Chapter 672: Emergency Countermeasures
Translator: StackThatCoin Editor: Hitesh_
It was evident that the Divine Flame of Void did have the ability to burn through the void. As soon as the dark divine flame made its appearance, it burned a large hole in the void of this Buddhist Kingdom, causing the rich Buddhist energy to completely leak out of there in an instant. All the defensive mechanisms had failed before its incredible power. The three hundred dragon-headed men and the millions of monks who had been so aggressive became powerless at the same time, and their cultivation bases plummeted to the level where they could no longer be a threat. It was as if they had transformed from a dragon to a caterpillar.
Wu Qi snorted coldly. Once again, he unleashed a great sheet of chaotic spirit light, using it to envelop the entire Buddhist Kingdom. Whether it was the dragon-headed men, the monks, the Buddhist cultivators, or the tens of millions of devout believers, everyone wailed as they were pulled into his interstitial world. With a swift move, Ao Buzun snatched a few good-looking men and girls from among the believers and swallowed them into his mouth, chewing happily.
Although the bodies of these believers looked like they were made of ordinary flesh and blood, they were in fact made entirely of the power of faith and power of Buddha. In Ao Buzun's words, they tasted very fragrant and tender without the usual smell of raw meat, and even their bones were crunchy like lotus root. "They are the best meat you can ever find!" said the black dragon. As a matter of fact, during his old days, when the mighty figures among the evil immortals were entertaining their guests with feasts, they would surely serve a few dishes prepared with the flesh of Buddhist believers and Gold Arhats.
If truth be told, in some secret places across the outer heavenly realms there were black markets ran by Fiend immortals where meat shops were selling Buddhist believers as the top quality meat. This was all because their flesh was so fragrant and without a trace of impurities, also containing a strong energy as well as soul power. Only the flesh of some mighty immortal beasts could compare with theirs.
There was a bright gleam flickering in Wu Qi's eyes after he listened to Ao Buzun. 'What a fruitful trip! That monk pulled me into his Buddhist Kingdom and thought that he could trap me here. Instead, he brought me great loot!"
The chaotic spirit light continued to spread across the void, pulling the mountain, measuring a hundred thousand miles wide, into Wu Qi's interstitial world. Even the boundless water, as well as all the lotus flowers and lotus leaves, were swallowed by him in one gulp, and then quickly digested by his chaotic energy to replenish his interstitial world.
To his surprise, he found eight volumes of Buddhist scriptures from the temple located at the top of the mountain. There were many decent cultivation techniques in these scriptures, including the technique that could allow an ordinary monk to cultivate to a first-tier Gold Arhat, and the technique that a first-tier Gold Arhat could use to form his Bodhisattva Lotus Throne, eventually becoming a Bodhisattva himself.
But, the cultivation technique above the realm of Bodhisattva was missing. This was understandable; Ming Li's cultivation base was not particularly strong, and as he was only a ninth-tier Gold Arhat now. So, the scriptures above the realm of Bodhisattva were of little help to him.
After glancing through the eight volumes of Buddhist scriptures with divine sense and remembering all the cultivation techniques, Wu Qi threw them into his interstitial world, very pleased with what he got today. With these cultivation techniques in hands, he could cultivate the various divine abilities of the Buddhist League by transforming his chaotic energy into Buddhist energy using the mystic art of Seven Foundation Elevating Technique. That would come handy when he needed to disguise as a cultivator of Buddhist League and carry out some schemes.
Wu Qi laughed wildly as he ransacked the Buddhist Kingdom. He even seized the 108 rays of white relic light from the sky and put them into his interstitial world. When he was done, he leaped into the hole in the void with Ao Buzun, who had a man's leg in his mouth.
Upon returning to the cliff protruding into the sea, Wu Qi saw that Huang Liang was entangled with the monk like a beast gone berserk, and the two were beating and biting each other like two wild animals who had lost their senses.
Their limbs were locked with each other and their bodies were drenched with sweat and blood, while the air filled with their loud gasps and curses. It was a horrible scene to look at. However, Wu Qi was surprised to see that the monk, who was clearly a thousand times stronger than Huang Liang, was overwhelmed. He could not help but raise his thumb to praise Huang Liang for his bravery.
From above the sea across the distance, Lord Xiansheng told Wu Qi about Huang Liang's valorous deed through a voice transmission. He told him everything in detail, from how Huang Liang gave out the order to form the Dark Shell Eight Directional Defensive Formation, how he fought alongside the soldiers without fleeing alone, and how he brutally struck back and almost killed Ming Li with the knife after the formation was destroyed.
"Huang Liang really did a good job today!" Wu Qi praised and could not help but keep nodding in approval.
Seeing Huang Liang bite Ming Li's nose like a mad dog and repeatedly stick two middle fingers into the latter's ears, Wu Qi strode over and gave the monk a strong kick in the ribs. Although Wu Qi was beaten violently by three hundred dragon-headed men in the Buddhist Kingdom, he benefited greatly. His physical strength had now increased to an unreasonable level. It looked as if he had just kicked lightly, but half of Ming Li's ribs were crushed at once.
Then, he grabbed the monk by the neck with one hand and held the frantic Huang Liang down with the other, telling him to stand aside.
The monk was shouting, cursing, and struggling wildly. But, Wu Qi only pinched the meridian on his neck with two fingers and he became as weak as a dead snake. Moving as quickly as he could, Wu Qi waved his hand to throw out 360 Immortal Detaining Needles, putting them into the important acupoints throughout the monk's body. When he was done, he placed his right palm on the monk's head and recited an incantation under his breath. Soon, a three-layered restrictive spell capable of confining one's soul was formed, which prevented Ming Li from breaking his own skull and escaping in the form of a relic.
