Chapter 1039: Meeting of Senior and Junior Brothers

The moment those words left Ye Zijin’s mouth, a knot of dread tightened in his chest; ever since he had coalesced the Yin-Yang Golden Core, he had been plagued by this unfortunate slip of the tongue, a defect that persisted even after his Core shattered to form the Nascent Soul, which later transformed into the Divine Soul, and finally merged into the Unity stage.

Of course, his own temperament played a part, though it was hardly the main culprit.

Because he frequently uttered such shocking statements, he had drawn no small amount of envy, and those clamoring to slaughter him were by no means few; it was only by virtue of his swift feet that he had managed to survive to this day.

He had come to the Buddhist Kingdom to temper himself, and leaving his other skills aside, his talent for flight had improved to a degree visible to the naked eye; even his old master back when he was in the mid-Unity stage could not run as fast as he did.

The problem was, when facing the Tribulation Transcendence stage, did running fast even matter anymore?

No, no, he shouldn’t think like that; since the other party was a senior of profound attainment, surely he wouldn't hold a grudge against a mere junior like himself... right?

"Senior?" Ye Zijin called out tentatively.

"What is it?" Master Minghuai lifted his gaze, his expression entirely placid, betraying not a hint of anomaly.

Ye Zijin breathed a sigh of relief; as expected of a senior of profound attainment, this level of composure was entirely different from those elders.

With a calm demeanor, he stood up and reached for the broom.

Crack.

Master Minghuai had failed to control his strength, snapping the broom he had used for over a thousand years clean in two.

Seeing this, Ye Zijin bolted instantly. If he didn't run now, it would be too late!

Staring at Ye Zijin’s rapidly receding figure, Master Minghuai took two deep breaths; he was a grand Tribulation Transcendence cultivator, it was beneath his dignity to squabble with a junior over such trivialities, he was a grand Tribulation Transcendence cultivator, it was beneath his dignity to squabble with a junior over such...

"Ye Zijin, don't you dare run!"

Master Minghuai bellowed at the top of his lungs, and in an instant, seven or eight formidable figures soared out from the West Heaven Temple, every single one of them at the Unity stage.

"Where is Ye Zijin?"

"Over there, pursue him!"

The moment the crowd of elders heard news of Ye Zijin, they showed themselves one after another; some went so far as to interrupt their secluded meditation, creating a commotion far greater than when they had invited Lu Yang to the West Heaven Temple as a guest on New Year's Eve.

The entire West Heaven Temple was brilliantly lit, shrouded in the overwhelming aura of the Unity stage; Master Minghuai, maintaining his dignity, did not strike again after shouting that single command.

The abbot, Master Mingyu, was currently reviewing a game of chess: "So it was this move that went awry; during the match I was too eager for victory, and my play became a bit rushed. It seems Junior Brother Minghuai was right, my state of mind still requires tempering."

Suddenly, he caught the sound of Master Minghuai’s shouting, his expression turning peculiar; in his memory, he had seemingly never seen his junior brother driven to such exasperated fury.

Ye Zijin’s methods of flight were top-tier in this world, far beyond anything Lu Yang could compare to.

"Ye Zijin, let's see where you can flee!" Elder Kongchan roared, hurling forward a golden bell that vibrated with a resonant chime capable of freezing a person in place.

Ye Zijin, slipping away like a loach, executed a Daoist method that rippled through the air, rendering this patch of space entirely impossible to bind.

"Suppress!" Elder Kongxing unleashed the Demon-Suppressing Seal; countless great demons had been subdued beneath this very seal, and half a year ago when the Meng family came to the Buddhist Kingdom in search of the Emotionless Sect, an elder of that sect had been suppressed by it, a truly terrifying display.

"Sky-Cleaving Seal!" Ye Zijin unleashed the Sky-Cleaving Seal, a technique he had comprehended from the Daoist Inbuyu's 'Sword Cleaving the Heavenly Gate'.

The two great seals collided in midair, perfectly canceling each other out without a single shred of stray energy spilling over.

"The Scripture of Subduing Dragons and Taming Tigers!" Behind Elder Kongli, the grand manifestations of the Dragon-Subduing and Tiger-Taming Arhats appeared, striking down at Ye Zijin like they were swatting a rat; yet Ye Zijin shuttled through space at times and burrowed underground at others, making it utterly impossible to hit him.

