Third Rank Great Perfection

Inside the post station, in the hall burning with beast-gold charcoal, Xu Yuanshuang took out a sound-transmitting conch shell and activated the magical Law Artifact using Warlock's Secret Method.

This conch shell is an extremely precious magical Law Artifact. My father, being a second-rank Warlock, possesses countless top-grade magical Law Artifact, but he only has one pair of this kind that can transmit Law Artifact over thousands of miles.

Its value lies not in the difficulty of the crafting process, nor in the high grade of the formations integrated into it.

It's not about the most basic issue of raw materials.

The creature known as the Sound-Transmitting Conch is said to possess Gods and Devils blood, albeit in very rare quantities.

They can emit sound waves inaudible to mortals, allowing them to communicate with their kind thousands of miles away.

However, the conch shell is on the verge of extinction, and my father's pair of conch shells were brought out from the Bureau of Astronomy back then.

In the past twenty years, he has never found a living conch shell.

"Senior Brother Ge"

She called out towards the conch shell's opening.

A dozen or so breaths later, Ge Wenxuan's voice rang out from the conch shell:

"Arrived in the capital? Give the communication conch to Ji Yuan."

When a conch shell is crafted into Law Artifact, it incorporates a special sound transmission array, allowing it to transmit sound only to conch shells that have also incorporated similar arrays.

Simply put, it's a sound transmission encryption function; only conch shells from the same manufacturer can transmit sound.

Xu Yuanshuang tossed the sound transmission conch shell to Ji Yuan, who caught it hastily and complained:

"We only have two sound-transmitting contraptions in the entire Yunzhou. What if they break?"

As he spoke, he brought the conch shell to his ear, his smile fading, and said:

The delegation has arrived in the capital, but has not seen Xu Qi'an.

Ge Wenxuan pondered for a moment and said:

"Given his personality, if he's confident of victory and has plenty of assurance, he'll likely give you a taste of his own medicine today."

Ji Yuan laughed:

"I learned something today: Xu Qi'an and the young emperor had a falling out, apparently about peace talks."

Ge Wenxuan asked in surprise:

How did you find out?

He, a newcomer to the capital with no connections, managed to find out about things happening in the palace so quickly.

Is the Great Feng court so unstable that it's on the verge of collapse?

Ji Yuan said:

"Before dusk, Consort Chen secretly sent someone to see me, saying that she was an old friend of the Imperial Advisor and hoped that he would be lenient during the peace talks out of consideration for our past relationship."

Ge Wenxuan was silent for a moment, then sighed:

"The Grand Advisor's pawns are everywhere, omnipresent. Keep Consort Chen calm and try to extract more information from her."

"In addition, while peace talks are one objective, another objective is to find a way to break ties between Xu Qi'an and the young emperor, making things even more chaotic for them. During this process, remember to find opportunities to test Xu Qi'an and see if he has any leverage."

"Although the Supervisor has been sealed away, no one can guess what tricks he might have up his sleeve."

Ji Yuan chuckled:

"I can't wait to meet that Xu guy and vent my anger for my seventh brother."

Ge Wenxuan said calmly:

"Be mindful of your actions; the important matters are at stake."

Ji Yuan lightly fanned himself with his small silver-ribbed fan in his left hand and laughed:

"I know that Xu Qi'an will eventually be fish on the chopping block."

The west gate is fifteen li away.

Asura Xu Qi'an gazed ahead at the tall figure in the red and yellow robe, his mind a jumble of thoughts, when suddenly a flash of inspiration struck him.

I've figured out a lot of things, but there are still many more things I don't understand.

"You're Number Eight?!"

He maintained a relatively safe distance, staring blankly at the other person.

Asuro toyed with the small jade mirror, his tone calm:

"If not, do you think you could have so easily taken away Shen Shu's severed limbs back then?"

He chuckled softly.

"If I had gone all out back then, I could have taken your head within fifty moves, then sealed you away and slowly wore you down."

He did indeed go easy on him. Xu Qi'an silently let out a breath.

After Luo Yuheng's reminder, he realized that Asura might be holding back. Later, when he discussed it with the Nine-Tailed Fox, they concluded that either this was Buddhist School trick to lure people into a trap, or Asura had other plans, such as wanting to take advantage of the situation to gain benefits and be promoted to the first rank.

In retrospect, he did indeed have other plans, but not to advance to the first rank; rather, he wanted to give his fellow group members an easy win.

How did Master Jinlian manage to recruit this guy as a subordinate? That's amazing! It's like how I, Xu Yinluo, recruited the Supervisor as a subordinate. I thought he was just a frivolous Daoist priest who loved cats.

Xu Qi'an took a deep breath, his mind filled with a thousand questions, and asked:

Why did you do that?

Asura toyed with the small jade mirror, gazing westward, his face expressionless, yet his tone suddenly became melancholic:

"The Buddhist School sect killed your father, killed your clansmen, and brainwashed you into becoming the most devout Buddhist."

