Nightfall

Only the Tangs could save Tang.

The Tangs, like Yang Erxi, or General Xu Chi who had directed the Northern Army at the battle against Golden Palace for three days, or the farmers from Hebei County who braved the cold to transport supplies and gear of the army to the front-line.

However, courage and will were not enough to turn the situation. Because this battle against Tang was almost above the human level, though it was between human beings.

Cultivators who had seldom concerned themselves about mortal affairs before all engaged in this battle, in response to the rescript of the Divine Hall. Even the reclusive Xuankong Temple sent its own monk soldiers.

On the plateau beside Pamir Mountains in the western frontier.

Master Qi Mei walked towards the camp of the Tang Army.

This chief monk from the Hall of Respect in the Xuankong Temple had reached the supreme level of becoming a Buddha. Ordinary weapons in the mortal world could not injure him at all, nor could the Martial Arts powerhouses in the Tang Army stop him.

In front of such an Unworldly Sublime Being, one might need true power besides courage and will.

In the past, the military of Tang had powerhouses at the Peak state of Martial Arts as Xu Shi and Xia Hou. However, now there was only Xu Chi himself. General Shu Cheng in the martial camp was well-known for his strategy and wisdom, not because of martial arts.

So, who could stop Qi Mei?

No one knew when a scholar in an old cotton jacket appeared on scene.

Dirty his clothes may be, yet he looked so clean in both mind and body.

There was still a wooden dipper tied at his waist, but the old book volume was nowhere to be found.

At this time, the scene was in utter confusion. But the presence of this scholar was like a spring breeze gently touching everyone’s minds, thus suddenly calming the chaotic Military camp.

No one in the Tang Army knew who he was, but his figure somehow brought him a sense of peace and trust.

Sure enough, Qi Mei stopped.

Who could stop him?

Naturally, the Academy could.

The real powerful force of the Tang Empire was the Academy.

Although the scholar looked gentle or even weak, Qi Mei dared not go any further as long as he was in front of the Tang Army’s camp. That was real power.

“Buddha left numerous weapons and wisdom before entering the realm of Nirvana. All he did was to prevent the Underworld Invasion and to suppress the Daughter of Yama. Now the mortal world doesn’t understand, but the Xuankong Temple must understand. Why did he do that?”

The Eldest Brother looked at Master Qi Mei and asked. With a sincere look on his face, he was only consulting him earnestly.

Master Qi Mei felt into a long silence. Then he chanted the name of Buddha softly and said, “Buddha entered the realm of Nirvana, the Headmaster ascended to heaven, and Acalanatha’s light fell into the world. All that proved that god’s will was hard to disobey.”

Eldest Brother was a little surprised as well as regretful. He sighed and said, “I see. I did not expect that my teacher’s leaving would impact Buddhism Sect so much. I think that he did not expect it either.”

Master Qi Mei said, “That is also an evident proof.”

Eldest Brother looked at an ant struggling constantly in the thick sticky blood before his straw sandals. After reflecting, he raised his head and said calmly, “We Academy people want to have a try.”

Master Qi Mei said simply, “Admirable. Please.”

Eldest Brother said, “You are no match for me.”

If this sentence came from the mouth of Second Brother, it would be regarded as being arrogant even if he was saying it emotionlessly. If it came from Ning Que, he would deliberately calm his voice and let his opponent recognize his taunt and disdain so as to irritate them.

However, when he said these words slowly, he was really calm and simply saying the truth. Listeners hardly had any displeasure.

“My state is naturally lower than yours.” Master Qi Mei looked at Eldest Brother and said, “But no matter how high your state is, it’s not easy to stop me.”

This eminent monk of Xuankong Temple was also calm and confident. The Limitless State was a horrifying and unique fatal skill for any ordinary cultivator in the world. As for him who had reached the state of Buddha, it was not an insurmountable means.

Eldest Brother was absorbed in thought to himself, “I don’t know how to fight.” He said, “This is indeed a problem.”

Master Qi Mei said, “Mr. First has surpassed Five States and is extraordinarily refined. You could’ve been solving problems for Tang in the south, east or north, but here you are, in the west, confronting we Buddist disciples. This is probably also due to the unpredictability of God’s will.”

Eldest Brother said seriously, “Although I don’t know how to fight and you being at the state of Buddha, I think there must be some effect if I fight more often.”

Master Qi Mei kept silent for a moment. Then he looked at the martial camp of Tang behind Eldest Brother and said, “Mr. First is right. But I can kill everyone in the camp before you kill me.”

With that, he took a step forward with determination.

At this time, he was only 17 steps away from Tang’s camp.

Standing at where the 17th step ended, Eldest Brother’s expression gradually became desolate while looking at Qi Mei’s determined face. He asked, “The Buddhist Sect advocates mercy. Are you forcing me to kill?”

Master Qi Mei did not answer him and took another step forward.

Eldest Brother’s cotton jacket trembled slightly. Besides that, the wooden dipper attached to the belt had some subtle changes in position.

In the far west of the battlefield, a general fell and died in the Military camp of the Yuelun Kingdom.

With expressions of alarm, people went to check.