But this was the headquarters of the West Heaven Temple, and under the siege of the collective crowd, Ye Zijin would find it difficult to escape the net.

Faced with this predicament, Ye Zijin struck decisively: "Sky-Cleaving Seal!"

Boom—

The Sky-Cleaving Seal shattered, the explosion giving rise to a dense fog, and when the mist cleared, there were unexpectedly two Elder Kongxings!

"You are the imposter, Demon-Suppressing Seal!"

"You are the imposter, Demon-Suppressing Seal!"

The two of them actually unleashed identical Demon-Suppressing Seals!

Elder Kongxing was infuriated by the sight, unleashing an endless barrage of offensive methods, and the other Elder Kongxing did exactly the same; their techniques were identical, making it impossible to distinguish the real from the fake, leaving the elders at a complete loss as to how to intervene.

"I refuse to believe you can chant scriptures too!" Elder Kongxing’s lips quivered as he rapidly recited the Earth Store Bodhisattva Scripture, and the other Elder Kongxing recited the Earth Store Bodhisattva Scripture in perfect unison.

"Junior Brother Kongxing, produce your Ruyi Buddhist Beads!" Kongchan shouted.

Elder Kongxing hurriedly drew forth his Ruyi Buddhist Beads.

Seeing this, the other Elder Kongxing’s expression changed drastically: "Ye Zijin, you just used the chaos to steal my Buddhist beads!"

Elder Kongxing bellowed, looking like a wrathful Vajra: "Nonsense, these are clearly my beads! Ye Zijin, you still dare to quibble? Senior and junior brothers, what are you waiting for!"

The elders swarmed forward all at once, and Elder Kongxing took the opportunity to stealthily slip away from behind.

"Oh no, we’ve been tricked!"

Seeing the Elder Kongxing holding the Ruyi Buddhist Beads flee, the gathered elders finally realized they had seized the wrong person.

"Haha, you think you can catch me with just this?" Ye Zijin revealed his true form, tossing the Ruyi Buddhist Beads to the other side for Elder Kongxing to retrieve, while he himself vanished into thin air.

"Dammit, he got away again!" The elders were filled with resentment yet utterly helpless; every single time, Ye Zijin always found a way to slip through their fingers, rendered useless even with the West Heaven Temple as their home ground.

...

"Was that Second Senior Brother?" Inside the miniature world of the Green Peak Sword, Lu Yang could hear Master Minghuai’s voice clearly.

Witnessing the clash between the elders and his second senior brother, Lu Yang knew that the elders hadn't truly exerted their full strength on New Year's Eve.

Seeing that Second Senior Brother had successfully escaped, Lu Yang decided to go and meet him.

While it was true that Ye Zijin’s whereabouts were difficult to trace, no matter how elusive he was, he could not hide from the immortal consciousness of the Immortal Fairy.

"You three stay here obediently." Lu Yang warned Venerable Qingyan and the other two before departing with the Immortal Fairy.

Once Lu Yang left, Mo Xiaochou grew restless, sensing a golden opportunity to escape: "Should we run together?"

Venerable Qingyan cast a sideways glance at Mo Xiaochou, wondering how such a foolish creature could exist in the world, and how he had managed to cultivate to the Soul Formation stage in the first place: "Do you truly believe you possess the means to escape from an immortal?"

The higher one’s cultivation, the more one understood the terror of an immortal; they were supreme existences against whom opposition was futile, and the best approach when facing an immortal was to do exactly as bidden.

Considering Lu Yang’s relationship with the immortal, Lu Yang’s words were equivalent to the immortal's will, which they dared not disobey.

Mo Xiaochou also came to his senses, not daring to harbor any further thoughts of flight, and waited obediently within the miniature world.

"Second Senior Brother?" Lu Yang navigated through the night, locating Ye Zijin hidden in the darkness.

"Who is it?!" Ye Zijin was startled out of his wits, raising his guard in extreme vigilance; how could he be found when he was concealed so perfectly, had a Tribulation Transcendence cultivator made a move?

"It’s me, Lu Yang." Lu Yang said in a lowered voice.

Only then did Ye Zijin clearly see Lu Yang’s appearance; he had only ever seen portraits of him and had never met him in person, and he hadn't expected the real person to be quite a bit handsomer than the portraits.

"Junior Brother Lu Yang, it’s really you?" Meeting the junior brother he had never seen before, Ye Zijin was also delighted.

"I’ve seen your portrait too, but the portrait doesn't do you justice!"