Chapter 725: Tranquility Followed by Annihilation

This is the small town one must pass through to reach Taoshan.

The residents of the small town had moved away several days ago.

A middle-aged scholar and a butcher walked into the small town.

After a waft of ink fragrance, the originally silent small town became bustling; residents, merchants, and travelers emerged from various corners.

At first, the townspeople's smiles were somewhat eerie, and their bodies were stiff, looking just like living dead who had crawled out of a pile of corpses. But soon, they moved with ease, no different from ordinary people.

Then, a young man in black stepped into the small town.

The young man in black fought with the scholar and the butcher.

This battle, from the first exchange to the end, did not take much time.

But the entire small town, under the devastation of three experts beyond the Five Realms, turned into ruins, as if swept by natural disasters and calamities.

Believers on their way to worship at Taoshan passed by, and upon seeing this scene, they were all shocked, feeling terrified and fearful, even kowtowing incessantly to beg for Haotian's protection.

"Cough, cough!

"

Amidst the ruins, a sound of coughing arose.

With his hairpiece broken, hair disheveled, and clothes in tatters, Wang Shusheng struggled to rise from the pile of rubble.

Recalling his brief exchange with Yu Liancheng, a trace of terror and dread could not help but flash in Wang Shusheng's eyes.

Just at this moment, a Daoist in green appeared before him, a bloodstain on his left shoulder, coughing incessantly.

This Daoist arrived abruptly, startling Wang Shusheng.

And when he realized this Daoist in green was none other than the master of Zhishou Temple, Chen Mou, he fell into speechless shock.

With the master's cultivation, who could possibly injure him?

This did not seem to be a difficult question to guess.

After Fuzi ascended to the heavens, besides that person, who else could injure the master?

Suddenly, Wang Shusheng felt a shadow loom over him. Looking up, he saw a black cloth shoe. White sole, black cloth upper, descending from the sky.

This foot stepped onto Wang Shusheng's face; Wang Shusheng did not even have the slightest strength to resist, and his head was driven into the mud.

"Why is it a bit gritty?"

Yu Liancheng looked down at his feet and frowned: "You, Wang Shusheng, I kindly spared your life, yet you intentionally use your face to grit my foot; how insidious."

Wang Shusheng was so angry he wanted to vomit blood.

Yu Liancheng lifted his foot and gave a casual kick, and Wang Shusheng was sent flying like a broken Wawa.

The master shook his head and disappeared.

Yu Liancheng also disappeared.

"Damn you, Yu Liancheng."

Wang Shusheng spat out another mouthful of fresh blood and stood up from the ground, trembling. A trace of resentment appeared on his face: "One day, I will make you pay the price."

And just as he finished saying this, Yu Liancheng's figure appeared before him again, raising an eyebrow: "You fellow are trying to scheme against me again. Although you are the master of Shanshan and the little cat, three strikes and you're out, so..." *Whoosh*, his robes fluttered, and his slender, perfect palm transformed into a beam of jade light, striking out.

The palm carried wind and thunder, swift as lightning.

Wang Shusheng was struck by this palm and immediately flew sideways.

While still in mid-air, a look of unwillingness and fear appeared in his eyes, and his body suddenly shattered into pieces.

Accompanied by a sigh of regret, Yu Liancheng's figure disappeared.

……

Qingxia.

A natural chasm in the mountains south of the Tang Empire.

If one were to bypass Qingxia, one would have to go around thousands of miles of mountainous terrain.

The Tang Empire spent countless manpower and resources a hundred years ago to truly open up this canyon.

The economic significance of Qingxia goes without saying, and its military significance is equally important. If the Tang Kingdom encountered danger, as long as one peerless expert stood guard before Qingxia, they could hold the pass against ten thousand enemies.

Of course, that expert must be strong enough—strong enough to kill Buddha if Buddha comes, kill Demon if Demon comes, and kill Daoists if Daoists come.

Moreover, they cannot rest, cannot sleep, have no time to eat or drink, and perhaps even have to fight the enemy's experts for three days and three nights in a row.

It is not that there are no such powerful figures in the world.

For example, Fuzi.

For example, the Great Teacher.

It is just that in the war of the world against the Tang, Fuzi ascended to the heavens to become the moon, and the Great Teacher went to intercept the master.

Thus, the ones guarding Qingxia are Second Brother Junmo and a group of junior brothers and sisters.

Junmo is an expert at the peak of the Five Realms; influenced by Yu Liancheng, his Sword Technique has become increasingly supreme, and his junior brothers and sisters are also the world's top figures.

They are guarding before Qingxia, and it is not easy.

Because before Qingxia are two hundred thousand Temple Cavalry.

Although due to the terrain, Junmo and the others do not have to face the frontal charge of two hundred thousand Temple Cavalry.

But the Temple Cavalry charge without fear of death, from morning to noon, from noon to evening, from evening to late night...

After battle after battle of high intensity, they began to feel tired.

Their bodies were covered in blood.

Their fingers were trembling, their bodies were trembling.

They were covered in dust, a completely different image from the elegant hermits in the Back Mountain.

