Ning Que had deliberately chosen the main hall of the Southern Gate Temple as his battlefield.
A fight between cultivators was too alarming and could not be done on the streets. He did not want too many people to see his way of fighting, so he had to choose a confined space. That space had to be large enough, because this was the only way for cultivators of different cultivation sects to feel that the fight was fair.
The main hall of the Southern Gate Temple was very large. The black beam on top of it seemed to be a line reaching across the sky. The space was large enough to fit an entire millennium-old tall tree and could hold more than a dozen rockeries. However, there were no tall trees. There weren’t even tables or chairs or gardens in the hall, but only the beam hanging high up and the pillars on the side, making the room look particularly empty.
The black wood planks on the ground seemed to stretch out endlessly.
Ning Que and Guan Hai sat cross-legged on straw mats on both ends of the black floor, facing each other.
The two nodded at each other in greeting.
Ning Que said, “I have no blades or arrows, only talismans. I shall fight you with talismans today.”
Monk Guan Hai said, “I have the Emblematic Gesture of Buddha. And Buddha will protect me.”
The hall was too empty, and their voices echoed over the black floors.
Monk Guan Hai said, “Mr. Thirteen is aware that my respect for the Academy is real, and so is my admiration for you. However, I do want to win this battle today because I see my teacher as Buddha, but he regards the Headmaster of the Academy as Buddha. I get angry every time I think about this. And in order to get rid of this anger, I have to defeat you today.”
Ning Que looked at the monk in the distance and said, “If you want to defeat me, please, go first.”
Monk Guan Hai said, “It is not right for disciples of the Buddhist sect to get angry, much less attack first.”
After a moment of silence, Ning Que said, “If I were to attack first, you would have no chance to attack anymore.”
Monk Guan Hai raised his right palm before him and smiled without saying anything.
Ning Que did not know that the monk’s gesture was a solemn defense made by the Wisdom King of the Buddhist Sect, but he could clearly feel that there was an extremely pure aura of Buddhism in the empty Taoist Temple. The serenity gave rise to a sense of peace.
However, since it was a battle, how could it be peaceful?
Ning Que placed his left hand on his knee and slowly raised his right hand. His fingertips flicked, and a pale yellow Fu paper floated out slowly. The doors and windows had long been closed and there was no breeze in the hall. However, the Fu paper hung in the air for some reason, as if it was a loose leaf floating in the autumn wind. It fluttered and flew through the entire hall, and fell towards monk Guan Hai.
When the piece of Fu paper floated about two feet away from the monk Guan Hai, he suddenly bent his right forefinger. With this, he perfected the gesture of the Wisdom King, and the aura around his body thickened several times over.
The pale yellow piece of Fu paper appeared weak before this magnificent Buddhist aura, just like a fallen leaf in the autumn wind. However, just as the two met, the Fu paper suddenly burned fiercely. It became a huge ball of fire in an extremely short period of time and enveloped monk Guan Hai.
Monk Guan Hai’s expression did not change in the face of the scorching fire. He even slowly closed his eyes, and bent his right middle finger while holding it before his chest, giving his gesture a touch of softness. The Qi of Heaven and Earth in the hall was affected by the serenity and fell gently, forming a thin barrier around his body.
The flames enveloped monk Guan Hai’s body and burned through the thin Qi of Heaven and Earth’s barrier. It made a strange hum, like the sound of burning firewood, or a kettle being boiled dry. However, one could clearly see that monk Guan Hai’s expression was calm; the invisible barrier remained stable and was not affected at all.
The talisman fires could not last long.
When the talisman lost its power, the flame that enveloped monk Guan Hai gradually extinguished. The invisible barrier reflected the last flames in a multitude of colors, like shards of broken glass. Within the barrier, monk Guan Hai’s eyes opened and he fixed his calm and unwavering gaze on Ning Que, who was sitting on the opposite grass mat in the hall.
It seemed that it was the turn for this powerhouse of the Buddhist Sect to attack. But Ning Que had said, that if he attacked first, then the monk Guan Hai would have no chance to attack back, and this was as exactly as he promised.
As the flames burned the invisible barrier made from the Qi of Heaven and Earth around monk Guan Hai, the second piece of Fu paper had quietly floated out of Ning Que’s sleeves. It floated close to the dark glistening floors towards monk Guan Hai. When the last of the Fu fire finally dissipated and the monk Guan Hai opened his eyes with the intention to return the attack, the Fu paper unleashed its majestic Fu power.
A majestic thunderstorm descended from the skies above.
However, they were within the temple beneath its roof. Where did the skies come from?
The thunderstorm came from the air 30 feet above the ground within the temple hall, and then fell down noisily.
It looked rather strange.
Monk Guan Hai’s defense gesture could condense the Qi of Heaven and Earth deep into the Wisdom God’s armor and isolate all intangible forces like Psyche Power or Fu fire. However, the rain in the temple that started in mid-air was tangible and could not be stopped by the invisible barrier. The monk was thoroughly soaked from head to toe.
The chilly rainwater ran down the monk Guan Hai’s thin monk robes and his slightly tanned face. He looked at Ning Que who sat on the grass mat in the distance, a strong sense of puzzlement grew in him. Why was his second talisman a water talisman?
