Archfiend

Chapter 231: Danxia Temple (50)

At this moment, all the puzzles pieces finally floated up to the water’s surface. Following the emergence of Danxia Temple’s greatest secret, these puzzles pieces had ultimately formed a splendid drawing.

The ocean surface calmed down again. That leap of casting away Its prison was this Kun Peng’s thousand-year longing. As this fervor was stripped away from the Kun Peng’s heart, the region eventually regained its death-like silence.

Like a storm had yet to come, the sea appeared tranquil, yet it caused and brewed a heart-shaking aura. After ten seconds, Xu Yangyi’s gaze moved. He looked at the ocean surface in astonishment. This was because… a thread of multicolored sunlight fired straight up from underwater!

If said it was merely this strand, there was nothing of it. However… this strand turned from a thousand into a hundred thousand! A million! An endless amount of multicolored sunlight! It seemed that ocean surface had become a sheet of perforated paper. Countless five-colored rays shot out from the seabed and transformed the ocean surface into pure and sparkling multicolored jade! Below, even the areas that were ten meters deep were clearly visible!

“Look fast! W-what is this?!” Zhao wuye dragged his wound-riddled body, and his pupils suddenly needled. He falteringly pointed down below and cried out involuntarily.

Xu Yangyi immediately looked over. Underneath… the titanic silhouette was madly surging in the water. However… at Its side, there was a shadow around three to four times smaller! In the wake of the azure carp’s rolling, this figure twisted and circled together with the Kun Peng.

The multicolored sunlight wasn’t radiating from the azure carp’s body but rather gushing forth from the slightly smaller shadow! And yet… as this multicolored sunlight grew stronger and stronger… they actually formed incredibly profound sanskrit characters on the ocean surface! Xu Yangyi probed and examined, yet felt his mind and vision turn faint with a glance. It was to the extent his spiritual sense felt waves of stabbing pain.

In the water… two spinning shadows gradually became bigger! In the end, a loud boom followed! An untold number of multicolored talismans were forcibly broken through! The giant figure leaped out again!

Crash. Countless water droplets sprinkled down like raindrops. A massive shadow caused everything to lose color. However, in the instant that the carp leaped out, a black claw wrapped in armor immediately rushed out from endless waters in the wake of a furious roar. The claw clamped down on the azure carp’s tail!

“OLD THIEF!!!” The azure carp leaped into the air, Its voice excited. This excitement carried a smidgen of unspeakable fury. The fish could actually speak human speech: “For the last thousand years… if This Palace doesn’t grind your bones and scatter them into ash today, my name as the Myriad Waters Demon King will be in vain!!!”

BOOM!!! The claw actually pulled the azure carp back into the water again! In the wake of a loud echo, the water’s surface turned over like an endless tide! A giant wave over ten meters tall kicked up!

There was a second person! Everyone looked at the seabed in astonishment. In this place… there wasn’t just a Kun Peng! That was surprisingly a second person!

“W-what the heck is this thing?” Underwater, two giant shadows tangled together, fighting against each other and winding about. It was difficult to tell them apart. Quan Ningyue gazed incredulously into water. None would’ve been able to guess that there was such a scene at Danxia Temple’s bottom!

Nobody said a word. At this moment in the sea, only seven people were still clear-headed. Xu Yangyi, Fang Cheng, Xuan Chengzi, Fahui, Quan Ningyue, Zhao Wuye, and Mao Ba’er. Everyone’s gazes assembled on the seemingly transparent seabed, and they constrained their madly beating hearts. They locked their eyes on everything happening in the water.

BOOM!!! A streak of resplendent treasure light flashed at the sea floor. All of a sudden, two rocketing water pillars rushed up at the same time. One of them was swathed with an inexhaustible amount of fish. It was a full 5,000 meters in size! The other was merely less than a thousand meters. Nonetheless, the two water pillars carried a spiritual pressure that pervaded the sky. Both of them were equally matched!

