The terror of the Transcendent Rank

Du'e Arhat calmly turned around and looked at the young monk behind him.

Who did you lose to?

The young monk, with his rosy lips and white teeth, asked again.

The Arhat Du'e remained expressionless, his hands clasped together in prayer.

"Kouyang Prefecture."

He didn't try to "argue" or offer much explanation, because it wasn't necessary.

Although martial artists are crude, no system can crush or defeat them at the same level. It is quite normal for a second-grade Arhat to lose to a second-grade martial artist.

The Bodhisattva Guangxian nodded slightly.

"What about the other two Bodhisattvas?"

Du'e gazed at the monks in the distance, but saw neither lapis lazuli nor the galaxy tree.

"I went out on business," Guangxian said casually.

Du'e nodded, hesitated for a moment, and then asked:

Where is the Buddha?

Guangxian hesitated for a second, then suddenly smiled and said:

He is at our feet.

In the darkness, the boy's smile carried a strange, eerie, and sinister quality.

Du'e Luohan clearly felt a chill rising in his heart, and he quickly chanted Buddhist mantras in a low voice to suppress his emotions.

Then Guangxian said:

"The Buddha has decreed that the propagation of Mahayana Buddhism is forbidden; from this day forward, you are prohibited from preaching and teaching in various places."

Regardless of who wins or loses this battle, once the situation stabilizes, he will eventually settle scores and extinguish the flame of Mahayana Buddhism completely. Wei Yuan's words resurfaced in Du'e Luohan's mind.

He gazed intently at Bodhisattva Guangxian, then glanced back at the Buddhist School monks, before withdrawing his gaze and whispering:

"Understood!"

Guangxian continued:

"I have discussed this with the Bodhisattva Lapis Lazuli and the Bodhisattva Garuda. We will hold a grand Buddhist assembly after autumn, summoning all believers from the Western Regions to make a pilgrimage to Alanda!"

Having said that, before the Arhat Du'e could respond, he vanished in golden light.

The Arhat who had saved the day stood silently for a moment, then sat down cross-legged on the spot and joined the monks in chanting sutras for the deceased.

In the darkness, his deeply lined face showed neither joy nor sorrow.

Upon closer inspection, one will find that the Arhat Du'e is facing east with his back to Aranda.

Lingbao Temple in the capital city.

Having just finished dual cultivation, Luo Yuheng sat languidly by the small pond, her fair and delicate feet soaking in the water, gently splashing.

The feathered robe draped loosely over her body, the neckline slightly open, revealing a glimpse of her fair skin and cleavage.

Two zhang away, Xu Qi'an stood motionless with his eyes closed on the water, ripples spreading out from the water beneath his feet.

Suddenly, the ripples changed direction erratically, moving from outwards to inwards, and the ripples that spread outwards from the feet began to converge towards them.

After this process lasted for about ten seconds, the ripples subsided instantly, and the water surface seemed to freeze, without the slightest ripple.

Luo Yuheng half-closed her beautiful eyes, her tone languid like a noblewoman who had just woken up, completely lacking the aura of a cold fairy. Her red lips parted slightly as she said:

"To be able to manipulate qi to this extent is truly remarkable and provides a significant boost to combat power."

Xu Qi'an opened his eyes, half happy and half sighing:

"This falls under the category of skill; when the skill gap is small, skill can determine the outcome."

However, if the gap in raw skill is too large, technique becomes meaningless.

One force can overcome ten techniques.

His arduous training these past few days has paid off; his mastery of Qi has reached an unparalleled level. To put it figuratively, he is like a martial artist at the fifth level of Transformation Realm, except that Transformation Realm is about perfect control over the physical body.

He has perfect control over destiny; even when his energy is released outwards, he can still control it at will.

"Grand Preceptor, how does a terrestrial immortal advance to the Great Perfection realm?" Xu Qi'an asked.

Luo Yuheng pondered for a moment, then said in a magnetic voice:

"The improvements are twofold: the manipulation of 'earth, wind, water, and fire' has become more skillful, and the elemental power mobilized has become more powerful; the three sword techniques of 'qi, mind, and control' of the Human Sect have been enhanced."

