Nightfall

Translator: Transn Editor: Transn

Jun Mo stepped on the stone steps and walked toward the interior of the Lanke Temple.

His right foot landed on a stone step and it cracked. His long shadow landed on the gate of the temple, and the gate split. When his sight landed on the stone wall behind the doors, the stone wall shattered.

Just like how he had crossed the mountains to arrive at this ancient temple, he continued to choose the straightest and most direct path. That was because it was the shortest path, so he barged through the temple.

After entering the ancient temple, Jun Mo did not take the level but crooked stone stairs. He did not take the round-about corridors, but instead, he walked straight toward the back temple. Whether it was a temple door, a stone wall, or a solemn Buddhist temple before him, nothing could stop him. Everywhere he went, walls collapsed and tiles burst apart, forming a path before him.

The autumn wind did not even move the ancient crown on his head in the slightest. His black hair danced behind him like arrows. Everything before him, including the Buddha statues, were all tossed up into the air by the wind, let alone human beings.

Jun Mo walked extremely quickly. The cultivators who tried to stop him were all tossed into the air. Some of them were dangling over branches of the autumn tree while some fell heavily onto the green-tiled ground and did not make another sound. Tiles, wooden beams and pebbles flew in the air with those he had tossed around, forming a terrifying cloud of dust behind him.

Qi Nian froze when he saw the rapidly nearing cloud of dust. He could vaguely make out who it was from the aura coming through the cloud of dust. The Light of Buddha’s big tactical array had been broken and no one in the front temple could stop the person or at least slow his steps. The person he was most wary of should arrive before the cloud of dust.

He could not hesitate anymore at this moment. He had to kill Ning Que if he wanted to kill the Daughter of Yama. He would do it even if that would give birth to an unreconcilable grudge between the Buddhism Sect and the Academy.

Through Master Qishan’s analysis, Ning Que knew that if Eldest Brother could not come to his side when the array broke, then he would have to face Qi Nian’s and even Ye Su’s destructive assault.

He desired that Eldest Brother would appear before the black horse carriage. He badly wanted to see the old robe and his Senior Brother’s gentle appearance. Since the Light of Buddha’s tactical array had been broken, Eldest Brother should have come to save him immediately after destroying the 17 bells. Why was he not here yet?

Ning Que watched as the murderous cloud of dust was approaching the back temple. He knew that he would see his Second Brother any moment now. However, he also knew that he could not hesitate any longer because Qi Nian and Ye Su would not hesitate. They would not allow him and his Second Brother to truly meet.

That was why he lashed out first.

The iron bow in his hand suddenly curved. An iron arrow was nocked on the bowstring and shot out with a whoosh.

Qi Nain knew clearly that the Academy’s students were all odd ducks. He knew that Ning Que would struggle fiercely until the end; that was why he was prepared to use his Acala skills once more.

However, Ning Que’s arrow did not head toward Qi Nian or Ye Su.

He shot the arrow at the peak of Tile mountain, toward the Buddha stone statue in the swirling clouds!

The dark iron arrow traversed through the skylight of the horse carriage, following the path of the Light of Buddha descending from the heavens. It defied gravity and shot upwards, emitting bits of Light of Buddha from the arrowhead, and flew toward the peak of Tile mountain that was several miles away.

The stone statue of Budda stood at the peak of Tile mountain; shrouded by the clouds up to the statue’s chest, it was unbelievably tall. It had silently withstood the winds and rain for decades, looking extraordinarily solemn and benevolent.

The Buddha statue was gigantic. Its left hand was placed in a praying position before its chest. Its fingertips could easily allow eagles to land.

The right hand of the stone statue faced the world below the mountain. Its index finger and thumb closed in on each other, barely touching, as if it was holding a flower. If it could really hold a single flower, it would have to be the world’s largest flower.

The Light of Buddha, that shone over Sangsang and suppressed her since the Yue laan Bell rang, came from the statue’s right palm.

Primordial Thirteen Arrows followed the Light of Buddha’s path and appeared at the peak of Tile Mountain in seconds.

On the statue’s right palm, a circular hole appeared because of the arrow. Web-like cracks could be seen at the edge of the palm, and tiny stone shards flew out through the clouds. It would take some time before they landed on the peak again.

The Light of Buddha continued to shine. However, due to the hole in the palm, it wasn’t as concentrated as before. It slightly spread out, causing the power behind it to fall.

At the back temple of Lanke.

Tang’s iron-like brows rose slightly as he watched Ning Que who shot the arrow. His fists tightened, but he did not lash out. Ye Su’s expression changed slightly; his right hand emerged from his thin sleeves, and he pointed a finger at Ning Que’s chest.

