Cao Shi's brazen display instantly stirred the monks' fury.
Those monks who were usually kind-eyed and benevolent now glared with eyes wide, the meditation staffs in their hands humming and trembling.
Master Ming Ku, head of the Discipline Court, drove his iron meditation staff into the ground. The bluestone floor immediately split into spiderweb cracks.
"Amitabha!" Master Ming Ku's voice boomed like a great bell. "Slaying this fiend would be boundless merit!"
The Eighteen Bronze Men Formation took shape in an instant, their bronze staffs whistling through the air.
Though restrained by their precepts from breaking the prohibition against killing, the Demon Subduing True Intent within their staff techniques had already reached the Perfected State.
If they truly struck, a single blow could shatter a man's bones and sinews without taking his life.
Outside the gates, the murderous aura had condensed like frost. Yet Master Bei Feng, seated cross-legged in a pool of blood, slowly raised his withered hand.
Compared to the martial monks around him, tense as bowstrings, his steady bearing seemed exceptionally calm and composed.
Then Master Bei Feng lowered his gaze toward the Buddhist disciples who had died so miserably. Beneath his white brows, his eyes were still as deep pools, betraying not the slightest trace of shock or anger.
"Wait."
His aged voice carried a rasp, yet it rang like a great bell, making the bronze bells hanging from the mountain gate sway gently.
Master Bei Feng rubbed his prayer beads with bony fingers. Looking at Cao Shi, raging in helpless fury, a faintly compassionate smile touched his lips.
"Our Buddha is merciful. All people live within the sea of suffering."
"Every blade of grass and every tree possesses Buddha-nature. The moment anger rises, one enters hell." As his words fell, a mountain wind suddenly swept