Arhat Du’e turned back with a calm expression and looked at the young monk behind him.
“Who did you lose to?” the red-lipped, white-toothed young monk repeated.
Arhat Du’e’s expression didn’t change. He pressed his palms together and said:
“Kou Yangzhou.”
He didn’t try to “argue”, nor did he offer much explanation, because there was no need.
Though martial artists were crude, at the same realm no system could utterly crush and defeat a martial artist. It was perfectly normal for a second rank Arhat to lose to a second rank martial artist.
Samantabhadra Bodhisattva gave a slight nod.
“How are the other two Bodhisattvas?”
Du’e cast his gaze towards the distant monks, but didn’t see Vaidurya Bodhisattva or Agaruka Bodhisattva.
“They’ve gone out on business,” Samantabhadra said flatly.
Du’e nodded. After a brief hesitation, he still asked:
“And the Buddha?”
Samantabhadra pondered for a second, then suddenly smiled and said:
“He is beneath our feet.”
In the darkness, the boy’s smile carried a trace of indescribable eeriness and menace.
Arhat Du’e clearly felt a chill rise in his heart. He quickly murmured a Buddhist invocation under his breath and suppressed the emotions in his heart.
Then he heard Samantabhadra say:
“The Buddha has given an order. The propagation of Mahayana Buddhism is forbidden. From today onwards, you are not to preach scriptures and spread the faith anywhere.”
But no matter who wins or loses this war, once the situation stabilises, he will sooner or later settle accounts and snuff out the flame of Mahayana Buddhism completely… Wei Yuan’s words surfaced once more in Arhat Du’e’s mind.
He looked deeply at Samantabhadra Bodhisattva, then turned back to sweep his gaze across the Buddhist monks before withdrawing it and saying in a low voice:
“I understand.”
Samantabhadra went on:
“We, Vaidurya Bodhisattva, and Agaruka Bodhisattva have discussed it. After autumn begins, we shall hold a grand Buddhist assembly and summon all believers of the Western Regions to come to Ananda on pilgrimage.”
Having said that, without waiting for Arhat Du’e’s reply, he turned into golden light and vanished.
Arhat Du’e stood there in silence. A moment later, he sat cross-legged on the spot and, together with the monks in the distance, chanted scriptures to deliver the dead.
In the night, his ravine-lined face showed neither joy nor sorrow.
A careful observer would notice that Arhat Du’e had his back to Ananda, facing east.
…
The capital, Lingbao Temple.
Having just finished dual cultivation, Luo Yuheng sat lazily by the side of a small pool. Her fair and dainty bare feet soaked in the water, lightly splashing it.
Her feather robe hung loosely over her body, the collar slightly open, revealing a patch of creamy white skin and the cleft between.
On the water twenty feet away, Xu Qi’an stood motionless with his eyes closed. Beneath his feet, ripples spread out in rings.
Suddenly, the ripples changed direction without any pattern. From spreading outwards, they turned inwards. The rings that had been expanding from beneath his feet began converging back towards them.
After this process lasted for more than ten seconds, the ripples abruptly stilled. It was as though the water’s surface had suddenly frozen, without the slightest disturbance.
Luo Yuheng narrowed her beautiful eyes halfway. Her tone was as languid as a noblewoman who had just woken from sleep, entirely lacking the aloof air of a celestial maiden. Her red lips parted slightly as she said:
“To control qi to such a degree is no easy feat. It adds quite a lot to combat strength.”
Xu Qi’an opened his eyes, half pleased and half sighing:
“This belongs to the category of technique. When the gap isn’t too great, technique can decide victory or defeat.”
But if the gap in raw strength was too large, technique was meaningless.
Overwhelming force broke all skill.
These past days of bitter training hadn’t been in vain. His use of qi had reached a pinnacle. To put it vividly, it was like a fifth rank martial artist at Transforming Force, except that Transforming Force was perfect control over the body.
What he had was perfect control over fortune. Even if he released qi externally, he could still control it exactly as he wished.
“National Teacher, how does an Earthly Immortal advance to the great perfection stage?” Xu Qi’an asked.
Luo Yuheng pondered for a moment, then said in her magnetic voice:
“There are improvements in two aspects. First, one’s control over earth, wind, water, and fire becomes increasingly deft, and the elemental power one can mobilise grows stronger. Second, the Human Sect’s three sword arts, Qi, Heart, and Control, are strengthened.