Huang Liang, who had lost his senses, howled and tried to pounce on Ming Li again, but Wu Qi woke him up with a soft cry. With blood all over his body; bits of flesh in his fingernails; blood and chunks of flesh in his mouth; and even two tendons stuck in his teeth, Huang Liang staggered back a few steps and sat down on the bow of the flying ship.
After giggling foolishly for a while, he looked at Wu Qi and asked, "Your Excellency, I'm... I'm still alive?"
Wu Qi gave him a deep look and nodded. "Yes, you're still alive, and you did well this time. When we return, you'll be rewarded with more gold, silver, jewelry, and beautiful girls." He paused, then dropped Ming Li onto the deck and went on coolly, "You did really well this time. I'll put you in an important position in the future, so you better keep it up as there are a lot of things waiting for you to deal with."
Gold, silver, jewelry, and beautiful girls were all Huang Liang's favorites, but his eyes lit up when he heard Wu Qi say that he would put him in an important position. He knew very well that he was not Wu Qi's confidant, and the person Wu Qi trusted the most had always been someone else. Ever since he came to Dong Hai County, he had felt that there was a thick dark veil covering everything, and he was surrounded by a complete darkness, knowing nothing about Wu Qi.
But now, Wu Qi said that he would put him in an important position! Huang Liang dropped to his knees immediately and swore to Wu Qi, "This subject swears he will be faithful and assist Your Excellency wholeheartedly! Please rest assured!"
Wu Qi smiled and was pleased with Huang Liang's reaction. Then he put his foot on Ming Li's face and shouted at him angrily, "Tell me, bald donkey, why did you come to Dong Hai County to make trouble? Great Yu is so big. Why don't you go somewhere else?"
Ming Li stared at Wu Qi blankly, then suddenly he screamed, "Y-yo-you destroyed my Buddhist Kingdom? How is that possible? That is the Buddhist Kingdom my Master crafted for me... and only those who possess the cultivation base of Bu can destroy it... Could it be that you... you..."
'So, Ming Li's Master crafted this Buddhist Kingdom for him?' Wu Qi nodded to himself. 'No wonder neither its size nor strength lookt like something he, a mere ninth-tier Gold Arhat, should have.' In any case, Wu Qi had ransacked everything in the Buddhist Kingdom, and it was considered completely destroyed now.
After considering for a moment, Wu Qi ordered Huang Liang to go back to Dong Hai City and bring several thousand soldiers here so they could help move the unconscious soldiers back to the barracks. He had sent the twelve flying ships back to the city as well. When that was done, the torture experts who served Luo Kedi were summoned to interrogate Ming Li.
Luo Kedi was a man of forbearance, cruelty, and ruthlessness. During his years working for Lu Chengfeng, he came to be in charge of the dark forces such as assassins, lynchings, and death rows. Because of his character, he was surrounded by a group of experts in the art of torture, who were cold-blooded, heartless, and could even be described as men with twisted mentalities. Within an hour of Wu Qi handing Ming Li over to them, the monk, who had been seriously tortured, confessed everything.
Ming Li's master was Dharma Bodhisattva, one of Prabhutaratna Buddha's eight Bodhisattvas. Prabhutaratna Buddha was well-known in the Buddhist League for his ability to craft all kinds of Buddhist artifacts, while Dharma Bodhisattva was the best of his eight direct disciples. Ming Li owed it all to his master that he was able to own a Buddhist Kingdom with his cultivation base of a mere ninth-tier Gold Arhat.
Taking the opportunity that there was a war between Myriad Immortal Alliance and Great Yu, the Buddhist League sneaked into Pangu Continent to develop believers and expand their territory. In addition to Yab-Yum Buddha, who was behind Madman Xue, the other seven Buddhas also sent their missionary disciples here. Prabhutaratna Buddha and Yab-Yum Buddha did not have a very good relationship within the Buddhist League, and there were often disputes and fights between their disciples. Therefore, knowing that Madman Xue was recruiting believers in Zhong Province, Ming Li quickly followed him here.
After hearing Ming Li's confession, Wu Qi felt he had a grudge in his heart, but could not vent it out. So, what did Dong Hai County have to do with the internal struggle of Buddhist League? Why did this monk come all the way here to stir up trouble?
Ming Li suffered a terrible loss in Dong Hai County. His Buddhist Kingdom was destroyed, and his master must have been able to sense that. The fact that the Buddhist League sent the disciples of eight Buddhas to Pangu Continent for missionary work should have something to do with some of their big plans. Hence, perhaps the loss of Ming Li would have alerted Prabhutaratna Buddha directly, and perhaps a Buddha would soon sneak into Pangu Continent to avenge his disciples.
"This is no different from deliberately setting me up!"
Wu Qi's scalp went numb at the thought of the terrible consequences he might face if he killed Ming Li.
After pondering for a long while, Wu Qi muttered to himself in a low voice, gritting his teeth, "In for a penny, in for a pound... Since you want to play, we'll play at a bigger scale! I don't believe the Buddhist League would dare to confront Great Yu on Pangu Continent. Although Ming Li dares to do so, would Prabhutaratna Buddha, who is the Buddha of the Buddhist League and whose words and actions represent the whole League, really dare to dip his toes into this puddle of troubled waters?"
Without hesitation, Wu Qi chopped off Ming Li's head and let Ao Buzun devoured his relic. With a bloody head and ten thousand soldiers, Wu Qi set out for Bo Yunting's field headquarters. He was going back to war, and at the same time, to put the blame on Ming Li.
He wanted to report to Bo Yunting that the Buddhist League was interfering in the struggle between Myriad Immortal Alliance and Great Yu!