"Damn!"
A sword qi attacked. Knowing his location was exposed, Shen Zhao smashed the boulder with a palm strike. It immediately turned into thousands of raining stones, all colliding with the sword qi and resolving the crisis.
"Hmm?"
The sword monk was puzzled and then held up the sky with one hand, and a "卍" symbol appeared.
"Sāla Seal, go!"
Shen Zhao's eyes sharpened, and he struck back with a palm.
"Heavy Cloud Deep Lock."
Instantly, a swirling vortex of clouds materialized counterclockwise in front of Shen Zhao, who retreated to a defensive stance to block the powerful attack.
"This one admires your cultivation, benefactor!"
Knowing his opponent's cultivation was formidable, the sword monk temporarily abandoned his attack, lowering his posture in search of another opportunity.
"This humble monk is Jian Hui. May I ask why you two have appeared here?"
Shen Zhao stepped forward, "We mistakenly entered the Buddhist Kingdom. We apologize for the intrusion."
"Mistakenly entered the Buddhist Kingdom?"
Jian Hui's gaze hardened. After his eyes swept over Mu Qiuyao, he lingered for a moment, immediately understanding that this was likely the woman from the Buddhist Kingdom his subordinates had mentioned.
Mu Qiuyao was annoyed by Jian Hui's gaze and whispered to Shen Zhao, "Kid, before my cultivation is unsealed, you'll have to work hard guarding me."
At the same time, he secretly vowed that as soon as he returned to the Immortal Dynasty, he would declare war on the Buddhist Kingdom.
Just for the fact that they dared to insult a powerhouse of the Emperor Realm, they had to make this realm pay the price.
"Hey, bald donkey, where are your eyes looking?"
Shen Zhao interrupted Jian Hui's contemplation.
Jian Hui said calmly, "Benefactor, yesterday someone reported that outsiders had broken into our Buddhist Kingdom and, due to some misunderstandings, caused unnecessary killings. I presume it was you two?"
Shen Zhao sneered, "Yes, a so-called Buddhist holy land actually does the same despicable things as those evil cultivators. Truly shameless. Isn't it just right that I personally send them to explain to the Buddha?"
Jian Hui's expression changed, "Benefactor, it seems you do indeed have some misunderstandings about our Buddhist Kingdom. This is a Buddhist holy land, how could it be as vile as you say?"
"Before you say that, shouldn't you explain where you're taking those women behind you?"
Jian Hui's expression didn't change: "They were chosen as offerings to serve the Buddha. They should feel honored to be able to obtain the release of Reincarnation from their troubles."
Shen Zhao sneered, "Honored? It's called honor to have bamboo swords pierce their hands and feet, enduring extreme pain?"
Jian Hui said, "They were deeply sinful in this life. Only by experiencing the suffering of the flesh can they have the opportunity to be reborn in the next life and go to the Pure Land."
"Absurd!" Shen Zhao's expression was serious. "Who said they were deeply sinful in this life, and who can control their next life?"
Jian Hui said, "From the moment each person is born, there is a distinction between noble and lowly. The noble are naturally the result of merit from their previous lives.
The lowly have done many evils in their previous lives. They must repay in this life to be able to be reborn in the Pure Land.
The cause of the previous life, the consequence of this life, this is the way of Reincarnation. Only by eliminating karmic obstacles can one achieve the right fruit."
Shen Zhao retorted, "Since it's the cause of the previous life, why not settle it all in the previous life,
"But you want the people who are reincarnated in this life to continue to bear the sins they committed in their previous lives? Don't you think that's absurd?"
Jian Hui put his hands together in a gesture of prayer. "This is the profound meaning of the Buddhist Dharma; there is a predestined fate in the darkness."
"A fine predestined fate in the darkness, but unfortunately, such Dharma is nothing more than a lie to create momentum for imperial power and wealth!"
"Are you questioning the Dharma, benefactor?"
"All Dharma is false!"
The compassionate expression on Jian Hui's face completely vanished, replaced by an air of killing intent.
"Then, please tell me, benefactor, what do you think the Dharma is?"
Shen Zhao continued, "The so-called Dharma in your mouths is nothing more than a means of deceiving the masses.
"You make the people disbelieve in themselves, yet entrust their lives to the vague and illusory Buddha to decide.
You make the people no longer believe in this life, yet believe in a next life, making them numbly endure your exploitation and oppression."
With each sentence Shen Zhao spoke, Jian Hui's expression became more and more grim.
Behind them, Mu Qiuyao was also looking at Shen Zhao with a profound gaze.
"You want the people to willingly swallow all the hardships of this life, deceiving them that this is the blessing of Reincarnation in the next life."
