We bear people have power

"These characters are really ugly," Guan Bo complained.

Before Guan Bo could react, Zhang Yuanshan's expression changed, and he quickly advised, "Keep your voice down, don't say that!"

"What? Is there some taboo?" Guan Bo asked curiously.

“Let me tell you, this divine skill was taught by an immortal. I heard that back then, anyone who said this word… was ugly, all suffered terrible misfortune. The wicked flower thief, the Golden Fan Scholar, was punished by heaven for saying this, and he didn’t even leave behind a complete corpse,” Zhang Yuanshan said with great seriousness.

Guan Bo listened with skepticism: "Really? Then this immortal is really petty."

Zhang Yuanshan: "..." He dared not respond to that.

Guan Bo didn't continue complaining and began to carefully read through the manual of divine skills.

I originally thought that such a secret manual that could be given away so casually must have major flaws, like the "Nine Yin Manual" which would cause qi deviation if practiced by someone who doesn't understand the Daoist canon, or the Starry Sky Sect's poisonous skills that can only be cultivated with the Divine Wood King Cauldron.

However, after reading the entire manual, there was nothing difficult about it; apart from the illegible handwriting, there was really nothing difficult to understand.

Seeing Guan Bo's surprised expression, Zhang Yuanshan said, "When I first got this manual, I also suspected it was fake, but in reality, the divine skill is this simple. If you don't believe me, try practicing it right away."

Hearing this, Guan Bo didn't hesitate and began to guide the spiritual energy of heaven and earth into his body according to the method in the manual. The beginning went smoothly, the process went smoothly, and the ending... also went smoothly.

It went very smoothly, without any difficulty whatsoever. Guan Bo simply sat cross-legged, adjusted his breathing according to the manual, and used hand seals to draw upon the spiritual energy of heaven and earth, and then... he succeeded.

As if in a joke, the spiritual energy of heaven and earth poured into Guan Bo's body and began to circulate throughout his body. Normally, martial artists at this time would guide the spiritual energy of heaven and earth to open their meridians, strengthen their physique, and enhance their internal strength.

The level of spiritual energy is much higher than the internal energy cultivated through martial arts. Therefore, no matter what kind of kung fu you practice, you can more easily open up your meridians and cultivate a more refined internal strength.

This manual has no restrictions and does not require you to dissipate your power and start over. It is the best auxiliary technique. Anyone can use this technique to turn the ordinary into the extraordinary and turn common martial arts such as Black Tiger Steals Heart into Nine Yin White Bone Claw.

But after circulating through Guan Bo's body without finding any meridians to open, the spiritual energy of heaven and earth drilled into his stomach.

A feeling of fullness and warmth washed over Guan Bo, making him feel as comfortable as if he had eaten ten cows.

More importantly, he noticed that the green line, which had remained unchanged for a long time, had actually grown a little bit.

"So these green lines are related to the spiritual energy of heaven and earth. The so-called essence, energy, and spirit—essence is blood and essence, which is the red line; energy is spiritual energy, which is the green line; and the remaining blue line should be spirit, something like a divine soul or spiritual power." Guan Bo felt that he was beginning to grasp a little bit of the clue.

However, another question puzzled him, so he asked Zhang Yuanshan, "Aren't you afraid that someone with ulterior motives will steal the Demon Extermination Alliance's secret manuals just by giving them away so casually?"

“Of course I’m not afraid, this divine skill…” Zhang Yuanshan was about to explain when he suddenly heard a strange sound.

The croaking sound was like the puffing of a bullfrog, but it sounded like the earth shaking.

Where in the world can a bullfrog make such a loud noise?

Zhang Yuanshan said with a wry smile, "Look, here comes this person with ulterior motives."

Guan Bo was puzzled, but he noticed that the members of the Demon Extermination Alliance in the branch had all put down their work and looked as if they were facing a formidable enemy.

However, Guan Bo saw that Zhang Yuanshan's expression was not particularly tense. He simply said to Guan Bo, "A powerful enemy is attacking, so please excuse me. But don't worry, Warrior Guan, we can handle it."

After saying this, Zhang Yuanshan bowed to Guan Bo and walked towards the crowd with his sword.

Guan Bo's gossip-loving spirit was burning brightly; Zhang Yuanshan had only said half of what he was saying.

Holding the halberd, which had been scorched into a hammer shape by the demonic fire, Guan Bo followed in Zhang Yuanshan's footsteps.

On the gate of the branch headquarters, a fat man was squatting.

This branch of the Demon Extermination Alliance was a wasteland cleared by a group of experts, surrounded by a simple wooden wall. The main gate was quite imposing, built like a small archway, with the words "Demon Extermination Alliance Pingdingshan Branch" written on it.

The fat man climbed to the top of the main gate, squatted on the plaque, and started babbling.

Guan Bo walked closer and saw that this was not a fat man at all, but a person whose whole body was bloated like a toad.

With its croaking sound, its body swells and contracts, just like a real toad.

"I thought it would be a martial arts world like 'Twin Dragons of the Tang Dynasty,' but it suddenly turned into the style of Stephen Chow's 'Kung Fu Hustle'?" Guan Bo exclaimed, looking at the almost inhuman-looking thing.

"Brother Yuanshan, what on earth is this thing?" Guan Bo asked.

Zhang Yuanshan said with a wry smile, "It's the person I was just talking about, the one with ill intentions... Ah, Guan, be careful!"

