From a refugee to a martial artist

Chapter 356 Senior Brother

The poisonous rain from the sky never stopped.

She removed the screen, dressed in fine clothes, untouched by the rain, and ignored Dugu Kang, simply looking up at the sky.

Seeing this, Dugu Kang rubbed his bald head and raised his head as well.

Suwen stopped rescuing people and raised her head, gazing at the sky in the distance.

Su Xin grabbed Su Wen's sleeve, glanced at Jie Kaiping who was also bald, and then looked up at her.

Against the backdrop of endless dark clouds, that wisp of fire appeared smaller than a mayfly, like a drop in the ocean, drifting aimlessly in the poisonous rain and howling wind, yet still heading towards the heavens.

The dark sword light surging from the gaps in the clouds was even more conspicuous than the firelight. As it pierced through the rain and wind, the dark sword light became more and more astonishing as it descended.

Soon, that thin wisp of fire finally touched the dim sword light.

The sword light grew even dimmer, but the world seemed to be under a devastating pressure. The wind and rain paused, and the world became even darker, as if it had been plunged into purgatory by the sword light.

That tiny wisp of fire was no match for the dark sword light; it was instantly cleaved apart by the sword light.

In an instant, the fire line seemed to be cut into countless segments, turning into countless sparks that scattered across the high sky, like fireworks.

The dark sword light struck and then vanished, disappearing back into the thick, dark clouds.

With wind and rain raging in the sky, the countless scattered sparks quickly dimmed and fell silent.

Only then did everyone see Meng Yuan appear high in the sky. He was no longer as composed as before. The firelight surrounding his body had dimmed considerably, his clothes were tattered, and blood was gushing from his body. He was falling from the sky.

"Amitabha." Just as Dugu Kang was about to lend a hand, he saw that Mingyue had already taken Meng Yuan away. Suwen had no mind to save others and hurriedly followed. Both women had worried expressions on their faces.

With Mingyue's help, Meng Yuan stood firm, his feet sinking into the muddy ground. The knife in his hand was still there, and he was covered in blood. He then looked intently at the sky.

"Senior brother..." Suwen asked anxiously. As a physician, she could see the changes in the life force of others.

Su Wen had already noticed that Senior Brother Meng, who used to be full of vitality and boundless life force, had his life force like water ripples cut by a long sword after being struck by that dark sword light. Although it could still flow, it was ultimately damaged, and his vigorous life force was clearly hindered.

The surging flames of life, like the wisp of fire from before, were scattered by the blow. Although they eventually gathered together, the flames were clearly flickering and had dimmed considerably.

"Don't worry." Seeing the extreme concern on Suwen and Suxin's faces, Meng Yuan said, "This is just the beginning."

Having witnessed Meng Yuan's abilities, Su Wen was somewhat relieved to see that Meng Yuan's fighting spirit remained undiminished and even more vigorous. After all, a martial artist has countless possibilities, especially when facing a martial artist of higher caliber.

“Junior sister, Senior Brother Meng is no ordinary martial artist. He has been trained by Benefactor Ying San and is on good terms with Daoist Li Weizhen. There’s nothing to worry about.” Su Xin had always trusted Meng Yuan, and she had even more confidence in him than Meng Yuan himself.

At this moment, Meng Yuan focused his mind, his inner fire and starlight flowing endlessly within him. He held a knife in his hand and looked up at the high sky.

Thick dark clouds remained, and countless raindrops fell. Dugu Sheng's transformation technique was to darken the heavens and earth, and he himself was hidden in the darkness, just like Qing Guangzi who was hiding in the cave.

"Junior brother." Jie Kaiping walked to Dugu Kang's side and slapped his bald head hard. "What are you daydreaming about? Your father isn't dead yet!"

"..." Dugu Kang covered his bald head, frowned and glanced at Jie Kaiping. He wanted to curse her, but he didn't dare, so he said, "A monk has no father or mother!"

