The moonlight was like water as the tree shadows danced about.
Xiao An stood among the forest of pagodas. To her, now this was the largest treasure trove in the entire Harmony province.
The abbot of the Bhik?u Mountain temple’s return had created some problems, but it was all within her calculations, so it could probably be called even better. In Qingshan’s words, this would be revenge!
Of course, she did not actually feel something like that. She did not even hold the slightest resentment towards the religious preceptor of the left who launched a sneak attack on her.
Everything made perfect sense. Nothing had made so much sense before.
There was no need to become conflicted between the demonic and the buddhist, nor was there a need to consider right or wrong. In the words of the Path of White Bone and Great Beauty, the endless afflictions, I vow to fell!
However, was she truly free of afflictions just like this?
Swish!
A large, golden sword slashed towards her from behind. She swung the Buddha Slaying sword without even looking back.
Clang!
The swords clashed. The Buddha Slaying sword cut deeply into the golden sword. The bodhisattva statue wielding the sword immediately lost its lustre, crumbling to the ground. Even the weapons they wielded could not endure a single strike from the Buddha Slaying sword.
At this moment, several dozen statues gathered over.
With a flash, the sword painted a twisted trajectory, sending three heads flying into the air.
Becoming one with the sword, she broke out of the encirclement and split open a stupa and removed the ?arīra inside. Clutching it in her hand, it immediately began to burn, turning into Samādhi Flames of White Bone.
Boom!
The stupa before her was smashed to pieces as a ten-metre-tall statue of the Tiger Taming Arhat with a face of wrath reached towards her. Simultaneously, a swift gust of wind rose up from behind her, forming a pincer attack.
She directly threw herself into the Tiger Taming Arhat’s arms. The Buddha Slaying sword in her left hand extended slightly. A slash appeared in the Tiger Taming Arhat’s palm, immediately halting it.
She smashed apart the statue and tossed the Immortal Relinquished sword backwards with her right hand. The sword was like a soaring dragon, sweeping around her and cutting and piercing the statues.
Buddha Slaying defending and Immortal Relinquished attacking!
The two swords simultaneously unleashed extremely similar yet vastly different Sword Collection Manuals of Heaven and Earth, creating a net of attacks. Not a single statue could block a single attack from her, nor could any of them touch the hem of her clothes.
Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!
She shot through the stupas and pagodas as the statues chased after her closely. The towers and buildings collapsed one by one.
She removed the ?arīra one by one in the process and merged them with her white bones, becoming faster and faster, stronger and stronger.
Finally, all of the pagodas and stupas collapsed. She had collected the ?arīra of all the eminent monks from the past ten thousand years.
Her originally-clear eyes now burned with flames. Looking back, there were still over a dozen statues pursuing her relentlessly.
With a turn, she went up to receive them. The agile streak of light danced fluidly, vanishing after a single flash in the darkness.
Returning to her original position, all of the statues froze before slowly collapsing.
“Buddha nemesis!”
The abbot of the Bhik?u Mountain temple was absolutely fuming as he watched the destruction of the forest of pagodas, but he was unable to leave the grand hall.
After losing all the pagodas, the Heavenly King’s Formation of Enveloping Earth became even more unstable. Countless roars and howls rang out from beneath his feet, like a bunch of fiends banging on the gates of hell. Once the suppression was removed, the demonfolk would return to this world!
“Fellows, the Bhik?u Mountain temple is in trouble. Please provide us with support!”
At this moment, several streaks of light leapt out from the horizon. Reinforcements had arrived.
Xiao An was completely unscathed. She took out the Blood Sea Banner and waved it gently, making it expand in the process. A sea of blood surged out as the sticky blood swallowed the mountains and halls, desecrating the statues of buddhas and gods.
Among the mountains, cries rose and fell. As soon as the monks ended up in the sea of blood, countless skeletons would entange them before tearing them apart, reducing them to a puddle of blood in the blink of an eye. Only a skeleton would remain, which would then hunt down the people who fell into the sea of blood with the other skeletons.