What would you do in that situation?

"Dry her mother," Xu Qi'an pondered, "and said:"

"Once Buddhist School Buddhism, you are supposed to be free from all worldly desires. How did you manage to deceive them?"

Asuro laughed:

"What if I told you that the King of Kingdom of Ten Thousand Demons deliberately killed me back then?"

"She knew about the past of the Asura race. Although we Asuras were the most devout Buddhists at that time, as long as we get rid of the influence of 'emptiness of the four elements,' the Asura race can find itself again."

"And death is the only way."

Xu Qi'an pondered for a moment and said:

"At that time, Bodhisattva Guangxian used the 'Great Reincarnation Dharma Form' to send Buddhist School masters who died in battle to be reincarnated and cultivate again. Of course, he would not stand by and watch you, a peak second-grade expert, die."

"So, you became the holder of the Earth Book fragment before you returned to your rightful place."

Asuro nodded slowly.

"Master Jinlian can see the depth of a person's fortune. He said I was a person with great fortune, so he gave me the fragments of the Earth Book."

"But I think he should have guessed that I have connections to Buddhist School."

Upon hearing this, Xu Qi'an nodded, then quickly shook his head:

"It wasn't a guess, it was an investigation. After he gave you the fragments of the Earth Book, he probably investigated your entire family history, from the eighteenth generation to the last."

As he said this, he recalled that after Master Jinlian gave him the fragments of the Earth Book, he had gone into hiding in the capital and conducted an investigation and observation of him.

During her time in the capital, Master Jinlian had learned about about 50% of the details of this minor official.

The remaining 50% were turned away by the supervisor.

Xu Qi'an remembered that Master Jinlian had once said, "You are an important pawn of the Supervisor."

If it weren't for the supervising official blocking the way, aside from the matter of time travel, the Golden Lotus Daoist priest would have been able to discern the exact color of "Xu Qi'an's" underwear.

Of course, Law Treasure like the Earth Book cannot be given away easily. It is only natural that the Orange Cat Daoist priest would observe and investigate the holder.

Asuro continued:

"Later, I went into seclusion to cultivate myself until I saw my true self and understood my past lives, and then I returned to Buddhist School."

Xu Qi'an noticed a bug and asked in confusion:

"If that's the case, how did you manage to deceive the Bodhisattvas? Back in the Southern Frontier, you deliberately allowed me to take away Shenshu's severed limbs; the Bodhisattvas couldn't have turned a blind eye."

Returning to Buddhist School would definitely lead to brainwashing.

Even assuming there wasn't one, the Bodhisattvas must have noticed that Asuluo acted out a scene in Southern Frontier.

Upon hearing this, Asuro smiled slightly.

"As I just said, Master Jinlian knows I have connections with Buddhist School. So, do you think he would entrust the fragments of the Earth Book to a Buddhist disciple who is extremely devout to Buddhist School?"

Xu Qi'an vaguely grasped something and pondered:

"You mean"

Asura didn't keep them in suspense and calmly said:

"Before I returned to my position, he taught me the Daoist School technique of One Qi Transforming into the Three Pure Ones."

As expected, Xu Qi'an's pupils dilated slightly.

"The Asura who has returned to his original form is indeed the most devout Buddhist. Once he enters the Buddhist School, he renounces all worldly desires. But the other Asura is not like that. He is his truest self, who hates the self within Buddhist School. One person becomes three. When the body is divided, I am the true Asura, a completely independent individual. Even the Bodhisattva cannot see through this."

"The three become one. When I merge with another Asura, he will allow me to see myself and break free from the influence of the four elements of emptiness."

"Of course, the technique of One Qi Transforming into Three Pure Ones is too profound. I can only create one avatar for now, but it's enough as a 'coordinate'."

Asuro laughed:

Do you understand?

So that explains it. All the doubts can be explained now. Master Jinlian said a few days ago that he confirmed Number Eight's emergence from seclusion. He must have known Number Eight's identity and that the last Demon-Sealing Nail in my body had been placed, yet he secretly didn't tell me, causing me so much anxiety these past few days. Was it because since his emergence, I had repeatedly made him question his existence, so he wanted revenge?

Some people appear to be kind and benevolent elders, but are actually petty and narrow-minded like an orange cat. Xu Qi'an suddenly realized this, and he immediately probed:

"So, this is your trip to the capital?"

Asuro raised a brow bone where he had no eyebrows and said calmly:

"Naturally, it's to remove the last demon-sealing nail for you."

"The Supervisor has been sealed away. If I don't help, you and the Great Feng will surely perish."

"Then my plan to take revenge on Buddhist School is destined to come to nothing. But in doing so, I can no longer remain hidden in Aranya."

Three years after three years, you've already reached the peak of the second rank in Buddhist School. Xu Qi'an silently complained, feeling quite pleased with himself.

