Chapter 35 - The peerlessly talented demon ba snake (18)
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Translated by: Niladri
Edited by: celes
This chapter is partly sponsored by Mumiah.
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“That Bai Li is no good. She ran away from the boundary of Fanyin Temple in the chaos and went into hiding who knows where. Half of the temple was destroyed, and the entire human race’s immortal realm is marshalling it’s forces, in preparation for getting an explanation from our demon race.” The more Xi Xi spoke, the angrier she got. One feared that if Bai Li was right in front of her, she would be fully dismembered.
“What about Shi Kong?” Just when he uttered these words, Lu Heng felt as if his heart had infinite strange emotions surging out. He tried to suppress the turbulence within himself and did not let the Fox King notice any difference.
“The news from the Mouse clan is that Fanyin Temple had been searching for him for a hundred years without any inkling of his whereabouts. But somehow, a while ago, Master Shi Kong suddenly appeared in Fanyin Temple and then was trapped in the temple. Xi Xi’s heart was frank, but she wasn’t blind. She wondered in her heart why the King knew nothing about the queen’s whereabouts for a hundred years, but she knew to respect his feelings and chewed her words.
As they talked, a red paper sparrow swooped in. Lu Heng and Xi Xi both had a grave look. It was the communication paper sparrow used when the entire race was in crisis.
As soon as the paper bird landed on the ground, it opened its mouth and spoke, “Your Majesty, the human cultivators have stopped before the prohibition stone and are challenging us to battle.”
Prohibition stone.
Since ancient times, there had always been an agreement between the demons and the humans to treat the prohibition stone as a border and to govern their respective portions of the mainland. Privately, they could travel between their respective territories, but they could never cross the prohibition stone in general. This sect of cultivators gathering in front of the stone was a provocation to the demon race.
“Looks like the demons are all shrinking turtles and cannot respect the agreement. We shall launch our attack, kill those alien races, and use them as refining materials.” No one knew which ancestral sect disciple put out such words before the prohibition stone. But without any of the higher-ups reprimanding him, it seemed that he was permitted to test the waters.
Such provocative words fell one after another.
However, the fog before the prohibition stone gradually dispersed, and a group of powerful demons appeared. Although their numbers were not much, their momentum was not even slightly lesser.
When the leader arrived, dressed in a gorgeous black robe, looking affluent, the momentum of his presence really made people dare not look at his appearance. He lay on the side of a golden-winged roc, overshadowing the heavens and earth. His expression was rather frivolous which made the taunting disciple feel like an ant.
“Anyone who can represent, come forward and speak.” Lu Heng’s eyes were half closed as he spoke.
Among the human race, those who were deficient in cultivation were all bowing their heads and lowering their eyes, and no one dared make a sound in this atmosphere. A moment later, Abbot Yuan Zhen of Fanyin Temple stepped out. He gave a ceremonial salute with his hands joined together: “Old monk of Fanyin Temple, Yuan Zhen.” [T/N: How come YZ doesn’t recognize LH?]
Lu Heng nodded: “You and others of your race are gathered at the boundary of our demon race’s territory, do you have the intention of declaring war?”
“Benefactor is joking. About the matter of a few days ago, presumably benefactor also knows. I and the others are here to get an explanation for the innocent disciples who lost their lives in the temple.
Under Lu Heng’s powerful deterrence, the human cultivators were no longer arrogant. The two sides set a time limit for the demons to find Bai Li, clarify the cause of the matter, and then renegotiate. But this Bai Li had committed such a grave mistake; regardless of the reason, the demons were afraid that it would be chomped down by the humans to a piece of meat.
Lu Heng decided to go to that Fanyin Temple to find clues in person. Not only for Bai Li, Lu Heng also wanted to see this Master Shi Kong. He had a hunch that if he did not see that Master Shi Kong, he would regret it for the rest of his life.
Exerting all his strength, Lu Heng arrived at the vicinity of Fanyin Temple on the same day. But when he was in the vicinity of this Fanyin Temple, Lu Heng began to experience feelings of nostalgia. He calmed down, slowed his breathing, and sneaked into the temple.
Fanyin Temple’s (mountain barrier) formation was mostly destroyed, now only relying on disciples in the sect to patrol the mountains, which made Lu Heng’s sneaking in incomparably smooth. As soon as he entered Fanyin Temple, Lu Heng felt that there was a thread in his heart that guided him along a path in a certain direction. [T/N: Theseus and Ariadne?]
The terminating point of this feeling was in the Main Peak Hall of Fanyin Temple, under the huge Vajrayana angry-eyed Buddha statue. Lu Heng explored carefully with his divine sense, and a secret entrance was found under the base of the Buddha statue. The barrier at the entrance was nothing to Lu Heng. He walked in like nothing was out of place.
What Lu Heng saw in there surprised him. Among the various things, there was a gigantic artifact, and using the immortal Demon King’s ten thousand years of experience, Lu Heng recognized that it was the treasure of the Fanyin Temple Sect, the Karma Plate, at a glance.
In the Karma Plate, a person sat with a lotus posture, surrounded by a heavy force of karma. Those karmic forces, like all-encompassing fog, trapped the man in the center and even tried to drill into his body in vain.
Hundred Samsara Formation. Lu Heng mentally shook his head. What unforgivable crime did the person commit that he compelled Fanyin Temple to use the Hundred Samsara Formation to trap his mind? This Hundred Samsara Formation was the most vicious function of the Karma Plate, which could manipulate karma and control people’s minds. Those caught up in this formation could only break through the formation by severing all karma and purging their memories as if they were newly born.
