However, the soldiers of the pass couldn’t escape. All five hundred of them were now gathered nearby with their officer still visibly dumbstruck by the sudden development of events. He had sent a homing pigeon to Reed City’s City Lord Manor straightaway and was now watching the incident closely.
Shang’er was currently battling a lion. This lion possessed the strength of an above-average Rank 3 and seemed to be nearing Rank 4.
Still, no matter how domineering, it was no match for Shang’er.
Moments later, Shang’er lifted ten swords from the ground and turned the lion into skewered meat. To her surprise, no blood was spilled, even though the beast was stabbed in every direction. The lion simply roared one last time before disappearing into a puff of smoke.
Simultaneously, following a crisp noise, one of the beads in the old monk’s hand cracked. The initially radiant and colorful bead lost its glow completely following the lion’s demise.
These prayer beads were artifacts and crafting them hadn’t been easy. The old monk looked pained following the loss of the lion.
“Abominable monster, I shall exterminate you today!”
Having said that, he tossed the chain of beads upward.
“Conversion of all beasts, light of the Liberator, Protective Deity Prajna, may the mountains heed my call!”
His voice resonated as silhouettes of beasts emerged from the glowing beads. Subsequently, a tiger, a peacock, a fox, and many other devilish beasts formed.
The total came to about ten beasts.
These streams of light rose up to form a holy glowing orb that was suspended above the monk’s head. Then, the holy light shone down, revealing what resembled the illusion of a Thousand-hand Bodhisattva. The ground began to shake as a pressuring force came crashing down like an invisible mountain.
Shang’er could tell that what emerged from those beads were the souls of elite monsters who were no less than Rank 3. Some were even Rank 4.
Now that they had gathered and merged to supplement the old monk’s mana, any spell he cast would have a force increased by at least a hundredfold.
Shang’er knew the extent of her own strength. She may have cultivated Demonic Transformation and possessed significant strength, but she was still slightly inferior compared to the old monk.
However, Shang’er wouldn’t back down now nor could she escape.
“Infinite Dark Wing!” Shang’er unleashed everything she had. A demonic glint flashed in her eyes as her monster’s aura rose sharply. At this point, her energy was burning like flames around her.
Behind her, the silhouette of a tail appeared, swaying as they slowly split into three separate tails.
Dark wind surged, stirring up sand and dust beneath their feet to form a barrier to block off the old monk’s spell.
The next instant, both energies clashed.
Boom!
The entire Mount Long Pass City crumbled from the sheer amount of energy clashing. Within a thousand feet radius of a sector of the city, everything was reduced to dust. Fortunately, merchants and civilians had evacuated the place in time. Otherwise, the collateral damage would have been far higher.
However, there were unfortunate ones too, like the two demonic appraisers who had previously been subdued by Shang’er. As they couldn’t escape in time, both men end up being buried under the rubble.
“Senior, this has gotten too serious.”
In the distance, Zhi Nian landed at the boundary of the impact, visibly frightened. He was obviously a force to be reckoned with, but panic was apparent on his face as he was trying to escape from all the destruction.
Meanwhile, the rector of the Exorcist Hall, the old monk, was enveloped in holy light as he stood in the sky. Holding his staff in one hand, grabbing a young unconscious monk with the other, he wore a grave expression as he looked down at Shang’er.
His robes had somehow been sliced apart, revealing his upper torso. Despite his old age, the old monk’s muscles were strong and firm. One could even see a wound that started from his abdomen up to his neck. He must have been cut by a sharp object amidst the clash. Though, it didn’t seem like a serious wound.
He descended outside the border of the impact site and remarked, “I underestimated this fox.”
Then, his steadfast expression faltered and blood dribbled down from the corner of his mouth.
“Senior, are you alright?” Zhi Nian quickly hurried over.
“I’m fine. I have the Holy Light of All Beasts to protect me but I’m thankful for it too. Otherwise, I would have been split in half by that fox’s sneak attack.”
The old monk seemed fearful.
In that last critical moment, a long blade had appeared out of nowhere, slicing through his body like a hot knife through butter. It had happened so quickly and mysteriously. If the old monk hadn’t used the holy light to protect his body, enhancing his physique to the level of hardened steel, he would have been slain right there and then.
“After taking my attack, that fox demon should be dead by now. But, to be sure, I want her body found.” Having said that, the old monk wanted to jump down the crater. However, Zhi Nian immediately stopped him upon noticing how profusely he was bleeding.
