Chapter 22: Riverbank Ambush

  Tie Zhu's nagging habit recurred, and Jiang Nan was very curious - how could this robust man, as strong as a bear, develop such a nagging habit.

  "Moreover, if you go out, it's not safe outside either. I heard that on the side of Mount Da Mai, there are monsters causing trouble. A green wolf has cultivated into a monster and fought with a gray dragon for three days and three nights, destroying countless farmland and villages. Many people have been harmed by these two monsters and died unjustly. It's said that in Liu County, something big happened too - a dark soul passed through, and there were ghostly wails and wolf howls..."

  Jiangnan was at a loss whether to laugh or cry. Among the several major events mentioned by Tie Zhu, except for the vengeful spirit passing through, all the others should be related to him!

  "If the pillar knew that the culprit was right in front of him, I wonder what his expression would be?"

  He thought to himself with a wicked taste: "Right, what about that gray python? I was the one who stole its Cauldron God Fire, so why did it run all the way to Mount Daming, thousands of miles away, to find trouble with the Qinglang Demon Wolf? Does it have a grudge against the Qinglang Demon Wolf?"

  Jiangnan was unable to figure it out, so he stopped thinking about it and taught the Dragon-Tiger Elephant Fist he created to Tiezhu. Then he left Qiwang City and headed towards Yaowang City.

  He walked while urging the Mystic Fetus Scripture to absorb the solar true energy from the sunlight, making up for the loss of his cultivation due to Jiang Xue's extraction of his yang energy.

  He is now on the verge of completing his membrane boundary, only lacking a thorough breakthrough in the bone membrane of his skull. His body has been tempered by the divine fire of Mount Kunlun and has reached an extremely powerful state, comparable to that of a demonic beast!

  Even in the scorching noon hours of practice, he can withstand the burning of the intense yang energy without worrying that his body will be overwhelmed by excessive yang energy.

  As soon as the sun passed its zenith, Jiangnan immediately stopped his cultivation.

  In the Moyu Xuantai Jing, it is said that when the sun passes through the middle of the sky, the sunlight contains threads of evening energy. This evening energy is extremely dangerous and the more one absorbs, the faster their lifespan will flow away, ultimately leading to premature aging. Therefore, he can only cultivate during the time period between late morning and noon.

  Jiangnan thought to himself: "The Medicine King City is downstream of the Yangchuan River, within a thousand miles. With my current speed, I should be able to run a thousand miles in two or three hours."

  His energy and blood have been fully replenished, his spirit has become incredibly vigorous again, his leg strength is astonishing, and with one step he can cover a distance of several dozen feet.

  "Uggghhh..."

  Suddenly a strange laugh came, Jiang Nan's heart skipped a beat, and he looked around to see a giant ape covered in blood appearing on the opposite bank of the Yangchuan River, its eyes fixed menacingly on him, and it was none other than the intelligent ape that lived in the mine cave!

  Jiang Nan stopped in his tracks, took a deep breath, and his eyes shone brightly: "Sister Jiang Xue was right, this violent ape really holds grudges!"

  "Search, search for me!"

  Deep in the mountains, Qi Yong, the general manager of the Wang Fu, had a gloomy face. This time, he brought many high-ranking officials from the Wang Fu to hunt down Tong Ling Mi Yuan. He thought it would be an easy task, but unexpectedly, Tong Ling Mi Yuan's strength exceeded his expectations. The violent ape killed six or seven people in a row, and in the end, Qi Yong had to take action himself, injuring Tong Ling Mi Yuan.

  The giant ape, sensing something was amiss, immediately fled in a flash, its speed so swift that he couldn't catch up.

  "That beast is already wounded, its strength is far from what it used to be. We absolutely cannot let it escape!"

  Many masters of the Wangfu received their orders and went their separate ways in all directions.

  By the Yangchuan River, looking afar at the southern shore, I couldn't help but feel curious. Tongling Miyan's body was covered in wounds, with both human and his own blood on him. It seemed that this violent ape must have encountered the pursuit of Wangfu's general manager Qi Yong and others, and after a fierce battle, he had barely escaped!