"You want the people to abstain from greed, hatred, and ignorance in order to eliminate their desires, because if people have desires,
they will not willingly accept their fate, will inevitably breed dissatisfaction, and then have angry emotions, which will inevitably produce resistance."
"In the final analysis, you are just trying to make those who are oppressed for a lifetime accept their fate of being oppressed, and not have any rebellious thoughts against you."
"Therefore, if people don't fight against the heavens, and the poor don't compete with the rich, those so-called Buddhas will have no one daring to expose their true faces, and they will never fall from their divine pedestal."
"This is my Dharma!"
As the words fell, a sudden thunderclap echoed through the heavens, and the world trembled.
"Shut up!"
Jian Hui, unable to bear it any longer, roared, finally tearing away his facade of pretense.
"How dare you slander the Buddha? Do you know what crime you've committed?"
Shen Zhao calmly straightened his chest: "The Buddha says, all living beings are Buddhas, so how can there be any slander of the Buddha!"
"You are a Buddha?"
"The Buddha is also me."
"Then may I ask for your Dharma name, Master!"
Shen Zhao closed his eyes, focused his energy, and took a deep breath, then slowly brought his hands together in a gesture of prayer.
In an instant, his aura transformed. He was like a compassionate Buddha, with a solemn and dignified appearance.
"This humble monk's Dharma name is Ran Xiu."
The moment the words "Ran Xiu" were spoken, the first to be shocked was Mu Qiuyao behind him.
"You... you are Master Ran Xiu? The one..."
Shen Zhao ignored Mu Qiuyao's shock and said proudly to Jian Hui, "Illusions and dreams turn things upside down, leaving endless harm. What this humble monk cultivates is karmic retribution in the present world."
As the words fell, the Dragon Scale Blade appeared in Shen Zhao's left hand.
Jian Hui's brow furrowed, and the longsword behind him immediately unsheathed.
"Demons and heretics, bewitching the hearts of men. I shall sever the cause and effect, and trace back to the source!"
In an instant, the aura of the peak of the No-Self Realm erupted, causing the surrounding spiritual energy to surge.
A great light of Buddha emanated from Jian Hui, but it faintly revealed a trace of eerie, evil radiance, reflecting on his face and making it look exceptionally terrifying.
Shen Zhao's eyes were slightly closed, and he remained silent, quietly waiting for his opponent's sword to fall.
"Great Bright Six-Character Sword!"
A flash of sword light, and the six-character Dharma seal formed a Sanskrit lotus seal, attaching to the sword and merging with the vast Buddha light as it thrust towards Shen Zhao.
"Killing to protect life, cut away karma!"
Shen Zhao's eyes flashed with killing intent.
Then his figure vanished, and in just half a breath, he passed by Jian Hui. A horizontal slash of his blade.
"Not to kill people!"
Pfft!
The cold light flashed with the morning sun, making it impossible for people to open their eyes.
When they opened their eyes again, Jian Hui's head immediately flew into the air, and his headless body spurted a stream of blood that shot towards the sky.
"Ah~ He's dead, Head Hui is dead~ Head Hui is dead~"
The other monks, seeing Jian Hui's head fall to the ground, were so frightened that they immediately screamed and scattered, no longer caring about their image as monks.
Mu Qiuyao stared blankly at the scene before her, and after a long moment, a gleam of brilliance flashed in her eyes.
Shen Zhao ignored the fleeing monks and walked towards the women who were being escorted to the Shidao Country (Land of Corpses).
Compared to the monks who were escaping for their lives, these emaciated women were surprisingly calm.
From a young age, they had been subjected to the brainwashing of the masses, which taught them that people were divided into different classes. Faced with everything that was happening before them, they only felt numb.
"Your fate can only be grasped in your own hands. If you don't know how to fight, you will never be able to escape this suffering.
Remember, the only one who can save you is always yourself, not the ethereal Buddha!"
After saying this, with a wave of the Dragon Scale Blade, the shackles on their bodies all fell off.
After finishing all this, Shen Zhao put away his Dragon Scale Blade and strode towards the Shidao Country.
He didn't expect that these suffering people, after generations of indoctrination, would have their way of thinking completely reversed in an instant.
Everything he did today was just to tell them a fact.
This land was about to change.
Even if he knew that all of this might be in vain, and that it might take a long time to see any results.
But someone had to stand up and break this pattern, to point out another path for these confused beings.
"Wait for me!"
Mu Qiuyao quickly followed.
...
The two remained silent throughout the journey.
After walking for over a hundred miles, Mu Qiuyao finally couldn't help but ask, "So, the one who once slew three thousand monks in a single day, the Demon-Buddhist-Yao Monk, Ran Xiu, was actually you?"