Zhang Yuanshan's words were interrupted again, because the toad-man had jumped down from the signboard and rushed straight into the crowd.

The signboard was five zhang tall, yet the toad-man landed without a sound. Apart from the croaking sound, not even a speck of dust was stirred up. This clearly showed that his lightness skill had reached an extremely high level.

However, the members of the Demon Extermination Alliance were not afraid at all. Groups of seven or eight, or as few as five or six, surrounded the toad-man.

The members of the Demon Extermination Alliance followed closely, cautiously tightening the encirclement. The toad-man croaked a few times, then sprang to life, becoming a blur.

The speed was too fast; Guan Bo only saw a blurry shadow.

However, the members of the Demon Extermination Alliance seemed to have been prepared. The moment the toad-man disappeared, several people who were nearby connected their inner strength and used a combined attack.

When the toadman reappeared, he had already run into one of the five-person squads.

With a deafening roar, the toad-man collided violently with the team of demon-slaying alliance members. Even with the combined internal energy of the five members, they couldn't withstand the toad-man's charge and were sent flying.

Although these people coughed up blood in mid-air, he was not fatally injured and quickly retreated as soon as he landed.

The remaining combat squads methodically continued to surround the toadmen, repeating the previous cycle.

The toad-man's speed was unstoppable, but gathering five or more people could slow him down. After this happened three times in a row, the Demon Extermination Alliance paid the price of more than a dozen people being injured, finally exhausting the toad-man.

The toad-man panted heavily, leaping frequently, but he could no longer unleash the same unparalleled power in his previous attacks.

"It's time!" Zhang Yuanshan shouted, drawing his sword and charging into the battlefield.

His lightness skill was remarkable; he easily bypassed the "human wall" of the Demon Extermination Alliance and thrust his sword at the toad-man.

The sword flashed brilliantly, showing that Zhang Yuanshan had given it his all.

But when the sword struck the toad-man's ever-expanding back, it was as if it had grazed the tough old cowhide, leaving only a shallow wound, with hardly any blood flowing out.

The toad-man, in pain, croaked loudly and stretched out his palm to strike Zhang Yuanshan. Before it even reached him, the wind from the palm had already stirred up dust, stinging Zhang Yuanshan's face. If he were hit by this palm, Zhang Yuanshan would probably be torn to pieces and die a violent death.

However, Zhang Yuanshan was prepared. His footsteps were like a phantom, narrowly avoiding the attack, and he slashed the toad-man with his other hand.

However, this sword strike was even weaker, barely even breaking the skin.

In a one-on-one fight, Zhang Yuanshan would definitely not be a match for the Toad Man, even though he had already exhausted a lot of his internal energy.

Zhang Yuanshan's sword couldn't seriously injure the toad-man, while the toad-man could kill him with a casual strike. No one could guarantee that he could dodge it next time.

But as the saying goes, even a good tiger can't withstand a pack of wolves, and Zhang Yuanshan wasn't the only expert in the Demon Extermination Alliance.

Whoosh whoosh whoosh, four more people joined the battle, each wielding a knife, spear, club, or other weapon, and began to beat the toad-man mercilessly.

The toad-man's internal strength was stronger than the five people combined, but he seemed to have some mental issues and couldn't use any sophisticated moves, so he could only rely on brute force to fight his way through.

Guan Bo watched this scene with lingering fear. If those bandits and the man in black robes had even a tenth of the tacit understanding of the Demon Extermination Alliance, he probably would already be dead.

The premise of "overpowering all techniques with one force" is that your strength must be ten or a hundred times greater than your enemy's, so that you can defeat them with sheer force regardless of any combination of techniques.

However, Guan Bo knew he wasn't at that level yet. At least with his current skill level, he wouldn't be much stronger than the Toad Man when surrounded.

"Sure enough, I need to put in more effort to get big enough." Guan Bo set himself a very precise goal.

Compared to any exquisite martial arts techniques, Guan Bo felt that it was easier to spend his time eating more and increasing his strength than to improve his skills.

The five, who had been working in perfect harmony, had completely surrounded the toad-man, forcing him to defend and leaving him no chance to counterattack. Guan Bo thought victory was assured, but at that moment, one of the Demon Extermination Alliance experts wielding a long spear suddenly changed his expression, and his movements instantly slowed down.

Their flawless teamwork immediately revealed a flaw, and their perfectly coordinated attack formation began to falter.

Although the toad-man was not in his right mind, he sensed that the force of the encirclement was weakening. With a strange cry, he rushed out of the encirclement and tried to break out.

Fortunately, this toad-man wasn't very smart and was only focused on escaping; otherwise, Zhang Yuanshan and the others might have lost several lives if they had acted ruthlessly.

The Demon Extermination Alliance initially surrounded the Toad Man with a human wall, but as Zhang Yuanshan's group of five gained the upper hand, they slightly widened the area, giving the five more room to maneuver and move around.

The toad-man ran away and actually broke through the encirclement.

Guan Bo had only been watching the show; he possessed only brute strength. He hadn't considered that such an ingenious combined attack formation, if rashly joined in, would only cause chaos. At that moment, the toad-man fled in a panic, choosing Guan Bo's direction by chance.

Guan Bo only saw a bloated monster charging towards him, with an aura that seemed to want to smash everything in its path.

"Well done! Take this!"

Guan Bo shouted and swung the ugly hammer in his hand, smashing it straight at the toad-man!