His finger was a powerful Taoist Sword, and it pierced Ning Que’s chest instead of his forehead. That was because Ye Su did not wish to kill a student of the Academy. He only wanted to badly injure Ning Que so that he could not continue protecting the Daughter of Yama.

Ning Que’s right hand emerged from his black Academy uniform, and he tossed a small paper ball up into the air.

Ye Su thought that it was a talisman, so his expression remained the same.

However, when the little paper ball made contact with his sword style, it turned into a green puff of smoke. Then, a cold sword style emerged from within.

The small paper ball was not a talisman written by Ning Que, but a letter that Ye Hongyu wrote and sent him. She had drawn a sword on the paper.

Ye Su noticed the resentment in the sword style, and his expression changed once again.

The two different sword styles clashed in the air and turned into nothingness.

Then, Master Qishan turned over the chessboard in front of him!

A ray of peaceful Light of Buddha burst forth from the chessboard’s surface, which was neither gold nor stone. On the broken remnants of the back hall’s stone steps, a hole about twenty feet high appeared. A deep tunnel was faintly visible within.

The Big Black Horse was prepared for this. It whinnied and pulled the horse carriage toward the peaceful Light of Buddha. It knew that they would gain momentary safety once they could enter the tunnel.

The black horse carriage was close to the chessboard. It wouldn’t take long to enter. However, it wouldn’t take long for powerful cultivators like Qi Nian and Ye Su to kill Ning Que, either.

Then, it would depend on whether Ning Que could withstand their strongest attack.

In any case, it seemed like an impossible task.

Qi Nian’s monk robes floated up in the wind. Light surrounded him and took shape according to his figure.

This light was the spitting image of Qi Nian, only larger. The only difference was in the facial expression. The light’s face was not as calm and determined as Qi Nian’s, but was filled with anger. Its brows were raised like swords and its eyes were thunderous. It was the image of Acala, and no evil dared to look at it directly!

While immersed in the Light of Buddha, Qi Nian placed his palms together and began to chant.

It seemed as if an entire Buddha statue of Acala was summoned by his mantra. He raised his right palm and smashed it like a mountain against the black horse carriage, and the ruins of the hall shook!

It was the perfect combination of a Buddhist mantra and an emblematic gesture. This was the Buddhist Sect’s true mantra emblematic gesture.

Ning Que did not have the chance to shoot a second arrow, given that he was facing the strongest forces of the Buddhism Sect. He knew that shooting another Primordial Arrow would be useless, because Qi Nian could not die at this point.

Then, Master Qishan shouted, “Fearless!”

The master’s exclamation roused Ning Que, and he recalled the mantra emblematic gesture he learned during the long nights in the Buddhist temple. He instinctively placed two hands together in front of him, then bent his fingers to form a Fearless Mantra Emblematic Gesture. He lifted it toward the sky!

The True Mantra Emblematic Gestures of the Buddhism Sect should be like the one that Qi Nian was using. It was the perfect combination of Buddhist Mantras and Emblematic Gestures. While Ning Que had learned the Emblematic Gestures, he had not cultivated in Buddhism for long. How would he then, be able to understand the truth behind the mantras?

In principle, his Mantra Emblematic Gesture was no match for Qi Nian, and should have been flattened, and then, the black horse carriage would have been destroyed. However, unexpectedly, when Ning Que’s and Qi Nian’s Mantra Emblematic Gestures met, neither fell immediately.

There was a thunderous boom!

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Blood flowed from Ning Que’s lips while Qi Nian shook slightly.

In the ruins of the temple corridor, Master Qishan’s aged voice rang again.

“Quell the demon!”

Ning Que bent his right hand’s fingers, and reached forward.

A breeze spewed out from the black horse carriage. On the stone floor in front of the temple, a solemn, Mantra Emblematic Gesture appeared, refracting Qi Nian’s second Mantra Emblematic Gesture.

How did this happen?

While Master Qishan had been ill for many years and his cultivation state was weak, he was still a strong Buddhist disciple. He had cultivated for many years, and his talents in Buddhist skills were stronger than Qi Nian’s!

How could the master’s mantra be weaker than Qi Nian’s!

After Ning Que had joined the Devil, his body had been honed by the Great Spirit and had become extremely strong. Even though it was not as powerful as the Skills of Acala, it was very strong when combined with Master Qishan’s mantra.

Master Qishan vomited blood, and yelled, “Dispell all thoughts!”

