The Daoist Master Has Made It!

Li Shimin's teacup shattered on the floor with a crash, shards of porcelain flying everywhere, scalding tea splashing onto the hem of his Dragon Robe. The Wise Ruler who had ushered in the Reign of Zhenguan was now ashen-faced, veins bulging on his forehead. "Demon Person? Openly slandering Buddhism at the Great Ci'en Temple? And saying that religion is a tool of Imperial Power?" He repeated the report from the commander of the Golden Armored Guard, each word seemingly squeezed out from between his teeth. The commander, Cheng Yaojin Golden Armored Guard, kneeling on the ground, pressed his head to the ground, not daring to breathe: "Your Majesty, that Demon Person did indeed say that. He also said that the common people are born kneeling, and that Buddhism deceives them into living standing in the Afterlife." "Enough!" Li Shimin slammed his hand on the table, scattering the memorials across the floor. He paced back and forth in the hall, his dragon boots clattering heavily on the blue bricks. The palace maids and eunuchs standing in the hall were trembling with fear, even their breathing subdued. "Investigate! Investigate thoroughly for me!" Li Shimin suddenly turned around, his eyes flashing with cold light. "Find out the name of this Demon Person, where he lives, and who his master is!" Cheng Yaojin was about to respond when hurried footsteps suddenly came from outside the hall. A eunuch rushed in, kneeling down with a thud. "Your Majesty! Yuan Tiangang requests an audience!" Li Shimin frowned. "Summon him." A moment later, Yuan Tiangang, dressed in a Daoist robe, strode in, his whisk waving lightly in his hand, his expression grave: "Your Majesty, the young man's words have spread throughout Chang'an City, and the people are talking about it." "What?" Li Shimin's face darkened further. "How long has it been?" "Less than four hours." Yuan Tiangang smiled bitterly. "That man publicly displayed his Divine Ability, stunning twenty Golden Armored Guard. The people witnessed it firsthand, and the story is becoming increasingly fantastical. Now there are rumors circulating in the streets, saying..." "Saying what?" Yuan Tiangang hesitated for a moment, then whispered, "Saying that the Demon Person has exposed the secrets of Buddhism and the Royal Family, and is sent by Heaven to enlighten the world." "Absurd!" Li Shimin laughed angrily. "A Demon Person spouting nonsense has become Angel?" He abruptly turned to Cheng Yaojin. "Issue my decree: martial law throughout the city! Search every house! Anyone spreading heretical rumors will be imprisoned!" Yuan Tiangang quickly bowed. "Your Divine Ability, please wait! That Demon Person is incredibly powerful; he cannot be dealt with by ordinary means. Judging from his words and actions, it seems to be related to the strange phenomena that have recently appeared in Zhongnan Mountain." Li Shimin narrowed his eyes. "You mean...?" "Three days ago, Purple Qi Comes from the East in the Zhongnan Mountain, and a woodcutter saw a Golden Light fall into the valley." Yuan Tiangang lowered his voice. "I observed the celestial phenomena last night and discovered that a Akahoshi appeared next to the Ziwei Star, its light directly approaching the Emperor Star." The hall fell silent. Li Shimin slowly sat back on the dragon throne, his fingers unconsciously tapping the armrest. After a long silence, he said in a deep voice, "Summon Yuchi Gong." Half an hour later, Yuchi Gong, dressed in military attire, knelt on one knee: "Your subject is here." "Take three hundred Black Armored Army," Li Shimin's voice was frighteningly calm, "If you encounter that Demon Person," he paused, "Try to capture him alive, if not..." A cold glint flashed in his eyes, "Kill him on the spot." Yuchi Gong clasped his hands. "Your subject obeys the decree." Yuan Tiangang hesitated, then only bowed deeply. After everyone had left, Li Shimin stood alone in the hall, gazing at the "Emperor's Picture of the Imperial Procession" painting hanging on the wall, his fingers trembling slightly. The scene of him sitting upright in the palanquin, receiving tribute from Totto Land, now seemed so ironic. "Religion is a tool of Imperial Power," he murmured, repeating Fang Yu's words, a bitter smile appearing on