All Heavens: Dual Cultivation of Magic and Martial Arts Starting from the Republic of China

After Fu Ze withdrew his fist, he suddenly noticed that there was a person standing under the eaves.

Of course, it was also because that person didn't have any murderous intent or malice, otherwise Fu Ze would have been able to sense it from the beginning.

That familiar scent...

It's Li Junfeng!

Fu Ze joked.

"Brother Li, what are you doing standing here in the middle of the night instead of sleeping?"

Li Junfeng didn't say anything, but walked out from the shadows under the eaves.

Staring at the broken bluestone bricks under Fu Ze's feet, and then at his withdrawn hands, his expression was complicated, showing shock and speechlessness.

Fu Ze was in a good mood and couldn't help but laugh.

"I remember that once you reach the Transformation Realm, your body begins to approach perfection, and you shouldn't be constipated anymore. Why do you look like you're suffering from constipation?"

Li Junfeng's lips twitched.

"Fu Ze".

"Um?"

"You're such a weirdo."

Fu Ze was amused.

"Brother Li, that doesn't sound like a compliment."

Li Junfeng sneered.

"If I had known, I wouldn't have given you the Li family's martial arts manual! Now I suspect you might be some kind of ancient demon reincarnated. Tomorrow I'll talk to Daoist Feng Xuan and have him set up an altar for you to test you properly."

Fu Ze nodded seriously.

"Then we'll have to wait until tomorrow. Master Fengxuan is too tired tonight. If we make him perform the ritual again, he might just collapse into the altar on the spot."

Li Junfeng finally couldn't hold back and let out a laugh and a curse.

"Be poor."

In fact, he didn't peek on purpose.

Having practiced martial arts for many years and mastered the art of neutralizing internal energy, Li Junfeng's senses were several times more acute than those of ordinary people.

Fu Ze practiced his boxing in the courtyard. His strength shook his blood and qi, and the sounds of tigers and leopards thundered and the sounds of humming and hawing alternated. Although the noise was not loud, it could not be hidden from him at all.

At first, he simply thought that Fu Ze had made progress in his boxing practice.

But as I looked at it, something seemed off.

Bajiquan, Xingyiquan.

The two completely different styles of boxing actually worked better and better on Fu Ze.

The previous move was a fierce and short-range attack from Bajiquan, and the next move transformed into a divine intent flowing through Xingyiquan. There was no hesitation in between, as if this was how it was supposed to be done.

This is outrageous!

Li Junfeng himself is a master of Xingyi Quan, so of course he knows what this means.

While one can draw on the strengths of various styles of boxing, truly integrating two styles into one's own is not something that can be achieved by simply reading a few boxing manuals or practicing forms for a few days.

That requires years of disassembly, understanding, training, and practical experience.

But what about Fu Ze?

How long have you been learning Xingyi?

This kid is like someone who has spent ten years grinding away at something and compressed it into just a few days.

It was hard for Li Junfeng not to be speechless.

He extended his right hand.

"Give me a ride."

Fu Ze understood what he meant, of course.

The art of "listening to the opponent's force" in traditional Chinese martial arts is not unique to Tai Chi. When a martial art reaches a certain level, the moment the palms touch and the force is felt, one can roughly discern the depth of each other's skill, the strength of their qi and blood, and the changes in their muscles and bones.

Of course, this is not a life-or-death battle, but just a test of strength.

Fu Ze also extended his hand.

The two gently placed their hands together.

The moment their palms touched, Fu Ze felt as if Li Junfeng's palm contained a mountain.

It's like an endless, heavy earth.

As soon as Fu Ze's hidden strength was revealed, it was enveloped, dissolved, and rebounded by a more harmonious, subtle, and omnipresent force.

It was as if his force had just been released, and before it had even truly touched Li Junfeng's muscles, bones, and skin, it had already been detected by the other party, and then it was drawn away along his palm, wrist, and arm.

"The subtlety of neutralizing force far surpasses that of concealed force!"

Fu Ze sighed inwardly, and at the same time, the bluestone bricks under his feet cracked and shattered into powder.

He took a half step back, his palms already covered in sweat.

This was from that sudden burst of energy just now, when blood and qi surged, pores opened and closed naturally, and sweat instantly seeped out.

In contrast, Li Junfeng...

He stood still, motionless. His palms were dry as usual, and his breathing remained unchanged.

Fu Ze shook the sweat from his palms and sighed.

"I'm still not as good as you."

Li Junfeng rolled his eyes.

"Nonsense. You're only at the Inner Strength level, I'm at the Transformation level, we're a whole realm apart! Besides, I'm already forty years old, how old are you?"

He paused, then spoke seriously.

"But to be able to directly confront me with the level of internal strength and only retreat half a step, you are the most powerful internal strength martial artist I have ever seen."

Fu Ze smiled.

"Then take it as Brother Li praising me."

"I was just praising you."

