Chapter 121: Gang Bodies Emerge, Nirvana Dharma Eye
“Where did this evil creature come from, daring to violate the pure land of my Buddhist sect!”
A furious roar exploded like thunder, resounding over the temple. A burly, rage-filled monk charged in with a whirlwind.
Dharma King Qingjing’s eyebrows and eyes twitched wildly, his hair flying up. In the blink of an eye, he saw a palm strike crashing down like a mountain, compressing the air with explosive crackles.
“Die!”
The monk let out a shrill whistle, his face revealing clear killing intent.
“What a malevolent bald donkey!”
Dharma King Qingjing let out a long whistle, neither dodging nor evading. His hand formed a claw, with dazzling electric arcs blooming at his fingertips, like twinkling stars in the sky.
In a flash of lightning, the palm and claw clashed in mid-air, producing a deafening clash like metal striking metal. The air exploded, and the green stone under Dharma King Qingjing’s feet cracked inch by inch, with stone fragments flying.
The monk was also surrounded by whistling gang winds, with visible ripples spreading. Before a victor could be decided, Dharma King Baosheng chuckled: “So it’s you, old bald donkey Huitong. Your Mount Sumeru Palm is indeed powerful with its immense force. Take a strike from me too.”
Though his figure was stout, he stomped the ground, causing the earth within ten zhang to tremble. Then he lunged forward, kicking horizontally toward Huitong’s head.
Bang!
From the side, another monk darted out with a shout, unleashing a fierce and explosive palm force that blocked Dharma King Baosheng’s kick.
The four figures shuddered simultaneously, each retreating several zhang at astonishing speed before steadying themselves.
“【Shattering Star Finger Claw Gang】, 【Mountain Suppressing Iron Foot Gang】…”
Huitong looked at Dharma King Qingjing and Dharma King Baosheng with a grave expression, then glanced at the fiercely burning Secret Treasure Pagoda, his face extremely grim.
“Demons of the Red Lotus Sect!” The other monk was Huizhi, head of the Benevolence Academy. At this moment, with his hands tucked in his sleeves, his face showed uncontrollable fury.
Pain appeared on Dharma King Baosheng’s face. He moved his legs and feet, looking at Huizhi and chuckling: “Great Strength Vajra Palm lives up to its reputation. But after taking my kick, you’re not feeling well either, are you, Huizhi!”
On the other side.
Roar!
The Hundred Poisons Corpse Puppet with a bronze mask let out a roar and charged out like a wild beast, colliding with Huizhao once more.
Huizhao was cloaked in flames, like a ferocious deity emerging from fire. Yet the Hundred Poisons Corpse Puppet showed no fear, seemingly impervious to water and fire, clashing violently with him.
Though its moves were not exquisite, its body was as hard as iron, each strike targeting vital points. Huizhao was ultimately a mortal body, burned by sorcery-created flames, and after falling from high air and losing an arm, his malevolent aura erupted, but he soon faltered.
Suddenly, a figure flashed by, blocking in front of Huizhao. Double palms opened and closed, striking fist-to-palm against the Hundred Poisons Corpse Puppet. In an instant, fist shadows and palm shadows intertwined, exploding with metallic clashes.
The Hundred Poisons Corpse Puppet was forced to retreat step by step, then shuddered all over and flew several zhang back, smashing hard into a wall.
Amid the crashing sounds, as the wall collapsed, chaotic footsteps came from all directions. Monks of Vajra Temple rushed in wielding weapons, each filled with blazing anger and bloodshot eyes.
The Illuminating Envoy chuckled lightly, flicking his sleeve. His entire body turned illusory like a faint shadow, instantly appearing among the temple monks.
The monk who had blasted away the Hundred Poisons Corpse Puppet looked at the flame figure, arms crossing. In an instant, an invisible qi energy enveloped it.
Immediately, large swathes of flames peeled off Huizhao like fragments of clothing, revealing a figure covered in burns, nearly charred to charcoal.