There weren’t any scars on him and he looked calm, like he had fallen asleep.

Master Qi Mei realized the opponent had already done something, so he slightly raised his left eyebrow.

He took another step forward.

Eldest Brother looked at him quietly, the end of his hair stirring in the breeze.

In the Military camp of Yuelun Kingdom, an ordinary soldier fell and died.

One step, one kill.

Qi Mei took a step forward.

One person died in the Military camp of Yuelun Kingdom.

The killing was too fast for them to feel any pain. There wasn’t any scar or blood on their bodies.

No one saw that their napes became flat as if they had been hit by something blunt.

Eldest Brother remained motionless there.

Only his slightly trembling cotton jacket and the cracks that gradually appeared on the wooden dipper indicated what he had done.

He did not deliberately choose to kill someone.

So the dead included generals and ordinary soldiers.

In his opinion, all men were equal. So why bother making a selection before death?

But obviously, not everyone agreed with him.

Qi Mei was still moving forward.

At this time, he was only nine steps away from Tang’s camp.

It also meant that the Yuelun Kingdom would have to sacrifice nine more lives.

Eldest Brother looked gradually serious.

At the eighth step from the end.

The commander in chief of the Yuelun Kingdom died.

The seventh step from the end.

The incoming chief monk of the Commandment Yard at the Xuankong Temple died.

Master Qi Mei’s footstep grew heavier and heavier.

Every step took more and more time.

Before he took the sixth step from the end, Eldest Brother suddenly said something.

“The Emperor of Yuelun Kingdom died.”

This was the first time since the fight started for Eldest Brother to kill someone by the use of Limitless State before Qi Mei had the chance to take a step. What did that mean? It meant that more than six people would die though there were only six steps left.

It could be sixty.

Six hundred.

Six thousand.

Or even more.

No matter how benevolent a person was, he wouldn’t care to kill more once things had started.

Master Qi Mei’s foot could no longer fall onto the ground.

It was at this time that a pair of shoes fell on the ground.

It was a pair of common indigo cloth shoes.

When the shoes appeared, they killed the ant who had been struggling for a long time in the thick blood.

The person who wore the shoes was a Taoist in an indigo Taoist robe.

Silence reigned.

Eldest Brother gave a salute and said, “You are late, Abbey Dean.”

The Taoist in indigo was Chen Mou, Abbey Dean of the Zhishou Abbey. After the Headmaster left the world, the Chief Preaching Monk of Xuankong Temple and he became the supreme in the world.

If he had appeared earlier, Eldest Brother wouldn’t have killed so many people.

Eldest Brother did not mean to kill, so he said he was late.

The Taoist looked at him and said indifferently, “I wanted to see how many people the Headmaster’s student, taught by way of compassion and benevolence, could kill. So I’m late.”

Eldest Brother understood what he meant.

Haotian Taoism did not care whether the Emperor of the Yuelun Kingdom was alive or dead, or how many people from the Buddhism Sect would die today. The Taoist in indigo wouldn’t care at all even if the Buddhism Sect was destroyed together with Yuelun Kingdom.

Eldest Brother sighed. “You all want me to kill.”

Then he looked at Master Qi Mei and said with a touch of sympathy, “Do you still think that God’s will cannot be violated?”

Master Qi Mei fell into silence.

Eldest Brother looked at the wooden dipper at his waist, staring at the cracks on it.

“Jun Mo was right. Fighting is to use something strong to attack the weak point of the enemy, with full effort and determination. And you did just that, Abbey Dean.”

He looked up at the Taoist in indigo and said smilingly, “Then I finally learned how to fight.”

The Taoist in indigo slightly raised his eyebrows, his clothes floating in the wind.

A thunderous roar sounded at the field.

The wooden dipper at the Eldest Brother’s waist seemed to have gone who knows where.

Countless pieces of wood scattered behind Master Qi Mei.

The wooden dipper was broken, and Master Qi Mei’s head was severely deformed as if having been crused over by a mountain. Even though his body had nearly become Buddha’s, he was now nothing but a crumbling clay statue.

Master Qi Mei fell to the ground, being too badly injured to stand on his feet.

Blood slowly seeped out of Eldest Brother’s cotton jacket, reddening his shoulder.

On the previous instant, he applied his first attack to Master Qi Mei after learning how to fight. At the same time, he was almost seriously injured by the Taoist in indigo.

The Taoist in indigo looked at him quietly and said, “Your state is lower than mine. How can you walk even more steadily than me on the Limitless State path?”

Eldest Brother said, “You’ve been walking too fast over the years. Surely that makes you unsteady.”

The Taoist in indigo suddenly asked, “It is said that you went into the Seethrough at dawn and ended being to the Knowing Destiny State at dusk. When did you surpass the Five States?”

Eldest Brother replied, “That time I spent a relatively longer time. Three days.”

The Taoist in indigo fell into a long silence. He put his hands clasped behind his back and shook his head with a smile.

His smile was natural and unrestrained.

Although his hands were put behind his back, he had the whole world before him.

Eldest Brother did not speak and left.

The Taoist in indigo also left.

The first fight at the Limitless State in the mortal world had just begun.