Chapter 123: Wind, Fire, Thunder, and Lightning

Four Master Wangs stood there.

Each was identical to the original, yet each radiated a distinct aura: one was as passionate as fire, one as swift as the wind, one as steady as a mountain, and one as yielding as water.

"Earth!"
"Fire!"
"Water!"
"Wind!"
"Wind, Fire, Lightning, and Thunder!"

The essence of a monk is "Chi," but they are not limited to Chi alone. Beyond natural energy, powerful monks can manipulate the omnipresent elements. Master Shang Xi could summon howling winds, and both the Wandering Isle and Pandaria are teeming with elemental spirits that share a deep bond with the monks.

"Wind, Fire, Lightning, and Thunder" is the signature technique that synthesizes this ability, although... it was somewhat incomplete.

Setting aside the soul, the four primary elements are Earth, Fire, Water, and Air. Ordinary monks can only split themselves into three elemental spirits—Earth, Fire, and Air—because reconciling Fire and Water is notoriously difficult. When Master Wang integrated the monk cultivation system and passed it on to the adventurers of Azeroth, he used this simplified version. Incidentally, he awarded the most outstanding among them the title of "Grandmaster," issued them hardened khorium certificates signed jointly by the Four Temples and the Shado-Pan Monastery, and then sent them off to clean bathrooms.

Since there are four elements, how could one be missing? A truly powerful Grandmaster can naturally manifest all four elemental spirits, just as he was doing now.

The four elemental spirits charged in four different directions with an aura capable of breaking through an army of thousands.

The "Wind, Fire, Lightning, and Thunder" used by adventurers is usually mediocre. A weak soul cannot even manipulate all the elemental spirits simultaneously; they can barely manage one, while the other two merely mimic the movements of the first, blindly following suit. The legendary Pandaren Brewmaster, Chen Stormstout, was more formidable. He preferred to call this skill "Storm, Earth, and Fire" or "Elemental Split." A powerful soul could manipulate three spirits at once, effectively fighting as three people. If not for his personality being completely incompatible with "Water," that bachelor Pandaren of several decades could easily have split into four.

As Chen’s only apprentice, Master Wang carried this skill forward and developed it further. For both the adventurers and Chen, these elemental spirits had a time limit, but not for Master Wang. This meant he could exist indefinitely in the form of the "Four Elemental Spirits"—one to resonate with Quake, one to heat things up with the Scarlet Witch, one to shake things up with the Wasp, and one to bicker with Nick Fury.

The four Master Wangs, appearing entirely real, were each a different elemental construct. How could a pure elemental body be harmed or destroyed by physical bullets? The five elements form the material foundation of the entire world, and humans are no exception. By splitting his soul into four and reconstituting his flesh into these four elements, he lost his original soft, human texture but gained new abilities and characteristics. Furthermore, due to the connection between the four bodies, each could utilize every skill he possessed.

In other words... "I have never been fighting alone!"

Master Wang adopted the focused stance he used when he sailed the Endless Sea alone, playing cards against himself. He cast aside all distractions and concentrated entirely. In the blink of an eye, over ten men fell. The wind roared, fire burned, floodwaters surged, and sandstorms rose to the heavens. With the strength of one man, Master Wang hunted down hundreds of Hydra elites, incidentally pouring water and mud into their guns and cannons.

Want to open fire? No way!

"What... what is going on?" Seeing this scene, Bakshi was utterly bewildered. "Is my vision failing, or is the world going mad?"

"There is only one truth!" Whitehall remained calm, unflustered by the crisis. "Three of them must be fake!"

During this time, he had investigated many files and captured many people, including members of the Hand and the Chaste. Under his "gentle blade," they had all confessed, spilling the legends of K'un-Lun and the Iron Fist before dying in happy agony. In terms of understanding the Iron Fist of K'un-Lun, Whitehall might even surpass Stick. Hydra possessed many ancient, reliable records; after all, in terms of history, Hydra far predated the Hand or the Chaste—Hydra had watched those organizations grow up.

