Chapter 57: One Palm Collapses the Sky

Chen Ye had considered many possibilities for turning the tables, but he truly never expected to reverse his fate by relying on knowledge.

It was only Chen Ye's fault for choosing a lone cultivator as his master; Mo Ci did not understand the significance of these things, so Chen Ye had merely treated them as ordinary. Now that he thought about it, since the Incense-Burning Gate was willing to pay any price to obtain the *Sutra of the Original Vows of Ksitigarbha*, the scriptures he had memorized could surely make the great sects of this world fight over them.

Although the Niepan Sect was a demonic path that recited twisted scriptures, they certainly would not let the original Buddhist scriptures go.

Of course, it was also possible they would simply extract Chen Ye's divine soul directly; as long as they dared to take the risk, Chen Ye would have absolutely no way to stop them.

So he could only gamble, betting that they would not dare to act recklessly.

A normal person's thoughts should not lead to reckless actions.

Chen Ye was merely a lone cultivator easy to handle; once captured, they could simply interrogate him slowly, so there was no need to risk destroying any part of this treasure.

In this way, Chen Ye would have a chance to negotiate, perhaps even allowing Su Chunyi to regain her freedom.

As long as Su Chunyi could return alive to the Qinghe Sword Sect, the Qinghe Sword Sect would absolutely send people to rescue him; as long as he could delay long enough, the greater his chance of survival.

This plan seemed risky, yet it was already the best choice.

Now it all depended on the attitude of this sloppy Monk: would it be negotiation, or a forced soul search?!

Chen Ye's heart beat faster, and he involuntarily felt nervous.

This was strange; previously, when he felt certain of death, his heart was actually calm, but now that he sensed a glimmer of hope, Chen Ye was actually panicking.

He supposed his cultivation was not yet deep enough, and he had not truly become indifferent to life and death.

It was just that Chen Ye did not wait for the answer he wanted.

He only heard this sloppy Monk say: "Chen Benefactor, you misunderstood. This poor monk is not of the Niepan Sect; my Dharma name is Fang Yuan, and I come from the Heart of Compassion Temple."

Heart of Compassion Temple?

Chen Ye asked in confusion: "But you said Monk Ku'e is your disciple!"

Su Chunyi could not help but say: "That Monk Ku'e used the Demon Gate's supernatural ability, the Opening Zen, there is no mistake. Moreover, only the demons of the Niepan Sect would kill innocents indiscriminately; although the Heart of Compassion Temple is a heterodox path, it has never done evil for many years!"

Monk Fang Yuan sighed: "The Heart of Compassion Temple originated from the Niepan Sect, so the sect's supernatural abilities naturally have many similarities. Ku'e was indeed my disciple, but many years ago he fell into the demonic path, betrayed the Heart of Compassion Temple, and joined the Niepan Sect.

"I have been tracking this evil disciple for over eighty years; unfortunately, this poor monk is not skilled in divination, so after he acted to harm others, I often arrived too late and he escaped back to the Niepan Sect. Only after his body died and his soul was extinguished did this poor monk feel a spiritual connection and come to the vicinity of Cui County. I did not come to seek revenge; rather, I wish to thank both of you for cleaning the Heart of Compassion Temple's household."

Chen Ye was confused by Monk Fang Yuan's words; was this Monk not here to seek revenge?

Chen Ye hurriedly asked: "Master Fang Yuan, if you are not here to seek revenge, why torture us two so?"

Just now, both Chen Ye and Su Chunyi were in such a state; he did not believe this Monk failed to notice, he was clearly doing it on purpose.

Monk Fang Yuan smiled apologetically: "My fault, my fault. It was just that I met a disciple of the Incense-Burning Gate on the road; I merely wanted to ask for directions, but he attacked this poor monk with lethal intent. The relationship between the Incense-Burning Gate and the Qinghe Sword Sect is known to all; this poor monk thought..."

Chen Ye hurriedly asked: "Wei Changsheng? Did that brat run into your hands?"

Monk Fang Yuan nodded and explained: "This poor monk gave him a minor punishment for a major lesson, and after finding the two of you, let him leave on his own. In short, it was entirely this poor monk's fault; both Benefactors are people of loyalty and righteousness, so this poor monk bows his head to apologize to both of you."

After speaking, this Monk with unfathomable cultivation truly knelt before the two of them and knocked three loud heads on the ground, bang, bang, bang.

This left Chen Ye at a loss; if you said he was angry, this Monk Fang Yuan's apology was quite sincere; but if you said he wasn't angry, the fear and anxiety along the way were truly terrifying.

