Chapter 155: The Flame of Merit

　　As Shen Lian carried the Blood Dissipating Sword into the hall of the Temple of Killings, he frowned. The flames remained the same, both Qianmo and Xiaoxun were resting with their eyes closed, everything seemed to be in order.

　　However, he still felt that something was out of place. The murderous thoughts from the Blood Dissipating Sword he was holding impacted his heart, and yet it could not move his heart of Dao. The word, “Yuan” was right where it should be, and everything seemed alright.

　　Shen Lian finally realized that the Taixu Divine Qi within him was reducing at a shocking speed. He could no longer feel the Qi of heaven and earth in the world; it was as though his surroundings had turned into the desert devoid of Qi of Vitality.

　　The Blood Dissipating Sword gave off a clear gleam and it flew out of his hand. It turned into a pool of bloody water, and like a spiritual snake, it made its way to the “Yuan” within moments. It filled itself into every stroke of the “Yuan”, as though each stroke was a container. The fresh blood that flew in it gave it demonic characteristics.

　　“Grandmaster Yuan Qing, I guess I will take over your meaning of Dharma,” someone spoke out of nowhere. It was a light voice that seemed out of this world.

　　Besides the flowing of bloody water in the blood-colored “Yuan”, there was no other response.

　　On the other hand, a young person stood three feet away from Shen Lian. It was not someone else – the person looked exactly like Shen Lian. He bore a striking resemblance to Shen Lian, but he was dressed in a red Daoist robe.

　　As Shen Lian stared at the young person who was like his twin, the young person returned his gaze. Shen Lian felt as though he could see his reflection in the person’s clear gaze.

　　Shen Lian did not show his emotions and his gaze remained calm. No one knew about the emotions brewing at his heart.

　　“It’s so nice to be young, as life is filled with endless possibilities. Your life force is very enchanting,” the young person dressed in bloody clothes smiled at Shen Lian.

　　The person in bloody clothes stared at Shen Lian as though he was looking at his favorite toy. He had very expressive expressions; with minor changes on the corner of his eyes or lips, he was able to convey a lot of messages.

　　Cultivators were usually calm. They were not very expressive with their facial expression. They could only control the energy within their body if they were calm. This was because they were freed from the disturbance of the outside world.

　　“As the books would say, taking without asking is considered as stealing. You took away some part of my Mana secretly. This could be considered as stealing,” Shen Lian spoke without anger, as though he was merely detailing a fact.

　　“Yes I did, what are you going to do about it?” the person in bloody clothes clapped and replied. “I’m going to bring along the meaning of Dharma from Grandmaster Yuan Qing,” he spoke as he pointed at the word “Yuan” that had blood flowing in it.

　　Shen Lian stared at the person in bloody clothes. Regardless of how light and dreamy he was, the moment he made a move, he was bound to leave behind traces of his movement. The Qi of heaven and earth here had been isolated, but he still had his own spiritual force. When he was doing a spell, there was no way that he did not want his spiritual force.

　　Even though Shen Lian did not know how the person managed to steal away some of his Taixu Divine Qi, but he realized it early enough to stop the person in his track.

　　It would seem that the Blood Dissipating Sword was the key. Meanwhile, the “Yuan” indeed contained the meaning of Dharma from the Grandmaster Yuan Qing. Shen Lian thought of something – Chen Jianmei could extract the meaning of Dharma after receiving it, and even left it in the word. It could be considered as “obtaining the Dharma and disposing of it”. It showed that Chen Jianmei merely used it as a reference, and he might have chosen to walk on his own path. If Shen Lian’s speculation was accurate, then the state that Chen Jianmei was in was a lot higher than what Shen Lian thought.

　　While Shen Lian thought about these matters which were completely unrelated to the danger at hand, the person in bloody clothes did not make any move at all.

　　Shen Lian was slightly disappointed. He was trying to think naturally, and through that, giving a chance to the person in bloody clothes to attack. Shen Lian intended to deal with dynamic by being static as he was attacking.

　　“You are outstanding. If it was the two kids, Ge Yuan and Hong Qianya, I would have taken them down long ago. Both Jingang and Bore were equally important, and a lot of people couldn’t understand this in their entire lifetime, which is why they would be caged in this world forever,” the person in bloody clothes smiled.

　　Jingang and Bore were Buddhist terminologies, and Shen Lian understood what the person in bloody clothes was trying to say. Jingang referred to an irresistible force, and Bore was the highest wisdom. With irresistible force and the highest wisdom, one could overcome all of the obstacles on the path of pursuing Dao. Eventually, one would be able to emerge from the sea of suffering and to obtain the supreme Dao fruit.

　　These rationales were commonly seen in the Daoist and Buddhist scriptures. Besides Daoist Master and Buddha, not a lot of people were able to do it.

　　Shen Lian did not feel impressed by the person’s logic, but he realized how scary the person was. Either he knew what Shen Lian was thinking and could guess about his temperament, or he could find out about the most secretive thought Shen Lian had in his mind. Just as how the person could steal away his Taixu Divine Qi without any premonition.

