Chapter 411: Hunting from Eight Directions

Chapter 411: The Grand Hunt from Eight Directions

Maitreya, clearly, could not endure it either.

But at least, he would not be instantly slain.

Embarrassed and disheveled, Maitreya deflected the pincer attack from front and rear. With just that single exchange, his vital organs churned violently, and he nearly spat a mouthful of blood.

He staggered backward to the side. As the prestigious fifth on the Earth Ranking and a hegemon of a region, he now exerted every ounce of his strength to let out a wild, frantic roar, his voice carrying for miles:

"Bodhisattva, protect me!"

His muscles suddenly thickened as the "Bodhisattva" bestowed upon him a minor blessing of amplified strength.

Though it was merely a hurried blessing rather than a direct intervention like the last time, Maitreya was instead filled with wild joy.

When masters contend, the difference lies in a single hair; to be even a fraction stronger meant an extra shred of hope for survival.

And since the "Bodhisattva" could still respond, it also indicated that the intruders into the secret realm had not brought too much trouble to the deity. Furthermore, the Bodhisattva had clearly noticed the situation across the entirety of Kuaiji. At this moment, the garrison monk-soldiers should also be receiving blessings; after all, this required but a single thought from the Bodhisattva.

There was hope yet!

At least there was a chance to flee back.

Being lured out of the secret realm by Tang Wanzhuang was absolute madness, the greatest mistake Maitreya had ever committed. Had he remained cooped up within, Maitreya believed that no matter whom the allied forces brought along, it would be as secure as Mount Tai.

Those who had broken into the secret realm could not possibly comprehend the terror of the Bodhisattva; they would soon perish beneath the boundless Buddhist dharma.

"Did you truly believe that breaking through the Triple Secret Treasury was such a grand achievement? Vermilion Bird, you shall soon learn that it is the primordial night you seek, a power that will make you grovel entirely!"

"Bang!" The Vermilion Bird struck the side of his blade with her palm, knocking his center of gravity completely askew. "How dare a rat like you presume to debate the heavens? After I slay you, this seat shall personally go and harvest the head of your false god!"

Tang Wanzhuang had no desire to heed the conversation that had begun to carry a faint scent of religious rivalry. Her sword grew faster with each strike, every move a gamble of life and death, aiming solely for Maitreya's vital points.

Yet, anxiety bloomed in her heart.

Judging from the fact that Maitreya could still receive a blessing, the city defenses must have received one as well. The beautiful dream of seizing the opportunity to breach the city and surrounding it with ten thousand troops could, in the end, only be pondered in thought.

This had been anticipated; Tang Wanzhuang had never expected this battle to be easy. On her journey with Zhao Changhe, the two had discussed matters countless times, overestimating this unknown god as much as possible.

The reason a powerhouse like the Vermilion Bird had joined her to besiege Maitreya—seemingly using a sledgehammer to crack a nut—was actually to slay Maitreya with the utmost speed so they could turn back together to overwhelm that god.

Though Maitreya was entirely at a disadvantage, still... faster, a little faster.

If this dragged on for too long, the strength of Zhao Changhe and his companions might truly not be enough!

***

Ying Wu stepped into the secret realm.

The composition of "partners" this time made Ying Wu find it quite amusing.

The Vermilion Bird—the woman he had once pursued years ago before he had fathomed the Third Secret Treasury, and who had even beaten him... well, he had let her win.

Although seeing her now no longer stirred a single ripple, and his other brothers and subordinates often teased him about it—while he merely laughed along and never minded—forming a team together by chance still felt a little peculiar.

And then... Xuanwu.

When not wearing her mask, Yuan Sanniang would normally badger him at every turn, saying, "Fifth Master, our Yellow Sand Ridge is out of money, allocate a bit more, the frontier is bitterly cold and you must give more support." Now, meeting him with a turtle mask on her face, she claimed herself as "This Venerable" in an icy tone, saying, "A pleasure to meet you, Fifth Master, I shall test your skills when time permits."

The crucial point was that Ying Wu felt Yuan Sanniang actually knew he could guess she was Xuanwu, yet she still insisted on acting so solemnly.

It was truly exasperating yet amusing.

Even Cui Wenjin and Yang Jingxiu, whom he originally had little fondness for, looked rather pleasant and refined at this moment, bringing a rush of old memories of adventuring with brothers and sisters back then.

There was also an old monk and an old Taoist... not overly powerful, but excellent auxiliary support. For the nature of this battle, they might possess a distinct significance. Zhao Changhe had been thoughtful; one wondered when he had invited them along.

