"Ho… Ho… Ho…"
The little novice monk clutched his throat as blood flowed freely through his fingers. He took a step backward and knocked onto the threshold of the door as he fell face-up. He knocked the little loft's door open as he tumbled outward from within and tumbled onto the snowy ground. His eyes stared out at the many monk warriors who were in formation, led by his Master Shi Kong.
The wind and snow filled up the little loft. Xia Ji lifted his hand to pick up the lamp within the loft as he continued to flip to the second page of 'The Secret of Tathagata', quietly reading it.
"Releasing oneself of all burdens would allow one to reap one's benefits, one should strive to be kind and wisdom shall come to them, when one's heart is released, one's heart will be carefree…"
He was fully focused on his reading, as if the Arhat Formation outside the door had nothing to do with him.
This focus, which ignored everything happening around him, created an atmosphere of Zen-ness and serenity that enveloped him.
Shi Kong lifted the torch in his hand as his thick brows knitted tightly. His leopard-like eyes were glaring as he said harshly, "Your Highness, you have chosen the demon's path. All of us are aware of the risks, but we are still determined to put a stop to Your Highness."
Xia Ji said in surprise, "What are you stopping me from? The Leiyin Temple is using the Demon Suppressing Formation to bind me. Shouldn't I be defending myself?"
Shi Kong said, "Your Highness has obtained the heritage of Leiyin Temple, you possess the Dhyana of the Present and have a Buddhist instrument of medium caliber from the Leiyin Temple in your hands. Not only did you not return them to Leiyin Temple, but you have killed the monks of Leiyin Temple."
"Four hundred chanting monks, four of our senior masters and senior brothers, and the abbot had all died at your hands. What are you if not a demon?"
"You are a demon and it is only natural that I restrain you and put a stop to your actions, in order to prevent you from harming all living beings."
Xia Ji did not refute. He said calmly, "You are at least right about one thing."
"What was I right about?"
"I am a demon."
With that, he flipped to the next page of the book peacefully and casually, tearing off the previous page at the same time.
The page of the scripture floated above his fingers and burned into ash.
Shi Kong's eyes almost split open at the seams from witnessing this.
This book was a hidden treasure. Once this hidden treasure was destroyed, it would truly mean the end of Leiyin Temple's heritage. This temple would end up without a hidden treasure that was unique to the world.
Shi Kong quickly shouted, "Stop tearing! Take your time reading! I won't enter!"
With that, an agreement between gentlemen seemed to have been reached.
Xia Ji no longer tore the pages off the book while Shi Kong and the many monk warriors stood outside the door without moving one step forward.
This Seventh Imperial Prince of the Shang Dynasty quietly read the hidden treasure with an oil lamp before the statue of Buddha. He looked like a devout Zen master and there were no signs that indicated he looked anything like a demon who slaughtered.
Right then in the dark of the night, the heavily falling snow outside the door blew into the loft along with the wind. It blew hard and sudden, causing the books within the loft to simultaneously flip and stop. They created a loud and continuous fluttering sound. It sounded like waves and wind soaring through the forest trees, but this young Imperial Prince stood amidst the extreme waves without distracting thoughts and was calm and peaceful.
Shi Kong finally gave a sigh of relief but he no longer dared to barge into the loft recklessly. He took a glance at the little novice monk who had fallen in front of the door and felt a shred of anger in his heart. If it was not for this novice monk leading the demon to the location and unraveled the mechanism to retrieve the book for him, they would not be so agitated right now.
At that moment…
Silence fell within and outside the loft.
While waiting, Shi Kong turned back to glance somewhere afar. There were more than four hundred chanting monks who grew white eyebrows within a second, had their spiritualities wilted, and had contracted a slight cold in this climate of ice and snow. Otherwise, they were all dead.
The abbot had taken up the fight on his own and had ended up being killed by the Imperial Prince, unable to do anything to match up to him.
However, that did not mean that Leiyin Temple was unable to suppress the Imperial Prince.
If Leiyin Temple could be so easily bullied around, they would have been exterminated by those unorthodox clans or demonic tribes long ago. The Buddhist path was considered an orthodox path and was at opposing sides to unorthodox clans and demonic tribes.
That being said, Leiyin Temple was able to survive to date because it relied on the protection of the formations.
There were two formations. One was passed down from Ancient Times and was set within Leiyin Temple without any way of removing it. Although it was unable to travel to distant lands to exterminate demons, it was capable of ensuring Leiyin Temple's safety and security.
These two major formations…
One of them was the Demon Suppressing Formation.
The Demon Suppressing Formation was a spiritual bind. No matter how powerful the demon was, all it required was for chanting monks to chant the scripture and it would create a strong spiritual strength that would form into a sort of suppression that will render the demon immobile.
Unfortunately, this Seventh Imperial Prince of the Shang Dynasty had a fateful meeting that had enlightened him on the Ninth Level of the Dhyana of the Present. He had used a power that originally belonged to Leiyin Temple to counterattack the formation from a spiritual level that enabled him to break out.
Otherwise, the Dhyana of the Present may be a superior level spiritual Zen method, but it would not be able to make a direct attack, nor would it be able to make four hundred chanting monks endure a counterattack that reduced them to old men, which resulted in their deaths.
Even though Shi Kong was of pure mind and heart, the thought of this made him burn with fury. After all, the fateful meeting this Seventh Imperial Prince had enjoyed was supposed to have belonged to Leiyin Temple!!
The second was the Arhat Formation.
The Arhat Formation was able to consolidate and escalate the power of the warrior monks to create a divine form of an eighty-foot golden body of an Arhat. It was extremely strong and could easily slay dragons and subdue tigers.