Li Junfeng looked at him, his tone unusually complicated.

"I've practiced boxing for so many years and seen quite a few so-called geniuses. But I've never seen anyone like you."

……

Early the next morning.

After a quick breakfast, everyone began to discuss the next steps.

Liao Xibai was already in poor health, suffering from several chronic illnesses, and had also been injured before. These past few days of traveling, encountering danger, and exhaustion had left him noticeably paler than before.

He's a rational person, so he took the initiative to speak.

"I won't force myself to run around with you guys today. Otherwise, I'm afraid I won't accomplish anything and will just become a burden."

Fu Ze agreed.

"It's fine for Mr. Liao to stay at the village chief's house to rest, but someone must keep an eye on him."

Liao Xibai thought about it for a moment.

"Evil spirits are less likely to cause trouble during the day, and if there is any danger, it's more likely to be a living person. Ah Rui, you stay here. Also, Daoist Feng Xuan, you expended a lot of energy last night, so you should recuperate. Junfeng, you and Friend Fu can go out now."

Li Junfeng nodded.

"it is good."

Fu Zedao.

"Brother Zhao and Daoist Feng Xuan stay behind. Brother Li, come with me. As for Crazy He, have the villagers in Shuangjing Village and Hewan Village mobilize to search for him. Don't make a big fuss about it. Just say you're looking for someone, and don't alarm too many people."

The village chief of Shuangjing Village nodded hurriedly.

"Understood, understood! I'll arrange it right away."

Not long after, the village chief of Hewan Village was also invited over.

Although not all villagers witnessed the commotion at the land temple in Shuangjing Village last night, the village chief had already given him a general account of what happened.

The village chief of Hewan Village looked very grim.

Especially after hearing that Crazy He might be the key to spreading the Evil Earth, he couldn't utter a single word.

After all, Crazy He had always lived near the land temple in Hewan Village.

If it was truly because of him that the surrounding villages suffered one after another, the village chief of Hewan Village naturally felt heavy-hearted.

The group split up and took action separately.

Li Junfeng, accompanied by the village chief of Hewan Village, first went to Liugou Village, Shiqiao Village, and Baitian Village.

Fu Ze and Li Junfeng had only briefly inquired about these three villages before, and had not yet formally dealt with the local earth god temples.

Now that things have come to this point, there's no point in trying to cover it up.

All six villages were victims.

Since we've all gotten involved, we should talk things out.

The village chief of Hewan Village was, after all, the village chief of the first village to have an accident.

It would be much easier for him to explain the situation in Hewan Village, Huaishu Village, and Shuangjing Village than for Li Junfeng, an outsider and a thug, to directly smash up the temple.

of course.

If anyone doesn't believe it, or is still afraid of the local earth god's revenge, then let Li Junfeng do it.

He's not here to reason.

His job is only to prevent the contaminated things from continuing to harm people for the time being.

Destroy the niche.

A dilapidated temple.

Smash the idol.

First, extinguish the incense offerings, then investigate the source.

As for Fu Ze, he returned to Huai Shu Village alone.

He always felt that something was off about Huai Shu Village.

In other villages, the central location for sacrificing infants is the local earth god temple.

But Huai Shu Village is an exception.

The three babies from Huai Shu Village were placed under the old locust tree outside the village.

At the time, they were only concerned with rescuing the children, arresting the villagers, and fighting the blood and flesh clay statue at the local temple, so they didn't carefully check the area around the old locust tree.

Looking back now, it's probably not a coincidence.

After leaving Shuangjing Village, Fu Ze pushed off with his feet and traversed the mountain paths.

After breaking through to the peak of Dark Force, his control over his body became even more refined.

Each time his feet landed, he could control the force extremely lightly, yet in the next instant, he would burst forth with extremely fast speed.

Rocks, tree roots, and mud pits could hardly stop him.

Often, he would simply lightly touch the stones with his toes, and his body would have already traversed a short slope. His landings were light and steady, barely breaking even dry branches.

This is not just simple light-footed skill.

Rather, it is the precise mobilization of every muscle and bone after the power has spread throughout the body.

Soon, Fu Ze returned to the outskirts of Huai Shu Village.

The old locust tree still stands quietly on the hillside.

The branches and trunk are thick, the bark is cracked, and the leaves do not look eerie in the daytime.

But even though Fu Ze stopped under the tree, he didn't feel relaxed at all.

He walked around the old locust tree.

Their gazes quickly froze.

really!

The soil near the old locust tree is the wrong color.

Although it wasn't as distinctly reddish as the muddy, damp soil I remembered from the Shuangjing Village Earth Temple, the soil in this area was indeed redder than ordinary soil.

It was a dark, dull red.

It's as if it was soaked in blood and then dried up deep in the soil.

Fu Ze squatted down and reached out to pick up a pinch of the mixture.

The soil particles are fine and slightly sticky. It also has a very faint fishy, ​​rotten smell.

