Chapter 1699 (Raw 1711):
Amid a loud earth-shaking crash, the gigantic eagle claw filled with spiritual Buddhist Might suddenly hit the ground.
It kicked up boundless dust into the surroundings, which made everyone cough endlessly.
Wang Ce stretched out his hand and wafted the dust in front of him away. He peered through the haze and vaguely saw two figures heading for the Buddha Seeking Platform land on the clifftop.
"Let's go."
After seeing Xiao Chen's trump card, Wang Ce made up his mind. He figured that he would manage to obtain a true harvest only by following Xiao Chen.
Fearing that Xiao Chen and Yang Qing would get too far ahead, he led his three junior brothers into the air, resisting the pressure coming from above and soaring higher arduously.
When one flew in this Fiendish Demon Battlefield, one would face tremendous pressure. Furthermore, this Buddha Seeking Mountain was quite tall, and one had to resist the Buddhist Might coming from above.
It was not easy to get to the Buddha Seeking Platform.
Wang Ce was not the only one who saw this opportunity. The disciples of the various sects that had waited for a long time already also made their moves at this moment, taking flight.
As for Zhen Xuan, who should have had the easiest time, he closed his eyes and rested, not acting rashly.
Xiao Chen's earlier saber strike reached all the way to the source. Not only did it break Zhen Xuan's Divine Eagle Claw, but it also struck Zhen Xuan's soul and mind.
Zhen Xuan's physical body was not injured. However, his soul sustained significant damage. While he could get up to the Buddha Seeking Platform, it clearly was not wise to face Xiao Chen now.
"Why is it that the secret art that that person executed earlier seems so similar to Dharmic World, the Major Magic Skill recorded in the Buddhist sect ancient records?!"
Magic Skills were something from the Buddhist Dao of the previous epoch. In this epoch, Buddhism restarted from the beginning with the Kāśyapa Buddha equivalent to the Lord Buddha.
The Buddhist sect of the Martial Epoch could not practice Magic Skills, only Martial Cultivation.
Zhen Xuan only suspected that Xiao Chen practiced a secret art. After all, there were all sorts of strange things in this Great Thousand Realms. Although Cultivation Techniques or Martial Techniques that could make one grow larger were rare, they still existed.
Zhen Xuan himself knew of similar Buddhist secret arts in the four great Buddhist temples of the Central Great Realm.
For now, he did not want to think of anything else. He focused on quickly recovering from the injury to his soul as he sat down.
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Up in the air, Xiao Chen dismissed Dharmic World. Then, he landed firmly while carrying Yang Qing.
"Young Master Xiao, what was that earlier?" Yang Qing's heart thumped heavily. The earlier scene was truly a great eye-opener.
Xiao Chen did not explain much. "It is just a trump card. My cultivation is too inferior to Zhen Xuan's. In order to avoid wasting time with him, I had to use it."
Seeing that Xiao Chen was not willing to say anymore, Yang Qing did not pursue the matter. She also could guess a little in her heart.
Looking up, Xiao Chen only saw a dark sky with black clouds covering it. Not far away, there was a stone stele with three ancient Buddhist characters written in cursive.
Xiao Chen could vaguely make out that they were the words "Buddha Seeking Platform."
In front, it was like Yang Qing said. There was an ancient temple.
This temple looked exceptionally expansive, occupying a large area. However, it gave off a very uncomfortable aura of death.
"What's that?!"
Suddenly, Xiao Chen saw something that startled him.
Xiao Chen saw the enormous head of a female Buddha statue above the temple, floating above it. Anyone who saw that would find it remarkably scary.
Wait!
Xiao Chen rubbed his eyes hard before discovering that it was an optical illusion.
That statue of that female Buddha should be in the valley behind the Buddha Seeking Mountain. Its body was blocked by the Buddha Seeking Mountain, leaving only its head visible.
Because the sky was dark, at first glance, it looked like an icy Buddha head floating above the temple.
Xiao Chen looked at Yang Qing, who was at the side, and found that her expression seemed strange. It was very odd.
"Brother Xiao!"
Just as Xiao Chen was about to console Yang Qing and tell her that it was just a misperception, a familiar voice came from behind.
When Xiao Chen turned his head to look back, he saw that it was Wang Ce, of the Heavenly Shaking Mountain's Confucian Institution, and his group walking over with smiles.
"Brother Xiao, I thought through it carefully already. Let's ally; you take sixty, and we take forty," Wang Ce said seriously while walking over with large strides.
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"Earlier, it was sixty-forty. Now, it's changed: seventy-thirty."
