Quickly conquer the martial arts world, and let your fists dominate the heavens!

Chen Zhan flashed into the main hall, his aura subtly released.

His gaze swept over the eighteen Arhat statues in the hall. These Arhat statues were lifelike, holding weapons and with majestic expressions. They were originally facing the hall, where people would offer incense and worship.

As the force of the field slowly applied pressure, the statues of the Eighteen Arhats suddenly began to sway slightly.

Immediately afterwards, a creaking sound came.

These Arhat statues slowly began to rotate, eventually turning all of them towards the outside of the hall, facing the entrance of the Mahavira Hall.

Just as the Arhat statue finished turning, the largest golden statue of Shakyamuni Buddha, located in the center of the hall, suddenly emitted a "humming" sound, and the entire statue slowly turned around.

The back of the Buddha statue is empty, revealing a huge hollow opening inside, which is pitch black and bottomless.

Chen Zhan and Zhao Qingtan exchanged a glance, both seeing surprise and wariness in each other's eyes.

They hurried over to investigate and, by the moonlight, could vaguely see a steep staircase inside the cave entrance leading directly underground, though they didn't know exactly where it led.

Before the two could examine it closely, they heard a series of chaotic footsteps coming from underground. It was clear that their movements as they turned the Buddha statue had alerted the people underground.

It's no longer possible to infiltrate silently.

Chen Zhan, however, was not in a hurry. He looked at Zhao Qingtan calmly and asked, "Will you come in with me, or will you stay down the mountain and keep watch?"

His implication was clear: even if the two of them acted quickly, without understanding the underground terrain, it would be impossible for them to kill everyone.

These monks have been operating in Putuo Temple for many years, so they must have multiple escape routes and possibly other escape routes.

"Let's go together."

“My men have taken control of all the ships on the island, and a defensive line has been set up around it. They can’t escape.”

"Moreover, I also want to see with my own eyes what kind of filthy things are hidden underground."

"Okay." Chen Zhan nodded.

After the two finished their discussion, footsteps from below were already approaching.

Soon, four monks dressed in black robes and carrying staffs emerged from the tunnel.

These four monks possessed powerful auras and were all at the mid-stage of the Innate Realm. Their expressions were ferocious, and their eyes were fierce, making them completely different from the kind-faced monks they had met during the day.

Chen Zhan's gaze sharpened, and his surrounding aura instantly erupted, with invisible pressure crashing down on the four monks like a tidal wave.

"Pfft pfft—!"

Two muffled thuds were heard, and three of the four monks did not even have a chance to react before their bodies exploded and died under the powerful field pressure.

Blood and entrails were splattered all over the ground, and the once solemn Mahavira Hall instantly became bloody and terrifying.

The remaining monk was also firmly imprisoned by the field, unable to move or even speak, his face filled with terror.

Chen Zhan raised his hand and waved, a surge of true energy enveloping the monk and pulling him in front of him.

He lightly touched the other's brow with his fingertip again, unleashing the full power of his Soul Transfer Technique. His deep voice carried an irresistible force: "What is underground? What are you doing in there?"

The true energy of the Soul Transfer Technique invaded the sea of ​​consciousness, and the surviving monk's eyes quickly became unfocused, his pupils lost focus, and it seemed that his mind was about to be completely controlled by Chen Zhan.

At this critical moment, his eyes suddenly sharpened, and his previously unfocused gaze forcibly gathered, regaining some clarity.

However, this clarity of mind did not free him from his constraints; instead, he suffered greatly from forcibly resisting Chen Zhan's true energy.

His whole body began to tremble violently, his teeth chattered, white foam kept spilling from the corners of his mouth, his face turned bluish-purple, and his appearance was ferocious and terrifying.

The unexpected turn of events startled Chen Zhan slightly. He had been using the Soul Transfer Technique for many years and had never encountered a situation where a martial artist at the mid-stage of the Innate Realm could forcibly resist it.

With a thought, his blood and qi surged forth, transforming into countless threads that silently invaded the other's body, exploring along the meridians.

The blood vessels quickly reached his heart, and the sight before him made Chen Zhan's eyes darken.

Beside the monk's heart, there was also a blood tumor.

However, this hematoma was several times larger than the one inside Meng Niang's body, almost the size of her heart, and its surface was covered with spiderweb-like blood vessels. Its beating frequency was completely synchronized with her heart.

The "bang, bang" sounds were clearly transmitted back through the blood vessels.

Even more strangely, as Chen Zhan's true energy continued to permeate his sea of ​​consciousness, the throbbing speed of the hematoma suddenly increased.

The originally steady "bang bang" sound became rapid like drumbeats. Among the fine threads connecting the hematoma to the meridians throughout the body, white viscous substances were rapidly flowing, surging along the meridians to the monk's limbs and bones.

Where the white substance flowed, the monk's struggles became even more intense.

His muscles were bulging and his bones were making creaking sounds, as if a violent force was about to break free from his body's constraints.

"Back off!"

Chen Zhan sensed something was wrong and warned him in a deep voice.

