The Enlightenment Arhat calmly turned his head to look at the young monk behind him.
“Who defeated you?”
The young monk with red lips and white teeth repeated his question.
The Enlightenment Arhat’s expression remained unchanged as he joined his palms:
“Kou Yangzhou.”
He didn’t try to “argue” or explain further, as there was no need. Though martial artists were crude, at the same level, no system could overwhelm or defeat them. It was perfectly normal for a second-rank Arhat to lose to a second-rank martial artist.
Bodhisattva Guangxian nodded slightly.
“How are the other two Bodhisattvas?”
The Enlightenment Arhat gazed at the distant monks, not seeing Liuli or Garuda Tree.
“They went out on business,” Guangxian said flatly.
The Enlightenment Arhat nodded, hesitated briefly, but still asked:
“And the Buddha?”
Guangxian pondered for a second, then suddenly smiled:
“He is beneath our feet.”
In the darkness, the youth’s smile carried an inexplicably eerie and chilling quality.
The Enlightenment Arhat felt a chill rise in his heart. He hurriedly chanted the Buddha’s name in a low voice to suppress his emotions.
Then he heard Guangxian say:
“The Buddha has commanded that the promotion of Mahayana Buddhism is forbidden. From today onwards, you may not travel around preaching sutras.”
*Regardless of who won or lost this battle, once the situation stabilizes, he will eventually settle accounts and completely snuff out the flame of Mahayana Buddhism…* Wei Yuan’s words surfaced again in the Enlightenment Arhat’s mind.
He gazed deeply at Bodhisattva Guangxian, then turned to survey the Buddhist monks before withdrawing his gaze and saying softly:
“Understood!”
Guangxian continued:
“This seat has been discussed with Bodhisattvas Liuli and Garuda Tree. After autumn begins, we will hold a Buddhist Assembly, gathering all believers from the Western Regions to make a pilgrimage to Alanta!”
Having said this, without waiting for the Enlightenment Arhat’s response, he dispersed into golden light.
The Enlightenment Arhat stood silently, then after a moment, sat cross-legged in place to join the distant monks in chanting sutras for the departed.
In the night, his deeply lined face showed neither joy nor sorrow.
Upon careful observation, one would notice that the Enlightenment Arhat sat facing east, with his back to Alanta.
…
Capital City, Lingbao Temple.
Having just finished dual cultivation, Luo Yuheng sat lazily by the small pool, her delicate white feet dipped in the water, making gentle splashes.
Her feathered robe hung loosely on her body, the collar slightly open, revealing a glimpse of creamy whiteness and curves.
Two zhang away on the water’s surface, Xu Qi’an stood motionless with closed eyes. Beneath his feet, ripples spread outward in circles.
Suddenly, the ripples chaotically changed direction, transforming from outward to inward. The circles that had been spreading from his feet began converging toward them instead.
After this process continued for over ten seconds, the ripples instantly ceased. The water surface seemed to freeze, not showing the slightest wave.
Luo Yuheng half-closed her beautiful eyes, her tone as languid as a noblewoman just awakening, completely lacking the aura of a cold immortal. Her red lips moved slightly:
“Being able to control qi mechanisms to this degree is no small feat. It adds considerably to combat power.”
Xu Qi’an opened his eyes, half pleased and half sighing:
“This belongs in the realm of technique. When the gap isn’t too large, the technique can determine victory or defeat.”
But when the gap in raw power was too great, technique meant nothing.
Brute force could overcome all methods.
These days of bitter training hadn’t been wasted. His mastery of qi mechanisms had reached an ultimate peak. To use an analogy, it was like a fifth-rank power-transformation martial artist, except instead of perfectly controlling the physical body, he perfectly controlled fate. Even when projecting qi mechanisms externally, he could control them at will.
“Imperial Mentor, how does a Terrestrial Immortal advance to the Great Perfection realm?” Xu Qi’an asked.
Luo Yuheng pondered for a moment, her voice magnetic:
“Progress in two aspects: First, increasingly skillful control of ‘earth, wind, water, fire’ and the ability to mobilize stronger elemental powers; second, strengthening the Human Path’s ‘Qi, Heart, and Control’ Three Sword Arts.”