“The Heavenly Venerable should be in the middle stage of Earthly Immortal. He doesn’t really have more methods than I do, but he’s still stronger than me. That’s because the elemental power he can mobilise is greater than mine.”
Xu Qi’an nodded.
“It seems the martial artist system really is quite special.”
A first rank martial artist and a peak first rank martial artist were entirely different realms.
A first rank martial artist and a half-step Martial God were on completely different tiers. After witnessing Shenshu’s complete form, Xu Qi’an had come to that understanding.
Luo Yuheng stretched her waist gently, pushing her exquisite curves to their limit. In the afternoon sunlight, she radiated a drowsy languor.
“Ever since you came back from the Western Regions, you’ve been somewhat downcast. Just how powerful is a Beyond-rank?”
Xu Qi’an fell silent for a moment, then said softly:
“Unfathomably powerful.
“When facing the Buddha, all my tricks were meaningless. The strongest impression I had was that only absolute, ultimate violence could overpower a Beyond-rank.”
Luo Yuheng frowned.
“Ultimate violence, like a half-step Martial God?”
“No!” Xu Qi’an shook his head.
“A half-step Martial God is at most qualified to contend with a Beyond-rank. Even now, I still can’t estimate where a Beyond-rank’s limit lies.”
Being qualified to contend didn’t mean being qualified to become a mortal enemy.
At that moment, Luo Yuheng frowned slightly and pulled her loose feather robe tighter, covering her half-bared fragrant shoulders and the snowy fullness of her chest.
With a casual wave, she dispelled the barrier set outside the courtyard.
A young Daoist hurried over and stopped outside the arched courtyard gate.
“Silver Gong Xu, something’s happened at the Sitianjian!”
…
In the deep sea, the light was dim. The collision of dark currents and the sound of surging flow were the only dominant notes.
“These past few days I’ve been uneasy. It seems something has happened on the Jiuzhou continent.”
The enormous monster floated along the seabed like a silent, swift submarine.
One of the six long horns atop the monster’s head glowed faintly, and the Jianzheng’s detached voice came from it:
“If nothing unexpected has happened, then a half-step Martial God has reappeared in the world, and the Buddha should have fully awakened as well.”
Desolation said flatly:
“A half-step Martial God… Didn’t they say the martial artist system has never produced a Martial God?”
It was rather confused about the existence of a half-step Martial God. Though it had crammed history from various sources such as Xu Pingfeng, Desolation had never dealt with the yao of the Southern Marches and didn’t know much about Shenshu.
The Jianzheng chuckled.
“A half-step Martial God was one of the Buddha’s attempts. An attempt to break the seal. An attempt to advance to Martial God.”
Amid the crashing tide, the enormous monster drifted for a long while. Desolation slowly transmitted its voice:
“That sounds as though there are quite a few secrets behind it.”
The Jianzheng answered every question.
“Back then, the Confucian Sage actually tried to exterminate the Buddha. He destroyed eight of his Dharma Aspects, leaving only the Great Sun Tathagata, but discovered that no matter what, it couldn’t be destroyed, so he sealed Him instead. In order to break free of the seal, the Buddha used the body of the Asura King to shape a half-step Martial God.
“His original intention was to try taking the martial artist route and leave himself a backup path, but he failed. In truth, that was inevitable…”
“A Master of Heaven’s Mandate can see through the future, but not the past. Why do you know all this?” Desolation asked in surprise.
“The carving knife told me,” the Jianzheng said with a trace of laughter in his voice.
“It’s just that the fellow can’t speak and can’t actively communicate with people.”
“It was sealed?” Desolation saw through it at once.
That horn sealing the Jianzheng emitted a faint white glow, and his voice came along with the rise and fall of the light:
“After the carving knife gained intelligence, it gathered talent qi and noble spirit as the Confucian Sage used it to write books and establish his teachings. But as its thoughts gradually matured, it developed ideas of its own. It began trying to teach the Confucian Sage how to write books, how to choose words and phrases. The Confucian Sage found it annoying, so he sealed it.”
…
Desolation fell silent for a moment, then commented:
“Very ambitious.”
Listening to the Jianzheng’s account, Desolation could picture that scene. The Confucian Sage held the carving knife and wrote, but the knife had thoughts of its own, saying: No, no, no, there’s a problem with this passage, let me teach you…
“So you removed its seal for it?”
