Nightfall

Translator: Larbre Studio Editor: Larbre Studio

It did not matter what kind of Divine Ability one possessed, the sword could break it. It was not because the Divine Ability was too weak, but because the iron sword was too powerful. The iron sword could break the Dharmakaya of Acalanatha, let alone human bodies.

Qi Nian was injured immediately after Jun Mo showed up. The three Elders of Commandment Hall looked solemnly and their thin chests suddenly rose up as if they had inhaled too much of the autumn wind. Between breaths, a series of extremely complicated and obscure syllables came out of their mouths at great speed, which sounded horrible.

In this way, Elders of Commandment Hall finished the syllables they were murmuring, which were indeed hard to understand, for it was not any normal Buddhist Scriptures, but some kind of mantra.

Cultivators had many means, such as Fu and Psyche. Buddhism also had their own special skills including mantra, which was extremely powerful. The mantra the Elders of Commandment Hall were chanting was a fantastic tool which was invented by countless great monks of the previous generations while facing the wall and cudgeling their brains — Vairocana Buddha Devil Conquering Mantra.

The monks of previous generations of the Xuankong Temple put their priority on managing the Buddha land in the depths of the West Wilderness and dealing with the powerful demons after Buddha reached Nirvana.

It was said that Buddha left his legacies in the underground Buddha land. Putting aside the pear tree that Buddha had planted himself and the stones that Buddha had refined, the Prajna Peak were the remains of Buddha. The monks shouldn’t worry at all, but unfortunately, they didn’t even know how to use these to fight against their enemies.

For this reason, countless great monks racked their brains to come up with a method to use the power of the Buddha land, which was similar to enforcing regulations of the letter. But it required less from the caster. Any caster could borrow the infinite power left by Buddha in the Buddha land as long as they were willing to give up their flesh and longevity.

The method was the Vairocana Buddha Devil Conquering Mantra. It was because the method was very cruel to the caster and it revealed a bloody meaning. Additionally, there was no way to bring a human being who was killed accidentally back to life since it was too powerful, so the Xuankong Temple had always kept it a secret. Only the three Elders of Commandment Hall were able to cultivate it and only the Chief Monk of Scripture could decide when to use it.

Jun Mo’s cultivation in Taoist swords had impressed the whole world, and now he was leading the serfs to overturn the Buddha land. There was no doubt the Xuankong Temple saw him as a demon. For the temple, it was high time to use its secret weapon.

The sound of the Vairocana Buddha Devil Conquering Mantra was everywhere.

All of a sudden, the underground world somehow responded. The fierce wind howled upon the field, stones were rolling, the giant peaks two hundred miles away seemed to have trembled slightly, and in the East Peak where the Commandment Hall of Xuankong Temple was located, the pines roared in the wind and the yellow temples were shining. Suddenly, a Light of Buddha appeared in the East Peak and reached to the sky.

The Prajna Peak was the remains of Buddha. The Grand Hall on the summit was the head of Buddha, the cliff yard where the pear tree was located was Buddha’s left hand with the palm facing to the sky, his right hand formed another magical place, and the east and west peaks were his two shoulders. The Light of Buddha sprang into the air, like something growing on the shoulders of Buddha.

It was the King Kong Devil Conquering Pestle.

A brisk gale was blowing.

King Kong Devil Conquering Pestle which was shining bright descended from the East Peak, flew through the field and fell on Jun Mo.

The Devil Conquering Pestle had no specific shape, but the Light of Buddha was over ten feet wide. Although Jun Mo could avoid it, most of the thousands of serfs behind him would be killed by the pestle.

Jun Mo suddenly turned pale. With a clear sound, the iron sword floated in the air in front of him. He no longer held the sword with his left hand, but held out his right hand to grab the hilt!

His right arm was cut off by Liu Bai before the Battle of Verdant Canyon. Grabbing the hilt with his lost hand meant rolling the sword with his right sleeve, which suddenly strengthened the power of the iron sword!

There was a loud noise!

The iron sword met with Buddha’s King Kong Devil Conquering Pestle in the air above the meadow.

Although Buddha didn’t throw the King Kong Devil Conquering Pestle himself, the three Elders of Commandment Hall did so by borrowing the power of Buddha. Thus, the King Kong Pestle seemed to contain all of the power of the entire Buddha land.

