Edict of Peace 148
Chapter 148: The True Name of the Bronze Tripod
A clear, golden, vitreous body radiance flowed.
The old monk and Chen Chengbi looked at each other. Chen Chengbi said:
“Didn’t you say, thirteen years?”
The old monk grunted for a long time, then suddenly exclaimed, “Wrong!”
Chen Chengbi mumbled about what was wrong, then followed the old monk’s gaze. His expression slightly solidified as he saw the vitreous body radiance flowing around Li Guanyi. Then, a wisp of energy flowed directly from his golden skin and jade bones.
It fell to the ground, with Buddhist light swirling. The rocks and earth in front of the boy cracked open.
A seed sprouted, and then, the Buddhist light flowed down, dripping onto the seed.
The seed sent out a sprout and slowly grew.
The old monk twitched his mouth.
His expression was more absurd than when he saw Li Guanyi’s rapidly formed vitreous body.
Chen Chengbi was dumbfounded. “What’s this?”
The old monk sighed, “……I don’t know. It seems like the Buddha-nature of some relic has returned to Heaven and Earth.”
“And, this young benefactor, maybe he should really join my Buddhist sect.”
Chen Chengbi said, “Don’t be silly.”
“Speaking of which, should we wake him up?”
The old monk said, “We have to wake him up. Although I don’t know where he got so much Buddhist light, many of those monks are thick-headed, only knowing how to chant sutras. If we don’t do anything, what if the young benefactor gets his head washed?” (i.e., brainwashed)
“Then he’ll only have Amitabha Buddha in his head. It’ll be infuriating.”
Chen Chengbi said, “Aren’t all monks like that?”
The old monk kicked him, his eyebrows raised. “Nonsense.”
Without outsiders, the old monk didn’t mind. He comfortably scratched his toes and said:
“Those guys are rogue monks.”
“Buddhism should be a naturally arising heart of seeking knowledge and wisdom from within.”
“Like a person giving birth, a flower blooming—natural and effortless; but if you haven’t even conceived, have no Buddha-nature, and you cut open someone’s belly and hold out the blood, how can that be called learning Buddhism? That’s just a wooden donkey learning to speak.” (A wooden donkey is a metaphor for something clumsy and ineffective)
Chen Chengbi said, “You’re still the same. How did you become a Living Buddha like this?”
The old monk said with a worried face: “If I don’t go to hell, who will?”
Chen Chengbi laughed heartily.
The old monk scratched his scalp and said:
“Anyway, this isn’t right. We have to wake him up. None of the three schools of thought (Confucianism, Taoism, and Buddhism) transmit teachings like this.”
“Confucian scholars hope you’ll become accomplished.”
“Taoist masters hope you’ll live freely.”
“Buddhist Buddhas hope you’ll be fine and not be deceived.”
“It’s just that when these three schools grew, more people came, and some people distorted things beyond recognition.”
While they were thinking about how to wake Li Guanyi up, Li Guanyi was already charging and fighting in his consciousness. Others might not be good at fighting in the consciousness, but Li Guanyi was an old hand.
The divine weapons and halberds he conjured in his palm tore and slashed, shattering the figures of past monks, turning them into pure primordial energy. He allowed the energy of those previously enlightened monks to return to Heaven and Earth.
He wasn’t going to let these guys off.
He used Xue family halberd techniques, with the subtle mix of various ultimate moves.
It was devastating!
Whether it was the “Rolling Waves” technique, the “Crushing Mountain” momentum, or the dominant style of attack – unrestrained and free, both domineering and unrestrained.
One by one, the Buddhist manifestations were defeated, leaving only an old monk.
He swept his sleeve, catching the halberd with one hand. “The halberd of General Xue…”
“Rolling Waves, I haven’t seen it in a long time.”
The aged monk looked up, calmly saying, “However, General Xue’s victory over me doesn’t mean you can win. Although this is your consciousness, it’s also a contest of martial arts accumulation. My understanding of martial arts far surpasses yours. You cannot defeat me with a halberd.”
From his words, he was the Buddhist king defeated by General Xue five hundred years ago. Now, his hands clasped together, Buddhist martial arts, majestic and weighty, forced the halberd back.
In an instant, he approached.
His expression and posture were calm and composed, the bearing of a master.
The halberd was deflected.
Li Guanyi raised his left hand, gripping the halberd with both hands. The next moment, the aura of the dominant figure surged fiercely. A trace of stiffness appeared on the old monk’s face. Looking around, it had transformed into a pure, final battlefield of the dominant figure.
