Longevity Martial Arts: Grinding Experience in the Chaotic World

”There really is something off...”

Suddenly, a rustling sound came from the grass behind him.

Gu Sheng’s muscles tensed in an instant, his fists creaking as he clenched them—someone was tailing him!

At the moment he turned around, a short figure shot out from the dead grass, moving at a shocking speed.

Without thinking, Gu Sheng slammed out a punch filled with Spiritual Power!

”Oww!”

With a cry of pain, that figure was blasted flying by the punch, rolling several times on the ground before coming to a stop.

Only then did Gu Sheng see clearly—it was a monk in ragged robes, with two freshly ”produced” big bumps on his bald head swelling at a speed visible to the naked eye.

”You... you are...”

Gu Sheng froze. This monk looked a bit familiar.

The monk jumped up clutching his head, his face flushed red with anger.

”Gu Sheng! Are your eyes growing out of your ass? I kindly came to save you, and you greet me with two ’mountain peaks’?”

His memory suddenly snapped into focus—this was the weird monk Ling Xiao he had met once before at the Ancient Zen Temple!

It was said he was some ”Buddha Son reincarnated,” born with innate Buddhist wisdom roots.

”Ling Xiao? Why are you...”

Halfway through Gu Sheng’s sentence, the ground beneath his feet suddenly shook violently!

”Rumble—”

The earth was torn apart as if by an invisible giant hand, cracking into countless bottomless rifts.

Ink-black Yin Qi gushed out of the ground fissures, shrouding the entire sky.

The originally pale sunlight was completely devoured, and the world plunged into darkness.

”This is bad!”

Ling Xiao’s face changed drastically.

”It’s a Yin Qi tide! The once-in-a-hundred-years Yin Qi eruption of Ten Thousand Ghost Ridge!”

Gu Sheng felt all the hairs on his body stand on end.

The seemingly calm gray mist was now boiling, an icy, bone-piercing aura rushing straight at them.

He raised his arm to block on instinct. A wisp of Yin Qi brushed past his forearm, instantly flaying flesh from bone; before the fresh blood could even flow out, it was frozen into shards of ice.

”This Yin Qi...”

Gu Sheng sucked in a sharp breath from the pain.

”It’s even more terrifying than the rumors!”

Ling Xiao hurriedly began chanting a Buddhist scripture.

A faint golden radiance seeped out from his body, forming a thin light shield that covered the two of them.

The Yin Qi crashed into the light shield, making corrosive ”chi-chi” sounds.

”Don’t just stand there!”

Beads of sweat appeared on Ling Xiao’s forehead.

”This young master’s ’Bodhi Golden Body’ won’t last long!”

Only then did Gu Sheng snap out of it and hastily summoned the [Ancient Reincarnation Bell].

The archaic Ancient Bronze Bell floated above his head, hanging down strands of cyan Light Screen that interwove with the Buddha Light, temporarily holding back the invading Yin Qi.

”That broken bell of yours won’t hold.”

Ling Xiao curled his lip.

”The Yin Qi of Ten Thousand Ghost Ridge comes from Ancient Divine Spirit resentment. It specifically restrains Magic Artifact Spiritual.”

As if to confirm his words, the Reincarnation Bell’s Light Screen dimmed at a speed visible to the naked eye, and tiny cracks even began to appear on the bell’s surface.

This bell was something he had obtained from an ancient ruin and had saved him from danger many times. Yet now it couldn’t even last for a brief moment!

”Watch me!”

Ling Xiao pressed his palms together.

”Om mani padme hum!”

The Buddha Light flared suddenly brighter, forcing the pressing Yin Qi back several feet.

But Gu Sheng keenly noticed that Ling Xiao’s legs were trembling slightly; the consumption was clearly enormous.

”Aren’t you the reincarnation of a Buddha Son?”

Gu Sheng couldn’t help asking.

”That’s all you’ve got?”

”Bullshit!”

Ling Xiao almost jumped in anger.

”Anyone else would’ve been corroded into bare bones by now! The Yin Qi in this damned place is more than ten times stronger than last time!”

Fine beads of sweat seeped from Ling Xiao’s forehead, and the Golden Alms Bowl in his hands buzzed and trembled.

”Not good, this Evil Qi is fiercer than last time!”

”Last time?”

Gu Sheng keenly caught the key word, but had no time to ask.

The black Qi had already slapped toward them. He hastily ran the ”Mystic Sky Gang Qi,” his skin taking on a bronze sheen.

With a crisp ”crack,” the Protective Gang Qi actually fractured.

Gu Sheng felt a sweetness rise in his throat as blood seeped from the corner of his mouth.

Just as the black Qi was about to swallow the two of them, Ling Xiao suddenly bit his tongue, spraying a mouthful of Essence Blood onto the Golden Alms Bowl.

”Daluo Buddha Light, rise!”

The Golden Alms Bowl instantly burst into a blinding golden radiance, forming a hemispherical light shield that enveloped them both.

The black Qi slammed into the light shield with hissing sounds and was actually purified into wisps of green smoke.

”Cough, cough...”

Ling Xiao’s face was deathly pale, yet he forced himself to grin.

”Well? This young master’s ’Golden Alms Bowl of Calamity Crossing’ packs a punch, doesn’t it?”

Gu Sheng stared at the flowing Sanskrit on the Golden Alms Bowl, shocked in his heart.

This is clearly a Supreme Treasure of the Buddhist sect, at least a Bodhisattva Level Magic Artifact.

