"Senior Brother, no need to rush. We still have a chance," the bespectacled monk spoke up.

"A chance? What chance?" Kongji asked intently.

"At this distance, with your agility and speed, swimming over is actually still feasible."

The physical constitution of a Grandmaster far surpasses that of ordinary people; even in the waves, they should be able to catch up with the speed of the front ship.

"Additionally, if there's really no other way, we can mobilize forces to intercept them directly over at Kyushu Port."

"Kyushu Port? Indeed!" Kongji clapped his hands. "As expected from Junior Brother Hui Cheng, truly a keen mind!"

"It's nothing, Senior Brother was just momentarily flustered and overlooked it. Once you calm down, these trivial matters are actually easy to think of. I'm just offering a small reminder," Hui Cheng replied respectfully.

"Furthermore, I've heard that Zhang Ying has close associates in Wushan Prefecture, where he once assembled a group of subordinates in the Golden Wing Pavilion. Perhaps we can send people to take that place, threatening him if possible, or at the very least exerting some effort.

Anyway, now that they're no longer under the protection of the Celestial Treasure Palace, these people will eventually have to be cleared out," Hui Cheng calmly said, adjusting his glasses.

"Good idea! Zhang Ying's heading to Kyushu Port—could his destination be Wushan Prefecture? Highly likely!" Kongji contemplated.

"It should be." He became increasingly convinced.

Clap, clap, clap...

Suddenly, clear applause originated from the side of the ship.

Everyone abruptly turned their heads towards the sound.

"Who!?"

Kongji's heart skipped — the sound was so close, no more than a dozen meters away, yet he hadn't noticed!

The bespectacled monk's expression slightly shifted, retreating several steps until his back pressed against the ship's rail, near a gap in the tattered railing.

The sailors on board instinctively drew their weapons.

The dozen-plus experts of the Western Sect spread out cautiously, observing the direction from which the applause came from different angles.

Within the mist.

A burly silhouette was half-squatting by the ship's edge, right at the gap blasted by cannonballs.

The shadow rose, revealing a tall figure over two meters high.

With a splash, his water-laden jacket was shrugged off and discarded onto the ground, revealing a strong and imposing upper body.

"Could you repeat what you just said?"

The figure walked nearer, his facial features gradually becoming clear—a face obscured by a jet-black metal mask showing only his eyes.

It was none other than Zhang Rongfang, who had just swum over from the sea.

"Don't act like a specter! Kill him!!" Kongji shouted vehemently.

Nearby sailors raised their guns to aim.

BANG!

A gunshot rang out.

Zhang Rongfang was prepared, shifting left in advance, raising his hand to fling out a handful of splintered wood.

Thud thud thud.

A group of unarmored sailors fell to the ground.

THUD!

The deck beneath Zhang Rongfang's feet exploded, as he leapt up, dodging right, evading a volley of throwing knives and hidden weapons.

Simultaneously, his right index finger pointed out.

In an instant, his index finger seemed to split, turning into dozens of finger shadows that fell on the approaching Western Sect members.

A circle of people instantly dispersed and fell, collapsing to the ground, their bloodlines severed by a single finger, incapacitated.

In a flash, Kongji was already holding a zen staff, leaping forward swiftly, striking down.

This stroke, in both power and speed, reached the true pinnacle of a Grandmaster!

Kongji's mind may be all muscle, but his strength was genuinely formidable; otherwise, he wouldn't have been able to escape from Shangguan Feihua.

At this moment, taking advantage of Zhang Rongfang's attack on others, he launched a sneak attack without concern for the opponent's forces, unleashing it at the first opportunity.

And even though it was a surprise attack, he exerted all his might to unleash full strength.

Excluding Extreme State and final form, all other powers were used.

BANG!!!

Unfortunately.

In an instant, Zhang Rongfang grabbed onto the zen staff with his reverse hand.

The staff collided, producing the sound of metal clashing.

A massive, low rumbling spread like an explosion from between the staffs.

