Chapter 717: Chapter 700: Wrathful King Kong (Celebrate Chapter 700)

Exploring countless secret realms by now, Zhao Changhe’s tunnelling ability had almost rivalled that of Ying Wu. Indeed, when it came to drilling other holes, he far surpassed him.

Through observing the flow of faith Qi veins, he could pinpoint the entrance of the secret realm without searching.

Zhao Changhe followed the Qi to the entrance, a string of ellipses in his mind.

“Why is it always an opening behind a big Buddha again? Can you monks be a bit more creative? Why is it that every place related to the monks’ secret realms is always behind a big Buddha…”

According to his current understanding of various secret realms, they were all naturally formed with no Array mechanisms or entrance switches, much like how he had once jumped into a volcano and directly entered another dimension.

The existence of various entrances was either because someone fierce hadn’t died at the scene, like Xuanwu who had hastily rigged a stone Array outside for concealment—it was clear that it was done in a great hurry—or because descendants who found the realm had built a facade outside, such as the Wang Family creating a ritual platform that also linked with mechanisms, but in reality, it was just the Sea Suppressing Sword stuck in a stone.

So rather than say he was digging behind a statue of Buddha, it would be more accurate to say a Buddha statue was built at the entrance to deceive the eyes. Zhao Changhe pressed his hand behind the Buddha statue, activated his Control Crane Skill, and easily opened the door from the inside, slipping into the statue.

After that, there was no need to figure out how to break the seal; merely a small jump in place and a forceful push of his feet, and he “bam” entered another dimension.

Knowing the essence of the secret realm, breaking in was just that simple.

However, the scene inside took Zhao Changhe by surprise, leaving him utterly shocked.

He had thought it was just a small instance, perhaps a burial mound with a Buddha lying within; or maybe it was heavily guarded, and he would face numerous attacks upon entry. Instead, it turned out to be an endlessly vast area, with grass and flowing water in front of him, and even a continuous mountain range in the distance, quite resembling the Spirit Clan’s Great Secret Realm.

Given such a vast secret realm, under normal circumstances, there should be a Heavenly Book… it was strange that the blind one hadn’t given any hint.

Zhao Changhe’s first reaction was to dart towards the mountain range. On this flat ground, it was unclear whether he was already completely visible to others, feeling embarrassingly exposed like a monkey on display.

Once in the mountains, the surrounding trees and rocks provided cover and inexplicably brought a slight peace of mind; Zhao Changhe looked around with an even stranger expression.

Outside it was the twelfth lunar month, and it was already past Laba Festival, yet here it was the scorching heat of summer. Looking up, there was a blazing sun hanging high in the sky, as blinding as a gigantic fireball.

This was counterintuitive… as a secret realm is a fragment of broken space, it wasn’t supposed to have sun or moon—dark and chaotic was the norm. The sun and moon of the Spirit Clan seemed very likely to be fraudulent. Considering this was a Buddhist secret realm, could it be implying the Sun Tathagata?

If there was something opposite to Emperor Ye, could it be this?

In the mountains, a hint of temples and pagodas with flying eaves peeked through. Zhao Changhe cautiously approached and soon saw an ancient temple.

To say “ancient” wasn’t quite enough; in the surroundings were monks sent by Yuan Cheng stationed for guard or possibly cultivation, and the temple, enduring two epochs, shone like new glass. But everywhere were broken walls and collapsed houses, unrepaired and looking quite dilapidated, retaining some sense of antiquity.

At that moment, a group of old monks were sitting cross-legged in front of the grand hall in the square, circling a golden shining statue of an ancient Buddha in the middle, chanting sutras.

On closer inspection, this was not a statue.

It was the mummified body of an Ancient Buddha, sitting with one finger pointing to the ground and the other to the sky, eyes wide open in anger, amidst the surrounding ruin it had quite the air of a Vajra’s furious roar and unwilling struggle. Its robe was intact, face full, and whole body shone brilliantly, significantly different from those mummies in Desolate Calamity.

Ancient Buddhist, Vajra Body!

Thus, the body was incorruptible, but it seemed the soul had not returned, now looking like a sculpture.

Threads of Power of Faith seeped into the body, proving that he had not completely died and indeed might still have hope for resurrection. If faith was expanded over many years, this truly could be revived. Looking at this, it was likely that there wasn’t just one Vajra Buddha; a pity that long ago, Xia Longyuan had killed one or even several resurrected Buddhas—once the command to destroy Buddha was issued, all progress was halted until now restarting.

But the Power of Faith here was not right… nor was the Buddha.