The next moment, Li Guanyi was as if possessed by the dominant figure, and he struck down with his halberd.
“This isn’t General Xue’s halberd…”
The old monk couldn’t withstand this blow.
He fell backward, crashing to the ground, dissolving into swirling Buddhist light and disappearing. The boy raised his halberd, saying:
“This is my consciousness. How could I be bullied here?”
The remaining power of these past monks converged within the bronze tripod. The jade liquid within the bronze tripod, emitting golden Buddhist light, finally accumulated to fullness. Li Guanyi originally intended to directly overturn the bronze tripod, allowing the jade liquid to flow clearly, but at this moment, he suddenly found something familiar.
He had been pulled into his consciousness by the monks.
The last time Li Guanyi came to his consciousness,
it was during his breakthrough in General Xue’s secret realm, guided by Yao Guang.
He seemed to have seen a stone carving of a Law Physique, and layers of white jade steps leading to an unknown place. Now, as he dispersed the remaining energy of those monks, he saw those things again.
Wisps of white clouds swept past, the sun hung high in the sky, and the golden light fell on the white clouds, forming layers of ripples.
Li Guanyi clenched his hand holding the halberd, and the original mountain landscape shattered, turning into mist and dissipating, revealing the white jade-like floor beneath his feet, revealing boundless and intricate patterns.
On all four sides were giant stone carvings: White Tiger, Red Dragon, Black Tortoise, Azure Bird (Four Symbols).
Their expressions had all lit up.
Li Guanyi took a deep breath and looked up, seeing the steps and the jade-colored high seat at the top of the white jade steps. He walked slowly towards it, but just like the first time, as he stepped onto them, the clouds dispersed, and Li Guanyi’s consciousness plummeted.
“Sure enough, it’s still not possible…”
Li Guanyi sighed.
He was extremely curious about what scenery lay beyond those white jade steps. Everything before him dispersed, the bronze tripod dispersed, and the golden Buddhist light and luck flowed around him, just like the first time he mastered the martial arts techniques taught by Yue Qianfeng.
Combined with the remaining Buddhist energy from the Tubo King’s Seal, his body underwent a transformation.
Li Guanyi slowly opened his eyes and saw Chen Chengbi trying to roll up his sleeves.
He seemed to be intending to beat him.
The old man slapped him directly.
Li Guanyi’s scalp tingled, and he instinctively dodged backward.
“Old man, what are you doing?!”
“Huh? You’re awake?!”
Li Guanyi saw a sapling in front of him. Chen Chengbi looked at Li Guanyi, then at the old monk. The old monk nodded: “It’s alright, those guys with rocks in their heads didn’t get their heads washed.”
So Chen Chengbi breathed a sigh of relief.
He laughed, “Ha, good, good, good! Come, come, little guy, let’s try our hands.”
Chen Chengbi stepped forward, Li Guanyi retreated and drew his halberd.
The two of them sparred, while the old monk stood there, his left hand hanging down, his right hand holding a string of Buddhist beads. He looked at the grown tree, his eyes gentle, and he gently stroked the leaves.
The monk’s face had a warm and peaceful expression.
He whispered in his heart:
“Senior predecessors, Grandmaster, we meet again.”
He stood there, the smiling old monk looking at the newly grown sapling.
In a flash, it was sixty years later, and the old monk in the hall was looking at a young novice monk.
The wind blew, and the tree swayed slightly.
The old monk lowered his eyes, looking at Li Guanyi with even more kindness.
He retracted his hand, saying, “Young benefactor, young benefactor.”
Li Guanyi and Chen Chengbi stopped sparring.
The old monk pointed to the pavilion, gently saying:
“Young benefactor, please get the Buddhist beads for the old monk.”
This wasn’t a difficult task, so Li Guanyi naturally agreed. He went to get them, but the old monk’s action seemed too coincidental, landing in a crevice. Li Guanyi instinctively reached out to touch the crevice, wanting to reach further inside.
A rumbling low sound.
Li Guanyi’s body moved slightly, and he looked to the side.
The pavilion was lifted three feet by his single hand!
Li Guanyi’s pupils contracted as he saw the pavilion tilting toward the mountain. Instantly changing his movements, he changed from lifting to pressing down. With a loud bang, the stone base of the pavilion sank three inches into the ground.
This pavilion was small, but definitely not light.