　　Otherwise, there was no way that the person could have known Shen Lian’s aim. When he made known of Shen Lian’s aim, he intended to bury the seed of horror in Shen Lian’s heart, and thus securing his proactive position.

　　“There is something else that I have heard before. If something could be solved with one’s fist, why would one bother with using one’s brain? Regardless of how mysterious you are, you are not able to defeat me easily. Otherwise, why else would you make a move now?” Shen Lian spoke with relief as he thought through it.

　　When he was done speaking, Shen Lian raised his fist.

　　The blood-colored “Yuan” seemed to have a pair of eyes, and it was observing the commotion in the hall. It was watching the two people who bore a striking resemblance to each other fighting.

　　A pale blue Daoist robe moved, and it looked like a mysterious blue shadow. The other looked like a red silk cloth, leaving behind overlapping blood-red shadows.

　　The person in bloody clothes was not fast, but his tempo and speed were unpredictable.

　　It was as though he was not of blood and flesh, but truly a shadow.

　　Normal cultivator would pause between transitions of speed. From extremely fast to extremely slow, the transition would burden the body, and the momentary pause served as a buffering period.

　　Shen Lian had the finest control over his Mana, and his body had spent years in the River of Spirits. Yet, he still could not eliminate the buffering period. He managed to shorten the pause, and his body could handle more of the burden.

　　The hall in the Temple of Killings was not small, but it was only a few thousand feet big. To the strongest cultivators, this was merely distance that could be covered within a few breaths.

　　The blue shadow and the red demonic shadow chased each other without making any contact. Shen Lian followed the person in bloody clothes at a steady pace. He played along with the person’s variety of changes without worrying about burdening his body.

　　His Mana was flowing in his meridians and acupoints, just as how the Sky River never stops. His meridians and acupoints were scrubbed by the Mana, and black blood started coming out of Shen Lian’s body gradually. Due to the speed, the blood turned into lots of sparks and eventually burnt out as cloudy mist.

　　The faster he moved, the lighter he felt. The reduction in the Taixu Divine Qi within him lessened the burden he carried during the powerful transition of Mana.

　　The cloudy mist lumped together without being dispersed, as though it was smoke. Even though it did not attach on the red shadow, but the red shadow had slowed down significantly.

　　All of a sudden, the person in bloody clothes paused. The cloudy mist formed a giant whirlpool, and the person in bloody clothes was right in the middle of it. All of this happened in the blink of an eye. Shen Lian did not rush over, and eight cloths of different colors appeared around him, as though they were his tentacles.

　　The person in blood seemed to have gotten stronger in terms of his Mana, but his expression was not as calm and collected as before. As he looked at Shen Lian, a hint of shock passed in his eyes. “Taixu Strategy? I know that too,” he spoke lightly.

　　His bloody clothes vibrated, and eight similar sword auras appeared. The nature, including Tian, Di, Feng, and Lei responded, and his performance was not any lesser than Shen Lian.

　　The eight sword aura cut towards Shen Lian at a high speed, as though they were eight strokes of quick lightning. Even though Shen Lian had used the dirt in his blood as cloudy mist, and forced the person in bloody clothes to materialize, but it was only when his opponent truly attacked that he felt his mysterious strength.

　　His opponent operated the eight Qi of Taixu better than Shen Lian did, and they cut towards him at the speed of lightning. He even felt that the eight Qi of Taixu were the same as the Mana within himself, which was why he found it so hard to defend against them.

　　Every collision saw Shen Lian’s Mana being weakened and his opponent’s Mana getting stronger.

　　Shen Lian could clearly feel his opponent attacking his Mana, and the demonic characteristics were affecting his heart slightly.

　　The person in bloody clothes stared at Shen Lian as though Shen Lian was a lamb waiting to be butchered, as though he was about to finally obtain his favorite toy.

　　The person in bloody clothes closed up to Shen Lian step by step.

　　When he was five feet away, Shen Lian smiled at him. A yellow wooden sword flew towards the person in bloody clothes and tried to pierce him. The person in bloody clothes raised his brows and pointed his finger. A flash of blood light appeared to stop the yellow wooden sword.

　　Right at this moment, a flame was ignited at the tip of the wooden sword. The flame was greenish yellow, and the blood light reacted as though it ran into its mortal enemy. Within moments, the blood light disintegrated and fell onto the person in bloody clothes.

　　Amidst the flame, the person in bloody clothes hissed, “The Flame of Merit.” He was then consumed by the great fire and had turned into a blood-colored divine aura. He charged at Shen Lian.

　　Shen Lian knew that merit would overpower evil spirits, and the fire of Nirvana had the same effect as well. This should be able to restrain the person in bloody clothes. After all, he looked like sky demon or heart demon; why else would he have the same face as Shen Lian? Not to forget that he could steal away Shen Lian’s Mana as well. Unexpectedly, he still remained after Shen Lian’s attack. The blood-colored divine aura broke through from the fire and charged at Shen Lian, ignoring every obstacle in its way.

　　A clear cry was heard, and a strange Qi blocked the blood-colored divine aura away from Shen Lian. The blood-colored divine aura was bounced off and fell out of the hall.