Drizzle filled the air, and sohow, the sky beca increasingly dark.
Lightning silently flickered between the clouds, followed by the sound of thunder.
In front of rak Palace.
Two figures, one tall and one short, leisurely moved along the long stone steps.
"Many people call Celestial Maiden, but that was actually a long ti ago."
The woman in white in front wore a Golden Wing Pavilion mask and raised her head to look toward the Daoist Palace ahead.
"The term ’Celestial Maiden’ originates from Buddhism. I was chosen back then, taken to the Great Capital to study the Brahma Celestial Demon Dance. I rember that was many years ago...."
Tong Zhang gazed at the Daoist Palace gate drawing closer, her eyes deep.
"The Sixteen Celestial Demon Dances, I’ve heard of them too," Zhang Rongfang replied softly behind her.
"Yes. If not for Damir the Imperial Tutor’s intervention, I might have beco Ming Fei by now, turned into one of those ten wicked Celestial Demons that tempt the Buddha..."
Tong Zhang reminisced.
"So, the path of Daoism you’ve chosen is good. The path of the Great Dao Teaching is also good."
Zhang Rongfang was baffled. He didn’t even know what they had co here for.
But he saw that Celestial Maiden Tong Zhang had already continued walking forward.
He could only follow.
The two of them walked to the gate of rak Palace.
The two Daoists guarding the gate had seen them from afar, noticing their leisurely chat, peaceful deanor, and attire unlike that of ordinary people.
The two Daoists courteously bowed to them with goodwill.
Celestial Maiden Tong Zhang returned the smile and led Zhang Rongfang further inside.
They crossed the square directly facing the main gate.
Passing by rows of Daoists sitting cross-legged, reciting scriptures.
They arrived in front of the largest main hall in the center of rak Palace.
A large plaque hung above the main hall—Three Pure Ones Hall.
Inside, pilgrims were bustling, Daoists chanting scriptures and ringing bells.
The slowly rising incense smoke filled the hall, making the gold-and-jade statues appear lifelike.
Hu Shizhi, the Hall Master of the Three Pure Ones Hall, was resting with his eyes closed in the right side, deeply asleep when he suddenly sensed sothing amiss and quickly opened his eyes.
A white jade-like arm was silently reaching for his forehead.
A white shadow flashed.
Tong Zhang retracted her right palm and pulled out a golden needle from between her fingers.
Then casually tossed it.
Whoosh!
A flurry of golden needles shot out, and the Daoists on the left who were looking this way fell one after another.
Everyone had needles pierced in their faces and heads, and within two seconds, they lost consciousness, unable to move. Clearly, key acupuncture points had been struck.
So pilgrims worshipping in reverence saw this scene and scread, frantically fleeing outside.
Tong Zhang didn’t mind, only looked up at the statues.
"Later, I joined the Golden Wing Pavilion and understood a truth."
"In this world, nothing cos without a cost."
Zhang Rongfang, hearing this, thoughtfully asked.
"What if you don’t see the cost then?"
"Good fortune will also make people relax," Tong Zhang said softly. "People need pain, need setbacks, to constantly remind themselves."
"Without demons, how could there be Buddha?"
"With redemption, with salvation, only then will people have faith."
Zhang Rongfang understood this principle naturally. Isn’t this the concept of relative existence from modern theories?
He just didn’t expect soone in this world could comprehend it so deeply solely on their own.
The two turned and walked out of the Three Pure Ones Hall, soon greeted by a group of Daoists.
The leading, white-haired old Daoist bowed to them before leading others to seal the Three Pure Ones Hall’s gate.
Tong Zhang seed indifferent, continuing to lead Zhang Rongfang through the Daoist Palace.
Everywhere they stopped, ten or more lives would disappear on the spot.
The golden needles in her hand seed endless, sprinkled liberally like the Celestial Maiden scattering flowers.
Soon, the two of them walked out of rak Palace, leaving behind over a hundred fallen inside the Daoist Palace.
The suppressed sounds of weeping constantly ca from within.
Celestial Maiden Tong Zhang, however, appeared accustod to it.
