Bang~
Blood splattered everywhere.
No one had expected Fujimaru Kyoya to appear. The ronin leader had been severely wounded and immediately lost his grip on the demonic blade, letting it fall to the ground.
Fujimaru Kyoya slowly stepped forward and picked it up. The instant he gripped the blade, he sensed the murderous intent within it.
Rather than a Beast, it was more like a collection of malicious thoughts. It had neither reason nor meaning; it existed only to kill and had been born only to kill.
[You held this blade. It seemed connected to your flesh and blood, and you could feel its will. You understood that this was the demonic blade you had been waiting for.] [You obtained "Demonic Blade Murasame." You comprehended the true meaning of slaughter. Noble Phantasm unlocked.] [Noble Phantasm "Thus I Cut" unlocked: Cut away the troubles before your eyes, cut away the confusion in your heart, uphold the teachings of the World-Honored One, and enact the savagery of the Wisdom King.]
"Liaochen, you..."
Kong Xuan stared at him in disbelief. He had originally thought that even if Fujimaru Kyoya was gone, the temple's legacy would at least remain. But now, everything had been wiped out in one go.
"Master, wait a moment. I'll settle this quickly."
"Liaochen, are you going to break the Precepts?"
Kong Xuan looked at Fujimaru Kyoya in disbelief. His hand had already tightly gripped the hilt. Though he had no murderous intent, his determination to kill had been firmly set.
"Liaochen, leave quickly. You have a chance to Become Buddha. Don't let a few petty thieves ruin your cultivation."
Kong Xuan might have been merely a monk from a small mountain temple, but in his youth, he had traveled far and wide and witnessed many grand scenes. Demonic Blade Murasame was something he had found during those years.
He had never seen anyone like Fujimaru Kyoya, someone who could so easily enter Meditative Absorption at such a young age.
Someone like that undoubtedly had a chance to Become Buddha.
"Bastard! Kill him! Take Murasame back!"
The ronin leader had recovered by then. Looking at the blade in Fujimaru Kyoya's hand, endless fury seemed ready to consume him. He disregarded everything else and only wanted to kill the man before him.
"Kill!"
Deafening battle cries rang out nearby, yet Fujimaru Kyoya seemed not to hear them. Amid such chaos, he once again entered Meditative Absorption.
The Buddhist Sutras said that one thought contained ninety ksanas, and each ksana contained nine hundred cycles of birth and extinction.
For Fujimaru Kyoya, time was more than plentiful.
Within Meditative Absorption, Fujimaru Kyoya seemed to see gods and Buddhas seated high above, pointing and criticizing his intention to kill.
They did not know that Fujimaru Kyoya did not mind others giving him advice, but he very much minded others pointing fingers at him.
Killing, Precepts, good and evil...
For the first time, Fujimaru Kyoya felt that the words of these so-called "Buddhas" were so crude. He had only one answer for these lofty beings.
"Heretics and evildoers, blocking my path... Thus... I Cut."
Without the slightest hesitation, Fujimaru Kyoya swung his blade directly at those "Buddhas." A tremendous radiance surged forth, frightening them out of their wits and exposing the ugly faces beneath their disguises.
They were not Buddhas at all, but merely Heavenly Demons trying to confuse Fujimaru Kyoya's mind.
When everything dispersed, only one Bodhisattva remained in Fujimaru Kyoya's sight. Thus I Cut had targeted the Heavenly Demons, so it naturally had no effect whatsoever on a true Bodhisattva.
That Bodhisattva still sat with his back to him, doing who knew what.
"Why does the Bodhisattva sit facing backward?"
Fujimaru Kyoya voiced the question in his heart. The Bodhisattva had always faced away from him and refused to turn around and look at him even once. He wanted to know why.
"I see."
The Bodhisattva still did not answer, yet Fujimaru Kyoya received his answer. He turned and left, vanishing from that space.
Heart spoke to heart. Just then, Fujimaru Kyoya had received the answer.
Why does the Bodhisattva sit facing backward?
"Because he laments that sentient beings refuse to turn back."