The Temple Cavalry were also very tired, even somewhat desperate.

They looked at the plains outside Qingxia, piled with an unknown number of corpses; those were all people who had died at the hands of the Academy members these past few days.

Just as both sides were exhausted, a Daoist appeared in everyone's field of vision.

The Daoist was dressed in green robes; after he appeared, the Tianyu Great Divine Official gave a start, knelt on the ground, and lowered his head respectfully.

The sound of armor rubbing together rang out, like a rushing torrent of water. Countless people knelt down, a vast expanse of silver light shimmering brilliantly, like phosphorescence beneath the waves.

The students of the Academy looked at the Daoist, their faces pale, but their expressions firm.

Especially the Second Teacher; he looked at the green-robed Daoist, looked at the bloodstains on the Daoist's shoulders and chest, and his blood boiled with fervor.

The green-robed Daoist sighed and waved his sleeve, and a Dao Sword appeared in the void.

A sword formed entirely from air.

The Dao Sword pierced through the sky and stabbed toward the Second Brother.

The sword's shadow was ethereal and faint, as if it had already exceeded the limits of human speed.

This sword was not just aimed at the Second Teacher, but at that group of Academy students.

Before this sword light, the Fourth Teacher's River and Mountain Plate flipped over, and countless quicksands poured out. The Fifth Teacher's Chessboard was sliced in two, and his face turned pale. The Sixth Teacher's Hammer flew from his grip, the webbing between his thumb and index finger torn and bloody. The Seventh Teacher's Formation Rune Lines were all severed, and he spat out a mouthful of blood...

Finally, this ethereal Dao Sword clashed with the straight, square, and large sword in the Second Teacher's hand.

The Second Teacher retreated more than a dozen steps, the meridians all over his body bursting, his clothes soaked through with blood, as if he had become a blood-man, but in the end, he still received this sword.

The green-robed Daoist let out an "Eh," as if somewhat surprised, then gave a light sigh and vanished.

And the moment after the green-robed Daoist disappeared, a figure in black appeared before the canyon.

"How truly unruly; we agreed it was a battle between the two of us, how can you involve others so casually!"

The black-clad youth looked toward the direction of Junmo and the others: "Since you do not follow the rules, then naturally I have nothing more to say."

His figure vanished the next moment.

Yet the instant he vanished, large swathes of dark clouds surged over in the sky.

The clouds were thick and heavy, black as ink, with lightning flashing within the layers. Following a "Boom—" of thunder, a torrential downpour began.

As the raindrops fell, they revealed a piercing, intimidating aura, the strong wind whistling as it broke through the air, as if countless Flying Swords were stabbing down.

Screams rose one after another; the raindrops pierced through the armor of countless Temple Cavalry without any resistance, boring holes and bloody cavities into their bodies. Some raindrops were not only "sharp swords" themselves but also contained sharp Sword Qi; once they collided with armor or tents, they would suddenly explode, the powerful Sword Qi detonating simultaneously, the violent and sharp aura venting in all directions.

This violent "Sword Rain" only lasted for a dozen breaths.

A dozen breaths later, the dark clouds dispersed, and sunlight shone upon the human world once more.

If one had to describe it, this rainstorm was like a thug breaking into a maiden's boudoir.

It came quickly, and it left quickly.

It left behind a scene of devastation upon its departure.

Countless dead and wounded.

The human world is at war.

I am also at war.

In the days of the world-wide crusade against Datang, the black-clad youth and the green-robed Daoist trod across every mountain and river in the human world.

One in front, one behind.

A distance of ten thousand miles in an instant, this is known as No-Distance.

They saw the heavily wounded Wang Shusheng.

They saw the Academy students and the Xiling cavalry before Qingxia.

They saw the grassland cavalry and the Datang Imperial Guards.

They saw Ning Que, the Twenty-Three Year Cicada, and the National Master of the Golden Tent Royal Court who was fighting the two.

They saw all sorts of things, they saw everything.

Every time he appeared, the green-robed Daoist would gain another injury, and his aura would weaken by a fraction.

Yet the black-clad youth remained calm and composed throughout, as if nothing were the matter.

On a Nameless Island deep in the South Sea.

The sea waves pounded heavily against the reefs, emitting a roar like thunder.

On the white sandy beach, there was a book, half of which was buried in the sand.

It looked like a very ordinary book, yet it seemed to encompass the Heavenly Phenomenon and all the Dao.

The green-robed Daoist appeared on the beach, his face pale as paper, his body covered in blood, but his expression was as calm as ever; he lowered his body to pick up the book and shook the sand off it.

The black-clad youth appeared on the beach shortly after and smiled: "The Heaven Volume?"

"Indeed."

The green-robed Daoist smiled slightly and tore off a page of the Heavenly Book; the myriad phenomena of heaven and earth began to evolve, and a chaotic and majestic aura pressed down toward Yu Liancheng.

"Interesting." The young scholar's brows twitched.

The battle continued.

The Abbey Dean had an extra "weapon" in his hand.

The "Heaven Volume" of the Seven Volumes of Heavenly Books.

