Chapter 114: Talent and Effort

"One got away."

On the scorched earth, deep pits appeared one after another, as if the ground had just been plowed; inside every pit lay a mangled corpse.

Of the seventeen Buddhist cultivators, one had escaped.

The remaining sixteen were all blown to death by Lu Yang's Nine Heavens Capital Register Secret Demon Yin Thunder, while the Buddhist light that should have suppressed the Yin Sha had not played the slightest role.

But this was normal; so-called suppression was relative. For instance, water suppresses fire; under conventional circumstances, water indeed overcomes fire, yet when flames engulfed a thousand li, what use was a single cup of water? The gap between Lu Yang and this group of Buddhist cultivators was even greater than that.

In this regard, Guang Ming, who had fled, had a very clear understanding of the situation.

At this moment, in a mountain forest several thousand li away from Lu Yang—the gathering place for the Buddhist cultivators—Guang Hai, the leader of the Pure Land for this occasion, was present.

"Hmm?"

Suddenly, Guang Hai, who had been sitting in meditation with his eyes closed, opened them, and immediately afterward, a cluster of golden Buddhist light visible to the naked eye suddenly rippled around him.

The next second, Guang Ming stumbled and fell out from within the Buddhist light.

As soon as he hit the ground, he looked around in extreme terror, only breathing a genuine sigh of relief after confirming that terrifying figure was nowhere to be seen.

"I escaped! I actually escaped!"

It was worth his deliberate effort to gather all the Buddhist cultivators and use them as meat shields; on the surface, he had been preparing a major move, but in reality, he had activated the "Heart-Linking Life Talisman" to flee.

The Heart-Linking Life Talisman was a Fruit Position treasure held by the Pure Land's Buddhist cultivators; its effect allowed cultivators marked by the talisman's spell to be teleported to the side of the talisman's owner. This effect could actually be released in reverse; Guang Ming had used a secret method to activate it, thus instantly teleporting to Guang Hai's side.

"What happened?"

Looking at Guang Ming's disheveled state, Guang Hai frowned slightly: "Did you encounter a powerful enemy? How many were there, and where have your fellow Daoists who were with you gone?"

Upon hearing this, Guang Ming instantly froze.

At this moment, his brain began racing at high speed. Tell the truth? What a joke; was he supposed to tell his senior brother that he had fled from the battlefield?

That would truly be a death sentence!

After all, if that were the case, in order to give an account to the deceased Buddhist cultivators, Guang Ming believed his senior brother would absolutely not hesitate to use his head as a sacrifice to raise the banner.

Guang Ming's eyes darted, and the next second, an expression of grief floated onto his face as he said with a tearful voice: "So many! Simply too many to count! That group of demonic heads also seemed to have prepared a backup plan; I fought desperately, killed a few before escaping with my life, while the others were all slaughtered by the demonic heads."

"What?"

Before Guang Ming could finish speaking, Guang Hai's expression turned solemn; for a moment, he felt as though facing a great enemy. Had that bunch of demonic heads from the Chusheng Sect also gathered together?

"We must devise a way to annihilate them."

Guang Hai attached great importance to this matter and immediately summoned another Buddhist cultivator clad in kasaya: "Guang Hui, take the 【Dragon Assembly】 and exterminate that group of demonic heads."

The Buddhist cultivators of the Deep Joy Pure Land were divided into eight Buddhist assemblies, among which the 【Dragon Assembly】 ranked second, considered the most elite team of Buddhist cultivators in Guang Hai's hands.

After speaking, he looked at Guang Ming again: "Junior Brother Guang Ming, you will lead the way."

"Ah? Me?"

Guang Ming paused, the corners of his mouth twitching slightly, his heart full of refusal, yet under Guang Hai's gaze, he could only grit his Buddha teeth and nod with a smile.

'It'll be fine; this time there shouldn't be any problem, right?'

Looking at the 【Dragon Assembly】 Buddhist cultivators, whose momentum was vast and numbered up to a hundred people, Guang Ming calmed down somewhat; after all, the enemy was, in any case, just one person.

As for the Buddhist cultivators of the 【Dragon Assembly】, the weakest were at the Mid Stage of Qi Condensation, while their leader, Guang Hui, had refined a full three Great Curses; at critical moments, he could gather the multitude of cultivators to employ a secret method, raising up a Dragon-Elephant Vast Strength Golden Body, whose status was extraordinarily high, almost equivalent to a Dharma Protector Arhat, second only to a Foundation Establishment True Person.

With such strength, how could they lose?

No matter how formidable that great demonic head was, he was merely at Qi Condensation; as long as over a hundred Buddhist cultivators rushed forward together, it was impossible for him to kill everyone before his true qi was exhausted!