Sigh, it was all that Wei Changsheng's fault.

You say someone was just asking for directions properly, why did you attack directly?

Attacking was one thing, but implicating them was another.

Since this big Monk had knelt down and knocked his head, Chen Ye could not say anything more; it was not that his heart was truly so broad, but that this Monk's cultivation was simply too high; what could he do if he was dissatisfied?

The fact that they were willing to reason was already a stroke of luck.

Chen Ye could only say to Monk Fang Yuan: "Master, next time just ask directly; no need to scare us juniors like this."

Monk Fang Yuan got up from the ground, wiped the gravel and mud from his forehead, and explained: "It was a misunderstanding, but this poor monk did not intentionally make things difficult for both of you; it is just that I must find the person who killed my disciple as soon as possible, so I could only force both of you to speak the truth."

"As soon as possible?" Chen Ye felt something was wrong upon hearing this and asked: "If Master came to repay a kindness, why the urgency?"

Monk Fang Yuan said: "This poor monk certainly came to repay a kindness, but others are here to seek revenge. Chen Benefactor, as this poor monk just said, my evil disciple betrayed the Heart of Compassion Temple and joined the Niepan Sect."

Chen Ye figured it out and said in surprise: "You mean the Niepan Sect will come to seek revenge on us."

"Amitabha, Chen Benefactor is indeed a wise person; a single hint makes it clear. This poor monk is precisely worried that the person who killed my disciple will be hunted by the Niepan Sect, so I rushed over here and could only rush to force both of you to speak the truth. The Niepan Sect and I learned of Ku'e's death at the same time; perhaps they learned even faster than me. If this poor monk delays too long, I fear it will be too late."

Although it sounded somewhat doubtful, Monk Fang Yuan's explanation did reduce Chen Ye's resentment somewhat.

It is hard to hate someone who travels thousands of miles to save your life.

Even though Monk Fang Yuan said he came to repay a kindness, Chen Ye accepted this favor.

Having a friend with high cultivation is always a good thing.

It was just unknown to what realm this Master Fang Yuan had reached.

Chen Ye could not help but ask: "I wonder what realm Master is in?"

Monk Fang Yuan pressed his palms together.

"Amitabha, thanks to Benefactors cleaning the Heart of Compassion Temple's household, this poor monk was able to break through only after removing one mental demon; now I have reached the Returning to Emptiness realm."

The Returning to Emptiness realm was a realm Chen Ye had only heard of but never witnessed, and he did not know how powerful it was.

Just as he was about to ask for details, he heard Monk Fang Yuan sigh: "Pity, pity; ultimately, some time has been delayed. Both Benefactors, please rest for a moment; this poor monk will first deal with the demonic monks of the Niepan Sect."

Chen Ye and Su Chunyi looked at each other; neither of them felt anything amiss.

But as soon as Monk Fang Yuan finished speaking, three bright lights appeared in the distant sky.

As these meteor-like lights drew closer, Chen Ye and Su Chunyi also heard that soul-stealing demonic sound in their ears.

"Lay down the butcher's knife, and you become a Buddha on the spot!"

"Lay down the butcher's knife, and you become a Buddha on the spot!"

It was this move again; the Niepan Sect loved to keep this phrase on their lips.

Moreover, the cultivation of the person wielding the demonic sound this time far surpassed that of Monk Ku'e; even from dozens of li away, the sound could be transmitted, making both Chen Ye and Su Chunyi feel dizzy and confused.

However, this time there was no need to burst one's eardrums; they only heard Monk Fang Yuan chant one phrase: "Amitabha, the ones who should lay down the butcher's knife are you!"

The sound was like a great bell, instantly suppressing all those soul-stealing demonic sounds.

Chen Ye and Su Chunyi recovered as well, seeing Jin Guang erupt from Monk Fang Yuan's body; a Buddha's phantom emerged from behind him, and in the blink of an eye, it transformed into a Golden Body ten zhang tall.

They saw this Buddha, whose radiance stretched ten thousand zhang, raise his right hand as if condensing all the light around them into his palm; in an instant, heaven and earth lost their color, and the night sky suddenly darkened by three degrees.

The Buddha's palm slapped toward the direction of those three demon monks.

There was no flying flesh and blood, no wailing of magical treasures; it was as if someone had dipped a brush in ink and gently erased those three distant points of light.

Only after the points of light vanished did a massive palm print appear in the night sky.

With a single palm strike, the very sky was shattered.

Seeing the power of this palm strike, Chen Ye completely believed Monk Fang Yuan's words; if he had not come to save people, he would have long since become a star in the sky.