"The Celestial Venerable should be in the mid-stage of a terrestrial immortal. He doesn't have any more tricks up his sleeve than I do, but he's still more powerful. It's because he can manipulate more elemental power than I can."

Xu Qi'an nodded:

"It seems the martial arts system is indeed quite unique."

The first rank and the peak of the first rank are two completely different realms for a martial artist.

A first-grade martial artist and a half-step martial god are different levels. Xu Qi'an realized this after witnessing the complete form of Shen Shu.

Luo Yuheng gently stretched her waist, maximizing her exquisite curves, radiating a drowsy, lazy glow in the afternoon sunlight.

"You've been a bit down since you returned from the Western Regions. Just how powerful is a Super Grade item?"

Xu Qi'an remained silent for a moment, then said in a low voice:

Unpredictable power.

"When facing the Buddha, all my methods are meaningless. My deepest feeling is that only extreme violence can overwhelm the sublime."

Luo Yuheng frowned:

"Extreme violence, like a half-step Martial God?"

"No!" Xu Qi'an shook his head:

"At most, a half-step Martial God is qualified to compete with a Super Grade. To this day, I still cannot estimate the limits of a Super Grade."

Having the right to compete does not mean having the right to become mortal enemies.

At this moment, Luo Yuheng frowned, tightened her loose feather robe to cover her half-exposed shoulders and snowy breasts.

He casually removed the barrier that had been set up outside the courtyard.

A young Daoist priest strode over and stopped outside the arched courtyard gate, saying:

"Xu Yinluo, something's happened at the Bureau of Astronomy!"

In the deep sea, the light is dim, and the sounds of colliding and surging currents are the only main melody.

"I've been feeling uneasy these past few days; it seems something has happened on the Nine Provinces continent."

The enormous monster 'floats' on the seabed, like a silent and swift submarine.

One of the six long horns on the monster's head glowed faintly, emanating the calm voice of the supervisor:

"If nothing unexpected happens, the Half-Step Martial God will reappear in the world, and the Buddha should also be fully awakened."

Huang said indifferently:

"A half-step Martial God. Wasn't it said that the Martial Arts system has never produced a Martial God?"

He was rather confused about the existence of a half-step Martial God. Although he had made up for his historical knowledge through various channels such as Xu Pingfeng, 'Huang' had never dealt with the Demon Race of the Southern Frontier and did not know much about the gods.

The supervisor laughed:

"The attempt to become a half-step Martial God was an experiment by the Buddha, an attempt to break the seal, and an attempt to ascend to the Martial God realm."

Amidst the surging tide, the enormous monster drifted for a long time before Huang slowly transmitted his voice:

"It sounds like there's a lot more to this than meets the eye."

The supervisor will answer all questions.

"The Confucian sage actually tried to kill the Buddha back then, destroying his eight great forms, leaving only the Great Sun Tathagata, but found that he could not destroy him no matter what, so he sealed him away. In order to break free from the seal, the Buddha used the body of the Asura King to create a half-step martial god."

"His original intention was to try taking the path of a warrior, to leave himself a backup plan, but he failed. This was actually inevitable."

"The Fate Master can see the future, but not the past. How do you know these things?" Huang asked in surprise.

"The carving knife told me," the supervisor said with a smile.

"That guy just can't speak, and he can't initiate conversations with people."

"It's sealed away?" Huang said, revealing the truth.

The long horn that sealed the supervisor emitted a faint white light, and the supervisor's voice echoed with the rise and fall of the light:

"After the carving knife gained sentience, it accumulated talent and righteous spirit as the Confucian sage carved books and wrote Vast Righteous Qi. But gradually, as its thoughts matured, it developed its own ideas. It began to try to teach the Confucian sage how to write books, how to choose words and construct sentences. The Confucian sage found it troublesome and sealed it away."

After a moment of silence, Huang commented:

"Very ambitious!"

Listening to the supervisor's account, Huang could imagine the scene: the Confucian sage holding a carving knife and writing, but the carving knife had its own ideas and said: No, no, no, there's a problem with this passage. Let me teach you.

"So you broke the seal on it?"