Jun Mo was known for his Taoist sword. After Liu Bai’s death, he was the undisputed best in terms of Taoist swords, but he mastered the Taoist sword with his right hand. He had no hope of understanding Heaven’s Rules after losing his right arm and the state of his cultivation was going down too, which were the reasons for him to go to Xuankong Temple to cultivate Buddhism. He wanted to find another way.

He didn’t cultivate Buddhism at all for the past year, and of course he didn’t find another way. But he went further and further on the original road and became more determined. Who said that one without the right hand couldn’t fully grasp Heaven’s Rules with the sword?

It was a sword no matter which hand he used to hold it!

As long as he still had the spirit, he could use his lost right hand to hold the sword as he wished!

With the sword, Jun Mo could destroy the Buddha land!

The Light of Buddha trembled, and the King Kong Pestle was broken! It turned into countless golden flowers and fell on the meadows and in the streams, as if more beautiful than the gold sand flowing from the gold field.

The King Kong Pestle hurt the three Elders of Commandment Hall instead and they were stunned and haggard.

Jun Mo also suffered since he cut off Buddha’s Pestle with his iron sword. He was blown hundreds of feet away, like a flying stone and oozed blood at the corner of his lips. The wild grasses and golden flowers under his feet were crushed.

After finally being able to stand still, he crossed his legs to sit down and then meditated. He began to heal himself with Psyche Power. He didn’t care about the blood flowing from the corner of his lips and ignored all other things.

Thousands of soldier serfs suddenly separated and then suddenly gathered. They surrounded him in the deepest part of the crowd and raised their weapons. They stared at the distant enemies and looked alert and firm, which gave an impression that the only way to get close to Jun Mo was over their dead bodies.

“Protect the Living Buddha!” The soldier serfs shouted hoarsely, boosting their companions’ courage. Although they were somewhat unsettled, no one showed any panic and they even quickly formed battle formation in an orderly manner.

Qi Nian was right.

Back then in front of the Verdant Canyon, Jun Mo fought against thousands of soldiers and prevented the united army of the Divine Halls of West-Hill from moving forward. However, that was all due to the advantage of terrain and the help from the Academy. And it was only seven days.

Now, he had led the old, weak, ill or disabled serfs fighting against the temple for a whole year. He was exhausted and experienced several times of Psyche Power exhaustion.

And he was also injured while breaking the Vairocana Buddha Devil Conquering Mantra casted by the three Elders of Commandment Hall and urgently needed recover his Psyche Power. Fortunately, his cooperation with the soldier serfs was extremely skilled, otherwise it would be extremely dangerous.

At this time, more than a hundred soldier monks were killed or disabled, and the three Elders of Commandment Hall were also resting with their legs crossed. It seemed that Qi Nian would be the only one who could break the defensive line formed by the soldier serfs and kill Jun Mo.

Qi Nian Looked at the blood on his palm and then looked toward the serfs in the distance. And he found that attacking these serfs was a difficult decision to make.

The eyes of the serfs were filled with anger and hatred. Nobody knew how hard they would fight, and more importantly, Qi Nian was not sure he could defeat the injured Jun Mo.

In front of the Verdant Canyon, Jun Mo’s right arm was cut off by Liu Bai. Everybody including the Chief Monk of Scripture and Abbey Dean all thought he would never fully grasp Heaven’s Rules.

In the past few years, the cultivation world began to believe in the existence of the Chosen Generation, and several geniuses appeared in the Unknown Places including the Xuankong Temple, Zhishou Abbey, Taoism and the Second Floor: the traveling disciple of Devil’s Doctrine Tang, the traveling disciple of Taoism Ye Su, Mr. First and Mr. Second of the Academy, and the traveling disciple of Buddhism Qi Nian.

Liu Bai and the Sage of Calligraphy were born half a generation earlier than the Chosen Generation, and Ye Hongyu, Chen Pipi, Ning Que, Mo Shanshan, Tang Xiaotang and Long Qing were born half a generation later than the Chosen Generation. The Chosen Generation was called so because they were the strongest, most vital and imaginative, and possessed the highest state.

Among the Chosen Generation, Li Manman, the Eldest Brother of Academy was the strongest, and he proved it during the battle against the Tang.

