Chapter 761: Thousand-Hand Dragon-Elephant
Hearing the loud shout from the Ground-Standing Monk, everyone's mouths twitched as they looked toward the direction of the sound.
"What a big mouth. Where did this monk come from?"
"Jia Luogu is wearing the Ten Thousand Treasures Monk Robe, and his combat power is enough to rival a Half-Saint. Who dares to say he faces a blood calamity?"
"Just look at his face—he doesn't seem like a good person. Have you ever seen a monk carrying a big sword on his back?"
The young cultivators seated in the Outstanding Talent and Heavenly Proud One sections all pointed at the Ground-Standing Monk, whispering and discussing among themselves. They all felt his appearance was too fierce and malicious, not like a good man at all.
In comparison, the Ground-Standing Monk seemed more like a heretical monk of the Dead Zen Sect.
On the other hand, Jia Luogu appeared solemn and dignified, with a kind face, his whole body radiating Buddha light, looking like an enlightened high monk.
If not for the fact that Jia Luogu's earlier methods had been too sinister and vicious, earning everyone's deep resentment, their impression of the Ground-Standing Monk would have been even worse.
The Ground-Standing Monk rolled up his pant legs, revealing his calves covered in black leg hair. The upper half of his cloth robe was wide open, exposing his chest and belly, as he walked step by step toward the top of the Book Mountain.
Although the Ground-Standing Monk's voice was very loud and his demeanor seemed imposing, his pace was extremely slow. A full quarter of an hour passed, and he still hadn't reached the halfway point.
Even a low-level martial artist who had just begun training in martial arts would have reached the mountaintop in that amount of time.
On the Heavenly Proud One seat, Chen Tianpeng, one of the three heirs of the Eastern Domain Holy King Manor, quietly transmitted a message to Chen Lan'er beside him: "This monk isn't scared, is he? Why is he dawdling and walking so slowly?"
The Ground-Standing Monk's two large ears twitched slightly, as if he had heard something. He stopped in his tracks, his bell-like eyes glaring at Chen Tianpeng. His voice was like thunder: "Scared? I am a person devoted to the Buddha, with no fear, no terror, no anger, no ignorance in my heart. How could I possibly fear a traitor to the Buddha's path?"
Chen Tianpeng was greatly shocked. He never expected the Ground-Standing Monk's hearing to be so sharp that he could even hear his secret transmission.
Seeing the Ground-Standing Monk roll up his sleeves and approach him with a fierce expression, Chen Tianpeng thought the monk had become enraged and was about to attack him. He quickly stood up, cupped his hands in apology, and said, "I'm sorry, I misspoke just now. Please forgive me, Master."
In truth, the Ground-Standing Monk had only intended to go over and reason with Chen Tianpeng. His mindset was quite calm, but his fierce appearance and rough voice made Chen Tianpeng mistakenly believe he was angry and about to throw a punch.
Seeing that Chen Tianpeng's apology seemed sincere, the Ground-Standing Monk nodded, grunted in acknowledgment, turned around, and left. He continued walking at a slow pace toward the top of the Book Mountain.
Chen Tianpeng sat back down, staring at the Ground-Standing Monk's back, and let out a long breath.
Beside him, Chen Lan'er was quite puzzled and asked, "Even though this monk is fierce, you didn't have to apologize to him so readily, did you?"
Chen Tianpeng was still shaken, wiping the sweat from his forehead, and said, "Didn't you see how fierce he looked just now? If I hadn't apologized immediately, I might have been beaten to death with one punch. This monk is definitely not a good person."
In truth, Chen Tianpeng couldn't quite explain the feeling he had just experienced. When the Ground-Standing Monk's eyes glared at him, it felt as if a Great Emperor was standing before him, filling him with awe and forcing him to submit.
After this little incident, no one dared to underestimate the Ground-Standing Monk anymore.
Even Lin Yue had said he could fight Jia Luogu—how could he be an ordinary person?
The fact that the Ground-Standing Monk could hear the secret transmission of a Fish-Dragon Ninth Change cultivator already proved that his cultivation was extremely formidable.
Everyone began to wait patiently.
They wanted to see if this monk could really stand up to Jia Luogu.
Huang Yanchen walked over to Zhang Ruochen's side, extending a pair of slender jade hands to support his arm, and said, "A traitor to the Buddha's path should be dealt with by a monk of the Buddha's path. Should we step back for now?"
Zhang Ruochen looked at Huang Yanchen, gazing into her sapphire-blue eyes, and could clearly smell a faint, subtle fragrance.
There was no expression on Zhang Ruochen's face.
But in his heart, he let out a soft sigh.
Huang Yanchen was like an iceberg, keeping any man at a distance, yet now she was taking the initiative to support him. Clearly, his identity had likely been exposed.
How had Huang Yanchen recognized him?
Zhang Ruochen had been very careful, and he simply couldn't figure out where he had slipped up.
"Mm."
Zhang Ruochen nodded and stepped back with Huang Yanchen, returning to the position of the First King's Seat.
It took half an hour for the Ground-Standing Monk to finally approach the mountaintop. He stopped, let out a long breath, and looked up, locking eyes with Jia Luogu.
Jia Luogu stood at the top of the Book Mountain, his hands pressed together in prayer. Every inch of his skin emitted golden Buddha light, and his voice was quite melodious as he said, "Are you a monk from the Ten Thousand Buddha Path?"
"I cultivate on the Brahma Heaven Path, and my Dharma name is 'Ground-Standing,'" the Ground-Standing Monk said.
The Brahma Heaven Path was a branch of the Ten Thousand Buddha Path.