While they were observing the environment with solemn expressions, Ying Wu knew at a single glance that there was nothing worth observing here.

He had seen far too many secret realms, and this one was not particularly special.

On the surface, this place carried a hint of the era before the "primordial chaos was split"—a blended mass like a chicken's egg, with a lotus platform blooming in the center, from which thousands of breaths of life emanated.

It perfectly aligned with the "Vacuum Homeland" spoken of by the White Lotus Sect and Maitreya Sect. The so-called Vacuum Homeland did not refer to a vacuum where nothing existed, but rather the origin of all creation, before the chaos was divided, from whence all life came, which was evolved into the celestial realm and paradise within their doctrine.

Given the vast and powerful aura of life here, once believers entered, they could indeed be utterly deluded.

Maitreya's foundational techniques must have been obtained from this very place.

In reality, however, this was merely a fragment of an ancient Buddhist monastery. What Maitreya had obtained from it was only a remnant, and it should belong to a core Buddhist dharma that was missing, to the point that the entire understanding of the doctrine was twisted.

Every secret realm required the energy of a treasure to protect it, allowing it to isolate an independent space and avoid destruction when the era collapsed. And what maintained this space was the lotus platform before them. This was a treasure related to life, wherein an ancient remnant soul hid, attempting to revive by virtue of its characteristics.

A trace of melancholy touched Ying Wu's eyes.

Similar matters, he had experienced before.

Seated cross-legged in the center of the lotus platform was a naked heavenly maiden. This must be Maitreya's "Consort"; Maitreya's so-called healing consisted of being with her. At this moment, her eyes were closed as she sat, her expression solemn and magnificent, truly bearing the compassionate and majestic air of a Bodhisattva. Yet, being entirely unclad made this sense of majesty appear exceedingly bizarre.

And there were actually guardians around; in essence, they were all Maitreya Army generals who had been healing here previously. Ying Wu could recognize one of them, a powerhouse of the Human Ranking—Fa Chi, who had broken through the siege alone over a month ago when Tang Buqi thoroughly crushed the Maitreya Army at Lake Tai.

Thirty-eighth on the Human Ranking, his strength was out of the ordinary... If not for such a powerhouse, it would have been difficult to escape from the heavy encirclement of the army.

One wondered if this Consort had bestowed her charity upon him; logically, after so long, his injuries should have healed.

Though it takes long to describe, the judgment of the environment occurred in a mere instant. The Consort within the lotus platform opened her eyes.

There were no whites or pupils in her eyes, only a brilliant, radiant golden light.

Whether Maitreya's cry for help had reached her at this moment remained unknown, but the golden light in the Consort's eyes flared magnificently. Maitreya received his blessing, and the bodies of Fa Chi and the others seated around the secret realm also erupted with golden light. They stood up in unison, resembling a cohort of Dharma-protecting Vajras.

A voice devoid of any emotion slipped from the Consort's crimson lips: "A band of fools who know not life from death... Outside, I still harbored misgivings and could not strike at will... Yet you dare to proactively come to my Vacuum Realm to seek your deaths..."

"Vacuum Realm..." Ying Wu did not answer, but a reckless voice from behind asked, "Does that refer to your attire?"

The Consort revealed a look of mockery: "The physical body is but a leather sack, cared for only by fools and bandits. Among everyone here, only you care..."

Zhao Changhe was about to play shameless and admit to being a bandit, but Ying Wu spoke first: "Naturally, you do not care for the bodies of others... However, this humble one is exceedingly curious. When this body engages in dual cultivation with these men, is your soul present within it?"

"If it is, so what? If it is not, so what?"

"If it is, the Bodhisattva's realm is indeed higher than ours... No matter how we disregard the leather sack, as men we cannot bore into a woman's body to dual cultivate with others..." Ying Wu held his hands in his sleeves and said, "Is this the realm of the Celestial Selfless? Admirable, truly admirable."

Zhao Changhe: "???"

The Consort said faintly: "For a person of this era to possess such insight is indeed not easy. Since it is so, I shall leave you an intact corpse; perhaps this vessel will be somewhat better than Maitreya's..."

As her words fell, a lotus flower bloomed beneath Ying Wu's feet at some unknown moment, threatening to swallow him within it instantly.

Ying Wu smiled slightly. Without any visible movement, his form had already detached itself.

Following that, his figure moved like lightning, reaching the front of the Consort in an instant. A heavy fist force smashed fiercely toward the center of the Consort's brows!

The Consort let out a soft exclamation of surprise and struck her palm against the fist.

Ying Wu flipped backward to return. The Consort unexpectedly did not pursue; her always calm expression bore a look of considerable shock: "Which one of the Heaven Ranking of this era are you?"

