Chapter 123: If there were no old man in the world, I don't know how many people would claim to be respected

Immediately, Nie Feng saw that the two could not be persuaded, so he had to walk to the side.

Zhuang Buran stood with his hands behind his back:

"Bu Jingyun, with your current martial arts, you are still far from wanting to take revenge on the old man!"

"Today I want to see why you, who have no martial arts, can still be as arrogant as before."

Bu Jingyun's aura suddenly rose, and he drew his sword extremely fast, sharp and unusual, stabbing out a sword energy like a rainbow.

Zhuang Buran leaned his body and dodged the sword energy. When Bu Jingyun arrived with his sword, he stepped into the air, leaped up like a bird, reaching seven or eight zhang, and landed on the nearest bamboo tip.

"With your current cultivation, you can't exert the power of the 'Holy Spirit Sword Technique'. The first eighteen swords are emotional sword techniques. With your full of hatred, you will only make mistakes."

"Old thief Xiongba, you didn't abolish your martial arts at all." Bu Jingyun's expression was colder. He jumped up, threw swords one after another, and attacked the dead spots.

And although his sword moves were simple, every sword contained extreme killing intent.

Zhuang Buran's robes shook lightly, his toes tapped the bamboo tip, his body rose against the wind like a paper kite, and then, as if using the clouds in the sky as a point of force, he dodged left and right, making Bu Jingyun's offensive useless.

"A mediocre sword technique, but in your hands, it is like a storm, without any flaws. As expected of the destined person who helped the old man become a dragon."

Bu Jingyun ignored it, his cloak carried invincible energy, condensed the cloud energy into a giant palm shadow, covering the sky and the moon, and shot down, using a style of 'Calamity Cloud Descending from Heaven', trying to seal all of Zhuang Buran's movement angles, and then took the opportunity to slash out a rigid and domineering sword energy.

"Using the old man's martial arts to kill me, isn't it too ridiculous."

Zhuang Buran actually stepped on the trajectory of the sword energy and went upstream, tapping the sword light with his toes every time, borrowing force to rise three feet.

His body was as light as a swallow, and he entered the gaps of the cloud giant palm energy, and in the blink of an eye, he stood lightly on the highest bamboo tip.

And the cloud giant palm took the opportunity to shake the bamboo for more than ten zhang, forcing the two spectators to use lightness skills and retreat to a safe area.

"Dad, since my dad has abolished his martial arts, how can he still perform such high-level lightness skills?" Youruo was suspicious.

Nie Feng was most proficient in lightness skills and obviously saw something, and said with extreme shock:

"It seems that no internal energy was used, and it was all based on body method, and he used this miraculous lightness skill."

"That's right. There are countless lightness skills in the world, such as Wudang's 'Ladder Cloud Vertical', Tianshan Sect's 'Stepping on Snow Without Traces', and Shaolin Temple's 'Eight Steps Chasing Cicadas', all of which are first-class lightness skills. I didn't expect that there is

Wuming suddenly appeared beside Youruo and the other, exclaiming in admiration:

"As expected of the former leader of the World Association; you truly are capable of what others cannot do."

"Senior Wuming, did my father really cripple his own martial arts?" Youruo hurriedly asked.

"Xiong has indeed crippled his own martial arts; there is not a shred of internal energy left in his body."

"If that's the case, isn't my father in great danger?" Youruo hurriedly cupped her hands in a salute:

"Senior Wuming, you know that my father has turned over a new leaf and no longer intends to involve himself in the affairs of the martial arts world. Please, I beg you to intervene and save him."

"Rest assured, when it is time to act, I will naturally act," Wuming nodded.

"A sword technique of mediocre power—no matter how skillfully you wield it, it is nothing more than this."

Zhuang Buran stepped repeatedly on the bamboo tips in the grove, dodging the incoming sword Qi from Bu Jingyun while saying:

"Why not use your most powerful sword moves? Otherwise, I fear you won't even be able to touch the hem of my garment."

As bamboo stalks were continuously severed by the sword Qi, Bu Jingyun struck out suddenly with his palms, the palm force dense as he unleashed the move 'Heavy Clouds Locked Deep', attempting to suppress Zhuang Buran's movement technique.

