Chapter 40

Juesè said with a mix of sorrow and anger: "I have been a monk since childhood, devoted to Buddhism, but that Pure Water True Person asked me to steal the Buddhist Heart Sword Sutra from the Heavenly Sound Temple's scripture hall. I refused, and she brought my mother, father... and seventeen other family members. In the end, I said that a monk has no family, so she compromised and asked me to get the spirit monkey's fur from you. Otherwise... Monks are compassionate, so I agreed to her request. Saving a life is better than building a seven-story pagoda. If you, Sun Hu, are willing to lend me the fur, it would be better than building a hundred-story pagoda. Amen."

"Really?" Sun Hu asked.

"Lying leads to the Avici Hell. I am a monk and do not speak falsehoods," Juesè replied with a bitter and sad expression.

Sun Hu sighed: "Forget it, you can go."

Juesè kowtowed: "I beg you, Sun Hu, to hand over the spirit monkey's fur. Otherwise, if you do not help, you will fall into the endless hell. I am willing to pay with my life. If you, Sun Hu, think my life is cheap, I will serve you for eternity. If I break this vow, may I be struck by lightning."

"You... don't push your luck, go!"

"I will not get up until you agree," Juesè continued to kowtow. "Not helping someone in need is like taking a life, which is the greatest taboo for a monk."

...

After half an hour, Juesè left Zizai Valley and threw a piece of red monkey fur into his bag, thinking it was a treasure. It turned out to be the skin of a fifty-year-old demon beast. The old woman Pure Water did not want the fur but wanted to use it to kill. Strange, his sect had helped the old woman before, and she did not even remember the favor, let alone try to kill him?

Juesè did not know that some of what Pure Water True Person said was true. Sun Hu really was a vegetarian and did not easily take life. She had good intentions, wanting Ximen Shuai and Juesè to gain some experience, a gift to the younger generation. But when she decided to kill Lin Fan, she sent them to their deaths. Pure Water True Person did not expect that Juesè would eavesdrop on their conversation and ambush Lin Fan and Ximen Shuai, leading to his own demise.

The situation took many twists and turns, and her good intentions turned into malice. Juesè's actions were despicable, and his thoughts were despicable. If Pure Water True Person harmed him, he had to retaliate. But her cultivation was far beyond his.

As Juesè flew, he noticed something was wrong. Ximen Shuai and a young Taoist had surrounded him. He did not recognize the young Taoist, but he knew Ximen Shuai, who wielded the Zi Wu Qiankun Ring and the coveted Seven-Broken Flags. Anyone with Ximen Shuai would not be weak.

Juesè pointed at Ximen Shuai and Lin Fan: "If you have the guts, fight me one-on-one."

"Fine." Ximen Shuai charged, his Qiankun Ring spinning rapidly towards Juesè. Juesè emitted a Buddha light, and nine prayer beads grew in the wind, colliding with the Qiankun Ring. Both were repelled. Ximen Shuai, like a bull, launched the Qiankun Ring again. Juesè laughed; the Buddhist treasures were the hardest. Even if they collided for ten thousand years, his prayer beads would not break first.

Juesè was about to drive his prayer beads to attack when a bolt of lightning struck. Damn, they agreed to a one-on-one fight, but... wasn't the lightning too weak?

Just as he thought this, a second, third, and fourth bolt of lightning followed.

Juesè had never met anyone more shameless than himself. Lin Fan was not shameless, but his spells were the most shameless Juesè had ever seen. He could instantly cast lightning and keep it going, making Juesè feel like he was continuously paralyzed. The prayer beads protected him, but the Qiankun Ring's impact scattered them, and Juesè's qi and blood churned. The faster the Qiankun Ring spun, the more powerful it became.

"Ten Thousand Dharmas Are Dust!" Juesè used his ultimate move. His entire body emitted a Buddha light, which formed a layer of clothing around him, shining brightly. The lightning immediately lost its paralyzing effect.

Lin Fan shouted: "Attack!"

The Green Jade Buddha Knife flew out and struck Juesè. Juesè's body sank, and he was furious: "The Taoist stole my Buddhist knife... Oh, the Buddha is about to enter Nirvana!"

Above, the Green Jade Buddha Knife cut, and below, the Qiankun Ring spun. Juesè gritted his teeth and detonated all nine prayer beads. Not only did they repel the Qiankun Ring and the Green Jade Buddha Knife, but they also made the two weapons tremble, a sign of impending dormancy. However, Juesè did not fare well either. The nine prayer beads took him over a year to find and another year to refine. In an instant, they turned to dust.

Juesè pointed at Lin Fan: "You have no integrity."

Lin Fan chuckled: "He agreed, but I didn't."

Ximen Shuai said: "I agreed to a one-on-one, but he didn't, so there's nothing I can do."

"Shameless," Juesè scolded.

Ximen Shuai and Lin Fan said in unison: "That's you."

"Ha ha." Juesè suddenly laughed, knelt in the air, and tears streamed down his face: "Heroes, I have an eighty-year-old mother and a three-year-old child. Please spare me."

Ximen Shuai looked at Juesè: "Hey, you... you're one of the eight great masters, how can you be so spineless?"

Juesè said solemnly: "To preserve this body, all dharmas are empty."

Ximen Shuai looked at Lin Fan: "What do you think?"

Lin Fan shrugged: "I already have an opinion."

Just as he said this, a line of Sanskrit appeared above Ximen Shuai and Lin Fan. Juesè said: "Where are the Vajras?"

Two massive golden Buddha statues appeared in the air and crashed down. Ximen Shuai was shocked and immediately used the Qiankun Ring to counter. The Buddha statue's strike almost put the Qiankun Ring into dormancy, and it fell. Ximen Shuai fled, but the Buddha statue reached out and slapped him away. Lin Fan faced a similar situation but did not use the Green Jade Buddha Knife to block. Instead, he flicked a yellow bean from his sleeve.

The bean turned into a soldier with a sword and shield, who looked down, screamed, and fell. Lin Fan used a spell to swap places with the soldier, and the Buddha statue crushed the soldier. As the Buddha statue's hand struck Lin Fan, Lin Fan threw away his bamboo sword and swapped places again, and the bamboo sword was crushed.

Lin Fan flipped backward and pointed at the pursuing Buddha statue: "Quick!"

A burning rock the size of a watermelon flew down from the sky, striking the Buddha statue's shoulder, which immediately caved in, and the statue began to fall. This was a proper Daoist spell, the Flying Fire Meteor. It was a higher-level Daoist thunder spell, combining earth and fire thunder, with immense power. Lin Fan had just started practicing, and his understanding was limited. Moreover, his five elements were balanced, so he could not effectively harness the power of earth and fire thunder. Otherwise, this one strike would have been enough to severely damage the Buddha statue.

Juesè was quite alarmed. Speaking of thunder spells, the most insidious was the Kui Water Yin Thunder, and the most powerful was the Taiyi Divine Thunder. Apart from the Thunder Mountain Sect, other righteous sects also practiced thunder spells, but their knowledge was limited. The Yunqing Sect was highly skilled in controlling weapons, but their thunder spells were not outstanding. A junior disciple could cast a combined earth and fire thunder spell, was the rumor incorrect?

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