"Starting from the Western Regions, let the Buddha’s radiant light fill every corner of Jiu Zhou!"
As Hui Neng spoke, he beca more and more excited, his compassionate expression turned slightly ferocious.
Although the young monk couldn’t fully understand, he felt inexplicably uneasy, sensing that his senior brother seed to have changed into a different person.
"There’s no ti to waste, seize the chaos to find the Dragon Vein!"
Hui Neng took a deep breath, cald himself, grasped the young monk’s shoulder, and vanished in a flash.
...
...
Since the "earthquake" occurred, Ling Ningzhi had been rushing around the city, using Daoist skills to assist the people, until her Primordial Qi was completely exhausted, allowing her a mont to catch her breath.
Staring at the ruined scene of collapsed walls and rubble, with cries and wails surrounding her, her exquisite face slightly paled.
"Why did it suddenly beco like this?"
She really couldn’t comprehend.
The people were clearly still hanging lanterns, celebrating the arrival of the Longevity Festival.
The next mont, the street was shattered by a violent explosion, houses collapsed, beams snapped, and who knows how many people were crushed into pulp, transforming it into a literal hell.
"Could it be a rebellion?"
"But no rebel troops have entered the city, it seems it’s just wanton destruction..."
As Ling Ningzhi pondered, she suddenly sensed sothing and looked up sharply to the east, where a brilliant golden light flashed faintly at the horizon.
"It’s the Demon Suppression Departnt!"
"Not good!"
Ling Ningzhi crushed a piece of Spiritual Marrow, her Primordial Qi surging around her, flying towards the direction of the East Suburb.
Upon arriving at the Demon Suppression Departnt, she found the courtyard leveled to the ground, and her heart sank instantly as her form descended and scanned the surroundings, she noticed the dazed silhouette of Ling Yishan.
"Grandfather!"
She hurried forward, seeing Ling Yishan’s miserable appearance as her heart jumped to her throat.
Just when she didn’t know what to do, Ling Yishan suddenly inhaled sharply, his eyes regained a trace of vitality, and the fissured patterns on his body slowly dissipated.
"Cough, cough—"
He coughed violently a few tis, wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth, and sighed, "Can’t fight old age, couldn’t stop him in the end, had to use the substitute technique to transfer the damage..."
"Grandfather, are you alright?" Ling Ningzhi asked concernedly.
"I’m fine." Ling Yishan shook his head, concisely said, "The one who ca is a bald monk from Wuwan Temple, he holds a bizarre string of Buddha Beads, can gain power exceeding First Grade in a short ti, do not engage him directly."
"But while I was grabbing his ankle, I left a mark, with this Spirit Talisman, you can track his exact position... he’s still in town, likely searching for the Dragon Vein."
Ling Yishan retrieved a Jade Talisman from his sleeve, handing it to Ling Ningzhi with a warning, "Take this, go find Qi Chengze at the Observatory, rember, don’t act alone..."
"Alright."
Knowing the gravity of the situation, Ling Ningzhi confird he was okay before accepting the Jade Talisman and swiftly departed.
After Ling Ningzhi left, Ling Yishan’s figure wavered, his back beca hunched, the blood color quietly faded from his face, and the Spirit Platform was enveloped in a cyan-black deadly aura.
"Alas..."
"Ti is running out..."
...
...
Hui Neng’s form almost rged with the shadows, silently moving with the young monk through the city.
Sweeping past the chaotic district, arriving at a desolate courtyard.
This area was also affected by the aftershocks, brick walls tilted, floor tiles cracked with fissures.
Hui Neng halted his form, his eyes filled with golden light, comparing with the scripture in his hand, carefully observing every inch of the area.
"Dependent origination is empty in nature, the Three Bodies and Four Noble Truths..."
"Green Dragon Locking Qi, Mountain Tablet suppressing the foundation... judging by the position, this should be the place."
Hui Neng stored away the scripture, golden light gathered in his palm forming a blade, striking down fiercely at the gap on the ground.
Boom—
The ground trembled, the fissure widened further, faintly revealing a deep shimring glow beneath.
"Indeed, it’s here..."
"Who’s there?!"
The commotion alerted nearby patrolling soldiers, several figures landed in the courtyard.
However, before they steadied themselves, a golden light flashed, and suddenly they were decapitated, blood splattering the ground.
A head rolled to the feet of the young monk, its lifeless eyes stared fixedly at him, the young monk’s face turned ashen white, stamring, "Se-senior brother, you’ve broken the precepts..."
