The morning sunlight poured into the room. Yang Miaozhen sat seriously on a cushion.
“The name of this cultivation method is the Yi Wood Method of Living Qi. Listen closely!”
Li Qingshan held a bowl of soy milk in one hand and a meat bun in the other, eating and sipping away as he passed on the Yi Wood Method of Living Qi. By the time he had finished, he had basically finished eating too. He ordered the Suffering Subduing abbot to lead the way, venturing to the martial arts alliance in the inner city.
As they moved through the streets, they drew an entire city of onlookers. They jostled about on the sides of the streets, wanting to see the legendary hero king for themselves. Behind him, Hu Xian’er, Yang Miaozhen, and Zhang Xuanfeng received attention from all of them as well.
Hu Xian’er’s footsteps were gentle as if she was extremely feeble. This was the consequence of being taught a few lessons. Yang Miaozhen’s attention was elsewhere, concentrating on comprehending the wonders of the Yi Wood Method of Living Qi. Zhang Xuanfeng seemed worried, constantly looking around for an opportunity to escape.
However, when they reached the inner city, not a single person remained there anymore. The towering trees cast their thick shadows on the red walls and green tiles. Only the cries of cicadas remained, which made it seem extremely bleak.
Li Qingshan let out three great laughs and strolled through the city aimlessly. He saw a large statue enshrined within a memorial hall. A valiant young man wielded a sword in his right hand and a seal in his left, sitting on a throne. Beneath him were two rows of statues, depicting all sorts of people, whether they were buddhist monks, daoist priests, women, or men. They stood tall like subjects waiting on their lord. At the very end was the current alliance leader, Zhang Yuntian.
“What is this place?”
The Suffering Subduing abbot said, “This is the martial arts hall. It enshrines the past alliance leaders.”
“Who’s the one in the middle?”
“The first alliance leader, Long Potian. He single-handedly…”
Before the Suffering Subduing abbot could even finish what he wanted to say, Li Qingshan had already made his way over and kicked over the statue, which shattered on the ground. “Monk, I know you refuse to submit to me, but if you try any tricks, you just might lose the buddha’s statue in your temple.”
The Suffering Subduing monk said nothing.
“Alright, let’s go to the Salvation temple.”
……
A warning bell was set off in the Salvation temple. A hundred and eight warrior monks wielded staves and stood in an arhat formation. All the masters of the temple gathered together, ready for battle.
By the late morning, the sunlight was already scorching.
Sweat poured down the faces of the monks, either from the heat or from their nerves.
At the very least, the eminent monks that had reached the innate realm could not be fazed by the summer heat. However, no one found this to be embarrassing, and it was all because the demon was far too infamous. He had destroyed the Ma family, forced the Snow Mountain sect into submission, captured the Suffering Subduing abbot and the leader of the Abstruse temple in a few moves, and butchered a prominent figure of the demonic path, the leader of the Five Poisons cult. He had forced back the entire martial arts alliance alone.
Who did not fear someone like that? Perhaps what the Salvation temple was facing right now was a once-in-a-century disaster.
They had no idea if anyone could survive past today.
A monk in grey robes hurried into the grand hall, no longer bothering with the formalities as he cried out, “The demon has arrived at the foot of the mountain!”
“Keep watching him!”
“Yes.”
A while later, another monk in grey robes rushed over. “The demon has reached the mountain gate.”
“Keep watching him!”
This continued for another two hours, except “the demon” had only reached the halfway mark. The sun had already risen high into the sky by now, reaching its zenith.
The monks felt more and more restless. They believed this to be a mental attack, intentionally dragging it out to pressure them, and it had succeeded. Many of the monks were drenched in sweat as if they had just been scooped out of the water. Their morale plummeted drastically.
“The demon must be trying to hide his fear to resort to such despicable tactics!” An old monk concluded.
“That’s right! We have to order the disciples to remain on guard so that they don’t fall for the demon’s scheme!”
This had absolutely nothing to do with Li Qingshan. It was Hu Xian’er who threw a tantrum every now and then to stop and rest. Last night was her first time. Even as a half-daemon, it had been very tough on her. On top of that, they had travelled all the way here from Xuanwu city. She was already absolutely exhausted.
