Chapter 339: No Mediocre Enemies on the Path of Cultivation

Inside the Northern Crimson Gold Pure Land.

"Phew... thank goodness."

Jinchi patted his chest, still terrified. After all, the sensation of an enemy self-destructing to drag him down with them was far from pleasant, especially when that enemy could resurrect.

Immediately after, a voice rang out:

"How was it?"

Jinchi turned and saw Jingshan, who cultivated under the Arhat Seats. He hurriedly cupped his hands. "Reporting to Senior Brother, there's no problem. My lifespan hasn't been depleted."

Jingshan let out a long breath of relief at those words, offering a relaxed smile. "Good. It seems Senior Sister Baohu's preparations were effective. We were caught off guard earlier, allowing those shameless tactics to blow up a few of our colleagues. That won't happen again."

With that, he pointed behind him.

"There is no time to lose. Biyang's group will definitely attack again. Your formation chart was broken; head to the rear and re-refine it. Return to set up the formation only when it's completely repaired."

"I'll go at once."

Jinchi did not dare dawdle. He immediately rode a beam of light toward the rear, and Jingshan quickly directed other Brahma Cultivators to fill the gap he left behind.

Meanwhile, outside the pure land.

After listening to Xianfu's explanation, Wang Ping could not help but sigh. "There really are no mediocre enemies on the path of cultivation. Every single one of them is exceptionally clever."

"It can't be helped,"

Xianfu said, looking somewhat helpless. "They serve under a Bodhisattva, after all, ranking at the very top of the Brahma Nation. If their spiritual wisdom and disposition weren't far beyond the norm, they wouldn't have made it this far."

Wang Ping deeply agreed. This was the drawback of fighting peers at the same Realm. For anyone to reach the same Realm—even factoring in a bit of luck—they had to possess outstanding qualities. No wonder the Immortal Gate preferred to strike down at weaker cultivators. Compared to fighting equals, it was far more reliable.

"The self-destruct tactic is useless now."

Gazing at the pure land in the distance, Wang Ping had already deduced the enemy's methods. It was nothing more than instantly teleporting the Brahma Cultivators away right before they were killed.

Simple, but effective.

After all, the crux of the self-destruct tactic was to kill or severely injure the enemy. Only then could Extracting Primal Yang siphon the target's lifespan across space.

Sustaining war through war was the only way to remain invincible.

However, if the enemy teleported away completely unscathed, he couldn't extract any lifespan. He would then have to pay the lifespan cost to fuel his Heaven-Reversing Sun-Turning resurrection himself.

That was a massive loss.

"These Brahma Cultivators already had the numbers advantage. Now they've formed a formation and created this turtle shell. Even self-destructing doesn't work. It's ridiculous."

They were just too cowardly.

Yet, he had to admit that the move was highly practical.

Wang Ping rubbed his temples. According to Xianfu, Baohu was currently using the profound mechanics of this pure land to hide herself.

Unless they broke this pure land and defeated all the Brahma Cultivators inside, the profound concealment would make it impossible to find Baohu, let alone kill her.

After a moment of silence, Xianfu spoke again.

"I'll go give it a try and see if I can force Baohu to act. After all, I have a Spiritual Treasure. Aside from Baohu, no one among these bald donkeys should be able to stop me."

"I'll leave it to you then, Senior Brother."

Wang Ping nodded. With the situation unclear, he naturally couldn't expose himself early, being the main force meant to kill Baohu. He could only let Xianfu take the vanguard.

At that thought, he pulled from his robes the Spiritual Treasure, Crown-Stroking Mountain, which the Heaven-Stealing Thief had generously lent him before leaving, and handed it to Xianfu.

"Just in case, take this Spiritual Treasure, Senior Brother."

"I'll hold the line for you. You carry Great Shun's national destiny. If anything goes wrong, I'll use the profound power of the Ever-Suppressing Six Harmonies Cauldron to pull you out."

With that, the two stepped up to the front of the formation.

A second later, resonant Sanskrit chants and swirling Buddhist light filled the pure land. A bare-chested monk walked out. "This poor monk is Jingshan. Greetings, you two benefactors."

"Ah, Daoist Jingshan."