“Junior Brother Huizhao…”
The monk was Huiming, the current leader of Vajra Temple and one of the top figures in Songyang Prefecture. At this moment, his gaze fell on Huizhao, anger surging on his face.
Huizhao seemed to sense his gaze. His face, with all features burned away, turned toward him for a ‘look,’ his throat making ‘gurgling’ sounds, unable to speak.
He then sat cross-legged and instantly fell silent.
Huiming closed his eyes briefly, then opened them, shifting his gaze to Lady Miaoyun. All his anger had been reined in, replaced by a chilling intensity.
Lady Miaoyun cried out “Ah!” and retreated a few steps: “The guilty has a head, the debt a master. This wasn’t my doing. Abbot Huiming wouldn’t bully a weak woman like me, would he?”
“Demoness!”
Huiming spoke calmly.
The fear in Lady Miaoyun’s eyes vanished, replaced by coquettish charm. She giggled: “Demoness? From top to bottom in your Vajra Temple, which monks lack greed, hatred, or delusion? Exploiting the strength of an entire prefecture to fatten you all up, if I’m a demoness, then you’re demon monks—we’re all in the same trade!”
“No matter how you twist words or spin fanciful lies, today this old monk must subdue demons and exorcise devils!”
Boom!
Collapsing sounds rang out from all sides. The nine-story Secret Treasure Pagoda was fully engulfed in flames, with crashing noises coming from everywhere.
Under the firelight, Huiming’s qi and blood surged, his large sleeves fluttering. His whole body seemed cloaked in a layer of light flames, with dazzling colors faintly flowing. His figure shot forward, a large hand reaching out.
The forceful wind whipped up, blowing away the heavy veil from Lady Miaoyun’s face, revealing a delicate, pitiful, refined, and otherworldly face of an eighteen- or nineteen-year-old woman.
Huiming showed no mercy for the fairer sex. His massive hand grabbed down like fierce lightning toward Lady Miaoyun’s face.
Lady Miaoyun shook her bell. Amid the crisp and pleasing tinkling, an odd rhythm arose. The Hundred Poisons Corpse Puppet roared fiercely, stomping the ground with booming echoes as it rushed toward Huiming.
But it was too late. Huiming’s large palm had already landed on Miaoyun’s face. With the force passing through, it would crush this beautiful head.
His expression changed as the woman’s figure in his palm gradually faded. Amid coquettish laughter, Miaoyun appeared like a flower in water or moon in a mirror, ghostly appearing several zhang away.
“Is the great monk so eager to get intimate with this slave?” Miaoyun stroked her soft, cloud-like long hair. After removing the heavy veil, her skin glowed with a demonic sheen, her eyes even more coquettish: “Want it so badly? Just say so if you want it—it’s not like I won’t give it!”
Huiming ignored Lady Miaoyun’s teasing words, his eyes coldly fixed on Miaoyun. He said gravely: “【Empty Flower Painted Skin Gang】. Rumor has it that cultivating this technique requires a ritual in a place of utmost lust, using mortal desires to achieve it, then peeling the skin of the chosen one, and killing everyone else involved… And to fully master it, the ritual is often performed dozens of times…”
“Demons of the Red Lotus Sect, utterly devoid of conscience!”
Lady Miaoyun said wistfully: “One ritual… a hundred rituals, how many can you kill? And before killing them, this slave gave them supreme pleasure. But you, guardians of this Buddhist holy site, holding the lives of a million souls in one prefecture—do you know how many freeze or starve to death each day?”
“Great monk, why don’t you get close to my family’s Heavenly King first!”
Lady Miaoyun’s figure floated up, ghostly merging into the breeze. The Hundred Poisons Corpse Puppet beside her charged explosively toward Huiming.
Bang bang bang!
The battle erupted again!
“Better early than never… And sure enough, I’ve seen this young lady before.”
Hong Yuan stood in the shadows of a hall’s rooftop ridge not far away, seeing everything in the field clearly and hearing it distinctly.