Hui Neng said indifferently, "This humble monk protects the true Dharma. Even if breaking the precepts seems against the rules, it is not a breach... if killing is for the welfare of all beings, it is not out of anger, but compassion."
"But..."
The young monk’s throat moved.
Are these officials and soldiers not sentient beings?
If this "Buddha Country" is built upon bones, is the Buddha it venerates real?
However, Hui Neng gave him no chance to ponder, lifting him and hurling him down through the crevice.
As the two descended further into the earth, the light dimd. They dropped several hundred ters before their figures ca to a stop.
By the light of the Buddha, the young monk was stunned by the scene before him.
Embedded in the red-brown rock layer was a massive stone tablet, with a carved landscape stretching thousands of miles, shrouded in mist, with towering mountains and stretching waters, as if truly overseeing the Jiu Zhou.
The stone tablet covered a deep well, its mouth bound tightly by several chains.
Hui Neng stepped forward, reaching out to touch the carvings on the tablet, murmuring, "Namo Amitabha ya, Tadyatha, Ali do po bi..."
The young monk grew increasingly uneasy as he listened.
Why was Senior Brother chanting a Death Mantra?
Before he could react, a light emanated from the center of his brows, lifting his body with an invisible force into the air.
"Senior Brother, what, what’s happening?!" The young monk’s expression was panicked, his hands flailing in the air as if swimming.
"Shi Yi, do you know why I insisted on bringing you here?" Hui Neng asked softly.
Shi Yi shook his head cluelessly.
"Back when Xuan Kong collaborated with the Great Yuan Court to set up this array to lock the Dragon Qi, they handed the Array Map and Array Guide to the court, but kept the Breaking Formation guide."
"This matter is of great importance. To prevent the Heavenly Peeping Realm from calculating the location of the guide, it must be concealed with a pure heart."
Uncontrollably, Shi Yi was drawn beside Hui Neng. Hui Neng gently stroked his head and said, "Your mind is pure, untainted by the mundane, the perfect vessel... for this final step, I must ask you to sacrifice."
"Senior Brother, I do not want to die..."
Understanding what was about to happen, Shi Yi’s clear eyes welled with tears, filled with terror as he looked at Hui Neng.
"Life and death are like dew, why hesitate if it is for all beings?"
"Amitabha Buddha."
Hui Neng chanted the Buddha’s na.
Without the slightest hesitation, power surged in his palm, shattering the skull with a bang!
Shi Yi’s expression froze, his eyes gradually lost their luster, and amidst the mix of crimson and white fluid, a golden conch erged, quietly suspended in the air.
Hui Neng dipped his fingers in the fresh blood, tracing the stone tablet, covered with obscure Sanskrit script.
With the final stroke completed, the landscape on the tablet lit up with a glow and began to rumble and rotate.
The base of the tablet slowly moved aside, revealing the deep well beneath it.
Hui Neng placed the conch above the stone well. The chains clattered, trembling constantly, and a muffled roar seed to emanate from below.
Soon, a strand of purple energy rose from the well.
The conch expanded with the wind, growing to several ters, continuously absorbing the energy into itself.
"It’s done!"
A trace of joy flitted across Hui Neng’s eyes.
Having been thwarted the last ti, he had made ample preparations this ti, yet had not expected it to go so smoothly... as long as a portion of the Dragon Qi was taken away, bolstered by Da Yuan’s destiny, Wuwan Temple was sure to regain its forr glory!
At that mont, the hair on his back stood on end.
Hui Neng looked up, his gaze piercing through the void to see, within the clouds, an old man with three eyes on his forehead flying swiftly toward the area, his silver-white vertical pupil fixed fiercely on him.
"Wretched creature! How dare you!!"
The thundering voice bood around his ears.
Hui Neng glanced at the conch, not yet fully absorbed, hesitating for a mont.
This old man clearly had considerable strength, dealing with him would be difficult, but if he left it halfway, he might not have such a good opportunity next ti.
At this thought, Hui Neng quickly made his decision, plucking a Buddha bead and tossing it out, it spun rapidly, emitting Buddha light to protect the conch.
Then he soared upward, heading toward the old man.
After Hui Neng left, the underground fell silent.
In the distant darkness, a palm-sized paperman lay in a crack in the rock, blinking as it looked at the conch that continued to devour the Dragon Qi.
Fingers stroking its chin, it murmured to itself:
"This thing should be useful to Chen Mo, right?"
"I wonder how much silver it’s worth?"
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