his lips, "This Demon Person, he's quite a sensible person." In a dilapidated temple on the Chang'an City, a wisp of lightning ignited at Fang Yu's fingertips, illuminating the yellowed Daoist scripture in his hand. On the title page of the * Taiyi Qinghua Dongxuan Secret Chapters *, eight characters annotated in cinnabar by Zhen Yuanzi were startling: "Defy Heaven and change fate, be cautious, be cautious." "Ah, just what I wanted." Fang Yu sat cross-legged on the dusty offering table, the Nine Heavens Thunder Pool hovering above his head, purple lightning reflecting off the golden characters on the scripture. The First Knock on the Heavenly Gate! As soon as he finished reciting the first section of the scripture, Fang Yu's breathing became rapid! He saw his three souls and seven spirits being forcibly torn from his body by some force! A "Evil Soul Fragment" with a blue face and fangs crouched on his left shoulder, greedily devouring his memories; a "Sorrowful Soul Fragment" lay on his right shoulder, its body festering, constantly dripping pus and blood that corroded his soul. "So that's it." Fang Yu Satori that this was the trauma left in his soul by his experience in the Lion Camel Country. Following the guidance, he pointed his fingers like a knife and actually shattered the two spirits! "Ahhh!" The excruciating pain made him roar to the sky. A passing woodcutter, thinking he had encountered a ghost, scrambled away. Inside the temple, Fang Yu experienced a rebirth! The Thunder Pool suddenly poured down, the Purple Heaven Divine Thunder stitching his shattered soul back together like needle and thread. His newborn soul was as clear as glass, with glimpses of the surging golden Lightning Plasma within. The Second Stage: Burning Karmic Fire! The second page ignited spontaneously without fire, blue flames drilling into Fang Yu's body through his seven orifices. His skin instantly carbonized, revealing the throbbing muscle fibers beneath. These were long-standing, hidden injuries. "Burn! Burn it even brighter!" Fang Yu laughed maniacally, throwing the Thunder Pool into the fire. In the instant the thunder and fire merged, he understood Zhen Yuanzi's profound meaning. This was not a cultivation Cultivation Technique at all, but a forbidden art to sever Karma! The Third Stage: Seeing the True Self! As he cultivated until midnight, a vision suddenly appeared on the last page of the booklet. Scenes from Lion Camel Ridge flashed before his eyes. "What a 'universal salvation'!" Only now did Fang Yu understand why Zhen Yuanzi had given him this book. The Taiyi Qinghua, cultivated to its peak, could sever all ties with the Heavenly Dao. From then on, neither gods nor Buddhas could perceive him, nor could reincarnation stop him; he had truly transcended the Three Realms! At dawn, a squad of Golden Armored Guard searching for the "Demon Person" burst through the temple gates. The Fang Yu at the head of the squad had just raised his sword when he suddenly froze in place. Fang Yu sat cross-legged with his eyes closed in the morning light, a strange vacuum hovering three inches around him. Fallen leaves shattered upon approaching, and sunlight broke them. Suddenly, Fang Yu opened his eyes wide, his golden Mangekyō Sharingan blazing with Golden Light! He shouted! "I've succeeded!" In an instant, an invisible wave of energy erupted from him! The Golden Armored Guard who had just rushed into the temple were struck as if by lightning; their armor groaned under the strain, and they were sent flying, crashing through the temple gates and landing heavily on the muddy ground outside. Fang Yu slowly rose, the three inches of space around him seemingly distorted by some force. He looked down at his hands; the hunger etched into his soul had vanished, replaced by an unprecedented sense of fullness. It wasn't the satisfaction of a full stomach, but the fulfillment of the soul. "Is this what a true cultivator is?" Fang Yu murmured, his voice tinged with disbelief. With a thought, the Nine Heavens Thunder Pool floating above his head responded instantly, the Purple Heaven Divine Thunder dancing at his fingertips as if it were his own arm. Unlike before when he had to force it, the Thunder Pool now seemed to be an extension of his body, the lightning