Chapter 451 - 232: Forces Assemble! A Bloodbath at Golden Spring

Chapter 451: Chapter 232: Forces Assemble! A Bloodbath at Golden Spring

DONG! DONG! DONG!

On Golden Spring Mountain.

Loud, urgent chimes rang out again and again, piercing the mountain mist and echoing between the peaks.

Each toll was more frantic than the last, carrying an unprecedented sense of alarm that had none of the peaceful, distant quality of the usual morning and evening bells.

Inside the Great Heroic Hall, the atmosphere was incredibly tense.

Abbot Kongxu of Golden Spring Temple sat high on the lotus platform. Below him, the entire core leadership was present: Kongjian, First Seat of the Precepts Institute; Xuanming, First Seat of the Arhat Hall; Xuan Ku, First Seat of the Bodhi Institute; and Chu Kuangfeng.

Every face was grim, their brows clouded with a worry that would not dissipate. The smug satisfaction they had felt from suppressing the Three Sects had been utterly washed away by the immense pressure of the coming storm.

"We’ve miscalculated."

Monk Kongjian’s face was grim, his voice hoarse.

Golden Spring Temple’s network of informants throughout Ning’an had sent back definitive news.

The Government Office’s forces were on the move. The Military Preparation Army and the Jingwu Bureau’s elites had all been deployed, their target: Golden Spring Mountain.

At the same time, the Iron Sword Sect, the Danxia Sect, and the Wang Clan were frantically gathering their disciples, all seething with killing intent.

The three forces were marching on Golden Spring Temple from different directions!

The original plan had gone so smoothly.

They would coerce the Government Office into backing down, join forces with Qingfeng Temple to suppress—or even annihilate—rebels like the Iron Sword Sect, and thereby seize complete control over the Ning’an Martial World.

They had even interpreted the Government Office’s recent ambiguity as a sign of weakness and compromise.

Who would have thought it was all a ruse to lull them into a false sense of security—the suffocating calm before the storm!

"Brother Xuanbei... I fear he has met with disaster."

Monk Xuanming’s voice was raspy. His eyes showed both grief and a profound chill.

Xuanbei had gone to the Prefecture Government Office to negotiate. He had not returned, and there had been no word from him since.

Considering the Government Office’s current, undisguised, thunderous advance, his fate was easy to imagine.

"Abbot, what... what should we do now?"

Monk Xuan Ku looked to Kongxu on the lotus platform, voicing the question on everyone’s terrified minds.

In an hour at most, the Government Office’s vanguard would be at the foot of the mountain.

Golden Spring Temple was almost out of time.

Monk Kongxu fingered his Buddhist Beads, his gaze slowly sweeping over every panicked and resolute face in the hall. His own expression showed little panic, possessing instead a strange tranquility.

"Amitabha Buddha. Why panic over a few external devils? I have already requested aid from the Celestial Dragon Temple.

"As long as we stand united and survive today’s tribulation, eminent monks from the Upper Sect will arrive in a few days to see justice done for us!"

Kongxu paused, his voice growing more confident:

"Our Golden Spring Temple’s Mountain Protection Array, the Golden Bell Heaven-Covering Array, is a complete, middle-grade Tier Four array. It is connected to the ley lines of the earth and is utterly impregnable. Even if the Government Office possesses an item like an Array-Breaking Pearl, it cannot be broken so easily.

"This array is our greatest strength. Furthermore, Qingfeng Temple is inextricably linked to us. Master Qingxu has surely received the news by now, and their reinforcements will arrive shortly. This battle might not even happen.

"And even if it does..."

A sharp glint flashed in Monk Kongxu’s eyes, and his voice turned severe.

"The foundations of Golden Spring Temple are deep. We are no pushover for them to bully! What is there to fear?!"

His words were like a balm, calming the restless atmosphere in the hall.

’That’s right. With a Tier Four Grand Array for protection, the Celestial Dragon Temple for support, and Qingfeng Temple as an ally, what’s to fear from the Government Office?’

"However, a lion uses its full strength even when hunting a rabbit. We must not let our guard down."

Monk Kongxu’s tone shifted. He produced three tokens from his sleeve. They were made of a material that was neither gold nor jade and were covered in Sanskrit Talismans. A faint spiritual light pulsed from them—they were the Restriction Tokens used to control key hubs of the Mountain Protection Array.

"Brother Kongjian, Nephew Xuanming, Nephew Xuan Ku, each of you will take one Token. You will guard the Grand Array’s eastern, southern, and western core nodes, respectively. You must be vigilant. There can be no room for error!"

The Grand Array was powerful, but it required people to control it, and the nodes were its vital points.

If an enemy expert were to concentrate their power and break through a single point, the consequences would be unthinkable.

"We obey the Abbot’s command!"

Kongjian, Xuanming, and Xuan Ku stepped forward with solemn expressions. They accepted the Tokens with both hands and stored them away carefully.

Monk Kongxu’s gaze finally fell upon Xuanxin, who had been standing silently in attendance.

"Nephew Xuanxin."

"This disciple is here." Chu Kuangfeng put his palms together and bowed respectfully.

"Effective immediately, you are the acting First Seat of the Prajna Hall. You will assist Nephew Xuanming in defending the array sector assigned to the Arhat Hall. You must spare no effort."

Monk Kongxu’s tone was even, but it carried the weight of an indisputable command.

Chu Kuangfeng had only recently pledged his allegiance. Although he had been converted, at this critical juncture between life and death, Kongxu had to be cautious.

He had already sent a secret voice transmission to Xuanming, telling him to keep a close watch on this man. The order was to assist, but the reality was to surveil.

"This disciple accepts the command. I will not fail the Abbot’s trust!"

Chu Kuangfeng bowed deeply, but beneath his monk’s robes, his hands quietly clenched into fists.

’A shame I couldn’t get my hands on a Restriction Token, but getting closer to the Grand Array’s core... might present its own opportunities...’

His thoughts raced, but his expression grew only more devout.

"Relay my orders!"

Monk Kongxu shot to his feet, his voice booming through the hall.

"The entire temple is on high alert! Activate the Golden Bell Heaven-Covering Array! All Martial Monks, deacons, even Servant Monks—anyone with combat ability—assume your practiced positions immediately! Prepare to engage the enemy!"

"We obey the Abbot’s command!"

The monks in the hall roared their assent in unison, the sound rolling like thunder.

In an instant, the entire Golden Spring Temple roared to life.

Over a thousand Martial Monks, led by their respective First Seats and deacons, brandished Precepts Sabers and Zen Sticks as they rushed to the mountain gate, the perimeter walls, and the vital points of every hall.

A cacophony of chanting, shouts, and hurried footsteps filled the air.

Meanwhile, from the ley line nodes deep within Golden Spring Temple, brilliant beams of Golden Light shot toward the heavens.

Vast amounts of Heaven and Earth Primordial Qi were being frantically drawn and gathered.

In the blink of an eye, the spectral image of a colossal, pale-gold bell, so condensed it looked almost solid, rose slowly from the temple’s foundations, completely enveloping the main peak of Golden Spring Temple.