Wang Ping smiled. "I wonder where Daoist Baohu has gone?"

"I am here under Senior Sister Baohu's orders to manage the pure land and protect her," Jingshan said with a sigh. "Benefactor Dousheng, why must it come to this?"

The monk's face filled with sorrow.

"The immortals and the Brahma Nation have always been a single family, enjoying generations of friendship. Yet you stubbornly insist on killing Senior Sister Baohu. Such actions truly ruin our bond."

"Why not stay our hands and make peace, so as not to damage the harmony between our two sides?"

Wang Ping sneered. "We are only here to kill Baohu. If you take the other Brahma Cultivators and leave, I can swear a Dao oath not to slaughter the innocent."

"How about it?"

Jingshan fell silent.

In all fairness, he was certainly willing... but his life was not his own. If he dared nod, Baohu would kill him from afar the very next second.

Therefore, he could only shake his head decisively, his expression righteous. "Cease this nonsense! My loyalty to the Brahma Nation is absolute. How could I ever do something so shameless?"

Wang Ping shook his head. Seeing that Jingshan looked like he wanted to keep talking, he knew the monk was stalling for time. He immediately turned to Xianfu. Time was limited. It was best to kill Baohu before the Earth Yang Fire was completely extinguished. If they were too late, unexpected variables might arise.

Xianfu instantly understood.

"Enough talk."

Before his voice even faded, he rode a beam of light and charged right back into the Northern Crimson Gold Pure Land. Startled, Jingshan hurriedly retreated to put distance between them.

Immediately after, the monk pulled a talisman token from the sleeve of his cassock.

"Enlightening karma, my Dao lies in begging!"

The talisman token shot into the sky, hung in the air, and quickly vanished. Yet, not a single formation chart appeared. Everything was empty, as if nothing had happened.

In the next second, Xianfu arrived right in front of him. His Divine Powers surged, and in an instant, layers of pavilions and towers sprang from the earth. Inside every pavilion sat a deity, solemn and majestic, just like the Ten Thousand Gods Terrestrial Chart. They enveloped Jingshan, directly dragging him into the divine power.

Chart of True Spirit Ranks and Offices!

Immediately after, Xianfu took his seat at the very peak of the divine power. He gathered a radiant burst of divine power in his hand and tossed it toward Jingshan, like throwing a Token.

"The Emperor commands the subordinate minister, and the sovereign demands his death!"

Xianfu cultivated the supreme qi. When he fought, he always unleashed his ultimate moves right off the bat. If he could resolve a battle in one strike, he absolutely wouldn't use a second. Only that was fitting for the aura of a ruler.

Previously, when dealing with Jin Hai, he had used this very decree to heavily injure him on the spot. If not for the profound mystery of the divine powers under the Great Golden Wheel Wisdom King—which allowed one to drag out their divine power in a lump, corrupting the opponent's technique while fleeing to be reborn—Jin Hai would likely have been crushed to death by Xianfu right then and there.

"Hiss!"

Seeing the decree fall, Jingshan's face twisted in agony. The magical power and divine abilities throughout his body began to follow Xianfu's decree, running wild inside him.

"Amitabha!"

In the next second, the monk who served under the Arhat Seats pressed his palms together in front of his chest and chanted a Buddhist title. Following that, he channeled his own divine power, which surged upward.

Forging Broad Good Karma!

Jingshan cultivated under Tuobo Luohan. He practiced the alms-begging method. As the name suggested, it involved forming karmic bonds with external objects and then using those bonds to take them for his own use.

For a time, Xianfu's decree and Jingshan's divine power—two radiant lights—collided. They deadlocked for a moment before Jingshan's divine power rapidly dimmed.

He had clearly fallen at a disadvantage.

However, what made Xianfu frown was that his decree seemed to have been partially dissolved... No, not dissolved, but rather, a portion of it had been plucked away out of thin air?

Soon after, Jingshan pressed his hands together, his lips parting slightly.

"The True Spirit Ranks and Offices share karma with me."

As soon as he spoke, he unexpectedly displayed a profound decree similar to Xianfu's. The two offset each other, forcefully allowing Jingshan to carve out a chance at survival. His figure suddenly flickered.