  A wounded beast is more ferocious than before!

  "If I retreat back to the city of Qi, this violent ape will definitely not dare to chase after me. However, you've come at just the right time! You're seeking revenge against me, and I also want to compete with you to see if I have made any progress compared to before!"

  The heroic spirit of Jiangnan surged up in his heart, a few days ago he said in front of Jiang Xue that when he met this demon beast again, there was no need for Jiang Xue to take action, and he could handle it himself. Now that the Tongling Mihou had found him, how could he retreat?

  "You wretched beast, today I will settle our grudge once and for all! The dragon rises from the depths!"

  Jiang Nan leaped into the river, swimming like a dragon, gliding and jumping on the water's surface, covering over ten zhang in distance, rushing towards Tong Ling Mi Yuan with a fierce gust of wind, his killing intent soaring, actually striking before Tong Ling Mi Yuan!

  This move was performed by him to perfection, probably only a real dragon could surpass him in this technique!

  On the other side of the river, Tong Ling Mi Yuan's eyes turned blood red with rage. He let out a loud roar and jumped towards Jiang Nan on the river surface, his sharp claws extended to grab at the boy's head!

  Its claws are sharp as knives, and it can destroy its enemy's head like taking things out of a pocket!

  "The great river gives birth to the tide!"

  Jiang Nan let out a furious roar, his feet still treading on the river as he walked. His hands suddenly transformed into the ultimate move of the Jiang Yue Broken Wave Technique. The sound of rushing water rose sharply, followed by a deafening crash. The river water was violently stirred up by his true energy, and a column of water shot up towards the sky, like a river flowing in mid-air, containing his true energy, charging towards the ferocious ape!

  The Tongling Mi Yuan was unexpected, and was hit by this water pillar, his body shape slightly paused, and then fell into the river.

  "Divine Elephant Treads the Mountain!"

  In the south, a sudden burst of energy exploded from beneath his feet. With a deafening roar, the water beneath him erupted in all directions. His body soared into the air, and with one foot, he stepped onto a column of water conjured by the Great River's tidal forces. In the next instant, he landed on the head of Tongling Mi Yuan, unleashing a frenzy of power that sent the ferocious ape tumbling into the Yangchuan River!

  The young figure flashed and landed on the shore, suddenly turning around. The river water splashed into the air as Tong Ling Mi Yuan leaped out of the water, holding a massive boulder weighing several thousand catties with both hands, charging towards him with the giant rock as his weapon, attacking Jiangnan!

  "Primordial Opening Seal!"

  The southern region is serene and fearless, with both hands like giant hammers and axes, continuously pounding and chopping, in the blink of an eye dozens of blows were struck, all landing on the reef rocks. Suddenly, a crisp cracking sound was heard, and the giant stone held by Tongling Miyou suddenly split into four or five pieces, shattering to the ground!

  Hmph!

  Tong Ling Mi Yuan took advantage of the situation and struck, grabbing towards Jiang Nan's throat. His claws hadn't even come close yet, but a strong gust of wind had already left four bloody marks on his neck, almost cutting it open!

  Jiang Nan's body leaned back, dodging the sharp claws. Suddenly, there were a few cracking sounds, and Tong Ling Mi Yuan's arm bones swelled up, as if they had suddenly grown an inch longer, almost piercing his throat!

  Jiang Nan broke out in a cold sweat and hastily dodged and weaved like a nimble cat, avoiding the attack.

  The Tongling Mi Yuan took big strides to approach, his claws clenched into fists the size of a vinegar jar, punching one by one towards him, with perfect technique, it was an extremely exquisite martial art, just like a great master of Wudang!

  What's most bizarre is that it delivers a punch with its arm seemingly at the limit, only to suddenly surge another foot, leaving one defenseless!

  Jiang Nan was punched hard and his blood and energy churned, his hand bones almost shattered, he couldn't help but retreat several steps, greatly astonished in his heart.

