Cultivation: Fortune by Lots-Chapter 499 - 254. Slapped Broken (Two-in-One Chapter)_2

The monk raised his head to look at the sky. "If all the Sects in this world were as committed to Clear Purity and self-discipline as Xuantian Temple, without causing trouble, many disputes and upheavals would never arise. Alas, whether it be Celestial Master Mansion or other places, none are the Pure Land that Xuantian is."

Yongxiang Monk fell silent.

"Does Junior Brother believe I speak so because I was born into the Jinzhou Ye Clan?"

Jingxiang Monk shook his head repeatedly. "Since entering the monastic life, all past events have turned to dust. It is the study of our temple’s Buddhist Law that has inspired these thoughts."

Yongxiang Monk said candidly, "I’m not opposing what Senior Brother said, only that the secular world is as such. We are still inadequate in mediating it, so how could we ourselves be mired in it?"

Jingxiang Monk said, "Ending all of this quickly is the way to universally enlighten the masses and let them suffer less. As for the sins, didn’t the Buddha say, ’If I do not enter Hell, who will?’ We, who have renounced worldly life, must bear more."

Yongxiang Monk was not persuaded by Jingxiang Monk, repeating his earlier words, "Senior Brother, our priority should still be to dissolve enmity. At the very least, do not add fuel to the fire, and let’s return to the temple."

"It seems neither of us can convince the other," Jingxiang Monk said. "In that case, we must each go our own way."

As he spoke, a Glazed Buddha Light began to appear around Jingxiang Monk.

Seeing the other’s readiness to act, a deeper bitterness spread across Yongxiang Monk’s face.

Jingxiang Monk spoke calmly, as a matter of course, "This matter must be kept secret. It is inconvenient for it to be known. I am left with no choice but to offend you, Junior Brother, please don’t blame me."

A slight stirring occurred in Yongxiang Monk’s heart as he suddenly sensed an unimaginably mighty aura of baleful arms emanating from the Gao Family ancestral ground, an aura that was somehow orderly and solemn.

Centered on the Gao Family ancestral ground, the Wenhua Qi mingled with the martial energy. Together, they wove a phantasmal forest of weapons, encompassing the surrounding mountains and rivers in an enclosure that cut off the inside from the outside.

This effectively isolated Yongxiang Monk from any external contact.

Across from him, Jingxiang Monk’s aura revealed a distinct intent to kill.

The Glazed Buddha Light transformed into a sea of lotus flowers, enveloping Yongxiang Monk on the other side.

Yongxiang Monk used his own Buddhist light to manifest a colossal Lotus Flower, keeping the sea of flowers from his fellow monk at a distance. For the time being, his safety was not a concern.

But sensing the murderous intent from Jingxiang Monk, an ominous premonition arose in his heart.

"Junior Brother’s Cultivation has improved considerably over the years," Jingxiang Monk acknowledged calmly, nodding. "Indeed, you are someone with a Wisdom Root. You’ll likely surpass me soon, just like Senior Brother Heart Mirror, and achieve the Cultivation of the Upper Three Heavens. I truly admire you for that and feel inferior by comparison."

When disciples of Xuantian Temple with similar Cultivation Strength engage in a fight, it often ends with neither able to gain an advantage over the other.

However, at this moment, Jingxiang Monk suddenly produced an item.

It was a white flower, the size of an ordinary person’s palm, with four petals. Black marks were sporadically distributed upon them.

It was as if ink had been splashed on white paper.

Seeing this flower, Yongxiang Monk was astonished. "...The Never-Blooming Flower?!"

Jingxiang Monk smiled without a word.

Under his control, that bizarre Spirit Flower floated up and landed on the Lotus Flower manifested from Yongxiang Monk’s Glazed Buddha Light.

The Buddhist light trembled at once.

In the next moment, blood began to ooze from the Glazed Lotus!

Wherever the illusory blood flowed, the Glazed Lotus formed from Buddhist light melted away rapidly, like snow under the Scorching Sun.

Yongxiang Monk’s whole body shook. His naturally dark complexion turned deathly pale in an instant, and then, with a WAH sound, he vomited blood.

Cultivators of the Buddhist Precept Adhering Lineage must observe their precepts.

As long as their precepts remain unbroken, various wondrous abilities enhance them.

One person can hold multiple vows.

Different people can uphold the same vows or different ones.

Progress in Cultivation and strength are tightly intertwined with these vows, offering a plethora of variations.

Among the many vows upheld by Yongxiang Monk, the Precept of Non-Killing was paramount.

This was also a precept that many disciples of Xuantian Temple cultivated.

Under normal circumstances, given the characteristics of Xuantian Temple’s inherited Schools of Dharma, as long as a disciple had the will to persevere, there was hardly any chance of breaking this precept.

But now, Yongxiang Monk’s Precept of Non-Killing was broken.

He had taken a life.

The life he had taken, however, was that of a strange Spirit Flower.

The Spirit Flower’s demise was less due to Yongxiang Monk’s Buddhist Family School of Dharma, which aimed only at self-protection, and more to its own bizarre characteristics.

It existed in a state shifting between life and non-life, and this balance was disrupted upon contact with Yongxiang Monk’s Buddhist Law.

The Spirit Flower thus progressed towards the ’non-life’ implied by its name, the Never-Blooming Flower.

Yongxiang Monk’s vows, however, were also shattered at the same time.

Breaking the vows was not without cost.

Not only did his Buddhist Law Spirit Light vanish, but his body was also harmed in return.

Jingxiang Monk had specifically prepared this Spiritual Object to target his fellow disciple; thus, the murderous intent he emitted was certainly genuine.

Nevertheless, he no longer had to lift a finger himself.

Suddenly, a rain of arrows rose from behind Jingxiang Monk and then poured down from the sky.

Yongxiang Monk, now without the protection of the Glazed Buddha Light, was immediately pierced by many arrows, and blood flowed profusely.

Having broken his vows, he had lost not only the protection of his Buddhist light, but even his formerly resilient body had weakened and decayed, no longer as sturdy and indestructible as before.

***

Lei Jun crossed mountains and rivers, arriving just outside the ancestral land of the Gao Family.

Hm? His eyes narrowed.

Outside the perimeter of the Gao Clan’s ancestral grounds, alongside the Wenhua Qi, a turbulent martial aura also surged.

The fierce, baleful aura did not soar to the sky. Instead, it was neatly contained by strict rites, forming what seemed like an independent world, insulating the inside from the outside.

But Lei Jun could distinctly see a person shaped like a Blood Gourd, riddled with so many arrows they looked like a porcupine.

He took a closer look and, with some effort, recognized the figure. It was indeed an acquaintance, someone he had dealt with in the past.