Sword drawn from the constellations, poison as its edge.

Chapter 169 Kumārajīva's Version of the Hundred Flowers Mistake Fist
Kumārajīva was stunned, and the feeling of near death that he had just experienced when Murong Fu had forcibly controlled him to the point of suffocation underwater instantly came over him.

Taking advantage of his distraction, Murong Fu shouted and launched a sudden counterattack!

Seeing that the opponent's fists were like a whirlwind and a torrential rain, Kumārajīva dared not be careless. With a wave of his sleeve, he used the full power of the Shaolin Iron Sleeve Skill, which was like an iron curtain in front of him, blocking Murong Fu's fast punches.

Just as he was about to retaliate, he suddenly felt a pain in his ankle. It turned out that Murong Fu's punch was a feint, but his real move was to hook his right foot up like a hook, trying to pull Kumārajīva down.

With a low roar, Kumārajīva used a technique similar to the Thousand-Pound Drop, and Murong Fu instantly felt that the other's body was as heavy as a mountain, and he could not move it at all.
He quickly twisted his body and pulled out his foot to perform a move called "Upside Down Stepping on Heaven and Earth".

This is a brilliant move from the Taizu Long Fist. Kumārajīva quickly gathered his inner strength, his body suddenly shifting from extremely heavy to extremely light, and he nimbly dodged past, laughing, "Since you're afraid this humble monk will smash the boat, then let Young Master Murong see this humble monk's lightness skill!"

As they spoke, their movements became fluid, as if they had transformed into five or six people at the same time, surrounding Murong Fu. Their attacks were extremely fast, sometimes with fists, sometimes with palms, sometimes with claws, sometimes with fingers. Sometimes a punch would suddenly turn into a palm, and sometimes a finger would suddenly turn into a claw. Their moves were unpredictable and changed at will, dazzling the eyes.

Jiang Mingzhe watched in awe. He recognized that Kumārajīva had several moves that were clearly in the style of the Great Vajra Pestle, but then changed to other styles or other martial arts, and then switched to the Great Vajra Pestle.

As I watched, I suddenly recalled a style of fist fighting from "The Book and the Sword"—

A Hundred Flowers' Mismatched Fist!

According to the original novel, this set of boxing techniques was created by the "Eccentric Swordsman of Tianchi" after visiting many famous masters and drawing on their strengths. He later passed it on to his disciple Chen Jialuo.

Although Chen Jialuo learned this style of boxing, he lacked a foundation in various martial arts styles, making it difficult for him to match top masters.

It should be noted that by the time of the Book and Sword era, many divine skills and unique techniques had been lost, especially the level of internal strength, which was far inferior to that of "today". The skill of the moves became the key factor. Most martial arts did not have supporting internal strength, so the difficulty of "fusion fist" was incomparable to that of today.

Just like the twenty Shaolin skills that Kumārajīva is currently learning, at least five or six of them have independent internal energy systems. To integrate them into one, unless one has a versatile internal energy like the Lesser Formless Skill or the Northern Darkness Divine Skill, it would be as difficult as ascending to heaven.

For example, when Kumārajīva used this set of fist techniques, he could be said to have drawn on the strengths of many and integrated them in terms of moves. However, his exertion was too forceful and violent. Some of the moves that should have been driven by soft internal energy were merely superficial and their power was greatly reduced.

Even so, Kumārajīva's "1.0 version of Shaolin Hundred Flowers Fist" still demonstrated extremely strong power.

Murong Fu was overwhelmed and simply ignored his opponent's attacks, focusing instead on a defensive palm technique. He would strike the palms within half a foot of his body, striking and retracting them rapidly, defending without attacking.

After another twenty or so rounds, Kumārajīva's moves became increasingly fluid and his attack speed increased continuously. Murong Fu was already showing signs of being overwhelmed and was on the verge of being defeated.

Just as Jiang Mingzhe was about to reach out, Azi suddenly laughed and said, "Sister Azhu, your young master is a fool. He knows that the Tibetan monk can't swim and wouldn't dare to destroy the boat, so why doesn't he destroy it himself?"