“The Celestial Venerable should be at mid-stage Terrestrial Immortal. He doesn’t have more techniques than me, but he’s simply more powerful because he can mobilize stronger elemental forces.”
Xu Qi’an nodded:
“It seems the martial artist system is indeed unique.”
A first-rank martial artist and a peak first-rank were completely different realms.
A first-rank martial artist and a semi-Divine Warrior were in different tiers entirely. After witnessing Shen Shu’s complete form, Xu Qi’an had this realization.
Luo Yuheng gently stretched her waist, extending her delicate curves to their limit. In the afternoon sunlight, she appeared drowsy with fatigue:
“You’ve been somewhat dejected since returning from the Western Regions. Just how powerful are transcendent beings?”
Xu Qi’an was silent for a moment, then said softly:
“Unpredictably powerful.”
“When facing the Buddha, all my techniques were meaningless. My deepest realization was that only ultimate violence can overcome a transcendent being.”
Luo Yuheng frowned:
“Ultimate violence, like a semi-divine Warrior?”
“No!” Xu Qi’an shook his head:
“A semi-Divine Warrior at most qualifies to contend with transcendent beings. Even now, I cannot estimate their limits.”
Qualifying to contend didn’t mean qualifying to be a mortal enemy.
At this moment, Luo Yuheng frowned slightly, pulling her loose feathered robe tight to cover her half-exposed shoulders and snowy chest.
She casually removed the barrier array outside the courtyard.
A young Daoist hurried over, stopping at the arched courtyard gate:
“Officer Xu, something’s happened at the Imperial Astronomy Bureau!”
…
In the deep sea, where light was dim, the collision and surging of dark currents was the only dominant sound.
“I’ve been uneasy these past few days. Something seems to have happened on the Nine Provinces continent.”
A massive monster “floated” on the seafloor, like a silent and swift submarine.
One of the six long horns on the monster’s head glowed faintly, transmitting the Supervisor’s detached voice:
“If nothing unexpected occurred, a semi-Divine Warrior has reappeared in the world, and the Buddha should be fully awakened.”
The Desolation said flatly:
“Semi-Divine Warrior… Wasn’t it said that the martial artist system never produced a Divine Warrior?”
He was rather confused about the existence of semi-Divine Warriors. Although he had crammed history from various sources like Xu Pingfeng, “The Desolation” had never dealt with the Southern Border’s beast tribes and didn’t understand much about Shen Shu.
The Supervisor laughed:
“The semi-Divine Warrior was an experiment by the Buddha—an attempt to break the seal, an attempt to advance to Divine Warrior.”
Among the rushing tides, the giant monster floated for a long time before the Desolation slowly transmitted:
“It sounds like there are quite a few inside stories here.”
The Supervisor answered every question:
“The Confucian Sage tried to kill the Buddha back then, destroying eight of his great Dharma forms, leaving only the Mahavairocana, but found it impossible to destroy him completely, so sealed him instead. To break free from the seal, the Buddha used the Asura King’s body to create a semi-Divine Warrior.”
“His original intention was to try the martial arts path as a backup plan, but he failed. This was inevitable…”
“A Fate Master can see the future but not the past. How do you know all this?” the Desolation asked in surprise.
“The Engraving Knife told me.” The Supervisor’s voice carried a smile:
“It’s just that it cannot speak or actively communicate with people.”
“Sealed?” The desolation hit the mark.
The horn sealing the Supervisor emitted a faint white light, and his voice transmitted with the light’s fluctuations:
“After the Engraving Knife gained consciousness, it accumulated literary talent and righteous qi as the Confucian Sage wrote books and established traditions. But gradually, as its thoughts matured, it developed its ideas. It began trying to teach the Confucian Sage how to write, teaching him word choice and phrasing. The Confucian Sage found it annoying, so he sealed it.”
… The Desolation was silent for a moment before commenting:
“Very ambitious!”
Listening to the Supervisor’s narrative, the Desolation could imagine the scene: the Confucian Sage holding the Engraving Knife to write, but the knife developing its own ideas, saying: No, no, no, this passage has problems, let me teach you…
“So you unsealed it?”
“No, I cannot break the Confucian Sage’s seal, I can only use secret techniques to bypass the seal and converse with it,” the Supervisor said.
