Shenshu is an Asura, is he the Asura King!?
This was the first thought that surfaced in Xu Qi’an’s mind.
If Shenshu was an Asura, the only identity that fit him would most likely be that of the legendary Asura King, said to have been sealed and suppressed beneath the sacred Mount Ananda by the Buddha with the Demon-Sealing Nails.
But according to legend, that Asura King had long perished in entirety.
As for whether it might have been another member of the Asura race, Xu Qi’an deemed it impossible. The reason was simple: after the death of the Asura King, the title of “al-Asura” had been inherited by the Asura King’s youngest son.
This showed that al-Asura was the greatest warrior among the Asura race.
Based on this, if Shenshu was of the Asura race, then as someone at the half-step Martial God stage, he could only be the Asura King.
Shenshu is the Asura King, the Asura King and the Sovereign of the Wanyao Kingdom were lovers, the Nine-Tailed Fox is the daughter of the Asura King and the sister of al-Asura… Xu Qi’an muttered inwardly:
How interesting!
However, there were still many puzzles that could not be explained, the main one being a problem with the timeline.
According to Xu Qi’an’s understanding, the surrender of the Asura race to the Buddhists occurred at least a thousand years ago, if not longer, while the Sixty Year Extermination of the Yao happened five hundred years ago.
In other words, the Asura King should have already fallen a thousand years ago, so if Shenshu was the Asura King, there was something odd about it.
Just imagine, if the Asura King had been converted to Buddhism, the Buddhist sect would certainly have widely publicised it, written it into the Buddhist scriptures, and announced it to all believers, thus establishing the prestige of the Buddhist sect.
They would not have claimed that the Asura King was destroyed by the merciful and compassionate Buddha.
That’s right, the exchange, Shenshu and the Buddha had some unknown deal…
Xu Qi’an’s mind stirred, vaguely grasping something, but time did not permit him to ponder further, as the qi emanating from al-Asura grew ever more frightening.
A shadow blanketed the entirety of Nanfa Temple.
Standing nine feet tall, with jet-black skin, muscles knotted like lumps of iron, and a prominent brow ridge above an ugly face, al-Asura at this moment resembled a god of war striding from the depths of hell.
Beneath the bulging brow, those sharp eyes gleamed with a blood-red light.
From those eyes, Xu Qi’an saw bloodlust, savagery, and battle.
The Asura race were born warriors.
“Amitabha!”
Not just Xu Qi’an, even the monks of Nanfa Temple struggled to adapt to al-Asura’s current state.
They ceased forming the formation, chanting the Buddha’s name as they slowly withdrew.
When al-Asura entered a berserk state, the dominant trait was that he would no longer see kith nor kin.
Xu Qi’an gripped the Taiping Sabre, focused his mind, and glanced skyward, the second shot from Sun Xuanji was starting to gather.
If Shenshu really is the Asura King, could al-Asura know this? If he doesn’t, perhaps I could take the opportunity to win him over… Xu Qi’an’s mind shifted, and he sent a voice transmission:
“Do you know who is sealed within the tower?”
“The Demon Monk!”
al-Asura replied, his voice no longer youthful and mellow, but carrying a cold indifference that looked down upon all.
“What if I told you, he is your father, the Asura King, the previous al-Asura?”
Xu Qi’an said through voice transmission.
“So what if he is? Once one enters Buddhism, all things are empty.”
al-Asura responded indifferently.
Just a mere hatred for killing one’s father… Witnessing this al-Asura, Xu Qi’an remembered what the breathtakingly beautiful Vaidurya Bodhisattva had said when she arrived from the Western Regions to the capital and helped Xu Pingfeng capture him:
Once one enters Buddhism, all things are empty!
His heart chilled.
If Vaidurya Bodhisattva had succeeded with him back then, his situation would hardly be any better than al-Asura’s now.
“Clang clang…”
al-Asura flicked out pitch-black claws from his fingertips, glimmering with a jet-black sheen. His figure vanished as if teleporting, and in an instant, he appeared before Xu Qi’an.
