation of its opponent. It was indeed not a living thing, and its movements were extremely stiff and rigid.

However, while laymen only see the spectacle, experts see the intricacies. The four envoys from the Western Sect, including Venerable Kasyapa, became increasingly alarmed as they watched the puppet's movements.

This is not a clumsy imitation at all; it's as if the students were taught by the same master. They not only learned the movements but also grasped the essence of the art.

Although it is just a simple starting posture, without hundreds of years of practicing from dawn to dusk and rising at the crowing of the rooster, one cannot reach such a level of mastery and perfect harmony!
How can a bunch of mass-produced scrap metal achieve this level of quality?

The skills honed through countless reincarnations of Arhat warrior monks, each life requiring immense sweat and toil, are so easily replicated.
If you can only replicate the appearance, how can you possibly replicate the essence?
The other three messengers, Lingji Bodhisattva, Subduing Dragon and Tiger Arhat, were already incredibly shocked while watching from the sidelines. Venerable Kasyapa, who was facing off against the metal puppet from afar, felt the magnificent martial will emanating from that iron lump.

When masters clash, their martial will often clashes fiercely before they even make a move, engaging in countless rounds of intense battles in their spiritual world.

The martial will of that metal puppet was the purest that Venerable Kasyapa had ever encountered in his life. It was not mixed with any other thoughts, as if it was born for martial arts and would die for martial arts. Apart from martial arts, all five aggregates were empty, and all dreams and illusions were nothingness.

If Kasyapa were to encounter a Buddhist disciple on Mount Sumeru with such a pure martial will, he would probably be so enamored with him that he would immediately take him under his wing and train him as his last disciple to inherit his martial arts mantle.

However, over the years, countless brilliant Buddhist and martial arts geniuses have emerged on Mount Ling, but none of them can compare to that lump of iron in front of him.

But how can a piece of iron, even if shaped into a human form, possess the will of martial arts?

While Venerable Kasyapa was shocked, he couldn't help but have doubts. However, in that moment of distraction, the metal puppet keenly sensed his unstable martial spirit and seized the opportunity to launch its first attack.

The man and the puppet were originally a hundred feet apart, but the puppet activated its supernatural speed ability, moving as fast as the wind and leaving a trail of afterimages as it rushed to Kasyapa's side in the blink of an eye.

The metal puppet's palms crashed down like giant Buddhist bells, golden light condensing in their palms, and a golden shockwave three zhang high was generated the moment it landed.

The energy formed like a dragon's shadow, transforming into nine golden dragons that coiled around Kasyapa from all directions, locking down all his escape routes.

It is the most powerful and fierce move in the Arhat Subduing Demon Fist, which uses force to defeat the enemy—Dragon Subduing Head Kneeling!
One wrong move, and every step behind led to another. Venerable Kasyapa was caught off guard and had no time to unleash his attack. He raised his hands high, gathering the power of the Vajra Dragon Elephant, and forcefully received the blow.

The falling iron palm collided with Venerable Kasyapa's golden Buddha palm, causing the entire Lingxiao Palace to shake. The shockwave from the impact struck the protective array set up around the arena, causing the array to flicker.

The clouds floating in the Lingxiao Palace were dispersed by the small amount of energy released from the shattered shield. The strong winds swept across the faces of the surrounding immortals like knives, making their beards and hair flutter.

"Wow!"

"Incredible! How can he be so strong?"

"I didn't even see how the puppet made its move. It was only because Venerable Kasyapa's magical power was so great that he was able to react in time and block it!"

"If this attack were aimed at me, I would have no choice but to close my eyes and await my death; my flying sword wouldn't even have had time to be drawn..."

The immortals were in an uproar, only then realizing that they had misjudged the situation; the puppet created by Venerable Wen was far more powerful than they had ever imagined.

The immortals had witnessed Wen Rui's puppet battles before, and footage of the Ghost Gate ambush had been shown in public at the Lingxiao Palace.

In that video footage, the metal golems' fighting style relied on their thick skin and fearlessness, trading blows for blows. They used their shiny silver shells, made of some unknown material, to withstand the bites of the demonic insects before perishing together with them.

They relied entirely on their physical strength and sheer numbers, and when exchanging blows with the Mosquito Demon, they never used any decent martial arts techniques.

At first glance, the immortals mistook this large metal puppet with insect-like features for an enhanced version of the metal puppets from the battlefield of the Gates of Hell. Its larger size meant it was more durable, and its fighting style was to withstand Venerable Kasyapa's fierce attacks head-on, twisting its massive but clumsy body in an attempt to win by brute force.

However, to their utter surprise, the metal puppet that Wen Rui brought out this time really gave them the illusion that Yang Jian had possessed him. Not only were the movements so fast that they were impossible to see, but the moves were also very well-structured and had the style of a grandmaster.

Kasyapa, who had taken the brunt of the dragon's kowtow, lost sensation in both arms from the shock, and countless tiny cracks, barely visible to the naked eye, appeared inside his indestructible body.

Although the cracks healed automatically as soon as he activated his magic, and his physical body suffered almost no damage, his usually stable and unwavering state of mind was struck as if by lightning.

The feeling of fighting was exactly the same as when I fought the elite demonic mosquitoes in the Battle of Lingjiu Mountain!

His moves, strength, skill, and speed are all impeccable, so strong that there is not a trace of exaggeration. Although he cannot be said to be the best in the martial arts world, he is definitely at the level of a small group of peerless masters who have reached the pinnacle.

In fact, this iron lump in front of us seems to have a martial arts level that is above that of the elite demonic mosquitoes, and is slightly stronger than them.

There are a hundred of these metal puppets in the Lingxiao Palace alone.

If what Wen Rui said is true, and his Creation Secret Technique can create an unlimited number of such metal puppets, then the Western Sect really has nothing to do with quelling this demonic calamity.

By simply creating a puppet army larger than the number of the essence mosquitoes, one can overwhelm the opponent with sheer numbers and wipe out the remaining demons hiding in the mortal realm.

Unable to believe it, Venerable Kasyapa regained his composure, stopped his distractions, and focused all his energy on martial arts, launching a counterattack.

He flicked his finger, his right finger seemingly gently twirling an ethereal flower, but in reality, it concealed deadly intent. The invisible energy bursting from his fingertip was like sharp flower petals, which flew and scattered like a celestial maiden scattering flowers, shooting towards the vital points of the metal puppet like a barrage of bullets.

This move is the "Kasyapa Holding a Flower" move from the Arhat Subduing Demons Fist. This move is his original creation and was incorporated into the Arhat Subduing Demons Fist. No one in the Three Realms understands the essence of this move better than him, because only he can comprehend the meaning of the Buddha holding a flower and can smile with joy.

The puppet replicated the Arhat Subduing Demon Fist, and its Dragon Subduing Bow technique reached the Great Perfection level. This was about the same level that Venerable Kasyapa could achieve.

So Kasyapa used his own unique technique, "Kasyapa Holding a Flower," refusing to believe that a mere iron puppet could have a deeper understanding of the move than he, the inventor of the technique.

(End of this chapter)