The abbot had initially thought only to 'entrap the Imperial Prince', and had never thought about 'executing' him. That was why he did not initiate the Arhat Formation. Otherwise, this Imperial Prince would have been put to death if he had come empty-handed.
…
After three hours, Xia Ji was finally done with 'The Secret of Tathagata'.
A gold skill bead appeared within his primal spirit.
A shred of astonishment appeared in Xia Ji's usually calm eyes.
He would not have been shocked regardless of what skill bead had appeared, but this skill bead was a skill he had obtained before.
The Dhyana of the Present!
This was the first time he had obtained two of the same skill beads.
Logically speaking, the same green and white skill beads should have been replicated numerous times but he had never experienced it. There was even a point when Xia Ji had thought that 'there was no possible way for the same skill beads to be obtained repeatedly'.
However, this hypothesis had just been proven wrong.
He immediately used this gold skill bead.
The skill bead was crushed and a golden flow hidden with tremendous spellbinding magic integrated into every corner of his body and mind.
After that, he began to experience it in detail.
The Dhyana of the Present turned from its gold sheen to a deeper gold color.
In response, the Trailokya Dhyana's red also became a slightly deeper color.
The color change meant that Xia Ji had a deeper understanding of this Zen method.
The Dhyana of the Present remained at Ninth Level, but it did seem that it had attained a slightly higher level than the Ninth Level.
He carefully experienced the change.
In the past, he had used the Dhyana of the Present to communicate with heaven and earth.
That was why he was able to get the wind and snow to understand his thoughts and not allow them to fall onto his body.
He was able to get the moonbeam to understand his thoughts and form into a heavenly dragon.
He was able to get the little beasts in the mountain to understand his thoughts and get them all out of their holes with the paws placed together.
However, this Zen method was only limited to heaven, earth, and all other living beings but mankind.
Now, this barrier had been broken.
He was able to get all living beings to understand his thoughts.
What were his thoughts?
If destiny wanted to crush him.
His thought would be to change that destiny.
If heaven wanted to crush him.
His thought would be to overturn heaven.
He looked at the torch outside the door of the loft and the many pairs of eyes. All the monks were standing strictly in attention, watching him as if he was a demon.
Xia Ji breathed out a sigh of cloudy mist in the deep winter and clenched his left hand. His inner vitality started to escalate and a flame immediately burned 'The Secret of Tathagata'.
Shi Kong, who was outside the door, felt a raging fire burn into his blood as it rushed to his head, his eyes looking like they were about to explode.
He shouted in a rage, "You thief, how dare you!!!"
Xia Ji threw the burning book into the air. The ancient book had already burnt to ashes in the raging flames. When it fell to the ground, the wind blew across it as it embroiled within the wind and turned into a vortex of ashes, and in the end, to dust.
Shi Kong bellowed furiously, "Get into the Arhat Formation!"
His voice sounded in the air.
A gigantic, gold 卍 appeared on the surface of the earth as it spun speedily while rising into the air. It formed into many gold lights not unlike fireflies as they entered into the bodies of the warrior monks.
"Go!!!"
The group of monks roared in anger as they shouted in tidy unison. Three hundred and twenty-four Disciplinary Bronze Rods hit the ground heavily. It was like the appearance of thunder as a series of continuing explosions were let off.
It was like all three hundred and twenty-four warrior monks had their spirituality clutched together as one as they were guided by the gold firefly-like lights. They gathered and consolidated within the void of the snowstorm.
Their spirituality was the body while the gold lights were the skin. An eighty-foot figure appeared from top to bottom. The figure's eyes were shut tight but it was filled with power and prestige.
After a moment, the figure gradually formed a soul. Its form was not limiting and had a curiously unique shape. It looked stern and Buddha-like, and held a long, golden rod in its hand.
Its eyes opened slowly. They were clear as a lake's reflection and raging like an inferno.
The power of the formation had enabled the warrior monks to gather in one location and display a strength that far surpassed their individual bodies.
The eyes of the eighty-foot Arhat's golden form looked down at Xia Ji coldly.
There was no room for negotiation for both parties.
The Arhat's augmented shadow lifted his giant hand. The golden rod was raised high against the arch of the sky.
The current in the air tore open as the wind and snow's strength gathered around the rod's shadow. It came together at great speed from all directions, condensing into an iron-grey vortex that blinded all sight. It occupied the sky as it circled about the long, golden rod, much like an encircling dark cloud.
It seemed like an attack was imminent, although it would not be from the long, golden rod, but rather the accumulating wind and snow that was gathered into a pressurized state.
This was the core power of Leiyin Temple, the Arhat Formation!
Xia Ji lifted his head to look at the Arhat's form, the shadow of the golden rod, and the accumulating wind and snow.
He asked softly, "Why would you block my sight?"
…
Amidst the bustling noise, the sound of misery floated across Lake Huaqing.
Deep inside the palace, the Imperial Princess was sitting where her older brother was once imprisoned. She was reading a book quietly.
She hungrily absorbed the dark, bloody, and hypocritical knowledge as she gave deep thought to the rules of this game of power.
Her fine, soft, and yellowish hair had been tied up into a graceful looking bun. Her young, tender eyes now had a look of tranquility in them. She had put on a set of splendorous black clothes that covered her pale, petite body. The piteous look was now lost, and there was an added sense of mystery and magnificent beauty to her. She was as lovely as the white plum with a grace that endured the harsh winter.
She was facing a mirror and she looked at herself reflected from within. She moved her body elegantly, but mechanically. It felt a little unfamiliar, a little strange.
Suddenly, a soft scratching at the door could be heard between the door and the threshold. Xia Xiaosu stood up calmly to open the door. Outside the door, a white fox was lying on its belly against the threshold. It lifted its eyes to look at her.