The Nine Cauldrons

“Martial Uncle.” The young monk, Fan Kong, trembled as he cried out loud.

“Martial Ancestor!”

When all the Emptiness Realm Experts of the Mani Temple saw the head in Pei San’s hand, the expressions on their face showed emotions of anger and fear. They were not sad that the Martial Ancestor, who had always been cultivating alone in a cave on the Buddha Mountain, died. They were just shocked and afraid. They knew that the death of the Martial Ancestor meant that the Mani Temple had lost in this battle.

“Just flee. We will rebuild the Mani Temple someday in the future.” A white-haired old monk said to the other four monks with the use of the Sound Transmission Technique.

“Run!”

“You all can leave first. I will soon reach the end of my life anyway. Let me die with the temple.” A bald monk with long brows said calmly. Immediately, the five monks, who were members of the Elder Hall made their decisions. Three elders chose to leave and departed in separate directions. The two remaining elders landed on the path halfway up the mountain and glared coldly at the army of the Heavenly God Palace.

“Kill them all. Don’t let anyone of them escape!” Pei San’s frenzied voice sounded again.

With his feet on the Godly Thunderbolt Hawk’s back, Pei San flew rapidly towards a black-haired old monk, who was flying away. The black-haired old monk immediately dived underground, attempting to escape by drilling through the soil and rocks. Li Chao, the God of Heaven Su Mengte, and Pei Hao, quickly flew in separate directions, pursuing and killing the remaining members of the Mani Temple. The Six-eared Earth-drilling Mouse, an Emptiness Realm demonic beast, even emerged from the underground.

Before the battle started, Pei San had specially visited the Six-eared Earth-drilling Mouse. By using power to intimidate and offering some rewards, Pei San managed to get the Six-eared Earth-drilling Mouse to agree to help.

“Chi!” The black haired old monk had just dived underground when he felt a powerful force shooting towards him. He did not even have the time to dodge.

“Puchi! A huge hole appeared on the black haired old monk’s chest and blood gurgled out of his wound. The black haired old monk felt his life force rapidly flowing away; his speed instantly slowed.

“Die.” Pei San kicked the black haired old monk’s head, blasting it into pieces.

“Hmph.”

A murderous glint flashed in Pei San’s eyes.

…

Pei San’s ruthlessness and fierceness shocked Teng Qingshan and the other cultivators who had been watching the battle from afar.

“Brother Teng, why does Pei San hate the Mani Temple so much? Why is he acting so crazily? Why is he not giving the Mani Temple any chance of survival?” Li Hang, who had been standing beside Teng Qingshan, asked with a confused expression. Teng Qingshan shook his head and responded, “I don’t know. However, it is clear that everything Pei San has done in the past was a preparation for today. He has spent so much energy, plotting to destroy the Mani Temple. This deep resentment must have been caused by something huge.”

“Mhm.” Li Hang nodded in agreement and said, “However, it is a pity that this thousand-year-old Buddhist temple is going to be destroyed today.”

“As the saying goes, the one who rises to the top will eventually fall. Its fall is determined by fate or time.” Teng Qingshan shook his head as he smiled helplessly.

The scenes on the battlefield became even crazier.

The morale of the Heavenly God Palace grew stronger and stronger, reaching the pinnacle. On the other side, the soldiers of the Mani Temple had already given up. Nevertheless, many of these Buddhist monks had no fear of death. They would rather give up their lives for the sake of the temple. For a moment, a massacre ensued on many of the mountaintops. The bloodshed dyed the mountains and hills red. The sacred land of the Buddhist sect became hell on earth.

With the help of the Insightful Emptiness Realm Expert, Pei San, the pursuit and killing of the Emptiness Realm Experts of the Mani Temple became easier for the members of the Heavenly God Palace.

Only one of the five Emptiness Realm Monks escaped.

“Fan Kong!”

Pei San shouted as he held the head of the monk wearing the yellow monastic robes. Although Pei San’s face looked very pale, the murderous glint could still be seen in his eyes. His voice was so loud that it resounded between the heavens and earth. He continued saying, “You are the only one left. I am going to destroy the Mani Temple, but I won’t destroy the school of Buddhist cultivation passed down by Martial Ancestor Shiga. If you want, you can join the Heavenly God Palace. You can lead the school of Buddhist cultivation, also known as Zen Buddhism, that will be under the Heavenly God Palace.”

