A Man in the Snow: Starting with a Sword Challenge to the Northern Liang Prince's Palace

Mount Lantuo.

It stands at the end of the yellow sands of the Western Regions, shaped like an old monk in deep meditation.

The mountain is reddish-brown, and its rock strata are folded like a monk's robe. When the setting sun shines obliquely, the entire mountain is bathed in a molten gold-like light.

The red-robed man leading the group seemed out of place, yet no one dared to stop him, for he was accompanied by a female Dharma King.

"Inside Mount Landa, besides myself, there are two other earth immortals."

The Six-Bead Bodhisattva explained to Ye Yun from the side.

"who!"

Ye Yun knew little about the Western Regions, especially about this Landuo Mountain.

"One was an unnamed old monk, and the other was Liu Songtao, the ninth-generation leader of the Zhulu Mountain sect, who was half demon and half Buddha."

Upon hearing Liu Songtao's name, Ye Yun stopped in his tracks.

This person is no ordinary individual. A hundred years ago, he caused bloodshed throughout the martial arts world. If it weren't for the woman in purple, he would probably have achieved something comparable to Wang Xianzhi today.

As Sui Xiegu once said, a person like Liu Songtao would be an exceptionally talented individual in any era.

"Let me go and meet him."

Li Dangxin brought it up on his own initiative.

Now that we have agreed to help Ye Yun, we must see this through to the end.

He didn't trust Ye Yun, but he believed in the choices of his master and his senior uncle.

"Can."

"Six Beads, we will deal with these two Buddhist figures for you. Can you subdue the forces of these two sects?"

Ye Yun said calmly.

"Of course."

The Six-Bead Bodhisattva has now completely attained the status of a Great Vajra in Buddhism, if it weren't for these two people blocking his way.

Although there are many experts on Mount Lantau, none of them are qualified to stop her.

Li Dangxin nodded to Ye Yun, then took a step forward, transforming into a white rainbow, heading straight for the faint but perceptible demonic energy.

When he arrives here.

The entire mountain gate is decayed, and the half-tilted stone pillars are engraved with blurred Sanskrit characters.

There are three ancient cypress trees in the courtyard, two of which have withered and died, leaving only one stubbornly adorned with some dark green.

Soon Li Dangxin saw an old monk wearing a tattered kasaya and with a string of ebony prayer beads on his wrist.

No one would have guessed that this calm-faced monk with eyes like ancient wells was Liu Songtao, who had ravaged the martial arts world thirty years ago.

He was no less capable than Ye Yun back then, slaughtering all the top-tier experts of the time, including a Land Sword Immortal, and even causing the Heavenly Gate to close for twenty years.

"Be careful, Li." Liu Songtao said, putting his hands together in prayer.

Outside the mountain gate, a white-robed monk walked barefoot up the steps. Li Dangxin walked slowly, his features gentle, the Bodhi prayer beads in his hand perfectly round, gleaming softly in the sunset.

"Landuo Mountain is one of the ancestral temples of the eight major schools of Buddhism. It cannot be without a master. There should be a representative from the thirty-six kingdoms of the Western Regions. The Buddhist community of the Central Plains is here to help this mountain revive its Dharma lineage and has come to send off the old monk."

Liu Songtao chuckled, a hint of bitterness in his voice, and said, "Revitalize? More like subjugate, I heard a killing god has recently emerged, named Ye Yun, is that him?"

Li Dangxin said gently, "Now that you have taken refuge, you should know that clinging to the distinctions between different sects is also a delusion."

"I have spent half my life killing, and my sins are heavy. Ten years ago, I fled to this mountain, intending to die." He spoke slowly and continued, "It was the old abbot who took me in, taught me the Shurangama Sutra, and taught me to observe my own mind. It took me three years before I dared to open my eyes before the Buddha; and another three years before I put down the sword at my waist."

"Mount Landa cannot be left unprotected. The three hundred monks here, before the old abbot passed away, instructed me: 'Protect this mountain, and that will be your repentance.'"

Li Dangxin remained silent for a moment before saying, "What if I insist?"

"Then let's give it a try." Liu Songtao refused to back down.

The last ray of golden light pierced the clouds, cutting the entire Lantau Mountain into two halves, one of light and one of darkness. Liu Songtao stood in the darkness, while Li Dangxin stood in the light.

