Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
All at once, the whole area was a mess.
All the families and sects from the East Continent were buzzing about Xu Que’s appearance. Some of them hated Xu Que to the core. Some of them cast greedy eyes at Xu Que’s Spirit Stones. Now that Xu Que was an ordinary person, they were in an uproar and instantly wanted to kill him!
People of the Sky Incense Valley were dumbfounded immediately.
They had just arrived at this place yesterday and didn’t know he’d caused such big trouble in the East Continent. They thought him offending some powerhouses had caused the destruction of his cultivation.
However, they hadn’t expected Xu Que to have offended all the big families and sects in the East Continent!
“The Jiang Family, the Gong Family, the Bai Family … the Illusionary Flower & Moon Sect and the Heavenly Demon Sect of the East Continent, as well as the Carefree Building, which is famous in the four continents!” An Elder at the Infant Transformation Stage of the Sky Incense Valley, who was wet with cold sweat, read the names of these families and sects in a low voice. He swallowed laboriously.
These families and sects were titans of the East Continent! Any of them could easily eradicate the Sky Incense Valley, and Xu Que had offended all of them!
Zhang Suliang and Tang Xueru were also stunned. Before their arrival, the Sky Incense Valley had described to them all the big families and sects of the four continents. They knew well of the size and strength of these big families and sects!
But they never expected the enemies understated by Xu Que were these big families and sects!
What the hell? This guy hasn’t changed at all! Wherever he goes, he makes trouble and offends the toughest opponents!
Now they were a little bit scared and realized why Xu Que was refusing the help of the Sky Incense Valley. If he didn’t refuse, the Sky Incense Valley would soon be eradicated.
“Alas! All of you are prestigious cultivators. Why do you insist on giving an ordinary person such a hard time?” Xu Que calmly asked the many big families and sects.
He wasn’t laying low because he thought the conditions were perfect. Now he’d become the focal point of this area. If Duan Jiude was nearby, he would also be attracted to this area soon!
Besides people from the East Continent, there were also a lot of people from the South Continent, the West Desert and the North Sea. Most of them didn’t know Xu Que’s deeds. Therefore, these people were puzzled and quite curious about how an ordinary person could offend so many big families and sects.
All at once, countless people started to investigate Xu Que and his cultivation stage with their Soul Strengths. However, they found nothing. He was indeed an ordinary person!
“Hum! An ordinary person!? You killed so many members of our family!” a powerhouse of the Jiang Family shouted angrily. “Have you forgotten that? Why didn’t you claim to be an ordinary person then?”
“You can’t ever avoid this blood debt! You have to pay it back!” People of the Gong Family also glared darkly at Xu Que.
People from the Bai Family and the Carefree Building took out their magic artifacts and prepared to attack Xu Que.
“I know I’ve killed too many people, which makes me extremely ashamed. I destroyed my cultivation to repay my blood debt. I’ve also taken an oath that I won’t kill people anymore. So, please don’t bother me again,” Xu Que finished sincerely as if he were an eminent monk who, disillusioned with the mortal world, was repenting his past mistakes.
Most of the families and sects in this area were shocked in disbelief.
You destroyed your cultivation because you killed too many people? How can he be so foolish? Is it for real?
“Bullsh*t! You are too shameless!” people of the families and sects from the East Continent denounced angrily, the corners of their mouths twitching.
All of them knew Xu Que didn’t have any Taoist Connotation, so he’d destroyed his cultivation to start over. It seemed his plan had failed!
“Amitabha!” An old monk at the Infant Transformation Stage stepped out from the crowd and pressed his palms together devoutly. “Young almsgiver, I am impressed by your consciousness. I guess you must be a man with the root of wisdom! I wonder whether you could join our Great Hermit Temple and become a devout Buddhist by seeing through the vanity of life?”
“The Great Hermit Temple?”
Hearing the name of the temple, many people were shocked.
It was one of the ten ancient temples in the West Desert, which was time-honored and quite powerful. How could they be interested in a waste of a person like Xu Que?
“Amitabha! Old monk, thanks for your kind invitation. However, I don’t want to cut my hair and become a monk!” Xu Que replied in a nondescript manner and placed his palms together like the old monk.
The old monk was not annoyed. He smiled calmly like an enlightened statue. “Young Almsgiver, after cutting your hair, you will be free from human desires and passions. I think you have an affinity for Buddhism. You really want to reject my invitation?”
“Yes. Actually, I also feel I have an affinity for Buddhism. However, I don’t want to become a Buddhist monk right now. As the saying goes: ‘One can eat meat and drink wine as long as there is Buddha in his heart.’ For me, I will keep Buddha in my heart wherever I go, so I can also be considered a Buddhist!” Xu Que narrated his absurd theory with a smile.
The old monk was mildly stunned. He hadn’t expected Xu Que to say those words, so he didn’t know how to reply for a moment.
The other onlookers were also surprised and thought Xu Que’s words were full of Zen.
“Young Almsgiver, you may have misunderstood us. Meat and wine are not forbidden for Buddhists. You have the root of wisdom. As long as you have Buddha in your heart, you will be a Buddhist anywhere. However, you should join our Great Hermit Temple so that you can learn more Buddhist truths. You will be most likely to rescue yourself from a life of pains and misery and reach the other shore of salvation!” As he spoke, the old monk became more and more interested in Xu Que, so he continued trying to convert him.
“Thanks, but no thanks. I have an affinity for Buddhism, but I have more of an affinity to the world of mortals!” Xu Que smiled as he refused.
No matter if the meat and wine were forbidden or not, he didn’t want to cut his hair.
Moreover, after all his experience in this World of Cultivators, he believed that instead of his so-called “root of wisdom,” there was another reason the old monk wanted to take him back to his temple.
“Alas! In that case, I won’t insist on it. Amitabha!” the old monk sighed with a shake of his head and left.
However, when the old monk got into the crowd, he called over a young monk and sent a message in a low voice. “Go back immediately and report to the Abbot that this guy has a kind of aura much like the God of Hell’s Compulsion, a Buddhist physique strengthening art which has been lost for a long time!”
…
At the same time, people from the East Continent encircled Xu Que again after the old monk left.
However, they didn’t attack Xu Que immediately, for all of them heard the news that Xu Que was protected by over a dozen powerhouses at the Infant Transformation Stage. Every protector was extremely powerful and was almost invincible among the cultivators at the same cultivation stage of the protector!
Now they tried to flush out Xu Que’s protectors so that they could evaluate whether they could take down Xu Que easily.
After all, all powerhouses at the Void Training Stage in their families or sects had entered the Mystery Land. Most of the ones who were still outside the Mystery Land were old guys at the Infant Transformation Stage who could never reach the Void Training Stage in this life!
However, Xu Que didn’t take these people seriously. He looked around and tried to find out whether Duan Jiude was here.
He hadn’t met Duan Jiude before. Therefore, it was quite difficult for him to distinguish Duan Jiude among so many old guys around him.
“Little brat, what are you waiting for? Just order your protectors to kill these reckless old guys directly. Stop wasting our precious time for treasure hunt on them!” Buttface urged impatiently.
He planned to enter the Mystery Land as soon as possible to find the treasury pavilion he’d seen last time.
Xu Que also didn’t think they should waste time here, so he looked at the crowd and shouted, “Duan Jiude, you shameless fool, how dare you pretend to be my master! You’re even not qualified to be my apprentice! If you’re not a coward, step out and have a one-on-one with me!”
