bookpub Chapter 52 Revisiting Tantric Buddhism
Chapter 52 Revisiting Tantric Buddhism
The cold moon was dim, and the fields were silent.
A light, drizzling rain fell softly.
eaves
The two glared at each other.
A dense aura of resentment enveloped Fang Hongxuan, while behind the monk, the sound of chanting lingered, and a faint Buddhist light could be seen.
"Your conduct is somewhat similar to the characteristics of non-Buddhist sects as recorded in Tantric Buddhism. I wonder if you would be willing to transmit the Dharma to me, so as to establish a friendly relationship between Tantric and Theravada Buddhism."
The monk's inexplicable words made Fang Hongxuan feel a little uneasy, but he did not respond to the monk's meaning. Instead, he searched his memories.
This was the second time he had heard of the heretical teachings of Tantric Buddhism. He had taken it quite seriously when Yan Chengrui first mentioned it, but now that the monk had brought it up again, it had awakened Fang Hongxuan.
Fang Hongxuan, who had already mentally prepared himself, couldn't help but get excited at this moment.
"boom"
The bricks and tiles beneath the monk's feet shattered instantly, and the distance of dozens of steps was covered in the blink of an eye. The ink-wash Zen staff was aimed at Fang Hongxuan's face and slammed down heavily.
Unexpectedly, the calm monk suddenly launched an attack, and even though Fang Hongxuan was on guard, he was caught off guard and had to deal with the situation rather hastily.
"So you didn't understand!"
The monk, who appeared kind and benevolent at first glance, now looked incredibly ferocious. His eyes were filled with intense greed.
The sword and the staff intertwined, sparks flying, and an invisible shockwave emanated from each.
All the surrounding tiles were blown off, the raindrops above were completely crushed by the force of the collision, and even the sturdy beams and brackets were trampled.
"rumble.."
Broken tiles, wood chips, and broken pillars fell into the house along with the two men, and the dim candlelight illuminated two completely different faces.
The Buddhist monk's face showed greed and anger, while Fang Hongxuan, who was an evil spirit, was calm and sinister.
And, in front of the two men, a staff and a knife were being frantically torn apart. The former was chipped and gnawed, the latter hissing and smoking.
*Click...*
The shovel and the blade became one, producing a sound that made your teeth ache and your ears ring.
Suddenly, the staff and knife snapped apart, the immense force causing both men's hands to split open. The monk raised his chipped staff high and brought it down with all his might.
No sooner said than done.
The aura of resentment and malevolence surrounding Fang Hongxuan surged several degrees, and the sword in his hand was stained with wisps of red light!
"Flip the Iron Shirt!"
The monk's face was repulsive, yet deep within his pupils were reflected Fang Hongxuan's increasingly crimson eyes and the fleeting white light.
"Squeak, squeak..."
The water-polished Zen staff, crafted from the finest black iron, was actually severed in two by Fang Hongxuan's single strike! The blade's momentum remained undiminished as it tore towards the monk's face.
The oil lamp sandwiched between the two men was cleaved in two by a sharp slash of the blade, and even the table and chairs beneath it were not spared.
The silent darkness quickly enveloped the two of them.
"Clang..."
Fang Hongxuan's sword, the Cuojin Blade, was embedded in an extremely hard object. He was about to draw the blade when he was kicked away.
Outside the broken window frame, rumbling thunder echoed.
Boom!
Thunder shattered the darkness, and the light of the midnight sun instantly filled the dimly lit houses.
The monk, his body ashen and as firm as a rock, slowly withdrew his foot.
Behind him, a strange image of Fudo Myoo, resembling a black stone with furrowed brows and wide-open, angry eyes, vaguely appeared.
However, this Dharma image is extremely illusory, as if it would disappear with a gentle breeze.
If Chen Qinghe were here, he would definitely notice something amiss.
This is exactly what it looks like when one is about to reach the pinnacle of the Refining Essence into Qi path, and the strange phenomena that are faintly gathering behind him are the best proof of this.
