Still, his greatest motivation for holding on was still hope.
He believed that if he could hold on, peak experts would soon arrive to assist him. At that time, Yan Zhaoge would not be able to seek death even if he wanted.
Who knew that however long he waited, there was nothing.
He gradually became unable to hold back an incredulous look.
So much time had passed. Even someone of his current cultivation level should already have arrived to investigate upon having learnt of these peoples’ deaths!
Just how was it possible that no one had appeared?
History's Strongest Senior Brother Chapter 838: You will have died for nothing
HSSB838: You will have died for nothing
As he despaired, that young monk felt the pain that Yan Zhaoge was inflicting on him to be exceptionally intense.
Yan Zhaoge’s methods sufficiently kept his senses acute and his mind clear, thus making it convenient for him to ask questions.
Of course, the pain inflicted by those torture methods was hence also enhanced further.
That young monk clenched his teeth, enduring even as thoughts flashed quickly through his mind with what little rationality still remained.
“The Immortal Exterminating Sword of the Prime Clear lineage…doesn’t seem like it.”
“Buddhist martial arts…doesn’t seem like it either.”
“Martial arts of those who worship evil devils and malevolent spirits…no.”
“The Peerless Heavenly Scripture of the Jade Clear lineage’s ten Primordial Heavenly Scriptures…it has been discontinued for so long it cannot be confirmed.”
“The Oracle Divination of the Yellow River Nine Halls Diagram?” The Taiyi Fist of the Grand Clear lineage’s Grand Cosmos Five Manifestations? The Nine Underworld’s Faceless Devil Scripture?”
The few possibilities that this young monk knew of flashed rapidly through his mind, “It has been a long time since those three martial art legacies have been seen. Could a new one have been born?”
Still, whichever of them it was, one thing did not change.
If it was not that the Buddhist bigwigs were intentionally keeping from acting due to some unique considerations, it meant that Yan Zhaoge had the ability to stop the transmission of Buddha light!
There was no way for more powerful Buddhist experts to know that his allies had been wiped out.
They likely did not know the location as well as the fact that it was Yan Zhaoge who had done the deed.
His fellow monks had all been killed for no reason, with this youth before him walking scot-free!
As he realised this, even he with his usually resilient mind and staunch will could not help but fall into despair, “When he attacked earlier, I couldn’t see a single trace of those discontinued supreme martial arts at all!”
Yan Zhaoge looked at him calmly, “Big monk, it looks like this Yan did not sin, and no retribution will be falling on me.”
“At the very least, you will not be able to see this retribution swiftly unfold now.”
“I have all the time I need to chat with you. Let us see how long you can endure.”
This young monk snorted, despair filling his gaze.
He said, “Don’t you even think about getting anything out of this humble monk, benefactor!”
As he said this, a bluish-green Buddha light of Vajra suddenly lit up within his body.
The Northern Ocean Clone tried to suppress this yet discovered that this Buddha light was not being emitted to resist him as it was instead causing an effect within the body of the young monk himself.
Yan Zhaoge’s gaze flickered as he immediately reached out and placed his hand against the monk’s chest, chaos in his palm as he circulated the Peerless Heavenly Scripture in an attempt to dispel the Buddha light.
Yet, the Buddha light was not externalised as it instead dimmed within the monk’s body.
An intent of purity and tranquillity was emitted from it before it fell silent, dying down.
The young monk chanted a Buddhist mantra in a low tone, “Our Buddha is benevolent.”
No further aura could be felt from him as the glow in his eyes was extinguished, his eyeballs resembling idols or carvings in their woodenness.
A faint layer of golden light appeared on the surface of his skin, causing him to look like a golden Buddha statue.
There was no trace of aura left within his body as it had actually died down completely just like that.
Yan Zhaoge looked rather astonishedly at that young monk before him as his body gradually collapsed on its own, leaving behind only a faint golden sarira that fell on the Northern Ocean Clone’s palm.
“Wow, perfect self-destruct. Is it impossible to extract information from any of these monks?”
Yan Zhaoge stroked his lower chin, “I wonder if only Buddhist martial practitioners who have attained a certain cultivation level can do this or if all of them are able to do so regardless?”
“I was rather careless just now. If I had known about this beforehand, I would have left a few more live ones. In that case, I would have been able to test it out on them one by one now.”
Yan Zhaoge gazed at that sarira, “The Buddha light has been completely extinguished and can no longer lead other Buddhist experts to this location. It looks like a last resort that is to be used only when all hope has been lost and no further options exist.”
“The courage and resolution to commit suicide is not something everyone possesses. Still, this is hard to say for fanatics.”
Yan Zhaoge sighed, keeping the sarira.
He took one final glance at Sage Buddha Peak, “I can only note down this location. I will return for another look when the time comes.”
Yan Zhaoge still did attribute quite a bit of importance to this location.
That massive white elephant had already been killed off completely by Pan-Pan.
Currently, Pan-Pan had already regained his original size as he re-entered the Myriad Dragon Palace alongside Yan Zhaoge and the Northern Ocean Clone.
Yan Zhaoge fingered the sarira that he was holding, “Although it has been extinguished, the Buddha light contained within was the same as that of those Buddhist martial practitioners I killed just now.”
