White-Robed Chief

Chu Li stared at He Ju pitifully.

He Ju hurriedly added, “Everything that I’ve told you is the truth, none of them were lies! I swear!”

Chu Li sighed. “If that is the case, how can I spare you?!”

He Ju’s face darkened, and he scoffed coldly. “You’re breaking your promise?!”

Chu Li exclaimed, “If I were to set you free, what difference am I from an accomplice? You people kill as if it is a child’s game, your hands stained are with the blood of too many innocents. That’s a crime that should be punished! … Even if you were to die ten or even twenty times, it would still not be enough to achieve total redemption!”

He Ju sneered. “If a golden eagle eats a rabbit, despite whether the rabbit is innocent or not, would the golden eagle still deserve to die?”

“You are a human being, not an animal. You lot really think that you are Asura?!” scoffed Chu Li.

“We can no longer be considered an average human being. We have obtained the Body of Asura through arduous cultivation, we have shed our flesh and normal bodies. We will become Asura completely after death. We are already Asura now.” He Ju shook his head.

“Then I have no other choice but to suppress you. We are obviously not the same breed of human, your heart is too abnormal!” Chu Li sighed.

“… I never thought that you would be such a vile person who breaks his promises! So much for having such a sterling reputation!” scoffed He Ju.

Chu Li snarled. “If I were to care so much about my fame and let you go, I would not be human!”

“You were the one who forced me into divulging the information earlier! We shall perish together then!” He Ju grit his teeth and laughed coldly.

Chu Li waved his hand. “How about this, I have a suggestion.”

“What suggestion!? I don’t trust you anymore,” yelled out He Ju.

Chu Li continued, “I will strike with three of my fingers, if you can block against my attacks, then I will spare you this time. However, I will kill you the next time we meet. I won’t be breaking my promise, and it would make me feel better, how about that?”

“… Three fingers?” frowned He Ju.

Chu Li said, “Block against my three finger forces, and I will spare you this time.”

“…Alright!” sneered He Ju.

Since He Ju had exchanged blows with Chu Li earlier, he knew somewhat strength of his inner energy. With only three finger force attacks, he would definitely be able to block them with his Body of Asura. Thinking of this, He Ju took a deep breath.

He Ju’s began to transform, his skin wrapped around his bones, transforming him into a skeleton, his gaze cold and heartless.

“Thunk!” Chu Li pointed at him with one of his fingers.

He Ju raised his skinny right palm to receive the hit, the finger force pierced into his palm but was blocked by his own palm energy.

Initially, He Ju felt happy that he had managed to block the attack when suddenly in a heartbeat, the finger force instantly reappeared in his heart region, attempting to break his heart meridian.

The weakness of the Body of Asura was the heart, which was the location of the Heart of Asura. It was completely prohibited from receiving hits, so the disciples of Asura would usually create a Heart Guard Mirror. However, this finger force was bizarre, it had unexpectedly traveled all the way to He Ju’s heart after only striking his palm.

“The Petrifying Finger!” He Ju cried out.

The disciples of Asura despised this antique skill from the Tempest Temple the most, and also feared it the most.

Chu Li nodded. “This is the Petrifying Finger, can you still withstand it?”

“How do you know the Petrifying Finger?! This is the secret antique skill of the Tempest Temple!” shouted He Ju.

Chu Li replied, “You don’t need to worry about that, here comes another!”

He lightly shot out another finger at He Ju again.

“Hmph!” He Ju sneered. His left palm blocked Chu Li’s finger force, while his right palm shielded his heart region.

Since the heart region was the weak spot of the Body of Asura, the disciples of Asura would naturally have a unique technique to protect it in order to guard against antique skills such as the Petrifying Finger and to avoid suffering an overwhelmingly embarrassing defeat. The technique He Ju displayed was the Heart Guard Palm. It used the palm energy generated from the Shura Palm to form several layers of inner energy which in turn whirled around the heart region to protect it from any attacks.

“Thunk!” A dull thud sounded from He Ju’s body as he received the blow.

He Ju’s entire figure suddenly froze. Not only had his inner energy come to a halt but his heartbeat and blood flow had also stopped. He was completely immobilized.

Chu Li stepped forward, and pressed his palm against He Ju’s heart, releasing his own inner energy in the process.

At this moment, He Ju’s vision faded to black, and he fell into unconsciousness.

Chu Li quickly sealed the acupuncture points all over his body, then lifted up Zhao Shang along with He Ju, and disappeared immediately.

A Buddhist hall in the Mercy Temple.

The courtyard was dyed a rose color by rays of the sunset, and the green bamboo forest rustled as it moved with the wind.

Fa Yuan was resting on a futon in the living room.

