"Your disciple?"
"Brother, don't joke like this," the Evil Monk said with a smile.
"This is no joke." Although Ox Nose also had a smile on his face, he was dead serious.
The smile on the Evil Monk's face vanished.
"So, brother, you've sent your disciple here too?" the Evil Monk asked.
"Not at all. My disciple is raised independently. I never expected to run into him here — purely coincidental," Ox Nose said.
"What a coincidence." The Evil Monk was somewhat skeptical, but still said, "Since he's your disciple, let's forget it."
At these words, Ox Nose said nothing. He simply stared at the Evil Monk, the smile on his face taking on a strange quality.
"Brother, I'm telling the truth. He's your disciple — why would I lay a hand on him?" the Evil Monk said.
Ox Nose still said nothing.
"Brother, given our relationship, you still don't trust me?" the Evil Monk pressed.
"Why should I trust you?" Ox Nose replied.
"You!!!" The Evil Monk hadn't expected Ox Nose to say such a thing.
"Brother, what exactly do you mean? Are you going to turn on me? Over a single disciple?" the Evil Monk asked.
"Though my disciple is raised independently, I won't allow threats like you to exist."
"Brother Evil Monk, I can't exactly call myself a good person, but killing someone like you would be doing the world a favor, wouldn't it?" Ox Nose said.
"Go to hell!" The Evil Monk cursed in fury.
"If you want to turn on me, just say so. Stop using your disciple as an excuse. Tell me — did you plan to turn against me after this was all over from the very beginning?"
"But if that's the case, why did you save me back then? What exactly are your intentions?" the Evil Monk roared.
*Whoosh—*
As he spoke, Ox Nose waved his sleeve, and a golden wheel materialized. The golden wheel looked simple enough, but its material was extraordinarily special — seemingly indestructible.
"Brother Evil Monk, do you remember this?" Ox Nose asked.
"I do. You said it was a divine weapon you spent many years refining. The weapon's body was already forged, just waiting for the weapon spirit to mature." The Evil Monk frowned. "Why are you suddenly bringing this up?"
Ox Nose said nothing, but nodded with satisfaction, his gaze never leaving the Evil Monk.
Looking at Ox Nose's smile, the Evil Monk felt a wave of unease wash over him. Chills crept down his spine. He had a very bad feeling.
"Don't tell me the weapon spirit you've been nurturing is me?" the Evil Monk asked.
"Brother Evil Monk, indeed clever," Ox Nose said.
Hearing this, killing intent immediately blazed in the Evil Monk's eyes as he gritted his teeth.
"You ox-nosed wretch — I treated you as a friend, and you've been raising me like a pig?" the Evil Monk snarled.
"Brother Evil Monk, don't say that. Isn't that an insult to pigs? Pigs are such gentle creatures," Ox Nose said.
"You've really gone too far." The Evil Monk ground his teeth. Ox Nose was calling him worse than a pig. Yet he held himself back, not striking directly.
"I've been giving you face out of gratitude for the life you saved. Don't push your luck."
"Do you really think I'm a pushover?" the Evil Monk said.
Ox Nose smiled, then said, "Now channel your martial power into your Dantian."
Though puzzled, the Evil Monk complied.
"You!!!" In that instant, the Evil Monk's expression changed drastically. His eyes held boundless fury, but also boundless terror.
He had detected poison in his Dantian — a deadly toxin that could claim his life in a heartbeat.
This poison must have been planted by Ox Nose. And it had been planted all those years ago, back when he saved him.
"You've noticed?" Ox Nose asked.
"Brother, how venomous you are. All this time I've treated you like a blood brother, regarded you as my savior." The Evil Monk began to rein in his anger, putting on a look of deep grievance.
"Heh..." Ox Nose grinned, then formed a hand seal with one hand. Simultaneously, the poison within the Evil Monk's body began to shift.
Feeling the change, the Evil Monk immediately dropped to his knees before Ox Nose. "Brother, don't — don't kill me! As long as you spare my life, I'll be your slave, your workhorse!"
However, Ox Nose paid him no heed whatsoever. Instead, the power of his seal suddenly intensified, and the transformation of the poison in the Evil Monk's body grew even more violent.
But in the next instant, the Evil Monk froze, struck by disbelief.
The poison pill inside him had dispersed!!!
He could feel it clearly — it had truly dissolved, not merely concealed.
"What is the meaning of this?" The Evil Monk stared at Ox Nose, eyes full of confusion, unable to fathom what he was playing at.
"You'll find out soon enough what I meant," Ox Nose said with a smile.
And at that moment, killing intent surged in the Evil Monk's eyes.
After what had just transpired, he knew that Ox Nose was a colossal threat. If he wanted to live — wanted to live freely — he had to eliminate Ox Nose.
And so, the instant killing intent surged, a powerful force erupted from within him. Countless black afterimages materialized as the Evil Monk unleashed a devastating martial technique, arriving before Ox Nose at inconceivable speed, his palm blade stabbing toward Ox Nose's Dantian.
*Whoosh—*
But after the strike, the Evil Monk froze.
Ox Nose — who had been right before his eyes a heartbeat ago — was gone.
He whirled around to find that Ox Nose was already standing behind him, wearing a smile. And that gaze — it made the Evil Monk's blood boil.
Utterly contemptuous. As if staring at a clown.
Back in the day, not even the Totem Dragon Clan had dared look at him that way, let alone this ox-nosed wretch.
"Urrgh—"
The Evil Monk wasted no breath on words, releasing instead a furious roar.
Things had come to this. Words were useless now. Only strength would determine who lived and who died.