“Gulp…” Xuan Chengzi’s Adam’s apple trembled, and he kneeled, unable to keep on containing himself. Fahui’s complexion was pale. In the same vein, he went soft at the knees and kneeled. Clanging sounds that fell on the ear incessantly followed. Amidst this cascade of water… these people who had experienced the Heavenly Opening Six Erosions were swept again by a devil-god-like spiritual pressure. Apart from Xu Yangyi, not a single person was still able to maintain a standing position! 

Even though Xu Yangyi hadn’t kneeled, he had no choice but to sit down on a lotus leaf. These two spiritual pressures… transcended all spiritual pressures he had encountered in the past! This included the twelve Core Formation ancestors on the day of the auction! In any case, it was difficult to compare to these two spiritual pressures!

They were simply unlike… a single-leveled organism!

Swoosh! Along with the spiritual pressures rising to the sky, all the lotuses and lotus leaves were collectively flung back! The two spiritual pressures… actually formed a dreadful wind pressure! Everyone’s clothes whistled in the blowing wind!

Nonetheless, amidst the spiritual pressure and soaring water pillars, two eye-piercing radiances, one of them azure and the other golden, suddenly erupted. In the air, they blossomed into two halos of equal resplendence! After a second, two figures emerged in the midair.

Confiding in the void to resist the wind, they trod upon emptiness and ventured!

Over twenty-meters up in the sky at Xu Yangyi’s left side, the water pillars surprisingly tumbled downwards like a fountain. As if it was solid, it formed a water chair. On this chair was an icy-visaged woman. Her body was cloaked with a murderous aura, and she sat on the chair with her hand propping up her delicate cheek.

She couldn’t be considered very pretty, but she wasn’t at all unsightly. She belonged to a kind of second-class beauty. Her eyebrows were like distant black, her lips were like cherries, and her face was like a peach blossom. Her hair was worn in a bun like that of a noble family’s young lady, and she wore azure clothing in the style of ancient times. The age that this clothing originated from ought to have been a tad long ago. By no means could it be said to be ornate. At most, it could be regarded as a scholar’s simplicity.

However, there was an unknown magik treasure inserted into her chest! The unseen magik treasure in itself was only a pitch-black, thumb-thick chain that extended out. The golden light of sanskrit characters spread forth from the woman’s chest. However, the other end of the chain shockingly entered the sleeve of the person who was across.

At the other side… was a monk! 

All of his clothing was already tattered to an unimaginable degree, just barely covering his body. His hair and beard were white, and he was old and decrepit. Nonetheless, a magik treasure was also stuck into his chest!

It was a sword curling with azure qi, ending straight in his chest. A ribbon of silk-like qi extended our from the azure-clothed woman’s fingertips.

The sea was a stretch of deathly stillness. Before coming in, no one had witnessed this scene that the Core Formation ancestors had seen. They were simply unaware that there were two monsters below the water!

However, the speculations of the Core Formation ancestors or perhaps the government were completely different. She… wasn’t pregnant. The azure carp was in mortal combat with another demon! Thus, both sides appeared difficult to distinguish from each other!

Silence. After ages, the old monk’s voice suddenly rang out: “Benefactors, what dynasty is it now?”

Fahui’s gaze burned as he looked at the old monk. He was so excited that his voice was trembling: “Amitabha… there are no more dynasties now… It is now 2022. Dare I ask senior which high monk you are of my Buddha Sect?”

Fahui was unable not to be excited. It was no exaggeration to say that the spiritual pressures of this duo were simply akin to devils or gods! Even a sliver or stand caused him to feel his heart quiver! If such a senior returned to the Buddha Sect… then the Three Apex Sects… would quite possibly transform into one supremacy and two vassals! 

The old monk glanced at him and faintly nodded: “Amitabha… Benefactors, this poor monk has already suppressed this demon here for almost a thousand years. Slay demons to defend the Dao, this is the true nature of us cultivators.”

“Senior’s words ring true.” Fahui immediately said and joined his hands in prayer. His fingers faintly trembled.

“Have benefactors thought that if this demon king is released now… how will the world change? If I’m not here to suppress her, the cultivation world would be confronted with a great calamity!”

