Chapter 298: Why Does It Look So Practiced?

"Master, you made the female Bodhisattva vomit blood." Ao Yulie looked at Qinglang, who wore an expression of bewilderment and grievance, and spoke.

A surge of excitement rose in his heart; worthy of being Master, still as powerful as in days of old, even while injured.

A "move" and it's a female Bodhisattva — wait, this doesn't seem to have much to do with whether he's injured or not.

He, the Third Prince of the Jade Dragon, prided himself on being suave and dashing, the most handsome under heaven, yet he could never learn it no matter what.

Eldest Senior Brother also said: "Little White Dragon, don't even watch, you won't be able to learn it."

"What does this have to do with your master? Your master merely looked at her once." Tang Luo said.

Although his entrance was a bit flashy, Tang Luo hadn't deliberately emitted any "come, let's fight to our heart's content" aura; he was just ordinary, perfectly commonplace.

There's no reason he could make Qinglang vomit blood with a single glance.

So, there is only one truth.

"Female Bodhisattva, do you want this poor monk to perform an eye-opening consecration for you?" Tang Luo looked at Qinglang, wise light flashing in his eyes.

After a moment's thought, he arrived at the truth:

Back when the Wuyu Sect encountered a powerful enemy, although they repelled the foe, Qinglang suffered a hidden injury that has never healed, and she often shuts herself away.

Then, where should one go to treat an injury? Master Xuanzang performs an eye-opening consecration to help you!

"If you want this poor monk to perform an eye-opening consecration for you, you can just say so directly. Just say it directly; this poor monk isn't unwilling to perform an eye-opening consecration for you." Tang Luo said.

Business has come knocking; how could he not take it?

Qinglang certainly isn't a bad person; the gains from helping her with an eye-opening consecration would surely outweigh the cost. Such a good thing — how could Tang Luo refuse?

No need to arrange a duel beforehand, then vomit a mouthful of blood before the fight even starts; this constitutes a staged accident and extortion, behavior not worth encouraging.

"Eye-opening consecration?" Qinglang's somewhat dazed gaze gradually regained clarity.

She had never imagined her heart-devil would actually be far more severe than she imagined.

Seeing Xuanzang appear riding a dragon, looking at her — the instant their gazes met, it was as if she saw her former weakest self.

Past and present intertwined; fragments of reality and illusion surfaced before her eyes. In a moment, her true qi churned in chaotic conflict, and she was injured.

"No." Qinglang wiped the fresh blood from the corner of her mouth, a stern look rising on her face. "Qinglang wishes to exchange a bout with the Great Master; please, Great Master, do not hesitate to instruct."

"... Monk! If anything happens to my Eldest Senior Sister, I will never rest until one of us is dead." Before Tang Luo could answer, Hao Tian over there could no longer hold back and spoke up.

Just as his voice fell, a gigantic dragon claw suddenly appeared atop his head and slammed down.

Hao Tian was pinned to the ground by a single claw from Ao Yulie.

When the claw retracted, a shallow claw print was left on the ground. Hao Tian lay there, his whole body feeling as if it had been struck by a mountain peak, pain numbing him, utterly unable to move, a blank look on his face.

"Can't even take one claw of mine, yet you want to fight my master to the death?" Ao Yulie mocked.

Tang Luo paid no heed to the unlucky kid Hao Tian, patting Ao Yulie on the head.

Ao Yulie understood; his figure shook, transforming into human form. He even tossed his hair, looking at Yu Xuanzi and the others: "Are you here to watch the battle, or to deliver yourselves to death?"

Yu Xuanzi looked at Hao Tian, the Second Elder, who still lay on the ground with a blank face but wasn't dead, and shook his head with a bitter smile: "We have absolutely no intention of interfering."

"Good then." Ao Yulie nodded.

"Female Bodhisattva, do you truly wish to fight this poor monk?" Tang Luo stood not far from Qinglang. "Is it because of the matter from back then?"

