Chapter 293: Life and Death

　　The old monk appeared before Xiao Shi, his glass-like body radiating in light.

　　He lifted his right hand gently. With a light graceful flick from his finger, his solemnly divine face revealed a grin.

　　As Xiao Shi was stretching, her eyes widened when she saw the old monk.

　　As she was about to voice out, the old monk flicked his finger and her heart shattered in an instant.

　　Everything ended abruptly. The world before her eyes quietly came to a stop, the gleam in her eyes slowly disappeared behind her eyelids. Xiao Shi’s body fell to the floor, not a single sound came from her after. She had died just like that.

　　This scene was slow in motion but too quick for Chu Li in reality to react.

　　The old monk grinned in the direction of Chu Li and once again flicked his finger gently.

　　A bizarre power appeared in the empty space between Chu Li’s heart, threatening to explode his heart into smithereens. The Heavenly Demon spiritual force which swirled within his heart suddenly solidified, similar to how a wild beast lunged out and swallowed this power whole in one bite.

　　Seeing the man kill Xiao Shi with just a flick of a finger, clouded Chu Li with blind rage, filling him with the desire to rush in and chop the man’s grinning head off, shredding him into pieces.

　　As rage overtook Chu Li, the calmer the man became. The Life and Death Scripture transformed, changing from pristine to wilted, dispersing all its spiritual force, its body feeling like a wilted tree trunk.

　　“Amitabha — !” the old monk stood before Chu Li and read a Buddhist chant.

　　The Buddhist chant channeled tranquility, gradually covering the skies above.

　　The entire Horse Racing Town could hear the Buddhist chant as it reached their ears. Their hearts fell into a calming peace, all feelings of aggression dimmed out in that instant.

　　The two clans of people locked in a skirmish to death outside the Horse Racing Town suddenly stopped what they were doing. In a brief instant, their killing intent had disappeared, and they felt like what they were doing before was laughable.

　　Without much thought, they all turned away to leave.

　　“Amitabha…” the old monk read out the Buddhist chant once more.

　　As this Buddhist chant reached the ears of others, a sense of calming peace enveloped the hearts of everyone and images of the old monk surfaced in their minds.

　　Gu Yue was observing this from above the trees. Suddenly, he spotted a bright ray of light descending from the skies above and upon hearing this Buddhist chant, he shouted in shock, “His Holiness Kong Hai!”

　　He appeared before the old monk like a cloud of smoke. He observed the glass-like body which bore solemn divinity and a halo at the back of the monk’s head. His eyes widened, with a quivering voice he whispered, “His Holiness Kong Hai?”

　　The old monk turned around and greeted him with both palms clasped. He carried a serene voice as he replied, “Almsgiver Gu, my task has been resolved, I’m about to return to the temple to meditate behind closed doors.”

　　“They’re… ?” Gu Yue looked towards the two fallen on the ground.

　　Kong Hai revealed a disheartened expression and calmly replied, “The two almsgivers have passed on to the far west and His Highness Lord An may rest easy now. I shall take my leave.”

　　“Is His Holiness about to become Buddha?” Gu Yue asked hastily.

　　Kong Hai heaved a heavy sigh. “I do not spout deception as someone who journeyed as a monk. I only borrowed a sliver of the divine Buddha’s power, far from becoming one myself. I must meditate behind closed doors this time as I have accomplished what I came out here for. Farewell!”

　　Upon respectfully bidding his farewell, Kong Hai disappeared without a trace.

　　Gu Yue’s eyes widened. The respect he had for the Titanium Temple grew stronger from the scene before him.

　　Dazed at the moment, Gu Yue then snapped back to his senses and moved forward to inspect Chu Li and Xiao Shi. A grin crept across his face.

　　Both had utterly perished, their bodies hardened into corpses. It would be no use even with miraculous pills and medicine, not even the Yi public house’s Spirit Blessing Pill could save them!

　　Gu Yue turned his attention to Xiao Shi.

　　The dead Xiao Shi was still beautiful beyond all living things. Her eyelids gently rested, her serene expression as if she was freed from all ties of life and not feeling a hint of pain.

　　Gu Yue heaved a sigh. “Truly the most beautiful of all maidens!”

　　He shook his head as he muttered to himself.

　　His Highness Lord An was cruel to the core with desired lands conquered and maidens at his side. Although he became an emperor with all maidens within his reach, a highly sought-after maiden like Xiao Shi was indeed difficult to encounter.

　　To ascend the throne, King An was willing to commit the utmost vile acts, truly a man who accomplished matters of the greatest scale.

　　A pity that it was His Holiness Kong Hai who had personally dealt with them. If it was him, he would not dare to commit such a vile act.

　　“Sigh…” Gu Yue shook his head as he breathed out heavily.

　　Unable to let such a beauty of a corpse remain out in the open, Gu Yue figured it would be best for him to lay Xiao Shi to rest.

　　Gu Yue fiercely lashed out both his palms, a large pit appeared in the grounds. He gently laid Xiao Shi into the pit and after giving some thought, he tossed Chu Li in too as a charitable gesture.

　　With both palms, he pushed the soil back to its place and hammered the ground with his feet. Without even setting up a slab, Gu Yue then soared away.