“Sir, no monster can withstand your Dharma attacks so we’re certain that the fox demon’s already dead. You’re badly injured now and the Achala Beads are severely damaged so we have to hurry back to Daluo Temple to get it fixed or it will forever remain this way. If this thousand-year artifact is ruined in our hands, it will be a great loss to our temple.”
Upon hearing Zhi Nian’s advice, the old monk’s expression softened.
Indeed, this battle’s intensity had exceeded his expectation. More importantly, most of his Achala Beads had cracked so if he didn’t mend them at once, the damage would be irreparable.
He cast a glance at the crater that was now the utterly destroyed city of Mount Long Pass. The old monk decided that this time, he would heed Zhi Nian’s advice and return to Daluo Temple.
Before Zhi Nian left, he discreetly glanced back at the crater of ruins and sighed. No one knew what he was sighing about.
As the three monks left, not one of the five hundred astonished soldiers tried to stop them.
The first reason for this was that Daluo Temple was renowned on every continent so the people of the Jade Dragon Kingdom were aware of their influence. What’s more, the rector was clearly trying to slay a monster instead of invading their country so the soldiers knew that they couldn’t stop the monks even if they wanted to. However, in light of the destruction that their city had faced, they had to report the situation thoroughly.
As for that hundred-foot-deep crater, no one dared to step foot inside.
The next day, the city lord of Reed City personally came over to investigate the scene. As tomorrow would be the Jade Dragon Festival, Reed City’s city lord contemplated for the longest time before deciding to write a letter to report the situation. Although the pass was ruined, it wasn’t an invasion by a foreign force. They could still reconstruct the pass so the city lord requested additional reconstruction funds.
As for the monster at the bottom of the crater, the city lord came to a similar conclusion with everyone else.
The one who carried out the attack was the Exorcist Hall’s rector from Daluo Temple. That man was a renowned elite, whom average intermediate countries did not dare to provoke. Moreover, judging by the depth of the crater, one could easily imagine how terrifying the rector’s attacks had been so any monster couldn’t possibly have survived that.
Hence, they would leave the crater be.
Another day passed and the Jade Dragon Festival had come. Every city in the country would celebrate the event, and Reed City was no exception. Reed City’s city lord had also received word that one of the nation’s guardians would come over tomorrow afternoon to investigate the situation so the city lord felt more at ease.
While the country was indulging in the celebrations, two silhouettes appeared beside the deep crater of Mount Long Pass.
One of them carried a coffin while the other had a hunchback.
“We’ve been asking around and we are certain that Miss Shang’er has fought the rector of Daluo Temple here the day before yesterday. She ended up being beaten to the ground by that old monk,” Coffin Man said through gritted teeth.
Old Turtle looked equally murderous. “I swear that I will use the remainder of my life to avenge Miss Shang’er. That bald geezer will not get away with this!”
Despite saying this, Coffin Man and Old Turtle were aware that the monks of Daluo Temple were tough opponents. Both of them were high-ranking villainous experts at the moment, and what’s more, they were the Lingnan Deities of fifty years ago. In other words, they were aware that Daluo Temple was a sacred ground for Buddhism that had been established for over a millennium now. The sect had even produced ‘immortal monks’ in the past and its legacy had never been stained before.
Forget now, even if they were at their prime, being the prestigious Lingnan Deities, they couldn’t possibly go against Daluo Temple.
“We have to plan out moves carefully. Appraiser Lin’s other disciple, White Ape, was fighting a Daluo Temple monk and after pursuing them for five hundred miles, all we saw was toppled mountains and broken rivers. Even so, there were no signs of White Ape nor the monk. I’m afraid we have to be prepared for the worst.” Coffin Man smashed a fist onto the ground, creating a large crack on the stone floor.
“With what’s going on now, we have to inform Appraiser Lin at once! Let’s hurry back to Maple City. Appraiser Lin may have already returned. It doesn’t matter if we’re searching for White Ape or taking revenge on that bald geezer, perhaps only Appraiser Lin could achieve that! If Appraiser Lin can’t do it, there’s still Curator to help us. Daluo Temple, you may have a legacy of a thousand years, but you have no idea what disaster you have brought upon yourself today.”
“Let’s go!”
Immediately, Coffin Man and Old Turtle made haste for Maple City. Without eagles or horses, they could only rely on their legs so the journey took quite some time. Even if they traveled overnight, they would only arrive at their destination the next morning.
