Chapter 91: Bodhisattva Lowers His Eyebrows to Save All Living Beings

Chapter 91: The Bodhisattva Lowers Their Brows to Save All Beings

Fa Wu clasped his hands together and whispered, “Senior Brother.”

Fa Zhi’s Internal Energy surged into his arm like a tide. The drumstick heavily struck the drumhead. Seeing the Evil Qi’s momentum growing stronger, he poured in more and more Internal Energy.

“Dong! Dong! Dong!”

Fa Zhi’s frequency of striking the evening drum gradually increased.

As the drumsticks fell like rain, deafening sounds rang out. Then, circles of faint golden ripples vibrated outwards, as if to suppress the surging Evil Qi.

And under the impact of the faint golden ripples, that Evil Qi actually appeared somewhat listless, seemingly beginning to retreat downwards.

An Jing and Tian Can Sou no longer fought, but stood in the distance, watching this scene.

Tian Can Sou was waiting for the Evil Qi to burst out, for the Seal to break, and then to take the Heaven and Earth Spiritual Qi from beneath the ground. However, his eyes were constantly scanning An Jing beside him, as if ready to strike at any moment.

An Jing, on the other hand, gazed at the scene before him, lost in thought.

“Hmm?!”

An Jing suddenly raised an eyebrow, looking towards the eaves of the Mahavira Hall in the distance.

“Since you’re here, stop being so sneaky and hiding your head and tail.”

Just now, he and Tian Can Sou were locked in intense combat, completely focused. Coupled with the intentional concealment of a few people, he indeed hadn't noticed the figures in the distance.

“Your Excellency, perhaps you are the one hiding your head and tail?”

Liu Qingshan chuckled softly, then leaped from the distant eaves and slowly descended.

Tian Liu was like a shadow, following closely behind him. The last to descend was Guo Yuchun.

Guo Yuchun's eyes were fixed on An Jing, overflowing with Killing Intent.

The number of Cao Gang experts who had died at An Jing’s hands was not small, and Guo Yuchun and Liu Qingshan had also been injured by An Jing. It could be said that when enemies met, their eyes turned red with fury.

“Who do I see? It's Brother Liu,” Tian Can Sou said with a fake smile.

“You and I don’t have much of a relationship.”

Liu Qingshan waved his hand, then coughed, “Cough, cough, cough. You came to Jiangnan Province this time without a sound, all for the Heaven and Earth Spiritual Qi beneath this Seal. And so did I. Since that’s the case, there’s no need to pretend to be friends.”

Tian Can Sou still wanted to save face, but Liu Qingshan directly tore it off without a care.

“As you wish.”

Tian Can Sou said coldly, his mind secretly calculating whether to draw in the swordsman to deal with Liu Qingshan and the other Cao Gang experts.

After all, many Cao Gang experts had come this time, with three First Rank Cultivate experts.

Dai Ling frowned. It seemed the chance to obtain the Heaven and Earth Spiritual Qi today was getting smaller and smaller. The three Cao Gang members and that swordsman were not easy to deal with; there would surely be a struggle. It was a pity her Cultivate was only Second Rank.

Thinking of this, Dai Ling couldn't help but recall how the swordsman had just stabbed her chest. Her heart was instantly filled with both shame and anger. She would remember this grudge and repay it later.

“Dong! Dong! Dong!”

The drumbeats reverberated, still suppressing the overflowing Evil Qi.

Fa Zhi was already drenched in sweat. Every time he wielded the drumstick, he almost used all his strength. Such immense consumption, even for an expert of the Earth Flower Realm, was difficult to sustain.

Before long, Fa Zhi’s kasaya was also soaked, and his movements slowed down a bit.

Without the vibration of the drumbeats, the Evil Qi became even more rampant, subtly showing signs of a comeback.

Seeing this, Fa Zhi gathered his mental strength, gripping the drumstick tightly with his withered hands and striking it down forcefully.

“Dong!”

This thunder-like sound forced the Evil Qi back again, but Fa Zhi’s face flushed, and his movements paused.

“Pfft!”

Fa Zhi spat out a mouthful of blood, his body swayed, and he nearly fell to the ground.

“Abbot!”

All the monks of Faxi Temple were startled.

“Senior Brother, are you alright?” Fa Wu supported Fa Zhi and asked anxiously, “This evening drum consumes too much Internal Energy, Senior Brother, you…”

This evening drum was an ancient evening drum left by Faxi Temple for a thousand years. It was no longer an ordinary evening drum. Although it could suppress Evil Qi, striking this drum consumed an enormous amount of Internal Energy. If one forcibly struck it without sufficient power, it would inevitably damage one’s Foundation.

“I’m fine.”

Fa Zhi pushed Fa Wu away, then picked up the drumstick.

“Dong!” “Dong!”

Fa Zhi struck the evening drum again, and a deep sound reverberated.

“Pfft!”

But after only two strikes, he spat out another mouthful of fresh blood, which directly splattered onto the drumhead.

“Senior Brother!”

Fa Wu couldn’t help but say, “Let me do it.”

“No need…”

Fa Zhi merely paused, his movements unchanged. Every time the drumstick fell, golden ripples vibrated outwards, suppressing the Evil Qi.

Fa Wu looked at the strikingly red blood, feeling his breath catch.

In front of the Vairocana Hall, everyone watched Fa Zhi continuously strike the evening drum.

They were all waiting, waiting for Monk Fa Zhi to collapse, and for the Evil Qi to completely surge out.

At first, the Evil Qi could still be suppressed, but soon the overflowing Evil Qi became more and more dense. The black airflow gradually gathered from a trickle into a lake, its Aura pervading, as if to obscure the full moon.

