Demon Slaying, Gaining 60 Years of Cultivation From the Start

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With Ananda, the incarnate Living Buddha, personally taking action, setting up a platform for combat, and presiding over it, no one in all of Da Xia beneath the Returning to True Stage could possibly be his match.

In this way, once the news spread, Da Xia would also lose face, a retaliation by Da Yuan for the emperor's crushing defeat of their ruler twenty-three years ago with a single palm strike.

And this was just the beginning.

Subsequently, Zha Jiedunzhu would also make his move, challenging the Tower Supervisor of the Qintian Monitor, the most powerful and influential person in all of Da Xia as of now.

He intended to prove that current Da Yuan's overall strength had surpassed that of Da Xia, both among the younger generation and at the higher end of combat power. This time, Da Yuan aimed to thoroughly humiliate Da Xia's pride in vengeance for past grievances.

It was for this reason that Da Yuan's ruler, along with the national teacher Bastu, had dispatched Zha Jiedunzhu and Ananda.

It could be said that this was a plan Da Yuan had long been crafting; the disappearance of the Xia Emperor provided Da Yuan with an opportunity to execute their strategy.

For this opportunity, they had already waited for more than twenty years.

Zha Jiedunzhu sneered, "This time, let's first extract some interest from Da Xia. After a while, when Teacher comes out of seclusion, all of Da Xia will be in Da Yuan's pocket, and the iron hooves of the men of the steppe will trample over every inch of Da Xia's land. From then on, the Human Clan of the Central Plains will be slaves to our steppe men!"

After saying this, he burst into loud laughter, and his subordinates around him did likewise.

When Zha Jiedunzhu spoke, he enveloped the vicinity with his qi, ensuring that even the Qintian Monitor's Tower Supervisor couldn't eavesdrop on their conversation.

Of course, Zha Jiedunzhu was not careless. On this trip to Da Xia, he came only to demand his "interest" and had no intention of killing anyone.

After all, this was the nation's capital of Da Xia, abundant in masters. Among them were the Tower Supervisor and the deputy commander of the Jing Tian Department, who were on par with him. If he wanted to commit murder, it would not be so easy.

Even without sensing anything, Zha Jiedunzhu was still aware that the eyes of the Qintian Monitor's Tower Supervisor were constantly on him, watching his every move.

"Tomorrow, you will go to the palace once more on my behalf and tell that Crown Prince of Da Xia and King Huai that I want to challenge the Qintian Monitor's Tower Supervisor," Zha Jiedunzhu told one of his subordinates.

Just now at the palace, the Crown Prince and King Huai had not agreed to this, but Zha Jiedunzhu did not care at all.

If it came to it, he was ready to launch a direct attack on the Qintian Monitor.

"Yes!" the subordinate by his side promptly responded.

After arranging all this, Zha Jiedunzhu looked out into the distance and said with a sneer, "It's also time for Da Xia to witness the true strength of our Da Yuan!"

...

The next morning, the party from Da Yuan set out early and reached the outer city of Tiandu, finding one of the outer city's combat platforms.

Carrying weapons was forbidden within the city of Tiandu, especially the inner city, where surveillance was extremely strict; but considering the prideful martial culture of Da Xia and the fiery nature of its warriors, which frequently led to frictions, Da Xia had built several platforms in the outer city for such occasions.

At dawn, a young monk with delicate features, dressed in red robes, sat on the platform, with his eyes closed and not uttering a word.

Many of the common folk who came out to the market were intrigued by this sight, and a crowd gathered around to watch.

After all, to these people, monks were a rare sight, especially those from the esoteric lineages like Ananda, whose behaviors and attire seemed different from the Buddhist disciples some people had seen.

Since Da Yuan Buddhism differed from that of the Central Plains and many people of Tiandu had never seen it before, they were naturally curious and came to watch.

Ananda did not mind the onlookers' curious stares, resembling those one might give to a monkey. He sat with his eyes closed on the combat platform, silent as if in meditation.

In the outer city, today it happened to be the duty day of Gu Changfeng, Gu Chen's second uncle. Having just eaten breakfast, he came from the inner city to patrol this area, which was under his responsibility for the day.

Just then, Gu Chengfeng noticed a crowd gathering spontaneously and rushed over with his men, thinking something had happened.

However, when Gu Chengfeng got closer, he realized that the crowd was watching a young monk.

"Boss, why is this monk dressed so strangely?" a young Royal Sword Guard asked Gu Chengfeng with confusion.

Hearing this, Gu Chengfeng's brow furrowed slightly. Being older, he was aware of the invasion of Da Xia by Da Yuan twenty-three years ago and knew far more about Da Yuan than the youngsters today.

Seeing the red robes and recalling yesterday's arrival of the Da Yuan delegation to the capital, Gu Chengfeng knew that this young monk most certainly came from Da Yuan Buddhism.

"This is Da Yuan Buddhism; it's different from our Central Plains Buddhism," Gu Chengfeng explained to his men.

Upon hearing this, their faces showed surprise, and they grew more interested.

After about an hour had passed, Ananda opened his clear eyes, which were as transparent as the azure sky itself.

When Ananda saw that a sizable crowd had gathered around, he began to chant Buddhist scriptures in a soft voice.

"What's this monk doing?" one of Gu Chengfeng's subordinates asked with a puzzled look.

Gu Chengfeng's eyebrows rose, and somehow, an uneasy premonition arose within him.

In the next moment, as the young monk with the bronze complexion and fine features continued chanting, a faint Buddhist light radiated from his body, enveloping the crowd. The expressions of those covered by the Buddhist light turned increasingly devout.

In fact, many of those standing at the front began to sit cross-legged on the ground, adopting the full-lotus position, and silently reciting the scriptures in unison with the young monk in red robes on the platform.

Seeing this scene, Gu Chengfeng's face changed immediately, realizing this was not good and preparing to report the situation to his superiors.

But when he turned his head, he was shocked to find that his Royal Sword Guard subordinates had, at some moment, become bewildered and were now walking involuntarily towards the front while their hands slowly came together in prayer.

"Such gall from a Da Yuan monk, daring to bewitch the people right here!" Gu Chengfeng exclaimed angrily. He was no fool; he knew that a monk who could do this, despite his young appearance, was not someone he could contend with.

Thus, before being affected himself, Gu Chengfeng hurriedly left to report the incident.

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