“Go back.”
Having not run far, Da Sikong grabbed Er Sikong and started running back.
“What are we going back for?” Er Sikong asked, utterly confused.
“Stupid, we haven’t collected the spoils yet,” Da Sikong said, his eyes gleaming.
At this, Er Sikong was instantly speechless, his dark face visibly growing even darker.
Returning to the site of the earlier battle, Da Sikong immediately got busy, stashing weapons and holy sources into his spatial ring one by one.
“Heh heh, all good stuff, almost forgot about them,” Da Sikong said, his chubby white face practically blooming with a smile as he packed away the treasures.
One of his great hobbies was collecting all sorts of treasures, even if he couldn’t use them, just looking at them made him happy.
Back when he hadn’t yet left the Sikong Zen Temple, it was like this, and after all these years, nothing had changed.
“Senior Brother, we’re surrounded again,” Er Sikong said woodenly.
Da Sikong looked stunned, raising his head, “What’s the situation? Didn’t we just wipe out one group? How’s another one popped up?”
“Bald donkey, you dare kill the warriors of our Undying Blood Clan, your crime is unforgivable,” roared a commander of the Undying Blood Clan, mounted on a ferocious blood beast.
His cultivation was extremely high, already at the Eighth Step Saint King level, and even the blood beast beneath him was of Saint King rank, with several other Saint Kings among the army he led.
Clearly, his status was higher than the Undying Blood Clan commander Er Sikong had killed earlier, and he had more powerful subordinates.
A surging aura of blood and malice poured from him, condensing into thick blood clouds that blotted out the sky, presenting a scene of world-ending destruction.
Da Sikong pressed his hands together, smiling, “Benefactor, you’ve misunderstood, this poor monk is a man of the cloth, how could I possibly take a life? Actually, my junior brother and I saw that many people had been harmed here, so we wanted to collect their bodies and recite sutras to ferry their souls, since you’ve arrived, benefactor, we’ll take our leave.”
With that, he gestured for Er Sikong to depart.
The Undying Blood Clan Saint King raised his war spear, pointing it at Da Sikong from afar, and barked coldly, “Bald donkey, do you take this king for an idiot? Stop playing dumb in front of me, you killed my Undying Blood Clan warriors, you must leave your lives behind.”
Da Sikong shook his head, sighing, “Benefactor, your killing intent is too strong, why can’t you believe what I say? You must know…”
Boom, just as Da Sikong was prattling on, a bolt of blood-red lightning struck from the sky.
“Whoa!” Da Sikong let out a strange yelp, dodging to the side at incredible speed.
But the blood-red lightning seemed alive, following him like a shadow, impossible to evade.
In his panic, the lightning struck directly on Da Sikong’s bald head.
The blood-red lightning was powerful, yet when it hit Da Sikong’s head, it didn’t cause him any harm, not even breaking the skin.
Da Sikong rubbed his head, crying out in pain, “That really hurts, you’re serious, aren’t you?”
“Hmm?” The Undying Blood Clan Saint King’s expression shifted, his gaze locking onto Da Sikong.
Though it had been a casual strike, with his Eighth Step Saint King strength, it could instantly kill many Saint King-level powerhouses, yet it did nothing to Da Sikong, showing this monk was no ordinary figure.
Such a formidable monk appearing near the Pluto Sword Tomb was suspicious no matter how you looked at it.
“Bald donkey, who exactly are you? What’s your purpose here?” the Undying Blood Clan Saint King demanded, his spear still aimed at Da Sikong.
Da Sikong rubbed his head, hopping mad, “Argh, you’ve infuriated this Buddha, do you think I’m easy to bully? Junior Brother, ferry them.”
Er Sikong shook his head, his face cold, “You go if you want, you’re the one who stirred this up.”
“I’m the senior brother, you do what I say, get to it,” Da Sikong urged, glaring.
Er Sikong still didn’t move, saying calmly, “Master said to listen to Uncle Master outside, not you, and since you caused this mess, you should deal with it yourself, why should I step in?”
“Oh, you’ve grown bold, talking back now,” Da Sikong fumed.
“Bald donkey, had enough fun yet? Since you won’t come clean, don’t blame this king for being rude,” the Undying Blood Clan Saint King’s face darkened, a terrifying killing intent radiating from him.
In his view, Da Sikong was clearly toying with him, not taking him seriously, which he couldn’t tolerate.
“Kill.”
With a fierce shout, the Undying Blood Clan Saint King launched a powerful attack.
As he moved, the blood clouds above surged, as if a thousand troops and horses were charging forth.
Da Sikong stomped the ground hard, roaring, “Think I’m scared of you? Today, this Buddha will subdue demons.”
His hands formed fist seals, a brilliant Buddhist light bursting forth, condensing into a white tiger over ten zhang long.
Roar, with a deafening howl, Da Sikong lunged forward at incredible speed, like a real white tiger, his killing aura piercing the heavens.
“You…”
The Undying Blood Clan Saint King’s eyes widened in disbelief.
Da Sikong was too fast, giving him no time to react before he was torn in half, blood staining the sky.
“Run!”
Seeing this, the other Undying Blood Clan soldiers immediately tried to flee.
“I just said, today I’m subduing demons, none of you are escaping,” Da Sikong bellowed, his belly fat quivering.