"No, I cannot break the seal of the Confucian Sage; I can only use Secret Method to bypass the seal and communicate with him," said the supervisor.

"Yes, weapon crafting is Warlock's specialty." Huang steered the conversation back on track, saying:

"Why do you say that Buddha's failure was inevitable? You seem to have said that in ancient times there were no conditions for a martial god to ascend, but now there are."

The supervisor chuckled lightly:

"You seem to value the God of War very much. Well, because of the Buddha's own reasons, if it were one of the other two, Shen Shu wouldn't have gotten entangled with the Lord of Kingdom of Ten Thousand Demons because of intense emotions, nor would he have broken with Buddhist School because of love."

"Excessive emotions and desires are not a good thing."

Huang snorted. The supervisor's answer was nonsensical and did not directly address the information about the "God of War".

"A half-step Martial God is at most equivalent to my current level, but compared to a Super Grade, he is still far behind." Huang's words revealed his disdain for Shen Shu.

"How strong were you at your peak?" the supervisor asked casually.

Huang said:

"The power of a transcendent being is beyond your comprehension. Whether it's the Witch God, the Buddha, or the Gu God, once they prepare to devour the Great Feng, no one in the Central Plains can contend with them. That's why I chose to back down back then, not wanting to get entangled with Xu Qi'an."

"I don't have much time left. Now is not the time for me to awaken. It's pointless to compete with a first-rank martial artist."

When mentioning the shaman and the Buddha, his tone was solemn, without any hint of disdain.

"I told you that back then, when the 'Dragon' and the 'Claw' fought a decisive battle in the deep sea, the ocean boiled and the resulting tsunami submerged three thousand miles of the Nine Provinces continent. The subsequent war Gods and Devils further shattered the Nine Provinces."

"These are things that even a first-grade cultivator cannot do."

How terrifying is a super-grade item? In short—it's world-destroying!

"So, where are you taking me?" the supervisor asked.

"Aren't you a Fate Master? Why do you need to ask me?" Huang sneered.

"But it's sealed away by you." The supervisor sighed.

"Without me, the Bureau of Astronomy is leaderless. I hope nothing goes wrong; after all, it represents my life's work."

Huang sneered:

"The Bureau of Astronomy must have been replaced long ago; you might as well accept your fate."

The supervisor scoffed dismissively:

"My disciples may be disappointing, but they uphold the basic principles of respecting their teachers. Replace the supervisor? I'm not dead yet, who dares!"

Huang said indifferently:

"Since you are the gatekeeper, you should know the details of the Witch God, right?"

Bureau of Astronomy.

The spacious Eight Trigrams Platform was filled with a vast array of white-robed Warlock.

The white-robed Warlock were clearly divided into five camps, led by their second senior brother Sun Xuanji, third senior brother Yang Qianhuan, fourth senior brother Song Qing, fifth senior sister Zhong Li, and junior sister Chu Caiwei.

It is worth mentioning that Chu Caiwei was accompanied by only six white-robed Warlock, the youngest being six years old and the oldest twelve, with youthful faces.

Each person had a deerskin pouch hanging from their waist, containing pastries and snacks—a token of their deep affection from their senior sister, Chu Caiwei.

These people were Chu Caiwei's newly accepted disciples, or more accurately, disciples accepted on behalf of their master. They were the first batch of core members of the Party and Chu Caiwei's first group of henchmen.

Sun Xuanji, with ordinary features, ordinary temperament, and ordinary height, glanced at Protector Yuan.

Protector Yuan stepped forward, his imposing presence sweeping over the assembled Warlock, and said in a deep voice:

"Since the Director of the Imperial Observatory is not here, it is our duty to manage the Bureau of Astronomy properly. Let's stop causing trouble and go back."

Upon hearing this, Song Qing said calmly:

"If you don't want to compete for the position of Supervisor, you can voluntarily give it up and leave with your people."

Protector Yuan turned to look at Sun Xuanji, his tone changing, his fighting spirit soaring:

"Since ancient times, the eldest son has been chosen over the youngest, and the legitimate heir over the concubine; the position of supervisor Non-Self."