I Can See Your Combat Power

Chapter 776: Chapter Seventy: The Second Stage

Upon exiting the inner palace, Yankong didn’t sit in the carriage Bu Xiao had prepared for him. As the most outstanding disciple of the current generation at the Wuxiang Zen Temple and the prodigy who perfected the Sutra of No Suffering and Extinction, he demanded the highest standards and self-discipline from himself.

Zen always believed that to escape the cycle of reincarnation, one must first experience it, and to know what reincarnation is, is to understand the endless suffering of sinking in the sea of desires.

In Yankong’s view, experiencing reincarnation meant self-control, self-proving, rejecting materialistic and emotional desires, and enduring unbearable extreme situations, only then could one cross to the other shore.

This heretical self-mortification doctrine had its followers in Buddha’s Country, but very few people actually persevered. Although this method greatly enhanced the spirit and will, the process was too hard. For those in the Mortal Realm and on the path to transcending it, the practitioners might regard it as a model for emulation but a truly powerful Zen master in the Fierce Realm was rarely able to persist in self-mortification.

Maybe this was why Yankong could achieve such cultivation at this young age.

The barefoot Buddha Son walked while reciting the Sutra of No Suffering and Extinction. Each step seemingly slow and steady, his figure was already tens of yards away. If a Zen master from Buddha’s Country saw this, they would surely be amazed.

Because Yankong astonishingly has mastered Divine Foot technique to reduce large distances to inches. Moving a few dozen yards with just a step, his physical form appeared to teleport. The proficiency of this divine ability was equivalent to a Zen master who had practiced Divine Foot technique for decades, it was unbelievable.

Emerging from the center of the Kunwu mountain range, within half an hour he had left the territory of Martial Saint Mountain. The barefoot monk suddenly stopped, pulled out of his meditative state, because he suddenly felt a very strong murderous intent facing him.

Golden sword energy whizzed past the ground, carving out a deep sword ravine. The Xu Clan swordsman from Yuanzhou, with killer intent filling his peach blossom eyes, coldly asked, “Monk, where are you going?”

Yankong kept quiet, a buddhist light circulated around his body. Upon discovering a subtle dark sword seal on the back of his hand, he dispelled it, then put his hands together and said, “I am just going where I am supposed to go. I practice my lessons every day, but I have never noticed the sword seal on the back of my hand. The Tongming sword intent is indeed extraordinary.”

“Monk, I respect you as a Buddha Son of Buddha’s Country, an exceptional prodigy who revived the Path of No Suffering and Extinction. I will only say this once,” an aging Xu Clan member with a face as white as snow coldly said, “Remove the Zen thoughts from Tang Xing’s Sea of Consciousness. If you insist on refusing to let go, you will regret it.”

“Namo supreme honor Bodhisattva, all things arise from conditions and are extinguished by conditions, everything is destined.” Buddha Son Yankong recited a verse from the sutras, and indifferently said, “Since it is destined, there is no room for regret.”n/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om

“You are stubborn, monk, watch my sword!”

The Xu Clan swordsman was furious, raising the Emperor’s Void Phoenix Divine Sword for a slash that sent hundreds of sword energies splitting rocks and dividing gold. With the complete release of Tongming Sword Body, eight sword realms open in the sky, like eyes in the void.

These years using the unique characteristics of the Tongming Sword Body, he has created eight sword realms within his body, visualizing the million broken sword souls in the sword realms. If you ask who among the Fierce Realm swordsmen of the Xu Clan has the strongest sword spirit, no one can answer. But if you ask who among the Fierce Realm swordsmen has the most sword spirits visualized, if Xu elder claims the second, who would dare claim the first?

The eight sword realms opening in the void spew out sword spirits, the various divine sword lights combine into a column of light.

Sword radiance poured down like rain, reducing the entire mountain peak to dust. Looking from afar, this column of light was like divine punishment, annihilating everything in the world.

