Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
Li Yuanliang and the rest had chased the demonic soldiers back into hiding in the blood-red sea. Shen Lian looked on and nodded. If the Asura clan of the Asura Blood Sea had not split and fought amongst themselves, this Asura Blood Sea would have been one of the major forces in the netherworld.
However, this monk had converted many Asura clans to Gods of Protectors, and his own Buddhist prowess was limitless, strong enough to force the Asura clans out of the blood sea, reducing their power in the netherworld almost to nil. Shen Lian would never believe that all these were unintentionally done by the monk.
It was a silent journey. Soon, ahead of them lay a piece of stone tablet, its height piercing through the sky. It was black in color, and its height above sea level could be as high as ten thousand feet. Seeing it upfront, one would be intimidated by its sharp aura.
Fortunately, Li Yuanliang and the others seemed to be used to this. He even explained to Shen Lian, “Chief Uncle-Master, this stone tablet is named the ‘Demon Killing Tablet’. No one knows how long this has been here for. Legend has it that this was built by the first generation demon king of Asura to suppress the waves and storms of the blood sea. Many years till now, it not only remained unscratched, there were even people who attempted to move this tablet away, yet all failed to move it by even a bit due to its massive weight. This place caught the eye of Master, so he built a demon palace at the surface below this Demon Killing Tablet, for us to stay in. May I please invite Uncle-Master to enter the sea with us?”
After speaking, Sanwen waved his horsetail whisk. The surface of the sea split as if being ripped open by an invisible force, it did not patch back momentarily. There was where they descended the sea.
This sea seemed to be hundred thousand feet deep. While descending, Daoist Sanwen kept waving his horsetail whisk until his face appeared bloodshot. Evidently, this was because of the huge pressure of the sea water, which seemed to be overbearing for him.
However, Shen Lian did not help because he noticed that Sanwen was using this opportunity to practice his mana.
Li Yuanliang and the rest would not need to descend by splitting up the ocean because they all could use the Water Repelling Formula. But, Shen Lian was the headmaster of Qing Xuan. If they use such ordinary method, it would seem lacking in manners, which was why Sanwen voluntarily opened the path for them while cultivating concurrently.
The descent was quite quick, as they reached the surface in no time. Shen Lian and the others arrived in front of the demon palace. The source of light here was a mystery; the demon palace was not dark and gloomy, but spacious and bright. Li Yuanliang’s face twitched, then he told Shen Lian, “Chief Uncle-Master, Master has ordered me to bring you in.”
Shen Lian naturally understood that this was the orders of Chen Jianmei. However, he never noticed the telepathy from Chen Jianmei, which was surprising to him. Senior Apprentice-Brother’s cultivation was, in fact, immeasurable, and they were going to meet up soon.
Daoist Sanwen smiled, “Then I shall not disturb you two from catching up and reminiscing.”
Shen Lian replied, “Very well.”
The demon palace was rather big and its inner space was spacious. In the absence of the chatters of the beautiful Asura ladies, it seemed especially serene and quiet. The structures inside were not complicated and not decorated, which seemed very simple and natural. As the demon palace was shielded by aura, the blood sea water outside could not seep in either, leaving only strands of essence of the blood aura which could be smelled.
Past the quiet path, he finally saw a lotus pond. This lotus pond was about a thousand square feet large. A blood lotus plant could be seen inside it, ready to blossom. Shen Lian finally understood what Daoist Sanwen meant when he mentioned how seeing the blood lotus was comparable to seeing the incarnation of Dao. Looking at the blood lotus, he could feel a deep sense of spiritual movement, illustrating the beauty of life at all times, a sight which could cause one to be teary-eyed for feeling the gift of life which did not come easily.
Li Yuanliang left quietly. Suddenly, the blood lotus peeled off layer by layer until it revealed its core, where a young Daoist was sitting on. He donned a white robe, with fluffed up velvet hair. However, the most eye-catching spot was his pair of eyebrows; so long they grew into his temple as if they were two blades of swords. Another amazing sight was his eyebrows were also blood red in color.
He had nothing on him at this instant, except a scroll in his hand, which its cover revealed to be ‘Nether Aid’.
This Daoist with blood red eyebrows was none other than Chen Jianmei who “was unknown first half of his life, but shocked the world overnight.” There were many prodigies in Qing Xuan from before till now, as many as the stars in the sky. However, Chen Jianmei would surely be one of the brightest shining ones.
Shen Lian smiled and said, “Senior Apprentice-Brother, now the formless sword has passed, what’s left is the lifeless sword now.”
After hearing Shen Lian, Chen Jianmei threw the scripture in his hand. He smiled lightly and rose up. A gush of water in blood red was seen emerging from the Bai Hui point of his head, forming a blood-red colored cloud. A pea-sized flame could be seen from within, flowing down endlessly from the edge of the cloud.
Shen Lian knew clearly that the pea-sized red flame, worked the same way as the Guan Longzi’s Lantern of Life and Death. Whoever got in contact with this red flame would not end up well. This was also the result of Chen Jianmei’s success in mastering the swordcraft.
Fuzi once said, “One couldn’t understand life yet, let alone death.” In fact, Chen Jianmei understood the meaning of “lifelessness” from the blood lotus. His method of defeating and killing his enemies had also broken the barrier of the formless sword.
After all, “formless” and “lifeless” seemed to sound similar, but they were both vastly different from heaven and earth. Formless emphasized solely on techniques, whereas the lifeless interpreted the Dao of life and death, which then maximized the force of the killing sword.
With killing came lifelessness. Without life, there would not be death. Without life and death, then one could search for the Dao of transcendence.
Chen Jianmei was already walking on the right path, so his bright and vast future could easily be predicted.
Suddenly, that red light accumulated to form a blade of killing sword. It was not intimidating, it was silent like the dark night, yet it emitted an immense pressure on Shen Lian.
Chen Jianmei casually said, “Shen Lian, it had been so many years. Come, let me see how much your cultivation had improved. You better not let me down.”
Shen Lian smiled, “I will not disappoint.”
Chen Jianmei let out a voice, then everything around him vanished in his spiritual consciousness. All that was left was a boundless void.
There was only him and Shen Lian.
Shen Lian appeared to be close yet far at the same time. Even he, himself could not measure the exact location of Shen Lian, so his killing sword had nowhere to aim at.
Chen Jianmei was excited, “What great fugue of the universe! When did you cast this illusion? How did I not notice?”
Shen Lian replied, “Senior Apprentice-Brother, you have improved so much. If I remained on the spot, I would not dare to come and see you. Do be careful. I will not show mercy, so do not blame me if you lose face.”
Shen Lian could be seen forming a mudra sign, a strong aura as violent as the mountains and valleys ensued. Shen Lian’s mark of Mountains and Rivers today had exceeded that of the teacher-elder of Qing Xuan to the highest level.
Chen Jianmei led out a laugh and took a step forward. As if armed with its own spirit, the killing sword formed a terrifying sword will which engulfed the whole void.