The voice just fell,

A loud "Boom!" suddenly erupted.

The monk's body exploded instantly, like a sack filled with dynamite, sending blood and flesh flying and bones scattering everywhere.

Zhao Qingtan reacted extremely quickly; as soon as Chen Zhan finished speaking, she had already taken several steps back, avoiding the splattering blood and flesh.

Before Chen Zhan could retreat completely, he immediately braced himself with one hand, and his surrounding field instantly expanded, forming an invisible barrier that firmly blocked the oncoming flesh and bone fragments.

As the field dissipated, I saw that the ground in front of me was stained red with blood, with scattered pieces of flesh and bone, and the air was filled with a pungent smell of blood.

"It can self-destruct?"

The power of this explosion exceeded the full force of a strike from a cultivator at the Innate Upper Realm.

Chen Zhan looked at the pieces of flesh in front of him, a hint of surprise flashing in his eyes.

"Let's go down and have a look."

Chen Zhan composed himself and took the lead in walking towards the underground staircase behind the Buddha statue.

The two walked down the stone steps. The stone walls and steps on both sides were polished to an exceptionally smooth finish, with no trace of wear on the edges, clearly indicating that they had been maintained for many years.

The stone steps wound downwards, becoming increasingly secluded and dark. The chilling atmosphere in the air grew stronger, mixed with a faint stench of blood and decay.

After descending about a hundred steps, estimating that we had gone at least fifty meters underground, we entered a parallel passageway.

Finally, the light of candles appeared ahead, their orange glow shimmering at the end of the passageway.

Immediately afterwards, a series of hurried footsteps came from the front of the passageway, clearly indicating that the people underground had noticed the commotion above and were rushing over to investigate.

A murderous glint flashed in Zhao Qingtan's eyes. She placed her hand on the Qingfeng sword at her waist and turned to look at Chen Zhan.

"Capture a prisoner alive for questioning. If the Soul Transfer Technique cannot control him, then use force to interrogate him."

"it is good!"

Zhao Qingtan responded, and her aura suddenly surged.

Her martial arts followed a path of both Buddhist and Taoist cultivation. The Qingfeng sword in her hand was different from Gu Yu's Bishui soft sword. It was long and sharp, with a faint blue light flowing over it, making it a rare and powerful Taoist weapon.

The footsteps ahead in the passageway grew closer, and three figures soon appeared in the light.

The person in the lead was the old monk in red robes who had dealt with them in the main hall during the day.

Before the other party could speak, Zhao Qingtan suddenly drew her Qingfeng sword, and a sharp sword aura shot out, sweeping across the air with a whistling sound. Wherever the sword aura passed, the stone walls on both sides trembled and fell down.

This sword strike, unleashed in fury, contained all the resentment in her heart. "Whoosh—!"

The sword's energy pierced the darkness, illuminating the entire passageway.

The old monk in red robes was shocked at the sight. Before he could speak, he quickly held his staff horizontally in front of him, and his true energy surged violently out, gathering on the staff to form a thick wall of energy.

The old monk in red robes also possessed the strength of the Profound Realm.

"boom--!"

The sword energy slammed into the aura wall of the Zen staff, unleashing a deafening roar.

The old monk in red robes was jolted backward by the enormous impact, his feet leaving two deep marks on the stone steps. His chest heaved with blood and qi, and his throat tasted sweet.

Zhao Qingtan would not give the other party a chance to breathe.

As soon as the sword energy dissipated, her figure flashed like a ghost, instantly closing in on the red-robed old monk.

The Qingfeng sword unleashed three sharp sword flourishes, pointing respectively at the old monk's throat, heart, and dantian. The sword's momentum was swift, and each move was deadly.

"Damn it, damn it!"

Zhao Qingtan growled, her voice filled with murderous intent.

Having come from Putuo Temple, she now witnessed firsthand the sordid deeds within the temple, and thinking of the people who had been harmed, her anger was even more uncontrollable.

Amidst the crisscrossing sword energy, the red-robed old monk barely managed to wield his staff to defend, but he couldn't keep up with Zhao Qingtan's sword speed at all.

There was a crisp sound of "click".

The bronze staff in his hand was cut in half by the Qingfeng sword, and the broken staff flew out and hit the stone wall with a dull thud.

With his staff broken, the old monk in red robes was completely defenseless.

Zhao Qingtan swung her sword down with the momentum, severing half of his body. Blood gushed out, staining the stone steps in front of him red.

The old monk, who had reached the Profound Realm, didn't even have time to utter a complete sentence before he was killed by the sword.

The old monk in red robes was accompanied by two middle-aged disciples, both of whom were at the mid-stage of the Innate Realm.

Zhao Qingtan got carried away with the killing, but she didn't lose her mind. She killed one of them with a single sword strike, and then used the tip of her sword to stab the other in the shoulder, subduing him and bringing him to Chen Zhan.

Surprisingly, even though the middle-aged monk's shoulder meridians had been severed, leaving him with only one arm, his eyes showed no fear. Instead, they flashed with a crazed red light as he broke free from Zhao Qingtan's sword tip and roared as he charged toward Chen Zhan.

