Chapter 45: The Appearance of the Earthly Rankings

Bandel looked at the crowds on both sides of the street, feeling immensely proud and self-satisfied. The material prosperity of the Central Plains of Huaxia far exceeded the bitter, barren lands of their Peacock Buddha Country. Here, the number of followers he gathered every day was steadily increasing.

When the year-end review arrived, his Red Lotus Temple would undoubtedly receive the Living Buddha's commendation. By then, he would upgrade the Red Lotus Temple to the Red Lotus Monastery—haha, and at that time, he would also be considered the master of an influential sect.

As the chief disciple of the Red Lotus Temple, his status would rise higher and higher, and perhaps he might even receive secret cultivation techniques transmitted personally by his Master.

Just as Bandel was daydreaming about his glorious future, the ceremonial procession suddenly halted. Sitting atop the lotus throne, Bandel raised his head and saw a man and a woman standing in the middle of the street not far ahead, chatting and laughing.

Seeing this, Bandel instantly flared up with anger. He gave a wink to a disciple nearby, who immediately stepped forward, his face dark with gloom, and shouted harshly, "Audacious! How dare you obstruct the divine carriage of the Red Lotus Temple? What is your crime?"

With that, the disciple reached out to grab Zhang Xiao. His cultivation was merely at the Nascent Soul stage, and seeing that Zhang Xiao exuded no spiritual energy fluctuations whatsoever, he assumed Zhang Xiao was nothing more than a good-for-nothing who hadn't even reached the Foundation Establishment stage.

As his large hand lunged forward, it flickered with a faint red glow, a mighty momentum erupting from his palm. Vaguely, crimson Qi coiled around it, transforming into a red lotus. This was none other than the signature martial art of the Red Lotus Temple, the Red Lotus Palm.

If this palm strike landed solidly, even a master at the Nascent Soul stage would suffer severe injuries. Under the flashing red lotus, the surrounding crowd was instantly swept aside by the gale-force palm wind.

Yet Zhang Xiao and Ziyan stood as unaffected as if nothing were happening, completely unmoved. Before the palm wind even reached within five paces of Zhang Xiao, it instantly dissipated into nothingness. Seeing this, Bandel, sitting upon the lotus throne, constricted his pupils and hurriedly shouted, "Not good! Fall back!" At the same time, his figure leapt violently out of the lotus throne, his hands flicking to cast several imperceptible red rays of light.

"Humph!" Zhang Xiao's figure shifted, instantly vanishing from his spot. When he reappeared, he was already beside the attacking disciple. With a gentle tap of his finger on the disciple's forehead, a fluorescent light flickered from Zhang Xiao's fingertip and penetrated the opponent's mind.

*Bang!* With a muffled explosion, the disciple's head burst into pieces like a watermelon dropped from a tall building.

Simultaneously, Zhang Xiao grabbed the air with his hand, catching three red flying needles as thin as hairs. Seeing this, Bandel's expression shifted drastically. Pointing at Zhang Xiao, he shouted, "Which sect's disciple are you, daring to come and cause trouble in the territory of my Red Lotus Temple?"

Hearing Bandel's words, an icy killing intent flashed deep within Zhang Xiao's pupils, instantly plunging Bandel's entire body into an icy abyss. Bandel's cultivation was merely at the paltry Spirit Refining stage; how could he possibly withstand Zhang Xiao's aura pressure?

With a clenched fist, Zhang Xiao crushed the three red flying needles in his palm into pieces, casually tossing them onto the ground. He spoke coldly, "This is the Central Plains of Huaxia. Since when did it become the territory of your Red Lotus Temple?"

Though Zhang Xiao's words were spoken calmly, they carried an unapproachable majesty that ceaselessly probed the depths of Bandel's soul. Beads of sweat dripped down Bandel's forehead, and his body trembled violently—where was there any trace of an eminent monk left?

"Humph!"

With a cold snort from Zhang Xiao, Bandel's calves suddenly went weak, and he collapsed heavily to the ground. Zhang Xiao's aura was locked solely onto Bandel; the surrounding crowd felt absolutely nothing.

They only perceived that in the blink of an eye, a master had been slain, and the grand preceptor, famed for his boundless divine powers, was now kneeling in submission before Zhang Xiao. This instantaneous, drastic reversal left the minds of the onlookers completely unable to process what was happening.

"Very well. I heard that a few days from now, your Red Lotus Temple is holding some kind of Red Lotus Dharma Assembly. By then, I will personally attend to join in the lively festivities." Zhang Xiao couldn't be bothered to entangle himself further with a Spirit Refining stage waste. This would serve as a way for him to send a message to those people in the Red Lotus Temple, so that when the time came, Zhang Xiao could properly teach them a lesson at the Dharma Assembly.

Upon hearing Zhang Xiao's words, Bandel felt a heavy stone lift from his heart. Knowing that Zhang Xiao did not intend to make things difficult for him, just as Bandel was secretly sighing in relief, Zhang Xiao tapped his finger directly between Bandel's eyebrows.

Bandel's mind suffered a violent shock, and a mouthful of heart's blood gushed from his mouth. His eyes were filled with terror, resentment, and unwillingness, yet Bandel dared not show a shred of it. It turned out that Zhang Xiao's seemingly casual tap had shattered half of Bandel's sea of consciousness.

