Chapter 216: Token
Chen Chang'an simply sat down cross-legged in the void, arms folded across his chest, looking up at Ming Xin with a sarcastic smile on his face.
"Bald donkey, where are all your fancy tricks? Continue!"
He deliberately dragged out his words.
"Let this seat see just how much you, an Immortal Venerable, are really worth!"
Ming Xin's expression was unchanged. He put his palms together, and Sanskrit chants echoed from his mouth. In an instant, the entire sky transformed into a golden Buddhist kingdom. Countless phantom Vajra warriors appeared, holding magic treasures like demon-subduing pestles and demon-restraining rings, swarming toward Chen Chang'an to smash him.
"Tsk tsk, quite the spectacle."
Chen Chang'an didn't even lift his eyelids.
"Too bad they're all just flashy, useless ornaments."
As expected, just as the magic treasures came within three zhang of Chen Chang'an, they seemed to hit an invisible barrier, turning into specks of golden light and dissipating. Along with them, the phantom Vajra warriors twisted and deformed before vanishing like smoke.
Ming Xin frowned slightly, then suddenly formed a seal with his hands and shouted:
"Great Sun Tathagata Seal!"
A great golden sun rose behind him, its scorching Buddhist light evaporating the clouds for a hundred li around. Wherever the light passed, even space began to twist and melt.
"Oh, this move is a bit interesting."
Chen Chang'an remained motionless, even casually picking his ear.
"But... is that all?"
The moment the Buddhist light touched Chen Chang'an, it was as if it had been devoured by something, failing to stir even a single ripple.
Ming Xin's expression finally changed. He took a deep breath and suddenly took out a string of Buddhist beads from his robes. The beads were jet black, each engraved with blood-red Sanskrit characters, emitting a palpably unsettling aura.
"Oh? Finally willing to bring out your bottom-of-the-chest treasure?"
Chen Chang'an's eyes lit up.
"Come, come, let this seat broaden its horizons!"
Ming Xin ignored his taunts, merely rolling the beads between his fingers. With his movements, the entire world suddenly darkened, as if even the light was being devoured by the string of beads.
"World-Ending Demon Mara Beads!"
Ming Xin shouted lowly, tossing the beads into the air.
The string of beads grew in the wind, instantly transforming into eighteen enormous black stars, each emitting a destructive aura. They slowly rotated around Chen Chang'an, forming a terrifying grand formation of certain death.
Chen Chang'an finally stood up, patting the non-existent dust off his backside:
"Now that's more like it!"
However, in the next second, his expression returned to its provocative appearance:
"What a pity, what a pity. Still not quite there."
The eighteen black stars suddenly began to tremble violently, then one after another... they extinguished. Like candles being blown out, they failed to make even the slightest stir.
"Impossible!"
Ming Xin finally cried out in alarm.
"This is..."
"What is it? Very powerful?"
Chen Chang'an interrupted him, spreading his hands with an innocent look.
"How come I don't feel anything at all?"
Ming Xin's face was grim and uncertain, clearly pondering a countermeasure. Seeing this, Chen Chang'an immediately seized the opportunity to continue his verbal assault:
"I say, bald donkey, since you're no good at this and no good at that, you might as well change careers and become a storyteller! At least your skill at telling jokes isn't bad!"
"Oh, right, do your fellow disciples know you're this useless? Does this seat need to help you spread the word?"
"I think you should stop calling yourself Ming Xin. Just change your name to 'Ming Bai Zhe Bu Xing' (Obviously Ineffective)!"
Ming Xin's face grew uglier and uglier, the veins on his forehead bulging. He took a deep breath and suddenly sat down cross-legged, putting his palms together and began to chant scriptures.
"Oh, can't win so you start chanting?"
Chen Chang'an laughed loudly.
"You're a truly disgraceful monk!"
This time, however, Ming Xin was completely unmoved, continuing to chant the obscure and difficult scriptures. As he chanted, golden "swastika" characters began to appear in the void. These runes grew more numerous, gradually filling the entire sky.
Chen Chang'an narrowed his eyes. Though he still appeared unconcerned on the surface, he was secretly on guard. Was the monk finally getting serious?
Just then, Ming Xin suddenly opened his eyes, a brilliant golden light shining within them:
"Myriad Buddhas Pay Homage!"
Countless golden Buddhas walked out from the void, each with a solemn and precious appearance, emitting vast Buddhist power. They simultaneously raised their hands and gently pressed toward Chen Chang'an's location—
"Boom!"
The entire void trembled. The terrifying energy fluctuations caused the mountain ranges within a thousand li to begin collapsing.
However...
After the dust settled, Chen Chang'an was still standing perfectly fine in his original spot, not even his clothes disheveled.
"That's it?"
He picked his ear.
"I thought it would be a bigger commotion, but it didn't even damage a single hair of mine."
Ming Xin's expression finally changed completely, a flash of horror in his eyes. He stared intently at Chen Chang'an, as if trying to see through something.
Seeing this, Chen Chang'an immediately seized the opportunity to add fuel to the fire:
"I say, monk, have you stayed in the temple so long your brain has gone dull? Does this seat need to recommend a doctor for you?"
"I think you should stop cultivating Buddhism and just return to secular life! You're so useless that being a monk is an embarrassment to the Buddha!"
