Manipulative Harem God

"Don't worry, this won't kill you," Monk Sheng assured, his voice laced with a menacing calm as he gently tapped his foot on the forest floor.

Whoosh!

"Lotus Bead Strike!"

A powerful shockwave erupted from the ground, creating a crater in an instant.

Before Monk Sheng, celestial beads, aglow with a golden radiance, materialized, rapidly assembling into a grand lotus formation.

Thousands of beads, each pulsating with potent energy, floated in perfect harmony, forming a radiant symbol of destructive beauty.

As Monk Sheng directed the glowing lotus towards Zhang Wei, the air seemed to crackle with tension.

Swoosh!

Zhang, ready for evasion, watched the deadly barrage spiral towards him, calculating his narrow window for escape.

Bam!

Suddenly, a massive palm, shimmering with a soft, holy light, materialized in the air.

It intercepted the lotus bead strike with an overwhelming force that halted its momentum completely.

Whoosh!

The beads scattered harmlessly to the ground, their energy dissipating as if quenched by the divine intervention.

"The palm of Buddha?" Monk Sheng gasped, his confidence shaken. He stepped back, staring in disbelief at the ethereal hand now fading into the twilight air.

This was a defensive technique of legend, rarely seen and even more rarely mastered.

Zhang Wei seized the moment of confusion and, with quick thinking, directed the ethereal Palm to launch towards Monk Sheng.

"What—!?" Monk Sheng gasped, startled, as he ducked just in time.

BAAAM!

The Palm struck the ground where Monk Sheng had just been standing, leaving a massive ten-meter imprint in the earth.

Monk Sheng scrambled to his feet, his back covered with cold sweat, his mind frozen in shock.

'Why can this youngster wield the Palm of Buddha!? What's his origin!'

Monk Sheng's face darkened, his mind filled with questions and shock.

Just then, a directive echoed through his mind, clear and authoritative. [Leave him]

It was Guardian Deng's voice, carrying a command that brooked no argument.

With a surge of mixed emotions, Monk Sheng, who had been bracing for another attack, morphed into a shadow and hastily retreated.

"Huh?"

Zhang Wei blinked in surprise as he watched his opponent withdraw.

The moment was brief, as the system in his ear buzzed urgently. [Host, two more energy signatures, very powerful ones, are approaching this location. The fight must have attracted them. The monks are retreating, you should leave too.]

Zhang Wei, now alone amid the ruins of the disrupted battleground, took a deep breath, weighing his options.

The advice was clear, and the risk of tangling with more powerful foes was a gamble he wasn't prepared to take.

With a decisive nod to himself, he vanished into the shadows, using the dense foliage and the dimming light to cover his escape.

_______

"Why did you let him go, Guardian Deng?" Monk Sheng asked, his voice tinged with frustration as they made their way back to the monastery.

Guardian Deng kept his eyes closed, his steps sure and unwavering, but his mind was a mix of dark thoughts. 'The three evil Buddhas from the Dark Monastery... What is their goal? Are they aiming to release the demon seal?'

His brow furrowed deeply at the thought.

If the demon seal was broken, it would spell disaster for Qingyun City, potentially bringing Han Dynasty to ruins.

Yet, at this critical juncture, the Abbot of their monastery lay on his deathbed.

Could this all be a diversion?

'They shouldn't be foolish enough to tamper with the seal...' Guardian Deng mused.

After all, the demon knew no allegiance—to neither their monastery nor the Dark Monastery.

Once unleashed, it would slaughter indiscriminately.

It seemed more likely that the Dark Monastery intended to use the threat of the demon as a distraction, perhaps to make a move against the vulnerable Abbot.

As for Zhang Wei's surprising ability to wield the Palm of Buddha, Guardian Deng was not altogether shocked.

If Murong Jinxiang could possess the sacred yin lotus physique, suitable for divination, then Zhang Wei's mysterious power wasn't beyond the realm of possibility.

"The world of cultivation is vast and mysterious, filled with hidden talents and unexpected powers," Guardian Deng finally spoke, his voice low and contemplative. "There are always crouching tigers and hidden dragons. The energy I sensed from Zhang Wei was... unusual."

He opened his eyes, looking ahead with a gaze that seemed to pierce through the forest and beyond. "Our paths will likely cross again. For now, we must focus on the greater threats. The stability of Han Dynasty and the safety of our Abbot must be our priority..."

____

Whoosh!

Whoosh!

In another part of Qingyun City, near the shadowed woods where Zhang Wei had narrowly escaped, two figures descended swiftly from the sky, landing with a muted thud on the outskirts of the city.

These were not ordinary monks; they were two of the three infamous Evil Buddhas from the Dark Monastery, known for their ruthless tactics and evil cultivation practices.

The first, Elder Mingxu, was a tall, imposing figure, his robe darker than the night sky, eyes glowing faintly red, a stark contrast to his pale, almost ghostly, complexion.

His presence exuded an aura of dark qi, and the air around him seemed to shiver with dark energy.

Beside him stood Elder Huian, shorter but broader, his face permanently etched with a sneer.

His skin bore the scars of many battles, and his hands were gnarled like the roots of an ancient tree.

Elder Mingxu scanned the area meticulously, his acute senses attuning to the residual energies that lingered in the aftermath of the recent conflict.

As his perception deepened, his voice lowered to a murmur, blending caution with curiosity, "The energies here are unmistakably from practitioners of Shaolin Monastery and..." He paused, his breath catching as a ripple of unexpected energy touched his senses.

His eyes widened in astonishment, "Palm of Buddha!?"

Beside him, Elder Huian's gaze swept the landscape, marked by the scars of battle.

He snorted, disbelief lacing his tone. "What Palm of Buddha? Aside from the Immortal Xuan Wu, who else is deemed worthy of such power?" Skeptical, he crouched down and scraped a sample from the edge of a crater, his rough fingers probing the disturbed earth.

As he examined the gritty residue, his initial scoff morphed into a stunned expression. "It's really the Palm of Buddha..."

A heavy silence fell over them as they processed the implications.

Elder Lingxi, who had been observing quietly, now stepped forward, his face clouded with concern and a growing sense of urgency. "Could the Immortal Master actually be here?"

His voice trembled slightly, not with fear, but with a surge of excitement at the thought.

A spark of eager anticipation lit his eyes as he considered the possibilities.

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