"Hmph, you're merely at the Two Elephant Realm Stage of the Immortal King, and you think you can kill me?" Seeing that the old monk lacked any semblance of a benevolent monk and only exuded an aura of slaughter and menace, Wang Xiaoqiang let out a cold laugh, no longer being polite in his tone.

"Very well, since you're so stubborn, taste the Boundless Buddha Fire of this old monk." The Reclining Buddha spoke, raising his right hand and releasing a blaze towards Wang Xiaoqiang from his palm.

"Hmph, just a petty trick, and you think it can harm me?!" Instead of retreating, Wang Xiaoqiang advanced, combining his hands before him, then separating them, and a shield formed from Water Element Spiritual Qi, suspended in front of him.

In the next moment...

The Boundless Buddha Fire struck Wang Xiaoqiang's Water Element Spiritual Qi Shield.

BOOM!!!

A deafening explosion reverberated, the Water Element Qi Shield trembled slightly from the collision, shaking but ultimately withstanding the fiery onslaught of the Boundless Buddha Fire.

"Such pure Water Element Spiritual Qi!" The Reclining Buddha stared at Wang Xiaoqiang, eyes filled with surprise and internal suspicion. "This person doesn't have a Water Spirit Root, so how does he emit such pure Water Element Spiritual Qi?"

"It's said that the teachings of Buddha are compassionate and can embrace all things. Old monk, can you not spare even two women?" Wang Xiaoqiang advised, speaking without fear of further bloodshed, but he still held a certain reverence for the monks and was reluctant to strike.

"Amitabha, this old monk has no desire to kill, but the Heavenly Demon holds the Demon Sound Wall, which wreaks great havoc. If the benefactor is willing to surrender the Demon Sound Wall, then this old monk can spare her life."

Upon hearing that the Demon Sound Wall was in the hands of the Heavenly Demon, Wang Xiaoqiang's heart stirred. His successful conquests and the acquisition of the prince's gold coins were inseparable from the chaos caused by the Demon Sound Wall, so he was unwilling to agree, and his expression immediately changed, saying:

"You old bald donkey, I don't know what you're talking about. Since you're so unwilling to let go of two women, I suspect you either lusted after them or have already violated them and now want to silence them..."

Before Wang Xiaoqiang could finish, the Reclining Buddha already burst into a furious shout, "Utter nonsense! Move aside, or this old monk will kill you along with them."

"Feel free to try!" Wang Xiaoqiang sneered coldly, "I've killed so many people today; I don't mind adding you to the count."

The Reclining Buddha clenched and waved his right hand, projecting a character, which was the word "Punishment." After it was projected, it suddenly enlarged, gleaming with golden light, expanding to the size of a basin and charging towards Wang Xiaoqiang.

"Little Qiang, be careful, that's the Cross Sutra! Its power is extremely strong!" Leng Qingqiu cried out in warning.

The Cross Sutra is one of the strange arts of Tianyun Temple, with the entire scripture totaling just ten characters. However, these ten characters are more difficult to comprehend than scriptures containing a sea of words,

because each character embodies a Buddhist principle, and any single principle can take a monk a lifetime to understand.

Ordinary monks of Tianyun Temple only grasp the meaning of one character from the Cross Sutra, with some never comprehending even one in their lifetime.

Naturally, Immortal Buddha monks like the Reclining Buddha don't just grasp one character. Due to his body's condition, Reclining Buddha is impeded in movement, and those who are impeded in movement prefer meditation and enlightenment. Reclining Buddha is such a person, and his understanding of the Cross Sutra is the highest in Tianyun Temple, having mastered three characters' meanings from the sutra.

The character "Punishment" is among them.

In Buddhism, much emphasis is placed on the Path of Forgiveness and the Punishment Dao; forgiveness is pardon, punishment is retribution.

The Reclining Buddha's "Punishment" character lies in the Punishment Dao.

The Punishment Dao is more fierce and intense than the Path of Forgiveness, carrying a heavy aura of slaughter, typically used for offensive attacks.