As the Buddha light entered chaos, it was completely exterminated as it was no longer able to exist.
Within the Myriad Dragon Palace, Feng Yunsheng looked at Yan Zhaoge, “There’s not going to be more of them, right?”
Yan Zhaoge said, “These Buddhist martial practitioners should be those of the Obscured Way World closest to this location. That monk who killed himself should have been their strongest local expert.”
“As for the more powerful Buddhist bigwigs, if they are unable to get a hold of the situation here in a timely manner, quite a bit of time should still be needed before they manage to find their way over.”
Feng Yunsheng sighed in relief before asking curiously, “From the words of those Prime Clear lineage martial practitioners, the peak Buddhist experts should know that you killed their people here. Yet, no one has appeared here after such a long time. Could there be some sort of misunderstanding?”
Yan Zhaoge said, “No, it isn’t so. What they speak of does indeed happen. You lot also have to be exceptionally careful about this if you run into Buddhist experts in the future.”
“The reason that I was able to kill them discreetly was that I integrated some of the Faceless Devil Scripture in my attacks, cutting off the communication that came about upon their deaths.”
“This is a top-tier devil art that sends one’s mind into chaos, being something that should not really be cultivated. Still, since we know that they have unique methods now, it is necessary for us to have something on hand that we could use to deal with it.”
Yan Zhaoge explained, “I will transmit some of its techniques to you guys later on. Do not allow your foundations to be disturbed. Just treat it as a method which you can employ.”
The Faceless De
vil Scripture originated from the Faceless Heavenly Devil who had been one of the most powerful Great Devils of the Nine Underworlds, a hegemon spoken of in the legends of yore.
This devilish art was one of the best ones amongst the martial arts of the devilish dao which had been stored in the Martial Repository of the Heavenly Court’s Divine Palace.
It was just that its devilish nature was extremely strong, surpassing one’s imagination as it could influence one’s will.
Feng Yunsheng and the others all nodded.
Ah Hu smacked his lips, “That Miss Gao of the Roving Jade Heavens mentioned that the Dragon Spring Emperor is surnamed Long…”
Yan Zhaoge nodded, “Sun Zhongda once mentioned that the Prime Clear lineage has a rather unique lineage which originates from a senior apprentice-granduncle of his that is surnamed Long. It should be the granduncle’s lineage that Miss Gao was talking about.”
He had suddenly asked about this just now precisely because he had realised this.
It was very likely that leaving the World beyond Worlds and remaining in the Roving Jade Heavens had been voluntary on the Dragon Spring Emperor’s part.
From Gao Qing’s narration, while the Dragon Spring Emperor and the Profound Sovereign formed a combination where the female was stronger and the male weaker, they shared an extremely loving relationship.
With such a relationship existing between experts of this level, first not speaking of the Dragon Spring Emperor, how would the Profound Sovereign have forced something as humiliating as him taking on her surname onto him?
Of course, that something like this had indeed basically happened could not be considered wrong from the standpoints of the World beyond Worlds and the Roving Jade Heavens. However, these were two different concepts altogether.
This Emperor was of the World beyond Worlds’ Jade Clear lineage. It was not impossible that one of his descendants had been granted permission to return to the World beyond Worlds to live beneath a low profile.
The only unclear thing was whether the bigwigs of the World beyond Worlds saw this as a rebellion.
History's Strongest Senior Brother Chapter 839: Learning how to flip over the wall
HSSB839: Learning how to flip over the wall
In terms of external appearance, Lin Hanhua did not resemble Gao Qing in many areas.
While they hailed from the same family tree a few generations up, they were from two different branches as opposed to being direct blood relatives at the end of the day.
If one did not know that they were relatives beforehand, it would be very difficult to discover that they were related by blood.
Still, after having learnt this, observing things carefully, one might just be able to tell a thing or two.
This was not something influenced by their psychology as it was something that Yan Zhaoge and the others had concluded after comparing the two carefully and earnestly.
At Yan Zhaoge’s current cultivation level, if he were to carefully observe someone, he would be able to scrutinise them in very great detail.
“I just wonder where the root of the conflict between the World beyond Worlds and the Roving Jade Heavens lies,” Yan Zhaoge pondered, “They seem to have differing stances on Buddhism, at least.”
Ah Hu now asked, “Young Master, is there any way for us to leave this Obscured Way World?”
Yan Zhaoge said, “I have a general idea of how we could do so. Still, I am not fully certain of it succeeding. We might as well give it a go now.”
Even though he had slain that group of Buddhist martial practitioners and prevented them from transmitting news and gaining reinforcements, lingering here for a long time would still be risky.
With no news coming from the dead Buddhist martial practitioners after a long time, their fellow monks would end up feeling suspicious sooner or later, eventually coming over to look for them.
This world was Buddhist territory at the end of the day. They had already crossed the line and accrued hatred in just coming here alone.
Yan Zhaoge had the general gist of this from the words of those Buddhist martial practitioners.
It was likely that there existed some sort of agreement, whether tacit or not, between the World beyond Worlds and the Roving Jade Heavens.