Pei San’s voice continued spreading to the ends of the earth…

“What?”

“What is Pei San doing?”

The Emptiness Realm Experts were still amazed at how quick the Mani Temple was destroyed. When they heard what Pei San had just said, they were stunned.

Allowing monk Fan Kong, an enemy, to join the Heavenly God Palace? And lead the school of Buddhist cultivation, a branch of the Heavenly God Palace?

“What is Pei San trying to do? He destroyed the Mani Temple but did not stop the Buddhist cultivation methods from being passed down to future generations. Instead, he decided to add the school of Buddhist cultivation into his sect?” Teng Qingshan was very confused.

“Zen Buddhism?” Li Hang laughed and said, “I heard that the God of Heaven Mountain in the Great Prairie contained the teachings of Vajrayana, the school of Tantric Buddhism. Now, he changed the name of the Buddhist Sect to Zen Buddhism. He is clearly going to give the branch of Zen Buddhism the same rank as the branch of Vajrayana and he is going to group these two schools together. Pei San is quite arrogant. How can he give the school of Buddhist cultivation, which was created by the Martial Ancestor Shiga, the same rank as the branch of Vajrayana.”

The chubby old man, who was part of the Wan Xiang Sect, laughed and said, “Brother Li, so what if Martial Ancestor Shiga was much more powerful? He is dead. And now, Pei San is considered the most powerful person in the Land of the Nine Prefectures. So what if he destroyed the Mani Temple, allowed the existence of the school of Buddhist cultivation, and even renamed their school of Buddhist cultivation to Zen Buddhism? Even if someone disagreed with the way he did things, who would have the courage to fight back?”

Li Hang scratched his nose and laughed. “True. The words of the stronger ones are more powerful.”

“Eh? Pei San had already killed that monk. Why is he still holding the monk’s head?”Teng Qingshan frowned as he thought to himself. Pei San had already killed the monk, yet, he was still holding the monk’s head. Suddenly, Teng Qingshan recalled the unprecedented pressure he had felt earlier when Pei San revealed his true power. “Pei San is still so much more powerful than me. The monk, wearing the yellow monastic robes, is stronger than me, but he was killed.”

“I have to try my best to understand the concepts of Life and Death and attain the culmination of the Insightful Emptiness Realm.

…

At this moment, Pei San carried the monk’s head and stood on the Godly Thunderbolt Hawk’s back. He pointed at the Mani Temple and shouted, “Members of the Heavenly God Palace, listen to my order. Anyone who surrenders will be spared. However, kill all the stubborn ones!”

Immediately, the morale of the army of the Heavenly God Palace grew stronger. Short responses of agreement sounded loudly.

Like an overflow of water, the armored soldiers charged up the mountains and hills and into the many temples. A portion of the million members of the Mani Temple surrendered. However, over half of the monks fought until the end. It was impressive how such a huge number of people were still willing to risk their lives for the Mani Temple. Even though they knew that they would die, they still fought desperately.

It showed how loyal the monks were to their own sect.

“Puchi!”

“Screech!”

Blood splashes and chunks of flesh flew. Blood dyed the land and the walls of the temple red. Both the Mani Temple and the Heavenly God Palace suffered a great loss. To reduce the amount of damage, the Emptiness Realm Experts of the Heavenly God Palace even helped, killing the numerous monks, who could only give the Emptiness Realm Experts needle-stick injuries.

At this moment, Pei San flew towards Teng Qingshan and the other cultivators.

“Everyone.” Pei San landed on the ground, scanning the crowd.

“Sovereign Pei.”

Many people cupped their hands and greeted.