Originally, the golden ripples could suppress the Evil Qi, then they stood in equal opposition, evenly matched, each occupying half of the territory. But now, the Evil Qi was gaining the upper hand.

An Jing looked up at the Evil Qi, his brows furrowed into a frown.

“Pfft!”

Fa Zhi’s drumstick paused again, and a mouthful of blood shot out. His already withered face became even more aged, and his eyes seemed to have lost their divine light.

Blood accumulated on the drumstick, making it slippery and hard to grasp, yet he still loudly called out to suppress evil!

“Senior Brother…”

Fa Wu looked at the gradually bending figure.

“The Buddha said, compassion is to give joy. Pity is to relieve suffering. To remove the suffering of sentient beings and give them joy is compassion.”

Fa Zhi seemed to be speaking to Fa Wu, and also to everyone, and yet also to himself.

“Dong.”

Saying this, he struck the drumhead with the drumstick. The force was weak, and the sound was much smaller.

Fa Wu was stunned, then sat down cross-legged.

“Namo Ratnatrayāya, Namo Āryāvalokiteśvarāya, Bodhisattvāya…”

He chanted Buddhist scriptures under his breath.

“amitābha!”

Then, in front of the Vairocana Hall, the other monks of Faxi Temple also sat down cross-legged, following Fa Wu in chanting Buddhist scriptures.

The golden light was dim, like flowing waves. Besides the drumbeats, only the sound of the scriptures resonated through the Heaven and Earth, echoing in everyone’s ears.

An Jing saw clearly that Fa Zhi would not be able to hold on for much longer.

Fa Zhi’s eyes had already lost their divine light, and the drumstick in his hand had less and less strength.

“Dong.”

Fa Zhi could no longer lift the drumstick, and blood dripped from the corner of his mouth to the ground.

The Evil Qi surged, as if it had transformed into a vast ocean or lake.

“The Seal is about to break.”

Tian Can Sou’s gaze sharpened, and his heart stirred.

Liu Qingshan looked at Fa Zhi’s figure and sighed, “Great Master Fa Zhi, do you know that this is merely a mistaken attachment?”

The living are transient guests, the dead are those who return home.

“Boom!”

The entire Sanmiao Mountain seemed to shake. The soaring Evil Qi could no longer be contained, surging forth in a mighty torrent, as if to swallow the entire Sanmiao Mountain.

Such astonishing Qi made An Jing recall the Evil Qi formed by countless military souls buried beneath Lingping, which still lingered even now.

Evil Qi soaring to the sky surely brings bloodshed.

The Evil Qi was also like this.

It wouldn't lead to widespread suffering, but within dozens of miles of Sanmiao Mountain, there would surely be disaster.

In front of the Vairocana Hall, the fragments of Buddhist statues that still held Buddhist charm instantly disintegrated into sand, and then the golden light emitted by the evening drum was also swallowed in an instant.

After the Evil Qi swallowed the golden light, it rushed towards Fa Zhi and the evening drum like a roaring flood.

Fa Zhi looked up at the sky-filling Evil Qi, his face neither joyful nor sorrowful, “Originating, it perishes. Born, it is already empty. Gain and loss follow缘, the heart neither increases nor decreases.”

He stood beneath the evening drum, leaving his final verse, his body like a small boat in a storm, gradually dissolving into the Evil Qi.

“Senior Brother!”

Fa Wu opened his eyes and cried out in alarm.

And Fa Zhi was completely submerged in the Evil Qi, merging into the darkness.

“Senior Brother, what does parinirvana mean?”

“Parinirvana is the return journey.”

“Return journey?”

“It is the beginning of life.”

Fa Wu’s heart trembled, his mind still replaying Fa Zhi’s words.

All the monks of Faxi Temple present lowered their heads, their expressions sorrowful.

“That bald donkey was too stubborn,” Tian Can Sou couldn’t help but lament.

“Knowing the outcome, yet still persevering, how many people in this world can do that?” Dai Ling also sighed, “This Fa Zhi truly lives up to his reputation as one of the Eighteen Arhats, a true Great Master.”

The abbot of Faxi Temple, one of the Eighteen Arhats of the Western Pure Land, an expert who had condensed the Earth Flower Realm, Great Master Fa Zhi, bolstered by countless reputations, had died just like that.

Everyone present felt a sense of melancholy.

“Wait!” Liu Qingshan’s brows slightly twitched.

“Hmm!?”

An Jing also felt a stir in his heart as he looked at the black Qi.

The next moment, a brilliant golden light erupted within the black Qi, like dazzling sunlight in the night, forcing everyone to circulate their Internal Energy to block it.

“This is…”

Seeing this, a hint of surprise appeared in Fa Wu’s eyes, “Could it be that Senior Brother not only didn’t die but also experienced an Epiphany?”

The Chan Sect of Buddhism Cultivates martial arts and Buddhist Dharma. They are interconnected. To learn corresponding martial arts, one naturally needs relatively profound Buddhist Dharma.

Arhat is a fruit status in the Western Pure Land. Only those whose Buddhist Dharma has reached a certain level and whose strength has also reached that point can be called Arhats.

Above the Arhat fruit status are Vajra and Bodhisattva.

The Bodhisattva lowers their brows, showing compassion to all six Realms. The Vajra glares with angry eyes, subduing demons.

And to reach the fruit status above, one’s Buddhist Dharma must ascend another level.

Even among the many experts and Great Masters of the Pure Land, only once every few decades would a Bodhisattva or Vajra appear.

Feeling the surging golden light, the very next moment, the Evil Qi frantically retreated into the ground.

As the tide of Evil Qi receded, the Heaven and Earth became clear. In mid-air, only a golden sarira remained, shining brightly.

On this very day.

The Bodhisattva lowered their brows, saving all beings!