Taking advantage of the moment when Agaruka Bodhisattva had been knocked back by Baidi’s charged water-thunder sphere, al-Asura opened his mouth and spat out a sheet of paper. With a hiss, the page burned to ashes.
A loud “thump” came from the staggering Agaruka Bodhisattva’s chest, which caved in slightly, but his Vajra body had not been torn apart.
Warlock—curse of death!
Al-Asura returned part of the damage to this first rank Bodhisattva, but unfortunately, the spell recorded by Confucians had fallen short of the original version. Moreover, a curse of death cast by returning damage was far weaker than one using an enemy’s flesh and blood as the medium.
There were two forms of the curse of death:
Using something worn close to the enemy’s body as the medium, or returning it at the cost of injuring oneself.
The latter was somewhat similar to Xu Qi’an’s Broken Jade, but also different. First, their power was not remotely comparable. Second, the curse of death returned damage in a relatively limited way, targeting the heart and the primordial spirit.
Whereas Xu Qi’an’s Broken Jade was an eye for an eye.
After delaying for time once more with the curse of death, al-Asura’s two severed arms flew back of their own accord and rejoined at the stumps. This was less exhausting than regenerating lost limbs.
For the battle in the Northern Frontier, they had come prepared for a drawn-out fight.
Agaruka Bodhisattva lowered his head and glanced at the dent in his chest, not particularly concerned. Compared with this minor injury, which barely even counted as a flesh wound, the damage caused by the explosion of the water-thunder sphere was more serious instead, leaving him with a fierce burning pain.
Baidi too was a first rank powerhouse. Though that charged strike had not broken the defence of the Vajra Dharma Aspect, it had inflicted intense pain.
Agaruka Bodhisattva had been tempered by countless battles. Although he had never fought Earth Sect Daoists before, nor experienced the power of the Earth Sect’s merit cultivation method, that did not stop him from noticing that his own “luck” had gone a little wrong.
The Buddhist sect had no Confucian righteous energy that repelled all evils, nor the Daoist “one golden core breaks all spells”. But the source of Zen practice—the Immovable Lord Dharma Aspect, could block out bad luck.
But if he used the Immovable Lord Dharma Aspect, then his true body would also become unable to move.
After a brief moment of thought, Agaruka Bodhisattva made his decision. He would ignore it.
Being plagued by bad luck was certainly troublesome, but there was a limit to it. With the suppression of a first rank status against second rank opponents, bad luck could at most bring some minor trouble. Since he had no means of removing it, he would simply disregard it.
Agaruka Bodhisattva sank slightly at the knees, then with a thunderous boom, the plain beneath his feet suddenly collapsed, and he turned into a streak of golden light that shot towards al-Asura.
Al-Asura spat out a dark-gold sabre into his hand.
Taiping Sabre!
Xu Qi’an had lent this half-step magical treasure to al-Asura.
With the Taiping Sabre’s current sharpness, it could cut the fleshly body of a second rank martial artist. Against Agaruka Bodhisattva’s Vajra divine skill, though it could not break his defence with one strike, it was still better than al-Asura using his fists.
The gap in rank could not be bridged, but artefacts, spells, and other external means could make up for it as much as possible.
The dazzling halo drew in and rushed along his arm into the sabre’s edge, adding a layer of radiant brilliance to the Taiping Sabre.
Seeing the golden light crash head-on towards him, al-Asura lowered into a bow stance, turned sideways, and dragged the Taiping Sabre across the other’s body, throwing off a shower of glaring sparks.
Agaruka Bodhisattva’s brow furrowed at once. He felt a searing pain.
Though this sabre had failed to break his Vajra Dharma Aspect, it had still made him feel the threat of a weapon against his body.
The golden light that Agaruka Bodhisattva had become stopped instantly. His right hand clamped onto al-Asura’s wrist, intent on taking the Taiping Sabre away.
Al-Asura loosened his grip and passed the sabre to his left hand, the brilliant blade slashing towards Agaruka Bodhisattva’s eyes.
Agaruka Bodhisattva leaned his body back to avoid the blade, and in the same motion drove his knee viciously into al-Asura’s lower abdomen.
Qi passed through al-Asura’s back and exploded with a bang.
That blow should originally have sent al-Asura flying, but Zhao Shou’s blessing of “One man at the pass can hold ten thousand” was still there, and al-Asura was even fiercer than usual.
Agaruka Bodhisattva gave a cold laugh. With a snap of the waist, his backward-leaning body whipped back, and he smashed his forehead brutally into al-Asura’s face.
Ripple-like qi suddenly exploded. Al-Asura lost consciousness for an instant and was sent flying backwards like a sandbag.
Daoist Jinlian forcefully blew out a breath. The airflow condensed behind al-Asura into a “wind aspect”, carrying him through a sharp turn and drift to avoid Agaruka Bodhisattva’s follow-up pursuit.
The four men on both sides each displayed their abilities and fought fiercely. Al-Asura faced Agaruka Bodhisattva head-on, bearing the pressure, while Zhao Shou and Daoist Jinlian provided support.