Seeing that the spiritual energy of the spiritual veins under the main peak was continuously pouring into the Karma Plate, Lu Heng carried out some mental calculations. The reason why Bai Li destroyed half of Fanyin Temple so easily was probably because the Karma Plate absorbed most of the spiritual energy, resulting in the insufficient supply to the mountain barrier.
Lu Heng went forward a few more steps and examined carefully. Seeing the dazzling red force of Karma, he knew in his heart that it was the eternal battle of the Hundredth Samsara brought about by the karma of love. This battle could only be described as heart wrenching. Every human in the world would be betrayed by their loved ones and die a tragic death until they detached their emotions and severed their romantic bonds.
As Lu Heng approached, the Karmic force that hovered around the man’s head and face faded a little, revealing a handsome face. When Lu Heng saw the man’s face, he felt a tremendous shock as if struck by lightning.
Shi Kong.
In memory, although he didn’t know his face, Lu Heng knew this person’s name. Seeing that fine specimen, there was a sharp pain in his heart. At this time, seeing the Karmic forces around him, Lu Heng felt that they were extremely obstructive, and he could only wonder how much suffering they had been causing to the person in the formation.
It was almost impossible to break through this Hundred Samsara Formation unless karma was severed. However, it was not hard for Lu Heng to break the formation from outside.
Lu Heng waved his sleeves and temporarily isolated the small area in order to not be perceived by the divine senses of the humans in Fanyin Temple. Then he isolated the core of the Karma Plate, and the force of karma gradually dissipated. Inside the formation, the man opened his eyes, and his line of sight went straight to Lu Heng.
“Can you give me some personal belonging so I can turn it into your incarnation and substitute it in this formation?” Lu Heng cupped his hands to his chest and asked Shi Kong.
Shi Kong didn’t utter a word, just staring at Lu Heng. His eyes staring at Lu Heng made the latter’s heart grow weak. Lu Heng thought for a moment and said, “My name is Zheng. I don’t mean to harm you, but I think you and I know each other. I had an accident a few days ago, and I can’t remember a few things.”
The man opposite was still expressionless and silent. Lu Heng had to approach him and wanted to take a close object as an incarnation so as not to be found out by the people of Fanyin Temple.
This person did not feel okay. People of cultivation could feel another person’s divine sense with their own divine sense when they were in close proximity. But even when Lu Heng was this close to Shi Kong, he was not aware of the existence of the other’s divine sense at all.
Lu Heng was shocked to think of a possibility. Had this man been trying to resist the hundred samsara formation by closing his own divine sense? How important is the memory of that person in his heart? He was willing to pay such a price just to avoid it being washed away by the law of Karma.
One should know that upon closing one’s divine sense, barring extraordinary circumstances, it was extremely difficult to recover it. Being unable to restore one’s divine sense meant that in the future, he would be like a walking corpse, living only by instinct.
Lu Heng saw Shi Kong holding something tightly in his hand, thinking that if it was an important personal thing, it should be very suitable to be used as an avatar.
“Can you let me take a look at what you have in your hand?” Lu Heng asked softly.
No answer as expected. Lu Heng reached out and tried to pry open Shi Kong’s tight fist, but when Lu Heng’s finger was about to touch it, it loosened. Lu Heng was quite surprised. He thought it would take some effort to get it.
A broken ebony hairpin lay in Shi Kong’s palm. This obviously did not belong to the monk. Lu Heng looked at the hairpin in dismay and was stunned for a while before he picked it up. Suffused in the hairpin was his own breath.
Before Lu Heng could untangle the various clues, there was a violent earthquake at their feet. On the ground, cracks started to form, which emitted a strong sense of destruction.
It’s the soul of the Incandescent Dragon. Lu Heng became serious and deciding there was no time to focus on this hairpin matter, he anxiously put this hairpin in his bosom. Lu Heng put his fingers together, made a cut in Shi Kong’s clothes, and put them into the Karma Plate as an incarnation. It’s rough, but there shouldn’t be an issue with deceiving them for a while.
After doing all this, Lu Heng grabbed Shi Kong’s hand and led him away from the Hundred Samsara Formation. Regardless of what Lu Heng did during the whole process, there was no response from Shi Kong. Only his line of sight stayed fixated on Lu Heng, never leaving for a moment.
In pursuit of the Incandescent Dragon’s soul, Lu Heng and Shi Kong travelled all the way down to the depths of the earth. Lu Heng wanted to take Shi Kong to a safe place and then come down to explore the situation. He didn’t want to be followed by him every step. Unfortunately, Lu Heng had to take him down with him. With his current strength, even if he encountered the soul of the Incandescent Dragon, it would be no problem to protect a single person.
Deep in the heart of the earth was a stone tree hundreds of feet high. At first glance, Lu Heng recognized what it was.
Mainland Origin.
Unexpectedly, the Mainland Origin was under the main peak of Fanyin Temple. It’s just that the Mainland Origin had the power of law to protect and sustain it, so it had always concealed itself. What caused its main body appear here?
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Huzzah! Daily release queue finally completed. Will try to do a 1 in 2 weeks release at worst, and 1 in 10 days at best coz of an incoming exam. Will appreciate if you guys keep patience and not resort to torturing yourselves with MTL.