Ning Que set his hands to make another Emblematic Gesture.

The big tactical array had already been broken, and the skies, which had been held down for a long time finally returned to their original state. The autumn rain fell slowly from the clouds, landing in the ruins of the old temple courtyard.

In the autumn rain, the library across the temple collapsed with a resounding boom.

Qi Nian looked determined. He ignored Ning Que’s powerful Mantra Emblematic Gesture. And with the skills of Acala, he rushed toward the black horse carriage, wanting to crush it.

There was a soft sound. Ye Su had finally withdrawn his wooden sword from the scabbard. The sword turned into a ray of light that was undiscerning and neutral. It pierced toward the black horse carriage, its target being Sangsang who was inside it.

By now, the carriage was very close to the chessboard in front of Master Qishan. The Big Black Horse’s front hooves had already trodden on the peaceful Light of Buddha world.

“Natural Stream Magical Finger!” Ning Que extended his right index finger in the autumn rain. With that, his face paled, and looked much more haggard than before.

Qi Nian’s expression changed when he heard the words ‘Natural Stream Magical Finger’. This was a secret skill of the Zhishou Abbey, so how did Ning Que learn it? He thought, in the short timeframe he had, that Chen Pipi must have secretly taught it to Ning Que. Even after being surprised, he was determined and charged at the black horse carriage.

Ye Su knew that Chen Pipi would never teach Ning Que the Natural Stream Magical Finger. As such, his expression did not change and he charged at Sangsang with his Sword Intent!

Indeed, Ning Que did not know how to cast the Natural Stream Magical Finger.

But his fingers remained pointing at the autumn rain. And he drew, from left to right, two seemingly simple and ordinary lines.

His black Academy uniform suddenly fell, torn into shreds.

He had used a talisman, but it was too strong. It was so strong he could not control it.

He had used an Infinitive Talisman.

He had used a Divine Talisman.

He had become a Divine Talisman Master in the autumn rain, in front of Red Lotus Temple. The first Infinitive Talisman that he had learned was from Master Yan Se. It was just as sharp cutting as his master’s.

This Divine Talisman was Ning Que’s strongest and most hidden skill. Previously in the temple, before Master Boshu had shaken the Peace bell, he had wanted to use the Divine Talisman. However, he did not have the time to do so.

When Qi Nian and other truly powerful cultivators had appeared, he knew that there was no point in using the Divine Talisman. He had to leave it until the most crucial point. While the Divine Talisman could not defeat Qi Nian or Ye Su, it could buy him and Sangsang time.

His talisman had only half of Master Yan Se’s intent. It would not be able to cut everything in the world, not even the air. However, because it was comparatively more simple, it was also sharper.

His finger drew across the autumn rain.

A vicious and strong talisman intent crossed the air before the black horse carriage.

Two invisible blades vaguely appeared in the rain.

Just like the chains hanging above the great river.

Or an infinitely long, sharp sword.

The autumn rain was sliced into two before the black horse carriage.

The Skills of Acala seemed impenetrable, but two deep, black lines appeared on its chest.

Two straight wounds appeared on Qi Nian’s chest, and blood flowed from them.

Two deep, white gouges appeared on the wooden sword that was piercing toward the black horse carriage.

Those who encountered the two blades that had emerged from the Divine Talisman would be torn in two and doubly injured.

Master Yan Se’s strongest talisman was the Jing Fu.

Ning Que had only learned half of it. That was why his talisman was called the Two-Horizontal Talisman.

It shared the same character for the ‘second’ in the Second floor of the Academy.

Looking at the black horse carriage that was about to enter the peaceful Light of Buddha, Tang froze slightly. Ye Su’s pupils shrank by a fraction. The both of them had seen Ning Que in the Wilderness. Back then, he was still trying to break through the Seethrough Realm. Who would have thought that he would become so strong in less than two years?

Qi Nian’s expression was grave. No matter how powerful Ning Que’s Divine Talismans were, he could not defeat them. However, he could keep them away for a moment. In the corridor, Master Boshu reached out for the Peace Bell. However, he had lost too much blood to grab it.

The tides changed rapidly on the battleground. Just as everyone was worried about Mr. First and Second from the Academy barging into the temple, Ning Que, who had been ignored all this while, suddenly acted. And he was very strong indeed!

A long time seemed to have passed. However, it had just been barely seconds since the Light of Buddha’s tactical array had been broken. The first autumn rains had not even reached the grounds.

The black horse carriage was about to disappear into the peaceful Light of Buddha.

Then, a sword came flying from the skies.