Zhao Changhe faintly saw, within what should have been pure faith, a lot of rage, chaos, strife, conflict—different but similar negative spirits to what he had encountered like Blood Evil, violence, blood lust, and hatred. Ordinary people might not discern it, but he, who had started with Blood Evil Skill and learned about faith and Qi veins from the Heavenly Book, could faintly sense it.

The Buddha, before death, held resentment, thus easily adopting such chaos and strife. Resurrected with such an aura, the Buddha probably would not be as Yuan Cheng envisaged.

This could be a Buddha of destruction with unquenchable anger, potentially even chaotic in spirit.

……

At about the same time Zhao Changhe made his judgment, Yuan Cheng and others led their followers to the site where Blood God Sect members had killed people.

A monk was chopped to death on the ground, and a few Blood God Sect members were arguing with another group of monks, “Damn it, it was you monks who first stabbed our brother. A random slash was just to push him back; even a dog could have dodged that slash. Who knows why he didn’t dodge?”

“Do you even believe what you just said?”

“I followed Brother Zhao, I may not have many skills, but I can still nail a spit! If I killed him, then I killed him; it wasn’t my fault, and it won’t be easy to make me admit it!”

“It was you who first plundered the temple fairgoers, our senior brother was only stopping you, that much is clear, right?”

“Bullshit, we were properly consuming the royal provisions, plunder your mom!”

“The thieves comb through like a comb, soldiers like a rake, officials shave it clean. To say that now you are officers and soldiers and do not plunder, such words can only fool King Zhao in your home.”

“You can curse at me all you want, but if you curse our Brother Zhao, how many heads do you have? Go to hell!”

Both sides quickly erupted into a brawl.

“Stop!” Yuan Cheng Yuan Xing quickly intervened in the fight, holding back both parties.

“Amitabha.” Yuan Xing addressed the young man with a bow, “The reverend and King Zhao are friends, would the general give me some respect and clarify this matter?”

The young man said, “What’s there to talk about? Clearly, this idiot was looking for trouble and suddenly attacked us, claiming we were plundering the public. Did I rob his mother? Then I slashed back at him, and he died; what’s that got to do with me?”

Both Yuan Cheng and Yuan Xing furrowed their brows, finding his explanation utterly unconvincing, both inclined to believe that the young man was lying.

Knowing that no one believed his words, the young man was both angry and anxious, “Anyway, that’s the truth, otherwise let’s all go explain it in front of Brother Zhao!”

His words were clearly meant to use his connections to pressure others. Yuan Cheng looked at his own sect members who had died, unable to suppress the anger in his heart, he murmured a Buddha mantra, “Then let’s take him and explain everything in front of King Zhao.”

Suddenly, he grabbed the shoulders of the young man.

Almost at the moment when the situation deteriorated, inside the secret realm, the eyes of the Vajra Buddha, previously wide with anger, suddenly moved as if coming to life.

The surrounding old monks rejoiced, “The Buddha revi…”

Before he could finish, the angry stare of the Buddha fell on him; the old monk suddenly choked, let out a miserable scream, his veins bulging, and his eyes bulging as if he were enduring an extremely terrifying pressure.

The other old monks were horrified, “What is happening to the Upper Buddha!”

“Boom!” The Vajra slowly stood up, its body gleaming golden, yet emanating a fierce and hateful aura, a bizarre atmosphere of Buddha and demon that left the surrounding old monks speechless with shock.

“Bang!” The Vajra punched the monk under its control.

The other old monks quickly intervened to rescue, “Buddha, please hold!”

“Boom!” The peaceful old temple suddenly filled with a deadly intent.

And outside, just as Yuan Cheng had subdued the young men, a monk suddenly exclaimed in surprise, “Quick, look, what is that?”

Everyone turned to see a flying horse descending from the sky, landing in the center of the area.

The restrained young man rejoiced, “Brother Zhao’s Wuzhui!”

Everyone’s hearts chilled; rumors of Zhao Changhe riding a flying horse to the Capital and Langya had already spread, everyone knew Zhao Changhe had a horse that could fly, and it inexplicably appeared here?

A sense of dread as if being watched over by divine demons surfaced in everyone’s minds, Zhao Changhe being thousands of miles away and yet able to protect his own, what did that mean? That’s divine intervention!

Those with sharp eyes already saw a piece of paper on the horse’s back. Yuan Xing stepped forward to take it, and there were only two messages: “First, check the deceased for any Evil Qi inside their body. Second, none of these subordinates of mine have learned the Blood Evil Skill.”