Chapter 95: 92 Determined, Part 2

Zhang Rongfang remained silent, looking at the temple shrouded in mist before him.

“You all!” Qingsu’s temper flared, and she was about to step forward.

But Zhang Rongfang reached out to stop her.

“What kind of test?”

There was a moment of silence from the temple.

“It’s very simple,” the first voice continued.

“The test is divided into three steps.”

“First, inside the temple, there is a stone incense burner with eighteen sticks of incense inserted in it.

Our Golden Wing Pavilion prioritizes speed in body techniques. If you, sir, can extinguish all the incense tips in one go within a single breath, it counts as passing.”

Zhang Rongfang didn’t look at the indignant Qingsu but instead stepped into the temple.

He walked through a rectangular stone gate into a large courtyard overgrown with weeds and covered in moss.

On the plaza, all around were dilapidated temple buildings.

In the center stood a dark incense burner, over three meters high. From afar, one could see the thick incense sticks ignited on it.

Other than that, the surroundings were deserted, with no one in sight.

Zhang Rongfang squinted and counted eighteen incense sticks, but unlike typical incense offerings,

all the incense sticks were of varying heights, with some grouped together and others placed at different edges of the burner, haphazardly arranged.

If they were neatly aligned, a skilled person with precise enough and fast techniques could easily accomplish the task.

But now, with the skewed, uneven, and differently positioned incense tips,

the difficulty increased significantly.

To extinguish all the incense tips in a single breath…

Qingsu’s heart was chilling; just thinking about it slightly, she knew she couldn’t achieve this.

She was also at the Condor level, with no slow speed in body technique, but to accomplish this would require extremely fast and precise hand speed, with the use of tools.

The eighteen incense tips glowed in the night like eighteen dim red dots.

They resembled eerie monster eyes, red and sinister in the darkness.

A breeze occasionally made the incense tips flicker, accentuating their peculiarity.

Zhang Rongfang walked slowly to the incense burner.

Extinguishing all incense tips within a single breath was essentially a deliberate challenge.

Whoosh!

Suddenly, he leaped up, tapping repeatedly on the outer wall of the incense burner to gain momentum and ascend.

With a swift motion, his outer robe fell off, covering all the incense tips fiercely.

A pack, a tug, and a bare-handed slap.

The leather part of the outer robe perfectly pulled up all the incense sticks, wrapped them, and was then pressed down by Zhang Rongfang’s palm.

All incense tips broke completely, were wrapped inside the robe, and gradually extinguished without oxygen.

The entire process took exactly one breath.

“Does this suffice?” Zhang Rongfang asked loudly.

The depths of the temple seemed taken aback by his clever method of completing the test.

After a pause, the voice replied.

“Though it strays from our original intent, it indeed counts as you passing.”

“Then.”

“The second test.”

The voice continued.

“In the main hall of the temple, there is a statue of Buddha with a broken arm. Please think of a way to repair the broken arm within ten breaths.

The broken arm and adhesive are inside the main hall, and you need to find them quickly and then figure out how to restore it.”

“Do not blame us for devising this test.

Our Golden Wing Pavilion specializes in intelligence and assassination. Earlier, we tested your speed in body technique and hand movement.

Now, we’re testing your ability to gather intelligence and your capability to find alternative paths when encountering difficulties.

Blindly following rules, in the complex external situation, will lead to a stalemate. Only by thinking outside the box can one accomplish seemingly impossible tasks in the eyes of others.”

As the voice sincerely explained,

Zhang Rongfang and Qingsu were already ascending the stone steps, quickly entering the main hall of the abandoned temple.

In the main hall stood a more than five-meter-tall stone statue of a six-arm Buddha.

The Buddha looked serene, its eyes seemed to smile, embedded into a round hole in the wall.

The surrounding walls of the Buddha were carved with rows of miniature monks, tightly packed.

All these monks had joined hands, looked devout, and stood neatly, resembling books displayed in a library.

The left side of the main hall had a collapsed eave, with rubble and tiles everywhere.

A shaft of moonlight, like a stone column, shone down, becoming the only light source for the entire main hall.

The right side was a dark stone wall covered with vines and roots. A rotting, incomplete altar, with only two legs upraised.

Upon entering, Zhang Rongfang and Qingsu immediately spotted the six-arm Buddha statue.

It had three missing arms, whereabouts unknown.

How could one possibly find the broken arms and repair them within ten breaths?

This was essentially an impossible task.

Zhang Rongfang glanced around, his gaze sweeping through the dimly lit hall.

The place was so dark that it was impossible to see what was hidden in the corners.

The trio from Bai Ying, in charge of half of Golden Wing Pavilion’s operations in Tan Yang,

In reality, Golden Wing Pavilion had no substantial headquarters.

Wherever people were, that was the headquarters.

And when these three teamed up, they acted as half of the Tan Yang branch.

Therefore, if he couldn’t subdue these three, he wouldn’t be able to command their subordinates’ power. It would be impossible to control the branch effectively.

“Shall we start now?” Zhang Rongfang asked.

“Of course. You can start anytime,” the voice replied.

Zhang Rongfang nodded, smiling slightly, and closed his eyes.

Thud.

A heartbeat flashed in his mind, leaving a trail of red waveforms.

“Sir….” Qingsu took a step forward, wanting to speak but hesitating.

Whoosh!

In an instant, Zhang Rongfang’s figure flickered and leaped high like a black bird.

With his robe fluttering, he swooped toward the Buddha statue like a giant bat.