"Yes, and no." Qinglang did not conceal it. "Great Master is my heart-devil."

"Hah?" Tang Luo was somewhat puzzled. "A psychological shadow? As long as you defeat me, you can break through the heart-devil?"

Qinglang hesitated slightly, then nodded.

If even this cannot break the heart-devil, what other method does she have?

"Oh, then come." Tang Luo nodded.

Helping someone cross a heart-devil tribulation also counts as a good deed; there will be merit power.

Qinglang closed her eyes, then reopened them; her eyes now held only a sharp, fierce light. Her robes and long hair stirred without wind.

On the ground beneath her feet, sword marks appeared one after another.

That was the sword qi emitted by the Heavenly Crystal Flowing Frost; unmoving, it already possessed such might.

This brought a flash of joy to Yu Xuanzi and the others' faces, but the moment they thought of the even more terrifying Tang Luo, that sliver of joy instantly sank like a stone into the sea.

Compared to Qinglang's sword qi running rampant, her momentum myriad and vast.

Tang Luo looked extremely ordinary by contrast — one hand casually behind his back, the other held upright before his chest, waiting for Qinglang to make a move.

Qinglang's right hand formed a sword seal, pointing at Tang Luo.

"One Origin, Two Polarities, sharp edge pierces through, swift!"

The same move as when they first met back then, yet its power was completely incomparable to before.

The Heavenly Crystal Flowing Frost vanished in an instant — no rampaging sword qi, no terrifying pressure.

All power had been condensed, gathered into a single point.

Before anyone could perceive where the vanished Heavenly Crystal Flowing Frost was, it appeared before Tang Luo's eyes.

Only "the thickness of a finger" from his glabella.

The cracks on the sword were more obvious than before.

Tang Luo neither dodged nor evaded, letting the Heavenly Crystal Flowing Frost's blade fall upon his glabella. Time seemed to freeze for an instant.

The next breath, boundless sharp sword qi erupted from atop the Heavenly Crystal Flowing Frost.

The space around Tang Luo was completely enveloped by sword qi.

If someone approached at this moment, they would likely be torn to shreds in an instant, becoming a mist of blood.

The ground beneath his feet was shaved off a whole layer at once, and moreover covered in dense sword marks.

But these sword marks were not chaotic; they formed a profound and mysterious pattern.

The Heavenly Crystal Flowing Frost trembled at Tang Luo's glabella, unable to advance an inch; the cracks upon it grew more and more numerous.

At this moment, Qinglang moved. Her body traced an afterimage, appearing before Tang Luo. Her right hand, still in the sword seal gesture, pressed down upon the Heavenly Crystal Flowing Frost.

A clear, resonant sword cry rang out.

The Heavenly Crystal Flowing Frost shattered into countless fragments; they did not fall to the ground, but instead resonated distantly with the profound patterns formed by the sword marks on the earth.

It seemed to form a small sword formation.

After Qinglang shattered the Heavenly Crystal Flowing Frost with a finger, her momentum did not diminish, and she pressed it against Tang Luo's forehead.

The moment of contact, all the power forming the sword formation converged and poured entirely into Tang Luo.

Tang Luo's white hair fluttered backward, yet his robes did not stir a thread.

Qinglang maintained her striking posture, her chest heaving, her face deathly pale.

That strike just now had unleashed her strongest power — a heaven-shaking sword, with no follow-up.

Tang Luo tilted his head back slightly and took a step back.

Qinglang swayed and collapsed onto the ground, powerless to rise again.

The gap was still unimaginably vast, just like before — no, even larger than before.

The stronger she became, the more keenly Qinglang felt the distance between herself and Master Xuanzang before her.

Like a natural moat, utterly impossible to cross — this was also a major reason for her heart-devil's entanglement.

After enduring hardships, crossing mountains and seas, traversing hills, she thought she had reached the end — at least she could see that person's back.