Dugu Kang didn't want to say anything more to Jie Kaiping, but simply followed Meng Yuan's gaze and looked up at the sky.

"What task did the master assign you?" Jie Kaiping asked, standing close to Dugu Kang, her interest piqued.

Dugu Kang opened his mouth, but still ignored Jie Kaiping.

"Is it to find an opportunity to stop your father, and then take a third-rank physician as your lackey?" Jie Kaiping laughed.

"You..." Dugu Kang finally couldn't hold back anymore, "How did you know? Did the master seek you out to impart his teachings again?"

"I'm trying to avoid him!" Jie Kaiping's words made perfect sense. "When I was fawning over my master, you hadn't even shaved your head yet! I can't guess how my master plans things, but I can still guess what he's thinking. Besides, my master has attained the Radiant King of Light and wants to pass on his teachings. Having a third-rank physician would be like adding wings to a tiger, wouldn't it? There's no need to waste any more effort guessing!"

Dugu Kang was convinced. "Senior brother, the master said you are the most clever and capable, and it's really true."

Upon hearing this, Jie Kaiping seemed to recall some past events, sighed, and asked, "What else did the master say?"

"You also said that you think too much, but lack the courage, and are too soft-hearted to become a Buddha," Dugu Kang said.

“Buddha said all beings are equal. I want to become a Buddha, but I don’t want to be a Buddha.” He shook off the colorful robes and feathers on his body. “Whether I wear good clothes or bad ones, it’s all empty. This is where my master and I disagree.”

Jie Kaiping patted Dugu Kang's head again and said, "The master's greatest skill is to see through the darkness with the light of Dharma, so that your thoughts and ideas have nowhere to hide. Based on this, he will plant his thoughts in your heart. If you are determined, you will feel that you and the master only have some similar thoughts; if you are not determined, you will wholeheartedly admire the master and feel that you should help the master become a Buddha in this life."

"Are you determined?" Dugu Kang asked.

Jie Kaiping nodded slightly, quite pleased with himself, and said, "Under the great light, there is no shadow. I can still hold on for a while with my Nirvana Form. Shouldn't I be proud?"

Dugu Kang nodded blankly.

“Junior brother, at least you were right not to agree with the Songhe Prefecture matter, which shows that your character is not bad either.” Jie Kaiping praised him as soon as he hit the bald man’s head.

“Back then, the Third Miss often said that I had a Buddha-nature but no mortal nature,” Dugu Kang sighed.

"If someone can be tricked into bed by Meng Feiyuan, how can they be a good judge of character?" Jie Kaiping said.

“She probably hasn’t…” Dugu Kang thought he understood Meng Yuan quite well, so he said, “Actually, what the Third Miss said is not wrong. I have also experienced a lot. My temperament has not improved much, but at least I have not forgotten my original intention.”

"That's good." Jie Kaiping put her arm around Dugu Kang's shoulder and said, "You think that your master's sins don't deserve to die, and that he can even shine on the world after he becomes a Buddha. It's clear that your heart is still clouded. Find someone to help you cleanse it, and you'll be a good bald monk again!"

Dugu Kang remained silent, clearly disagreeing with Jie Kaiping's words. Seeing Meng Yuan transform into a streak of fire again, breaking through the wind and rain and heading towards the sky, he said, "I heard that Daoist Jingxu defeated the Arhat of No Birth with ease." "I was watching from nearby, and Li Weizhen is truly..." Jie Kaiping smacked her lips, "No wonder even the Master had to give way. Li Weizhen is truly capable of killing anyone who gets in his way."

"What about Meng Feiyuan?" Dugu Kang saw the dark clouds rolling and the world growing even darker. Suddenly, a dark sword light emerged from the clouds, moving slowly but with a force several times stronger than before, pressing down on the drifting, helpless fire line.

“Xiao Meng is quite capable.” Jie Kaiping was much more serious now, as if she had gained Li Weizhen’s perspective after seeing Li Weizhen’s actions. “Your father is definitely going to die.”