This Cross Sutra, similar in principle to the "Power of Dao" from Yueyang Academy, relies on meditation and cultivation, and then combines the enlightenment into a powerful weapon, creating a deadly force that can often take lives beyond one's level.

As the glittering "Punishment" character charged towards him, Wang Xiaoqiang chuckled playfully, immediately releasing the "Holy Path of Courage" from within his body.

The "Courage" character floated out and expanded with the wind, instantly swelling to the size of a city gate, gleaming with golden light, standing in front of Wang Xiaoqiang.

"What? 'Power of Dao'? No, it's the Power of the Sacred Dao, and so huge?! Why does it come with lightning?" Seeing Wang Xiaoqiang's "Courage" character, the Reclining Buddha was astounded.

This Immortal Realm, vast yet small, has no borders in the exchange between cultivators. Though the Reclining Buddha resides outside the Yellow Dragon Empire, he is well aware of Yueyang Academy and its Power of Dao, also having heard of the Old Master of Yueyang Academy stepping into the realm of the Sacred Dao, highly revered. Yet he never expected the young man before him to have reached the realm of the Sacred Dao, and his Holy Path of Courage was astonishingly as large as a gate, bewilderingly.

The "Punishment" character from the Cross Sutra was indeed formidable, but the Reclining Buddha lacked deep comprehension, and its power was far inferior to Wang Xiaoqiang's Holy Path of Courage.

The basin-sized "Punishment" character meeting the city-gate-sized "Courage" character was like a small shaman meeting a Great Shaman,

With a tremendous roar, the two clashed, and the lightning within the "Courage" character explosively erupted, striking the "Punishment" character away.

The figure of Reclining Buddha, Master Yunyin, shook violently, retreating three steps, but showed no sign of surprise, for the loss was not at all unjust, as his "Punishment" Dao was simply not on the same level as the opponent's Holy Path of Courage.

The Reclining Buddha showed a look of defeat, stabilizing himself as he retrieved his Punishment Dao with a gloomy demeanor, paying a respectful bow to Wang Xiaoqiang. "Amitabha, I didn't expect you to be from Yueyang Academy; this old monk concedes defeat."

Wang Xiaoqiang also retracted his Holy Path of Courage, sneering unabashedly, "At least you have self-awareness; considering you're a practitioner of Buddhism, I'll spare you today, but don't let me see you again, or you're destined to die."

"Since you're a man of enlightenment, why do you associate with demon spawn and demonesses? It's truly unbecoming!" The Reclining Buddha stared intently at Wang Xiaoqiang, a look of admiration on his face, yet his tone was filled with regret and sighs.

"There's a distinction between good and bad in people, as well as good and evil among demons. Righteousness and demonic presence alike are part of humanity. When a person becomes utterly evil, how is he different from a demon? If a demon acts righteously, can he still be called a demon?" Wang Xiaoqiang said with profound meaning, revealing a roguish smile, "You might not believe it, but among my women, there are demonesses and ghost maidens... hehe... They are all very beautiful and have been transformed into good people by me. To be honest, my merits are no less than the Buddhist sect's..."

Hearing this, the Reclining Buddha shook his head internally, murmuring with confusion, "This old monk cannot believe nor understand it, but this old monk asks only one thing, hoping the benefactor will transform the Flower Demon and Heavenly Demoness into good people, and cease their harm to the common people."

"Alright, I promise you." Wang Xiaoqiang smiled with intrigue.

"Then I thank the benefactor. I hope the benefactor keeps his word." The Reclining Buddha spoke, gazing deeply at Wang Xiaoqiang before waving his hand, his red kasaya supporting half his body as he soared, disappearing into the night.

Staring at the departing Reclining Buddha, Wang Xiaoqiang sneered, "I promised not to plague the people, but I didn't promise not to overthrow the Yue Kingdom's dynasty. With the Heavenly Demon's assistance, conquering the Yue Kingdom is only a matter of time. Hahaha."

...

Vote for me in the monthly polls! (To be continued. If you like this work, please vote for recommendation or monthly votes on Qidian.com, your support is my greatest motivation. Mobile users, please read on m.qidian.com.)

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.