Bang!!

The side wall of the Buddha statue’s head was shattered, revealing a hollow.

A shadow flashed through, leaving a zigzagging line.

Behind the Buddha statue, three black-robed, black-masked figures were startled and looked up in surprise towards the mid-air.

“Sorry, but I cannot resolve the Buddha’s arms.”

Zhang Rongfang’s toe tapped the wall, darting towards the trio like an arrow.

“But I can deal with the person who raised the issue.”

Bang!!!

One of the three people in front was caught off guard and hurriedly tried to block.

His hands with steel braces collided fiercely with Zhang Rongfang’s descending wish wheel.

In an instant, he felt like he was struck by lightning and retreated more than ten steps.

Wow!

A mouthful of blood gushed from his mouth.

He could no longer stand, dropping to one knee.

In the darkness, only a faint moonlight was reflected by the wish wheel.

The other two instinctively gripped their knife hilts, ready to strike.

But alas, it was already too late.

The strongest of them was crushed with just one move.

The two stared fearfully at the silhouette in the darkness, momentarily unsure of how to react.

Bai Ying’s intelligence had reached them partially, from Qinghe Palace’s battle records, indicating this person was at most of fourth or fifth rank strength!?

How… how is it possible!?

“Who… exactly are you!!?” The woman who spoke earlier cried out again, but this time the teasing tone in her voice had completely vanished.

Only extreme tension and dread remained.

Zhang Rongfang lifted the wish wheel.

Hum.

The sharp round wheel began spinning rapidly.

“Are you scared?”

He asked softly.

In the darkness, their muscles were tightly clenched, cold sweat flooding from their backs.

They did not dare to make a sound.

“Perhaps you should try kneeling and beg for my forgiveness.”

“I don’t believe it!! Just a mere…!!!” The other suddenly roared angrily.

In the dark, both blades suddenly gleamed in the moonlight, turning into two silver rays slashing towards Zhang Rongfang.

Clang!

The wish wheel blocked the blade’s light.

The double blades struck wildly, Wuji’s Autumn Wind Brushing Willow Blade Skill, a full set of thirty-six moves, now fully unleashed.

The blade lights were like willow branches in the autumn wind, chaotic, gentle, yet carrying fatal cuts.

No matter how he exerted his full force.

Zhang Rongfang casually moved the wish wheel, single-handedly blocking every move.

For a moment in the dark, only the continuous clangs exploded.

From time to time, tiny sparks flared up between the weapons.

“Kill!!”

In unwillingness, Wuji united both blades, gripped tightly with both hands.

The ultimate killer move from Autumn Wind Brushing Willow Blade Skill—Confusion, suddenly exploded completely using a special breathing technique.

Originally silver blade light suddenly disappeared at this moment.

Even the sound of whistling air seemed to vanish completely, leaving only two deadly blade scars in the dark, falling silently and swiftly towards Zhang Rongfang’s chest.

Pshh!

In just an instant, Zhang Rongfang stepped to the left with a smile, evading the blade scars with precision.

The sharp blades were only a finger away from his neck and chest, yet that finger felt like a heavenly chasm.

“Nice move. But unfortunately…”

Swoosh!!

In the darkness, the wish wheel suddenly blasted forward, pulling out a silver thread.

The thread sliced through Wuji’s chest.

Everything quieted down again.

“Unfortunately.” Zhang Rongfang slowly turned around, “I don’t like it.”

Wuji’s double blades fell to the ground, his body stumbled forward, taking two steps, then fell to his knees.

He clutched his chest with both hands but couldn’t stop the surging blood from gushing out.

“You… are… ruthless!!”

Wuji struggled to utter three words, then collapsed to the ground.

In his final moment, he saw the last person, Chi Xia, silently kneeling down, bowing in submission to that man.

The silver wish wheel under the faint moonlight seemed to be stained red with blood for a moment.

“Look, I like to reason with people,” Zhang Rongfang smiled, flicking the blood off the wish wheel.

“People should always learn to grow. You should learn how to deal with someone like me. Right?”

The first to receive the move, Zhao Tianming, looked pale, a flash of struggle and helplessness in his eyes, but quickly he resigned himself.

“Master is absolutely right!”

Even as a fifth rank, he couldn’t even withstand a single move just moments ago.

He knew well what this meant.

Considering his fifth rank included two levels of limit-breaking, having studied the Golden Roc Secret Record.

So when facing someone of higher rank, he was confident that even if he couldn’t defeat them, he could rely on his body technique to dodge and escape.

But just now…

Zhang Rongfang’s speed was so fast he had no time to react.

He was stunned for a moment, then the fight was over in one move.

Immense power pressed down like mountains sweeping across.

Zhao Tianming felt clearly, that was definitely not just a fifth rank!

The level of power and speed was something he’d only seen from seventh rank experts before!

This guy… this newly appointed Bai Ying… must have deceived everyone from the start!

“From today onward, I will take over all affairs and personnel of Tan Yang Bai Ying’s branch.” Zhang Rongfang said blandly.

“Any objections?”

“Subordinate greets the master!”

Chi Xia immediately responded loudly.

Zhao Tianming hesitated for a moment, eventually lowered his head, and knelt down.

“Subordinate… greets the master.”

Not far away, Qingsu finally found the small door, pushed it open, and witnessed this scene.

She covered her mouth in shock, not knowing what had just happened.

From Zhang Rongfang breaking through the wall to the complete end, it was only about half a minute.

In half a minute, everything was over.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep