Li Qingshan’s smile vanished; he looked over. “Gone too far? I think it’s asking to be humiliated!” He approached the Dauntless monk as he said that.
The Monk Kings all assumed a posture like they were facing their mortal nemesis, ready to throw their lives away, but they were all aware that they stood no chance against him. The Dauntless monk lamented inside, Are the heavens really so determined to destroy my Chan Monastery of Deva-Nāga!?
“Qingshan!” The Unraging monk leapt to his feet and grabbed Li Qingshan. “Are you really going to make me betray my sense of honour towards you?”
“So be it. I haven’t come here to fight. I’ve just come to tell you that you haven’t let the Chan Monastery of Deva-Nāga down. If anyone tries to punish you again, feel free to slap them in the face. You have my support!”
“You mean…”
The Unraging monk was perplexed inside. No matter what, he was connected to the deaths of those disciples, let alone the other damages. His actions had not just let down the Chan Monastery of Deva-Nāga; it was basically enough for him to become their most wanted criminal. As for Xiao An, that went even more without saying. Just the description “buddha nemesis” could explain everything.
At this moment, a gust of wind blew over.
“Masters, you may still be uncertain about why Qingshan went as far as to expose himself and throw himself into a dire situation just to kill the Light Queen! This is the reason. Please save him, Unraging master.”
Gu Yanying descended from above with Hua Chengzan, placing Hua Chengzan before the Unraging monk.
“Demonification!”
The Unraging monk was surprised. He pressed his hand against Hua Chengzan’s chest and could sense that he was rapidly turning into a demonfolk from a human. A portion of his spiritual qi had already been converted to demon qi. He unleashed the Demon Suppression Statuary in a hurry, suppressing the demon qi before venturing deeper and suppressing the surging demonic nature.
“What did you do?” The Dauntless monk interrogated.
Li Qingshan ignored him and crouched down beside the Unraging monk. “Master, can you save him?”
“Hmph, I can’t save you, but does that mean I can’t save others?” the Unraging monk said. Hua Chengzan trembled, and the demon qi around him thinned and dispersed. His expression became peaceful.
“Heh, that’s good then!” Li Qingshan completely stopped worrying now.
“Dauntless abbot, if you are caught up in your prejudices, that instead prohibits you from seeing the truth clearly. Not only does this have to do with the fate of the Chan Monastery of Deva-Nāga, but it also has to do with the fate of all the people in the Green province. Please calm down and hear me out. Whether you believe me or not is up to you.”
On the way here, Gu Yanying had already reached an agreement with Li Qingshan that she would handle the talking once they arrived on Great Buddha mountain, just in case it led to more disputes.
“Alright, go on then!”
The Dauntless monk shut his eyes and sucked in a deep breath. When he faced Li Qingshan, he truly was unable to hold back his anger. He was basically ready to go down with the Chan Monastery of Deva-Nāga just then. However, Gu Yanying had made quite a reputation for herself over the years in the Green province as she punished the wicked and maintained order. Her father was the Guardian Hawk God, so he had to take her seriously.
Gu Yanying pointed at Hua Chengzan. “Didn’t you find his behaviour to be very strange in the grand hall?” She paused for a moment, giving everyone time to recall before she said, “I discovered a demonic seed in his sword embryo.”
“What are you trying to say?” The Dauntless monk frowned.
“Please take a look, abbot.” Gu Yanying was in no hurry to explain. She took out the Soul Cycling sword and passed it to the Dauntless monk.
“This is a demonic sword! What do you want to say?” The Dauntless monk glanced at the sword in his hand before looking at Gu Yanying again.
“I think almost everyone in the Green province knows this demonic sword’s name—Soul Cycling,” said Gu Yanying.
“The Ten Renowned Swords, the Soul Cycling sword?” The Dauntless monk was surprised. He examined the sword in his hands closely again.
“There is a demonic seed hidden within this sword too,” said Gu Yanying.
“Are you saying that the Sword Collection palace is under the Demon domain’s control? What a joke. Do you think we will believe such absurdity?”
The Monk Kings were not fools. They immediately understood what Gu Yanying was trying to say, but they all found it to be unbelievable. The Sword Collection palace was a righteous sect that had stood for ten thousand years. They had numerous disciples. If they really were colluding with the Demon domain, how had they kept it hidden for all these years?
“You’re welcome to hear me out before deciding if it’s an absurdity or not…”
Gu Yanying restated her analysis regarding the demonic embryo and sword embryo. The Monk Kings’ expressions all varied, sometimes surprised and uncertain, sometimes sinking into their thoughts.
“…so it was very likely for the three from the Sword Collection palace to have come to destroy the Demon Suppression hall. That way, they can turn Great Buddha mountain into a demon cavern and take down the cultivation community of the Green province in one fell swoop.”
Gu Yanying’s final conclusion was even more shocking, leaving everyone speechless.
“That’s all just your speculation.”
The Dauntless monk frowned, but he wavered slightly inside. Refining one of the Ten Renowned Swords into a demonic sword was not an easy feat. In hindsight, the master of the Sword Collection palace basically treated Hua Chengzan like he was trying to silence him.
“It is speculation! Though, if you want a witness, you have one right before you. It just depends on whether you believe him or not.” Gu Yanying glanced at Li Qingshan beside her.
The Dauntless monk said furiously, “This wretched daemon spouts lies…”
“Senior brother, just hear him out and see what he has to say! Everything that has to do with the Demon domain is important!”
The Unraging monk was solemn. As someone who watched the Demon Suppression hall all year round, he understood the horrors of the Demon domain the most, and he knew how terrifying the consequences would be once the Demon Suppression hall was destroyed. When he suppressed Hua Chengzan’s demonic nature, he also noticed the severity of the demonic nature, which was not something that could be developed overnight.