Just like how the Prime Clear lineage descendants of the Roving Jade Heavens were forbidden from setting foot in the World beyond Worlds, Buddhism probably restricted Daoist martial practitioners from trespassing onto their territory as well.
Also, the Future Buddha presided high above while the bigwigs of Daoism were either all missing or dead. Beneath such circumstances, Buddhism would inevitably be the more powerful side.
Due to some reasons and agreements, Buddhism did not encroach on the World beyond Worlds and its lower worlds like the Eight Extremities World, the Floating Gate World and the Vast Ocean World.
Still, if Daoist martial practitioners left the World beyond Worlds’ protective sphere of influence, they could then be viewed as having automatically given up on their protection as they would immediately become targets of Buddhism.
Or they might become targets of illumination…
While this Obscured Way World seemed normal, it was actually rather unique.
While the Gautama Buddha had already Transcended and the Journey to the West was a tale from incredibly long ago, that Five Elements Mountain or Sage Buddha Peak was still a unique existence.
Even if Buddhism currently paid little heed to this place, they would surely not ignore it completely.
In their words, this was a ‘restricted ground’.
Since his cultivation base was currently still insufficient for him to ascend Sage Buddha Peak, Yan Zhaoge did not keep harping on this matter.
He just took note of this location, intending to leave first and return only when the time was right.
Instead, what Yan Zhaoge had to properly ponder on was how to leave this place, returning to the other side of the ‘wall’ and the World beyond Worlds.
This was still his very first time ‘flipping over the wall’ at the end of the day. Not having had any experience or clues regarding this, he had to slowly ponder on it and reach a conclusion himself.
Even though his comprehensions of the variations in time and space were much higher than that of many others, time and effort was also needed if he had to start looking for a way out from scratch.
Yan Zhaoge did not feel hasty at all. Quite a period of time was still needed before Kang Ping, Luo Zhiyuan and the others could extricate themselves from the Clear Scenic Region.
Bar any major complications, the situation was still a very stable one.
The only thing that Yan Zhaoge was rather concerned about was whether the Southern Exalt, Zhuang Shen, might make any big moves.
Currently, Yan Zhaoge researched on how to return to the other side of the ‘wall’ while traversing the lands of Buddhism even as he came to better understand how Buddhism was currently doing.
After leaving the Obscured Way World, Yan Zhaoge went to quite a few other Buddhist worlds too.
Time passed, never stopping.
Half a year had gone by just like this.
“Young Master, if we had previously known about this, we should have gone to the Roving Jade Heavens with those Prime Clear lineage disciples. I believe that returning to the World beyond Worlds from there would have been much easier.”
After leaving yet another Buddhist world, Ah Hu could not help but exclaim emotionally, “If we had done that, we should have long since returned to the World beyond Worlds by now?”
Yan Zhaoge smiled nonchalantly, “If time were tight and tensions rife, it would naturally be better for us to return as soon as we can. Now that time is lenient, we might as well make use of this rare chance to better understand this place.”
He said casually, “Most miraculous foresight and planning is established upon the foundation of news and information reports and on the information both sides possess being inequival
ent.”
“Grinding the blade does not delay the chopping of firewood. If we spend some time on it now and gain a bit of accumulation, who knows if this might turn out useful in the future.”
Yan Zhaoge paused for a moment before continuing, “Moreover, the Roving Jade Heavens which is where the legacy of generations of Prime Clear lineage descendants is based may not be a paradise or blessed land for sure.”
Ah Hu scratched his head, “Young Master, I actually feel that that place should be more comfortable than the World beyond Worlds.”
“Look, in the World beyond Worlds, they don’t tell mid and low-tier martial practitioners about the existence of Buddhism. Even the likes of the North Sea Sword Pavilion’s Pavilion Lord Gu, Copper Men Island’s Chief Gongsun and the Dim Darkness Sect’s Chief Zhou Haosheng seem totally unaware.”
“I fear that only major figures at the level of the Ten Exalts at least would know of Buddhism today.”
Ah Hu pulled back the corners of his lips, “Buddhism has eliminated traces of Daoism to gather the power of faith, but this shouldn’t be necessary for the World beyond Worlds. This should just be everyone sweeping away the snow on their front porch, not wanting trouble to befall them.”
Yan Zhaoge said, “You are not wrong. Still, everyone thinks differently.”
“The decline of Daoism following the Great Calamity that year should have been related to Buddhism somehow. The descendants of the Prime Clear lineage were mostly unhappy and unwavering about this.”
“As for the World beyond Worlds, they have chosen to play down this enmity, seeking stability as they continually recuperate.”
Yan Zhaoge shrugged, “Still, one thing cannot be denied. Buddhism is currently powerful indeed. If they truly forcibly clashed with them like the Roving Jade Heavens, they would easily face a setback.”
“From the conversation between Fu Ting and Gao Qing, we can generally tell that after all these years, the overall strength of the World beyond Worlds should surpass the Roving Jade Heavens.’”
“This is not to say that the Roving Jade Heavens made an unwise choice. Instead, everyone has their own beliefs which they abide by and exact. It cannot be said for sure who is right and who is wrong.”
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