Fujimaru Kyoya's Meditative Absorption ended. The instant he opened his eyes, he turned and slashed. In that moment, his former tranquility shattered, leaving only boundless murderous intent that swallowed the person before him.
[You completed the process from Meditative Absorption to killing. You felt that your Zen had finally become complete.] [Talent "Limitless Zen" awakened: Use a compassionate heart to unleash destructive techniques. The Bodhisattva's compassion and Vajra's wrath unite in one body, multiplying the power of any move.] [You finally broke free from the shackles of the Precepts. You killed someone, and you felt your blade cheering.] [Talent "Man-slayer" awakened: Deals bonus damage against humanoid enemies. The bonus increases with the number of people killed.]
The Buddha's Job Is to Forgive You
The ronin leader's head fell to the ground, while his headless corpse sprayed hot blood like a fountain.
Fujimaru Kyoya looked at Demonic Blade Murasame in his hand. Tiny droplets of water seeped from its bloodstained edge and began washing the blade clean. Before long, it was pristine once more.
The ronin leader had wanted to test whether the blade was genuine by using a living person. He had gotten his answer, but he had never expected that test subject to be himself.
No one had seen how that slash began or ended. There had only been a flash of Blade Light, and everything was over.
"Master, I'll finish handling everything here soon."
"Liaochen, are you still going to keep killing?"
Kong Xuan truly was a compassionate monk. Even though these people had intended to kill him moments ago, he still felt that now Fujimaru Kyoya had slain the chief culprit, everything could end.
The others could simply be handed over to the authorities.
"Master, it's useless. Even if they are handed over to the authorities, they won't be executed. They'll only be sent to the battlefield and turned into killing machines."
Fujimaru Kyoya was naturally not speaking carelessly. To someone with Heavenly Eye, there were not many secrets in this world.
Now, the various Daimyo were all troubled by Oda Nobunaga and her muskets. This island nation had never had many troops to spare, and especially in an age of war, it was impossible for them to casually execute an able-bodied adult man.
Leaving these people alive would only leave behind trouble.
[You sensed the ronins' fury. That fury came from your contempt, but you felt no emotional fluctuation. After all, you were always especially tolerant of those about to die.]
Do you know why what you said is correct? Because you have terminal cancer.jpg
Without nearly any hesitation, Fujimaru Kyoya simply raised his blade and brought it down, severing the heads of anyone who dared to swing a sword at him.
At first, some still dared to attack Fujimaru Kyoya. But when they discovered that no one could survive even a single move against him, they finally became afraid.
"Wait! We're willing to surrender! We're willing to be sent to the authorities! Master, you are compassionate, please don't kill us!"
Some ronins who recognized the disparity immediately dropped their weapons and cleanly assumed the Fierce Tiger Landing Pose. Clearly, they had encountered many such situations before coming here, and their survival until now showed that they were quite skilled at this move.
But Fujimaru Kyoya's blade did not stop.
"Keeping you alive in this world would only make rice more expensive."
"Wait! Doesn't your Buddhist sect say that laying down the butcher's knife lets one Become Buddha on the spot?"
"Indeed. But since you wish to Become Buddha, Buddha cannot possibly refuse to see you. This humble monk will lend you a hand and send you westward to meet Buddha."
Fujimaru Kyoya had simulated so many lives. How could he not understand the principle of eradicating evil completely?
As for whether these people could meet Buddha after going west, that was no longer Fujimaru Kyoya's concern. Even if they went to the Great Thunder Temple's neighboring Great Thunder Ass temple and got thoroughly ravaged there, it would still be their just deserts.
"Liaochen."
When the last ronin fell, when blood covered the great hall, and when all his fellow disciples did not dare step forward, the old monk Kong Xuan took a step forward and looked at his disciple.
"You didn't have to do this."
Buddhism valued Karma most and feared karmic debt most. Kong Xuan understood that Fujimaru Kyoya's killing was not evil, but these ronins also had families. If those families came seeking revenge in the future, that would be Karma, that would be karmic debt.