Every time a page was torn off, it would produce the power of an incredible Heavenly Phenomenon, surging toward Yu Liancheng like a volcanic eruption, like a river churning, like a hurricane howling.

Of course, even so, the Abbey Dean did not seem to be Yu Liancheng's match.

The Abbey Dean was still bleeding.

His figure also seemed to be growing thinner and thinner, as if a gust of wind could blow him over.

Yu Liancheng dispelled a bolt of heavenly lightning and said: "Having walked for so long, are you not tired yet?"

The Temple Head said: "To fight for the human world, to fight for Haotian, fatigue is no matter, and death is no matter."

Yu Liancheng sighed and said: "You and I both think we are fighting for the human world, so who exactly is the one fighting for the human world?"

The Temple Head did not speak; page after page of the Heavenly Book was torn from his pale fingers, transforming into streams of pure and majestic power, drawing upon the power of heaven and earth.

Yu Liancheng said: "I know the connection between Zhishou Temple and Haotian, and I also know that you, Temple Head, are by no means a selfish person who craves fame, profit, and wealth. For the sake of the human world, you could even offer up your own life. But from beginning to end, your Haotian Taoist Temple has been just like Haotian, wanting to keep humanity penned in, unable to see the vast starry sky, and without the bright moon and stars for company."

"Zhishou Temple previously played the role of guide and parent, but you must understand one thing: humanity has already grown up and has already passed through its period of ignorance. Just as a child has grown up, it is time to let go of the child. Furthermore, the Xiling Divine Palace, which you at Zhishou Temple chose to lead humanity, has already decayed; they are the greatest malignant tumor."

The Temple Head still did not speak.

Yu Liancheng let out a soft sigh.

……

Datang.

A certain bustling town.

This place had previously experienced a cruel battle.

The Crippled Old Daoist who came out of Zhishou Temple wanted to kill Ye Su, who was preaching.

The Crippled Old Daoist was very strong, an existence above the Five Realms.

Fortunately, at this moment, Liu Bai appeared.

The Sword Saint Liu Bai; he had already taken that step toward being above the Five Realms.

Even before he had crossed that step, he had the strength to fight a master above the Five Realms, let alone now.

Thus, the Crippled Old Daoist died.

Liu Bai fulfilled his promise to Yu Liancheng.

And Ye Su, who was not lightly injured, began to explain the doctrines of the New Religion again after a simple bandaging.

Although the New Religion also worshipped Haotian, its doctrines focused more on the self, demanding unceasing self-improvement and carrying things with great virtue, believing that worshipping a God is not as good as relying on oneself.

If fanatical believers heard this doctrine, they would likely throw stones on the spot, considering it a blasphemy against Haotian. But it was very much to the taste of the people of Datang, spreading and burning like a wildfire across the vast lands of Datang.

Ye Su did not know that two people were also squeezed into the crowd, listening to his explanation.

One was the Temple Head of Zhishou Temple, whose bones were broken in seventy or eighty places and whose clothes were covered in blood; the other was naturally Yu Liancheng.

These two people were both teachers of Ye Su.

Hearing his disciple's exposition on the profound meaning of the New Religion, Chen Mou fell into deep thought.

And just at this moment, the divine radiance spilling down from the sky was severed. These divine radiances were Haotian's rewards, yet they could not merge into Chen Mou's flesh and blood.

The Temple Head seemed to disappear from between heaven and earth.

He seemed to form a world unto himself.

This world did not have a trace of dust, nor a trace of clamor.

——Quiet Realm.

This is the most unfathomable kind of realm in the Taoist school according to legend.

In the history of cultivation since the last Eternal Night, no one had ever appeared in it.

Whether it was the Sha Scroll or the books in Shuyuan Houshan, there were only sporadic records regarding the Quiet Realm.

The Temple Head was truly worthy of being the strongest person in the Taoist school for a thousand years.

He had actually broken through to the Quiet Realm at the moment when his oil was exhausted and his lamp was drying up.

Compared to others above the Five Realms, the Quiet Realm was a higher level; this realm was the truly peerless one, because this realm could achieve isolation from the world.

The Dao heart is quiet.

Body and mind are both clean.

The injuries previously caused to the Temple Head by Yu Liancheng were, at this moment, as if brushed away like dust; he recovered to his peak state in an instant.

The Temple Head picked up the Heavenly Book, which he had torn until only ten or so pages remained, and endless power was injected into it.

The originally thin book volume increased page by page, becoming rich. And with every page added, the Temple Head's figure grew a fraction thinner.

In the end, this Heavenly Book volume was actually one-third thicker than the original Heavenly Book, while the Temple Head's figure was almost transparent.

"I know that even the Quiet Realm is not your match. You and Fuzi are at another height; Fuzi is 'No Constraint', and you are 'Carefree'."

The Temple Head handed the Heavenly Book to Yu Liancheng, his figure turning into the finest powder inch by inch, drifting away with the wind.

"Since that is the case, I might as well help you. I hope... your decision is correct, and is for the benefit of all living beings."

……