Chapter Sixty: Vampire Divine Palm

Bang! Bang!

Four palms, carrying immense and terrifying force, violently collided with each other.

The East Heavenly King had originally channeled twelve layers of his cultivation power, intending to take Chen Xuan's poisonous palm head-on. However, the moment they made contact, the situation was completely different from what he had expected. The terrifying force felt as though it had struck a bottomless whirlpool, failing to stir up even the slightest ripple.

Not only that, but this terrifying whirlpool was actually crazily devouring the internal Qi within his body.

At this moment, it felt as though he were voluntarily feeding his own internal Qi into that vortex.

In an instant, the internal Qi in his body rushed forth like a torrential, endless river, pouring outward, instantly draining him of five or six years' worth of cultivation.

His expression changed drastically.

What kind of demonic martial art is this?

"You..."

He hurriedly shook his arms wildly, attempting to fling Chen Xuan away, while simultaneously stamping his foot on the ground and leaping backward.

However, he never expected that a powerful adhesive force would emerge from Chen Xuan's palms, firmly gripping his own palms and making it impossible for him to pull his hands back. As he retreated backward, he ended up dragging Chen Xuan along with him.

Chen Xuan let out a sinister laugh and violently slammed his forehead against the East Heavenly King's brow.

Headbutt strike!

Bang!

With that single strike, it felt as though a massive iron hammer had smashed down, leaving the East Heavenly King dizzy and disoriented, with blood streaming from his face.

The internal Qi inside his body surged out even faster.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

Chen Xuan delivered three consecutive headbutts.

The East Heavenly King could no longer endure it, shrieking in agonizing pain, his face covered in blood and his nasal bridge shattered.

The truth was that Chen Xuan's forehead was simply too hard.

Protected by his hard qigong, the Iron Cloth Shirt, his entire body was as tough as refined iron.

Moreover, the East Heavenly King's internal Qi was being drawn away by Chen Xuan and could not protect his head at all, causing him to shriek in succession until he was finally knocked completely unconscious.

Once he lost consciousness, the internal Qi within his body became even more uncontrollable.

Whoosh!

In the blink of an eye, all of his internal Qi was completely refined and dissolved by Chen Xuan. His entire body went limp and withered, his meridians and bones fractured. He looked as though he had suddenly aged a dozen years, and his hair turned completely gray.

Chen Xuan released his palms and gave the East Heavenly King a kick.

The Iron-Melting Hand—not a bad supreme martial art.

It would be wonderful if he could torture the secret out of him.

He picked up the East Heavenly King's body and walked into the distance.

Before long, he returned, dragging the West Heavenly King and the North Heavenly King along with them.

The West Heavenly King's condition at this moment was identical to the East Heavenly King's: his entire body was shrunken, his hair withered and white, his complexion dark and gloomy, and he was incomparably weak.

Chen Xuan first searched the bodies of these few individuals, but after a thorough groping, he felt a slight sense of disappointment.

True desperadoes indeed; they had absolutely nothing on them.

The Iron-Melting Hand and the Vajra Palm were both decent martial arts.

What a pity!

***

He hoisted the East Heavenly King up, slapped him awake, and said with a beaming smile, "How about we make a deal? Write down the manual for your Iron-Melting Hand for me, and I'll spare your life!"

Terror filled the East Heavenly King's eyes as he looked at his shriveled body, staring at Chen Xuan as if he were looking at some terrifying fiend.

To this day, he could not fathom how his internal Qi had been devoured away while he was still alive!

What kind of demonic martial art was this?

"You... don't even think about learning my Iron-Melting Hand. I... I come from the Lu family of Hebei; someone will definitely avenge me."

His voice trembled.

"Oh ho, so you have a backing?"

Chen Xuan feigned surprise and chuckled, "You really scared me to death. But I can tell what your situation is. You're a traitor to the Lu family, aren't you? How far is Hebei from here? This place is in the southwest, a desolate wasteland where birds refuse to lay eggs. The fact that you could run all the way here proves that you were completely unfavored within the Lu family, and it's very likely that you stole some treasure from them before fleeing to this place. So do you really think they'll avenge you?"

"You... you..."

The East Heavenly King shivered, feeling incomparable agony. It was the Five Poisons True Qi stirring up within his body, making him feel as though tens of thousands of ants were biting every inch of his flesh.

What Chen Xuan said was true; he truly was a traitor to the Lu family with nowhere else to go, which was why he had fled here. Yet asking him to pass on his family's supreme martial art was utterly impossible. Although he had betrayed his clan, the sense of family honor instilled in him since childhood remained. How could he possibly transmit the ancestral supreme arts to an outsider?

"I'll give you a suggestion: you pass the [Iron-Melting Hand] to me. That way, once I learn the Lu family's supreme art, the people from the Lu family will definitely hunt me down, and they can avenge you along the way. How does that sound?"