The sound waves stunned everyone nearby, compelling them to cover their ears.

Crack.

A wooden splinter shot fiercely from Kongji's hand, hitting Zhang Rongfang's mask.

The mask shattered with a crack, falling onto the deck, revealing underneath a face that none could have anticipated.

Kongji, however, had no time to see it, because as soon as his staff made contact with the opponent, he felt a terrifying giant force rebound from the opponent's hand.

This person's strength was even slightly greater than his full effort at that moment!!

After the blow, he flew back and crashed into the mast, sliding to absorb the force and then stood firm.

With a cracking sound, the mast slowly broke. The sail floated down like a cloud.

Kongji's chest churned with Qi and Blood as he stood in place, breathing rapidly to recover.

Meanwhile, Zhang Rongfang had already made successive quick shadows, subduing the remaining Western Sect members and ship's sailors one by one.

Blood sprayed across the deck.

Initially, some fought back fiercely.

But regardless of their attempts to counterattack, every strike was easily dodged by Zhang Rongfang.

In terms of individual strength, only the Western Sect's dozen or so members were slightly better.

However, from the start, their meridians were intercepted, losing most of their strength.

At this point, the remaining dozens of crew members on the deck had mostly fallen.

THUD.

His final strike crushed the neck of the dwarf captain, and he slowly turned around, his gaze falling onto Kongji.

"Now, it's just you."

"It's you!!?" At this moment, Kongji finally saw the opponent's face clearly.

But that face, no matter how much he'd speculated, offered no answer that matched the reality now before him. 𝕗𝕣𝐞𝐞𝘄𝐞𝚋𝚗𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗹.𝚌𝕠𝚖

Not only him—all present certainly had not foreseen that this person... was actually....

"You're Zhang Ying!! No! You're not Zhang Ying!? Who are you!?" Kongji shouted angrily, looking at the fallen around him.

A mix of shock and fury filled his heart, realizing that in his brief moment of hesitation from astonishment, the opponent had....

Seeing the severe casualties among his comrades and the sailors around him.

Without the sailors, they were utterly stranded on the sea; the opponent was severing their last hope!!

"You dare seek death!!" Kongji understood clearly, immediately roaring and charging forward.

Dharma Aspect Yaksha and Arhat, both Extreme States erupted simultaneously, stacking atop each other.

Instantly, his muscles bulged, enlarging, tearing open his monk's robe.

The body rapidly grew from over two meters to three meters.

His entire skin turned black, with silver patterns emerging, and his body proportion strangely became more elongated, with arms that reached past his knees.

Zhang Rongfang was already quite familiar with the Extreme State of the Western Sect.

At this moment, unhurriedly, he activated three Extreme States simultaneously.

Unification of Divine Intent, Yin and Yang in Harmony, Critical Point.

His physique once again swelled larger, similarly reaching three meters. His entire skin color appeared like stone, taking on a gray hue.

The two tapped their toes lightly, simultaneously lunging forward.

Boom!!!

The entire ship trembled slightly, with the hull as the center, expanding outward in ripples.

Fist to fist, leg to leg, simultaneous prediction, taking the initiative.

Their forces were both speed-against-speed, without fully using their strength, quickly changing moves.

Such an exchange looked like a blur of shadows rapidly flickering between them to onlookers.

The stalemate didn't last long; a muffled sound quickly followed.

Zhang Rongfang staggered back several steps, leaving large holes on the deck with each step.

A punch landed squarely in the middle of his right chest.

"Interesting... You're much stronger than Kongwu...."

His initiative in predicting attacks still fell short compared to the opponent.

If not for his superior strength and speed, he might have lost from the start.

After all, Zhang Rongfang himself knew he was actually using dark vision to mimic anticipating attacks.

In reality, the two are entirely different abilities.

Dark vision has significant limitations.

If the opponent is wearing slightly thicker clothing or equipment, it becomes ineffective.

During fierce fighting, the opponent's body inevitably has some obstruction.