Ying Wu landed, stepping half a pace back to dissipate the force. This clash had still left him at a slight disadvantage. Yet, he instead laughed heartily: "The merchant Ying Wu begs to experience the might of ancient gods and demons!"

Ying Wu... eighth on the Heaven Ranking?

The Consort's expression turned grave.

She could not easily leave the secret realm, and her understanding of the world was entirely based on Maitreya's knowledge. Maitreya had never fought against anyone on the Heaven Ranking, and she did not know what level the so-called Heaven Ranking of this era actually possessed.

Looking at it now, if measured by the standards of ancient strength, Ying Wu's level was merely one grade below her own... Under conditions where she had not fully recovered, her strength was not excessively superior to his.

And this was merely the eighth on the Heaven Ranking. What if it were the top three? To think that the standard of this era had actually reached such a point...

But it's fine; although strength can't overwhelm, their understanding of the "Dao" is not on the same level. If the opponent only has this Heaven List eighth leading the team, they are still coming to die.

How many Heaven List experts can they have... If there were truly that many Heaven List participants, could Maitreya have ravaged Jiangnan for so long?

Mingfei's eyes swept over the few people behind Ying Wu, and another lotus silently bloomed beneath the feet of the woman with the turtle mask.

This move, though Ying Wu dodged it easily, was actually both stealthy and extremely binding; if it were even slightly weaker, even if one detected the attack, they couldn't break free at all.

This turtle annoys me—how can a mere mask hide from the eyes of gods and buddhas? She knew very well that this was an extremely seductive beauty, so beautiful as to inspire jealousy.

Then let's kill her first.

The next moment, the lotus shattered inch by inch, as if a real lotus had smashed against some unyielding rock tortoise shell, crashing to pieces.

A snake whip silently crept up from beneath Mingfei's own lotus pedestal, as if to stab her somewhere.

Mingfei, somewhat speechless, flicked the snake whip away; the whip spun around swiftly, retracting like a living thing into the turtle-faced woman's hand.

“Xuanwu of the Four Symbols Sect, testing the path of ancient gods and demons.”

Xuanwu... who said this one was second on the Earth List?

This is clearly also a Heaven List level ability!

Just as this thought flashed through Mingfei's mind, a surge of purple qi erupted ahead.

A divine sword tore through the void, straight for Mingfei's throat.

“Bodhisattva, no need to test one by one. Cui Wenjing of Qinghe, please enlighten me, Bodhisattva.”

Cui Wenjing... ninth on the Heaven List? Another Heaven List...

Another divine sword came crashing down like a mountain: “Yang Jingxiu of Hongnong, please enlighten me, Bodhisattva.”

Tenth on the Earth List...

A faint Buddha light suddenly flashed, a golden palm shadow descending from the sky, a low Buddhist chant: “Yuan Cheng of Huayan Temple, testing the Bodhisattva's Dharma.”

Twentieth on the Earth List...

The sword transformed into Taiji, yin and yang revolving: “Gui Chen of Taiyi Sect, testing the Bodhisattva's path.”

Twenty-seventh on the Earth List...

With these words, Ying Wu's fist and Sanniang's whip arrived at the lotus pedestal almost simultaneously.

Heaven List eighth, Earth List second.

Plus those besieging Maitreya over there: Earth List third, Earth List fourth.

Are you people under Tang Buqi wholesaling Heaven and Earth List experts?

Then what has Maitreya been fighting all this year?

Mingfei suddenly felt that this was not at all a confrontation of leaders in war.

Rather, it was a gathering of the top martial artists of the new era, hunting the old-world gods and demons!

Who could orchestrate such a grand scheme? Could it be the current emperor, Xia Longyuan?

Mingfei's divine sense swept over the only young man on the opposing side who hadn't acted yet; he was hiding far away, craning his neck to watch the battle, his eyes filled with a longing to try.

At this moment, Fachī and the others woke as if from a dream. They had thought these people came to die, but the names announced were each more astonishing than the last. Could the Bodhisattva really handle this?

“Boom!” The various energies intertwined, and dust burst forth above the lotus pedestal.

Fachī could no longer hold back and surged forward with his followers: “Protect the Bodhisattva!”

The longing in that young man's eyes instantly transformed into excited battle intent.

An absurdly large broadsword clanged down onto the path of Fachī and the others charging toward the lotus pedestal: “Your opponent is me...”

Seeing that broadsword, Mingfei knew who it was.

Among the crowd of Heaven and Earth List experts, the only one on the Human List.

Human List forty-fourth, Blood Shura Zhao Changhe.