Ming Xin's breathing was obviously a bit heavier, but he quickly calmed down again. Only his eyes were now as cold as ice.
"What? No more moves?"
Chen Chang'an pressed his advantage.
"Does this seat need to teach you a few tricks? Although your aptitude is a bit lacking, seeing how hard you're trying..."
"Enough!"
Ming Xin suddenly roared, his voice filled with unprecedented anger.
Chen Chang'an's eyes lit up—he finally broke!
Breaking was good. It meant the other party would focus all their attention on him.
As long as he could stall for an hour...
He immediately pursued his advantage:
"Oh, getting angry already? It seems your cultivation is still lacking! Does this seat need to give you a lecture on what 'calm and composed' means?"
Ming Xin took a deep breath and suddenly smiled:
"Very good... very good..."
His smile made Chen Chang'an feel a sudden chill, but on the surface, he maintained his provocative demeanor:
"What? Finally come to your senses and want to admit defeat?"
Ming Xin did not answer, only slowly raising his hand:
"You think..."
"You really can't do anything to me?"
Chen Chang'an's heart skipped a beat, but he quickly calmed down:
"Otherwise? Go on, show me some real skill!"
Ming Xin suddenly smiled, a smile that made Chen Chang'an feel uneasy:
"In that case... as you wish."
Chen Chang'an still had a sarcastic expression on his face, but when Ming Xin's palm truly descended, his pupils contracted violently—
"Boom—!"
The firmament split open. A heaven-shrouding Buddhist palm crushed the void, carrying destructive pressure, and viciously slapped down toward Immortal Spirit City!
The entire city, under the Immortal Venerable's palm, was as insignificant as an ant.
Chen Chang'an's fingertips trembled slightly, but he quickly suppressed his emotions and sneered:
"Bald donkey, go ahead and kill. The ones dying aren't my people anyway."
That's what he said, but he was secretly relieved—fortunately, Miss Ah Li wasn't in the city!
As for the innocent commoners... he could only offer a silent apology in his heart.
I hope that after you die, you'll complain plenty to King Yama and drag this dead bald donkey down to hell!
Ming Xin frowned slightly, a doubt in his heart: Did I guess wrong? Does he really not care?
But the palm strike was already unleashed; spilled water could not be gathered!
Just as the Buddhist palm was about to crush Immortal Spirit City—
"Buzz!"
A figure, black as ink, suddenly appeared, blocking the sky above the city!
It was a woman in a fluttering black dress, her long hair like a waterfall, with a blood-red killing aura coiling around her.
She raised her hand, and in the center of her palms was a mirror, which actually forcefully blocked Ming Xin's Buddhist palm!
"Rumble—!"
The moment the two forces collided, heaven and earth trembled, and the void shattered!
A hint of surprise flashed in Ming Xin's eyes. He slowly retracted his palm and stared at the woman who had suddenly appeared.
Seeing Ji Hongli appear, Chen Chang'an's heart first tightened—
Then he immediately relaxed. For a moment, he had almost mistaken that figure!
—Good thing it wasn't Miss Ah Li.
He and Ji Hongli had very few interactions over the years, at most counting as friends with a casual relationship.
Perhaps Nü'er Xing Cai would be sad... but hadn't she already left? Why was she still in Immortal Spirit City? Even to the point of forcefully resisting an Immortal Venerable's palm to protect this city?
Could it be there was someone else in the city she cared about?
Seeing the subtle expression on Chen Chang'an's face, Ming Xin's mouth curled into a cold sneer:
"It seems she is the one you were worried about?"
"If you don't come out now, this poor monk is about to make a move."
Chen Chang'an was silent for a moment, then said indifferently:
"Please do."
Ming Xin raised an eyebrow, turning his gaze to Ji Hongli, his tone tinged with mockery:
"The feelings of the mortal world are truly worthless. Are you regretting meeting a heartless man?"
The corner of Ji Hongli's mouth lifted slightly, her smile chilling:
"There is nothing between him and me to begin with, so how can there be talk of heartlessness?"
Ming Xin narrowed his eyes, suspicion rising in his heart again—had he guessed wrong again?
But in the next instant, his Immortal Venerable-level vision clearly captured the faint thread of karmic connection between the two. Though faint, it was real!
"Heh, still stubborn."
He no longer hesitated, waving his hand. A golden Buddhist seal, like heavenly punishment, blasted toward Ji Hongli!
"Boom—!"
Although Ji Hongli resisted with all her might, how could an ordinary cultivator withstand a strike from an Immortal Venerable?
If Ming Xin hadn't held back, intending to force Chen Chang'an out, this single blow would have been enough to severely injure her.
Even so, her body trembled violently at this moment, a trace of blood escaping from the corner of her lips, yet she still stood her ground, not retreating a single step!
Chen Chang'an frowned slightly, sighing in his heart—why go this far?
But just then, his gaze suddenly sharpened!
Ming Xin's Buddhist seal had just lifted the hem of Ji Hongli's black dress.
In that fleeting moment, he clearly saw that at Ji Hongli's waist... a jade leaf with golden threads was swaying gently in the wind.
The golden lines in its veins flowed like a living thing, and on its back, the character "Chen" was clearly visible!
Chen Chang'an's pupils contracted violently, his mind echoing as if struck by lightning!
—It's that jade leaf!
How could it be on Ji Hongli's person!?
...
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