Murong Fu's eyes lit up, and he stomped his foot on the deck. Kumārajīva was shocked and immediately kicked out to block Murong Fu's attack.

His intervention caused the previously unstoppable offensive to falter.

Who is Murong Fu? He laughed loudly and launched two fierce attacks. His third attack was aimed at the deck, but Kumārajīva roared and blocked it again.

In this way, the entire bow of the ship became Murong Fu's "hostage".

If Kumārajīva's attack was too light, he would attack the deck without regard for anything else; if Kumārajīva's attack was too heavy, he would use the "Star Shift" technique to redirect the attack to the deck.

While dealing with Murong Fu, Kumārajīva also had to protect the deck. In less than ten moves, his previous advantage had vanished.

Seeing the situation reversed, Azhu and Abi cheered. Azhu grabbed Azi's hand and shook it repeatedly, laughing, "Good sister, smart sister, thanks to your reminder, let's see how that monk can win now!"

However, Azi was the kind of person who thrived on chaos. She cared little about even her own father and brother, let alone a mere Murong Fu, except for Da Shengjiang.

He immediately chuckled and said, "That Tibetan bald monk is incredibly stupid. His internal strength is far superior to your young master's. He might as well disregard everything and defeat your young master before the ship breaks down..."

A'Zhu was shocked and immediately tried to cover A'Zi's mouth, but it was too late. Then she heard Kumārajīva laugh loudly: "Haha, little girl, what you said is very insightful. This humble monk has learned a lot!"

This is exactly what they mean by "the one involved is confused, while the bystander sees clearly!" Although Azi is quite talented, is Murong Fu's talent inferior to hers? As for Kumārajīva, he is far superior.

However, the two people were caught up in the battle and had no time to be distracted, so they didn't see things as clearly as Xiao Azi.

Two sharp whooshing sounds rang out, and the temperature in the air rose rapidly. The monk had finally unleashed his trump card, the Flaming Blade Technique!

Murong Fu felt two scorching flames slashing towards him from the left and right. He quickly dodged and heard two sharp cracking sounds. Two branding marks were left on the side of the ship.

Murong Fu was terrified. Before he could even stand still, Kumārajīva slashed horizontally with his backhand, the blade energy slicing down at his waist. Murong Fu leaped to dodge, but now that he was in the air, if Kumārajīva were to strike again, he would have no choice but to hide in the water.

Jiang Mingzhe knew that Murong Fu's strength was ultimately no match for Kumārajīva. He took a step forward and flashed into the battlefield, his sword fan aimed at Kumārajīva's back.

Kumārajīva's eyes twitched, and he turned around, forcing Jiang Mingzhe back with a flaming blade, shouting, "Stop! Let this humble monk say a few words!"

Murong Fu landed on the ship's railing, took the opportunity to draw his sword and hold it across his chest, and said coldly, "Fine, you speak."

Kumārajīva regained his solemn expression and clasped his hands together: "Young Master Murong, I have made my origins and requests clear. If you are unwilling to comply with your father's last wishes, that is fine with me. At worst, I will offer a sacrifice at the lake and return to Tibet. If we really fight, I know I cannot withstand the combined efforts of you and Jiang Gongfeng. I will have to use all my might. If you two injure me, that is fine. But if you accidentally injure Young Master Murong, I will be ashamed of my lack of respect and kindness and will surely regret it."

He was very shrewd. By now, he had managed to regain the face he had lost earlier, and Murong Fu was clearly at a disadvantage. However, if the fight continued, with Jiang Mingzhe making a move, Kumārajīva did not have the confidence to take on both of them. Therefore, he immediately requested a ceasefire.

Murong Fu and Jiang Mingzhe exchanged a glance and raised their eyebrows simultaneously.

Jiang Mingzhe put away his sword and fan and laughed, "Brother, I don't think he's lying. Actually, as long as he doesn't burn my third brother, we don't have any major enmity. He is, after all, an old friend of your father. Letting him go and pay his respects will fulfill their friendship."

