Chapter 261 — The March of Blades and Armies

Tathagata and the Daoist Lord were the foremost figures of the previous age; each of them had cultivated to the level of gods and buddhas, and had the divine bridge not broken, the two of them would long ago have ascended in rosy clouds and departed this world. And though Emperor Yanfeng was a latecomer of this present age, he occupied the nine dragon veins and cultivated within the imperial city, favored by heaven and earth, gaining twice the result with half the effort; his cultivation reached to heaven and pierced the earth, and he was absolutely one of the very greatest powers in the world today!

The State of Jingping was hailed as the greatest holy land in the world today, and he and the Imperial Preceptor of Jingping were the sect master and the sect founder of that greatest holy land! Even so, he was still a shade inferior to Tathagata and the Daoist Lord; that the two of them joined hands against him was not because they felt themselves his lessers, but because if it were one against one, and Emperor Yanfeng wished to flee, neither of the two could easily hold him. But with the two joining hands, Emperor Yanfeng's road of life was cut off.

Crack, crack. Bolt after bolt of blue-sky thunder fell from the clouds in midair, sizzling lightning wreathed Emperor Yanfeng's whole body, a dazzling radiance flashed forth and coiled about him; in the sky true dragons danced, and suddenly nine dragons roared in unison, clawing at the Daoist Lord and Tathagata!

Tathagata chuckled, and the golden alms-bowl abruptly flipped over, its mouth turned upward, and at once golden light blazed, a whole array of heavens surged forth, and gods and buddhas filled the sky to contend with those true dragons. "Old fellow of the Dao, the slaying of the emperor is left to you," Tathagata said with a smile. The old Daoist Lord laid his hand on his sword; the sword-light stirred, bearing a wondrous rhythm, exhausting all the workings of the mortal world, and he chanted softly: "The Dao nurtures all heavens and the great earth, gives substance to the ten thousand laws, and the world returns to oneness!

Your Majesty, this half-move.

. . " Before he finished speaking, two rays of light flashed through the air and abruptly halted; the old Daoist Lord hastily stayed his sword and gazed intently, and saw an old man in black robes and a blind old man leaning on a bamboo staff standing in midair.

"Tathagata, having a fight? " the blind old man said with a smile.

Tathagata too held back the golden light spurting from his alms-bowl and smiled: "Horse King God, Blind Fellow Daoist, what brings the two of you here?

" Old Master Huo said coldly: "Looking for someone! " The blind old man tapped his bamboo staff, and the sky quivered; all the many powers locked in fierce battle around them felt a shock in their hearts and hastily stopped.

The blind old man said with a smile: "The great wind rises, the clouds fly; you gentlemen fight in such a hurry. My lords, I salute you, and beg your pardon for the interruption. Might I ask whether any of you has seen a woman?

" Quan Dingwu, having been beaten into a corner and finally catching his breath, called out loudly: "Blind old man, who are you looking for?

" "A woman.

Extremely beautiful — the kind that, once you have looked at her, you cannot forget, the kind that lives in your heart and scratches at you all day long.

" The blind old man sighed: "This woman is quite formidable. An old devil lives inside her heart, doing evil as he pleases; he has fallen in love with her looks and means to seize her body and turn himself into a woman. As the saying goes, a beauty's face is like jade, and a golden house loves to hide a fair one. We were originally taking her to Great Thunderclap Temple, hoping old Tathagata could subdue this old devil.

.

.

" He talked for a long while, and still no one understood. Old Master Huo said: "Blind old man, get to the point. " The blind old man scratched his head and said: "This woman is the widow of the former sect master of the Dark Demon Sect, and its former Holy Maiden. Tathagata wants to kill the emperor, so he let her go.

" Tathagata said with a chuckle: "This old monk cannot be in two places at once, and is powerless to help.

" The blind old man said angrily: "If you could not do it, you should have said so earlier. Now look — she is nowhere to be found.

Fellow Daoists, has anyone seen the widow of the former sect master of the Dark Demon Sect?

Extraordinarily good-looking; one word from her and she will charm you to the marrow. Has anyone seen her? " Everyone shook his head.

Hope stirred in Xue Bi'e's heart, and she called out loudly: "We are of the Heaven-Sage Sect; we beg the two of you to lend us aid!

" Tathagata was startled inwardly.

The old Daoist Lord asked: "What is their background?

" "My eldest disciple, and the Halberd God," said old Tathagata.

The old Daoist Lord said in surprise: "So it is the three-eyed constable Ma, and the Sacred Eye of those years — grown so old? " Old Master Huo shook his head: "Your business is not as urgent as our search for a person.

We do not care to bother with it.

" "Your killing an emperor or saving an emperor is truly not as urgent as our search for a person.

" The blind old man said with feeling: "If an emperor dies, another emperor takes his place. But if that demoness gets out — tsk, tsk — the whole world will suffer.

Emperor, have you seen this sect master's widow?

" Emperor Yanfeng's face was grave; slowly he shook his head: "I have not seen her. Might I beg the two seniors to lend aid?

" The blind old man was somewhat disappointed: "Not interested.

It is just as well you have not seen her; if you had, you could wait for the nation to be ruined, the people destroyed, the state broken, the family extinguished.

Old Master Huo, let us go.

She cannot have gotten far! " Old Master Huo nodded, and the two of them went off with a whistle, vanishing without a trace. The crowd was astonished: "Truly strange senior masters. " The sounds of slaughter rose again.

Tathagata released the light of his golden alms-bowl, and the Twenty Heavens soared into the air; the Daoist Lord released his sword-light, and the might of the fourteenth chapter of the Dao Sword blossomed; the sword-light expounded the great Dao of heaven and earth — the sword as heaven, the sword as earth, the sword transforming into the ten thousand laws, the sword transforming into the stars and the whole circuit of the heavens. This one sword held within it the grand unification of the world's great Dao! Emperor Yanfeng urged on the Nine Dragons Emperor Art, nine dragons of auspicious vapor coiling about his body, his feet treading rosy light; every single blow was inconceivably powerful, splitting mountains and cleaving seas, reversing heaven and earth. He was master of an immense number of Daoist arts and divine powers, and could even casually employ the Daoist sect's Dao Sword, or Great Thunderclap Temple's Dharma of Victorious Battle; any divine power or Daoist art in his hands seemed able to turn the rotten into the miraculous, possessing inconceivable might. Even the Palace of Parting Sorrow's Heaven of Parting Sorrow Sword Formula, a sword art only women could cultivate, he could bring forth in his own hands, and with greater power still.

Even the most ordinary move became enormously powerful! Spells, sword arts, even bodily divine powers — all of them could be displayed through him, and the might of every blow was like moving mountains and overturning seas!

The Nine Dragons Emperor Art he had already cultivated to the level of a god!