Eight hundred years ago, the Buddha Emperor had risen to prominence, becoming the leader of the Buddha Path, which allowed the Brahma Heaven Path to grow and develop rapidly, eventually becoming the most powerful branch of the Ten Thousand Buddha Path.
Jia Luogu nodded and said, "Since you are not a monk of the Ten Thousand Buddha Path, why must you meddle in this matter?"
"The teachings of the Dead Zen Sect completely violate the principles of the Buddha Path—they are heretical paths. Any disciple of the Buddha Path has the right to eliminate them," the Ground-Standing Monk said, his voice resounding with force, each word shaking the eardrums.
Jia Luogu smiled faintly and said, "Your use of the word 'eliminate'—doesn't that also violate the principles of the Buddha Path?"
The Ground-Standing Monk replied unhurriedly, "I don't particularly like killing, but I don't rule out the need to break my precepts when necessary. I might even go on a killing spree."
Jia Luogu had initially intended to use words to break the Ground-Standing Monk's mental state.
But he hadn't expected this monk to have none of the demeanor of a high Buddhist monk, throwing around the word "kill" freely. He was clearly not someone who followed the rules.
Continuing a verbal battle with him would be pointless.
Since that was the case, they would have to settle it with real skill. Jia Luogu absolutely refused to believe that, with his cultivation and the Ten Thousand Treasures Monk Robe, he could lose to this opponent.
"I want to see what kind of figure this generation of the Brahma Heaven Path has produced."
Jia Luogu's eyes darkened. He pressed his hands together in front of his chest, and in an instant, the Buddha light radiating from his body surged tenfold, becoming dazzling and brilliant.
"Giant Buddha Hand Seal."
Jia Luogu's feet left the ground on their own, lifting him into the air. He separated his hands and formed two Buddha seals.
From the centers of his palms, golden Sanskrit characters flew out, converging toward the middle and forming a giant golden handprint that pressed down toward the Ground-Standing Monk.
Jia Luogu did not underestimate the Ground-Standing Monk in the slightest. As he unleashed the Giant Buddha Hand Seal, he also mobilized the power of the Ten Thousand Treasures Monk Robe. If he could knock his opponent down with a single move, that would be for the best.
"Thousand-Hand Dragon-Elephant."
The Ground-Standing Monk showed no fear. A very dense yang energy surged from within his body, transforming into strands of flame that coalesced into a patch of red-gold fire clouds.
Within the fire clouds, handprints formed, arranged behind the Ground-Standing Monk—a full thousand handprints.
At the center of each handprint was the imprint of a dragon and an elephant.
The thousand hands stood side by side, like a thousand dragons and a thousand elephants.
Zhang Ruochen's eyes became extremely bright, and he said, "Dragon-Elephant Prajna Palm, Eighth Palm."
Having cultivated the Eighth Palm of the Dragon-Elephant Prajna Palm, this palm technique martial skill would reach the Ghost-level Middle Rank, and the power it unleashed could rival a Ghost-level Upper Rank martial skill.
The reason it was called "Thousand-Hand Dragon-Elephant" was that when the Eighth Palm was cultivated to Great Perfection, a cultivator could unleash the power of a thousand wild elephants with a single palm strike.
The force of one palm could sweep through a thousand troops.
Even from several miles away, a single palm strike could collapse a city wall, as if it had been violently rammed by a thousand wild elephants.
Once the Eighth Palm was successfully cultivated, the yang energy within the cultivator's body would be a hundred times that of an ordinary person. If they were not careful, they could fall into demonic possession and spontaneously combust.
Even Zhang Ruochen had only cultivated up to the Seventh Palm of the Dragon-Elephant Prajna Palm.
Of course, that was because Zhang Ruochen was fully preparing for the Sword Discussion Conference, devoting almost all his energy to cultivating the Sword Dao, leaving no time to practice palm techniques.
"Boom!"
Both palm techniques were extremely yang and firm, colliding violently with a sound like two iron mountains crashing together.
Beams of Buddha light shot out in all directions.
The next moment, Jia Luogu flew backward, landing on the top of the Book Mountain. His feet kept stomping the ground as he retreated more than ten steps before finally neutralizing the force and stabilizing himself.
In contrast, the Ground-Standing Monk stood like a solid rock, firmly rooted in place, without moving an inch.
Jia Luogu's eyes nearly popped out in shock. He found it hard to accept this reality and said, "How is this possible? With the Ten Thousand Treasures Monk Robe empowering me, even a Second-Rank Half-Saint should not be able to withstand my Giant Buddha Hand Seal without being affected at all."
Half-Saints were divided into nine ranks, from First-Rank to Ninth-Rank. The gap between each rank was enormous, making it nearly impossible to challenge someone of a higher rank.
Only a Sacred Body could, at the Half-Saint realm, cross one rank to compete with an opponent.
In other words, even a Sacred Body at the First-Rank Half-Saint level could only contend with a Second-Rank Half-Saint. Against a Third-Rank Half-Saint, they would be doomed to defeat.
Jia Luogu was very aware of his own strength. Wearing the Ten Thousand Treasures Monk Robe and unleashing the Giant Buddha Hand Seal, even if he couldn't match a Second-Rank Half-Saint, he should at least be able to force an early-stage Second-Rank Half-Saint to take a few steps back.
But the Ground-Standing Monk's legs seemed to have grown into the ground—he hadn't moved at all.
Could it be that his strength was already enough to rival a Second-Rank Half-Saint?
At this thought, beads of sweat as large as beans appeared on Jia Luogu's forehead, and he felt a considerable amount of pressure.