Agaruka Bodhisattva, strengthened by the Vajra Dharma Aspect, attacked with overwhelming momentum and relentless ferocity, while al-Asura’s group responded carefully, not daring to allow the slightest mistake.
The former could afford to make errors freely, whereas the latter’s margin for error was virtually zero.
With a straight punch, Agaruka Bodhisattva sent al-Asura flying. Without needing to charge up, he turned into golden light and lunged at Daoist Jinlian on the other side.
Agaruka Bodhisattva’s target was clear. Al-Asura was stronger than an ordinary peak second rank martial artist. Because of his system, he had strong defence and vigorous vitality. Even for Agaruka Bodhisattva, killing this traitor in a short time was difficult.
And Zhao Shou belonged to the Confucian system. Confucians could arbitrarily alter rules and were the most troublesome of all. With the Lesser Sage confucian cap and the Confucian Sage’s carving knife, two peerless artefacts assisting him, Zhao Shou’s level might not be inferior to al-Asura’s.
So among the three, the old Daoist of the Earth Sect was the easiest to bully.
The ground beneath Daoist Jinlian’s feet rose up, forming a stone-armoured giant thirty feet tall. It crossed its arms before its chest in a defensive posture.
Earth Aspect!
Among the Daoist sect’s four great Aspects of “earth, wind, water, and fire”, the Earth Aspect was famed for defence. With Daoist Jinlian’s peak second rank status, the Earth Aspect he unleashed had greater defensive power than a third rank martial artist, approaching second rank.
Bang!
The Earth Aspect exploded beneath Agaruka Bodhisattva’s iron fist. Daoist Jinlian’s chest convulsed as though struck by a battering ram, blood spraying wildly from his mouth. His body curled like a shrimp and flew backwards.
Agaruka Bodhisattva pressed the advantage and stuck close. For high-rank cultivators outside the martial artist system, this was tantamount to a death sentence (for the flesh body).
Zhao Shou flung his great sleeve sharply and said in a deep voice:
“Retreat two thousand feet!”
Daoist Jinlian vanished abruptly and appeared two thousand feet away, narrowly avoiding the fate of having his body blasted apart.
Zhao Shou had not chosen to make Agaruka Bodhisattva retreat two thousand feet, but instead sent Daoist Jinlian to a relatively safe place. The benefit of operating this way was that the backlash from laws following commandments would be extremely, extremely light.
Yet the effect achieved was the same.
A mature Confucian disciple ought to know how to show off his techniques.
After sending Daoist Jinlian away, Zhao Shou flicked the confucian cap and said in a deep voice:
“This sabre will strike true!”
He lightly thrust the carving knife in his hand. As he did so, golden lacquer lit up between his brows and swiftly spread over his whole body, temporarily raising his physique to the level of a third rank martial artist.
The knife in Zhao Shou’s hand broke through the limits of space, and he thrust the Confucian Sage’s carving knife towards Agaruka Bodhisattva’s chest.
Agaruka Bodhisattva knew full well how terrifying this treasure was. His hands quickly formed seals, and for the first time since the battle began, he used the Immovable Lord Dharma Aspect.
But at that moment, the sky suddenly churned with inky clouds, and a pillar of lightning as thick as a water barrel split down, striking Agaruka Bodhisattva dead on.
It paralysed his body and stiffened him on the spot.
The hand seal failed to form.
This was no ordinary lightning. It was Luo Yuheng’s heavenly tribulation.
But for some reason, it had struck the wrong person.
“Pfft!”
The defence of the Immovable Lord Dharma Aspect failed to activate, and the Confucian Sage’s carving knife pierced into Agaruka Bodhisattva’s chest, breaking through his Vajra body as dark-gold blood gushed out wildly.
After landing that strike, Zhao Shou immediately withdrew the knife, as if he did not dare injure Agaruka Bodhisattva any further.
The next moment, the centre of his brow split open and blood poured out. The Confucian cap wreathed in clear light and the carving knife both dimmed a little.
The backlash from laws follow commandments varied in strength according to the effect produced.
Do not be fooled by how Zhao Shou usually talked big, casually making people retreat several thousand feet at every turn, or wildly piling buffs onto his allies. Those were either indirect influences or ways of creating trouble, troublesome to deal with, but they did not cause direct harm.
So the backlash was very light.
But this time was different. This time, he had directly used the power of laws follow commandments to wound Agaruka Bodhisattva with the Confucian Sage’s carving knife.
If not for the Confucian cap and carving knife helping him bear it, the backlash Zhao Shou suffered right now would have been even greater.
Not far away, Daoist Jinlian swallowed a healing pill. His broken breastbone and damaged organs slowly healed, and he said with a smile:
“This poor Daoist is a man of great fortune. To injure me is to invite heaven’s wrath.”
Agaruka Bodhisattva lowered his head and pressed a hand over the wound that had pierced his heart. His expression became exceptionally grave.
Such an injury could not possibly threaten his life, but in the short term, the power of the Confucian Sage’s carving knife could not be removed, and the wound could not heal.
That meant his Vajra body would now have a fatal flaw, no longer flawless and impregnable.
Strength and defence were what allowed Agaruka Bodhisattva to look down upon Jiuzhou. A flaw in his defence would directly result in a loss of combat power.
