88: Chapter 87 The Monk Tideng 88: Chapter 87 The Monk Tideng A young monk, holding a lantern, walked over leisurely.
Upon approaching Hou Niao, he planted the lantern on the ground and meticulously examined Hou Niao for a moment, feeling slightly annoyed,
“The monk has come in vain!”
Hou Niao chuckled, “Not at all in vain, young sir still needs the master’s protection!”
The young monk closed his eyes and sat in meditation without speaking, clearly unwilling to converse with this fellow from the Quanzhen Sect.
He had come to save others, but unexpectedly, they were capable on their own and did not require his compassionate intervention.
Shan Country did not prevent cultivators from other Daoist affiliations from entering, and on the Jinxiu Continent, cultivators had the freedom to come and go.
Thus, in places like Yinling, there were an abundance of nose-flaring demon-slaying Daoists, compassionately-minded monks, or cultivators who needed to collect soul ghosts for their cultivation techniques,
This was also why, even though the Quanzhen Sect had not deployed much power here, ordinary people could largely survive.
Coming to Yinling was a cultivation in itself.
Seeing that the young monk clearly did not want to talk much, Hou Niao, utterly bored, asked, “Monk, since you’ve come, why not exorcise demons and safeguard the path?”
The young monk, eyes still closed, replied, “All beings are simply beings, all suffering is merely suffering, it is best if we coexist peacefully.
With the dawn, all disperses naturally, so why force the issue?”
“To leave them to harm those defenseless mortals later?
The limitless compassion of the Buddhist Sect is truly boundless!”
As Hou Niao spoke, he threw the torch in his hand towards the nearby soul ghosts, instantly stirring up a hornet’s nest.
The lantern of the young monk possessed a certain deterrent power against the soul ghosts and demons, deriving from the Buddhist Sect’s profound ability to transcend.
His presence caused the spiritual beings to consider ceasing their activities, but Hou Niao’s provocation had not been anticipated…
The young monk was not yet a senior monk, and the transcendent power within the lantern was limited.
When the soul ghosts lost their reason, they also ignored this slight suppression.
The soul ghosts surged forward, and the demons, not to be outdone, had a simple idea: with one person, the allocation was difficult—what if someone got a bigger piece, or a smaller one?
With two people, it was easy,
The demons preferred the young monk’s tender flesh, splendid and non-gritty, while the soul ghosts favored the Daoist from Quanzhen, salivating over his spiritual power…each to their own, each fulfilling their needs.
“You are quite rude!”
No longer chanting Buddhist sutras, the young monk jumped up, and from nowhere, he produced a ritual blade, wielding it with large, sweeping motions, full of bravado!
Just like the current realm state of Hou Niao.
Although the Buddhist Sect had innumerable mysterious skills, limited by his current realm and strength, in actual combat, this ritual blade was the most handy!
Hou Niao, with a sword in hand, gently exhaling sword energy, darted about with extreme precision, targeting the vitals of the soul ghosts with each strike—never a second blow for one ghost.
How to kill entities like soul specters was a skillful task!
Since soul specters have an innate ability to hide, they stored their soul essence in what they deemed the safest spot: some in the skull, others in the chest, and the craftier ones in inconspicuous places like the limbs or even the buttocks.
Moreover, they could continually change the location of their soul essence.
This required the cultivator to have sufficient judgment ability to spot their vulnerabilities at a glance.
Otherwise, a strike would only whack in vain.
Against such soul ghosts, spells were actually the most effective—a large-scale Fire Technique thrown over, and there was no need to find the soul ghosts’ vulnerabilities anymore.
Every skill has its pros and cons; Extreme Sword and Magic Sword each had their unique applications, so it wasn’t right to definitively say which was better or worse.
Hou Niao killed swiftly, and the monk chopped just as quickly.
What high-level entities could there be amongst the yokai and ghosts hastily gathered in these wild outskirts?
They thus appeared incredibly brave, striking fear in mortals that beheld these bizarre beings.
Both men quickly accumulated experience.
Soon, the soul ghosts were slaughtered, and the demons were also decimated, leaving Hou Niao licking his lips, still unsatisfied,
“Young monk, your sword skills are not bad.”
The monk’s face was ashen.
This was not the battle he hoped for—such slaughter was meaningless; it neither truly eliminated the enemies nor achieved any purpose, it was purely killing for the sake of stopping further killing.
He lifted the lantern, turned around, and walked away; he did not want to stay with this killer.
“How is the young monk addressed?
I have not yet thanked you for your assistance.”
Having taken a few steps, the monk turned back and earnestly said, “I am Tideng Monk, burning myself to illuminate others!”
Hou Niao bowed solemnly, “Noble intentions, I admire it!”
Tideng Monk wanted to say more, but seeing the Demon Sect disciple’s indifferent expression, he knew that speaking further would be in vain.
After a tough battle, was he now engaging in a war of words?
Watching the young monk stride away, Hou Niao nodded.
A cultivator of the Buddhist Sect with strong convictions, but his ideals seemed a bit unrealistic?
To illuminate others, you must first illuminate yourself!
The monk’s philosophy was too naive.
These Soul Ghosts and demons would not gather here without malice.
Had it not been for the lantern, they would have attacked already.
What was all this talk of peace?
Show mercy to the evil is a crime against the common people.
Beautiful ideals are always shattered by reality.
Only monks who grow in seclusion, oblivious of worldly matters, would think this way.
When he becomes an elder monk, he will naturally understand the rage of the Buddhist Sect’s Vajra, if he even survives until then.
But he did not lure the Soul Ghosts out to educate the monk.
He always harbored a thought: since the soul spirits outside are soul spirits, and the soul spirits within the Purple Mansion Vortex are also soul spirits, then could there be a possibility of conversion between them?
At the stone door, he eliminated three Soul Ghosts, felt nothing—it might be because the Soul Ghosts were too weak or too few.
Therefore, he wanted to take this opportunity to eliminate a large number to see what happens; for this, he continually maintained the Mysterious Vortex of Purple Mansion, to facilitate the conversion of souls…
However, there was no conversion, nothing appeared, and his hypothesis fell through.
It was just an experiment, no big deal.
Even if he could absorb the energy of these Soul Ghosts to strengthen himself, he might not have wanted to.
After this battle, the surroundings became much quieter, no more demons or Soul Ghosts disturbed him.
In this sense, these creatures also knew who to bully and who to fear.
In the early morning, having finished his morning practice, he untied the reins and saddled up, ready to set off; he lightly led the spirited horse around a great locust tree and looked in a certain direction,
“During morning practice, that might have been your only chance, why not try?”
From the bushes, a very awkward voice emerged, as if their mouth was full of something, sounding strange and unnatural, like a barbarian learning the language of the Continent,
“I’m afraid that if I dare to try, I might not return alive…”
Hou Niao immediately said, “Since you’ve shown cunning, I’ll teach you one thing.
In this world, what’s most important for survival?”
“It’s choosing sides!
If you choose wrongly, all your efforts will turn to naught!”
Having said this, he did not look at whatever was in the bushes, turned his horse’s head, and strode away.
After a while, a weasel gingerly poked its head out from another patch of bushes…
But the problem is, as a demon, where could it possibly stand?
This man speaks in such strange ways!
Licking its lips, it knew it had been overly cautious.
Actually, there was a chance to devour this man!
…Yin Ye Fang Huixiao, the essence not yet faded.
Knowing well that one’s dignity is paramount, why resort to the ways of demons.