Pei San smiled and nodded his head. He grinned at Teng Qingshan and turned to look at Huang Tianqin and Liu Xia of the Emperor Yu’s Hall. “Emperor Yu’s Hall and the Ying Family.” Pei San looked over at Qin Shiqi before he continued saying, “The Heavenly God Palace has no intention of conquering the territory of the Mani Temple. When this battle ends, the army of the Heavenly God Palace will split into two. One will pass through Yuzhou to go back to Qingzhou and Youzhou, while the other will pass through Yongzhou, which belongs to the Ying Family, to go back the Great Prairie. Will you allow my army to pass through your territories?”

“What?”

Teng Qingshan and the others were astonished.

Pei San is not interested in the territory of the Mani Temple?

After so many casualties and sacrifices, Pei San revealed that he had only come to destroy the Mani Temple?

Huang Tianqin and Qinshiqi glanced at each other.

“Sovereign Pei, rest assured. As long as your soldiers do not disturb the citizens of Yuzhou, it is fine.” Huang Tianqin nodded and said with a smile.

“Sure.” Qin Shiqi just nodded and responded very concisely.

If this was before the Heavenly God Palace had attacked the Mani Temple, the Emperor Yu’s Hall and the Ying Family would not agree to such a request. Both sects had no intention of offending the Mani Temple. However, since the Mani Temple had been eliminated, the Emperor Yu’s Hall and the Ying Family could help the Heavenly God Palace without worrying about anything.

Moreover—

They were confident that the army of the Heavenly God Palace would not foolishly provoke the Emperor Yu’s Hall and the Ying Family after the tough battle with the Mani Temple.

“If the Gui Yuan Sect, the Emperor Yu’s Hall, or the Ying Family would like to fight for the land of Liangzhou and Rongzhou, go ahead.” Pei San then turned and flew away.

For a moment, the Emptiness Realm Experts of the supreme sects stared at each other.

Liangzhou? Rongzhou? Two prefectures of people!

Of course the Emperor Yu’s Hall and the Ying Family wanted the land! Currently, Gui Yuan Sect was the closest to Liangzhou and Rongzhou as it had just conquered Yanzhou. However, Gui Yuan Sect was much weaker.

“Hm.” Teng Qingshan nodded and said to himself, “When I go back, I will have to set up the branches of Qingshan Enterprise in both prefectures, especially in the western areas, so that the people in Liangzhou and Rongzhou can learn the Internal Martial Art.” Teng Qingshan could not be bothered to contend for hegemony. Even though the Mani Temple had been destroyed, there was still a great number of monks in Liangzhou and Rongzhou.

The conquest of Liangzhou and Rongzhou would still be very difficult.

On the 13th of June, the bloody battle ended.

Even though the Heavenly God Palace fought this battle with lots of advantages, the sect still suffered casualties of about four hundred thousand. On the other hand, the Mani Temple had about a million casualties and the remaining ones all surrendered. Because of this bloodshed, the sacred land of the Buddhist sect was stained with a heavy stench of blood that would remain for years. Even if a dozen years past, they would still see the black-colored blood on the rocks of the mountains.

On the 14th of June, while the sun was setting, the scene changed to a luxurious-looking mansion in Qingzhou. Even though it was a mansion, it had an extremely spacious graveyard with only one tombstone. At this moment, Pei San was alone, standing before the tombstone with the head of Liao Yuan in his hand.

“Ge Sang…”

Pei San caressed the tombstone while speaking with a very gentle tone, “It’s been so many years. I don’t even remember how long it has been. I told you that I would come get you, but I was not able to keep my promise back then. But I vowed before your tombstone that I would destroy the Mani Temple, bring Liao Yuan’s head, and place it before your tombstone. I finally did it. It’s been so long…”

Pei San placed the head on the side and sat beside the tombstone. He snuggled up against the tombstone and mumbled softly.

Unknowingly, tears fell down his face.

While the sun rose and set for a total of nine days, Pei San remained beside the tombstone.

This graveyard was a forbidden area. Pei San did not allow anyone, even his daughter and first disciples, to come into this graveyard. Back then, a very important subordinate entered this graveyard, and Pei San went berserk, killing the subordinate with his own hands. Since then, no one had dared to come into this forbidden area.

Pei San has been the one maintaining the graveyard.

…

On the tenth day, Pei San left the graveyard and finally started something he has not done for a long time—A closed-door cultivation!