Chapter 44: The Red Lotus Temple (Bonus Chapter)

Zhang Xiao made a hand gesture, and the Tianyang Sword transformed into a rainbow streak, flying directly into his palm. "Oh?" As his hand closed around the hilt, he immediately sensed that the sword felt vastly different from before. He quickly opened up his status window to check.

Tianyang Sword: Supreme Treasure grade, upgradable. Bound to owner. Capable of channeling the spiritual energies of Buddhism, Taoism, and Demonic arts to unleash a tricolor sword qi.

Seeing that the Tianyang Sword had unexpectedly advanced from a Grade Nine magical treasure to the Supreme Treasure rank, and that its attributes had shifted to become even more suitable for him, Zhang Xiao was instantly overjoyed. Normally, upgrading the Tianyang Sword to the Supreme Treasure grade would have required at least a century of nurturing.

Yet, under the catalyst of this heavenly tribulation, he had somehow leveraged the wrath of the heavens to elevate the weapon. Truly, fortune and misfortune are intertwined; though he had lost the Five-Colored Cloud Banner, he had gained a Supreme Treasure-grade Tianyang Sword.

Zhang Xiao gently stroked the blade. The Tianyang Sword vibrated instantly, emitting a clear ring accompanied by a palpable sense of joy. With a smile at the corner of his mouth, Zhang Xiao put the sword away and opened his general character attributes.

The reason his tribulation had been so immensely powerful this time, aside from his cultivation methods, was closely tied to his attribute values. Back in the Spirit Refining stage, he had pushed all his attribute values to the absolute extreme of the number nine. Advancing to the Integration stage meant breaking past this extreme limit of nine.

Zhang Xiao, Marquis Protector of the State:
Level: —
Cultivation Method: Ninth Layer of the Candra-Sutra, First Stage of the Seven Transformations Profound Heaven Art.
Lifespan: One Eon.
Combat Power: One Dragon of Strength.
Faith Power: 8,530.
Merit: Battle Merit 0.

His lifespan had increased to one eon, while the original distinct attributes of strength, agility, and endurance had fused together into "One Dragon of Strength." Although the attributes had changed quite a bit, they were evolving in a positive direction, so Zhang Xiao cared little about the specific format.

"Ding! You have met the basic conditions to establish a sect. If you wish to found a sect, please seek approval from Qin Shihuang." A notification popped up from the attribute interface, leaving Zhang Xiao momentarily stunned.

Then, he could not help but smile bitterly. No wonder that old fox had promoted his peerage; it turned out to be a prerequisite for establishing a sect.

Seventeen years had passed, and he wondered what kind of changes had taken place in the mortal realm. Zhang Xiao descended from the clouds. Down below, Ziyan and Heizi were anxiously waiting inside the cave dwelling. Heizi was especially nervous, as his natal soul-seed remained in Zhang Xiao's hands; if anything were to happen to Zhang Xiao, he would not survive either.

Upon seeing Zhang Xiao step into the Xuantian Cave Dwelling, Heizi finally let out a massive sigh of relief while mentally cursing Zhang Xiao as a monster. How could anyone survive such a terrifying lightning tribulation? How could such an abnormal existence even exist in this world?

Before Heizi could rush forward to flatter him, Zhang Xiao asked, "Yaner, how is the situation in the realm during this period?" Hearing this, Ziyan's face flushed red, and instead of answering, she cast her gaze toward Heizi standing nearby.

There was no help for it. Ever since Zhang Xiao entered secluded cultivation, aside from inspecting the cave dwelling's defensive arrays to ensure they functioned normally, Ziyan had spent all her time waiting outside his closed doors, completely ignoring all other matters and dumping them entirely onto Heizi's shoulders.

Catching Ziyan's look, Heizi hurriedly pulled the latest batch of letters from his tunic. These letters had all been sent by the Hong Sect. Zhang Xiao took them and scanned the contents, his brow instantly darkening. The demon race had begun to awaken, and numerous powerful demonic beasts had appeared across the land, running amok and wreaking havoc especially in the northern regions.

After bloody battles between the Nine Great Sects and the demon race, both sides had suffered heavy casualties. The sects had lost nearly a thousand elite disciples, not to mention countless ordinary ones. In the end, the First Emperor of Qin had stepped forward personally, forcing the two factions to sign a coexistence treaty to halt the war.

A truce was a truce, but clandestine conflicts erupted endlessly underneath the surface. The disciples of the Nine Great Sects would execute any member of the demon race on sight, regardless of their cultivation level, and the demon race did the exact same in return.

Reading this, Zhang Xiao could not help but feel a pang of worry. Make no mistake—his concern was solely for the safety of a few friends like Xia Cheng and Xia Tan. Zhang Xiao continued reading further down, and a particular piece of news made his expression turn icy cold. "Hmph!" he sneered. "Those little Third-World bald donkeys go too far!"

