Chapter 563: Slaying Their Founder

After hearing Zhu Ying's words, Bodhidharma continued to put on an act, saying, "Amitabha, wonderful, wonderful. Benefactor, you have already succumbed to inner demons."

"It seems that today, this poor monk must save you."

"This poor monk still hopes that the benefactor can lay down the butcher's knife early and attain Buddhahood on the spot!"

Zhu Ying replied with a face full of disdain, "Stop the nonsense and just bring it on!"

As soon as Bodhidharma finished speaking, he flew directly into the void to confront Zhu Ying.

At the same time.

Upon the city tower, Zhu Yuanzhang and Zhu Biao watched this scene, their hearts racing for Zhu Ying.

Clearly.

Both Zhu Yuanzhang and Zhu Biao had seen Bodhidharma use Astral Qi to forcefully block Zhu Ying's attack just now. Naturally, they both realized that this man known as Bodhidharma was a martial arts master.

"This Bodhidharma can actually release Astral Qi? Could it be that this fellow is also an expert of the Astral Qi Realm?" Zhu Yuanzhang said in a tense tone.

Zhu Biao explained, "Imperial Father, there is indeed a significant amount of Astral Qi in this person's body, but besides this Astral Qi, there is also quite a thick amount of True Qi."

"Therefore, your son believes this person should only be a half-step Astral Qi Realm expert. If he were truly in the Astral Qi Realm, all the True Qi in his body should have turned into Astral Qi."

Hearing Zhu Biao's words, Zhu Yuanzhang's hanging heart finally settled.

"That's good, that's good. Since he is only at the half-step Astral Qi Realm, Xiong Ying should be able to handle it."

It wasn't just Zhu Yuanzhang and Zhu Biao discussing Bodhidharma; below the city tower, the spectating commoners were also discussing the matter heatedly.

"Bodhidharma has actually come out of seclusion! I heard this man is the founding patriarch of the Shaolin Temple, and his strength is incredibly formidable!"

"That's right! It is said that Bodhidharma has been practicing in seclusion within the Shaolin Temple all this time. I didn't expect him to come to the capital today!"

"This Bodhidharma can be called the number one martial arts expert in the State of Song. If even he is no match for His Highness, then I fear no one in the entire world will be able to contend with His Highness!"

"You must win! We commoners have finally started living good lives; I don't want the Great Ming Empire to be defeated!"

...

At this moment.

In the void above, Zhu Ying's face remained quite calm, and no trace of panic could be seen in his eyes.

On the contrary, there was a hint of excitement and agitation.

"You are merely a half-step Astral Qi Realm expert, at most slightly stronger than that Sweeping Monk. Do you truly think you are my match?"

Zhu Ying did not immediately engage Bodhidharma, but instead chose to exchange words first.

Upon hearing this, Bodhidharma responded with a solemn tone, "Amitabha. Although this poor monk is at the half-step Astral Qi Realm and the benefactor is in the Astral Qi Realm, who can know the outcome without a fight?"

Having said that.

Bodhidharma did not waste any more breath on Zhu Ying, but instead directly unleashed the Great Vajra Palm!

In fact, Zhu Ying had seen the Shaolin ultimate technique, the Great Vajra Palm, when he fought Ci Xuan!

However, at that time, Zhu Ying had successfully countered the Great Vajra Palm almost without effort.

But.

This time, the Great Vajra Palm unleashed by Bodhidharma was clearly much more powerful than Ci Xuan's.

Of course, this was normal.

After all, Bodhidharma was at the half-step Astral Qi Realm, whereas Ci Xuan was merely at the Grandmaster Realm!

But whether it was the half-step Astral Qi Realm or the Grandmaster Realm, neither could harm Zhu Ying.

In an instant, a dazzling Buddhist light erupted from Bodhidharma's body, and simultaneously, the light continuously concentrated upon his two palms.

Seeing this, the onlookers could not help but worry for Zhu Ying.

Especially Zhu Yuanzhang and Zhu Biao.

"This bald donkey seems quite capable. I wonder if Xiong Ying can block this move."

As Zhu Yuanzhang's voice fell, Zhu Biao also said worriedly, "Indeed, this monk is, after all, a half-step Astral Qi Realm expert and the patriarch of Shaolin. The power of this move must be immense."

Just then.

The Great Vajra Palm unleashed by Bodhidharma rushed toward Zhu Ying with lightning speed.

This was no ordinary palm technique.

It was a technique where Bodhidharma utilized the Astral Qi within his body. Although the palm technique appeared formless, it was actually tangible and carried a powerful Buddhist dharma.

For a moment, the sound of Buddhist chanting echoed across the land.

Yet, Zhu Ying remained as steady as a mountain.

The moment the Great Vajra Palm, carrying intense Astral Qi, slammed toward Zhu Ying, the entire earth let out a deafening roar.