The living room gate was wide open, and the breeze entered the room slowly, causing his grey robe to flutter casually. Fa Yuan meditated, still as a statue, maintaining a solemn expression on his face.

There were four people lying in front of him. They were Zhou Lingfeng and the three others who were captured in the Imperial Residence of King An earlier.

After about a quarter of an hour, Fa Yuan opened his eyes and slowly walked toward them. He resealed their acupuncture points, sat back down on his futon, and settled down once again, maintaining his solemn look, not moving an inch.

Fa Xiang, dressed in a grey robe, slowly entered the courtyard.

“Brother Fa Xiang.” Fa Yuan opened his eyes and bowed with pressed palms.

Fa Xiang glanced at the four prisoners. “Let me handle this, you have just gone through an exhausting battle, you need to rest.”

“I’m fine. We cannot be careless of them, if they were to escape, it would be a huge sin on our part!” said Fa Yuan.

“I understand. Junior Brother Fa Yuan, is Almsgiver Chu really being targeted by the Divine Church of Asura?” smiled Fa Xiang.

“Yes, Brother Fa Xiang, if Almsgiver Chu were to cultivate the Asura Power Technique, it would be a terrifying situation indeed!” Fa Yuan slowly nodded.

“There is nothing all that amazing about the Divine Church of Asura. The only reason that they’re still around is because Elder Zhu has not taken any action yet, or else they would be eradicated by now!” added Fa Xiang.

“Brother, I am really puzzled, why has no action been taken yet? Why are they still being allowed to kill freely as they wish?” Fa Yuan frowned, suppressing his anger and resentment.

Fa Xiang sighed. “Junior Brother Fa Yuan, you need to understand the concerns of the Elders. There are only a hundred or so members in the Divine Church of Asura, but what about the people in the Tempest Temple? If we really shed all pretenses of cordiality with each other, who knows how many disciples of the Tempest Temple would die by their hands. If the Bishop were to somehow escape and take revenge on the temple’s disciples in the future, the other three major sects would definitely not come to our aid, and if you add in the Emperor of the Ji Dynasty…”

As he said this, Fa Xiang shook his head.

“Amitabha Buddha…” Fa Yuan chanted a mantra with a worried expression.

The Emperor of the Ji Dynasty and the Grand Elder had a mutual respect and restricted themselves from battling each other. If the Grand Elder battled against the Bishop of the Divine Church of Asura and won then, there would be no problem, but if he were wounded, the Emperor of the Ji Dynasty would certainly not let go of this opportunity!

Fa Xiang sighed again. “So Junior Brother Fa Yuan, work hard on your self-cultivation and enter the Heaven God’s Boundary as quickly as possible. When the time comes, our Tempest Temple will no longer have to be overcautious and indecisive. We will no longer be accused behind our backs of being falsely benevolent!”

Fa Yuan was a peerless genius who had been recognized by the temple. Being able to cultivate extremely difficult ancient studies at such a young age, he would undoubtedly enter Heaven God’s Boundary in the future. Thus, he was allowed to obtain worldly experiences outside the temple, sharpening his temperament and advancing his dharmic base.

Fa Yuan remarked, “Yes, Brother Fa Xiang, I will continue to cultivate diligently.”

“But remember not to seek quick success when cultivating… Instead, advance slowly and follow the techniques step by step. You have astonishing comprehension, as long as you do not wander off the right path, you will definitely reach the Heaven God’s Boundary!” Fa Xiang grinned.

Fa Yuan quietly nodded.

“Fa Yuan,” Chu Li’s voice suddenly boomed out. He entered the courtyard while holding two men in grey shirts as his white robes fluttered behind him.

“Almsgiver Chu.” Fa Yuan shockingly stared at the two men in grey.

Fa Xiang’s thick eyebrows raised, and he bowed with pressed palms.

He was dissatisfied with Chu Li. ‘What kind of place does he think the Mercy Temple is? To come and go freely in a place like this… Did he have no respect?’ thought Fa Xiang.

Chu Li dropped the two men at Fa Yuan’s feet. “These two were caught in a remote village within the boundaries of the Yi Public House, preparing to initiate a massacre, then putting the blame on me, making me a criminal of the High Duke’s Public House, they can really be fanciful!”

Fa Yuan chanted a mantra and glared coldly at the two men.

“I have managed to gain some information. The Divine Church is located at Moonfall Peak, and there are Left and Right Guardians… Do you already know of this?” continued Chu Li.

Fa Yuan slowly shook his head.

Even if they knew that the Divine Church was at the Moonfall Peak, the Grand Elder would still not take action, and they would be unable to get rid of the Divine Church of Asura.