Chapter 261 — The March of Blades and Armies
The Herdsman of the Wasteland · Page 1 of 4
Tathagata and the Daoist Lord were the foremost figures of the previous age; each of them had cultivated to the level of gods and buddhas, and had the divine bridge not broken, the two of them would long ago have ascended in rosy clouds and departed this world. And though Emperor Yanfeng was a latecomer of this present age, he occupied the nine dragon veins and cultivated within the imperial city, favored by heaven and earth, gaining twice the result with half the effort; his cultivation reached to heaven and pierced the earth, and he was absolutely one of the very greatest powers in the world today!
The State of Jingping was hailed as the greatest holy land in the world today, and he and the Imperial Preceptor of Jingping were the sect master and the sect founder of that greatest holy land! Even so, he was still a shade inferior to Tathagata and the Daoist Lord; that the two of them joined hands against him was not because they felt themselves his lessers, but because if it were one against one, and Emperor Yanfeng wished to flee, neither of the two could easily hold him. But with the two joining hands, Emperor Yanfeng's road of life was cut off.
Crack, crack. Bolt after bolt of blue-sky thunder fell from the clouds in midair, sizzling lightning wreathed Emperor Yanfeng's whole body, a dazzling radiance flashed forth and coiled about him; in the sky true dragons danced, and suddenly nine dragons roared in unison, clawing at the Daoist Lord and Tathagata!
Tathagata chuckled, and the golden alms-bowl abruptly flipped over, its mouth turned upward, and at once golden light blazed, a whole array of heavens surged forth, and gods and buddhas filled the sky to contend with those true dragons. "Old fellow of the Dao, the slaying of the emperor is left to you," Tathagata said with a smile. The old Daoist Lord laid his hand on his sword; the sword-light stirred, bearing a wondrous rhythm, exhausting all the workings of the mortal world, and he chanted softly: "The Dao nurtures all heavens and the great earth, gives substance to the ten thousand laws, and the world returns to oneness!
Your Majesty, this half-move.
. . " Before he finished speaking, two rays of light flashed through the air and abruptly halted; the old Daoist Lord hastily stayed his sword and gazed intently, and saw an old man in black robes and a blind old man leaning on a bamboo staff standing in midair.
"Tathagata, having a fight? " the blind old man said with a smile.
Tathagata too held back the golden light spurting from his alms-bowl and smiled: "Horse King God, Blind Fellow Daoist, what brings the two of you here?
" Old Master Huo said coldly: "Looking for someone! " The blind old man tapped his bamboo staff, and the sky quivered; all the many powers locked in fierce battle around them felt a shock in their hearts and hastily stopped.
The blind old man said with a smile: "The great wind rises, the clouds fly; you gentlemen fight in such a hurry. My lords, I salute you, and beg your pardon for the interruption. Might I ask whether any of you has seen a woman?
" Quan Dingwu, having been beaten into a corner and finally catching his breath, called out loudly: "Blind old man, who are you looking for?
" "A woman.
Extremely beautiful — the kind that, once you have looked at her, you cannot forget, the kind that lives in your heart and scratches at you all day long.
" The blind old man sighed: "This woman is quite formidable. An old devil lives inside her heart, doing evil as he pleases; he has fallen in love with her looks and means to seize her body and turn himself into a woman. As the saying goes, a beauty's face is like jade, and a golden house loves to hide a fair one. We were originally taking her to Great Thunderclap Temple, hoping old Tathagata could subdue this old devil.
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