Pfft, a tiger claw swiped through the air, and the fleeing soldiers’ bodies exploded, falling from the sky.
With one move, he annihilated all the Undying Blood Clan soldiers, then retracted his Buddhist power, grumbling, “Had to provoke this Buddha, forcing me to kill, what a sin, what a sin, Amitabha.”
He looked as if he’d suffered a great loss.
The next moment, his eyes lit up again as he resumed collecting spoils, after all, this time he’d personally acted, so there was no reason to waste them.
“Senior Brother, we can’t delay any longer, Uncle Master’s waiting for us to deliver the Sky-Soaring Sword, if we delay the main task, Master will blame us,” Er Sikong said earnestly.
Da Sikong stuffed the last holy source into his spatial ring, a bit annoyed, “I know, isn’t it done now? Let’s go.”
With that, the two monks set off again, heading straight for the Pluto Sword Tomb.
Having wiped out two Undying Blood Clan squads in a row, they’d caused quite a stir, likely alerting the clan, so hiding was pointless, better to reach the tomb before the clan could react.
Using treasures granted by Indra, the two monks concealed their auras as best they could, moving at top speed.
Finally, they reached the edge of the sword tomb, only to be blocked once more by an Undying Blood Clan army.
The Nether Immortal’s spiritual power was too strong, detecting the monks the moment they neared the tomb, making stealth impossible.
“These two bald donkeys are odd, ordinary people can’t handle them,” the Nether Immortal said lightly.
“I’ll deal with them,” the Martial Realm Emperor’s Son volunteered immediately.
With that, he left White Bone Mountain, landing before the two monks.
He was clearly eager to prove himself, having lost face against Zhang Ruochen earlier, and needed another fight to regain his dignity.
“I hate bald donkeys the most, so you’re both dead,” the Martial Realm Emperor’s Son declared, his eyes flashing with deadly intent as his chains shot forth.
At the same time, dense blood energy surged from his body, enveloping the area and trapping the two monks within.
The blood energy was bizarre, thick and viscous, as if it could solidify space itself, severely restricting movement.
Bang, Er Sikong slapped out a palm, deflecting the incoming chains.
The chains veered off, dragging up peaks and mountains, darkening the sky with howling winds, their terrifying force crashing toward the monks.
“Break.”
Er Sikong spread his stance, shouting loudly.
His hands formed fist seals, unleashing a black dragon that shattered the oncoming peaks to dust.
“Hmm? Bare-handed against my chains, a body of indestructible金刚?” the Martial Realm Emperor’s Son’s eyes glinted with surprise at Er Sikong’s feat.
His chains were an Eight-Yao Ten-Thousand-Pattern Sacred Artifact, immensely powerful, hard for even Domain Realm cultivators to resist.
“What’s the deal with these two bald donkeys?” the Long-Faced Empress asked, slightly shocked.
“The dark-faced monk used the Ten Thousand Buddhas Path’s most renowned technique, the Mahā Dragon Claw Hand, its power on par with Zhang Ruochen’s Dragon-Elephant Prajñā Palm, quite interesting,” Xia Wenzin set down his bamboo slips, commenting lightly.
“Martial Realm Emperor’s Son, if you can’t handle them, this king can step in,” the Nine-Eyed Heavenly King called out from the white bone platform.
The Martial Realm Emperor’s Son replied, “Just two wild monks, no need for the Heavenly King’s help.”
Having lost face against Zhang Ruochen, if he needed the Nine-Eyed Heavenly King’s aid against two monks, how could he ever show his face among these emperors and empresses?
“Clatter.”
The chains in the Martial Realm Emperor’s Son’s hands whipped into motion, releasing a biting chill, the temperature within hundreds of li dropping sharply, large snowflakes falling from the sky.
Simultaneously, a flood of holy path rules surged from his body, merging with the chains.
The chains then spun at astonishing speed, drawing in the spiritual energy of heaven and earth, forming a nine-layered vortex, countless razor-sharp wind blades dancing within, as if they could tear the world apart.
“Junior Brother, be careful.”
Da Sikong warned, also making his move.
Together, they summoned a black dragon and a white tiger.
The black dragon coiled into a ball of light, the white tiger curled into another.
One black, one white, the two orbs hovered in midair, and with them at the centre, a massive chessboard faintly appeared.
Though just an illusion, it exuded a momentum that swallowed mountains and rivers, like a world unfolding, dotted with countless black and white pieces, the most striking being Da Sikong and Er Sikong.
They occupied the two most critical positions on the board.
The Undying Blood Clan army stared at the chessboard in the sky, feeling a suffocating divine might.
Yes, divine might.
Even the usually composed Xia Wenzin showed a hint of delight, muttering to himself, “The phantom of the Heaven and Earth Chessboard, woven by them no less. To find one of Kunlun Realm’s ten divine artifacts, the Heaven and Earth Chessboard, these two might be the key.”
The Heaven and Earth Chessboard in the Central Imperial City, arranged by Grand Chancellor Wang Shiqi, was merely a replica.
The true Heaven and Earth Chessboard could use stars as pieces, sentient beings as pieces, and the rules of heaven and earth as pieces, its mysteries profound beyond mortal comprehension, decipherable only by gods.