"Let’s go to the next place."
Soon, soone approached from the side, presenting her with a new box of golden needles.
She carefully stored it away, taking Zhang Rongfang toward another direction.
There, faintly visible, was the location of Dayang Temple.
As Zhang Rongfang left, he turned back to glance at rak Palace, still able to see the Palace Master standing in the center of the square, watching them depart from afar.
"Were those all people who deserved to die?" he couldn’t help but ask.
Just now, when Tong Zhang acted, she even affected so ordinary pilgrims.
"I don’t know."
The Celestial Maiden gently shook her head.
"Can’t you spare so innocent people?" Zhang Rongfang frowned.
Against enemies, he could be utterly ruthless, eradicating every last one.
But toward ordinary people unconnected to him, he didn’t see any benefit in randomly causing slaughter.
"It’s okay," Tong Zhang smiled. "Later, just clean up their families as well."
Zhang Rongfang didn’t an it that way, but he didn’t dare speak further.
In Dayang Temple, Celestial Maiden Tong Zhang walked and killed all the way.
One monk after another, who just monts ago had their palms together in greeting, fell to the ground and slowly faded away.
From the gate to the main hall.
Teams of gray-white armored troops surrounded Dayang Temple.
Since the Celestial Maiden started acting, teams of swordsn charged through the gates, followed by squads of crossbown encircling all sides, allowing no one to escape.
"So many Cloud and Mist Death Warriors!?... How did Dayang Temple ever offend you!? Why must you deal such a vicious hand to us?!"
A robust white-bearded monk wielding a copper staff harshly repelled the combined long swords of three death warriors.
He looked grieved.
The powerful martial skills honed day and night were rendered powerless against so many death warriors and the aiming crossbows.
"Abbot Fang Ye?" Zhang Rongfang recognized him as Fang Ye, the so-called Copper Vajra and top expert of Dayang Temple.
Fang Ye is a dharma na, and it was precisely because of this special dharma na that he rembered this person.
"Celestial Maiden Tong Zhang! How many monks have you killed over the years? Isn’t it enough by now!?"
Fang Ye’s muscles swelled all over his body, and one Limit-Breaking Skill after another erupted in intensity.
His increasingly powerful Qi and Blood made his skin flush red, and even his eyeballs began to fill with blood.
Just by observation, Zhang Rongfang could feel the aura emanating from the other person, giving him a sense of oppression.
"This is the Extre State ford by the combination of Limit-Breaking Skills," Tong Zhang softly explained.
"After the Ninth Grade, one can learn all the Limit-Breaking Skills of a complete set of advanced Martial Arts. Whenever these skills are combined, they form a unique Extre State.
This is also the key reason such arts are recognized as advanced."
Zhang Rongfang suddenly recalled the previous event with the Chasing Moon Saber, where the Ninth-Grade expert Huang Yuzhen seed to have used a similar technique.
Now, it was unexpected that there would be a Ninth Grade here in Dayang Temple!
"Ah!!" Fang Ye, the monk, took a step, swinging his copper staff, and with a bang, he charged towards the two like a cannonball.
Compared to his robust body of over two ters, Celestial Maiden Tong Zhang’s height was even less than Zhang Rongfang, only about 1.7 ters.
The two were like a rhinoceros crashing into a roe deer.
Swish!
In an instant, the two figures passed by each other.
Fang Ye led the charge, taking several steps on the stone-paved ground, his speed slowing more and more.
Thud.
He knelt on the ground, with a golden needle glaringly embedded between his eyebrows, only a little of its tail end left visible.
"You... really...." He completely lost his breath.
Tong Zhang withdrew her hand.
Be it Ninth Grade or ordinary people, they were all like a golden needle in her hands.
However, Zhang Rongfang vaguely felt that the golden needle did not seem to be real gold, but a kind of tal that resembled gold.
He looked at the remaining monks being slaughtered not far away, a naless emptiness suddenly welled up in his heart.
"Why kill so many people? Master, what is our true purpose?" he couldn’t help asking.
"To clear all secret sects," the Celestial Maiden responded.