Chen Chengbi’s eyes widened, and he burst into laughter: “Good, good, good! Hahahahaha, you can already press down a galloping horse with one hand. Even a fully armored Tie Futuo soldier, weighing tens of thousands of catties, you could lift him with both hands.” (Tie Futuo refers to a heavily armored cavalry formation)
“Your inner energy is only one level higher than the third level. Your strength lies in enhanced perception, while your techniques allow for prediction. With the difference in inner energy between the third and second levels, it will be difficult to suppress your brute force!”
“It’s settled!”
The old man celebrated halfway.
Li Guanyi looked at his palm. He didn’t expect that the combination of dragon tendons and tiger marrow with the vitreous body would lead to such a huge transformation. Relying solely on physical strength, without using his Law Physique, he could still achieve this.
He could shatter the pavilion with a weapon.
A punch would shatter the bluestone into dust.
But this was vastly different from lifting it with one hand.
The old monk said, “Don’t underestimate your opponent.”
“Xu Huiyang is the grandson of the Sword Saint. The Sword Saint’s martial arts are no worse than ours. With years of training, he probably knows countless supernatural powers and techniques. Moreover, this is your first duel with a top-tier martial artist, which might directly affect your reputation in the martial world.”
“We also had a time like this.”
The old monk’s expression was gentle, as if in reminiscence, as if the scenes from the martial world, their chivalrous interactions, walking the world with swords, the youthful spirit of their prime—it was almost like yesterday.
Martial arts youths, chanting monks, junior officers reading military books, beautiful and eccentric girls, and gentle and elegant Taoists—they knew each other in their youth, they lived and died together, they were to each other…
Chen Chengbi leaned against an old pine tree in the mountain, laughing loudly: “Yes, yes, yes.”
“I’ll remember your Black Toothed Buddha title forever.”
“Hahahahaha, like black coal.”
The Living Buddha’s memories were interrupted.
The old monk, who grew up in the Western Regions and journeyed to the Central Plains, almost sold himself, said calmly: “Your Mad King title isn’t any less impressive.”
The old man’s mouth twitched, and the Living Buddha stared at him expressionlessly.
Then both old men sighed, seeming to feel that it was somewhat inappropriate to bring up their past before the younger generation, so they stopped talking about it.
Alas, alas.
“Only Zu Wenyuan among us has a good martial arts title.”
“Miss Gongsun is also good.”
“Gentleman Without Moon, Calculation is Heaven and Earth.”
“Old Zhou even has a title related to breaking formations.”
“Damn it, who the hell gave me the title Mad King, and you the title Black Toothed Buddha? It sounds like we were just doing odd jobs for young heroes, with no style at all.” Even though sixty years had passed, Chen Chengbi still rambled on about it.
Chen Chengbi patted Li Guanyi on the shoulder, full of expectations:
“Definitely make a good name for yourself!!!”
The old monk said gently, “However, the young Sword Saint is unparalleled in swordsmanship. There are three leaders in the world of swordsmanship: the first, Sword Madman; the second, Sword Saint; the third, Lord Gongyang Su. All three have resounding reputations and have often clashed.”
“The Sword Saint is ranked second.”
“Lord Gongyang Su gradually restrained his temper, while the Sword Madman’s exploits are brilliant.”
“The Sword Saint has high hopes for his grandson.”
“Xu Huiyang has mastered the Sword Saint’s swordsmanship, the Daoist sect’s innate ‘Sword Control’ from the Six Great Palaces of the Academy, and the direct lineage ‘Heart Sword’ of Lord Gongyang Su, one of the Six Great Palace Masters.”
“Few of Lord Gongyang Su’s descendants have achieved great things in swordsmanship.”
“Confucianism’s demands are too high. Although Wang Tong also studied Gongyang Confucianism and practiced in the Academy, he cultivated energy but not Confucianism; the Sword Madman is domineering, the Murong family guards the Eighteenth City. Since what happened back then, the Sword Madman no longer teaches disciples.”
“The Murong family no longer has outstanding swordsmen roaming the martial world.”
“Xu Huiyang is essentially a successor jointly cultivated by the second and third ranked swordsmen.”
“He combines the swordsmanship inheritance of Martial Arts Grandmaster Sword Saint, and the Daoist and Confucian schools of the Academy.”
“Even though Sword Madman Murong Longtu is far away in the eighteen states of Jiangnan, he will still care.”