  Last time he just escaped, and didn't fight this violent ape. He had never seen the martial arts of Tongling Mi Yuan before. Now that they were actually fighting, he didn't expect this violent ape to be proficient in a very profound martial art, worthy of being called a master of the martial way!

  He didn't know that the violent ape's martial art was called Ming Wang Shen Yin, and Tong Ling Mi Yuan had been taking Buddha's hand golden lotus for a long time, his spiritual wisdom had opened. He once unintentionally opened a stone room in a mine cave, and the walls of the stone room were carved with this set of skills.

  Although it has opened its spiritual wisdom, after all, it is not as clever as humans, and the essence of the Ming Wang's divine seal cannot be understood, let alone integrated.

  "No wonder Qi Dang's high-ranking official was surrounded by the Wang Fu master, but still managed to escape. It turns out that this guy had already opened his spiritual wisdom and knew how to practice martial arts!"

  In the south of the river, a subtle movement occurred in his heart. The devil's clock inside him rang out loud and clear. On the wall of the clock, patterns and texts gradually emerged, which was exactly the kung fu method of Ming Wang Shen Yin, deduced from his Mo Yu Xuan Tai Jing.

  However, compared to other martial arts, the speed of the Demon Prison Mysterious Fetus Scripture in deducing the Bright King's Divine Seal is extremely slow. It's clear that this martial art has an extraordinary origin, and its quality may even surpass the Dragon Tiger Elephant Force Technique and the Jiang Yue Breaking Wave Technique!

  "This martial art isn't weak, unfortunately this violent ape's skills are superficial and can't bring out the power of the heart method. Otherwise, I wouldn't be his match! King Wang's divine stake!"

  In the Jiangnan region, a loud and sonorous elephant's trumpet suddenly echoed through the valley, its body undulating with each movement, its spine straight as a pen, the entire being like the king of wild elephants, its legs like pillars, rooted in the earth, connected to the land, exuding an aura akin to that of the majestic Zhongnan Mountains.

  This move is precisely the sixth form of the Dragon-Tiger Elephant Fist, the Elephant King Divine Pillar!

  The Elephant King God Stake can only thoroughly exert its power by breaking through all the bone membranes in the body and entering the realm of refining Qi. Jiang Nan has currently broken through more than half of the bone membranes on his head, leaving only three skull bones unbroken, so he can only display the semi-style of the Elephant King God Stake!

  This move is the strongest defense in his created Dragon-Tiger Elephant Power, with the move unfolding, his body remains still, but his hands change and transform, blocking all attacks from front, back, left, and right!

  However, Jiang Nan could only display half of the move and was unable to bring out the powerful defense of Xiang Wang Shen Zhuang, but he brought out the divine power contained in this move perfectly!

  "With the spine as the divine pillar, the power of dragon and tiger!"

  Another dragon's roar echoed from his chest, the dragon and elephant sounded together, a punch shook out, the true energy fist wind emitted a dull tiger howl, in an instant, the elephant roared, the tiger howled, the dragon roared, one burst forth, shocking to the extreme!

  Bang!

  Jiang Nan and Tong Ling Mi Yuan clashed fists again, one man and one ape's body shook violently, their muscles and bones crackling in unison, with a loud slapping sound, the two took a step back, and surprisingly it was a draw. Immediately, the two figures burst out again, colliding in mid-air!

  Jiangnan's move, "King of the Gods' Pillar", was only half-executed, yet it was able to rival Tongling Miyan. This is truly astonishing and serves as proof that his cultivation has made significant progress in recent days. At the same time, it's also because this violent ape had been injured by someone, its strength being far from what it once was!

  Otherwise, even if Jiangnan's cultivation progresses rapidly, but fails to break through to the Refining Qi realm, it is absolutely impossible for him to be a match for Tongling Miyan, and at most can only defend himself.

  The two figures, one large and one small, burst forth with unimaginable power, their footsteps crushing the riverbank's pebbles, and even boulders as tall as a person shattered into pieces with just a single collision, unable to withstand this divine strength!