Volume One: The Young Monk Returns to the Secular World Chapter Forty-Two: Lost in the Flames of Obsession
The others in the brothel were equally bewildered. Some had already recognized the young man as Chen Buqun of the Chen Sword Sect.
Yet they couldn't comprehend it—wasn't the little monk supposed to be the weakest among them? Why did Chen Buqun seem so afraid of him?
“Who is that monk?” someone whispered.
“I have no idea. Look at those gaudy robes—no telling which temple he’s from…”
...
“Brother, let me join you… Let us kill this lecherous villain together!” Chen Shuwan stepped forward, her long sword sweeping to point at the little monk.
Though she couldn't understand why her brother believed that, with fifteen levels of inner strength, she was no match for someone at the seventh, surely it couldn’t hurt to join forces.
“Heh… Miss, your thinking is so straightforward…” The little monk glanced at Chen Shuwan, his eyes crinkling with a smile. “Let me put it this way—if you and Chen Buqun teamed up, could you defeat your brother Chen Budiao? The same logic applies…”
“How dare you compare yourself to my brother, you depraved little monk?” Chen Shuwan’s eyes flashed with anger and disdain.
“Shuwan, enough. Step back,” Chen Buqun said softly. No matter what, he did not wish his beloved sister to come to any harm.
“But…”
Chen Buqun had already stepped forward, fixing the little monk with a cold stare. A faint aura of inner strength began to emanate from him.
“Even if I am not your match, I, Chen Buqun, will show you the pride of the Chen family of Jiangdong,” he said through gritted teeth, mastering his emotions.
Clang.
He drew his treasured sword with force, pointed it at the irreverent little monk—and then, as if tossing away trash, flung the sword aside.
An aura like flames radiated from him, rising in intensity and suppressing everyone present.
Fifteen levels of inner strength!
Twenty-five levels!
It was almost beyond belief that an eighteen-year-old youth could possess such profound cultivation.
“That’s the Chen Sword Technique!” the storyteller exclaimed, staring at Chen Buqun’s rising aura.
“So it is… This little monk is surely doomed now…” The crowd began to murmur.
More guests had begun to trickle into the brothel, and many of the girls were peeking out to watch the commotion.
...
Yet within the crowd, the young man’s inner strength continued to soar…
“These past days I’ve racked my brains for a way to defeat you… The Chen Sword Technique has been seen through by you—it’s pointless to keep practicing it… So I won’t use swordplay at all! Chen Sword Move: Burning Life—making the bones a sword, able to pierce the heavens!” Chen Buqun was indeed a true prodigy, managing to forge a new martial path in just a few days.
This “Burning Life” differed from the standard Chen Sword technique; Chen Buqun’s version truly abandoned the blade, using the body itself as a sword and burning away everything.
To burn away all talent, all natural endowment…
From the moment Chen Buqun cast aside his sword, he considered himself already dead.
To avenge his elder brother, to preserve a shred of honor for the Chen Sword Sect, he stepped forward.
So he would rather sacrifice everything for a single moment of brilliance.
“Brother… you…” Chen Shuwan could see the flaws in Chen Buqun’s technique, yet she still couldn’t figure out who the little monk was or how this feud had arisen.
Unaware of the full story, her mind began to fill in the blanks…
For her brother to be so enraged, they surely had an irreconcilable enmity.
Could it be… a grudge over a stolen bride?
At that thought, when she looked at her brother’s head, she seemed to see a lush green patch…
Then she glanced at the little monk’s bald head, which certainly shone…
Yes, the truth seemed that simple, though one doubt remained—
Her brother had yet to marry…
Awkward…
...
Chen Shuwan’s cheeks flushed, her imagination once again running wild.
...
“What’s the point of all this?” The little monk’s playful expression faded, his face turning serious. “The Chen Sword Technique was originally a fine martial art, but you have warped it into a toxic skill. Do you know the price you’ll pay?”
“Bones shattered… never to practice martial arts again!” Chen Buqun declared, each word ringing with force. “So be it! I’ll ruin myself if that’s what it takes to wash away our shame!”
“Heh… There aren’t many people I admire, but you’re one of them. Still, I advise you to stop—there’s still time to save yourself…”
The little monk shook his head, sighing.
“Enough talk. Come!”
Chen Buqun was unwavering. He would not only avenge his elder brother, but also make his own name resound throughout the martial world.
In that moment, he seemed to transcend humanity, becoming a peerless weapon that could shatter the sky.
Waves of sword energy shot toward the little monk…
“He’s finished… That little monk is doomed… He should have known better than to meddle without the strength to back it up…”
The little monk looked thoroughly beleaguered amid the onslaught of sword energy.
The crowd shrieked, certain that at any moment the little monk would be killed.
Yet now and then, it seemed as if the little monk split into eighteen figures, then reverted to one—his movement mystifying.
To the onlookers, however, it looked merely like a desperate struggle for survival.
...
“Hahaha…” Chen Buqun could feel the power surging within him, inexhaustible.
Twenty-eight levels!
The strength of a founder, the equal of a grandmaster who could establish a sect!
At the same time, his expression grew strange, for the little monk managed to evade every lethal blow. With only seven levels of inner strength, if he improved a little, who could say how the fight would end?
“Hmph, what a monster…” Chen Buqun formed his hand into a sword, slashing a semicircle through the air, as if igniting everything nearby.
The next instant, he lunged at the little monk, aiming directly for his heart. “So what? Before overwhelming power… you still can only die…”
“My god… twenty-eight levels against seven? This is madness!”
By now, more and more roguish heroes of the martial world were flocking into the brothel, their eyes wide at the spectacle.
“That’s Chen Buqun! Look… how did he reach twenty-eight levels? Am I seeing things?”
The brothel was swelling with curious onlookers.
“Heh… You really aren’t afraid of death… You’re already on the verge of going mad with power…” The little monk’s expression was grave. It was clear he couldn’t hold out much longer.
“So what? Even if I die from my body bursting, I will kill you!”
Chen Buqun was already half-crazed, eyes bloodshot, sword-song thundering through the brothel.
This was a power beyond the Chen Sword Technique—a true sacrifice of life for strength.
Chen Shuwan watched in terror, now understanding why Chen Buqun had stopped her earlier.
The little monk was truly extraordinary.
The opening move of the Chen Sword Technique—Swallow’s Return!
Chen Buqun, wielding his body as a blade, in that moment comprehended the very move the little monk had used before—one even their father, Chen Bufan, could not perform.
A bead of cold sweat formed on the little monk’s brow; the pressure radiating from his opponent left him unable to move…
This time, it seemed, all was truly lost…