No matter how unreasonable Li Qingshan was, he could not be forceful with her at a time like this. “Alright, today is a grand occasion for you anyway, so get as much rest as you want!” All they could do was climb up the mountain slowly. They did not seem like they had come to make trouble. Instead, they were more like hikers on a sightseeing tour.
Finally, at around late afternoon, Li Qingshan set foot in the temple. The sun was already sinking in the west. He ignored the monks and arrived in front of the grand hall before turning to face the Suffering Subduing abbot. “We’re here!”
The arhat formation surrounded their group, leaving them with absolutely no room to retreat. The arhat formation was ready to strike at any moment!
In front of the grand hall, the old monks all said together, “Greetings, abbot!”
The Suffering Subduing abbot ordered, “Everyone, back down!”
“Yes!” Despite their reluctance, the monks could not disobey him. They thought, Don’t tell me the abbot really plans on yielding to the demon?
Incense curled through the hall as the great buddha sat with his eyes half-open, half-closed, gazing at all the living creatures in the world. Its golden body glistened gloriously.
Even Hu Xian’er developed a sense of reverence. Without any hesitation, she knelt down before the great buddha and bowed.
The Suffering Subduing abbot ordered a monk to bring a razor. Hu Xian’er immediately shielded her hair and gazed at Li Qingshan pleadingly.
“She doesn’t need to go through tonsure. She can just become a secular disciple.” Li Qingshan waved his hand.
As a result, the Suffering Subduing abbot said nothing more. He asked solemnly, “Hu Xian’er, you are forbidden from telling falsehoods for the rest of your life. Are you able to uphold this?”
Hu Xian’er hesitated for a moment and glanced at Li Qingshan before saying softly, “I can’t.”
Li Qingshan added, “If she can’t then she can’t! It’s almost impossible to stop a fox daemon from lying, and you’ll be dreaming if you think you can stop a woman from lying. The next one!”
“You are forbidden from stealing for the rest of your life. Are you able to uphold this?”
With someone backing her up, Hu Xian’er found her courage. “I can’t.”
The Suffering Subduing abbot did not bicker. He continued to the next precept. “You are forbidden from killing for the rest of your life. Are you able to uphold this?”
“I can’t!” Hu Xian’er said loudly. She still had an outstanding grievance, so how could she give up on killing now?
The Suffering Subduing abbot shut his eyes. “You are forbidden from sexual activity for the rest of your life. Are you able to uphold this?”
Li Qingshan laughed aloud. “Obviously not! Alright, that’ll be that!”
The Suffering Subduing abbot opened his eyes and said coldly, “If lady Hu cannot even uphold a single buddhist precept, then I cannot accept her as a disciple.”
Tie Xiong’s face changed drastically. He called out, “Master!”
Hu Xian’er was taken aback. She sneered inside, Kill all of these bald asses!
Zhang Xuanfeng thought to herself, Once all hell breaks loose, will I be able to escape?
Yang Miaozhen was still engrossed in the cultivation method, so she completely failed to sense what was going on around her.
Li Qingshan continued to smile like before. “Alright, monk, show me what you’ve got! Don’t tell me you’re just being obstinate with nothing to back it up!”
“The buddha is benevolent, subduing the demons!”
The Suffering Subduing abbot brought his palms together. His voice was grand and solemn, booming through the grand hall. The great buddha behind him surged with golden light, producing a sea of gold that swallowed Li Qingshan.
“Power of belief!” The golden light reflected in Li Qingshan’s eyes.
Not only was the Salvation temple an ancient temple, but it was also the buddhist holy land of this world, so the power of belief it had accumulated was absolutely tremendous. It was quite inflexible, but the terrifying power alone was something that Li Qingshan could not afford to underestimate even when he was not suppressed by the world, let alone now.
Now, the Suffering Subduing monk had unleashed it all, wanting to kill Li Qingshan regardless of the price. Even his face was slightly twisted with viciousness.
“Die, demon!”