So fast… The visage of al-Asura’s ugly face was reflected in Xu Qi’an’s pupils. Battle instinct overtook thought, and he slashed with the Taiping Sabre.
“Spurt~”
Dark-golden blood spurted, the severed arm fell together with the Taiping Sabre.
The Executioner Phala together with his asura physique, the vajra divine art can’t withstand it at all… Xu Qi’an leapt right, bracing himself with his remaining arm, and tumbled in a beautiful somersault.
As he moved, he picked up his severed arm, activated Broken Jade, returning the injury to al-Asura and interrupting his rhythm of attack.
A deep claw wound appeared on al-Asura’s pitch-black right arm, but it did not tear his arm apart.
He clenched his fist tightly, muscles bulging, and his injury instantly healed.
The power of Broken Jade has declined, to less than fifty percent… Xu Qi’an felt a sinking in his heart, and then merged into the shadows.
Where Xu Qi’an had just been, al-Asura’s tall figure suddenly appeared, slamming his right fist down, targeting Xu Qi’an’s head.
Xu Qi’an reappeared a dozen or so yards away, slashing to the right with the Taiping Sabre.
Clang!
Sparks flew, striking al-Asura’s suddenly appearing chest.
At the same time, having delivered the blow, Xu Qi’an once again disappeared into the shadows.
He surfaced below the Sealing Tower. Clang! Sparks flew as Xu Qi’an yet again used shadow jumping to vanish.
Across the vast western courtyard, the two engaged in a bizarre battle, sometimes appearing in the east, sometimes in the south, sometimes only a “clang” was heard and sparks were seen, the fighters themselves invisible.
Xu Qi’an was no longer just a brutish man who only knew how to fight head-on. Now that he wielded the Sevenfold Gu, he commanded a wealth of flashy skills.
First, he concealed his presence using the “Shifting Stars and Swapping Constellations” spell, then intertwined that with shadow jumps so that al-Asura never knew where he would emerge. Even if he pursued at terrifying speed, he could never anticipate Xu Qi’an’s movements, always a half-step too slow.
But this strategy had a flaw: Xu Qi’an had to keep shifting repeatedly, non-stop. If he slowed down, for example to try sabotaging the Sealing Tower, he would be caught by al-Asura.
And the Sealing Tower was enveloped by a formation of sixty-eight monks, even Xu Qi’an could not easily destroy it.
“Boom!”
A dazzling beam of light descended once again, illuminating Nanfa Temple.
Sun Xuanji’s second bombardment had arrived, but this time the target was not al-Asura, but the Sealing Tower.
Bang bang!
Crack!
The golden light enveloping the outer layer of the Sealing Tower had thinned even further. Roof tiles had shattered, the walls were cracked, and the structure had suffered extensive damage.
The pillar of light vanished immediately after. Sun Xuanji manipulated the Stupa tower to ascend into the air, gathering strength and preparing for the next strike.
At this moment, the restraining effect between cultivation systems became apparent. If it had been the Church of the Warlock God’s Master of Rain or a Daoist beyond-mortal present, Sun Xuanji absolutely would not have dared to fly so high, as both possessed the ability to summon thunder.
But the Buddhist system’s methods, while strange and unpredictable, rarely included spells that manipulated the forces of heaven and earth.
Two more times and we’ll blow open the Sealing Tower…
Xu Qi’an secretly felt exhilarated.
Ordinarily, if Senior Brother Sun had acted himself, breaking the formation would have been a breeze. But it was clear that Senior Brother Sun was afraid of al-Asura and dared not come down.
The chase continued until preparations for the third shot was complete. The barrel spewed out a pillar of light a metre in diameter and once again bombarded the Sealing Tower.
Nanfa Temple was once more shrouded in daylight.
At this moment, Xu Qi’an noticed that al-Asura was gone.
He had not come after Xu Qi’an.
At the same moment, al-Asura appeared atop the artillery platform. He had evaded the detection formations Sun Xuanji had arranged all around and appeared on the artillery platform without a sound.