flowing without the slightest stagnation. Outside the temple, the Golden Armored Guard captain struggled to his feet, his armor mostly shattered, revealing his chest, injured by the shockwave. He stared in terror at the figure inside the temple, his lips trembling. "Demon Person!" Fang Yu's gaze was like lightning, piercing through the broken temple walls to meet the captain's eyes. "Tell Li Shimin." His voice wasn't loud, but it clearly reached everyone's ears, "Religion is the shackles of emperors, and I am... the hammer that shatters those shackles." Before his words even finished, Fang Yu's figure soared into the sky, hovering above Chang'an City, overlooking this ancient capital. In the morning light, the outline of Chang'an City gradually became clear, with the Vermilion Bird Street standing straight as a sword and the golden roof of the imperial city gleaming. "Today, I'll show you what true power is!" Fang Yu Hand Seal, the Nine Heavens Thunder Pool spinning rapidly before his chest, and Purple Heaven Divine Thunder cascading down like a waterfall. He took a deep breath, and the Tomoe in his Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan spun wildly! "Raigo!" With a roar, a thunderball almost covering Chang'an City condensed in the sky above the Chang'an City! The sunlight was blocked, and the entire Chang'an City was plunged into an eerie half-light, half-darkness. Inside the imperial city, Li Shimin had just donned his Dragon Robe when he suddenly heard a commotion outside the palace. He rushed to the window and saw a huge thunderball hovering above Chang'an City. In the lightning's glow, a tiny yet incredibly conspicuous figure stood suspended in mid-air. "That is..." Li Shimin was stunned! Below the thunderball, the people were terrified; some knelt in prayer, some fled in panic, and some even fainted from fright. Fang Yu surveyed the scene, a cold smile playing on his lips. "Did you see clearly? This is the power of the gods and Buddhas you revere!" His voice, like thunder, echoed through every corner of Chang'an City. "But I want to tell you, this power is not exclusive to gods and Buddhas! Mortals can also wield it!" He lightly waved his right hand, and a massive ball of lightning slowly rose, finally exploding a thousand feet in the sky! There was no destruction, no casualties, only a sky full of purple lightning blooming like fireworks, dyeing the entire Sky Manipulation a magnificent purple. "Today, I will not harm a single person, only to tell you," Fang Yu's voice gradually deepened, "That people do not have to kneel forever!" Having done all this, Fang Yu's figure flashed and disappeared from the spot. In the Western Heaven Pure Land of Bliss, at the Great Thunderclap Temple. On the Eight-Treasured Lotus Platform, the Tathagata Buddha suddenly opened his eyes. Those eyes, containing the three thousand worlds, reflected the purple lightning and thunder above Chang'an City. "Venerable Guanyin." The Buddha's voice, seemingly both near and far, echoed through the Seven Treasures Grove. "Golden Cicada's ten reincarnations are complete; it's time to set off." Beneath the lotus throne, Guanyin Bodhisattva held a pure vase, and with a gentle sway of her willow branch, the scene of Tang Sanzang's defeat in the debate was revealed. She frowned, gazing towards the foot of Spiritual Mountain. "My Buddha, what variable..." The Buddha's fingertips plucked a golden lotus flower, and on its Petals appeared the image of Fang Yu's soul-severing and karma-burning. When the stamen revealed the * Taiyi Qinghua * scripture, the entire flower suddenly burst into flames, turning to ash in an instant. "The Buddha said, it cannot be spoken." The Buddha's wide sleeves swept across the lotus throne, and the ashes coalesced into a new prophecy. "Only when the sun hangs upside down over the Thunder Pool can the true Spiritual Mountain be seen." "The Medicine Buddha's Glazed Lamp needs oil." This seemingly ordinary remark nearly caused Guanyin to spill the nectar from Guanyin willow branch. The flame burning in the Glazed Lamp is the Buddha's fire of the past, present, and future. This is the Buddha's unspoken meaning. "Understood," Guanyin said, bowing with her hands clasped. "I will now arrange for Tang Xuanzang to depart."