After Yin Biyue finished saying those words, it was as if a black cloud pressed down into the dazzling Buddhist temple.
The monks’ expressions were as dark as ink, and they wished they could remove these two demons who did not know how to show respect.
Jing Hai said in a cold voice, “Since that is the case, then don’t blame this poor monk for being impolite…”
His status was extremely high; ever since he stepped into Greater Vessel Stage six hundred years ago, when was there ever a time someone had defied him? Today, after using his utmost patience to take great pains to persuade Yin Biyue, the person under his eyes was persistently obstinate and unwilling to be reasonable.
Yin Biyue and Luo Mingchuan met each other’s eyes; each had no intention of playing according to the rules. The two seemed to argue out of anger, but in fact, they were actually gauging the monk’s level of cultivation.
Without waiting for Jing Hai to finish his sentence, they began their assault!
Yin Biyue’s figure flew out, his blade slanting horizontally, and stabbed straight at the highest level cultivators, Jing Hai and Jing Yun.
No one thought that he, in the Breakthrough Stage, would take on two Greater Vessels right off the bat.
His sword was like a river opening mountains and splitting stones surging forth, and the prayer flags inside the Buddhist temple billowed as if pebbles and waves were splashing on both banks!
The momentum was immense, as if a vast river appeared inside the buddhist temple.
Yet in the eyes of the Greater Vessels, it was as feeble as a thin stream that could not bear a single blow. The two monks took into account that he was the disciple of the Sword Saint, thus they didn’t use their full power but vowed to keep him here.
They raised their arms to form a seal–a golden light suddenly blocked all paths of the sword’s intent.
At the same moment, Luo Mingchuan made a Great Buddhist Palm, pressing it directly towards the weakest monks and attendants.
With the golden light’s protection in the middle of Buddhist temple, buddhist cultivation methods were even more powerful when used fully. Earlier he exchanged blows with Jing Hai without being at a disadvantage, and now he abruptly put forth his palm and blasted a gap in the beseigement in a split second.
Just as Yin Biyue’s sword intent was about to collide with the two Greater Vessels’ Buddhist Palms, no one expected that before a hit even connected, his body was sweeping backwards at great speed.
Luo Mingchuan was one step behind him, covering his back; one hand facing Jing Hai and Jing Yun’s Palms and the other catching Yin Biyue with flying sleeves.
Both flew out of the gap practically at the same time!
After rushing out of the Buddhist temple, they ran straight towards the mountain behind the temple!
The entire process was just in a matter of moments, and the tacit coordination didn’t have the slightest millimeter of an error!
They knew that if they took advantage of their opponent’s unpreparedness and launched an attack, they would still have a slim chance to get out of the trap. On the contrary, the longer they delayed, the more unfavorable the situation would become because of the difference in cultivation realms.
That was why Yin Biyue’ sword move, ‘Counter Currents Twisting Waters’¹, seemed great, but it was never intended to fight Jing Hai and Jing Yun from the start.
The river pressed forward, yet it turned when it had to turn and curved when it had to curve.
It was without hesitation, flowing naturally!
However, he didn’t expect that when Jing Yun and Jing Hai’s Buddhist Palms had finally caught up with him, Luo Mingchuan didn’t go all out against the seal palm. Instead he first flicked his sleeve with force, sending him out of the temple, and took all the attacks onto himself.
The two of them flew across roof after roof in the Buddhist temple without stopping for a second; their core essences were exerted to the extreme, almost swelling open their meridians, and in a single breath they leapt out over ten feet.
Because there were bound to be many waves of monks at the Shanmen to ambush, especially since the temple’s Golden Light Array’s eye was located there, it was the most difficult to break through. At this point, they could only take the dangerous route and run towards the back of the mountain.
They were extremely fast, but the pressure of the Greater Vessels approached even faster.
With simply a mere thought, Jing Hai disappeared from the buddhist temple, blocking the two’s path.
Jing Yun followed close behind, sealing their path of retreat.
Such a difference in the stages was enough to make one despair.
Not to mention the hundreds and thousands of grey-robed monks coming from all directions like a tidal wave. They flew over the roof of the buddhist temple, and those monks who did not go up, came racing across the ground.
They began to recite the Buddhist sutras; their voices were low and orderly, and when they converged together, they gave birth to majestic power.
Amidst the echoing Buddhist sutras, the entire Xingshan Temple was surrounded by a circle of golden light that reached the sky.
The ‘Golden Light Array of Buddha’s Seal’ was thus opened; the scriptures didn’t stop, and the formation remained intact.
Jing Hai’s expression looked calm and indifferent, turning the buddhist beads with one hand and holding a golden staff with the other, still as a mountain.
Before the two came near, the buddhist staff suddenly started to vibrate, and the four rings on top of the staff struck each other; the sound was like a bell, spreading far and wide, deafening to the ear.