Chen Chengbi was also uncertain. He said, “There’s no way. If this kid had met you and me earlier, and we had trained him for ten years, he wouldn’t be inferior to Xu Huiyang, but, alas…”
The old monk said, “Young benefactor, remember, the Confucian Heart Sword is something that directly probes the heart.”
“The Daoist innate skill is said to be able to decapitate someone from a thousand miles away.”
“Don’t underestimate the Sword Control technique.”
Li Guanyi nodded in agreement. He was even more curious about Xu Huiyang, who had never drawn his sword. Coming from a prominent family, taught by a grandmaster, and taught swordsmanship by two Palace Masters of the Academy, no wonder he didn’t need to draw his sword to make it into the top eight of the competition.
But, Sword Madman Murong Longtu…
Li Guanyi held his weapon, unsure of his emotions.
When Li Guanyi returned to the Xue family, he caught the first battle of the day. Ge Shuying won. Although Zhou Liuyin was also brave and fought Ge Shuying for thirty rounds with his spear, the difference in realm was too great. His weapon was broken, and his tiger’s mouth was bleeding.
He continued fighting with the broken spear as a blunt weapon. Finally, taking advantage of Ge Shuying’s underestimation,
he left a wound on Ge Shuying’s face.
Then he was beaten badly by Ge Shuying, until he was exhausted and his pupils lost focus, nearly unconscious. Even then, he did not let go of his weapon, stubbornly supporting himself. Blood flowed from the young man’s forehead.
Supporting himself with one hand on the broken spear, he pointed his weapon forward with the other hand and roared:
“My grandfather, twenty-two years ago, broke your Tie Futuo formation with the Breaking Formation Music! I am his descendant, I still carry his blood, the sons of Chen Kingdom will not die, Tie Futuo, you will not prevail!”
The Emperor of Chen Kingdom’s smile faded, seemingly displeased.
But Ge Shuying paid his respects solemnly: “You are the offspring of Old General Zhou.”
“On the battlefield, I await you to seek me for a life-or-death duel.”
“Good!”
Zhou Liuyin laughed, passed out, and was carried away. The Emperor Chen suppressed the displeasure in his eyes and said indifferently: “Young children don’t understand the grand scheme of the world, speaking wildly. My distinguished guests, I apologize for this.”
The Seventh Prince, however, praised him, not sparing his praise for his enemy:
“The offspring of a fierce tiger, his spirit is still fierce. He has the bearing of a great general. The descendant of that Breaking Formation musician back then could also take over his grandfather’s army, with the legend of breaking cavalry with infantry. I truly do not wish to encounter him again on the battlefield.”
“Congratulations, Your Majesty, on having such loyal subjects.”
Emperor Chen remained noncommittal.
Li Guanyi looked at Zhou Liuyin and felt the national aspirations of these young men.
When he returned to the Xue family to rest, Po Jun came looking for him: “The time is almost up, Master. Tomorrow’s two battles are yours and the Sword Saint’s grandson’s, and then Chen Yu Yun will be the last. After the final four winners are chosen, there will be rewards.”
“That’s when all eyes will be on you.”
“Oh, right, I’ve gathered some intelligence, you can take a look.”
Po Jun handed Li Guanyi several scrolls. Li Guanyi looked through them, records of Chen Yu Yun, including his personality, martial arts, habits, etc. When he turned to the third page, Li Guanyi slightly froze.
It was that jade disc. Chen Yu Yun always said that the jade was with him since birth, just as Ying Country said their emperor was a reincarnation of a dragon and phoenix. Many people had seen this jade disc, and Po Jun had found someone with an excellent memory to draw it.
Jade disc, Kui Dragon (a mythical creature), cloud and water patterns.
But the cloud and water patterns in the eyes of the people of this world were actually words in Li Guanyi’s eyes.
“[Yu collected the gold of the nine tribes, cast nine tripods, all tasted the offerings to the gods and ghosts, carving achievements and records on them]”
Po Jun was stunned. He saw his master freeze slightly, then slightly lift his eyes. In Li Guanyi’s eyes, besides his own hatred towards Chen Yu Yun, there was something else, heavier and purer.
It seemed like a determination to do something at all costs.
This thing, this situation, Li Guanyi and his past counterparts would make similar judgments.
This thing must remain in the hands of my own people.
Even if I bury this thing on the spot, it cannot remain in Chen Yu Yun’s hands.
Especially since this guy is a thief.
Li Guanyi exhaled and said, “When do we act?”
Po Jun replied, “Tomorrow night.”
“After the grand banquet!”
“Good!”
(End of Chapter)
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