Dugu Kang was like Xiangling, who was entering the city for the first time, bewildered and confused.

“Just now, Meng Feiyuan and your father were testing each other, neither of them using their full strength.” Jie Kaiping’s reasoning was sound. He draped his arm over Dugu Kang’s shoulder and pointed to the sword light and fire lines in the sky. “Meng Feiyuan has always been cautious in his actions, and he hasn’t been a fifth-rank martial artist for long. He was also weakened by your Dugu sisters, which is why he was testing them. But your father is only one step away from becoming a fourth-rank martial artist, one of the best in the world, and he actually tested them too!”

"You mean... I... Benefactor Dugu has lost my momentum?" Dugu Kang suddenly realized.

"Martial artists fight for every last breath!" Jie Kaiping said confidently, "Dugu Sheng was afraid of his master, yet he came to the outer realms, hoping to find a breakthrough opportunity from two good-for-nothings. He was timid and hesitant, not even one percent as good as Li Weizhen!"

Uncovering the screen, he belittled Dugu Sheng to the point of being worthless.

"Look!" Dugu Kang was no longer afraid to untie the screen. He pointed to the sky and saw that the fire line that Meng Yuan had transformed into was once again shattered by the dark sword light. For a moment, the sky was filled with starlight, like thousands of stars, and the dark world was brightened a bit.

But the spark was quickly extinguished by the force of the sword light, and the world returned to darkness.

Meng Yuan fell from the sky again, the flames around him were much smaller, his hair was disheveled, and he was covered in countless wounds, bleeding profusely, with black energy showing through the wounds.

Meng Yuan stood up again, wiped the blood from his face, and looked up at the sky while holding his knife.

Having suffered two injuries, even his body, which had been tempered several times, was now riddled with holes. If it were an ordinary fifth-rank martial artist, he would probably have been reduced to ashes long ago.

However, this was exactly what Meng Yuan sought. His own technique was Starfire, which meant that the more severely he was injured, the more he could fight, and the more ferocious his counterattack would be.

Now, Dugu Sheng is hiding in the dark clouds, in the endless darkness. Meng Yuan cannot find Dugu Sheng's aura at all. Only when the sword light is revealed in the dark clouds can he slightly sense Dugu Sheng's presence.

However, Dugu Sheng's energy was fleeting, and Meng Yuan could only try to break through the formation again and again. The moment Dugu Sheng dared to reveal even the slightest flaw would be the moment to break the formation.

"The road ahead is difficult..." Jie Kaiping had just been praising Meng Yuan and belittling Dugu Sheng, but now that Meng Yuan had been defeated, he remained calm and composed, having weathered many storms. Seeing Dugu Kang's bewildered and concerned expression, he chuckled and said, "You see, Benefactor Mingyue has been holding back, which shows that Meng Feiyuan is still testing us! Besides, the fire around Meng Feiyuan is inextinguishable, and the fire he seeks is the same. Just watch, Meng Feiyuan will definitely become stronger with each battle!"

Sure enough, Dugu Kang saw Meng Yuan seem to have heard Xie Kaiping's words, and he transformed into a line of fire, soaring into the sky.

Dugu Kang was much relieved. "Senior brother, you know so much!"

"When you've traveled many roads and met many people like I have, you'll understand." Jie Kaiping saw that Meng Yuan seemed unaffected by his injuries and even showed a fighting spirit that grew stronger with each battle, making her even more convinced that she hadn't misjudged him. "Meng Feiyuan is using your father to sharpen his knife, but your father wants to break Meng Feiyuan's knife. There's going to be a fight."

As he spoke, he untied the screen and pointed to the deep pool.

Dugu Kang looked over and saw that the wind and rain on the pool were getting stronger. Shui Xiangsheng and Gan Wulin were sometimes on the surface of the water and sometimes underwater, shuttling back and forth.

Moreover, the way medical practitioners fight is very different from that of martial artists, but it has more in common with Confucianism, Buddhism and Taoism.