Meanwhile, on the scorched battlefield.

"With the True Person above... can a Foundation Establishment True Person actually enter the Realm Heavens?"

Watching Lu Yang's back, Qin Tianhe fell into deep bewilderment; obviously, the misunderstanding from their previous meeting with Lu Yang had not yet been resolved.

It had even deepened.

But this was not strange; after all, Lu Yang's battle just now had been so overwhelmingly crushing that, to him, facing a Foundation Establishment True Person made little difference.

However, the next second, Qin Tianhe became excited once again.

Although he did not know how Lu Yang, as a "Foundation Establishment True Person," had entered the Secret Realm, it was enough to know that Lu Yang was a True Person from their own Holy Sect.

This situation was secure now!

At the same time, Lu Yang paid no attention to Qin Tianhe's misunderstanding; his attention was currently entirely focused on the Buddhist cultivator corpses covering the ground before him.

"Perhaps I can make use of them..."

Thinking of this, Lu Yang immediately formed a hand seal with his fingers, unfolded the Myriad Souls Banner, and in an instant, thick white mist began to drift up from the surrounding corpses one by one.

Immediately afterward, the corpses of these Buddhist cultivators vaporized one after another; their souls drifted out from within and were collected into the Myriad Souls Banner one by one. Once their true spirits mounted the banner, the white mist began to reorganize, actually manifesting the sixteen Buddhist cultivators anew, who all bowed their heads in submission toward Lu Yang.

"Greetings, Master!"

Only then did Lu Yang nod with satisfaction; looking at the Myriad Souls Banner, which still had ample space, his heart burned with passion. This Battle for the Dao might also be a fortunate opportunity!

An opportunity to completely refine the Myriad Souls Banner to perfection!

After all, this Battle for the Dao had gathered so many cultivators from Jiangdong and Jiangxi, from the Dao Court and the Pure Land; across these mountains and plains, those jumping about with vitality were all talents!

"Interesting..."

Just then, the figure of Patriarch Ting You also appeared behind Lu Yang; he observed the banner spirits of the Buddhist cultivators with great interest, then suddenly spoke:

"I once referenced Jiangdong's 【Way of Hunting on Behalf of Heaven】 to create the 【Yan Mo Hall】; now it seems Jiangxi also has something worth learning. If you can collect more of these Buddhist cultivators, perhaps I can reference and improve the 【Yan Mo Hall】, allowing its power to reach another level."

"Oh?"

Patriarch Ting You's suggestion immediately made Lu Yang's eyes brighten, for he suddenly recalled the 【Fu Long Temple】 that Arhat Fu Long had once used against him in his previous life.

The so-called 【Fu Long Temple】 was, in fact, the Dao Foundation of Arhat Fu Long.

However, for Buddhist cultivators, Foundation Establishment did not occur within the Foundation Establishment Realm itself, but within the Deep Joy Pure Land opened by the World Honored One of Jiangxi; their Dao Foundation was their own temple.

The more prosperous the temple's incense and fire, and the more gathered Buddhist assemblies, the stronger the master of the temple became.

If Patriarch Ting You could adapt this point into the 【Yan Mo Hall】, then with the scale of the banner spirits within the Myriad Souls Banner, it would be sufficient to make his strength leap forward once again!

Without another word, Lu Yang immediately cupped his hands: "Then I must trouble the Patriarch to take care of this!"

Patriarch Ting You sighed: "Strengthening the 【Yan Mo Hall】 also strengthens the foundation of our Witch-Ghost Path; this is all I can do for now."

"Try not to disturb me again after this; I intend to enter secluded cultivation for a while."

"It is a pity that the number of Buddhist cultivator banner spirits collected this time is too small, only a dozen or so; otherwise, my speed of comprehension could be even faster..."

As his voice fell, Patriarch Ting You took the group of Buddhist cultivators into the grotto-heaven within the Myriad Souls Banner, obviously intending to thoroughly study the Buddhist cultivation methods.

Seeing this scene, Lu Yang finally understood the correct way to utilize Patriarch Ting You.

Send him out to fight others?

Too small; his vision was too small!

This was clearly a technical talent; his effect far surpassed the Mingdao Jade Slip from two lifetimes ago; anything requiring comprehension could almost be entrusted to him!

From this, it could be seen that as long as the exceptionally talented Patriarch Ting You strove with all his might, Lu Yang would inevitably go even further in this life!

By that time, he might even be able to say to others, "The realm I, Lu Yang, have reached today is entirely due to my extraordinary talent and unremitting effort!"

(End of Chapter)