Chapter 552: Unexpected Complications

The Flower-Picking Finger is one of the seventy-two supreme techniques of Shaolin!
It is a rather domineering finger technique. Though its power is not as great as the Six Veins Divine Sword, the Combined Finger Technique, or even the Finger-Flashing Divine Power, it has its own unique strengths.
That is, it is gentle and silent—using the “lightness” of picking flowers to subdue the enemy without them even realizing it!
Seeing Master Kongxiang release his Vajra Mace and use the Flower-Picking Finger, Kai Xin immediately realized that close combat was no longer feasible. With a quick step, he floated several feet away from Master Kongxiang and landed twenty meters away, exhaling heavily with his eyes tightly closed.
“What’s he doing?”
Below the arena, many players showed expressions of surprise.
Only a few, like Zhou Yu, understood that Kai Xin likely intended to use his ability to sense wind direction to counter Master Kongxiang’s Flower-Picking Finger. Yet they were puzzled—how could Kai Xin be so sure that Master Kongxiang would use such a rigid fighting style?
“Amitabha.”
Master Kongxiang stared at Kai Xin and suddenly proclaimed a Buddhist chant. Those below felt as if thunderous sounds filled their ears, with the Buddhist chants echoing, causing their eardrums to vibrate. At the same time, they saw his finger pierce through the air:
It’s coming!
Although Kai Xin suddenly lost his ability to sense direction due to Master Kongxiang’s chant, he still managed to detect the moment the finger was launched by sensing the airflow.
A faint afterimage with a hole punched through it remained in place, while “pop!” a deep hole appeared on the hard ground behind him. Kai Xin himself darted straight two meters away, motionless.
“Impressive movement skills,” Master Kongxiang nodded in approval.
Kai Xin did not dare slack off and replied respectfully, “It’s because the master showed mercy.”
“Hehe, you’d better be careful now.”
Master Kongxiang did not deny it either. His expression turned serious as he stabbed his hands repeatedly, creating three faint ripples in the air in front of him—one, two, three.
Kai Xin’s expression changed!
He hadn’t expected it to be so fierce! Just now it was one strike, but now three attacks were launched simultaneously, locking in three directions at once—all of which were his best escape routes…
What made things even more suffocating was that Master Kongxiang swept his sleeves, sent out three fingers at once, then spread his hands wide and quickly fired more fingers!
Deadly!!
Although Kai Xin had always tried to hide his true abilities, it seemed Master Kongxiang had noticed something and was ready to go all out. Forced to act, his expression also became extremely solemn. He activated his Illusion Demon Movement, taking the form of a little dragon to leap through the air and avoid the three attacks. His Golden Bell Shield instantly activated.

A layer of golden light appeared before his body, like a dazzling golden sun. A floating figure swiftly emerged, countering his Flower-Picking Finger first;
The sixth finger, the seventh finger…
The Golden Bell Shield was finally broken!
Master Kongxiang’s expression grew increasingly grave. Although his once-mighty Golden Bell Shield had been completely destroyed, only three moves remained before reaching the hundred moves mark.
“Go!” Master Kongxiang moved without hesitation. He thrust his hand into the void after the figure of Kai Xin, then pressed his hands together and quickly pointed with two fingers.
Puff! Puff puff!!
Kai Xin’s expression changed abruptly. His smooth evasion movements stopped dead, and he threw a punch. Immediately afterward, an astonishing force shattered him into a dragon-shaped vortex. His body trembled as he fell to the ground like struck by lightning, with two bursts of debris exploding to his left and right—two huge craters forming on either side of him.
A look of shock flashed across Master Kongxiang’s face, which quickly turned into a wry smile as he withdrew his hand. “Amitabha! Young man Kai Xin possesses extraordinary mental strength. I truly admire him.” The final strike had already revealed the essence of Flower-Picking Without Form, but Master Kongxiang hadn’t expected Kai Xin to choose to endure the third-to-last move to avoid the even more devastating last two.
Although the damage was severe, he avoided defeat. The hundred moves arrived as scheduled!
“Luck,” Kai Xin thought, also drenched in cold sweat. His memory of this move from his past life was still fresh. If he hadn’t avoided it, without any protective barrier, he would likely have wasted another “Life and Death Dream Pill” from the Heroic Villa’s master.
“Since that’s the case, I admit defeat and step down.”
Ding!
The moment Master Kongxiang turned around, a system notification sounded: “Insight increased by 3 points. ‘Eighteen Dragon Subduing Palms’ has reached master level—complete perfection!”
An astonishing inner strength surged into his body. Kai Xin suddenly felt his meridians widen significantly.
Sitting cross-legged, he practiced the “Jinhua Jiuyang Gong” to recover from his injuries while quickly checking his condition…
Sure enough!
After winning several matches in a row at the Heroic Villa’s Dragon and Tiger Arena, the level of his “Eighteen Dragon Subduing Palms” had risen, and his inner strength had increased by over ten points. Additionally, his strength and bone density each increased by 10 points, all now surpassing 130 points.
…
At that time, the battle between Zhou Zhiruo and the “Emperor” had resumed. Zhou Zhiruo wielded the Heaven-Supporting Sword, while the “Emperor” held a black divine weapon. Their sword auras clashed fiercely, yet neither could gain the upper hand—the former, aided by the Nine Yin Manual, was incredibly fast and powerful, perfectly countering the Emperor’s sword techniques, which made Kai Xin worry deeply.

To be honest, he neither wanted Zhou Zhiruo to lose nor was he eager for a fight with the “One Emperor”! But clearly, one of them had to suffer a defeat! “Let’s end this!” As it became clear who would win between them, the “One Emperor” let out a fierce laugh, and suddenly, a terrifying black glow emerged in front of him. Zhou Zhiruo snorted coldly, and a huge white bone hand quickly formed in front of the “One Emperor,” clenching tightly against that vicious black glow… The next moment, several blinding black sword beams shot out with great force, piercing through the white bone hand and striking Zhou Zhiruo hard! She let out a muffled groan and fell off the platform along with her sword! But the “One Emperor” also suffered greatly. Although he managed to break through her Nine Yin White Bone Claws, the remaining force of those claws hit him fiercely, sending him flying far away like a kite with a broken string, also knocking him off the platform. Below the platform, Xiao Bei and the others were stunned, finally realizing why Happy had said earlier that Zhou Zhiruo was more difficult to deal with than Kong Xiang. With a divine weapon like hers, even the “One Emperor” could hold his own; if Happy were to fight her, it was possible that the Three-Headed Zombie Treasure could be sliced in one strike! Now that the “One Emperor” and Zhou Zhiruo were both badly injured and in a stalemate, Xiao Bei realized just how accurate Happy’s judgment had been. A woman who mastered the Nine Yin True Scripture was indeed terrifying—no wonder Zhang Wuji had been hiding everywhere back then. But… The “One Emperor” and Zhou Zhiruo both left the platform at the same time. What everyone was most concerned about was the decision regarding them—would the “One Emperor” continue to challenge or stop here? They were very interested in this. Even Happy, after a moment of shock, stared at the two who had fallen off the platform, holding her breath as she listened to the judgment of the Hero Villa’s master and the heroes of the world.