His gaze focused on the coquettish woman.
This woman was the one from the Red Lotus Sect who had come to recruit him, calling herself Hong Lian. But after the heavy veil fell, the face revealed was not unfamiliar to Hong Yuan.
This face was the first woman he had seen after arriving in this world.
The ‘Miaoyun Immortal Fairy’ playing the qin in the ‘Biwu Immortal Realm’!
Hong Yuan had seen ‘Hong Lian’ two or three times, each time feeling a vague familiarity in her facial contours, though her eyes were quite strange.
Now, combining Huiming’s words, he roughly understood.
The ‘Biwu Immortal Realm’ was a ritual for Hong Lian to achieve her secret technique, and she had held such rituals more than once. That ‘Miaoyun Immortal Fairy’ might be a crucial part of the secret technique…
Peeled human skin!
‘【Empty Flower Painted Skin Gang】?’
‘And if the ritual requires killing everyone to complete it, then my Tiger Subduing Sect companions are all ones who slipped through the net…’
Hong Yuan looked at Hong Lian, seeing her lightly floating toward the Illuminating Envoy’s position, her figure flickering between real and illusory, hazy like a ghost shadow.
‘This is also a Gang Body? It seems different from Outer Gang or Inner Gang?’
Then, Hong Yuan’s eyes turned to the burning Secret Treasure Pagoda. In the inferno, some pillars were already shaking, creaking under the strain, with large sections of walls falling.
The Red Lotus Sect targeting Vajra Temple and deploying several top masters couldn’t just be to burn a tower. As Hong Yuan pondered, his figure merged into the wind, drifting toward the raging flames.
Powerful spiritual sense extended outward.
At the base of the Secret Treasure Pagoda, amid booming sounds, the Illuminating Envoy faced a siege by over a hundred skilled Vajra Temple disciples. His expression was indifferent as he moved among the monks, occasionally twitching a finger, causing eerie events.
The monks attacking him had their sabers, spears, and clubs inexplicably veer off, turning on each other instead. Their eyes blazed as they unleashed killing moves, and in moments, cries of agony rose, with heavy casualties.
Hong Lian passed by a temple monk, her slender finger tapping his forehead. The disciple immediately showed a lust-entranced, impatient expression, heedless of the battle, and began stripping his clothes.
Soon, he was struck on the crown of the head by an iron club from another monk, his brains bursting as he died.
Hong Lian landed beside the Illuminating Envoy, smiling: “Envoy’s ‘Mirroring Heart Method’ is truly wondrous. Without lifting a hand, you make the enemies slaughter each other.”
The Illuminating Envoy looked at Dharma King Baosheng and Dharma King Qingjing fighting Huitong and Huizhi, then at Huiming, saying flatly: “Baosheng and Qingjing can tie down Huitong and Huizhi, but your puppet isn’t a match for Huiming. It’s four hundred years of heritage after all—though not as strong as our Holy Religion, it can’t be underestimated.”
“With this slave and the Envoy joining hands, Huiming can’t stir up waves!”
The Illuminating Envoy nodded: “Don’t waste time. Kill Huiming first. Our Holy Religion attacking Vajra Temple will shake the world once word spreads, drawing attention from all forces. Even the Great Yin imperial family will likely send people to investigate…”
“So we must absolutely obtain that Buddhist treasure!”
“The Great Yin central decrees can’t even leave the Capital City—why worry?”
The Illuminating Envoy’s expression turned serious, his tone grave: “The Great Yin Imperial Court is indeed scattered sand, but the weak have never been the imperial family—otherwise, they couldn’t have ruled the world for eight hundred years.”
“Alright, let’s move and kill Hui… Hm?!”
The Illuminating Envoy suddenly looked toward the Secret Treasure Pagoda. Under the surging flames, an unknown time ago, a slender figure had appeared. The person’s hand waved, and the sea of fire before him parted into two fire walls like living things.
The figure instantly vanished into it.
“Another master?” The Illuminating Envoy leaped up and flew over.