”It’s really badass. But shouldn’t we, like, fall back first?”

”Retreat?”

Ling Xiao wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth, something strange flickering in his eyes.

”Trying to go out now is asking to die. Follow me!”

With that, he actually dragged Gu Sheng and sprinted deeper into Ten Thousand Ghost Ridge.

Alarm bells went off in Gu Sheng’s mind, but the Buddha Light from the Golden Alms Bowl covered only a limited area, so he had no choice but to stick close to Ling Xiao’s heels.

The two threaded their way between twisted dead trees. Strangely, Ling Xiao seemed to know the way; after several twists and turns he actually skirted around every crack in the ground that spewed black miasma.

The more Gu Sheng watched, the more shocked he became. Suddenly he grabbed Ling Xiao’s wrist.

”Who the hell are you?”

”Ow ow ow, that hurts!”

Ling Xiao howled in exaggerated agony.

”Hero Gu, this is really not the time for infighting!”

Gu Sheng tightened his grip, bronze-colored Gang Qi spreading along his arm.

”These ground fissures move with no pattern at all, yet you walk through here like you’re going home.”

A flash of golden light flickered in Ling Xiao’s eyes and vanished. He suddenly lowered his voice.

”Three years ago, the Mystic Sky Sect extermination case—right before your master Qingmingzi died...”

”Shut up!”

Gu Sheng’s Gang Qi instantly went chaotic.

He had never told anyone about this; how could this grinning clown in front of him possibly know?

Ling Xiao took the chance to break free and pointed at the faint blue glow ahead.

”See that? That’s Zen Master Jingye’s ’Bodhi Barrier’. If we keep wasting time, we’re both leaving our bones here!”

Following his gaze, Gu Sheng saw that at the canyon entrance in the cliff wall a hundred meters away, there really was a layer of water-like blue light rippling.

Even more shocking, the raging black miasma in the surroundings automatically detoured whenever it approached that blue light.

”You’d better not be playing any tricks.”

Gu Sheng gritted his teeth and followed, but secretly he poured True Yuan into the Ancient Bronze Bell hidden in his sleeve.

At the instant they rushed into the barrier, the Buddha Light of the Golden Alms Bowl vanished with a soft ”pop”.

Ling Xiao collapsed straight onto the ground, panting hard.

”Damn... nearly... killed your granddaddy...”

Gu Sheng warily surveyed the surroundings.

Inside the canyon, green grass carpeted the ground, and there were even a few Bodhi trees blooming with white flowers, forming a stark contrast with the hellish scene outside.

Those terrifying black miasmas clawed and raged outside the barrier, yet never managed to cross even half a step.

”This barrier...”

”Was laid by Zen Master Jingye before he sat in final meditation.”

Ling Xiao pulled out a wine gourd and took several big gulps.

”The old monk burned his Golden Body to suppress Ten Thousand Ghost Ridge for three hundred years. Unfortunately, the seal’s been loosening recently.”

Something suddenly occurred to Gu Sheng; he whipped around.

”How do you know about my master? And this bell—”

He summoned out the Ancient Bronze Bell, the four characters ”Ancient Reincarnation” on its body glowing with a ghostly light.

Ling Xiao waved a hand, eyes bleary with drink.

”Relax, my master and your master were... *hic*... old lovers.”

”Bullshit!”

Gu Sheng was so furious that his Gang Qi burst outward.

”My master cultivated in pure chastity his whole life!”

”Old acquaintances! I meant old acquaintances!”

Ling Xiao hurriedly corrected himself, then his expression abruptly changed.

”Shit!”

The entire canyon suddenly shook violently, and a deafening, world-collapsing roar came from the distance.

Gu Sheng looked in the direction of the sound and saw a cerulean pillar of light shoot into the sky from deep within Ten Thousand Ghost Ridge, dispersing all black miasma wherever it passed.

Even more terrifying, countless strands of Sword Qi burst forth from within that light pillar, each one carrying the might to split heaven and earth.

”That’s... the Sword Tomb’s direction?”

Ling Xiao’s voice trembled.

”We’re screwed, those Sword Madmen have corpse-bounced back to life!”

A strand of Sword Qi as thick as a water barrel actually slashed down toward the canyon.

Every hair on Gu Sheng’s body stood on end. Even before that Sword Qi reached him, his skin was already stinging.

”Bell, come!”

Ling Xiao suddenly roared, slapping his palm on the Ancient Reincarnation Bell a step ahead of Gu Sheng.

Strangely, the Ancient Bell, which normally required Gu Sheng’s unique mental method to activate, swelled in response and enveloped the two of them within.

”You—”

”Shut up and pour in all your True Yuan!”

Ling Xiao formed a Sealing with both hands, and the vague Shadow of a Vajra surfaced behind him.

Gu Sheng had no time to think; he sent his cultivation surging into the Ancient Bell.

”Dong——!”

At the instant the Sword Qi struck the Ancient Bell, Gu Sheng felt as if vast, resounding bells and drums exploded right beside his ears.

The Ancient inscriptions on the bell’s surface shattered inch by inch, and the horrifying backlash made his internal organs shift out of place.

The last thing he saw was Ling Xiao’s face twisted and ferocious, blood flowing from all seven orifices, yet still holding the Dharma Seal.

Before darkness closed in, Gu Sheng seemed to hear Ling Xiao cursing.

”You dog-fucked Sword Madmen... just you wait till your granddaddy pries open your damned coffins...”