"Once the bait fishes out the fish, one must clean it all up." Her gaze went past the temple’s main hall doors, landing on the solemn and majestic Buddha statue inside.
"What if we can’t clean them all up?" Zhang Rongfang pursued the question.
"... The secret scripture silk cannot be leaked in any way, nor copied. So if the secret sects cannot be completely cleared...." the Celestial Maiden turned back.
"Then we must raze the city."
"Let’s go, next stop."
She turned and headed towards the temple gate.
Zhang Rongfang froze all over, the earlier answer echoing incessantly in his mind.
*
*
*
Inside Mingjing Palace.
Amidst the chaos, a figure quietly rushed into Zhang Rongfang’s bedroom, picked up the real small box containing the handwritten scripture silk, and ran.
Outside, the experts of the Black Ten Sect were frantically besieging the Silver-faced Cicada.
Though they were initially in a panic, especially with the Snake King turning to leave, which plunged the group into further distress.
But soon, after several deaths, they, as a sect, faced death unafraid, shouting fiercely in a desperate fight.
Cries of killing spread continuously, resembling ripples expanding across a water surface.
Inside the bedroom, the figure carrying the small box, escaped through the back door, leaping over the enclosing wall.
This person was none other than Zhao Tianming, who had been secretly communicating with the Black Ten Sect, using other secret sect informants inside the Black Ten Sect to stir up trouble, achieving his goals.
He quickly rushed out of the Dao Palace, randomly snatching a set of drying clothes from a civilian house by the roadside to conceal the box in his arms.
Then he ran at full speed towards the city outskirts.
As he ran, he continuously zigzagged instead of running in a straight line. This was to avoid being tracked from behind.
Halfway there, he stopped in a grove and used a specially made lockpicker to open the box.
Inside was a roll of handwritten scripture silk, along with so scattered copper-colored tal parts.
Additionally, there was a stack of silver notes worth over seven hundred taels.
"This kid... turns out... indeed he has a significant connection with Bai Ying, even storing such important things here."
Before long, he packed everything carefully, quickly passing through the small forest to a sowhat rugged mountain trail.
On the mountain trail, soone had been waiting for his arrival.
As soon as that person saw Zhao Tianming, he quickly approached him proactively.
"Big Brother, sothing happened with the secret sects."
This person’s face bore an eighty percent resemblance to Zhao Tianming. Of a close age, evidently indicating a blood brother or similar relation.
"An incident suits us well; those fools really thought I was affected by their Mind Confusing Powder. They assud I was worried about the antidote and wouldn’t lie. But unfortunately.... hehe."
Zhao Tianming sneered coldly.
"Big Brother, what should we do now? I’ve already arranged for the family to leave the city. Everyone’s now at our own estate outside the city," the brother said in a deep voice.
"My previous hunch was right; you go and take everyone and head to Weiyang Prefecture! As for , with nothing holding back, everything will be fine!"
Zhao Tianming urged urgently.
"Moreover, take this! I’ll find you later!" he handed over Zhang Rongfang’s box.
"What is this, Brother?" the brother asked curiously.
"Good stuff, life-saving. Inside there’s sothing that can be exchanged for money in ergencies."
Even without the scripture silk, those parts and the silver notes were probably the stock that Zhang Ying had painstakingly accumulated over this ti.
"Alright, I’ll head back then, Brother, be quick."
The younger brother accepted the box and turned to leave quickly.
"Go, go, I’ll co soon," Zhao Tianming let out a leisurely sigh.
Watching as his brother’s silhouette slowly disappeared into the woods.
Buzz!
Suddenly a silver light flashed past.
In the distance, the brother’s body was severed in half. It seed as if scissors had snipped through, cutting him straight off.
Blood splattered, and the small box in his hand flew, tumbling to the ground.
Zhao Tianming’s gaze froze.
He did not look at the box but at his brother’s corpse sprawled on the ground, his face gradually contorting, twitching.
From deep within the woods, Zhang Rongfang slowly erged, bending down to pick up the box from the ground. He sighed.
Opening the box, he imdiately took out the handwritten scripture silk and hid it on himself.
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