For every person Fujimaru Kyoya killed less, there would be one fewer person seeking revenge in the future, and a greater chance for him to cultivate in peace.
"Killing to protect life; cutting karma, not people."
Fujimaru Kyoya's answer was equally direct. Killing these people was only to prevent them from continuing to kill others. Yet not just anyone could say such words, nor could just anyone do so.
Who should be killed and who should not? How was one supposed to judge that? To possess such a state of mind, one needed to be at least a Bodhisattva.
Fujimaru Kyoya was not yet a Bodhisattva, but he would strive in that direction.
"There are more people coming after these ones. This blade cannot remain here. Master, I'm going down the mountain."
Using Heavenly Eye, Fujimaru Kyoya quickly saw people heading toward the temple. He had to leave with the demonic blade, and he had to depart openly in front of everyone. Only then could he draw all attention to himself.
Those people only wanted Demonic Blade Murasame. As long as Murasame left, this small temple would no longer hold any meaning.
"Leave? Liaochen, you have chosen a very difficult path of cultivation."
Kong Xuan had said before that if Becoming Buddha was like climbing high, then observing the Precepts was like a ladder. Though the ladder restricted one's direction of movement, it at least gave one a place to stand.
Now that Fujimaru Kyoya had broken the Precept against killing, the rest of the Precepts would likely gradually be broken as well. This was no different from making him climb high after losing every tool.
Not only would that leave him without a foothold, it would also make it easy for him to fall from a great height and be crushed to pieces.
"I am prepared. Master, please expel me from the sect. I will not implicate the temple."
After leaving those words behind, Fujimaru Kyoya sheathed Demonic Blade Murasame and walked toward the direction where the most people were gathered. He wanted to meet them face-to-face and let them know that Demonic Blade Murasame was no longer in this small temple deep in the mountains.
"Master, Senior Disciples, farewell. We will not meet again."
Fujimaru Kyoya bowed to those familiar faces, then left without looking back.
[You left this deep mountain. You understood that you would never return. What you needed to do now was sever your ties with the temple.] [You felt the hunger of the demonic blade in your hand. It had not tasted blood for so many years, and that little blood just now was nowhere near enough. It urged you to kill, yet you remained unmoved.]
As expected, demonic blades were more troublesome than Holy Swords.
Fujimaru Kyoya looked at the demonic blade in his hand. Its material was extremely unusual and difficult to destroy. That was why Kong Xuan had merely sealed it inside a Buddha Statue in an attempt to purify it. Otherwise, today's trouble would never have happened.
Fortunately, Fujimaru Kyoya possessed the talent Non-form. He merely laughed off such interference.
Name: Liaochen Gender: Male Strength: B Endurance: B Agility: B Mana: A Luck: C Noble Phantasm: A++ Heavenly Eye: EX Able to perceive the forms of birth, death, suffering, and joy among sentient beings throughout the Three Realms and Six Paths, as well as all forms and appearances in the world, without obstruction. Supernatural Footwork: EX Free and unimpeded, following one's will. Demonic Sword Companion: D The demonic blade thirsts for slaughter and blood. As the number of people slain increases, Demonic Blade Murasame will grow ever stronger. Man-slayer: E An expert at killing people. Though human himself, he slaughters humans. Deals bonus damage against humanoid enemies, with the bonus increasing as the number of people killed rises. Limitless Zen: A+ Conceal all murderous intent, empty the mind, and reach the realm of gods and Buddhas. Then unleash it all at once. Even a single attack will have its power multiplied after this process. Thus I Cut: A++ Cut away the troubles before your eyes, cut away the confusion in your heart, uphold the teachings of the World-Honored One, and enact the savagery of the Wisdom King. Its use can also produce many variations based on one's understanding of the Buddhist Sutras.
Innocent Monster 15/28
Demonic Blade Murasame. If someone had mentioned that blade a few years ago, it would mostly have appeared in ghost stories meant to scare children.
But now, countless ronins and swordsmen spoke of this blade, because it was no longer a legend or a story. It was something that truly existed. People had seen it and been slain by it, and now that blade was...
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