In the blink of an eye, the energy flow has changed.

Without warning, Liu Songtao made a move.

He took only one step forward, and with that one step, the sand and dust on the entire bluestone slab suddenly erupted, like a yellow dragon sweeping towards Li Dangxin.

Li Dangxin neither retreated nor welcomed.

He separated his clasped hands, his left hand forming the Abhaya Mudra (gesture of reassurance), and his right hand hanging down at his side.

The dust storm that erupted reached within three feet of him, then suddenly seemed to crash into an invisible wall, falling down in a flurry. And from the cracks in the rocks beneath his feet, tender green shoots of grass sprouted, grew leaves, and blossomed into a few white flowers at a speed visible to the naked eye.

"You know more about the Zen of Withering and Flourishing than I do."

"Buddha-nature inherently possesses birth and death," Li Dangxin said softly.

Liu Songtao laughed loudly, his laughter devoid of any trace of the monk's serenity, and said, "Very well! Then I'll show you what kind of Buddha I've cultivated for the past hundred years!"

With a single punch, a crimson ripple spread out from him, and wherever the ripple passed, the newly sprouted green grass on the bluestone slab withered instantly, turning into charred black.

Mount Landa seemed to have awakened.

The earth's veins in the ancient temple began to tremble, and dust fell from the damaged buildings, creating a strange resonance with the intent of the fist.

Over the past ten years, Liu Songtao has not only practiced Buddhism, but also incorporated all the accumulated Buddhist grievances, monks' suffering, and incense offerings from this mountain over the past thousand years into his martial arts.

Li Dangxin finally sighed, loosened his Bodhi prayer beads, and let them hang in front of his chest. He slowly raised his hands, his left palm facing the sky and his right palm facing the ground.

In this initial stance, a faint phantom image of a seated Buddha suddenly appeared in the sky above Mount Landa.

Liu Songtao simply threw a punch forward. But with this punch, the space around Li Dangxin began to distort, the light folded, as if the entire world was collapsing towards the tip of the sword.

Li Dangxin was tempted.

He neither dodged nor avoided, but instead stepped forward to meet the fist head-on, his eyes blazing with fury, determined not to retreat until he broke through.

With a single punch, both men could be forced back a hundred miles.

"Again!" Li Dangxin's voice was ethereal, yet he showed no sign of backing down.

He has come today to vanquish the demon.

Li Dangxin chanted Buddhist mantras, and everyone recited scriptures in unison.

The Sanskrit chant did not enter through the ears, but rather resounded directly in the sea of ​​consciousness.

Liu Songtao's originally calm demeanor instantly turned into one of madness.

One sound!

Blood trickled from the corner of his lips, but the dark red in his eyes only intensified.

"Hahaha!" he roared, his entire being seemingly transforming back into Liu Songtao, the invincible leader of the Demonic Sect.

I don't know when.

A long sword flew out from the ancient temple, its rust fading and turning into dark gold.

That was the Buddhist vow power he had accumulated through ten years of arduous cultivation, which was now burning away and turning into fuel to inject into the Karmic Fire Sword.

The sword's momentum surged, and in an instant, it reached Li Dangxin's chest.

Li Dangxin finally changed his expression.

He clasped his hands together, and held the 108 prayer beads hanging on his hands in front of the sword.

"clang-"

It wasn't the clanging of metal against metal, but a deafening roar like a great bell.

The sound waves exploded from the two of them, the withered cypress trees were completely shattered, the stone pillars of the mountain gate cracked, the entire Mount Landa trembled violently, and rocks tumbled down like rain.

When the smoke cleared, the two had already parted ways.

Liu Songtao stood leaning on his sword, his monk's robe torn, revealing a deep, bone-revealing wound on his chest. It was not Li Dangxin's injury, but rather the result of his own forceful activation of Buddhist vows, which caused a backlash.

Blood dripped down the sword, blooming into red plum blossoms on the bluestone.

Li Dangxin took three steps back, each step leaving a deep footprint on the stone slab.

The string of his prayer beads had broken, and the Bodhi seeds were scattered all over the ground, three of which had been crushed into dust. His white clothes were stained with dust, and there was blood at the corner of his mouth.

"The sound of pine trees!"

A woman's voice emerged from the depths of my memory.

Liu Songtao suddenly laughed, a laugh of relief.

At that moment, he became fully awake.