Hong Lian also floated up, though her eyes showed contemplation, feeling that figure vaguely familiar.
Inside the tower, flames burst, with large wall and wooden pillar sections collapsing anytime. Hong Yuan casually struck them away, unfolding Six Void Force net, repelling all surrounding flames.
Even so, he felt the intense heat consuming his force far more than usual.
Whoosh whoosh whoosh!
Hong Yuan’s figure shot upward, sensing all changes around with spreading spiritual sense as he ascended from the base. Even with many stairs burned away, it was a clear path for him.
In two or three breaths, he reached the top floor. Hong Yuan blew out a breath, whipping up a gale in the space that sent large swathes of flames out the windows.
Hong Yuan’s gaze locked on the ceiling mural.
Unknown what material the ceiling was built with or pigment used in the mural, but under such raging flames, it remained vividly colored.
This was a ‘Subdue Demons and Exorcise Devils’ painting!
An indistinct-faced, towering figure stood on the ground, arms spread, head thrown back to the sky, mouth agape in a bizarre vortex.
Above heaven and earth, all sorts of demons, ghosts, evil gods, and spirits were swept into the vortex, thrown into the giant figure’s mouth.
Hong Yuan glanced briefly, then leaped up, suddenly punching the vortex. The ceiling shattered explosively, followed by a streak of dark light falling.
Before the dark light hit the ground, Hong Yuan caught it in his palm with a backhand.
Before Hong Yuan could examine the object, the entire Secret Treasure Pagoda seemed to reach its end, shuddering violently with a massive cracking boom.
In the earth-shaking roar, nearly half the city’s residents saw the nine-story tower collapse, crashing rumbling onto the ground around Vajra Temple.
In fact, as early as when the Secret Treasure Pagoda caught fire, many residents had seen it, and numerous devotees were terrified.
Quite a few martial world people with knives and swords hurried over quickly to see what was happening.
The giant tower fell, sending stones flying everywhere, instantly killing many monks.
The battling masters, except the Hundred Poisons Corpse Puppet which ignored it all, all quickly clashed with opponents while dodging, shifting the battlefield farther away.
Only Huiming’s face changed. With a sudden fierce shout, his whole being took on a solemn Buddha aura, vaguely resembling the great Buddha statue in the temple halls. He unleashed a booming punch with immense force, sending the corpse puppet flying.
Huiming darted forward rapidly, gaze sweeping around.
At the same time, the Illuminating Envoy also leaped over, the yellow-brown crystal in his palm glowing brightly, excitement in his eyes.
Whoosh!
A figure descended from the sky like a meteor crashing down. The nine-story tower was over ten zhang high—even a top master in the world couldn’t land unscathed.
Thus Huizhao had sacrificed an arm as a buffer. Of course, he was already ignited by Nine Dragon Divine Fire and wouldn’t have lived long anyway.
But this falling figure, at about a zhang from the ground, made a ‘splash’ sound like raging waves underfoot. His figure slowed and landed lightly.
Hong Yuan touched down, ignoring Huiming and the others. He opened his palm, gaze falling on it—it was a black-and-white mottled pebble the size of a bullet.
It faintly resembled an eyeball.
As Hong Yuan examined it, invisible ripples spread from the ‘pebble’ at the center.
Instantly, everyone in the fierce battles—whether top masters like Qingjing, Baosheng, Huitong, Huizhi, or the few remaining Vajra Temple disciples slaughtering each other—froze in action, stopping their hands. An inexplicable sense of desolate emptiness arose in their hearts, as if all things in the world were illusory and meaningless.
Hong Yuan frowned, feeling a twinge of palpitation too, but his comprehension was near inhuman, instantly dispelling the negative emotion.
“This thing is…”
“Thief! Put down the Nirvana Dharma Eye!” Huiming roared in fury, his expression drastically changing, eyes blazing like fire—angrier than at his junior brother’s death.
The next moment, Huiming and the Illuminating Envoy lunged from left and right.
