Chapter 138: Blood Lotus Heart-Eroding Palm
At that moment, Hong Chenji slowly stepped forward.
"Even if you are also at the Saint Realm, you have forced your way into my Hong family. You keep demanding that we cripple our cultivation and kneel to apologize. My Hong family is not some soft persimmon that others can squeeze at will!"
"Not a soft persimmon? Then what are you?" Ji Hongli narrowed her eyes, for the first time turning her gaze toward Hong Chenji.
"You will know once you try!" Hong Chenji shouted.
As his words fell, his body suddenly erupted with a vast Saint Realm pressure, endless and mighty like a great sea. The entire courtyard trembled under the weight.
The violent aura swept forward like a storm tide. The members of the Hong family were forced to retreat in unison, but Ji Hongli only reached out and lightly pulled Chen Xingcai behind her.
That overwhelming force, strong enough to crush mountains, melted away three zhang before her, vanishing like ice and snow under the sun.
"Do you really intend to fight? When Saints clash, ordinary people suffer. Even if you are certain you can defeat me, are you also certain that your disciple will remain completely unharmed within the range of our battle?"
"Hmph… it was you who injured my disciple first, yet you continue to make noise." Ji Hongli spoke with indifference. "Very well. I will give you a chance. Take three of my palms. If you can endure, then today I will spare you.
But if you cannot even withstand three palms…" a cold light flashed in her eyes, "then this cultivation of yours is worthless anyway, and you may as well abolish it."
"Three palms…" Hong Chenji thought for a moment, then said in a deep voice, "Agreed! But this place is too narrow. If Saints exchange blows here, innocents will be hurt. Should we not move to another place…"
"There is no need," Ji Hongli cut him off. "Here will be fine."
"Then please strike!" Hong Chenji's face turned solemn as he spoke.
"Very well—"
She casually pushed out her palm. The movement was light and unrestrained, like a child at play. There was no wave of true essence, and no killing intent at all.
"The first palm."
But Hong Chenji's expression changed instantly, his pupils contracting sharply.
That seemingly soft palm appeared in his eyes as though the entire world was collapsing down upon him.
He did not dare relax even for a breath. His ten thousand years of cultivation power burst out madly. As his hands formed seals, countless dragon phantoms roared from within his body, intertwining before him into a golden barrier. At the same time, he bit his tongue and spat a mouthful of blood onto the ancient jade at his chest, which instantly shone with dazzling radiance.
Boom—
Within the silent clash, the entire hall shook violently.
Hong Chenji's bones cracked and groaned under the terrible weight. The blue bricks beneath his feet shattered inch by inch, his legs driven deep into the ground.
His face turned crimson, blood oozing from his seven orifices, yet he still gritted his teeth and forced himself to hold the defensive stance.
Only after three full breaths did that terrifying pressure finally fade away.
Hong Chenji staggered backward two steps, then suddenly spat out a mouthful of blood, dyeing his white beard red.
"Ancestor!" Hong Tianque and Hong Ang both shouted as they rushed forward.
Hong Chenji raised his hand to stop them, wiping the blood from the corner of his mouth. "It is nothing."
He took a deep breath, and only then realized in astonishment that aside from his own injuries and the broken bricks beneath his feet, the surroundings remained completely unharmed.
Such mastery over true essence control was truly shocking.
Although this one palm had left him heavily wounded, the battle intent in his eyes grew even stronger.
Since returning from that secret realm, he had not fought a single time.
Many people had already forgotten that in his youth, Hong Chenji had been known as the Battle Maniac of the Hong family.
"Please release the second palm."
"You are quite impressive," Ji Hongli said.
Ji Hongli's lips curved slightly as she sent out her second palm.
Once again, it looked soft and harmless, not even stirring the edge of her sleeve.
But when the palm force reached him, Hong Chenji's face changed sharply. He felt a vicious hidden energy pierce into his body like a poisonous snake, trying to shatter all of his meridians.
"Good!" Hong Chenji shouted lowly. Hidden in his sleeve, his left hand crushed an ancient jade talisman. A beam of green light burst from his chest and instantly turned into the image of a small bronze cauldron floating before him.
The cauldron was engraved all over with profound Dao patterns. This was the treasure Hong Chenji had obtained in his youth—the "Revered Heaven Cauldron."
Clang—
A clear ringing sound echoed through the hall. Ji Hongli's domineering palm strike slammed into the cauldron, rippling waves of green light outward. The cauldron trembled violently, its Dao patterns flickering. Finally, with a cracking sound, several fissures appeared across its surface.
Hong Chenji used the recoil to retreat three steps, each one leaving deep prints in the stone floor. When he steadied himself, he realized in surprise that this strike had been easier to bear than the first. Other than consuming a large amount of true essence, he hadn't suffered any internal injuries.
"This is… part of that artifact…"
But somehow, the small cauldron had already appeared in Ji Hongli's hand. She examined it with interest, lifted her brow, and said, "Not bad. I'll take this as compensation for my disciple."
Without looking back, she tossed it to Chen Xingcai, who stood frozen in shock.
What should she do? Her master had just barged into someone else's house, fought them, and even taken their treasure!
Chen Xingcai quickly tucked the cauldron into her storage bag, pretending to stay calm and keep watching the fight.
Hong Chenji let out a bitter laugh, brushing the dim fragments of the broken jade talisman on his chest. His voice was steady. "I concede this strike. Please deliver the third palm."
His eyes shone with sharp light. He seemed more confident about facing the final palm.
But in the next instant, his pupils shrank to pinpoints.
From Ji Hongli's pale palm, a strange red light suddenly blossomed.
The glow squirmed like a living thing, rising from her hand to slowly form into a sinister blood lotus. The petals unfolded one by one, each glowing with an eerie radiance that made the heart tremble.
"This is…"
Hong Chenji felt the blood in his veins turn to ice. A passage from an old family record struck him: "When a blood lotus blooms in the palm, and the lotus opens nine petals…"
A chill ran straight from his skull down to his feet. His thin body trembled uncontrollably.
This was—the Blood Lotus Heart-Eroding Palm!
Hong Chenji gasped in shock.
In the next moment, the lotus vanished from Ji Hongli's palm.
"So, you actually recognize the Blood Lotus Heart-Eroding Palm?"
She brushed her sleeve lightly and looked at Hong Chenji's aged face, as if recalling old memories.
Her lips curled into a meaningful smile. "Hong… So that's it. You are his descendants."
Hong Chenji's expression flickered. He carefully asked, "Senior, you knew our ancestor?"
"Of course I knew him," Ji Hongli answered carelessly, nodding.
Hong Chenji's nerves stayed tense. A terrifying guess was forming in his mind.
And then—
"How did he die?" Ji Hongli suddenly asked. Her tone was casual, her eyes carrying both sadness and faint amusement.
Hong Chenji froze, then instinctively replied, "According to Hong family records, after a great battle our ancestor returned gravely wounded. He went into seclusion and never came out. Thousands of years later, when descendants went to look for him, they found he had died in that place of retreat… That place later became the Hong family ancestral land."
At that point, he suddenly realized something—and his voice stopped short.
…
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