140 Yin and Yang (1/2)

When Kang Wenhui suggested that the competition of Internal Strength would take place using Gu Shenwei's body, the latter was still considering his personal gains, but Lianhua had already made up his mind. ”Young benefactor, you must keep your promise and worship me as your master.”

These words indicated that he agreed to the competition and was confident that his junior brother would win.

Lianye, who was anxious from all the waiting, immediately jumped up and exclaimed, ”Who goes first?”

”We shall go at the same time. Surely you can recognize your own Internal Strength?” Kang Wenhui walked up to him and replied.

”Wait.” Gu Shenwei knew he had to be careful with his body set to become a battlefield. ”Both of you are experts in Internal Strength and much stronger than me. But what if one of you blunder and accidentally kill me?”

”You're right, I hadn't considered that. Maybe we shouldn't compete.” Monk Lianhua changed his tone immediately.

”A true expert wouldn't blunder. Whoever kills you will be considered to have lost.”

As soon as she spoke, she reached a palm out toward the youth. Lianye, who was no longer able to resist the temptation, pretended that he did not hear his senior brother's words, and grabbed Gu Shenwei's wrist with his left hand to transmit his Internal Strength while tapping with his right hand to guide the flow.

Gu Shenwei found himself in a precarious and inextricable position. Nobody would be able to make either of the two stop before a winner was decided.

The talk of purging the Peripheral Force was a complete lie. The two Internal Strength masters simply wanted to get the better of the other. Although Kang Wenhui did not say it directly, Monk Lianye knew it as well. Only Monk Lianhua truly believed that this was a life-saving competition which had no risk of death.

Two streams of vital force, one hot and the other cold, entered Gu Shenwei's body. He knew instantly that this was not about saving a life, but complete torture instead.

The hot stream was Kang Wenhui's. It excited the latent forces in the Baihui and Xuanji acupoints, and thus became a coalition of three forces which attacked in the direction of the cold stream transmitted by Lianye. Although the latter was only a singular force, it was certainly not weak. The level of the monk's Internal Strength had exceeded his opponent's imagination, and he was not at a disadvantage despite it being a one versus three showdown.

The only person who was not enjoying this was Gu Shenwei. The battle between the hot and cold forces, with each occupying one side of his body, was akin to the Chu-Han Contention where thousands of horses and soldiers swept in different directions across the territorial boundaries. The pitiful amount of Internal Strength in his dantian was only sufficient to protect the beating of his heart and keep him intact. His meridians would break if either side became aggressive, let alone if there was a mass brawl.

The two experts continuously tapped on and patted Gu Shenwei's body. Like a puppet being pulled, or a small boat traveling in raging waves, he had absolutely no autonomy over himself. If he was able to speak, the first thing he would do would be to beg Monk Lianhua to call off the competition.

But the monk could not see that the youth was suffering, and thought that the latter's expression was simply that of tiredness. Thus, he began to recite Breaking Obsession.

Although a recitation of Breaking Obsession was supposed to weaken killing desire, it had no effect on the listeners. Both Kang Wenhui and Lianye, who were facing a formidable enemy in each other, spared no effort in their fight and were not distracted at all. Only Gu Shenwei, who was unable to speak but considerably more sharp-eared than usual, mentally absorbed every word of Monk Lianhua's recitation and was compelled to recite it in his head.

”Stop chanting!” Gu Shenwei yelled internally, but his mouth remained unable to make even the slightest noise. What he needed to do at present was to put all effort into keeping himself alive - the weakening of his killing desire instead made him dithery.

Unfortunately, the things one most wants to forget are often remembered best. The thousand-plus-word-long Death Scripture and the four-thousand-plus-word-long Breaking Obsession flickered in front of his eyes like swarms of flies which were impossible to chase away, and their intense buzzing almost caused his head to explode.

It was unclear whose, but one of the vital forces suddenly went the wrong direction and charged straight at Gu Shenwei's dantian. However, with his head drowning in words, he was completely unaware of it. The little bit of Internal Strength in his body served like a disorderly mob trying to defend against troops sent from Heaven, and was wiped out in a flash.

Lianye staggered a few steps and muttered, ”You're playing tricks.” His left hand remained clutching the youth's wrist, not because he was using his strength, but because he was unable to let go.

”Are tricks not allowed?” Kang Wenhui laughed grimly. Instead of stopping, she patted ever faster on the youth's body.

With his head lowered, Gu Shenwei resembled a walking corpse. Only the monk's pulling and Kang Wenhui's patting kept him standing up. His legs seemed to be floating, while his body swayed left and right.

Monk Lianhua, deeply focused on his chanting, remained in a state of oblivious serenity and did not even hear his junior brother speak.

The other three Barren Sect disciples drew nearer and their crooked fingers began to turn red; they knew that their master was about to win.

Kang Wenhui had played tricks once again. She never believed in keeping promises or leaving a fight to chance. In her view, only people who were implanted with Peripheral Forces were worth believing. While the three forces she was controlling were fighting neck-to-neck with the monk's force, she unexpectedly sent one of them to attack the youth's dantian. The monk did not understand the former's intent and swiftly followed it. This allowed another hot stream to find an opening into his body, in which it quickly implanted a Peripheral Force.

It was not a particularly strong force, and thus Lianye was more than capable of purging it on his own by adjusting his internal breath. However, during such an intense battle, how could he find room to send his ”troops” back into his own body?

By separating his force in order to heal himself, Lianye promptly fell into a disadvantage in the battle taking place in the youth's body.

Gu Shenwei was not sure whether he himself had fainted or not. He could only feel that his body had shredded into many pieces - just like thousands of falling leaves, or a thousand fluttering butterflies. Familiar scenes began to appear in front of his eyes: times of him happily reuniting with his family members, playing with his friends, and locking horns with his enemies.