The staff was originally intended to be used by Buddhist monks for waking up sleepy monks, and it was mostly seen as a solemn treasure, its might enormous. Jing Hai’s famous ‘Great Compassion Staff’ was his life’s practice. Currently it was wielded with its full power to the point the all the golden tiles on the eaves followed the energy and shot out.
Instead of retreating, Luo Mingchuan advanced; his speed remained unchanged. Chen Zhou was held upright in front of him, just like an immovable buddhist staff weighing over a thousand pounds!
“Clank——”
The Great Compassion Staff and the long sword struck each other, the sound was ear-splitting, and the countless golden tiles that flew into the air exploded into fine dust.
From the corner of Luo Mingchuan’s mouth dripped a line of blood, but his feet did not retreat even a fraction.
Jing Hai looked at his pitch-black pupils and his identical ‘Great Compassion Staff’ that he created, and said coldly, “A demon as expected…”
At the same time, Yin Biyue turned back to face Jing Yun behind him, with countless blinding rays of light spewing out from his sword!
It covered the heavy golden light, like an incomparable bright sun that appeared in the Buddhist temple.
Without hesitation, when he struck at this time, it was the strongest move of all.
The Sword Saint’s Sword of Midday Sun in a Clear Sky!
Yi Hu seemed to fully feel its master’s state of mind, furious yet determined. The sword hissed mournfully, piercing through the vast scripture chanting, straight into the heavens!
This sword was even more truthful and powerful than the one he had performed at Zhong Ming Mountain.
Jing Yun clasped his hands together, lowering his eyebrows and his eyes; his lips moved slightly, and he began to silently recite the scriptures. All the while his exposed skin unexpectedly turned to a pale gold color.
When the edge of the sword approached his face, he was still standing there, but his entire body was like a true gold casting, glowing brightly. His countenance was compassionate yet indifferent.
He was like a real Buddha.
It was precisely the Buddhist’s divine ability, the ‘Immeasurable Dharma Body’.
The strongest sword move in the human world against the dignified Buddha of the heavens.
The mournful sword whistle stopped abruptly, like a clay ox entering the sea, and the sword’s bright sunlight was swallowed up into the developing grand Buddha’s aura….
It was to be expected, so Yin Biyue wasn’t disappointed. He knew he wasn’t the Sword Saint, so even if he learned the most powerful Sword of Midday Sun in a Clear Sky, he would only be able to learn one or two of its truths. How can it break the ‘Immeasurable Dharma Body’ of a Greater Vessel?
Thus as he sent forth his sword, his left hand moved slightly, and a string of small sandalwood buddhist beads struck across Jing yun’s face. It was the temple inauguration gift given to him by the Jie Kong Temple elder at the base of Zhong Ming Mountain.
But in the next moment, Yin Biyue’s expression changed, because his sword actually pierced through the golden kasaya, leaving tiny spots of blood on his opponent’s chest.
Jing Yun startled slightly.
He had neutralized the Sword of Midday Sun in a Clear Sky’s momentum, but he was unable to block Yi Hu’s blade.
It was unbelievable, against common sense, but it really did happen.
Without waiting for him to move, a string of buddhist beads greeted him head-on, expanding in rapid speed. He recognized it as a spiritual artifact of the Jie Kong Temple and hesitated. It was only within that one instant, that the string of buddhist beads burst in the air!
Yin Biyue did not hesitate to pull back, knowing that the depth of the sword’s blade had reached its limit. At the same moment, Luo Mingchuan and Jing Hai’s ‘Great Compassionate Staff’ were indistinguishable; but with a flip of his wrist, his sword slanted horizontally, and his figure retreated back, flying back towards the mountains together with Yin Biyue.
Their aim from the beginning was to break through the trap, not to compete with the Greater Vessels.
The golden dome of the Buddhist temple behind them, however, could not withstand the mighty aftershocks of the fight and collapsed with a rumble!
But the grey-robed monks’ chanting didn’t stop for a moment.
Their voices grew louder and louder, like the swift rain and abrupt winds, rolls of thunder and flashes of lightning, falling onto Yin Biyue and Luo Mingchuan’s ears, almost shattering their heart meridians.
Jing Yun and Jing Hai didn’t chase after them anymore.
There was no longer anyone in the temple who stopped them either.
Because the ‘Golden Light Array of Buddha’s Seal’ had fully activated.
It was as if the entire Xingshan Temple was enclosed in an iron dome!
The two of them sped along, having no time to worry about their injuries, leaving every bone in their bodies to suffer the acute pain of shattered bones.
Yin Biyue’s countenance looked cold and detached. He gripped the hilt of his sword. Blood streamed down the sword’s edge.