"BOOM!!"

The sound was incredibly loud.

Simultaneously, dark clouds gathered across the sky above the entire capital.

But very quickly.

Zhu Ying gave a light wave of his hand, and the dark clouds instantly vanished from everyone's sight.

At the same time, Zhu Ying looked at Bodhidharma before him with a disdainful gaze and said, "Hmph, with only this much strength, you think you can harm me? Pure fantasy."

Seeing that Zhu Ying was unharmed, Bodhidharma's expression changed to one of great shock.

He never imagined that his Great Vajra Palm, backed by over a hundred years of cultivation, would be ineffective against Zhu Ying.

Furthermore, Zhu Ying had not suffered even a scratch.

"How is this possible?"

"This poor monk's Great Vajra Palm is a technique imbued with Astral Qi. How could you possibly take it?"

Clearly, Bodhidharma's face was written with confusion.

He never expected that the Zhu Ying before him would possess such terrifying strength.

Bodhidharma could even sense that Zhu Ying's realm had surpassed the Astral Qi Realm.

Zhu Ying said calmly, "You bald donkey, I told you long ago that you are no match for me."

"But don't think you're leaving today. Both you and that Sweeping Monk shall die before me."

"I will let the whole world know that this is the consequence of opposing the Great Ming Empire."

As Zhu Ying's voice fell.

He cast a sharp gaze toward Bodhidharma, who instantly felt a massive Imperial Might.

But things had come to this; Bodhidharma knew very well that he had no way out.

The priority now was to clash head-on with Zhu Ying.

Thus.

Bodhidharma decided to use his signature skill.

"In that case, this poor monk shall not be polite. Benefactor, are you prepared to go to hell?"

With that, Bodhidharma began to exert his utmost effort to call upon the Astral Qi and True Qi within his body.

In an instant.

The True Qi and Astral Qi within Bodhidharma were released. The True Qi was white, while the Astral Qi was black. The two colors of energy immediately enveloped the space in front of Bodhidharma.

Moreover, the True Qi and Astral Qi grew increasingly dense.

Invisibly, they exerted a violent sense of pressure.

At the same time.

Bodhidharma began to fuse the released Astral Qi and True Qi together. Simultaneously, he decided to use his ultimate technique: the Eighteen Bodhidharma Punches.

"Bang! Bang! Bang!"

Suddenly!

Bodhidharma charged directly toward Zhu Ying.

Then, he unleashed his self-created Eighteen Bodhidharma Punches upon Zhu Ying.

Every punch struck Zhu Ying's body.

The speed of the punches was incredibly fast, and every single one carried intense Astral Qi and True Qi.

However, the moment Bodhidharma rushed in front of Zhu Ying, Zhu Ying had already activated the Indestructible Vajra Body.

Using a Shaolin ultimate technique to counter a Shaolin ultimate technique.

This was Zhu Ying's strategy.

In a flash of lightning.

Zhu Ying's body was completely enveloped by Astral Qi. At this moment, his body, just like the name of the technique suggested, became a truly indestructible vessel.

Despite this, the spectating commoners were still quite nervous seeing Bodhidharma attacking Zhu Ying's body so frantically.

"This Bodhidharma is so powerful, he can actually affect the Imperial Grandson's body."

"I must say, the Shaolin Patriarch is still strong; at least he's much more formidable than the Sweeping Monk."

"But it feels like the Imperial Grandson hasn't been harmed at all."

"That's right, that's right. The Imperial Grandson successfully blocked Bodhidharma's attack."

In an instant.

Bodhidharma finished his Eighteen Bodhidharma Punches.

At the same time, more than half of the Astral Qi in his body had been consumed.

Originally, Bodhidharma believed that once he unleashed his so-called Eighteen Bodhidharma Punches, he would surely be able to harm Zhu Ying. But when he saw Zhu Ying standing unharmed in the void.

Bodhidharma was clearly panicked.

Furthermore, when he saw the massive amount of Buddhist light radiating from Zhu Ying's body, he was even more astonished.

"How is this possible? How do you know the martial arts ultimate technique, the Indestructible Vajra Body?"

Bodhidharma was completely stunned on the spot.

Although he knew very well that Zhu Ying was a divine being of the Astral Qi Realm, he had never imagined that Zhu Ying would use a Shaolin ultimate technique.

"How on earth did you steal the Shaolin techniques, you fellow?"

At this moment, Bodhidharma finally lost his composure and even began to speak insolently to Zhu Ying.

Zhu Ying let out a cold laugh and said calmly, "Who says I cannot learn Shaolin martial arts?"

"Bald donkey, your Eighteen Bodhidharma Punches are nothing special; you can't even break through the Indestructible Vajra Body. You truly are a disgrace to be the Shaolin Patriarch!"