　　—

　　Chu Li was stuck in a bizarre state. His body resembled that of a wilted wood, no different than being dead. He was conscious in spirit, however, with the Omniscient Mirror revealing to him with great clarity. He saw that Kong Hai was missing one bead from the Buddhist beads on the man’s left wrist. True enough, it was the power of Śarīra.

　　As he saw Gu Yue leave, Chu Li called upon the Life and Death Scripture to change his form from wilted to alive. Spiritual forces from the skies and earth surged in and activated the unmoving Heavenly Demon spiritual force within his heart, revitalizing it fully, unknowingly evolving it into its second stage.

　　It consumed the power flicked by the old Monk Kong Hai and strengthened his being.

　　To think that Chu Li had trained it the wrong way all this time, the strengths of the Heavenly Demon spiritual force relied on power consumption. To master the Heavenly Demon power was to convert the energy consumed by the Heavenly Demon spiritual force into his own, not for the purpose of increasing the Heavenly Demon’s spiritual force.

　　Chu Li held Xiao Shi without a word as he broke out of the earth, as effortlessly as water would flow out of the soil.

　　He laid Xiao Shi on the ground gently, wiped the dirt from her face and heaved a sigh. Before he could even rest, his mind drifted to the moment Kong Hai appeared.

　　Kong Hai’s state at that moment was too shocking. The man’s entire being transformed into Buddha, to think that the formation was forcefully broken through. Although this formation was not formidable, it was enough to surprise anyone.

　　If the Tempest Temple possessed such technique, then the Titanium Temple had it as well, similar to a God’s descent from the divine skies above. None could match them in power.

　　The Heavenly Demon’s spiritual force swirled within Chu Li’s body, consuming Kong Hai’s palm power in one gulp, then cycled within his body and returned to his heart once more where it remained dormant.

　　The second stage of the Heavenly Demon’s spiritual force was truly impressive. A pity that it was too weak prior to this, otherwise, Chu Li would not have the need to bear these sins.

　　Now that the deteriorating effects of Kong Hai’s palm strike power had gone, his body’s peak form had been fully unleashed after swallowing a Spirit Blessing Pill. With this combination, Chu Li quickly recovered from all his wounds.

　　In the next moment, Chu Li arrived at the tallest restaurant in the city.

　　Outside the restaurant stood a steel pole with a banner hanging above. The words “Raging Sands Restaurant” could be seen from any position in the city upon lifting one’s head.

　　Chu Li withdrew two million silvers and booked the entire restaurant. He instructed the staff to shift the position of the steel pole in an hour, moving it so that it stuck to the walls of the restaurant.

　　The owner of the restaurant happily adhered to his request.

　　Two million silvers could easily buy ownership of the restaurant. With only these few days of booking alone, the place had definitely struck gold in riches, so much so that the owner could not have been any more excited. Following Chu Li’s request, the steel pole was shifted within an hour and everyone was dismissed thereafter.

　　Chu Li had already gotten used to unleashing the Eclipse Purloin.

　　The dark clouds in the skies above rapidly converged as if night had fallen.

　　Thunder roared in the clouds, sending the people of Horse Racing Town into a jolt. First, there was a high monk’s descent into the mortal world, then the Buddhist chant which sent the public into a calming trance and now there were thunder strikes from above. Could all of this be signs of vanquishing evil?

　　Chu Li stood on the top floor of the restaurant, observing as Xiao Shi’s shattered heart gradually healed. Still in disbelief, the miracle presented by this Eclipse Purloin technique was beyond what he could imagine, for even a wound of this degree can be restored to its original state. It was truly extraordinary.

　　Strikes after strikes of thunder were diverted to the steel pole but none of them fell upon him.

　　Chu Li could not afford to be careless. With a body similar to that of a wilted wood and no different than a corpse, he wanted to mask himself as a dead person. Chu Li intended to see if he could avoid punishment through thunder.

　　“PA!” a flash of electricity dodged the steel pole and struck directly upon his forehead.

　　Chu Li fell flat on his back and landed heavily on the wooden floors.

　　The Heavenly Demon’s spiritual force persistently swirled, consuming the electric shock but just like how a snake would swallow an elephant whole, it was difficult to consume. The power of the thunder was much purer than that of Kong Hai’s palm strike power.

　　Chu Li did not fret, however. As long as his spirit was not harmed and with the Life and Death Scripture at his side, he would not die so easily.

　　Xiao Shi gradually opened her eyes, turned to ensure her state of well-being and sat up slowly.

　　She found herself on a surface formed from two tables pushed together, with no one at her side. Where was Chu Li?

　　She turned her head to see Chu Li laying on the floor.

　　Xiao Shi immediately came down to lift him up, her fragrant body stumbled as an electric current flowed through her. She slammed the table surface as she fell to the floor, her fragrant and silky black hair stood up in an exploded state.

　　Chu Li heaved a long sigh of relief, then sat up.

　　The Life and Death Scripture was truly impressive. Between the few transformations from life and death, it had dissipated the power of the thunder and revived the dead. It might as well have cheated death.

　　Chu Li turned his head towards Xiao Shi as he gazed at her silky hair spread in all corners as if it had exploded. He could not help but laugh heartedly.