Boom!

Under Xianfu's surprised gaze, the Chart of True Spirit Ranks and Offices remained as steady as Mount Tai, showing no flaws. Yet Jingshan had still somehow managed to escape from within it.

But Xianfu quickly pressed his advance, speaking in a leisurely tone.

"I respectfully invite the wood qi to take control, suppressing gold and subduing earth, bringing down water and banishing fire, nourishing the earth and harmonizing with heaven!"

Decreed Immortal Sovereign!

The destiny form expanded. A monarch wearing a twelve-tasseled crown took his seat within the Chart of True Spirit Ranks and Offices, instantly causing the divine power's might to surge. It enveloped Jingshan once more.

Seeing this, Jingshan had no choice but to force a defense.

"If, when I attain Buddhahood, the sentient beings in my land cannot attain enlightening karma, and in the time it takes to eat a single meal, cannot receive the wholehearted offerings of all beings in the world, I shall not achieve true enlightenment."

Vow of Offerings to All Buddhas!

As the Sanskrit chant fell, a golden body immediately rose from the ground. Like Jingshan, it was bare-chested and sat cross-legged, but countless monks were coiled within its husk.

Looking closely, these monks were like insects crawling inside the golden body. They ate, drank, and defecated within it. Other than that, they chanted scriptures day and night. Even their birth, aging, sickness, and death became part of the golden body, as if their very existence was solely meant to provide offerings to it.

Manifesting his great vow, Jingshan was going all out.

Yet, he was still no match for the collision between Xianfu's destiny form and his great vow. He only held on for a moment before he was defeated and dragged back into the Chart of True Spirit Ranks and Offices.

"Alas!"

Seeing this, Jingshan let out a long sigh. He finally changed his hand seals and chanted loudly:

"I beg for it! I beg for it!"

As his voice faded, the talisman token he had thrown into the air earlier—which had vanished without a trace—reappeared. Along with it emerged densely packed, intricate formation charts.

Alms-Begging Formation!

In the next second, Xianfu furrowed his brow. The Decreed Immortal Sovereign destiny form emerged behind him, illuminating the heavens and earth, but it was evidently lacking the radiance of its Divine Powers.

The Chart of True Spirit Ranks and Offices was gone.

He looked up and saw that at the center of the intricate formation charts summoned by Jingshan, there sat a Spiritual Treasure. It was exactly the Alms Bowl he had been holding in his hand earlier.

The World-Begging Alms Bowl.

"...So it was this formation."

Xianfu quickly organized his thoughts and smiled. "Using a Spiritual Treasure to anchor the formation, you forcibly begged away my Divine Powers. What alms-begging? This is outright robbery."

"But having such a method isn't bad."

On the other side, Jingshan was full of helplessness.

He had originally planned to save this move for when Xianfu used the Unified Mind Hall. That way, he could beg away a Spiritual Treasure and immediately secure victory.

Unfortunately, Xianfu was far too cautious. After exchanging blows several times, seeing that Jingshan hadn't used a Spiritual Treasure, he didn't use one either. He only used his Divine Powers and destiny form, unleashing relentless, ruthless strikes that still left Jingshan utterly unable to fight back. Jingshan had no choice but to reveal his trump card early, taking away the Chart of True Spirit Ranks and Offices to reverse his downward spiral.

'Forget it, forget it.'

'Even though I couldn't take that Unified Mind Hall, I've gained the upper hand regardless. If I can force this person to retreat, I'll have perfectly completed my mission...'

Just as Jingshan was thinking this—

Boom!

Suddenly, Xianfu stomped his foot. A palace burst from the earth. Below the vermilion steps, mountains, rivers, the sun, and the moon manifested, along with tens of thousands of subjects cheering like a tsunami.

Unified Mind Hall!

"Hmm?!"

Seeing this, Jingshan was stunned for a moment, but then overjoyed. 'He misjudged! He thinks that because I just took the Chart of True Spirit Ranks and Offices, I can't take his Spiritual Treasure?'

"Good, good, good!"

At that thought, Jingshan grew instantly excited. "You're courting death, so don't blame me!"