Facing the Xu Clan’s ultimate sword scripture, Yankong dared not to be careless. He spouted a vajra Bodhi relic from his mouth, the golden buddhist light just enveloped his body when it was swallowed up by the torrent of sword spirits. Each breath had tens of thousands of sword spirits hitting the golden light screen pulled together by the vajra Bodhi relic.

The Xu Clan of Yuanzhou’s Colossal Ten Thousand Sword Intent Killing Technique was ranked first. It wasn’t flattery from the sacred lands giving face to the Xu Clan, but because those swordsmen of Yuanzhou truly took the matter of lethal force to the extreme.

A small hill was obliterated under the bombardment of the sword spirits. The swordsman of the Xu Clan stopped the output of spiritual power, wanted to ask Yankong again if the previous round of sword torrents had sobered him a little, but saw a lone stone pillar standing in the shattered mountain, along with a golden glow orb covered in cracks.

“The sword realm cleverly steals the craftsmanship of heaven, now please also appreciate the Buddhist repository of ten thousand sutras!”

An imperceptible heart sutra Sanskrit sound resounded in the golden dantian. Eighty-four thousand volumes of the Buddhist repository appeared out of thin air and unfolded. Countless Buddha Sons leaped out from the scriptures and became golden word swords, assaulting the airborne swordsman.

“Counterattack? Interesting!” Xu elder stared at the sky full of golden light, waved his sword forward, behind him the eight sword realms once again spewed out sword torrents.

In mid-air, the Buddhist sutra repository scriptures and the souls of the famed swords collided with a thunderous noise that shook the Kunwu mountain range, the end-of-the-world scenery caused the animals in the mountains to flee for their lives.

There, in the uninhabited deep mountains, the unparalleled Buddha Son of Central Buddha’s Country and the strongest walking swordsman of Yuanzhou Xu Clan were engaged in a fierce battle.

…

Longzhou Calendar year 1784

Early September

The second round of the Youth Martial Arts Contest has also begun. Unlike the previous round with four hundred participants, less than a hundred people actually made it to the second round.

In other words, over seventy percent of the people failed to get a martial seal in the first round.

The venue for the second round was not set at the main peak of Bifang Mountain, or even within the Ten Martial Mountains.

Early this morning, the contestants who qualified for the second round were led down the mountain by the arbitrators towards the depths of the Kunwu mountain range.

At the end of a bamboo grove nestled against the mountain and next to a water source, an arbitrator addressed the less than a hundred contestants, “Crossing the bamboo grove will take you to the second stage of the Martial Arts Competition. You can go there by yourselves.”

Across the bamboo grove was a thousand-zhang tall mountain wall, a babbling stream flowed from the mountain gorge. In front of the mountain wall was a bamboo house, with several attendants. On the outer wall of the bamboo house, there was a large white paper notice, listing the names of all the challengers who had made it to the second round.

And the old man with white hair and eyebrows they had seen the day before, together with another middle-aged scholar, were drinking tea in the bamboo house’s teahouse pavilion, waiting for the people to gather.

When all the challengers had arrived, the grandmaster placed down his teacup and asked the crowd, “This is the second stage of the Martial Arts Competition. Did everyone bring the tournament seals from the first round?”

After seeing everyone nod, the Grandmaster continued, “Later, go to the attendant to exchange your martial seals for jade coins. These jade coins will be your scores for the second round. The final result will be ranked based on the number of jade coins you have. Off you go now.”

The crowd looked at each other, almost not believing what they had heard. Exchanging martial seals for jade coins, then ranking based on the number of jade coins, wasn’t this just asking them to fight amongst themselves?

And among the challengers, there was a monster who single-handedly defeated all the out-of-school disciples of the Martial Saint Mountain. How were they supposed to fight him?

Perhaps noticing the panic in the hearts of the competitors, the white-haired and browed grandmaster added, “No private fights are allowed in this bamboo forest.”