Not only did this drop Bandel's cultivation from the mid-Spirit Refining stage down to the Nascent Soul stage, but it also completely extinguished any hope of him ever returning to the Spirit Refining stage in this lifetime, unless he could find a heaven-defying medicinal herb akin to the Soul-Calming Fruit.

"Death is spared, but the living punishment cannot be avoided. This time I'll give you a lesson; if I see you again next time, I will scatter your soul into nothingness." With those words, Zhang Xiao turned and walked away with Ziyan, leaving behind a pale-faced Bandel.

The news of Bandel's cultivation being crippled spread rapidly throughout Y City. Countless people began speculating about the true identity of the mysterious person who had crippled him. Furthermore, Zhang Xiao's declaration that he would drop by the Red Lotus Dharma Assembly to join in the excitement caught everyone's attention.

Some were inwardly delighted, some chuckled secretly, and others eagerly anticipated a grand spectacle at the Red Lotus Dharma Assembly. Many even opened gambling rings, betting on whether the mysterious figure would truly wreak havoc at the gathering.

"Young master, I don't understand. Why didn't we just march straight into that Red Lotus Temple and finish them off? Why wait until they gather their forces at whatever Dharma Assembly they're holding?"

At this moment, Zhang Xiao and Ziyan were seated in a teahouse, quietly sipping fragrant tea. Zhang Xiao was listening with great relish to the ongoing discussions about himself all around them.

Hearing Ziyan's words, Zhang Xiao put down his teacup, a sharp edge flashing across his eyes as he sneered, "The best way to slap someone in the face is to do it when the crowd is largest. You must slap hard and loud so that they lose face completely."

At Zhang Xiao's words, Ziyan arched her brows and chuckled, "Young master, you've really become bad, hehe." Just as Zhang Xiao was about to reply, the expression on his face changed abruptly, and he looked up toward the sky.

Not just Zhang Xiao, but everyone else followed suit, turning their gazes upward. The previously clear sky had now clouded over without warning. Far away in the Qin Emperor's Palace in the capital city of LY, Qin Shi Huang, who had been sitting upon the dragon throne, slowly stood up and gazed at the sky with a soft sigh, "Has it finally come?"

Not only Qin Shi Huang, but all the retired elders of the nine great sects stepped out of their seclusion chambers one after another. Gazing at the gloomy, heavy black clouds in the sky, a hint of excitement appeared on their faces.

*Rumble!* A peal of thunder shook the heavens. Zhang Xiao felt the surrounding air instantly freeze; apart from his thoughts, even breathing became impossible. This was the case not only for Zhang Xiao and Ziyan, but for the entire world. This scene was naturally all too familiar to everyone: a Heavenly Transformation!

Ever since the grand tournament of the nine sects, the Heavenly Transformation had never appeared again. Aside from occasionally recalling the terrifying pressure it brought, people rarely spoke of it voluntarily because the sensation it instilled in them was simply too overwhelming—so vast that one felt like a puny ant facing a towering, roaring flood, powerless and in absolute despair.

Just as everyone began guessing what this Heavenly Transformation would entail, the heavens suddenly trembled. A fissure violently tore open across the dark clouds in the sky, and countless beams of light poured down through the firmament like a celestial river spilling onto the mortal world.

They illuminated the world so thoroughly that no matter where one was, even if hiding in the deepest, darkest cave, escape from this brilliant radiance was impossible. A massive scroll slowly unfurled, and at the very top of the scroll was inscribed a colossal character: "Earth."

Surrounding it were countless lifelike horned dragons coiled together, their dragon heads facing the sky as they bit, clawed, and climbed over one another, desperately trying to rush onto the topmost section.

"The Earth Ranking appears!" A booming shout echoed from the heavens. With that light cry, Zhang Xiao suddenly felt his body jolt. Amidst the countless beams of light, his soul could no longer help itself and was forcibly extracted from his physical body, flying rapidly toward the unfurled Earth Ranking in the sky.

Seeing this, Zhang Xiao couldn't help but feel a surge of profound shock. How could this be? He had clearly entered the Integration stage, and his divine soul had long since fused with his physical body. How could his soul be forcibly sucked out of his flesh? As he gazed at the rapidly approaching Earth Ranking, Zhang Xiao began to struggle desperately.

Yet the surrounding beams of light numbered in the countless, too many to count. Within every single beam of light was a human figure. Glancing sideways, Zhang Xiao discovered that the expressions on these people's faces showed neither pain nor struggle; instead, they wore dazed, blank expressions, as if they had fallen under some soul-capturing spell and lost their sense of self. Seeing this, Zhang Xiao struggled even harder.

Regrettably, no matter how hard Zhang Xiao tried, his soul continued to fly swiftly toward the Earth Ranking in the sky. Countless souls were sucked into the ranking. The horned dragons flanking the Earth Ranking appeared even more ferocious, biting and roaring at each other, while countless light-blue data streams manifested across the scroll.

I came back late today after being out all day, and rushed to code right after returning. I only just finished it now. Apologies to you all, my friends.