Immortality starts from the liver proficiency

Chapter 339 Amitabha Temple

This technique is the ancient forbidden art of the Taoist sect, "Dragon Nail Technique," which became completely useless as the spiritual energy of heaven and earth disappeared. However, its use now reveals a hint of its two-thousand-year-old grandeur.

With each dragon nailed, Bi Yuan's face paled a little more, while Xu Yunfan's body, a hundred miles away, shone with a mysterious yellow luster, and his Ten Extremes True Qi surged.

Just as Bi Yuan reached the crucial point, Buddhist chants suddenly echoed from the mountain path.

Three eminent monks from Amitabha Temple arrived through the air, their bodies swirling with true energy, which transformed into the illusory golden lotuses beneath their feet, blooming one after another.

Bi Yuan turned his head to look, raising his eyebrows slightly.

Three supreme grandmasters at the ninth realm.

"The bald monk at Amitabha Temple..."

Not far away, the old Taoist with long eyebrows, who was sitting cross-legged on a stone platform guarding the town, twitched his eyebrows slightly, looking somewhat surprised.

"Have these monks become so arrogant after a hundred years?"

Three eminent monks from Amitabha Temple landed on the summit of Qingwei Mountain.

The chief monk, Ciku, had a face like withered wood, with a reddish tumor between his eyebrows. He wore a brocade robe and held an eight-treasure purple-gold Zen staff.

The left monk Cinan was as strong as a bear, and around his neck hung a rosary of 108 human skull bones, each bone bead engraved with a swastika blood mantra.

With each breath, golden true energy emanated from his body, causing the bronze lamps at the edge of the altar to vibrate and hum.

The right monk, Ci'e, was a dwarf, yet he carried a vajra (a type of pestle) taller than a person.

The "relics" inlaid in the vajra head emitted a dazzling Buddhist light, which made the runes on the altar seem to melt away.

"Sect Master Bi!"

Ci Ku's voice boomed like a bell, "Your Daoist sect forcibly extracted the dragon vein of the Great Zhou, causing earthquakes and landslides in the northwest, and displacing the people. Aren't you afraid of retribution for such a heaven-defying act?!"

Before the words were finished, the three of them simultaneously formed the "Vajra Subduing Demon Mudra," and Sanskrit characters formed golden chains that wrapped around the Kanli Cauldron.

Bi Yuan sneered, using the accumulated power of the altar, his peach wood sword flashing a dazzling light to force back the chains: "An earthquake in the three northwestern states? Perhaps it was your Amitabha Temple digging up the 'ancient Buddha's remains' that caused the underground palace to collapse?"

His sword suddenly turned towards Ci'e, "How come the relic on this Vajra Pestle looks like it was made from the skull of someone in my Taoist sect who practices the 'Jade Pillow Locking Essence' technique?"

The two sides appeared to be exchanging words, but in reality, they had already used secret weapons.

The three bone beads in the Cinan rosary quietly cracked open, and "a few wisps of black energy" flew out and drilled into the earth's veins, attempting to cut off the transmission of Xuanhuang Qi.

Suddenly, a bronze compass in Bi Yuan's sleeve reversed, and the "Greedy Wolf Star" on the compass lit up, triggering the "Seven Killings Exorcising Array" buried on the mountain peak, which shattered the wisps of black energy.

Bi Yuan frowned slightly. These monks had secretly tried to cause trouble as soon as they arrived, which was really annoying.

Just as he was about to release the peach wood sword and roll up his sleeves to step forward.

Three bells suddenly rang out from deep within Qingwei Mountain.

A sword aura shot up from Tianjian Peak, cutting a ravine more than ten miles long in the clouds. An old man in hemp clothing came with a sword. He was none other than Lingxiaozi, the Supreme Elder of the Dao Sect Sword Lineage. The long sword in his hand was the "Remnant Blade" that had beheaded the abbot of Amitabha Temple. The sword blade was shimmering with light, and it had the appearance of an eighth-order divine weapon.

As sword energy filled the air, a fine crack suddenly appeared in Ci Ku's purple-gold bowl. He was horrified to discover that his "indestructible body," which he had cultivated for a hundred years, was actually being pierced by the invisible sword intent, causing him to feel a dull pain.

"Ling Xiaozhi?! You're still alive?"

Ling Xiaozi snorted coldly: "You all live like cowards, do you think I'll be buried?"

"Amitabha……"

Ciku gritted his teeth and put away his staff. "Since fellow Daoists are busy, we will discuss Buddhism another day."

"Without beginning or end..."

