Li Miaozhen?!
Why is she here…
The room fell into a brief silence. Everyone’s expression shifted slightly, with awkwardness, surprise, shame, and so on. Of them all, Daoist Jinlian and Chu Yuanzhen were the most embarrassed, one was a steady and dependable senior, the other a learned and gifted top-scoring scholar.
The loftier the image they’d built up, the more awkward this moment became.
Al-Asura couldn’t help wanting to press his palms together to ease the awkwardness. Though he’d called it preparing for a rainy day, for a dignified second rank expert to gossip in private about someone else’s secrets still damaged his image and bearing in the end.
By comparison, Xu Qi’an, Miao Youfang, and Li Lingsu were the least embarrassed. A bastard, a wandering swordsman of the jianghu, and a scumbag. The advantage of having a lowly persona was showing itself now.
“Heh, why’ve you stopped asking around?”
Li Miaozhen swept her gaze over them all, very satisfied with their expressions.
Everyone gave dry laughs.
Daoist Lanlian was unwilling to let this chance pass, and sneered:
“This poor Daoist doesn’t mind. If there’s anything you want to ask about, just ask.”
After spending so long together, how could she not know what sort the members of the Heaven and Earth Society were?
The moment she heard them egging Protector Yuan on in the Bagua Platform to read her mind, Li Miaozhen knew that afterwards someone would definitely pry in secret. So she pretended to leave the Sitianjian, then secretly doubled back. She happened to run into Protector Yuan just after he’d come back from the privy, and on a sudden inspiration, hid herself inside the soul-nourishing sachet and lay in wait for the rabbit.
She just hadn’t expected there to be so many rabbits…
The atmosphere was rather awkward. Li Lingsu, Miao Youfang and the others kept glancing at Xu Qi’an, hoping he’d step out and ease the mortifying mood.
Only he could coax Li Miaozhen into a good mood.
Miaozhen’s become cleverer, she’s getting harder and harder to deal with… Hmm, if everyone’s socially dead, then it’s like no one is socially dead. Fine, fine… Xu Qi’an cleared his throat and said:
“After three days apart, one ought to look at someone anew. Miaozhen, seeing how you’ve grown, this Silver Gong is greatly comforted.”
Li Miaozhen gave a coquettish snort.
Xu Qi’an immediately raised a topic to divert everyone’s attention:
“Since we’re nearly all here, let’s not wait till tomorrow. We may as well discuss right now the matter of attacking Ananda and rescuing Shenshu’s head.”
Daoist Jinlian said with righteous solemnity:
“Tell us your thoughts.”
Everyone cooperatively put on serious expressions, as though pressing matters were what counted.
Since he’d forcibly dragged the conversation onto proper business, Li Miaozhen couldn’t very well keep mocking the whole group. She muttered inwardly:
Xu Ningyan only knows how to act shamelessly!
“I plan to have Huaiqing, Yang Gong, Kou Yangzhou, and the National Teacher stay in the capital to deal with possible attacks from beyond-mortal experts of the Church of the Warlock God. As for the battlefield at Ananda, Agaruka Bodhisattva will be dealt with by me. As for Vaidurya Bodhisattva and Samantabhadra Bodhisattva, how to arrange for them is what we need to discuss most.”
Xu Qi’an glanced at al-Asura and said:
“Among second rank experts, both al-Asura and the Nine-tailed Heavenly Fox are close-combat types. Facing the Dharma Aspects of those two Bodhisattvas, I’m afraid it’ll be rather difficult.”
Though martial artists could rampage without restraint, their greatest flaw was that they couldn’t keep people from fleeing.
When facing other experts of the same realm, if they couldn’t beat you, they could just run. They might even turn back and spit at you, saying:
“Pah, crude martial artist!”
And there’d be nothing you could do about it.
Al-Asura tapped the table, seeming somewhat displeased:
“Though my path is similar to that of a martial artist, I have the Executioner Phala and the Worthy One Phala. Compared with a martial artist, I have far more room to manoeuvre.”
He looked arrogantly as if to say, “Don’t lump me in with crude martial artists.”
“Besides, the Nine-tailed Fox also has many methods, it’s just that her spiritual essence hasn’t fully awakened, or perhaps it’s inferior to the strength of her physical body, so she hasn’t used them.”
Martial artists really are a profession despised by everyone. When I advance to Martial God, I’ll make all the beyond-mortal experts of every system in Jiuzhou kneel and sing their submission… Xu Qi’an asked in return:
“So?”
Al-Asura said:
“For Samantabhadra Bodhisattva, with the Nine-tailed Heavenly Fox and me joining forces, and with Zhao Shou assisting, will be enough to handle him.”
With Zhao Shou wearing the Confucian cap and carrying the carving knife, he was equivalent to second rank. In past battles, they’d worked out that with three second rank experts joining hands, they could more or less deal with a first rank of the Buddhist sect.
Of course, that required complementarity and coordination between different paths.
If they were from similar fields, then even three second ranks facing a first rank would only be thrashed.