The two fellow disciples' auras changed constantly, sometimes forming needles from their qi, sometimes turning life into death, completely ignoring the great battle in the sky.

Suddenly, Shui Xiangsheng's entire body, like Meng Yuan's, burst into flames.

However, unlike Meng Yuan's flames, which were faint, this one was a raging inferno, displaying a variety of colors.

"This is a forbidden zone for healers. It can be a miraculous place that reverses life and death, or it can be a plague-ridden place that burns people's souls." Jie Kaiping actually knew about these things.

Sure enough, Shui Xiangsheng was in the fire, and Gan Wulin immediately retreated, holding the short ruler horizontally in front of him.

"Senior brother, who do you think will win?" Dugu Kang hadn't actually traveled far from home much, and his knowledge was only slightly better than Xiang Ling's. But now that Kai Ping had some insights, he came to ask about everything.

“At their level, they no longer rely on ordinary medicine and poison to fight for their lives, but rather they fight with the very essence of life and death.” Jie Kaiping was indeed insightful. “They even have the ability to refine each other into medicine. However, in my opinion, their methods of helping the world as prime ministers are unlikely to succeed.”

"Does Senior Brother mean that the path of breaking through realms for the sake of saving the world might be wrong?" Dugu Kang asked curiously.

"You're still too young and think too highly of others." Jie Kaiping sneered, "It's like a Buddhist monk who enters the third rank from the fourth rank by making a great vow and fulfilling it. Does it matter whether the vow saves or harms people? Does that mean that a physician who enters a high rank must save people?"

Dugu Kang was completely bewildered.

“There are many paths to breaking through to higher realms; it all depends on how you try them.” Jie Kaiping had clearly considered this question as well. “For example, silently causing a plague in a city, spreading to a hundred miles around, rendering it uninhabitable—isn’t that a path? Conversely, quelling a plague, or quelling a plague that has raged for ten or a hundred years—isn’t that a good path of merit? Saving the world, saving the world—which world are you saving? Does it have to be people to be considered a ‘world’? A doctor, a doctor—isn’t a poison doctor a doctor?”

Jie Kaiping pointed to the nobles and slaves rolling in the mud behind him and said, "When the Kingdom of Xiangji was first established, how could there be such a clear distinction between superiors and inferiors? But now it has become like this. Isn't it also a plague? The two brothers said they wanted to save the world, but in reality, they just wanted to eliminate the plague. One wanted to help the slaves get through it, and the other wanted to guide them to a way out. Both will result in deaths. The only difference is how many people die."

"That makes sense!" Dugu Kang exclaimed in sudden realization. "How come I didn't think of that?"

"Because you are kind," Jie Kaiping said.

"Then why did you say that neither of them could make it?" Dugu Kang asked curiously.

"The methods to save the world are certainly not bad. But they save the world in order to break through their cultivation realm, not the other way around." Jie Kaiping pointed to Meng Yuan, who had been knocked down from the sky again, and said, "Just like your father, he was single-mindedly focused on killing a third-rank cultivator to prove his Dao, but he forgot that for a martial artist, entering the third rank from the fourth rank is about finding a sliver of possibility in the impossible, it's about forging ahead without regard for life or death. Isn't your father putting the cart before the horse?"

Dugu Kang nodded blankly, and he also looked at Meng Yuan on the ground.

He was surrounded by the bright moon and two bald nuns, one of whom was cursing and swearing as if she was blaming herself for not coming to help.

But soon, Dugu Kang saw Meng Yuan stand up again, clearly indicating that he didn't need any help.

"The only ones who can help martial artists are the martial artists themselves." Jie Kaiping put his arm around Dugu Kang's shoulder. "Back when we were discussing the Dao in Jiangxin, Meng Feiyuan was just a man crawling on the ground trying to survive. Now he has the power to turn the world upside down. I'm afraid he'll force your father to his death."

(End of this chapter)