Finally, the Defense Crumbled

Chapter 23: Finally, the Defense Crumbled

The moment the monk Ku'e chanted "Amitabha," he was trying to debate the Dharma with Chen Ye.

As long as his golden body protected him, he could resist the power of the Ten Thousand Soul Banner. Even if he could only hold out a little longer, a turn of fortune might still come.

Whether righteous or demonic, cultivators all sought longevity. They would never give up easily.

Chen Ye had taken a pill, but his eardrums still hadn't fully healed. He could only make out a vague "Amitabha." This demon's quite particular. Even with death staring him in the face, he's still chanting Amitabha. That copy of the Ksitigarbha Vow Sutra must have something to do with him.

Come to think of it, he owed everything to this treasure.

After learning that even Su Chunyi's sword talisman hadn't so much as scratched the sutra, Chen Ye knew it had to be a top-grade treasure. He just didn't know why the monk Ku'e hadn't been able to use it.

Earlier, Chen Ye had used the Transport Technique to block the Vajra Pestle with the sutra, triggering its power ahead of time. That was how he had managed to survive the monk Ku'e's desperate final strike.

He had no idea where the sutra had flown off to, but there was no rush. Once he dealt with this demon, he could take his time looking for it.

Chen Ye didn't respond, but the monk Ku'e was suddenly wreathed in another layer of golden light. Chen Ye was a little surprised. This demon still had another trick up his sleeve?

Mo Ci patted Chen Ye on the shoulder, then picked up a piece of charcoal and wrote on the rock: "This monk cultivates the Nirvana Sect's Kaikou Chan divine ability."

Chen Ye glanced at it and asked in confusion, "Kaikou Chan? I've only heard of Closed-Mouth Zen."

Mo Ci froze for a moment. What kind of divine ability was Closed-Mouth Zen? He'd never heard of it.

But this wasn't the time for idle chatter. Mo Ci added, "This Kaikou Chan is mysterious and unfathomable. I've heard that as long as you speak aloud, your golden body won't perish and all dharmas will be unable to harm you."

Chen Ye laughed. "If that were true, how could Miss Su have cut his body apart?"

Mo Ci really wanted to roll his eyes. Sure, it made you invulnerable to all dharmas, but could the Qinghe Sword Sect's swordsmanship really be lumped in with everything else?

The master and disciple exchanged words in secret. The monk Ku'e glittered with golden light, steadying himself as he locked in a stalemate with the Ten Thousand Soul Banner.

Chen Ye asked in confusion, "Can you really forge a golden body just by chanting at the air?"

Mo Ci shook his head and wrote four characters: "I don't know either."

Chen Ye sighed. His teacher really was only so-so in both skill and knowledge.

Though the monk Ku'e had won himself a brief respite, a stalemate wouldn't do. No matter how powerful Kaikou Chan was or how little it consumed, it still needed spiritual energy.

His soul was already beginning to weaken. Every bit of spiritual energy he spent was gone for good, while the Ten Thousand Soul Banner was a magical treasure, reinforced by an array that supplied it with an endless stream of spiritual energy.

If things went on like this, he was bound to die.

He had to find a way to kill whoever had laid the trap. While he still had strength left, he should lure that person out.

Since they dared not face him, their cultivation must be far inferior to his. He had to force them to show themselves. If they came close enough, he could still squeeze out one last burst of strength and kill them with a spell.

The monk Ku'e's eyes darted about. After a moment's thought, he spoke again. "Benefactor, since you mean to take my life, why not come out and meet me? If you know this deed cannot bear the light of day, then turn back before it's too late. Withdraw the array while you still can."

Chen Ye looked toward Mo Ci. His ears were still ringing, so he could only ask Mo Ci to relay the words for him.

Mo Ci had no choice but to write the monk Ku'e's words on the rock.

After reading them, Chen Ye looked utterly baffled. Did this monk not understand the situation, or was something wrong with his head? He made it sound as if he were the victim.

The pit was filled with corpses. The Ten Thousand Soul Banner held countless vengeful spirits, and the vile Cursed Spirit Child had committed such heinous atrocities. How could he have the nerve to tell someone else to turn back before it was too late?

"Master, are the people of the Nirvana Sect all this shameless?"

Mo Ci replied as if it were obvious, "How could you become a demon if you had any shame?"

Chen Ye understood. Since the other side truly had no shame, he wouldn't hold back either. From behind a rock, he called out, "Amitabha. Master, you misunderstand. I don't mean to harm you; I'm helping you reach the Pure Land sooner. This world is the Sea of Suffering. The sea of suffering has no shore, but turn back and you'll find it. And how does one turn back? By dying, of course. I mean well, so please don't misunderstand. Hurry up and enter my Ten Thousand Soul Banner."

The monk Ku'e's eyes nearly popped out of his head when he heard that. Those were all his own words!

But after cultivating Kaikou Chan for so many years, the monk Ku'e had his composure. He continued, "Then why won't you meet me? You claim you want to save me, yet you don't dare show your face?"

After a long while, Chen Ye replied again. "Amitabha. I seek no reward, and I don't need you to remember what I look like so you can repay me. To leave you with fewer attachments, I'd better stay out of sight."

