Translator: Sparrow Translations Editor: Sparrow Translations
The monks who left Mount Kunlun passed news of what happened at Mount Kunlun to the external world.
Very soon, news of the Virtuous Zen Master reforming the Amitabha Spell Body and even trying for the Golden Form Third Level spread across the entire Divine Lands.
Those who were not present at the scene also used different methods to learn of what happened.
At the north foot of the Hengduan Mountains, where Huangmang Peak was, that was the location of the Great Barren Sword Sect.
In the pavilion at the top of the mountain, the Great Barren Swordmaster was silent. He faced the bunch of elders from the sect who looked gloomy.
One of the elder looked at the Great Barren Swordmaster and asked, “Master…”
The Great Barren Swordmaster turned around and said, “What?”
The elder could not express his words and the others were also speechless at this point, but they felt extremely heavy in their hearts.
“Whatever that all of you are concerned about, I am also thinking about it.” The Great Barren Swordmaster said, “But today’s matter can’t be influenced by us. We can only observe and see what happens.”
An elderly voice resonated, “The actions of the Celestial Sect of Wonders are too domineering. The Great Thunderclap Temple has been destroyed and they are only left with a few disciples. If the same thing happens to us, the result won’t be delightful. Whatever that has been passed down from the ancestors of our sect will be destroyed then.”
“Exactly, exactly!” Everyone nodded in agreement. They also revealed a look of fear and trepidation on their faces.
The Great Barren Swordmaster remained calm and his expression did not seem to change. He said, “If the Celestial Sect of Wonders wants to destroy us, they don’t have to go through so much to do so.”
“Even Lin Feng’s disciples can flatten the Huangmang Peak.”
The tone of the Great Barren Swordmaster was very calm, but no one was displeased with what he said. That’s because whatever he said reflected the truth.
Although it sounded like he was demeaning the sect, it was necessary for every one of them to accept the truth.
Moreover, with the current abilities of the Celestial Sect of Wonders, the words of the Great Barren Swordmaster did not humiliate the Great Barren Sword Sect.
The Great Barren Swordmaster looked at all the elders and said, “If our foundation is rocked and our lineage is destroyed, there could be some of us who will escape just as some disciples of the Great Thunderclap Temple did. They will then carry on the lineage of our sect. In that case, the authority doesn’t lie with us anymore.”
“If the Celestial Sect of Wonders really wants to annihilate our sect, I don’t think anyone from our sect will be fortunate enough to survive. This is no different from destroying the foundation of our sect.”
The Great Barren Swordmaster said, “With the current situation in the Divine Lands, it’s no longer the same as it was in the Greater World 10 years ago, during the Battle of Xiling City. Even I’m unsure whether the Great Void Sect will be able to protect us anymore. Even if they wish to protect us, it’s a different matter whether they are capable of doing so in the face of the Celestial Sect of Wonders.
“Thus, we can’t change anything now. We can only wait and see what happens. In my opinion, the Celestial Sect of Wonders doesn’t really have the intention of picking on Buddhism.”
An elder spoke with worry, “Even if they are not doing it intentionally, who knows if the next time they do something like this, we won’t be the victim?”
He looked at the Great Barren Swordmaster, “We have been interacting with the Celestial Sect of Wonders quite frequently in terms of the cultivation of magic items, even till the extent that some of the contents of the Great Barren Sword Code have been made known to them. Of course, we have benefited greatly too, but Lin Feng is a genius. No one can confirm whether he can deduce an entire line of mantras just from the slightest of clues. If…”
The depth of the mantras of the Celestial Sect of Wonders were greater than that of the Great Barren Sword Sect. Whether Lin Feng was interested in the Great Barren Sword Code was another matter. They were afraid that Lin Feng and his disciples would deal with the Great Barren Sword Code like how they did with the Buddhist mantras.
The Great Barren Swordmaster raised his brows. As he was about to speak, his heart fluttered a little.
He pondered for a moment and after a while, his peaceful look turn into a look of shock.
The elders of the Great Barren Sword Sect stared at one another and their hearts beat rapidly at this point. They were stunned and unsure as they looked at their own sect leader.
“The latest news is that the Virtuous Zen Master unleashed a bright radiance on Mount Kunlun and revealed his wisdom. In a short span of time, he managed to reform the Amitabha Spell Body.” The Great Barren Swordmaster regained his awareness and looked at everyone, “Not only this, he even managed to take a step towards the Golden Form Third Level and cultivate the Nirvana Land!”
“What?!” Everyone was shocked as they stood up. Even if they had lived more than a thousand years, they could not calm themselves down at this point. They were all appalled as they looked at the Great Barren Swordmaster.
An elder asked hurriedly, “Master, did the Virtuous Zen Master discover the flaw in the Celestial Sect of Wonder’s discovery, which allowed him to stabilize his zen mind and restore his cultivation?”
“If this is the case, why would Lin Feng guard him as he re-cultivated and help him push to the next level?” Someone rebutted instantly. But someone else supported the initial guess, “We can’t be sure too. Lin Feng is very generous towards those under him and he is also very magnanimous. Even if the Virtuous Zen Master caused him and his disciples to lose their faces, he won’t take it to heart.”
The Great Barren Swordmaster shook his head, “News from the Lightning Swordmaster states that the Buddhist cultivation of the Virtuous Zen Master did not just heal simply. He managed to become even more powerful than before!”