At the artillery platform’s height, a beyond-mortal Martial Artist could not have landed silently. The sky, unlike the ground, had no foothold, Martial Artists could rely on explosive force to teleport over short distances.
But in mid-air, with nowhere to brace oneself, Martial Artists moved slowly and drew attention, impossible to hide from a third rank Arcanist, let alone with the detection formations radiating from the artillery platform.
However, there was one spot the detection formation could not cover, one place Sun Xuanji would not notice.
That was the pillar of light fired from the barrel.
Al-Asura charged up to the artillery platform, against the current of the light.
By this point, his inky-black skin was covered in burns, blue smoke rising from his body, giving off the smell of charred flesh.
He stood less than thirty feet from Sun Xuanji.
And now, Sun Xuanji was in his true body, not a puppet substitute.
A mortal situation!
Bang… Al-Asura threw a punch, like a cannonball launching from its barrel, tearing through the air.
A clear light formation lit up upon the artillery platform, transforming into a tortoiseshell-like great defensive array. But before Al-Asura’s overbearing and peerless punch, it collapsed into motes of light.
Even Xu Qi’an’s Vajra Divine Art could not withstand such a blow, let alone a mere protection formation.
Just then, a figure suddenly appeared in front of Sun Xuanji, arms spread wide to meet Al-Asura’s fist.
Xu Qi’an!
The obsidian fist instantaneously pierced through Xu Qi’an’s chest, pulverising his heart in an instant.
It was then that Sun Xuanji finally reacted. From his sleeve slid a modified musket, and with a single stride he darted from behind Xu Qi’an, aimed at Al-Asura’s chest, and pulled the trigger.
The inscribed formation on the musket lit up instantly, and a dark-gold nail shot out.
At the very moment Sun Xuanji pulled the trigger, Xu Qi’an triggered Broken Jade, causing Al-Asura’s chest to collapse and burst into a bloody wound, breaking through even his indestructible flesh.
“Pfft…”
The Demon-Sealing Nail pierced Al-Asura’s chest.
His sharp eyes dulled slightly. He looked down in shock at the dark-gold nail embedded in his heart.
The blackness of his skin receded like the tide. Al-Asura staggered backwards, clutching his chest, his aura plummeting precipitously.
We did it…
Xu Qi’an and Sun Xuanji exhaled at the same time.
This had been their agreed plan. Facing a second rank Arhat combined with a third rank Vajra, neither Xu Qi’an nor Sun Xuanji had been arrogant enough to think they could deal with the enemy so easily.
A headlong fight was out of the question, they needed a strategy.
The Demon-Sealing Nail was their trump card.
Only this weapon could heavily wound a Martial Artist and sap the opponent’s combat power. In fact, it was perhaps even more effective than the Sovereign Sword.
The facts proved it to be so. If Xu Qi’an had borrowed the Sovereign Sword once more, there was no saying whether it would have subdued the enemy, but the Great Feng’s divine artefact might have ended up lost forever in the Southern Marches.
Al-Asura’s strength was beyond what a third rank Martial Artist could contend with, and there was every risk of losing the weapon.
In Xu Qi’an and Sun Xuanji’s plan, al-Asura would definitely do whatever he could to eliminate the third rank Arcanist, who could easily break open the formation. And the “frailty” of an arcanist would naturally cause a Martial Artist to let down his guard, if only slightly.
Therefore, the Demon-Sealing Nail had to be fired personally by Sun Xuanji.
The only risk was that Senior Brother Sun also had to bear the risk of death.
But the Arcanist system’s teleportation formation greatly reduced that risk. Upon noticing al-Asura’s disappearance, Xu Qi’an instantly shattered the jade teleportation token.
The teleportation location had already been set beforehand, on the artillery platform, directly in front of where Sun Xuanji would stand and fight.
Xu Qi’an endured the pain in his chest, grabbed al-Asura by the throat, leapt from the artillery platform with him, and tumbled down.
“Senior Brother Sun, break the seal!” Xu Qi’an shouted.
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