There was more than one Iron Fist throughout history, but there was only ever one at a time, and none of them possessed any ability to create clones. This was most likely a power derived from the "Darkhold," and in all likelihood, it was an illusion. A person might learn to multitask through long training, but they could never control two bodies simultaneously with such proficiency—it would be unfair to those men and women who pay for 1v2 sessions. And four bodies at that!

Whitehall observed closely but still could not determine which one was fake. Therefore, the only solution was...

"Firepower saturation!" he said coldly. "Bakshi, you said that thing would be useful!"

"It is, it is, it definitely is!" Bakshi wiped away a cold sweat. If the device was useful, he was useful; if it wasn't, he would be on the operating table in minutes. He hurriedly ordered everyone to open fire and deployed their most expensive weapon. Two trucks adjusted their positions, aiming their rear ends toward the four Master Wangs.

"Is this what you called a Stark Industries sonic weapon? Is it stronger than a Jericho missile?" Whitehall was skeptical. They looked like two drums; how much of a "wave" could they produce?

"This is a sonic cannon. It emits extremely powerful sound waves that generate immense impact. It can also automatically adjust its frequency to resonate with an enemy's internal organs, causing weakness, mental instability, and loss of motor function." Bakshi patted the truck bed, guaranteeing the result. "According to reliable sources, General Ross purchased the same sonic weapons from Stark Industries via S.H.I.E.L.D. channels to deal with the Hulk. We have reason to believe that if a sonic weapon can handle the Hulk, it can naturally handle the Immortal Iron Fist. Compared to the Hulk, the Iron Fist is as inferior as Hammer Industries' munitions."

Whitehall’s expression softened. Unless a nuclear bomb was used, it was hard to threaten the Hulk; that monster’s power was simply city-leveling!

From this perspective, while the sonic cannon might not match the Jericho missile in raw firepower, it was clearly better suited for dealing with such monsters.

"Fire," Whitehall ordered.

The two sonic cannons aimed at the four Master Wangs and unleashed their payload. These cannons could adjust input power, output frequency, and coverage area at will. Now, they completely engulfed the four Master Wangs, naturally including the Hydra members being pummeled. They became collateral damage. Whitehall was no human; he was colder and more ruthless than anyone. The sonic cannon could not only kill the Iron Fist but also leave the body intact—which, in Whitehall’s eyes, made it the perfect weapon; he could not afford to damage his experimental subjects.

Wait... Strange, where was that wind coming from?

The wind blew from the left. Whitehall quickly turned his head and saw a woman in a uniform walking toward them. Though not exceptionally tall, she was curvaceous, and the tight uniform highlighted her figure, giving her an aura full of waves. These were not the ripples of a small stream, but the waves of the ocean—each one higher than the last.

His mind immediately began searching its files. Whitehall recognized the arrival: Skye, the world’s top hacker, the Immortal Iron Fist's close companion, and his first apprentice.

What was she doing?

Under Whitehall's gaze, Skye raised her right hand. An invisible shockwave erupted, instantly sending the nearest Hydra members flying like kites with broken strings, launching them over a dozen meters away and incidentally crushing two other innocent bystanders.

Whitehall’s pupils constricted. This... could this be... a quake?

She could actually generate seismic waves! Was the Obelisk related to her? This ability made Whitehall’s heart race. He looked at Skye with fiery eyes, as if he had found the rarest experimental subject in the world, feeling an urge to dissect her on the spot.

"Deal with her first!" Whitehall ordered calmly. He suddenly felt that Skye was the greater threat. The Immortal Iron Fist was but one man, with limited lethality, but Skye’s shockwaves were clearly an area-of-effect attack, and they appeared quite powerful, with a range of at least a hundred meters.

One of the two sonic cannons immediately diverted its aim toward Skye and activated.

"Wang said, when it comes to waves, no one in this world is stronger than me—not even a sonic cannon!" Skye raised both hands, releasing all her energy. "Come on, let's see whose wave is bigger!"