He then surged with immense internal energy, his palm force vast enough to cover the sky, its power as violent as a collapsing mountain and an overturning sea; he had stunningly unleashed the move 'Mountain-Collapsing Sea-Overturning'.

Zhuang Buran spun suddenly, his sleeves leveraging the momentum to whip up a tornado of bamboo leaves, his true form having already flashed to a bamboo branch ten paces away that had not yet fallen.

"Stubborn as always, refusing to listen to any advice."

Just at that moment, a fierce wind suddenly arose.

Bu Jingyun unleashed the move 'Waves of the Cloud Sea', the palm force containing a hardness within softness and softness within hardness, like waves in the ocean; the combined power of hardness and softness swept up the bamboo leaves, turning them into a tidal wave of sharp blades that poured down toward Zhuang Buran.

After Bu Jingyun struck this palm, his entire body radiated an aura of extreme, heart-rending grief, suddenly evoking a sword momentum that sounded like weeping and pleading.

One could see the sword Qi crisscrossing, as if heaven and earth were grieving together, taking advantage of the momentum to resonate with the bamboo sea; countless bamboo leaves from the surroundings were swept up by the sword Qi, merging into the tidal wave of blades above.

Zhuang Buran stood with his hands behind his back, a smile lingering at the corners of his mouth; his figure suddenly dissipated like a bubble, and the hurricane of leaves passed through his phantom image.

When the wind died down and the waves calmed, Bu Jingyun landed on the ground, leaning on his sword to catch his breath, his robes soaked through with cold sweat.

Zhuang Buran landed gracefully, brushed a bamboo leaf from his shoulder, and said with a laugh:

"Jingyun, could it be that your energy was so depleted that your eyes deceived you just now, causing you to strike at the afterimage left by my movement technique?"

"Old thief, not only did you hold back in your martial arts, but you also hid your lightness skill so deeply," Bu Jingyun said, enunciating every word.

"One thought leads to becoming a Buddha, one thought leads to becoming a demon," Zhuang Buran said leisurely:

"To perceive one's own faults is awakening; to correct one's own faults is growth."

"To perceive all faults is great enlightenment; to correct all faults is perfection without flaw."

"After I crippled my own martial arts, I felt only great enlightenment, my body and mind clear; from this, I realized this lightness method that requires no internal energy. It seems even the Buddha felt the sincerity of my heart and bestowed this blessing."

"This is likely what is meant by 'laying down the butcher's knife and becoming a Buddha on the spot'."

Bu Jingyun said with an expressionless face:

"The Buddha truly has no eyes, if even a butcher like you, who is steeped in evil and addicted to killing, can receive such a so-called blessing."

"Have you not heard the principle that a Buddha can become a demon, and a demon can become a Buddha?"

Zhuang Buran laughed in spite of himself:

"Do you feel that it is unfair that a good person who cultivates for a lifetime may not necessarily become a Buddha, while a bad person can become a Buddha the moment they lay down the butcher's knife?"

"Yet the true meaning of laying down the butcher's knife refers to letting go of hatred. Do you think that for those villains accustomed to being overbearing and committing murder and arson, what would be the outcome if someone were to curse them?"

"The light punishment would be having their hands and feet broken as a lesson; the heavy punishment would be the loss of their entire family's lives."

He looked at Bu Jingyun with a smile:

"So, to lay down the butcher's knife—that is, evil intent, evil words, evil deeds, and all delusions, false thoughts, confusion, inversion, discrimination, and attachment—"

"Is it easier for a good person who has practiced virtue and kept the precepts their whole life to achieve this, or for a villain who has exhausted all evil and knows no taboos?"

"No matter how much you 'lay it down', it cannot cover up the fact that your hands are covered in blood," Bu Jingyun said coldly.

"Why would I need to cover it up? Since entering the martial arts world, it has always been: those who submit to me prosper, and those who oppose me perish. I don't need to speak for myself; the vast martial arts world will naturally speak for me."

"But the world does not know that although I have committed all sorts of killing, have I not been preventing even greater disasters from occurring?"

Zhuang Buran's eyes were deep:

"If there were no 'old man' like me in the world, I wonder how many would claim to be lords, and how many would claim to be gods."

(End of chapter)