“Hahahaha!” Before the monk’s voice even fell, the woman across from him had already turned upwards and began to laugh: “You old bald donkey, you and I have faced each other for a thousand years. I didn’t even know that you had such an outstanding silver tongue.” [1]

“Amitabha.” The old monk’s expression was peaceful, merely his gaze was like fire. He glanced coldly at the woman: “Benefactors, she and I are both unable to budge right now. All you have to do is pull out the magik treasure in my chest, and I will suppress this demon for all eternity!”

“Ridiculous.” The woman’s smile vanished, and her gaze swept over each person like a blade: “Who dares?”

“Buddha said ‘if I do not enter hell, who can?’. I am surely convinced. In Buddha’s carefulness, there will surely be some junior who understand what is at stake.” The old monk glanced at her indifferently: “I knew long ago that there would be a day where you would escape the prison. On this day, so long as there is a true cultivator who cherishes the common people of the world… you won’t be leaving today.”

The woman looked at him calmly and suddenly raised a brow: “Could it be that that you believe… that all these people were summoned by you?”

“If I wasn’t being suppressed, I’d be able to grind you into flying ash with the stretch of my finger at any time. With your pitiful realm, how could you know of my methods? The woman sneered, and her expression turned grave. Her gaze brushed over each person, and she enunciated each word: “Inheritor of the Animus Armament… what are you still waiting for?”

Everyone’s gazes suddenly looked towards Xu Yangyi. Although they didn’t know what an Animus Armament was, the worldly anomaly from moments ago was still fresh in everyone’s minds! 

The light of Fahui’s eye quickly sparked. His hand extended into his kasaya as if he wanted to take something out. However, he cast a glance and saw Xuan Chengzi also glaring daggers at him. Likewise, Xuan Chengzi’s hand extended into his Daoist robe. [2]

In the turn of an eye, Fahui’s gaze turned serene again. His hand silently pulled out. Xuan Chengzi did the same.

Along with everyone’s gazes, the old monk slowly looked towards Xu Yangyi and nodded: “I don’t know what relationship you have with this demon, but this fate is an ominous one. Throughout the endless ages, there has only been one Animus Armament. If not for the extreme unwillingness harbored by a monarch, there is simply no way for it to form. In destiny, blessed lands, and harmony, not a single one can be lacking.”

“If benefactor releases this demon, I can only sacrifice my fleshly body. However the world’s myriad masses, the cultivation world, and the entire world will fall to chaos because of it. Benefactor, by all means, please hold firm in you heart, Amitabha.”

After a deep chant, the monk said no more. At this moment, the man and woman were unable to lift a finger. Like statues, they hovered in midair.

“Spud…” Without almost any consideration, Mao Ba’er said softly: “This demon can’t be let out… It’s obvious that she still hasn’t broken away from the seal. This old monk is clearly the person sealing her. They don’t know what the situation is like outside… I don’t even want to think what things will be like if she undoes the seal! It's the End of Days now. If a Greater Demon like this appears, it absolutely won’t be to humanity’s fortune!”

“That’s right…” Fang Cheng clutched at his chest and gritted his teeth. He was dripping with cold sweat: “Junior brother… I don’t what’s her realm… but… It’s horrible… It’s very horrible! I’m standing right in front of her… Even if her realm is almost entirely sealed off, I still feel… like I’m a chicken facing a dragon…”

Xu Yangyi was devoid of any expression. In the same vein, nobody urged him. After ten minutes, he finally moved.

Swish… The old monk wordlessly raised an eye and glanced at Xu Yangyi indifferently. The azure-clothed woman pursed her lips, her gaze like fire. She studied Xu Yangyi without the slightest concealment.

“I can agree to your request.” Xu Yangyi said softly.

Just as his voice fell, the azure-clothed woman’s gaze was like a sharp sword: “You… want to try?”

“Amitabha…” The monk sighed in relief as if he had been freed of a heavy burden: “On behalf of this world… I thank you, young friend.”

[1] Actual Chinese: “Silver Tongue” = “Your tongue bursting with lotus flowers”. Too awkward to phrase in English. An idea of flowery/flamboyant speech. He is tricky.

[2] 道袍. These are the characters for “Dao robe/Daoist robe”. Something to look up if you want some more imagery.