Coupled with the rapid changes in Qi and Blood, dark vision first 'sees,' then converts to 'prediction,' followed by 'reaction.'

Compared to the direct 'prediction' and 'reaction' of anticipating attacks, it requires an extra step.

According to Zuo Han, anticipating attacks is a comprehensive assessment of the opponent.

It's about grasping the opponent through a general understanding using the five senses, understanding of combat skills, and predicting the opponent's offense and defense intentions, leading to predicting the opponent's moves.

This prediction is extremely fast, often needing no thought.

It's like an answer reached from various questions.

Anticipating attacks only requires grasping the answer, regardless of how the opponent tries to reach it.

Actually, it's not important.

Because, ultimately, the opponent's goal is just one.

"Could it be... you also killed Kongwu?!?" Kongchi exclaimed, his expression changing.

He stared hard at the opponent's young face.

Yes, the opponent looked at most in his thirties, and hadn't worshipped gods!!

Having not worshipped gods, yet able to fight evenly with him to this extent?!

And even killed Kongwu?!?

Kongchi found it hard to believe his ears.

What sort of monster was this!!?

Among god-worshipping Grandmasters, excluding Extreme Realm Grandmasters, they were virtually invincible!

This is a fact proven by the battle records of almost all forces.

The limit of ordinary people is a Grandmaster, and even a formidable Arhat can't compete with some strong god-worshipping "Three Emptiness".

But now....

"Extreme Realm?!" Kongji realized he had guessed the answer...

"Such speed and power? Are you a Celestial Demon? Or Extreme Law?!" He quickly adjusted his breathing and Qi and Blood, as if facing a formidable enemy.

"Oh? Is there a difference in Extreme Realm?" Zhang Rongfang curiously asked.

"It seems you're neither a Celestial Demon nor Extreme Law...." Just one sentence.... Kongchi judged Zhang Rongfang's state.

Seeing the opponent meet him head-on, yet with unharmed arms.

Kongchi felt his scalp tingling, unable to imagine it at all.

"What on earth... are you some kind of monster!!??"

"Monster?" Zhang Rongfang shook his head, "Sadly, in my eyes, you all look more like monsters than me...."

He looked up at the sky.

At this moment, above the fog, the sun faintly shone directly down, illuminating his body.

He turned, revealing the Blood Lotus on his back.

"Do you see it?"

Zhang Rongfang said softly.

"Whether it's Extreme Realm or god-worship, you have long strayed from the true path."

He spread his arms, arching his back muscles.

"In our Martial Arts, using martial as the foundation, Dao as the direction. Consolidate the essence to gather into the Three Flowers."

"The Dao Canon says: 'Three Flowers gather at the crown, Five Qi return to their origin! Gather the essence, Qi, and spirit, to form a lotus, condense the Three Flowers, this is the true path...'"

"But you all... have deviated from the true path, having already fallen into delusion...."

The sunlight shone down, reflecting a faint bloody light on the Blood Lotus on Zhang Rongfang's back.

At this moment, with his lofty and solemn demeanor, it inexplicably gave off a sacred beauty.

"You.... you this...!!?" Kongchi looked at the intricate Blood Lotus formed by the veins on the strong muscles of the opponent, unable to refute for reasons he couldn't quite explain.

He even felt a growing wavering towards god-worship and deities rising in his heart.

If one could rely on oneself to be so strong, why think of worshipping gods?

Could it be... could it be he is the one truly on the right path of cultivation??

Was it possible... that humans don't need to worship gods to be this powerful??

If he can, why can't we?!

The thought emerged, and Kongchi felt that everything he once believed in seemed to waver.

He could feel the opponent hadn't worshipped gods, he felt the opponent was as strong as himself!

If... if....

Countless thoughts clashed and collided in Kongchi's mind.

He stood there dumbfounded when suddenly.

Boom!!!

A loud explosion.

Kongchi's entire upper body exploded, turning into countless silver lines.