Wang Ce's face sank, immediately turning unsightly. He showed an abashed smile and said, "Brother Xiao, there's no need to be like that. Zhen Xuan's injuries will recover very quickly. If we work together with him later…"
Xiao Chen smiled coldly. "I know what you are planning. You should be pretty disappointed to see that I was not injured by Zhen Xuan. The Confucian sect's righteous Qi is about being open-hearted. It does not matter what you think, but you have to seek to be magnanimous.
"For a person like you, full of schemes and tricks, even if you pretend to be magnanimous, no matter how good your skills at the sword are, your righteous Qi will not be that strong. I do not need to fear you at all. If you are really going to work with Zhen Xuan, I'll kill you right now!"
Xiao Chen's words were like a sword stabbing Wang Ce's heart. They made him very uncomfortable, and he did not know how to rebut.
The few Confucian Institution disciples behind found it somewhat unbearable. Doing his best to keep calm, Wang Ce said seriously, "Good. Seventy-thirty it is, then. In that case, let us take an oath to the will left behind by the Divine Vein powerhouse in this Fiendish Demon Battlefield."
The will of the Divine Vein powerhouse was everywhere in this Fiendish Demon Battlefield. It was like the Heavenly Dao of this independent world.
Making an oath to this will resulted in a very strong restriction. No one would dare to mess around.
Allying with these people would indeed be of great help to Xiao Chen, who was about to enter the temple and needed to keep his guard up against Zhen Xuan.
The distribution of any gains also strongly favored Xiao Chen. There was no need for him to reject the alliance.
After they made the oath, the barrier between them eased a little. After all, they were now in the same boat.
"Let's go into the temple, then."
Xiao Chen took the lead and headed for the temple gates first.
The gates of the ancient temple were tightly shut. Its signboard hung high in the air, with two little black birds perched on it, listening.
The words on the signboard were already effaced beyond recognition. Xiao Chen threw a palm strike at the air, which struck the gates. The gates boomed and trembled for a moment but did not open.
Two black birds let out strange cries as they flapped their wings and headed inside the temple.
Xiao Chen gave those two black birds a strange glance. However, when he thought of doing something to them, he found that the black birds were already missing, so he could only give up.
"The two black birds that just left must be transformed Fiendish Demons. Or perhaps, that is their original form. Our movements should already be exposed. Soon, the experts of the Fiendish Demons will rush over," Xiao Chen said sullenly as he retracted his gaze.
Wang Ce immediately revealed a regretful expression. "We were too careless. We should have attacked earlier and killed the two black birds."
Xiao Chen shook his head and said, "How could they be killed so easily? The Fiendish Demons in the temple probably already heard the commotion at the bottom of the cliff. They have long since noticed and are waiting for us to come."
"Creak!"
Right after Xiao Chen spoke, the temple gates suddenly opened.
Wang Ce and his junior brothers immediately behaved like a powerful enemy arrived, placing their right hands on their sword handles.
A young female in white walked out from inside. She had a pair of fluffy cat ears on her head, boasting a cute and pretty appearance despite looking wild and unruly.
The young cat-eared girl glanced at Xiao Chen's group. She did not find it strange, merely sizing up it somewhat mischievously.
"The Fiendish Demon Battlefield that is opened once every twenty years is opened already?"
That young cat girl seemed to be mumbling to herself. Then, she looked at Xiao Chen and the others. "Come in, then. I'll bring you to seek out fortuitous encounters. I'll lead the way for you."
When Xiao Chen and the others heard this, they exchanged looks of surprise.
What was going on? This seemed somewhat different from their expectations. A Fiendish Demon was taking the initiative to bring them to find fortuitous encounters. Did they hear right?
Also, were not Fiendish Demons supposed to be berserk in nature without any sign of humanity at all?
Xiao Chen looked at Wang Ce, who was a Confucian Institution true inheritor. Wang Ce had been in a blessed land longer than him and should know more.
Wang Ce shook his head. "Don't look at me. I don't know what's going on, either. Previously, the senior brothers who came out alive said that this temple was very dangerous. With ten people going in, at least half would die here.
"Without experiencing a battle to the death, there was no chance at any fortuitous encounter. This situation…is incomprehensible for me too."
Xiao Chen remained silent for a while. He said, "Since we have stepped in already, that's one step in. We can't just turn back on account of this."
Furthermore…if we go back, Zhen Xuan will be waiting for us there.
After saying that, Xiao Chen took the lead and entered. Yang Qing did not hesitate to follow.
The group of Confucian Institution disciples behind hesitated for a moment before following with clenched teeth.
Hence, a cat-eared Fiendish Demon ushered in the group of people entering the mysterious temple of the Buddha Seeking Platform.