Shen Zhao paused, not expecting anyone to remember his alias, "Ran Xiu."
He had only used this alias for less than a month, and he thought no one would have heard of it.
"Killing to protect life, cutting down karma, not people. A very overbearing approach. I'm fortunate to have witnessed it today."
Shen Zhao turned and glanced at Mu Qiuyao, "Is the alias 'Ran Xiu' well-known?"
Mu Qiuyao replied, "There aren't many people in the last few decades of my previous life that I can still remember vividly.
"Ran Xiu was one of them. I just didn't expect that the guy the Western Buddhist Sect Country labeled a Yao monk would be so upright."
After saying that, she looked at Shen Zhao with even more admiration.
At this moment, she finally understood why the Ran Xiu of her past life would fly into a rage and kill an entire sect of monks.
Based on what she had seen and heard in the Buddhist Kingdom these past few days, her impression of the Western Buddhist Sect Country had long since shifted from a Buddhist holy land to a base camp for evil cultivators.
Suddenly, Shen Zhao stopped, pointed at something in the distance. The outline of a solemn and majestic city, about a thousand miles away, vaguely appeared.
"That place is the most terrifying scene in the Journey to the West, Shituo Ridge, or what's also known as, the Shidao Forest!"
"Shidao?" Mu Qiuyao shuddered. "Just hearing the name is enough to make me shudder."
"Maybe seeing the real scene will be even more frightening than you imagine."
"Kid, I've clawed my way up from the bottom, seen all sorts of desolation. You think a female Emperor's mental fortitude is just for show?"
"Then, have you heard of the Flesh Lotus, the Heavenly Palace Cup, and the Leg Bone Flute?"
Mu Qiuyao shook her head, bewildered.
Shen Zhao said, "Never mind. You'll see soon enough. I'll get a carriage. That way, we can reach the Shidao Country in ten days at most."
At the same time, inside the largest Buddhist hall in the Shidao City.
A gentle breeze blew, carrying the scent of lotus flowers. The air was filled with the sound of chanting, seemingly highlighting the uniqueness of this place.
Suddenly, a monk rushed into the hall, his voice tinged with surprise. He respectfully addressed the three figures seated behind a light veil, saying, "Greetings, Three Masters. The life lantern of the head monk, Jian Hui, extinguished an hour ago."
"What!"
A roar immediately shook the entire Buddhist hall.
"Sword Wisdom has passed away?"
"Reporting to the Head Monk, Sword Wisdom's soul lamp has indeed been extinguished."
"Who dares to kill Sword Wisdom? Find them for me!"
At this moment, another voice sounded from the left: "Senior Brother, calm down. Judging by the time the life-soul extinguished, Sword Wisdom died three days ago.
The Lotus Picking Ceremony is about to begin, and it's a crucial period for making Buddhist artifacts. It's best to have someone privately investigate Sword Wisdom's death."
The voice on the right also echoed, "Second Senior Brother is right. This is a critical period, and there must be no accidents at the Lotus Picking Ceremony. Please, Great Senior Brother, endure. The murderer was able to kill Sword Wisdom, so their cultivation is at least the peak of the No-Self Realm. They must not be underestimated."
"Hmph! Then endure for now. Bring everyone who knows about this to see this seat. This seat wants to question them carefully!"
The monk below hurriedly replied, "Yes!"
-----------------------
Completed English PDF of this fan-fic on my Patreon shop if you want to support and own the full fan-fic in one go. Just grab the PDF and binge the entire story from start to finish!
Guys, I've uploaded some High Quality english translated fanfic on my Patreon shop! Feel free to check it out-if you're interested, you can grab a copy and support me there.
Here are a few titles of recently uploaded fanfics:
New Addition:
" The Heavenly Demon Begins with Attribute (18+) "
" The Empress Granted Me a Marriage—The Yandere's Favorability (18+) "
" Oh No—The Monster Girl I Picked Up Can Only Recover Mana Through Me (18+) "
" It's Really Hard to Date a Senior (18+) "
" Extraordinary Beguiler, Really Can Do Whatever He Wants(18+) "
" Spring Fills Fragrant Summer (18+) "
" Defying Heaven's: My Wedding Night with Master's Wife (18+) "
" Fishing Harbor Spring Night (18+) "
" Villain: After I Laid Flat, the Female Lead Came Chasing After Me (18+) "
" Born Succubus, Hunted by Beauties (18+) "
" Starting Tokyo Life After Inheriting a Shopping Street (18+) "
" The Ceo Goddess Best Friend Begged Be a Stay-at-home Dad (18+) "
Your support means a lot-thanks in advance, legends!
many more are available 45+
patreon.com/RoyalStories
(End of Chapter)