Jun Mo, Ye Su, Tang and Qi Nian followed closely behind Eldest Brother, and nobody could tell which one of the four was stronger. In the Battle of Verdant Canyon, Jun Mo became the strongest among the four since he defeated Ye Su. But soon his arm was cut off by Liu Bai, and the he lost his superiority.

Qi Nian thought he could defeat Jun Mo, but soon he found that it was not the case. In the long and arduous battle of the underground world, Jun Mo became weaker because he had lost too much psyche, but meanwhile he was stronger because his will was strong enough to affect the reality.

Seeing that Jun Mo was able to break the Acalanatha and Buddha’s King Kong Devil Conquering Pestle with his sword, Qi Nian knew that his state undoubtedly returned to ninety percent of his prime state and his art of sword was even better!

How did he do it?

Qi Nian was stunned and hesitated for a moment. Unfortunately, he missed his opportunity to attack due to the moment of hesitation. With the crowd gradually dispersing in the distance, Jun Mo held iron sword in his hand and walked back.

The corner of his lip was still full of blood, and his face was still pale, but he had gained back enough Psyche Power during the short time of meditation since he could stand still with the iron sword in his hand. At least he believed he could defeat Qi Nian.

Qi Nian was still wondering. How did he do it?

The enemy’s shock and frustration were the source of the companions’ confidence. Holding the bamboo spears and bone sticks high, the soldier serfs looked at back of Jun Mo and believed that he was an invincible god.

“Guru is the best!”

“The Living Buddha is invincible!”

Hearing these, Qi Nian remembered that these serfs were shouting that they would protect the Living Buddha previously and suddenly laughed out. He stared at Jun Mo and said ironically, “You want to destroy Buddha, but you have to urge these stupid serfs in the name of Buddha. Don’t you think it is ridiculous?”

Jun Mo held his iron sword up, and the frantic shouts behind him stopped instantly.

He carried the iron sword behind him. Although thousands of serfs were somewhat puzzled, no one hesitated and then they withdrew at the fastest speed, fleeing to the depths of the field with the important impedimenta.

Looking at the serfs who quickly withdrew like the tide of the sea, Qi Nian slightly frowned and somehow puzzled.

Jun Mo asked, “Why is it ridiculous?”

Qi Nian replied, “If you are a Living Buddha, does it mean that you have to destroy yourself before you destroy Buddha?”

Jun Mo answered, “I am a real Buddha. The Buddha you worshiped is a fake.”

Qi Nian shouted, “How dare you to say this in front of Buddha?!”

Jun Mo unbent the iron sword and said, “If I am a Living Buddha, Buddha can only be a fake if he were to come to see me.”

Hearing this, an Elder of Commandment Hall was furious. “Today I must send you to see Buddha!”

Jun Mo ignored him and said to Qi Nian, “Don’t you understand?”

Thinking of a possibility, Qi Nian turned pale slightly and asked, “What do you really want to do?”

Jun Mo answered, “The reason I marched seven hundred li with three thousand soldier serfs is to attract you and the monks here.”

Staring at his eyes, Qi Nian asked, “Why?”

Jun Mo answered, “There were no strong monks on the peak. I can join forces with my Elder Brother on the cliff yard after I get through you. Then we will kill the chief monk and destroy Buddha’s Chessboard.”

Qi Nian turned pale and asked, “So your aim is the chessboard all along?”

Jun Mo answered, “Of course. My Youngest Brother is in the chessboard. I must save him.”

Qi Nian went silent for a while and then asked, “Are you sure you can get through us?”

Jun Mo answered, “I wasn’t sure before, for I didn’t know the situation of my recovery. But after breaking the Acalanatha and Buddha’s King Kong Devil Conquering Pestle, I am sure that you can’t stop me you if you are not among the peaks.”

Qi Nian looked at him and asked, “Do you know what is in the chessboard?”

Jun Mo responded, “As I have said, I will call Buddha a fake even he is right in front of me.”

Qi Nian asked, “You want to see Buddha?”

Jun Mo pointed to the Prajna Peak with his sword and said, “If the mountain does not come, I will go to the mountain. If Buddha does not come to see me, then I will go see him.”

Qi Nian said, “Even if you were to see Buddha, what can you do?”

Jun Mo answered, “I will destroy the hellish Buddha land and the fastest way is to kill Buddha. I have to try.”

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