Chen Zhan calmly raised his hand, and the surrounding field instantly pressed down.

The middle-aged monk was frozen in place, unable to move, but the madness in his eyes intensified, and a strange "hoarse" sound came from his throat.

"Oh!"

Another loud bang, and the middle-aged monk also self-destructed.

Fortunately, Chen Zhan's domain had already enveloped him, and the flesh and bone fragments from the explosion were firmly imprisoned in the small space.

Chen Zhan casually swept the blood, flesh, and bone fragments aside, his brows furrowing slightly.

"It seems that this blood tumor can do more than just help them increase their power."

"They can also control minds, making them so crazy that they will self-destruct even if captured, leaving no survivors."

"Such bizarre methods—no wonder they could cultivate so many experts in such a short time. These monks can no longer be considered true members of the Buddhist community."

Zhao Qingtan spoke with some emotion, after all, it was a place where she had lived for many years, and in more than a decade, things had changed drastically.

As soon as the two finished speaking, a series of heavy footsteps echoed from the depths of the passageway, like the beating of drums reverberating through the dark tunnel.

It was clear that a large number of monks were rushing towards this direction, and they were coming in a fierce manner.

Chen Zhan focused his senses for a moment, his eyes darkening slightly: "Hmm, at least three Transcendent Realm auras, be careful."

"They've come at the perfect time, saving us the trouble of searching for them one by one."

Zhao Qingtan gripped the Qingfeng sword tightly, the blade humming, and the killing intent in her eyes intensified.

Without further hesitation, the two quickly walked deeper into the passageway.

The space ahead became increasingly open, and soon we walked out of the passageway and stepped into a huge underground hall.

The hall was empty of corpses, but it was filled with an extremely strong stench of blood, mixed with a nauseating stench.

The stench wasn't the smell of rotting human corpses; rather, it smelled like countless dead insects fermenting, a stench that sent chills down one's spine.

Huge bronze candlesticks burned on both sides of the main hall, their flickering flames casting shadowy reflections of the scene inside.

"Gentlemen, you seem to have come to the wrong place." An aged voice came from deep within the hall.

The two turned their heads and saw that more than a dozen monks had arrived in the main hall and were escorting the three of them out.

The person in the lead was none other than the head of the Discipline Hall, Monk Zhizhen, who had "detoxified" Zhao Qingtan during the day.

He was still wearing his yellow monk's robe, and his face was kind.

Upon seeing Zhizhen, Zhao Qingtan raised an eyebrow slightly: "Master Zhizhen? What a coincidence. May I ask when you joined Putuo Temple? I never saw you when I was at Putuo Temple thirteen years ago?"

Back then, she followed Master Zhikong in her spiritual practice and was quite familiar with the core monks of Putuo Temple; there was absolutely no such person as Zhizhen.

Zhizhen was clearly not expected to hear this question. He paused for a moment, then put his hands together and said, "This humble monk only joined Putuo Temple ten years ago. Do you have any prior connection with Putuo Temple?"

"There is still some old grudge."

Zhao Qingtan snorted coldly, her gaze sharp as a knife: "Thirteen years ago, the head of the Discipline Hall of Putuo Temple should have been Master Zhikong, right? The master had only been in the temple for ten years, yet he was able to take up the position of head of the Discipline Hall. He came to the temple with his skills already in hand, so he was quite gifted."

Upon hearing the name "Zhikong," Zhizhen's kind expression froze instantly, and his eyes narrowed slightly.

He carefully examined Zhao Qingtan in front of him, remained silent for a moment, and then suddenly laughed:
"So it's the Princess in person. I've heard the abbot mention her before. She's a young prodigy with exceptional martial arts skills. Seeing her today, I can confirm that she's truly extraordinary."

He recognized Zhao Qingtan's identity.

"Heh, I don't think you're anything special."

"They treat human life like dirt, feeding living people like livestock, plundering their essence to enhance their power."

Zhao Qingtan's tone was icy, revealing her murderous intent.

She had too many questions in her mind, but asking them directly would not get her any answers, so she decided to kill them all first.

Before she could finish speaking, Zhao Qingtan was about to make her move.

Chen Zhan ignored the monks from beginning to end. His gaze wandered around the main hall, his nostrils twitching as he carefully searched for the source of the putrid insect smell.

He vaguely felt that, besides the smell of blood, this stench was also crucial.

The two people on either side of Zhizhen also slowly stepped forward.

On the left is a tall monk, wearing a red robe, with a violent aura, whose Dharma name is Zhiyuan.

On the right is a dark-skinned monk wearing a gray robe, whose Dharma name is Zhiyuan.

Both of them were at the mid-stage of the Profound Realm, the same level as Zhao Qingtan.

Three experts at the intermediate level of the Profound Realm, plus more than a dozen monks at the Innate Realm—this lineup is enough to deal with most martial arts masters.

But Chen Zhan didn't care at all. Zhao Qingtan had inherited part of his martial arts skills, so he didn't need to worry about dealing with opponents of the same level. (End of Chapter)