Facing Zhu Ying's mockery, Bodhidharma's mental state was nearing a breaking point.

After all, logically speaking, his Eighteen Bodhidharma Punches should have been able to break the Indestructible Vajra Body. The main reason it hadn't was because Zhu Ying's realm was too high.

The Indestructible Vajra Body was just like any other technique: the higher the user's realm, the more powerful the technique's strength.

As a top-tier expert of the Astral Qi Realm, once Zhu Ying used the Indestructible Vajra Body, he could utilize his Astral Qi to vastly increase the technique's power.

Naturally, as a half-step Astral Qi Realm expert, Bodhidharma could not break through it.

In short.

Bodhidharma was completely panicked.

He had thought he could hold his own against Zhu Ying, but looking at it now, that was nothing more than his own delusion.

At this time.

Zhu Ying did not want to waste any more words with Bodhidharma. After all, to Zhu Ying, the State of Song had already been destroyed; there was no need to waste time on Bodhidharma.

Currently, the most important thing for Zhu Ying was to quickly conquer the State of Ming and then unify the entire Zongwu World.

Immediately.

Zhu Ying slowly called upon the Astral Qi in his body, preparing to use the Eighteen Dragon Subduing Palms to kill Bodhidharma directly.

At this moment.

Seeing this, the Sweeping Monk on the ground immediately shouted loudly toward Bodhidharma, "Patriarch, be careful! This man is about to use the Eighteen Dragon Subduing Palms!"

Upon hearing this, a hint of panic appeared in Bodhidharma's eyes.

He immediately shouted to the Sweeping Monk lying on the ground, "Quickly, intercept him with me!"

Bodhidharma now understood very clearly that he could not block the Eighteen Dragon Subduing Palms with his strength alone. Therefore, at this moment, he could only place his hopes on the Sweeping Monk.

He hoped the Sweeping Monk could face the enemy with him.

However, the current Sweeping Monk was heavily injured. If he were to help Bodhidharma resist the Eighteen Dragon Subduing Palms, he would surely be turned to ash.

But things had come to this.

The Sweeping Monk no longer hesitated. He immediately used the tiny bit of True Qi remaining in his body to fly directly in front of Bodhidharma.

The Sweeping Monk said, "Patriarch, let this disciple block the Eighteen Dragon Subduing Palms."

As his voice fell.

Zhu Ying said with a face of disdain, "Hmph! Relying on you? Simply laughable."

Suddenly.

Eighteen golden-shining giant dragons flew out from Zhu Ying's body. As he unleashed the Eighteen Dragon Subduing Palms, these eighteen giant dragons instantly flew toward the Sweeping Monk.

At that moment, the Sweeping Monk extracted all the True Qi in his body and used his own body to forcibly manifest the Indestructible Vajra Body.

Unfortunately, the Sweeping Monk's Indestructible Vajra Body was merely True Qi protection.

Facing the Eighteen Dragon Subduing Palms filled with Astral Qi, he was naturally no match.

"BOOM!!"

Another tragic, loud explosion.

The Sweeping Monk was instantly turned to ash. Clearly, for the already heavily injured Sweeping Monk, trying to hard-tank Zhu Ying's Eighteen Dragon Subduing Palms was nothing more than a mantis trying to stop a chariot.

After the eighteen golden-shining giant dragons swallowed the Sweeping Monk's body, they immediately rushed toward Bodhidharma.

Seeing this, Bodhidharma knew he had no other choice and could only immediately unleash his Eighteen Bodhidharma Punches.

At this point.

For Bodhidharma, he could only clash head-on with the Eighteen Dragon Subduing Palms.

However, this time Bodhidharma also called upon all the True Qi and Astral Qi in his body, and subsequently, both the black and white energies were injected into his two fists.

As the eighteen giant dragons approached Bodhidharma, the latter continuously unleashed the Eighteen Bodhidharma Punches.

"Bang! Bang! Bang!"

Every punch struck the giant dragons heavily, while thunder and rain raged in the sky!

However.

It was all in vain. Every palm of Zhu Ying's Eighteen Dragon Subduing Palms was filled with intense Astral Qi, which was naturally something Bodhidharma could not contend with.

After Bodhidharma finished his Eighteen Bodhidharma Punches, the eighteen giant dragons remained completely unharmed. Instead, they charged toward Bodhidharma with lightning speed.

"AHHH!!"

A moment later, following Bodhidharma's scream, he fell heavily from the void down to the city below.

At this moment, Bodhidharma finally realized the true strength of the Astral Qi Realm.

And Zhu Ying gave Bodhidharma no way out.

He instantly unleashed the Star-Sucking Technique.

The True Qi and Astral Qi within Bodhidharma's body were continuously sucked into Zhu Ying's body by the Star-Sucking Technique.

Before long.

Bodhidharma turned into a skeleton. (End of Chapter)