He had ascertained Ning Que’s accomplishments in Talisman Taoism from the fierce flames. Had he not already cultivated into a heavenly status, he would have been at a huge disadvantage. However, water was one of the gentlest and weakest things on earth. If one were to use only water talismans against his enemies, he had to be a Divine Talisman Master to gather all the water on earth and make it as strong as steel. However, Ning Que was obviously still a distance away from being a Divine Talisman Master.
The rain flowed down monk Guan Hai’s face, washing his puzzlement and doubts.
The rain might seem majestic, but it did not cause him any harm. He decided not to think about it. The middle finger of his right hand held before his body popped up, flicking at a single raindrop.
In fact, monk Guan Hai’s finger did not really touch the raindrop, it was his sense that had touched it. Then, the raindrop understood his will, and with a poof, broke through the air in the hall and flew towards Ning Que like an arrow!
Ning Que did not appear to have seen the raindrop. He did not make any move to avoid, but only lowered his head.
Monk Guan Hai could vaguely see the raindrop seeping into Ning Que’s hair through the curtain of rain. He could not help but slightly freeze as he wondered how the Lanke Temple would explain to the Academy if he really injured Ning Que.
Unexpectedly, the raindrop did not seem to have any effects on Ning Que. He just quietly lowered his head.
The third Fu paper he issued had already floated before monk Guan Hai. It released all its talisman power just as the rain stopped in the middle of the Taoist temple. The pure aura in the Fu paper seeped into every drop of water.
The storm had ceased, and the rainwater flowed off monk Guan Hai, and on the dark glistening floors. With the seepage of the talisman power, the rainwater froze at a speed that could be seen by the naked eye. The water on the ground froze into miniature glaciers, and that landed on monk Guan Hai turned into a miniature icefall!
The strong coldness shrouded the empty temple hall.
The rainwater in monk Guan Hai’s robes and face turned into ice. His eyelashes became ice ridges beneath the eaves in winter. His body was covered by a thin transparent layer of ice, and he looked like an ice sculpture of Buddha.
The water between the ice-sculpted Buddha statue and the black floors had also been frozen. Those who once lived through winter would know, that such a freeze was stronger than the adhesion of asphalt. Monk Guan Hai had been completely frozen within the ice and could not use his powers. He would not be able to get out of this situation within a short time, and could only wait to be easily defeated by Ning Que.
However, while Monk Guan Hai was not well-renowned, he was, after all, a core disciple of the secluded elder of Lanke Temple. His cultivation in Buddhist arts was above that of the seven disciples in the Buddhist Sect. Would he be so easily defeated by talisman ice?
Monk Guan Hai remained frozen by the ice. While he was unable to move his body, his heart could. His lips could not move, but his mind could. There was a thick and compassionate aura emitting from his abdomen. It was hard to understand, but it was very solemn.
It was the Buddhist Chant!
As the Buddhist Chant rang in the empty hall, monk Guan Hai’s eyelids quivered slightly. The ice on it fell, and the ice armor around his thin monk robes cracked. His hands were finally freed when the ice on his sleeves melted.
A monk would execute Buddhist etiquette with both hands, which was why hands were the most important part of the Buddhist Sect’s arts.
Monk Guan Hai’s hands had finally regained freedom. He pressed his palms together without hesitation, and the two Wisdom King gestures in each hand met. A mighty strong power burst out from him, and it broke the talisman ice around him into shards.
Tens of thousands of ice shards hung around him, suspended in mid-air.
The last rays of daylight shone through the window cracks and were reflected and refracted by the myriad shards of ice. They turned into rays of golden light, bathing monk Guan Hai in the glow, and his Wisdom King gesture was completed!
It was at this moment when Ning Que lifted his head and looked at monk Guan Hai who was bathed in the Buddhist light. The left hand that had been resting on his knee all along suddenly tightened, crushing the Fu paper that he had been secretly holding for a long time.
Ning Que had used the pouch that Master Yan Se had left him by the Daming Lake. He felt his heart stir as he sensed the power in the Fu. He had made his first intent Fu on his journey back to Chang’an.
It was the Scatter Fu that he was activating right now!
This Scatter Fu did not float towards monk Guan Hai because it was an intent Fu. Ning Que could not use the method he had mastered today, by the lake at Yanming Mountain. The Fu power floated, seeming a little weak.
While enveloped in the golden glow, monk Guan Hai furrowed his brows as he sensed the frailty of the oncoming Fu power.
Ning Que’s activation of the Scatter Fu was not aimed at the monk, but at the surrounding shards of ice.
The Fu power in the Scatter Fu was activated, and the shards of broken ice became even smaller.
Dust was slightly smaller than the ice shards.
Ice was water.
Water that turned into dust would become clouds or fog.
Fog filled the temple, as if the world had suddenly floated high in the clouds. The fumes obscured everything in sight, even disturbing the Qi of Heaven and Earth.
It was at this moment when the fog started to ripple.
The fog dissipated slightly, revealing Ning Que.
He stood in front of monk Guan Hai.
He was just a short distance away.