It was naturally not Jing Yun’s blood. The ‘Immeasurable Dharma Body’ failed to shatter his sword, but the mighty pressure went up the blade and shattered Yin Biyue’s mental sea of knowledge.
He took a glance at Luo Mingchuan, only now realizing that he had tied his right hand to Chen Zhou, blood soaking through the cloth ripped from his robe.
Now that he remembered, it seemed that he had heard the sound of bones cracking when he was against Jing Hai and Jing Yun’s Palms in the temple; it turned out that at that time, Luo Mingchuan’s wrist was already shattered.
This was only the damage that could be seen–he did not know how badly injured Luo Mingchuan’s internal organs and meridians were.
It was reasonable to say that for the two of them to fight against the strongest people at Xingshan Temple today was enough to shock the cultivation world.
At this point, they’ve long reached the end of the line.
The edge of the array was getting closer and closer, and just by being close, the supreme pressure contained within it was overwhelming.
Before they had entered the temple, the words engraved on the gates were ‘Endless Sea of Suffering.’ Between the gloomy towering mountains and ridges, four large golden characters ‘Turning Back There’s Shore’² were casted.
The blood-colored sun at the edge of the sky was striking in a different way.
Luo Mingchuan didn’t stop. He asked, “Shidi, do you still believe me now?”
This one sentence wasn’t a question, but what he was about to do next was bordering on madness.
If he could, he rather wished that the road ahead of the endless sea of suffering was faced by him alone.
But Yin Biyue did not hesitate, “Yes.”
It wasn’t that he couldn’t turn back, but rather, he didn’t want to.
Dark clouds covered the moon, and tonight the sea was exceptionally silent and pitch-black.
Huge black shadows broke the surface of the sea, silent and swiftly moving.
Twelve masts, five floors, over a hundred feet tall. Such a gigantic creature was travelling on the sea like the wind; it was not like a ship, but like a fast floating island.
The anchor alone on the Northern Continent imperial family’s ‘Dragon Travelling Treasure Ship’ had a weight of two thousand pounds, and it would require two to three hundred men at a time to move it. Sailing at full speed for a day would cost 600 jin of crystals. Crystals were a form of energy, and because they could be used by spiritual cultivators, they were also called spirit stones, one of the common currencies of the continents.
A crystal stone mine within one’s hands was the foundation of a large clan. The same was true for other resources.
No matter how powerful Cang Ya was, in the Western Continent, there was also the Bao Pu Sect and the Jie Kong Temple facing it.
No matter how rich the Southern Continent was, there was also the QingLu Sword Sect and Xingshan Temple dividing up the resources.
Likewise, in the Central Continent, major families depended on the Lian Jian Sect and Lan Yuan Academy, and every year they had to share huge amounts of wealth.
Only the Northern Imperial Family was able to monopolize the resources of the entire Northern Continent.
Duan Chongxuan stood at the very front of the fourth deck, his expression indifferent.
The sea breeze poured into his sleeves, raising the cascading garments, and the silver ribbons on his jade coronet danced in the air as well.
He stood at the bow of the ship overlooking the sea, as if standing on a platform above thousands of worshippers overlooking all living beings.
It was already the third day the ship was on sea. There was no moon tonight, and the surroundings was the pitch-black, vast ocean.
The commander stood behind him and tried to persuade, “Your Highness, the night winds at sea are very cold…”
Duan Chongxuan ignored it, but he asked, “Wang Xi, how many years did you join the army?”
The man respectfully returned, “Four hundred years ago, I passed the examination to join the Cloud Chasing Riders and served as a right-hand man under God General Zhou. I was also fortunate to have His Majesty’s holy grace and was promoted to be the commander of the Palace’s Imperial Guards.”
Duan Chongxuan then asked, “Where are we headed?”
The commander’s face drained of color, not knowing why he asked that, and threw himself on his knees, “I take it upon myself to escort Your Highness back to the palace.”
Duan Chongxuan shook his head, “How many benefits did Xian Wang give you to make you think that the bargaining chip of betrayal was enough?”
His tone was still faint, but it fell on the ship’s board like a thunderbolt!
The middle-aged commander raised his head, the reverence and respect slowly fading; he stood up and straightened his back.
His expression became strangely calm, but he didn’t make a move, “I’m curious to know, how did Your Highness know?”
The Dragon Travelling Treasure Ship was real, and so was the Imperial Guard, so where was the flaw?
Just then, a mournful phoenix chirp echoed about!
The ship’s stern was collided with fire, burning into the night!
Duan Chongxuan’s complexion changed.
That was Luan Er.
…
1) 江来江去水潆洄 – The river comes, the river goes, the water swirling into eddies. Feel free to interpret what this means, since the chapter delay is entirely because I (Syn) got so tired of trying to make this sound Cool and Deep.
2) 回头是岸 – the translation is literally word for word this time, but the meaning is something to the effect of “turn back and repent”.