There were many people who used their exceptional cultivations to rise up into the air, but a great crimson wave filled their faces, sucking them into the sea of blood. At the same time, a sword shot about as a streak of light, openly beheading the monks that flew high enough. Regardless of their cultivation, how could they block the Immortal Relinquished sword’s edge?
In a short while, the sea of blood reached all of the mountains, only leaving the grand hall untouched, turning it into a lone island.
The Blood Sea Banner was so damaged that it could not be used in a direct confrontation, but it was still quite useful for attacking fortified positions. After swallowing the entire temple of monks, the tears on the Blood Sea Banner gradually closed up, becoming even more crimson.
The holy glow vanished, and the formation collapsed. The figure of Dh?tarā??ra vanished.
Boom!
The grand hall was thrown into the air as demon qi surged out. Countless demonfolk of various sizes crawled out of the demon cavern.
The abbot of the Bhik?u Mountain temple stood in the surging demon qi. He was somewhat dazed as if he was in a nightmare. He struggled to believe that the Bhik?u Mountain temple that had stood for ten thousand years had been destroyed in his hands like this.
Tears rolled down his face as the thousands of demonfolk swallowed him.
Roar!
A furious roar of hysteria killed the demonfolk and purged the surging demon qi.
The abbot of the Bhik?u Mountain temple formed a lion’s seal with his hands, unleashing all the cultivation he had accumulated over his life. He turned into a frenzied golden tiger, lunging towards Xiao An.
Xiao An gazed over. Her expression was calm and harmonious, even slightly benevolent-looking.
She extended a finger. A three-hundred-metre-tall wave rose up from the turbulent sea of blood, rushing into the air like a wall. It intercepted the abbot of the Bhik?u Mountain temple and fell towards him.
Bang!
The blood splattered everywhere as countless skeletons were smashed to pieces. The golden lion rushed out of the sea of blood. “Buddha nemesis, you’re going down with me!”
However, the spot where Xiao An previously stood was completely empty, which immediately made him feel empty inside. Only then did he hear the ringing of a bell.
He felt his chest ache. Looking down, there was a skeleton that he had failed to smash apart, clutching a sword that plunged deeply into his chest.
The golden lion vanished, only leaving the abbot of the Bhik?u Mountain temple. He wanted to blow himself up and take the buddha nemesis down with him, but he was no longer capable of that. He was filled with anger, resentment, and a refusal to go down like this. “How can the orthodox methods of buddhism be overwhelmed by so much? How is this possible?”
If it were not for the Buddha Slaying sword, just the great buddha alone could have fended her off. If it were not for the Blood Sea Banner, the Heavenly King’s Formation of Enveloping Earth would not have collapsed so easily. If it were not for the Skeleton Demons that directly participated in the battle, why would the king’s estate of the Harmony province be so scattered? The Immortal Relinquished sword had played an extremely great role too, breaching the formation at first before destroying the seal over the demon cavern and butchering the statues like it was butchering dogs.
She pushed the power of these arcane treasures to their limit, striking when they were weakened and claiming their lives in a single stroke.
Xiao An did not answer him. She drew out the Buddha Slaying sword.
A ball of Samādhi Flames of White Bone surged into his body, and the abbot of the Bhik?u Mountain temple’s face of anger, resentment, and a refusal to go down vanished.
With that, she had recovered from all of the injuries she sustained from the battle at the ghost tower, and her cultivation had instead climbed higher. She turned around to look at the reinforcements.
“Abbot!”
The honoured guests were all dumbfounded. The Bhik?u Mountain temple renowned throughout the Harmony province had just been destroyed overnight like this. How was this possible?
“Buddha nemesis!”
With a golden flash, an old monk rushed over without any regard, also a Monk King that had undergone the third heavenly tribulation.
Xiao An wielded both swords, stepping on the blood sea to receive him.
With a jingle, their figures intersected, and the old monk perished.
The honoured guests paled in fright before all retreating.