To the average person, the soil color here might just seem a little odd. After all, red, yellow, and black soils are common in the mountains and fields, so it's not unusual.

But Fu Ze already knew about the existence of [Impure Earth].

Looking at these details again, the meaning becomes completely different.

Fu Ze murmured.

"Near this large locust tree, there is also a region of [filthy soil]."

He realized that the sacrificial site might not necessarily have to be a local temple. Any place with "impure soil" could become a place where evil forces devoured the innate energy of infants.

The land temple in Huai Shu Village may simply be a place where flesh and blood clay figures reside.

The actual place used for the sacrifice was under this old locust tree.

No wonder the baby was left here that night.

The villagers believed this was a message from the land god in a dream.

In reality, it's likely that the thing behind the scenes instinctively chose a location that had already been deeply corrupted by the tainted soil.

Fu Ze stood up and took out a talisman from his fingertips.

As spiritual energy flowed in, the talisman spontaneously combusted without fire, and a pale red divine flame rose from his fingertips.

"The divine fire of the Southern Altar burns away evil and destroys yin."

He raised his hand and flicked it.

The talismanic fire crashed down onto the dark red soil beneath the old locust tree.

But the moment the talisman exploded, the soil began to twist violently as if it were alive!

Small patches of dark red soil, like countless frightened insects, frantically burrowed into the ground.

When the talisman fire burned on the surface, it only produced a burst of foul-smelling black smoke.

But the truly dark red, sticky parts had already sank rapidly into the deeper layers of soil.

Fu Ze's eyes turned cold.

He took a step forward, channeling his inner strength into the soles of his feet, and stomped down hard.

boom!

The ground shook, and the soil exploded.

But the dark red, foul soil below still scattered and sank like living things, impossible to grasp.

Fu Ze frowned.

"really."

He couldn't stop it.

Although this "impure earth" is in the form of soil, it clearly exhibits certain life characteristics. After being attacked, it immediately retreated deep underground.

That's why the dirt He Fengzi ate before appeared in different states during the day and at night.

It's not that the soil itself has changed, but rather that the "impure soil" itself moves up and down within the soil layers!

If it is hidden deeper, the surface soil will appear dull and dry, with only traces of pollution remaining.

When it floats to the surface, the soil turns into a dark red, damp, sticky, and rotten appearance.

Fu Ze looked down at the still reddish soil and suddenly thought of something else.

Although the unclean soil will hide underground, the soil color will remain in the places it has contaminated.

This red color won't disappear immediately.

"That's somewhat good news. This way, we can determine which areas have been corrupted by the [tainted soil]. By searching for this abnormally colored red soil in the surrounding villages, we can map out a portion of the contaminated area."

Fu Ze stood up and patted the mud off his hands.

"The locations where He the Madman spreads the filth are probably random."

He quickly deduced the scenario in his mind.

If the mastermind behind this could precisely control He Fengzi, it's impossible that it took four years to pollute only six surrounding villages.

Given He Fengzi's wandering lifestyle, the slow spread of information and the chaotic locations involved actually suggest that many of his actions were not deliberately planned.

Or rather, even if the mastermind behind it all could influence him, the influence would be limited.

Does this mean that there are some limitations to that thing?

Either the distance is limited, or they can't go too far from River Bend Village. Or... their intelligence isn't high!

Perhaps the mastermind behind it all is not entirely in a state of consciousness.

Fu Ze's eyes flickered slightly.

If that's the case, then it's good news.

A malevolent being with complete intelligence and the ability to meticulously plan is completely different from something that spreads pollution mainly through madness and instinct!

He was preparing to continue looking around to see just how large this area of ​​red soil actually was.

Suddenly, something warmed up in my pocket.

Fu Ze was startled. Before he could even reach out to touch it, a communication talisman from Gezao Mountain floated out automatically. It hovered in front of him and spontaneously combusted without any wind.

The flames did not disperse, but twisted and condensed in mid-air, transforming into two small characters.

[Reply Immediately]

The next moment, the flames went out.

The talisman turned into a wisp of green smoke and dissipated in the wind.

This is a communication talisman given to them by Feng Xuan. It was mass-produced by experts in the Gezao Mountain sect, and disciples would carry some with them when they went down the mountain for emergency communication.

As long as one is crushed, those around who possess talismans of the same origin will sense it.

Feng Xuan held a high position in Gezao Mountain and carried quite a few with him. He had left some for the villagers when they were in Huai Shu Village. Later, when everyone went their separate ways, they each received a few more to facilitate the transmission of important messages.

But these are rare items; once used, they're gone. They won't be used lightly unless it's an emergency.

Fu Ze frowned as he watched the direction the smoke had dissipated.

"Return immediately? Has something urgent happened?"

He didn't delay any longer.

With a stomp of his foot, he shot off like an arrow towards Shuangjing Village...