A positive example was Luo Yuheng’s tribulation-crossing battle, al-Asura, Zhao Shou, and Daoist Jinlian.
A negative example was the beyond-mortal battle outside Xunzhou City, al-Asura, Kou Yangzhou, and Xu Qi’an.
Also, the three-against-one calculation only applied to Buddhist Bodhisattvas. There was no combat data for first ranks of other systems, so those didn’t count.
Al-Asura continued:
“Among the Buddhist Bodhisattvas, Agaruka has the strongest combat power, but the one publicly acknowledged as the hardest to deal with is Vaidurya Bodhisattva.”
Li Miaozhen frowned:
“Vaidurya Bodhisattva?”
Al-Asura nodded and said:
“She controls the Vaidurya Dharma Aspect, also called the ‘Colourless Lapis Lazuli Dharma Aspect’, as well as the ‘Walker Dharma Aspect’. The former is a domain. Once trapped within that domain, abilities, thoughts, and movements all become incomparably slow. Only Vaidurya herself can move freely.”
The beyond-mortals present outside the martial artist path all felt a chill in their hearts.
To them, this move could be called an ultimate trump card.
“The range of the Colourless Lapis Lazuli domain is roughly six hundred feet in every direction, not especially large. But she happens to control the Walker Dharma Aspect as well. In terms of speed, Vaidurya Bodhisattva is the fastest person in all Jiuzhou today. Supreme speed, then the domain unfolds, and no one can escape.
“That’s why I said Vaidurya is the hardest to deal with.”
After al-Asura finished speaking, Li Lingsu pondered and said:
“If Confucian spells were used to forbid the unfolding of the domain, would that counter her?”
Zhao Shou wasn’t present, so Xu Qi’an answered on his behalf:
“That is one way, but if you directly injure or restrain someone stronger than yourself in rank, the backlash will be severe. It can’t be used casually unless it’s a critical moment. It can be used as a trump card.”
Li Miaozhen then looked at the orange cat Daoist:
“If Daoist, by sacrificing yourself for the Dao, could use the power of merit to kill her in return?”
“Great idea!” everyone was delighted.
…The orange cat raised a paw and smacked the table hard.
“Don’t joke around!
“If this poor Daoist dies at Vaidurya Bodhisattva’s hands, then she’ll definitely be plagued by bad luck afterwards and find it hard to survive the chaotic beyond-mortal battle to come. Even if this poor Daoist is prepared to martyr myself, Vaidurya Bodhisattva might not be willing to kill me.”
You could treat Daoist Jinlian as a shit-stirring stick. So long as his opponents aren’t prepared to die with him, no one dares touch him. The Earth Sect really is shameless… Xu Qi’an grumbled inwardly.
“That’s not right!” Yang Qianhuan, as an Arcanist, shook his head.
“You can offset bad luck with fortune. If the Buddhist sect uses fortune, Daoist Leader, then you’ll have died for nothing.”
The orange cat’s face showed vigilance.
Xu Qi’an comforted him:
“Something like fortune is treasured by the Buddhist sect. They won’t use it on you. Besides, only Arcanists can control and use fortune. The Bodhisattvas of the Buddhist sect don’t have that ability.”
Even he had only awakened the national fortune within him and gained control over the power of all living beings after getting his skull smashed wildly by the Fate-Scattering Hammer.
And all of that had still required an Arcanist’s help.
The Beyond-rank Buddha might be able to control fortune, but the Bodhisattvas definitely didn’t possess such ability.
The orange cat relaxed slightly.
Chu Yuanzhen glanced at Li Lingsu, who was frowning in thought, and smiled.
“If I remember rightly, that Vaidurya Bodhisattva is a rare, peerless beauty. Why not send the Holy Son? Handling women is what he’s best at.”
Li Lingsu said indignantly:
“Why not Xu Ningyan? He’s obviously the most heartless, faithless, womanising man of all.”
No, no, no. I’m in the fine arts route. My target market is high-quality young beautiful women, while you’re just a public hire bicycle, with girls taking turns riding you… After finishing his lampooning, Xu Qi’an backhanded Protector Yuan with a slap and knocked him to the ground.
Protector Yuan got up clutching his face and said aggrievedly:
“Why did you hit me?”
Xu Qi’an said apologetically:
“Sorry, conditioned reflex.”
Protector Yuan silently shrank over to Sun Xuanji’s side. In this cold Central Plains, only Senior Brother Sun could give him the tiniest sense of security.
Sun Xuanji glanced at him. Protector Yuan immediately understood and read his thoughts aloud:
“I remember when Xu Ningyan killed Zhende, teacher Jianzheng injured Vaidurya. How did he do it?”
Xu Qi’an pondered briefly, then replied:
“If it went as expected, it was by relying on ‘brute force’ to smash through it. At the time, Vaidurya was in the Central Plains, and the Jianzheng could mobilise the power of all living beings.”
An Arcanist’s methods were neither many nor few. The ability of a Master of Heaven’s Mandate was to glimpse the future, so in truth the Jianzheng didn’t have many ways of breaking an enemy either.
