The two agents were also sensible. To avoid damaging the Lotus Temple during the fight, they deliberately lured the two stitched monsters away from it, moving the battlefield into the bamboo forest.
This perfectly suited Bai Qi's intentions. Bai Qi hadn't really wanted to kill these two agents from the start. After all, if the two agents went missing, S.H.I.E.L.D. would definitely intervene.
Given S.H.I.E.L.D.'s influence in the US, it was hard to say they wouldn't find him.
At present, Bai Qi didn't have the strength to be an enemy of S.H.I.E.L.D., or rather, he couldn't afford to fight S.H.I.E.L.D. before dealing with the protagonist group.
With the two agents lured away, Bai Qi seized the opportunity to enter the Lotus Temple.
After taking two steps, Bai Qi suddenly remembered something and turned back to see the bound monk.
This guy was quite sensible, not making a sound from the beginning.
Two laser beams shot out, and the monk instantly turned into ashes.
"Sorry, you know too much."
Upon reaching the entrance of the Lotus Temple, Bai Qi didn't enter immediately. Instead, he opened the gate of the Shadowkhan Kingdom, and Bai Qi's true form slowly walked out.
That's right, it was Bai Qi's true form.
Through the Rat Talisman, Bai Qi had broken free from the restraints of the statue and could move in the world in his true form.
Unlike other ruins, the Lotus Temple was different. Even though it had entered the Age of Dharma's End, the magic within the Lotus Temple was unaffected. Standing at the entrance, one could feel the surging magical aura.
Coupled with the guardian that could spit freezing rays, Bai Qi dared not confront it head-on with his physical body. He decided to use his true form as a precaution.
Even when using his true form, Bai Qi was precise.
At this moment, Bai Qi had only integrated the Sheep, Dragon, Dog, Rat, and Pig talismans into his body. He had temporarily not placed the remaining ones within his body to avoid the righteous energy's backlash.
Entering the Lotus Temple, he scanned the surroundings. The not-so-large main hall surprisingly corresponded to seven or eight doors. Those who knew it was a temple might think it was a labyrinth.
Bai Qi wasted no time. He walked to the center of the hall and punched the floor.
In the original work, the magical scrolls were all concentrated in the library below. Time was pressing, so he decided to take the most valuable things first.
He smashed through the floor, and indeed, there was another hidden space below. Upon entering, various magical scrolls were placed on rows of shelves and piled on the ground. It was like a treasure trove.
Bai Qi immediately ordered the Shadowkhan Ninjas to quickly record all the incantations on the scrolls.
Despite the large number of magical scrolls here, they could not be taken out of the Lotus Temple.
To prevent theft, the former monks had placed enchantments on each scroll, making them impossible to remove from the Lotus Temple, even when taken into the Shadowkhan Kingdom. That's why Bai Qi had the Shadowkhan Ninjas record all the contents of the scrolls.
Roar!
A roar was heard, and then two Shadowkhan Ninjas, who were recording incantations, were frozen into ice sculptures by a sudden freezing ray.
The guardian of the Lotus Temple, a white, furry monster that looked like a rabbit, appeared before Bai Qi.
The guardian spewed freezing rays, and Bai Qi, not to be outdone, retaliated with dragon's breath.
The two opposing forces collided, causing considerable destruction. The Shadowkhan Ninjas caught in the blast instantly turned into wisps of black smoke, and many magical scrolls were also destroyed.
This pained Bai Qi greatly; these were all precious items.
Realizing he couldn't fight here, Bai Qi rushed to the guardian after the beam clash, landed an uppercut on its jaw, then grabbed its long fur and, exerting force with both arms, threw the guardian into the main hall on the floor above. Bai Qi then leaped out of the library and into the hall, engaging the guardian in a one-on-one duel.
At this moment, although Bai Qi was not empowered by the Ox Talisman, it did not mean his strength was weak. On the contrary, even without the Ox Talisman's enhancement, Bai Qi could level a mountain with his bare strength alone. This was the power of a demon.
Demons are demons, especially Shendu. This great demon, who could fight evenly with the demon-like child who gathered the demonic energy of eight demons even without talismans, found the formidable guardian to be a mere trifle.
With a punch, he hit the guardian squarely in the face, disorienting it, and then proceeded to beat it thoroughly.
As for why Bai Qi didn't use a powerful move to destroy the guardian, it wasn't that he didn't want to.
The guardian's power came from the entire Lotus Temple. It existed with the entire Lotus Temple as its energy supply. Unless the entire Lotus Temple was destroyed, or all the magic within it was depleted, the guardian could not be eliminated no matter how many times it was defeated.
Bai Qi did not want to destroy the Lotus Temple. This place was extremely mysterious. The magical scrolls were just the tip of the iceberg of the Lotus Temple's many secrets. Perhaps treasures comparable to the twelve talismans were hidden somewhere.
However, in the majority of Shendu's memories that Bai Qi inherited, he couldn't find the corresponding magic to break the Lotus Temple's enchantments. Therefore, he couldn't explore the Lotus Temple further for the time being. But this wouldn't stop him from coming back to deal with it once he had the strength in the future.
Keeping it was more useful than destroying it. It might come in handy someday.
For the next five hours, the guardian was almost dragged across the ground by Bai Qi. Only when the Shadowkhan Ninjas finished recording all the magical scrolls did Bai Qi reluctantly throw the final punch and leave.
As soon as Bai Qi and the Shadowkhan Ninjas left, the two agents, having dealt with the stitched monsters, returned to the Lotus Temple.
They saw that their clothes were torn to shreds by the stitched beasts, and they had multiple wounds that had been hastily treated.
Looking at the Lotus Temple before them, and thinking of the guardian's terror, the two agents ultimately did not enter the Lotus Temple again.
This caused Bai Qi, hidden in the bamboo forest, some disappointment.
With less than half an hour until dawn, Bai Qi had originally planned to seal the gate after the two entered the Lotus Temple, turning them into one of the guardians of the Lotus Temple. But now, it seemed Bai Qi's twisted amusement couldn't be realized.
Returning to his office with the Shadowkhan Ninjas, Bai Qi immediately separated the Rat Talisman from his body. His true form turned back into a statue, and his soul entered the child's body, forcefully interrupting the black energy's enhancement.
Just now, when he was fighting in his true form, he could clearly feel wisps of black energy drilling into his body, constantly strengthening his power. This enhancement was very gentle, like a mother's care.
It wasn't that Bai Qi didn't want to become stronger; he desperately wanted to. Facing the pressure from the protagonist group and S.H.I.E.L.D., which weighed on him like a mountain, Bai Qi constantly wished to become stronger quickly. But now was not the time.
The talismans were not yet all in place, and the preparations were not complete. If he were to break through the seal with the help of the black energy now, he would at best be a premature baby and would also face a fierce backlash from the righteous energy.
Bai Qi, who had reawakened in the child's body, sat in his seat, sweating profusely and gasping for air.