“Hmm, artifact crafting is a specialty of practitioners,” the Desolation brought the topic back on track:
“Why do you say the Buddha’s failure was inevitable? You seemed to say that in ancient times there weren’t conditions for advancing to Divine Warrior, but now there are.”
The Supervisor chuckled:
“You seem to place great importance on Divine Warriors. Well, it was due to the Buddha’s nature. If it had been either of the other two, Shen Shu wouldn’t have formed such deep emotional ties with the Myriad Beasts Nation’s ruler due to intense feelings, nor would he have broken with Buddhism over matters of love.”
“Excessive emotions and desires are not good things.”
The Desolation snorted. The Supervisor’s answer was nonsensical and didn’t directly address the information about “Divine Warriors.”
“A semi-Divine Warrior at most equals my current level. Compared to transcendent beings, they’re still far behind,” Desolation’s words revealed contempt for Shen Shu.
“How strong were you at your peak?” the Supervisor seized the opportunity to ask.
The Desolation said:
“The power of transcendent beings is beyond your comprehension. Whether it’s the Shaman God, the Buddha, or the Poison God, once they prepare to devour Great Feng, no one in the Central Plains can stand against them. This is why I chose to back down then, not wanting to tangle with Xu Qi’an.”
“I don’t have much time left, and now is not the time for my awakening. There’s no point in struggling with a first-rank martial artist.”
When mentioning the Shaman God and Buddha, his tone carried gravity, without any trace of contempt.
“I told you before, when ‘Dragon’ and ‘Claw’ fought their decisive battle in the deep sea, the ocean boiled, and the resulting tsunami submerged three thousand li of the Nine Provinces continent. The later battles between gods and demons shattered the Nine Provinces even more.”
“These aren’t things a first-rank cultivator can achieve.”
How terrifying were transcendent beings? In a word—world-destroying!
“So, where are you taking me?” the Supervisor asked.
“Aren’t you a Fate Master? Why do you need to ask me?” the Desolation sneered.
“Well, I am sealed by you,” the Supervisor sighed:
“Without me, the Imperial Astronomy Bureau is headless. I hope nothing goes wrong—it’s my life’s work after all.”
The Desolation sneered:
“The Imperial Astronomy Bureau has surely appointed a new Supervisor by now. You should accept your fate.”
The Supervisor scoffed disdainfully:
“Though my disciples may be disappointing, they won’t violate the basic principle of respecting their teacher. A new Supervisor? I’m not dead yet—who would dare!”
The Desolation said flatly:
“Since you’re the Gatekeeper, you should know the Shaman God’s background, right?”
…
Imperial Astronomy Bureau.
On the spacious Eight Trigrams Platform, white-robed practitioners filled the view as far as the eye could see.
The white-robed practitioners were divided into five camps, led respectively by the Second Senior Brother Sun Xuanji, Third Senior Brother Yang Qianxian, Fourth Senior Brother Song Qing, Fifth Senior Sister Zhong Li, and Junior Sister Chu Caiwei.
Notably, behind Chu Caiwei stood only six white-robed practitioners, the youngest being six and the oldest twelve, all with childish faces.
Each wore a deerskin pouch at their waist containing tokens of Sister Chu Caiwei’s loving care—pastries and snacks.
These were Chu Caiwei’s newly accepted disciples, or more precisely, disciples accepted on behalf of her master. They were the first core members of the Food Faction, Chu Caiwei’s first batch of followers.
Sun Xuanji, with his ordinary features, ordinary temperament, and ordinary height, glanced at Guardian Yuan.
Guardian Yuan stepped forward, looking around at the practitioners with an imposing air, and said solemnly:
“With the Master Supervisor absent, we should manage the Imperial Astronomy Bureau well on his behalf. Stop this nonsense and return to your duties.”
Hearing this, Song Qing said flatly:
“If you don’t wish to compete for the Supervisor position, you can voluntarily give up and leave with your people.”
Guardian Yuan turned to look at Sun Xuanji, his tone changing to one of fighting spirit:
“Since ancient times, we respect the elder over the younger, the legitimate over the illegitimate. The Supervisor position belongs to none other than me.”