National Guardian's Gone and We're Done

”Regardless of our strength, you’re not taking another step forward today!”

Seeing the situation turn ugly, Nanting Snow quickly spoke up to stop her two companions, who were on the verge of going berserk.

She took a deep breath, struggling to calm the raging storm in her heart. With a firm gaze, she looked directly at Beckett, trying to use her composure to defuse the explosive tension in the air.

”If a man knows what is good and does not do it, it is a sin.”

Beckett seemed not to have heard Nanting Snow at all, simply muttering the phrase to himself in a low voice.

His voice carried a spine-chilling eeriness.

As if in slow motion, his long, pale, almost pathologically white fingers rose to his neck. He removed a Cross that shimmered with a mysterious, cold light.

In an instant, an invisible and powerful force violently twisted the air.

A bizarre ripple of energy erupted from Beckett, spreading frantically in all directions,

like a giant stone had been dropped into a calm lake, creating massive waves.

Xiao Yu, Nanting Snow, and Lin Zuoguang felt their bodies seize up,

as if bound by countless, unbreakable, invisible ropes.

An inexplicably powerful force, like a violent undercurrent, barged into them.

It coiled and churned within, like a horde of Demons rampaging through their bodies.

The three of them felt their own power spiral out of control, like untamed horses running wild within them.

Their bodies were also seized by an invisible hand, pulling them uncontrollably from the sky in a straight fall.

In that moment, they were like birds with broken wings, tumbling and struggling helplessly in the gale, hurtling straight toward the sea.

The icy seawater had already opened its gaping maw, eager to devour them.

At that critical juncture,

drawing upon their iron wills and profound foundations,

the three of them snapped back to their senses.

The power within their bodies roared to life, like a great beast awakened from slumber.

It roared like an engine, continuously generating immense power.

With teeth grinding, they desperately fought to regulate their chaotic breathing,

and regain control of the power churning within them. They finally managed to stabilize their bodies just an instant before crashing into the sea.

By now, their faces were grim. Large beads of sweat rolled down their foreheads and splashed into the sea below, their eyes filled with profound dread.

This Beckett was too terrifying. With just a single sentence and a simple gesture, he could unleash such a bizarre and powerful force that directly interfered with the flow of their own power, controlling their very life and death. Such a technique was simply unheard of, and utterly horrifying.

...

「White Elephant Empire.」

Here, the sunlight seemed blessed by the Deities,

gently bathing an altar that soared into the clouds, as if reaching for the heavens.

It cast an ethereal, sacred radiance that draped the entire structure in a golden veil.

A monk stood there, clad in simple robes that fluttered gently in the wind, shimmering with Buddha’s Light.

His hands were piously pressed together, his fingers long and clean.

Around his neck hung a string of smooth, perfectly round Buddha Beads that radiated an ancient aura, each one seemingly imbued with a thousand years of Zen Buddhist wisdom.

With his head tilted slightly back and his eyes closed, he chanted. His voice was like a great bell, resonating in all directions,

carrying a soul-shaking power that reached deep into people’s hearts and could dispel all the world’s darkness.

Below the altar, a dense crowd of people stretched out,

a boundless ocean of humanity. Tens of thousands of heads bobbed in the crowd like cresting waves.

Dressed in simple clothes, their faces were pure and devout. Their gazes were fixed on the monk on the altar,

listening for his divine words, their eyes filled with reverence and anticipation.

”One flower, one world; one Buddha, one Tathagata.”

The monk’s voice drifted out, echoing in the air with a lingering resonance. ”This phrase expresses the highest realm of Zen Buddhism,”

”It reminds us that we must perceive the fundamental principles of the universe within the smallest details of our daily lives.”

He slowly opened his eyes. His gaze was compassionate, as if it could embrace all the suffering in the world, as he surveyed the crowd below.

Wherever his gaze fell, it seemed to bring a warm radiance, filling hearts with a sense of peace.

”If everyone loves the Buddha, everyone believes in the Buddha, and everyone reveres the Buddha, then everyone can become a Buddha.”

A warm smile, like a gentle spring breeze, graced the monk’s face.

His smile possessed a magical quality, dispelling the gloom in people’s hearts and filling them with joy.

He slowly raised his hands, stretching them towards the sky,

as if embracing the whole world, his movements elegant and full of power. ”From this day forward, the White Elephant Empire will be no more! This land, this Blue Star, will be home to only the Buddha Country!”

”Buddha Country! Buddha Country! Buddha Country!”

The crowd below erupted in an instant, like a bonfire of fanaticism set ablaze.

Everyone shot to their feet in unison. Their faces were flushed, and their eyes blazed with a fervent light that bespoke pure fanaticism.

Once, they were utterly routed by Chu He alone,

and the despair and dejection that followed their defeat had been completely wiped from their hearts.

At this moment, all that remained in their hearts was an unparalleled pride,

and the endless joy of following in the Buddha’s footsteps.

They had found a home for their souls, immersed in this tide of fanaticism from which they could not escape.

Shrouded in the Buddha’s Light, they had entered a completely new spiritual realm.