Chapter 213 — Demanding the Blood Debt

And I give it only to the fated. " Suddenly another young monk laughed: "And what counts as one who is fated?

" Yuanjing looked at him, and his heart went cold. This young monk too was handsome and clear-featured—none other than Yuanfeng, another of Sun Nantuo's disciples.

The two had long been at odds over a woman and had secretly contended many times; though they kept up a civil face in public, their masks had long since been torn away in private.

Plainly Yuanfeng meant to obtain the Thousand-Banner Pagoda from this foreign barbarian, to win merit before Sun Nantuo, to gain his master's favor, to monopolize his affection, and to push Yuanjing out. Shen Mu set down the Thousand-Banner Pagoda and said gravely: "I come from beyond the frontier. Having seen the splendor of your exalted land, I am filled with admiration, and take it for a land of outstanding men and spiritual ground. This pagoda is no common thing.

I am willing to use this treasure to meet the heroes and champions of your land. If anyone can defeat me at the same cultivation realm, I will gladly present it to him.

" Meanwhile Wei Yong and the Duke of Wei came out of the ducal mansion and arrived outside the Nantuo Annex. The Duke of Wei glanced over, then shook his head and laughed: "What commotion is there here to see? Nothing but a little whelp of the Golden Palace of Loulan come to make trouble for Nantuo Temple. " His voice was loud; the moment he spoke, people several streets away heard him clearly.

These streets were where princes and ministers lived. Hearing the Duke of Wei's words, they came out of their mansions one after another to look from afar, and in an instant the whole quarter was in an uproar. Seeing the crowd around them swelling, the monks of Nantuo Temple thought it unwise to simply snatch the thing by force.

Another yellow-robed monk laughed: "If one merely defeats you, one may take the Thousand-Banner Pagoda?

" The Duke of Wei might have had little interest, but he still called out loudly: "You bald one! The man said at the same cultivation realm.

You can't go breaking the rules! Where is Sun Nantuo?

His family treasure has turned up, so which woman's belly has he run off to now? " Wei Yong was bewildered. He looked this way and that, thinking: "How did Brother Shen know there would be a commotion to see here?

Where is he? " Shen Mu said: "Whoever defeats me may take the Thousand-Banner Pagoda.

Beyond the frontier may be less splendid than your exalted land, but our word is good. " The yellow-robed monk was about to step forward when Yuanjing suddenly stepped out ahead of him and said with a smile: "I shall take away the pagoda!

Brother, this humble monk is Yuanjing, of the Five Luminaries realm—may I ask your name? " Shen Mu said gravely: "Golden Palace of Loulan, Banggong Cuo, of the Five Luminaries realm!

" Yuanjing's aura erupted.

He stirred the spirit treasure, the Immovable Zen Art; Buddhist radiance blazed all about him, and behind him faintly appeared the phantom of a great numinous Buddha with a thousand arms, holding a thousand treasures: lapis cups, jade lamps, bows, arrows, maces, clubs, and treasures of every kind. Suddenly the great Buddha merged with Yuanjing and vanished. Yuanjing's body shone with treasure light; his hands formed a mudra; he stepped forward, and the mudra in his hand became the Lapis Seal, his palm taking on a glaze-like luster as he brought it down upon Shen Mu in one strike.

This was the marvel of the Immovable Zen Art of the Numinous Treasure. This Buddhist art was called the art of a thousand treasures. Cultivated to a realm above that of Heavenly Human, one could form the Thousand-Treasure Great Buddha, whose might was terrifying.

And before reaching the Heavenly Human realm, one could transform the thousand treasures into a thousand kinds of mudra, each distinct, each with its own power and use. Yuanjing was only of the Five Luminaries realm, yet his cultivation was deep and vigorous; he had learned more than a hundred of the Immovable Zen Art's thousand seals, and moreover the art could refine the Arhat Body—a body like diamond, proof against blade and spear—so that his defense too was fearsome.

At this seal of Yuanjing's the treasure light blazed. All around his palm, for two or three zhang, it was as if a lapis realm had formed; within the treasure light came Buddhist sounds—most extraordinary.

Shen Mu stood where he was. Suddenly his hand rose and fell, and with a thunderous roar, what lapis realm, what numinous great Buddha, what Lapis Seal—all were smashed apart by a single slap. A great pit appeared in the ground, and in the pit Yuanjing was crushed to a heap of mud. The monks were startled.

The Duke of Wei stroked his beard and muttered doubtfully: "This barbarian's moves are crude enough, but his cultivation is absurdly strong. .

. What is his name? " Wei Yong said hurriedly: "I think he is called Banggong Cuo.

" The Duke of Wei murmured to himself: "Something is off here. This art does not much look like the Shaman Sovereign Louluo Sutra of the Golden Palace of Loulan.

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