“No, I can’t undo the Confucian Sage’s seal. I can only use a secret art to bypass the seal and converse with it,” the Jianzheng said.
“Mm, forging artefacts is an Arcanist’s speciality.” Desolation brought the topic back on course.
“Why do you say the Buddha’s failure was inevitable? You seemed to say before that in ancient times there were no conditions for advancing to Martial God, but now there are.”
The Jianzheng gave a soft laugh.
“You seem to value Martial Gods highly. Mm, because of the Buddha’s own nature, if it had been the other two, Shenshu wouldn’t have become entangled with the Queen of the Wanyao Kingdom because of intense emotion, nor would he have broken with Buddhism over love and passion.
“Excessive seven emotions and six desires are not a good thing.”
Desolation gave a snort. The Jianzheng’s answer was vague and didn’t directly answer its question about Martial God.
“A half-step Martial God is at most only on the level I am now. Compared with a Beyond-rank, it’s still far inferior.” Desolation’s words carried disdain for Shenshu.
“How strong were you at your peak?” the Jianzheng smoothly followed this thread of conversation.
Desolation said:
“The power of a Beyond-rank isn’t something you can fathom. Be it the Warlock God, the Buddha, or the Gu God, once they prepare to devour the Great Feng, no one in the Central Plains will be able to stand against them. That is why I chose to retreat at the time and didn’t want to tangle with Xu Qi’an.
“The time left for me is short. Now still isn’t the time for me to awaken. There is no meaning in competing with a first rank martial artist.”
When It mentioned the Warlock God and the Buddha, Its tone held gravity, without the slightest contempt.
“I told you before. Back then, ‘Dragon’ and ‘Claw’ fought a decisive battle in the deep sea. The oceans boiled, and the tsunami they stirred up submerged three thousand li of the Jiuzhou continent. The later war of gods and demons shattered Jiuzhou itself.
“These are not things a first rank cultivator could do.”
How terrifying was a Beyond-rank? In a word—world-destroying!
“So, where are you taking me?” the Jianzheng asked.
“Aren’t you a Master of Heaven’s Mandate? Why do you need to ask me?” Desolation sneered.
“Well, aren’t I sealed by you?” the Jianzheng sighed.
“With me gone, the Sitianjian is leaderless. I only hope no trouble breaks out. It is, after all, the work of my lifetime.”
Desolation sneered.
“The Sitianjian has probably already changed Jianzhengs. You should accept your fate.”
The Jianzheng gave a dismissive snort.
“My few disciples may be disappointing, but they at least understand the basic principle of honouring their master and respecting the Dao. Change the Jianzheng? I’m not dead yet. Who would dare!”
Desolation said flatly:
“Since you are the gatekeeper, you should know the Warlock God’s background.”
…
The Sitianjian.
On the broad Bagua Platform, as far as the eye could see, there was a dense mass of white-robed Arcanists.
The white-robed Arcanists were sharply divided into five camps. Their leaders were Second Senior Brother Sun Xuanji, Third Senior Brother Yang Qianhuan, Fourth Senior Brother Song Qing, Fifth Senior Sister Zhong Li, and Little Junior Sister Chu Caiwei.
It was worth mentioning that behind Chu Caiwei there were only six white-robed Arcanists, the youngest six years old and the oldest twelve, all with childish faces.
Each of them had a deerskin waist pouch hanging from their belt for storage, containing the heartfelt affection of Senior Sister Chu Caiwei, pastries and snacks.
These people were the new disciples Chu Caiwei had taken in. More precisely, they had been accepted on behalf of their master. They were the first core members of the Foodie Clique, Chu Caiwei’s first batch of lackeys.
Sun Xuanji, whose features, bearing, and height were all utterly ordinary, glanced at Protector Yuan.
Protector Yuan strode out, swept his gaze majestically across the assembled Arcanists, and said in a deep voice:
“The Jianzheng-teacher is absent. We ought to manage the Sitianjian properly in his stead. Stop making trouble and all of you go back.”
Song Qing, hearing this, said coolly:
“If you don’t want to compete for the position of Jianzheng, then you may withdraw voluntarily and leave with your people.”
Protector Yuan turned to glance at Sun Xuanji, and his tone changed at once, brimming with fighting spirit:
“Since ancient times, the eldest has been established, not the youngest, the legitimate line, not the concubine-born. The position of Jianzheng can belong to none but me.”
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