The beyond-mortal experts on the Great Feng side exchanged knowing smiles.
The tribulation lightning just now had not struck the wrong target. It had struck Agaruka Bodhisattva.
All of this had been part of the plan.
That day in Yongzhou, during the chaotic battle of beyond-mortals, Xu Qi’an, Kou Yangzhou and al-Asura had only barely managed to hold off Agaruka Bodhisattva, despite being three second rank martial artists.
Afterwards, Xu Qi’an analysed the battle and realised the reason was that the three of them belonged to the same system, or similar systems, while their opponent was also in the same field.
Put simply, what Xu Qi’an’s group excelled at was qi, close combat and defence, but no matter how strong they were, could they be stronger than first rank Agaruka Bodhisattva?
He could suppress them from their rank differences in the same system.
After learning their lesson, the beyond-mortal experts of the Great Feng rearranged their combination and found that if the trio’s systems were changed, with one peak second rank martial artist taking the lead and two other second ranks from different systems providing support, the effect was far stronger than three second ranks from the same system joining forces.
Because there was restraint between systems, and every system had its own strengths, there would be more ways to counter the enemy and a greater chance of winning in battle.
For example, when the Earth Sect cut away good luck, Agaruka Bodhisattva had no way to deal with it.
And the Buddhist commandments were restrained by the Confucian vast righteous qi and Golden Core.
That was something three second rank martial artists simply could not achieve.
Of course, al-Asura, Daoist Jinlian, and Zhao Shou still found it very difficult to defeat Agaruka Bodhisattva, but so long as they could tie him down, delay him, and trade blows back and forth instead of being completely overwhelmed, that was enough.
…
“If this set of tactics of yours is to succeed, the crucial point is whether you can withstand my assault.”
Baidi glanced at the four fighting in the distance, then at Luo Yuheng within the tribulation lightning, and finally fixed his gaze on Xu Qi’an, whose body was covered in blood.
“Up to now, I have only used fifty per cent of my strength, and you are already failing.”
It felt that these beyond-mortal experts did have a little cleverness.
But in the face of absolute power, intelligence was not worth mentioning.
Just as it had said, if this set of tactics was to succeed, the key lay in whether Xu Qi’an was qualified to contend against a first rank descendant of gods and demons.
Baidi was not of the martial artist system. It had no danger sense ability, and no Transforming Force ability, but descendants of gods and demons were born with powerful flesh bodies, and in speed and strength they were no weaker than martial artists of the same rank.
Moreover, their innate divine powers possessed tremendous might and destructive force.
It needed only three water thunder spheres to make the young man’s body collapse and disintegrate.
Xu Qi’an took a deep breath. The scorched wounds all over him healed in an instant. He flicked the Sovereign Sword with a bent finger and, amid the clear ring of the blade, said with a smile:
“Then you can use sixty per cent now.”
“Then I shall grant your wish.”
Between Baidi’s horns, a pure black energy sphere formed, collapsing inward. With a crackle, arcs of electricity leapt out and wrapped around its outer layer.
After a brief charge-up, the water thunder sphere shot forth, and arcs flashed away along its path.
Its target, however, was not Xu Qi’an, but Luo Yuheng, attacked in a thoroughly dishonourable sneak strike.
Boom!
Xu Qi’an flashed over and blocked himself between Luo Yuheng and the water thunder sphere. Raising the blade upright, he slashed at the sphere.
The water thunder sphere exploded at once, filling the air with charge in an instant, while arcs flashed and died in mid-air.
Xu Qi’an’s Vajra body was torn apart by the explosion once again, but at this moment, although his flesh split open, white bone was no longer exposed.
He’s grown stronger, just as the intelligence report had shown… Baidi’s tone did not change as it sneered:
“A method of forcing out your potential? Is that what your confidence rests on?”
As it spoke, it did not remain idle. Its four hooves flew, and with the flexing of its waist and back, it pounced like a nimble leopard hunting prey.
Descendants of gods and demons did not fear close combat. In fact, that was one of the means by which they killed enemies.
Taking advantage of the paralysing effect caused by the water thunder sphere, it prepared to kill Xu Qi’an in the shortest possible time and end the battle.
Seventeen bolts of tribulation lightning already…
Xu Qi’an’s body silently collapsed, melted into the shadows, and vanished.
“Running?”
Baidi gave a mocking laugh and spat out two black sharp arrows towards Luo Yuheng.
Compared with Agaruka Bodhisattva, who was being tightly entangled, the only enemy it faced was Xu Qi’an, and Xu Qi’an could not possibly tie it down by himself.
So it could often spare a hand to deal with Luo Yuheng.
While undergoing tribulation, Luo Yuheng diverted part of her focus, raised her right hand in a sword gesture, and controlled a flying sword to slash at the two black sharp arrows.
Boom! Boom!
The sharp arrows condensed from the Water Spirit Sword exploded apart. Luo Yuheng’s body swayed, and her face turned a shade paler.
Xu Qi’an emerged from the shadow beneath Baidi, holding the Sovereign Sword. Yellow light burst forth as he stabbed at its genitals.
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