He then said to Kumārajīva, “Grand Preceptor, I have also seen through you. In terms of talent and perseverance, ordinary people are far inferior to you. With such abilities, why do you insist on forcing my third brother to teach you sword techniques? The Flaming Blade is infinitely mysterious, and you have also witnessed the Six Meridians Divine Sword. With your abilities, what difficulty would it be for you to create your own Eight Meridians Divine Blade?”

Kumārajīva's heart stirred, and he couldn't help but laugh, "That's not wrong! The Six Meridian Divine Sword is powerful for only three reasons. First, it transforms finger force into sword energy, increasing its sharpness. Second, the Flaming Blade transforms palm force into blade energy, making it incomparably sharp, but it's actually just average."

"Secondly, the condensed sword energy is persistent and does not dissipate, just like an invisible sword, which can cut, chop, stab, and parry. The Flame Blade is actually just average. The only thing that makes my Flame Blade inferior to others is the third point..."

Kumozhi's eyes revealed admiration as he sighed, "The six sword energies each possess a different sword technique, some wild and some steady. When unleashed at full power, it's as if six skilled swordsmen are fighting simultaneously; their power is truly astonishing..."

Murong Fu was initially dismissive of the so-called Six Meridians Divine Sword, thinking it was merely an advanced version of the One Finger Divine Skill. However, after witnessing the power of the Flaming Blade and listening to Kumārajīva's detailed analysis, he realized how terrifying this skill was. He thought to himself: "In that case, it's no wonder my father was willing to exchange the Seventy-Two Shaolin Arts for this skill."

Then Kumārajīva pointed at Duan Yu and said to Jiang Mingzhe, "However, apart from your third brother, no other monk in Tianlong Temple can wield six swords at the same time. The most powerful monk, Kuru Rong, has only mastered two Shaoshang sword qi. Therefore, even if they possess the Six Meridians Divine Sword, in a one-on-one fight, none of them can defeat this humble monk's Flame Blade!"

Jiang Mingzhe nodded and said, "So why do you have to be so demanding? You also have two hands. Let alone six or eight swords, as long as you master the dual-wielding Flame Sword, and combine it with different sword techniques, you can set up a sword formation yourself. Or you can further study the way sword energy is condensed, and distinguish between large swords, small swords, heavy swords, single swords, and flying swords... Maybe you can even master the Flame Eighteen Swords, which would be even more impressive than the Six Meridian Divine Sword?"

Kumārajīva listened with great interest, nodding repeatedly and saying, "Yes, wonderful! Venerable Jiang's ideas are truly ingenious. This humble monk has benefited greatly from listening to them!"

Azi said, "Hmph, Big Ginger is the smartest. It's your good fortune that he's willing to give you pointers. If you're capable, you can also study how to train a sword aura on each of your ten fingers and ten toes, and train one on your tongue as well, which is called the Tongue Sword. You can also train one on your eyes as well, which is called the Eye Sword. Once you've mastered it, anyone you glare at will die. So don't even think about getting your hands on my family's sword manual."

Jiang Mingzhe laughed heartily and said, "Grand Preceptor, my senior sister is not talking nonsense. The wonders of martial arts are endless, and the human body is a treasure trove. The sharp tongue and sharp eyes are not without reason. If you can comprehend the mysteries of the soul and practice a Heart Blade, you can kill whoever you want. That would truly make you a terrestrial immortal."

Kumārajīva's eyes lit up, and he seemed eager to write it all down. He nodded repeatedly and said, "Yes, yes, nothing is impossible. This humble monk's Flame Blade indeed has countless mysteries to be explored."

At this moment, Murong Fu interjected, "That's right. Actually, if you don't make things difficult for my brothers, it's fine to turn enemies into friends. As for what my late father promised you, I can still fulfill it. However, I don't want the Six Meridians Divine Sword. I have another request: if the Imperial Preceptor can do it, the Murong family will give you the Water Pavilion to observe."

His true intention was to defeat Kumārajīva and then bestow favors upon him to win his heart and make him willingly work for him.

However, after two battles, his arrogance vanished, and he had to make other plans. So, following Jiang Mingzhe's words, he said these words.

"Oh?" Kumārajīva was indeed intrigued and immediately asked, "What is the request?"

(End of this chapter)