Then he said to Li Qingshan, “Damned disciple, you may lie to me all the time normally, but you cannot lie about this, or, or… Sigh, just do it for my sake!”
Li Qingshan smiled. “Master, do you think I have a need to lie right now? Even if I go and smash in the Demon Suppression hall right now, who here can stop me?”
“Don’t make that kind of joke!” The Unraging monk glared at him.
“Though, let me just make this clear first. Even if the group of people from the Sword Collection palace have nothing to do with the Demon domain, I regret nothing. You should all be aware that I became a guest elder of the Sword Collection palace a long time ago. A few days ago, I went to the Sword Collection palace to pull out my sword, but I ran into some accidents along the way…” Li Qingshan explained everything he had gone through in the Sword Collection palace until he rushed over to Great Buddha mountain. “In the end, that bitch constantly provoked me through mental messages. You might be able to put up with it, but I can’t, so I just gave her what she wanted!”
“I see. Nicely done! If you can even put up with something like that, then you wouldn’t be human,” The Unraging monk praised him. “Others might not be convinced, but I’m convinced. Hahahaha, damned disciple, I haven’t misjudged you!” His laughter rang throughout Great Buddha mountain, filled with delight and relief.
The monks looked at one another. In the blink of an eye, the cruel, forceful Demon King had become a sentimental and righteous hero. This twist was just a little too exaggerated.
Even if the Dauntless monk refused to believe it, he still found that it made perfect logical sense. It explained everything that happened in the grand hall very well. Suddenly, he remembered an item and removed a sumeru ring from his sleeve. It was the master of the Sword Collection palace’s sumeru ring.
Back then, Li Qingshan had cut down the palace master with a single slash before going off to assist Xiao An. He was in no shape to pay attention to these small details, so the sumeru ring remained on Great Buddha mountain.
The Dauntless monk originally wanted to return it to the Sword Collection palace, but he abruptly remembered that there was a xiezhi’s horn inside that could detect lies. “Li Qingshan, let me take out the xiezhi’s horn. Do you have the courage to repeat what you just said? Hmm?”
“Senior brother, what’s wrong?” the Unraging monk asked. The other Monk Kings all cast inquisitive gazes over too.
The Dauntless monk blanked out for a moment. He took out the xiezhi’s horn first, but he did not make Li Qingshan repeat everything. Instead, he then took out a jade slip that was deep-violet in colour, reeking with demon qi. It was as clear as day that this did not come from the nine provinces. Then he took out a small, black ball.
“A blasting thunder! No wonder. Dauntless abbot, there’s probably more than just the one in there!”
Gu Yanying recognised it with a single glance. The small, black ball was a treasure of the school of Mohism, a blasting thunder, or in other words, a bomb. Only grandmasters of the school of Mohism could refine it, and it was renowned for its powers. It was known to possess the same might as the detonation of a soul nascence, and it had an extremely low requirement on the user.
However, while it was powerful enough, it could not discriminate between friend or foe, blowing them up together. If regular cultivators used them, then they were looking to die, while countless things could happen in an instant in a battle between great cultivators, so they were difficult to use. As a result, they were normally only used when attacking formations, which was why they were known as blasting thunders.
The Dauntless monk was stern. He nodded. “There’s over thirty of them…”
The Monk Kings looked at one another. The sword cultivators of the Sword Collection palace were renowned for not relying on anything apart from their swords, so why had they stockpiled so many blasting thunders? The school of Mohism had a monopoly over the blasting thunders as well, such that they fetched for an extremely high price. Just one of them could be exchanged for an arcane treasure.
The Unraging monk became fearful at the thought of what could have happened. The Demon Suppression hall was extremely tough, but it could not withstand an attack like that.
Gu Yanying sighed with a smile. “Looks like they’ve schemed for all these years, only for it all to fall apart because of an accident. What’s recorded in the jade slip?”
“A Demon Sovereign Sword Classic…”
The Dauntless monk let out a great sigh. This was clearly a cultivation method that only demonic cultivators practised. Perhaps he could pass it off somehow as the palace master obtaining the cultivation method coincidentally and only keeping it around for study, with other uses for the blasting thunders. However, there were many more things in the sumeru ring that proved the connection between the palace master and the Demon domain apart from these two objects.
The truth was like a louse on his bald head. It could not be any more obvious.
“Do you still need me to repeat what I just said?” Li Qingshan asked.
“That won’t be necessary.”
The Dauntless monk waved his hand powerlessly. He had no idea what to say. As it seemed, Li Qingshan had instead saved the Chan Monastery of Deva-Nāga. If they really let the Sword Collection palace open the demon cavern, perhaps the great cultivators would have still had a chance at survival, but the several thousand disciples would be dead for sure.
However, thanking Li Qingshan was something he could never bring himself to do. He smiled wryly. “So I’ve really been asking to be humiliated, and I’ve almost made such a huge mistake!” If they really killed Li Qingshan then and there and allowed the palace master to free himself up, the consequences would have been unimaginable.
The Unraging monk tried to persuade him. “There’s no need to blame yourself, senior brother. It’s all because the Sword Collection palace’s scheme is too deep. We never would have suspected it in the first place!”
“Junior brother, we’ve made you suffer,” said the Dauntless monk. If he had not made a “poor judgement of character” and accepted this “wretched daemon” as his disciple, the Chan Monastery of Deva-Nāga would have been reduced to a demon cavern already.
“That’s fine. I forgive you.” Li Qingshan smiled. That punch really had been quite satisfying.
“Li Qingshan, I can thank you, but One Will is still a buddha nemesis!” the Dauntless monk said sternly. Just stealing all the ?arīra of the past eminent monks was unforgivable to him.
“Cut the bullsh*t. If you have the balls, go and kill her!”
