Daoist Master of Qing Xuan

“You are still pretty much the same as before. Let’s go in and take a look,” Ye Liuyun said as he gestured from his scarlet throne.

Shen Lian noticed that beneath his politeness, lurked killing vibes. It was not directed at him but was merely due to the fact that too many lives had been lost in his hands.

What flew past Ye Liuyun’s hands now were not white fluffy clouds, but the fresh blood of living creatures.

Shen Lian was curious about what happened to Ye Liuyun over the past twenty years, but he did not ask. He knew that there must be something unspeakable for someone to survive until then after killing so many living creatures. At least for now, Shen Lian did not despise Ye Liuyun.

“Brother Ye, have you not been inside yet? You seem to know a lot about what happened here,” said Shen Lian in spite of his inner monologue.

“Don’t ask me too much about it. I did not lie to you. Before this, I have never been in Ming Wang Temple. It’s just that I have some supernatural powers now, and it is unavoidable that I know about certain things. I haven’t come to see this for myself until today. Though, I didn’t expect to run into you of all people,” Ye Liuyun smiled.

Shen Lian looked at the gentle breeze behind Ye Liuyun; the breeze blew at the corner of his white sleeve that was plated with golden rims. The condensation of Yin Qi seemed like clouds that were unreachable, and they had a certain mystical quality to them. Shen Lian wondered if it was because of a long time that he had spent in Yin Mountain, even the breeze and the clouds had become his eyes and ears.

These supernatural powers must have arisen from his deep understanding of Dao.

“I shall lead the way for you then,” Shen Lian spoke.

The dark and dull temple seemed creepy coupled the presence of the sword’s mark. Moreover, it was completely silent in there. Shen Lian suspected that the monster that had the head of a cow and the body of a man, the mountain of knives, the Golden Path, the sea of fire, they appeared when the enlightened monks of Ming Wang Temple had attained Dharma. These were left behind by the foreign Sky Demons, and they served as a natural restriction that isolated Da Ming Wang Temple from the outside world. Occasionally, they could be utilized to train the monks in the temple. They were preserved because the sword aura could not be used against them.

However, the current predicament within Da Ming Wang Temple was not something that Shen Lian could extrapolate from his previous experience.

The silent sword’s mark showed that Da Ming Wang Temple was not as scary as everyone thought it to be and that it could be easily broken with just one slash. However, Shen Lian was not at that stage where he could ignore all of these yet.

Though, he still walked into Ming Wang Temple in a carefree manner.

Ye Liuyun’s throne turned into a flash of blood light and trailed after Shen Lian.

There were no monks within plain sight. Perhaps it was because that the restriction placed at the door of the temple had been broken, the Yin Qi had rushed in and turned the plants into deep green. When inspecting up close, they all seemed to have the face of a human and it was a frightening scene.

The plants in Ming Wang Temple had gained spirituality due to the prolonged exposure to Buddhism. The invasion of the Yin Qi on the Yin Mountain had led to their spirituality being tainted with the resentment of the dead. A special type of spiritual grass had been formed.

This kind of grass was full of resentment, and at the same time, they contained the dead’s desperate will to live. Some spiritual grass had gone haywire and started attacking Shen Lian te moment he appeared. The grass had sharp blades, and they even cut through a block of stone blocking in front of Shen Lian. The blades of the spiritual grass charged at Shen Lian along with the shattered pieces of rock. Out of a sudden, a flash of sword light appeared and it was quicker than lightning.

Everything including the grass, trees, bamboos, and rocks within a fifty feet perimeter turned into dust. The resentment of the dead did not even have time to wail before they had disappeared from the world and turned into the purest of Yin Qi.

It was not Shen Lian who struck, but Ye Liuyun who did so.

At that moment, he held a short sword in his hand. The sword was clear as water. Ye Liyun swung it gently, and there was no vibration on it at all.

This was known as the Sword within the Sleeve. However, when this martial art from the human realm was wielded by Ye Liuyun, it had turned into that one at the level of deities and demons.

“Brother Shen, what have you encountered lately? You don’t seem well,” Ye Liuyun queried with a frown.

When Ye Liuyun’s sword gleam flashed past earlier, he could feel Shen Lian’s spirit and thoughts reacting to it. Shen Lian was well aware of his swordcraft. However, Shen Lian was unable to catch up with the movement due to physical limitations.

This was why the sharpness of his sword aura ended up three feet in front of Shen Lian.

“I lost seventy percent of my cultivation, and I have actually come to Ming Wang Temple to look for a solution. However, I did not expect Ming Wang Temple to be in this state now,” Shen Lian spoke.

Shen Lian smiled bitterly after his explanation.

“Brother Shen, you are so candid. Aren’t you worried that I will take advantage of that information and extort you with it?” Ye Liuyun stared deeply at Shen Lian and spoke.

“Even if I did not tell the truth, you can easily find out about it if you wanted to. I might as well tell you outright,” Shen Lian laughed.

“That sounds convincing,” Ye Liuyun whispered.

He did not say further and looked towards the depths of Ming Wang Temple.

That was where the sword’s mark came to an end. Hints of killing vibes still remained.

Shen Lian followed Ye Liuyun over while taking in his surroundings. Ming Wang Temple was eerily quiet, and Ye Liuyun too was calm. Shen Lian could not feel any changes in his emotions.

It was as though Ye Liuyun felt Shen Lian’s emotions; he turned to smile at Shen Lian from his floating scarlet throne.

When Shen Lian was met with his clear gaze, he let his guard down despite still being slightly wary of Ye Liuyun.

Form the outside to the inside of the temple, besides the spiritual grass and spiritual trees, there were only some structures commonly found in a temple. Eventually, they reached a square. There was a Buddhist pagoda in the middle of it, and the pagoda had collapsed. The sword’s mark stopped right in front of the pagoda, and a giant pit could be seen on the ground. It was as though the foundation that the pagoda was built on had been dug out.

Ye Liuyun looked at the giant pit and sighed, “Indeed, they have come for the rubbings of the Chart of Celestial Extermination.”

“What is the Chart of Celestial Extermination?” Shen Lian queried.

“Are you aware of the true identity of the first Acala of Da Ming Wang Temple?” Ye Liuyun spoke.

“Da Ming Wang Temple had always been very mysterious. However, I do know a little about the origin of the first Acala,” Shen Lian replied.

“Please continue,” Ye Liuyun urged.

Shen Lian was not concerned by the fact that Ye Liuyun might be trying to get information from him. Moreover, he was curious by what he had seen today. “Back when Buddha had attained Dao and purified billions of Sky Demons, he was still unable to exterminate all of the demons in the world. He was angered and a supreme sacred painting, known as “Acalanatha”, was birthed. With the rage of the Acalanatha and the aid of supreme Dharma, the demonic obstacles were overcome. I’m guessing that the Acala of Da Ming Wang Temple had something to do with it,” Shen Lian spoke.

“Brother Shen, you are very knowledgeable indeed. You might have read about this from an ancient Buddhist scripture, and you are right. However, you might not know that the supreme sacred painting was not birthed from thin air. It was attached to a formation chart that came into existence at the same time as Dao, which was why it was also known as the Chart of Celestial Extermination. The foundation of the pagoda at Da Ming Wang Temple was made from the rubbings of the Chart of Extermination of Celestial. Otherwise, Ming Wang Temple wouldn’t have been able to overpower the Peacock King with this pagoda,” Ye Liuyun replied.