Asura suddenly remembered something and said:

"By the way, when the supervisor was sealed away that day, the image of Vairocana Buddha appeared in Aranya; the Buddha intervened."

Are you sure it's the Buddha?

Xu Qi'an was taken aback.

At the same time, he resolved a long-standing question: the Super Rank behind Yunzhou was the one from Aranya.

Being a supervisor is tough; his defeat was well-deserved.

"In that case, the origin of the Great Sun Tathagata's Dharma form that appeared in the war against demons five hundred years ago can be explained."

Asuro took over the conversation:

"After the battle in the Southern Frontier ended that day, and we returned to Aranta, Du'e Luohan and I secretly investigated and discovered some clues."

Immediately, he told Xu Qi'an about the breathing sounds he heard in the Demon-Suppressing Ravine and the cries for help coming from the Zen Forest.

"Holy crap! "Xu Qi'an felt a long-lost, goosebump-like sensation.

Of the two locations, one must contain the head of the deity, most likely in the Demon-Suppressing Ravine, while the Confucian Sage statue has been destroyed, and the seal is probably gone as well.

So, what was the cry for help coming from the Bodhi tree?

Seeing him remain silent in thought, Asura waited patiently for a long time before asking:

What are your thoughts?

He knew that Xu Qi'an had extensive experience and talent in this area.

Xu Qi'an thought for a moment and said:

"First, according to our second conjecture—Buddha and Shenshu are the same person, just different aspects of him."

"The statue of the Confucian sage has been destroyed, and the seal has been broken. This aligns with events that occurred five hundred years ago."

Asuro nodded.

"You said that if the Confucian sage statue has been destroyed, then the truth is the second guess. But how do you explain the cries for help?"

Xu Qi'an said, word by word:

"Didn't the Buddhist School Bodhisattva Faji disappear more than three hundred years ago?"

In that instant, Asura's pupils contracted sharply, and his breathing became slightly disordered.

Xu Qi'an continued:

"Of course, this is just my unfounded speculation, lacking evidence. We cannot yet confirm that the second guess is the truth. If the first guess is true, then the matter becomes even more complicated."

"But in any case, now is not the time to unveil the mystery of the Buddha."

Asuro agreed with his statement:

The time is not yet right.

"I've traveled all the way east and haven't seen Daoist Jinlian yet. Let's not waste any more time. After removing the Demon-Sealing Nails, I'll be leaving the capital."

Xu Qi'an immediately summoned the Floating Pagoda and took the two of them into the second floor.

On the second level, rows of Vajra sculptures glared fiercely, their imposing presence filling the space.

When Chai Xing'er noticed someone coming in, she opened her eyes and curiously looked at Asuluo, who was nearly nine feet tall.

This person is clearly a Buddhist School monk; despite his ugliness, he exudes a heroic and extraordinary aura.

"The last Demon-Sealing Nail is located at the Juque acupoint on the Ren meridian. This is one of the four Demon-Sealing Nails I can remove; you are very lucky."

Asuro scrutinized him and nodded slightly.

"Let's begin!"

Xu Qi'an said.

He chose this location to unseal the Demon-Sealing Nails mainly because the old monk Taling was watching over it. If Asura was a double agent, the old monk Taling and Asura could join forces to fight this young son of the Asura King.

Asuluo extended his right index finger and gently pressed it on the Juque acupoint.

He pointed to the golden lightning that lit up and connected it to the Demon-Sealing Nail.

Xu Qi'an closed his eyes, and a series of grand Buddhist chants rang in his ears, while at the same time, a sharp pain shot through his Juque acupoint.

"Drink!"

Asuro roared in a low voice, his finger bones instantly growing larger, and muscles bulging on his strong physique.

As the Demon-Sealing Nail was pulled out inch by inch, Asura gritted his teeth, veins bulged on his forehead, and his cheek muscles twitched slightly.

Golden lightning bathed the entire second layer in a dazzling light.

Bite!

Finally, the Demon-Sealing Nail was completely pulled out and fell to the ground.

Asuro's energy levels plummeted; his chest heaved, he gasped for breath, and his exertion was immense.

In the silence, Xu Qi'an slowly opened his eyes.

The energy gained from dual cultivation, the energy from arduous breathing, at this moment, suddenly flows through the Ren and Du meridians, completely revived, and is no longer suppressed.

It was as if an ancient, slumbering behemoth had awakened, and a powerful and terrifying force filled the entire space in that instant.

Rumble!

The pagoda trembled violently, as if locking away a colossal beast beyond its level.

On the third floor, the old monk of the tower narrowed his eyes and murmured:

"Such a solid foundation"

Amidst the earth-shaking tremors that resembled the end of the world, Myolie Chai lay prostrate on the ground, shivering, her heart pounding wildly in her chest, feeling as if it might explode at any moment.

The third grade is perfect!

P. S.: Typos will be corrected later.