As it turned out, while the Nine Great Sects and the demon race had battered each other to near-total destruction, the group of bald donkeys from the Peacock Buddhist Kingdom had taken advantage of the chaos. Eight years ago, taking advantage of the domestic demon turmoil, the Peacock Buddhist Kingdom had launched a sneak attack on Red Blood Ridge. Though the three million disciples of the Nine Great Sects had suffered horrific casualties, they had managed by the skin of their teeth to prevent Red Blood Ridge from falling completely.

Yet, facing a renewed offensive by the Peacock Buddhist Kingdom, they no longer had the strength to defend it. At that critical juncture, the Shaolin Zen Sect had stepped forward, hoping to broker a ceasefire. In the end, however, the Peacock Buddhist Kingdom used Red Blood Ridge as leverage, coercing the Nine Great Sects into granting them permission to propagate their religion within the realm.

Seeing this, Zhang Xiao casually tossed the intelligence report aside. It was nothing short of absolute humiliation. "Young Master, I heard that three months from now, the Red Lotus Temple in Y City is going to hold a Red Lotus Dharma Assembly. Shall we go there and join in the lively spectacle?"

Hearing Heizi's words, Zhang Xiao's heart stirred, and a cold smile played on his lips. "Join the spectacle? Far more than that. I am going to make those bald donkeys crawl right back from whence they came."

Accompanied by Heizi and Ziyan, Zhang Xiao stepped out through the teleportation gate, only to find the transport hall a bustling sea of humanity. The atmosphere was prosperous, yet the overall strength of the people here was remarkably low. The reasons varied: some had died too many times, leading to severely stunted early-game development and an inability to advance past the Foundation Establishment stage, while others possessed abysmal innate talent and had simply given up after seeing no future in cultivation.

Consequently, true experts were becoming increasingly scarce, and those who could genuinely be called masters were now limited strictly to the inner disciples of the major sects. Gazing at the bustling, vibrant metropolis, Ziyan's eyes were filled with unadulterated curiosity. Zhang Xiao strode out of the hall with her, while Heizi reverted to his true form and hid himself upon Zhang Xiao's person once more. In Heizi's own words, there was nowhere in the world safer than being attached to Zhang Xiao.

Though the streets were packed with pedestrians, no one dared to come within three paces of Zhang Xiao and Ziyan, allowing the two of them to stroll forward with effortless ease. The sights along the way forced even Zhang Xiao to sigh at how out of touch he had become: colossal skyscrapers piercing the clouds, aerial transit tunnels crisscrossing the sky, and countless hovering vehicles flashing past at breakneck speeds.

What left Zhang Xiao utterly speechless, however, was the attire of the surrounding populace. Leaving aside the bizarre, eccentric fashion, many people were clad directly in form-fitting powered armor. Meanwhile, Zhang Xiao and his companions—dressed in flowing white robes, azure gowns, and traditional long hair—drew waves of curious stares wherever they went.

Quite a few people even pulled out cameras to snap pictures of Zhang Xiao. At this, Zhang Xiao could only manage a helpless wry smile; naturally, he had no intention of dressing up in the bizarre garb of these modern mortals.

"Clang! Clang!" The sound of bronze gongs echoed through the street, causing the surrounding crowd to instantly change expression and scramble toward the sidewalks to clear a wide pathway. Only Zhang Xiao and Ziyan remained standing in the middle of the road, oblivious to the reason. Seeing this, Ziyan tugged at Zhang Xiao's sleeve and whispered, "Young Master, shouldn't we step aside as well?"

With a sweep of his spiritual sense, Zhang Xiao discovered that the commotion was caused by a procession of monks. A surge of anger instantly flared in his heart. Without a doubt, these monks were dressed unmistakably in the style of Western Regions barbarian monks, especially given the oversized wooden placard they hoisted high, bearing the characters "Red Lotus."

Shaking his head, Zhang Xiao smiled coldly at Ziyan and said, "No need. We shall wait right here and see what kind of grand bigshot expects a Marquis Protector of the State like myself to yield the road." Hearing this, Ziyan obediently stood still right beside him.

The onlookers nearby caught this scene and immediately began whispering and pointing. "Who are those two? Hearing the gongs of the Red Lotus Temple and still daring not to make way?"

As soon as the words fell, another voice chimed in from the crowd: "Who knows? Just a couple of lunatics wearing ancient costumes thinking they're martial arts masters. Heh, just wait until the Masters arrive—I bet you anything they're going to die a miserable death." This remark instantly won the agreement of many nearby, setting off a fresh wave of animated discussion.

"Young Master, shall I teach them a lesson?" The crowd's gossip had not been deliberately concealed, and some individuals had even raised their voices intentionally. How could Ziyan fail to hear them? Her cheeks puffed up with indignation at their words.

Zhang Xiao gently patted Ziyan's shoulder and chuckled, "Heh, they are merely a group of ants. Why bother lowering oneself to argue with them?" Indeed, in Zhang Xiao's eyes, a single shout from him would be enough to completely obliterate these people down to the last soul. Yet, he truly saw no reason to bicker with a flock of mere insects.

At that exact moment, a procession of barbarian monks clad in crimson kasayas strode into view. The one at the head held a massive bronze gong, striking it once every three paces as they marched forward to warn the pedestrians ahead to clear the path.