The monk Ku'e hurriedly said, "Your conduct brings shame upon the Qinghe Sword Sect. If your elders found out, could you pass the Heart-Questioning Technique? I'm already a remnant soul. Even if your cultivation is weaker than mine, we're evenly matched. Why not release your restraints and let me see the world-renowned Qinghe Sword Art?"

In the monk Ku'e's view, the one hiding nearby and setting the trap had to be working with the yellow-robed woman from the Qinghe Sword Sect. One had chased him while the other had set a trap to kill him here.

Moral blackmail and goading were especially effective against righteous cultivators.

Though this kid looked crafty, he'd brought up the Qinghe Sword Sect's rules. The boy would have to think twice.

Sure enough, Chen Ye's furious voice soon rang out from behind the blue-gray rock. "My dear senior sister, we agreed not to reveal our identities! You're always more trouble than you're worth. Fine, now that you know where I'm from, I can't let the Qinghe Sword Sect's good name suffer..."

Hearing Chen Ye say that, the monk Ku'e was delighted.

Just as expected of a junior from a prestigious sect—he had a little cunning, but only a few words were enough to make his blood rush to his head.

Still, setting a trap while concealing his identity was already pretty good. He must have been far weaker than that woman in yellow and eager to distinguish himself, so he'd resorted to such underhanded methods. Now that he'd been exposed, he had no choice but to follow the rules of the righteous path.

Heh. So much for the righteous path.

The monk Ku'e secretly circulated his spiritual energy, ready to kill Chen Ye the moment he appeared.

Then Chen Ye spoke again. "To be fair, I'll release the Ten Thousand Soul Banner's restraints and fight you on equal terms. This battle concerns the Qinghe Sword Sect's reputation, so give it everything you've got. If I lose, it'll mean I'm the inferior one. You needn't worry about my elders coming after you."

The monk Ku'e found himself at a loss between laughter and tears.

Is this kid really that stupid?

He'd thought it would be enough to trick the boy into coming out. He hadn't expected him to offer to remove the trap himself. Was he truly so afraid of being held accountable by the Qinghe Sword Sect's elders?

But the monk Ku'e certainly wouldn't turn down such an opportunity. He praised Chen Ye at once. "Excellent. To show such resolve at your age—you truly are a promising disciple of a great sect. If you release the Ten Thousand Soul Banner, I'll give you three moves."

"Fine. Just wait. I'll release the Ten Thousand Soul Banner right now."

Chen Ye chanted an incantation. Black mist roiled over the Ten Thousand Soul Banner, and the vengeful spirits spilling out of it really did begin to drift slowly back inside.

The monk Ku'e also prepared himself. The instant his chains came loose, he would fly straight behind the blue-gray rock and kill Chen Ye.

But he waited and waited. Chen Ye chanted for ages, yet the chains around him remained. Only a few of the vengeful spirits had gone back inside.

The monk Ku'e hurriedly urged him on. "Hurry up and remove the Ten Thousand Soul Banner!"

Chen Ye replied, "Don't rush me. As a disciple of a prestigious righteous sect, I can't control the Ten Thousand Soul Banner that easily. I'm doing my best to cast the spell."

That sounded reasonable enough—but the monk Ku'e immediately realized something was wrong.

This kid had stolen his magical treasure. How could he not know how to control the Ten Thousand Soul Banner? He was clearly an expert at it.

"Not good! This kid's tricking me!"

The monk Ku'e was about to struggle when the chains around him suddenly tightened. A stronger force yanked at him, nearly dragging him straight into the Ten Thousand Soul Banner. Fortunately, his Kaikou Chan divine ability was still active, and his golden body kept him steady.

But the strain had dimmed the golden light considerably.

Chen Ye said regretfully, "Tsk. You noticed?"

The monk Ku'e immediately launched into a string of curses. "Shameless beast! Lying through your teeth—may your tongue be ripped out in the Avici Hell..."

The monk Ku'e kept cursing, but all Chen Ye could hear was a buzzing noise. He turned to Mo Ci and asked, "Master, what's that demon saying now?"

Mo Ci looked at the huge blue-gray rock, already covered in writing, and couldn't find space to write another long explanation. So he simply wrote three characters: "He's panicking."

Chen Ye burst out laughing, then said, "Let him panic. The sun's almost up. I refuse to believe that disembodied soul can withstand the sun beating down on it."

When master and disciple had discussed how to deal with the demon, they'd already settled on one main plan: "stall." As long as Chen Ye could stop the demon from possessing someone and withstand his desperate final counterattack, they only had to wait. A soul without a body was like a duckweed without roots. It wouldn't last long.

The demon had appeared just before dawn, and after all that time, the sky was already growing light.

Once the sun came out and roasted him through, even someone in the Tongxuan Realm would suffer a tremendous loss of vitality.

Thinking this, Chen Ye simply ignored the monk Ku'e's shouting and quietly moved away with Mo Ci, in case the demon tried to take them both down with him in a last-ditch attack.

But Chen Ye had been too cautious. Just as the monk Ku'e was cursing up a storm, the golden light around him suddenly shattered without warning. Unable to withstand the Ten Thousand Soul Banner's pull any longer, his soul was drawn inside.

Kaikou Chan depended on arguing a case that held up in one's own heart. You had to be in the right and keep your mind clear—like the saying went, "Eight winds cannot move me; I sit unmoving upon the Golden Lotus Platform."

But once your confidence cracked, so did your golden body.