“That was due to the guidance of Lin Feng, which allowed the Virtuous Zen Master to be enlightened. The Nirvana Land that he formed seemed to be superior than those that the ancestors of the Virtuous Zen Master once formed.”
When everyone heard this, they sat on their seats in a daze and were a little lost.
After a while, someone looked at the Great Barren Swordmaster, “Master…”
The Great Barren Swordmaster looked at that elder, who was trying his best to calm himself down. At the same time, he tried to look calm too. But it was still easy to tell that this elder was very agitated.
When the others sensed his agitation, they were fired up once again.
Whatever this elder was thinking, the rest of them were clearly aware. However, they were hesitant and had many doubts regarding this, including the Great Barren Swordmaster.
Similar scenarios were being played out in different parts of the Divine Lands at the same time. Everything was developing according to how the Great Void Sect expected things to be, but they were not pleased by it.
Everything was developing according to expectations, but compared to before the re-formation of the Amitabha Spell Body and cultivation of the Nirvana Land by the Virtuous Zen Master, the situation had reversed.
The situation in the Divine Lands was very delicate now. Although the other powers were very active at this point, it was pertinent to note that many of them had lineages that they were very proud of, thus whether to go to Mount Kunlun was a very tough decision for them to make.
The Celestial Sect of Wonders possessed a huge collection of Buddhist mantras, which gave them an objective view on things. Furthermore, the status of the Virtuous Zen Master was also special too.
As compared to the lineages of the other powers, Lin Feng might not use the same method to deal with them.
Furthermore, the Great Void Sect was still very proud. For the might of the Essentials of the Great Void Tao to remain, this left many sects with doubts.
Although the competition between the two great powers of the Celestial Sect of Wonders had not become obvious yet, in the eyes of those were involved, this was something that they had to be cautious of right now.
It’s just that the delicate situation also made it a fragile one. If such a thing happened again in the future, it might spur the great powers to come up with a decision.
After all, the Celestial Sect of Wonders did not just offer pure benefits now. Their value was immeasurable at this stage.
In the imperial palace of the Great Zhou Empire in Tianjing, Liang Pan turned abnormally serious and dismal.
In his quiet chamber, the Golden Form of Monk Da Kong was already filled with cracks. This was even after Liang Pan had helped him to suppress the cracks, otherwise, the Golden Form of Monk Da Kong would already have been completely crushed.
Liang Pan said slowly, “Zen Master, please contact your senior, Da Ning. After that, please try to obtain the exact advice that the Celestial Sect of Wonders provided to the Virtuous Zen Master. Otherwise, you will continue to suffer.”
Monk Da Kong turned up to look at him and his eyes were filled with confusion. After a long while, he managed to regain focus and he laughed bitterly, “I fear that…it’s too late…”
“You still have the chance to rise up again. Don’t give up hope. The Great Zhou and I will provide whatever resources that we can to you.” Liang Pan replied him. Monk Da Kong shook his head with difficulty, “I…will try…”
After exiting the quiet chamber, Liang Pan returned to the main palace and sat on his dragon throne. His brows creased.
A light projection appeared in front of him suddenly. The projection revealed the figure of Zhu Hongwu.
Zhu Hongwu bowed towards him, “Greetings to Your Majesty.”
Liang Pan’s brows creased further and further, “Hongwu, please focus on your cultivation and try to reach the Immortal Soul Third Level soon. Don’t be distracted.”
Zhu Hongwu answered him calmly, “I felt uneasy when I was cultivating, thus I came here to pay you a visit specially.”
As Liang Pan heard him, he was silent. After that, Zhu Hongwu said, “When I was figuring out the way of karma, I felt a sudden tremor in the great Dao, as if something had suddenly changed. I thought that it might have been related to the way of karma. Do you have any news, Your Majesty?”
“It seems like after the Virtuous Zen Master was enlightened and understood the concept, his zen mind was cleared and he managed to achieve progress in the way of karma. This caused you to be affected too.” Liang Pan shook his head and explained everything to Zhu Hongwu. But he did not talk about the Celestial Sect of Wonders’ doubts about the way of karma.
He looked at Zhu Hongwu and said, “I have already instructed Monk Da Kong to think of a way to obtain the full explanation of the way of karma from the Celestial Sect of Wonders. Please wait patiently, Hongwu.”
Zhu Hongwu’s gaze flashed. After a long while, he finally opened his mouth and said, “Please forgive me, Your Majesty. I will like to hear what are the doubts of the Celestial Sect of Wonders towards the way of karma. As to how Lin Feng advised the Virtuous Zen Master, it can wait till later.”
As Liang Pan heard him, he did not seem surprised but turned gloomy instead.
He did not tell Zhu Hongwu about this before to prevent something like this from occurring. But because of Zhu Hongwu’s own cultivation, he discovered the problem.
Without getting any enlightenment on this, Zhu Hongwu would be troubled during his cultivation. Not only would he be unable to form the way of the virtual entity, he would also be wasting his time.
If he could comprehend the concept within, the way of the virtual entity would be within grasp.
He was different from the Virtuous Zen Master. He suffered greatly in the hands of Lin Feng in the past. With his personality and will, if he had to rely on Lin Feng’s advice to overcome this obstacle in front of him, it would weigh on his mind, which would then prevent him from reaching the Immortal Soul Third Level.
Knowing that there’s a wall in front of him, Zhu Hongwu had to knock it down based on his own abilities. There’s no room for him to back down.