"Sizzle"
Wisps of white mist rose straight up from the monk's knife-wielding hand, and the excruciating pain caused him to instinctively loosen his grip on the knife.
"This is..."
Fang Hongxuan immediately realized what was happening and stared at the grimacing monk with a puzzled look.
"An evil spirit?"
"Hmph, Buddha is actually demon. What's so strange about that?!"
The monk became excited upon hearing this. He disregarded the dagger at his feet, picked up two short sticks, and charged towards Fang Hongxuan.
"Flip the Golden Bell Shield!"
Two blood-red bronze bells covered in barbs appeared out of thin air and actually drew the monk inside. However, just as Fang Hongxuan was about to retract...
The Acala, the celestial being behind the monk, wielded a demon-slaying sword and cleaved through the blood-red golden bell-shaped barrier that had been gathered together.
Upon seeing this, Fang Hongxuan's pupils contracted slightly, but he did not panic. He stepped on the wall and rolled several times in mid-air to dodge the monk's attack.
At the same time, he also took the opportunity to retrieve the Cuojin Knife.
The familiar burning sensation reappeared, and Fang Hongxuan glanced sideways and found that his palm had been burned beyond recognition!
"Heh heh, you, benefactor, are a malevolent spirit, yet you possess a weapon powerful enough to vanquish evil. Isn't the deeper meaning behind this rather laughable?"
The monk, trembling all over and with a flushed face, would occasionally stop his shaking head.
Boom!
The deafening rumble of thunder resounded once more.
The purple lightning bolts, as thick as water buckets, poured down towards the sacred tree, and flames roared across its surface.
The illusion that was previously indistinguishable from reality has now become elusive, with the two different spaces merging into one.
Overgrown with weeds, amidst the ruins of crumbling walls, three zombies huddled shivering in a corner; in the old, desolate, and deserted house, Fang Hongxuan was barely managing to fend off the monks' relentless onslaught.
"Benefactor, time is running out... Let's settle this here..."
The monk appeared to be insane, completely unaware that his skin was cracked and bleeding profusely. Strands of blood were flowing into the body of the Acala statue behind him.
As more and more blood gathered, its illusory appearance actually became more solid.
Fang Hongxuan gripped the jade pendant tightly in his hand, his eyes growing increasingly cold.
This was the first time he had encountered such a formidable opponent, and even his previously invincible Flipping Golden Bell Shield technique had failed repeatedly.
If it weren't for the living corpse forcibly sustaining itself by frantically absorbing essence and blood, he would have already become a dead soul under the cane when the oil lamp went out.
"What kind of cultivation method does this guy practice... to possess such power..."
Peng
The monk's two broken staffs were chopped off again, but this time he did not retreat. Instead, he gripped the broken staff tightly and stabbed it into Fang Hongxuan's chest cavity.
Fang Hongxuan was in so much pain that he immediately fainted, and even the blade in his hand fell to the ground.
"In this way, by absorbing your essence and blood, I can learn your Dharma... Even if I cannot obtain it all, it can still complete my incomplete form of the Immovable King."
Holding a long sword and ropes, Fudo Myoo grinned, revealing all his fangs, and was about to touch Fang Hongxuan's head.
The dark red blood from Fang Hongxuan's chest wound flowed down to the monk's hand where his hand had been shattered. But as soon as the two came into contact, the monk's expression changed.
"Corpse poison!"
Despite being covered in wounds, Fang Hongxuan chuckled, a stark contrast to his usual calm and collected demeanor. His eyes now held a sinister glint, and his face was contorted with madness.
Fang Hongxuan gripped the monk's hand tightly, as if it were an iron clamp, and with his left hand, he pierced the monk's chest cavity with lightning speed.
"thump"
The monk stared intently at Fang Hongxuan, his eyes filled with disbelief.
"How could you possibly break my Dharma Body..."
However, the monk whose heart had been crushed could no longer resist. The light in his eyes quickly dimmed, and the Fudo Myoo behind him glared fiercely at Fang Hongxuan before disappearing along with the monk's life force.
...