Chen Xuan smiled.

"In your dreams."

The East Heavenly King said in agony.

Bang!

Chen Xuan delivered a single palm strike, asking no more questions.

The Iron-Melting Hand was not something he absolutely had to learn.

Mastery lies in refinement, not breadth!

He would focus on thoroughly mastering what was right in front of him first; anyway, there would be plenty of opportunities to cultivate other techniques in the future.

Did he really believe he wouldn't open boxes yielding even more profound techniques in the future?

Upon seeing Chen Xuan execute Lu Fenghua with a single palm, the West Heavenly King's expression turned ashen with terror. He blurted out, "Don't kill me! I'll teach you! I'll pass down the Thirty-Six Blood Demon Saber Techniques to you!"

"Hah, I don't like using sabers. Do you have any palm techniques?"

Chen Xuan asked.

Judging by the name, it sounded like some crude and boorish saber technique; he had no interest in learning that.

"Yes! There is a Blood-Sucking Divine Palm!"

The West Heavenly King blurted out hastily.

"The Blood-Sucking Divine Palm?"

Chen Xuan's eyes flickered.

What kind of palm technique was that? It was the first time he had ever heard of it.

"Tell me the essentials roughly."

Chen Xuan commanded.

"You... how can you guarantee that you'll let me live? If you don't let me live, I will never tell you."

The West Heavenly King said in panic.

"That's true as well. Then how about you watch me swear an oath?"

***

Chen Xuan asked.

"No, I don't believe you."

The West Heavenly King's voice trembled.

"Then forget it. You might as well die!"

Chen Xuan raised his palm, aiming to strike the man's forehead.

"Stop!"

The West Heavenly King screamed in a panic, crying out in terror, "Fine! Swear an oath! Swear that you won't kill me, and I'll teach you!"

He did not want to die. Even if this chief constable truly intended to kill him, he had to take the gamble.

Because if he didn't gamble, he would die right now. This constable was clearly a ruthless and merciless entity who wouldn't be bound by secret manuals; trying to use a manual as leverage would only lead to an even faster death.

Therefore, even if there was a one-in-ten-thousand chance of survival, he had to try.

Chen Xuan immediately began to swear an oath, guaranteeing that he would not kill him once he obtained the manual.

The West Heavenly King began to recite, explaining several essentials of the Blood-Sucking Divine Palm.

This Blood-Sucking Divine Palm was not any profound martial art; it was merely an introductory palm technique of the Blood Saber Sect. However, if practiced to the realm of great completion, it could lift boulders weighing thousands of catties, and when fighting an enemy, it could suddenly pull a person's blood right out of their body.

Yet wanting to practice it to great completion without decades of bitter cultivation and immersion was simply impossible.

Therefore, most disciples within the sect preferred to cultivate the [Thirty-Six Blood Demon Sabers] and showed no interest in the Blood-Sucking Divine Palm, purely because the cultivation time was far too long and achieving mastery was exceedingly difficult.

Chen Xuan understood the general principles.

"Alright, you can just retire and grow old here in the yamen. This chief constable is a man of his word—since I said I wouldn't kill you, I won't kill you. However, if you dare to play any tricks, don't blame me."

Chen Xuan stood up and said.

Lingering fear clutched the West Heavenly King's heart. He breathed a sigh of relief and repeatedly echoed, "Rest assured, rest assured! I'm already crippled anyway; as long as you let me live, I'll do anything."

He was truly terrified that Chen Xuan would finish him off the moment he got the manual.

Chen Xuan casually scooped up the corpses of the East Heavenly King and the North Heavenly King, tapped his toes, and left the yamen.

The reason he hadn't killed the West Heavenly King was also as a precaution against any contingencies—what if there was something wrong with the Blood-Sucking Divine Palm he had passed on? Thus, keeping him nearby made it convenient to question him at any time.

Before long, both corpses were tossed into the city moat.

Chen Xuan returned to the yamen once more, deep in thought.

This Wang Jiu couldn't sit still for long, dispatching all three Heavenly Kings at once to deal with him; he truly was ruthless.

Now that the three Heavenly Kings were either dead or crippled, Wang Jiu would likely make a major move tomorrow.

This man was ruthless and vicious; he certainly wouldn't endure in silence.

Swish!

Suddenly, a cyan light screen appeared before his eyes once more.

['Iron Mountain Back' Wang Jiu commits countless evils, is brutally merciless, gathers a large number of desperadoes under his command, bullies the common people, wreaks havoc in the martial world, and acts as the Southern Peace Marquis Manor's biggest running dog. Step one to restoring law and order in Qingfeng City: Kill Wang Jiu and intimidate the other petty villains.]

Chen Xuan's eyes flashed.

A quest had arrived?

This coincided almost seamlessly with the thought he had just had.

Was the system his biological father?