Yet she discovered no one was waiting ahead; that person was already above the nine heavens, their shadow untouchable.

"Master..." Yu Xuanzi shouted loudly; he saw the light in Qinglang's eyes gradually dimming, even her life force seemed to be dissipating.

Heart-devil! How could there be such a terrifying heart-devil!

Haotian also struggled to climb up from the ground, intending to come over.

Ao Yulie kicked him unceremoniously, sending him sprawling: "With Master here, even the dead can be saved back to life; don't you lot go causing trouble."

He sighed inwardly; although he didn't share much common language with Master and his senior brothers, being with them was just this refreshing!

Fetching scriptures is refreshing for a moment; fetching scriptures all the way is refreshing all the way.

Although it was no longer fetching scriptures now, Ao Yulie instantly recovered that feeling from back then.

This emotion could be called "fox exploiting the tiger's might," or described in one sentence: "My master is Tang Xuanzang!"

Going deeper, it was similar to that unlucky kid Haotian's thought: I'll call my master (Eldest Senior Sister) to beat you!

"Amitabha."

On this side, Tang Luo proclaimed a Buddha's name; the Merit Jade Lotus trembled slightly, and a warm light fell on Qinglang, healing her injuries.

The feeling of a guttering candle in the wind vanished instantly.

Only, Qinglang's eyes still held no luster; her heart was like dead ashes.

"Female Bodhisattva, you won," Tang Luo said.

"I won?" Qinglang looked up, her voice hollow and resentful.

"Yes." Tang Luo crouched down, brought his face close, took Qinglang's hand, and pressed her index finger to his brow. "Do you feel it?"

Qinglang was somewhat puzzled, yet felt a trace of warmth.

A moment later she withdrew her hand; on her fingertip was an extremely faint, extremely faint trace of blood.

On Tang Luo's brow was an extremely fine wound; a faint blood trace emerged.

"You injured this poor monk; in this bout, the Female Bodhisattva won," Tang Luo said.

Qinglang did not speak, and reached out again, gently stroking Tang Luo's brow.

But the wound there had already vanished without a trace, not even a white mark left behind.

"At least... I touched the shadow." Qinglang murmured, as if talking to herself, yet also as if speaking to Tang Luo.

"Cough." Tang Luo coughed lightly.

Qinglang withdrew her hand in an instant.

"No, this poor monk doesn't mind that." Tang Luo smiled. "This poor monk merely thinks: since the Female Bodhisattva takes this poor monk as her heart-devil, why not change the approach and treat this poor monk as a target? With the Female Bodhisattva's aptitude, her future achievements are boundless; we will have a chance to fight again."

Qinglang laughed, like a hundred flowers blooming: "Master, are these words true?"

"A renunciate does not speak falsehoods." Tang Luo pressed his palms together, bowed slightly, and stood up again.

Only then did Qinglang become aware of her sitting posture; she followed and stood up as well, but her eyes held no panic, only a calm, composed bearing.

Heart-devil removed?

No, Qinglang did not know, but she knew that at the very least she had found a target, a direction.

"Good." Tang Luo wore a faint smile. Good, he had earned another bout of merit power.

Saving a life surpasses building a seven-story pagoda.

"Then this poor monk will take his leave; the rampant yaoguai of Great You have not been eradicated yet." Tang Luo said, walking to the edge of the perilous peak without pausing.

Ao Yulie's figure flashed, transforming back into dragon form in a flash.

Tang Luo was already seated atop the dragon's head.

"Female Bodhisattva, if fate permits, we fight again." Tang Luo said; Ao Yulie's dragon body twisted and they sped away.

"Master." Yu Xuanzi walked over, his voice filled with surprise and joy.

A turn in the path reveals a new village — a sudden turn for the better!

Master Xuanzang truly is a holy monk!

Only, why did that smooth, gentle motion of grabbing Master's hand look so... practiced?