Watching the three suffering souls from Amitabha Temple quickly depart, the old man in hemp robes snorted coldly, merely stroking the sword in his hand with a hint of regret.

"My sword hasn't been used to draw blood for decades." If a Grandmaster of the Ninth Realm of Qi Refining is determined to leave, it's difficult to keep him.

Moreover, the Daoist sect is at a critical juncture, and the monks of Amitabha Temple will not fight an unprepared battle. If they are forcibly detained, Amitabha Temple may take advantage of the situation.

Bi Yuan's face was ashen as he said, "The three of them are probably here to test us, to find out how far we've come."
-
As dusk settled, three figures bathed in the setting sun paused beneath the withered willows beside the official road.

The cracks in Ciku's staff emitted wisps of black energy, turning the wild grass beneath his feet grayish-white.

He stroked the crack on his staff, etched by the invisible sword intent, cold sweat seeping from his bitter gourd-like wrinkles: "The Dao Sect actually tolerated such provocation. That old Daoist Bi Yuan was clearly suffering a backlash from the Dragon-Nailing Technique, yet he would rather sacrifice his lifespan than reveal any flaws."

"If you ask me, we should mobilize the Eighteen Arhats Formation to attack Qingwei Mountain!"

Ci Nan ripped off three bone beads from her neck and cleaned the honeycomb-like holes eroded by the black energy. "The Luo Tian Grand Ceremony draws upon the dragon vein foundation of the Great Three Hundred Years. If the Daoist sect can consume it, why can't my Amitabha Temple?"

"Be careful!"

Ci'e suddenly whispered something.

A flock of crows suddenly took flight from the treetops.

Seven dark figures emerged from the shadows like ashes. The old eunuch in the lead was white-faced and beardless, but had a scarlet blood mark tattooed between his eyebrows.

His fingernails were as black as hooks, and he twirled the vajra in Ci'e's hand: "The three masters have quite a temper... Do you still remember His Majesty's orders?"

"Eunuch Cui."

Ci Ku clasped his hands in prayer and asked, "Has His Majesty brought the 'Mysterious Yin Soul-Slaying Blade' that he promised to lend?"

A hunchbacked eunuch emerged from behind the old eunuch Cui Yu and untied the yellow cloth bundle from his back.

When the lid was lifted, a single-edged sword as black as ink was revealed to everyone.

The hunchbacked eunuch sneered, "This is a divine weapon forged by the previous dynasty to destroy mountains and temples, specifically designed to break the true energy of Taoist sects. Unfortunately, it was destroyed by my Great Zhou before it could even be used..."

"not enough."

Ci'e suddenly interrupted, "That old monster Lingxiaozi has reached the 'Sword Qi Transformation' realm, unless you take out that Buddha's remains from the imperial mausoleum."

"Be careful!"

Cui Yu remained calm. "His Majesty may tacitly allow you to divide the dragon vein's Xuanhuang Qi, but this Buddha's remains... the sincerity you've shown is insufficient!"

The sound of chains dragging on the ground came from behind the withered willow.

A burly man wearing a bronze mask stepped out of the shadows, the seven tiger tallies hanging from his waist jingling. He was Yan Tieshan, the commander of the Six Armies of the Northern Army, in charge of Jiannan Circuit.

He kicked aside a young eunuch who was blocking his way, and the hunchbacked eunuch standing to the side gleamed with a cold light.

Now that the Great Zhou has retreated to Yujing Road, these people have gradually become lawless. In order to borrow their strength, Cui Yu has no choice but to endure it.

Yan Tieshan ignored her and threw the rolled-up sheepskin map into Ci Ku's arms: "There is an abandoned mine thirty miles northwest of Qingwei Mountain, which was called 'Xuanming Eye' in the previous dynasty. I asked those tomb raiders in Beiman Mountain to check it out. There is a Daoist vein there. If it is interrupted..."

"This place has long been designated a forbidden area by the Daoist sect."

Ci Nan crumpled the edge of the map, her face full of distress.

“There are definitely Daoist experts stationed there.”

"I have a plan."

Ci Ku said, "This child's true energy is almost at the primordial state, but there will inevitably be a moment of stagnation when the Xuanhuang is infused into his body..."

The hunchbacked eunuch suddenly interjected: "The newly developed 'Thousand Machine Powder' by the Directorate of Ceremonial is specifically designed for those at the ninth level of Qi cultivation, allowing their true Qi to surge backward for three breaths!"

"Three breaths? Enough for me to smash his head! I'll take the stage then."

(There should be another chapter later, I think, it's still being written...)
(End of this chapter)