The orange cat swished its tail and said:
“In other words, as long as one has the battle strength the Jianzheng had back then, one can break Vaidurya Bodhisattva’s colourless domain.”
Everyone looked at Xu Qi’an together.
The orange cat shook its head.
“When Xu Ningyan mobilised the power of all living beings, his battle strength had already surpassed the Jianzheng’s, but if it’s in the Western Regions, he’d still fall a bit short.”
Hearing this, everyone around the table looked worried.
Vaidurya Bodhisattva was extremely troublesome, a being truly capable of threatening their lives.
Apart from al-Asura and Xu Qi’an, every other beyond-mortal present was in mortal danger.
At this moment, Xu Qi’an said slowly:
“If I work together with the Sovereign Sword, I should be able to break Vaidurya Bodhisattva’s colourless domain.”
Everyone was shocked.
Al-Asura found it hard to believe.
“Your cultivation has improved that quickly?”
He refused to believe that after stepping into first rank, Xu Ningyan could still continue advancing by leaps and bounds. That was impossible.
What a monster. Even with national fortune on him, it shouldn’t be this outrageous… Chu Yuanzhen and the others were all secretly dumbfounded.
“Not exactly!” Xu Qi’an explained. “My Sevenfold Gu has already advanced to beyond-mortal. The Strength Gu’s ‘blood sacrifice’ can raise my battle strength for a short time. Together with the Sovereign Sword, my battle strength probably won’t be worse than the Jianzheng’s was back then.”
I’d nearly forgotten this lad also knows Gu arts… al-Asura felt much better at once.
Could the Sevenfold Gu have hidden dangers? I should find a chance to remind him… Li Miaozhen was more worried that this item originating from the Gu God might bring the danger of backlash.
Daoist Orange Cat said with a trace of anticipation:
“Perhaps this time, we’ll be able to thoroughly uncover the relationship between the Buddha and Shenshu.”
At this, the members of the Heaven and Earth Society all felt some anticipation. They were about to uncover the mysterious veil over a Beyond-rank being.
After another quarter of an hour of discussion, Miao Youfang seized the chance to voice a doubt:
“Is it possible that the Church of the Warlock God’s beyond-mortals will be lying in ambush in the Western Regions? We think we’ve guessed their plan, but in fact they’ve guessed that we’ve guessed their plan.”
No one spoke.
“No,” Xu Qi’an broke the silence, saving his disciple some face as he said:
“Both the Church of the Warlock God and the Buddhist sect covet the Central Plains. They’re in competition with each other. Once they go to the Western Regions, who can guarantee the Buddhist sect won’t turn on the Church of the Warlock God? Don’t forget, the Buddha broke free of the seal long ago. It can take action, while the Warlock God is beyond reach.
“Whilst the two sides fight Sarun Agu will take the chance and seize the profits, and make a move against the Great Feng, but he definitely won’t risk everything just to kill us.”
Miao Youfang looked around. Seeing everyone’s expressions unchanged, he knew this bunch had already thought of that point long ago.
I’m still not clever enough… Miao Youfang felt ashamed for a second.
“Senior Brother Sun, is there any way to refine the essence of a first rank expert?” Xu Qi’an suddenly asked.
At the side, Protector Yuan read thoughts and translated:
“I only know the formation for refining Blood Pills, but that can’t refine the flesh-and-blood essence of a first rank expert. Are you planning to…?”
The people around the table all raised their brows and looked at Xu Ningyan, a bold guess rising in their hearts.
Xu Qi’an nodded.
“I’m planning to take this opportunity to kill Agaruka Bodhisattva, refine the essence of his flesh and blood, and step into the middle stage of first rank.
“Of course, this isn’t the main objective, so there’s no need to force it. Agaruka’s defence is too terrifying. We may be able to defeat him, but not necessarily kill him. Besides, as you said, the method for refining Blood Pills can’t extract the flesh and blood essence of a first rank expert.”
This was the quickest way to advance to the middle stage of first rank that the Nine-tailed Fox had learned from Shenshu on his behalf. Agaruka followed a dual cultivation system of Zen Master and Warrior Monk. He himself counted as half a martial artist, which happened to suit Xu Qi’an well.
But crudely swallowing flesh and blood raw meant the absorbable essence was limited, not enough to support his advancement into the middle stage of first rank.
Yang Qianhuan said irritably:
“Stupid!
“Leave this kind of brainwork to Song Qing. Give him a chance to refine the essence of a first rank expert and he’ll be so happy he won’t sleep for seven days and nights while researching.
“If even Song Qing can’t do anything, then there’s no point considering it.”
Right, there’s still that genius freak Song Qing. Alchemy in the field of biology is his speciality… Xu Qi’an’s eyes lit up.
The Jianzheng’s disciples might each be freaks, but they really are useful… everyone thought with feeling.
Xu Qi’an brought the discussion to a close:
“Then that’s all for today. We’ll gather at the Sitianjian in two days and attack Ananda.”
…
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