Shi Xin had yet to say anything when the opponent’s short sword had already thrust toward her heart.
However, for Shi Xin, who had maxed out her defense, this kind of sneak attack was nothing.
Not to ntion, she had already anticipated that the other party might suddenly strike.
The dagger landed on the golden protective light surrounding Shi Xin.
She glanced down at it, then lifted her gaze to the woman in front of her.
This woman did indeed bear so resemblance to Xu Ming. If there were no surprises, Xu Ming and this woman should truly be mother and son.
The reason Shi Xin thought so was that so cultivators didn’t actually possess another’s body but had their own.
However, in order to practice soul arts, they devoured the souls of others, creating the illusion of inhabiting another’s body.
Shi Xin raised her hand and struck toward Chen Suya’s body.
Chen Suya quickly dodged.
Shi Xin’s palm shattered the wooden door into pieces.
“My, my, Master, you do strike quite ruthlessly. Aren’t you afraid of killing ? If you do, my son certainly won’t let you off.”
Chen Suya smirked, twirling the dagger in her hand.
“But, young lady, you’re quite beautiful. How about this? Why don’t you renounce Buddhism and marry my son? What do you say?”
“Please refrain from making such jokes, and besides, you are not truly Xu Ming’s mother.”
Shi Xin shook her head and continued.
“Furthermore, Xu Ming’s request was only that Lady Chen remains unhard. A few injuries are inevitable, but Xu Ming will not bla .”
“My son… sigh.” Chen Suya let out a deep sigh. “It truly pains . My precious child, yet he refuses to acknowledge and even wants to kill . Do you know how heartbreaking that is?”
Shi Xin had never t soone so shaless before. “Please stop impersonating Lady Chen. What you’re doing is nothing but an insult to her. Though I have never spoken with Lady Chen, I believe that a mother capable of raising soone as skilled as Xu Ming must be truly remarkable.”
“Thank you for the complint~ I also think my son is amazing~”
In the next mont, Chen Suya vanished into the darkness.
Shi Xin tilted her head slightly, just enough to evade Chen Suya’s strike.
She ford a hand seal, extended her finger, and pointed at Chen Suya.
Golden light burst forth. Even though Chen Suya used her dagger to block, the sacred Buddhist light still pierced through her.
Chen Suya was sent flying, sliding across the courtyard for over ten ters before finally coming to a stop, blood seeping from the corner of her mouth.
“The Buddhist Soul-Splitting Finger, huh?”
Chen Suya wiped the blood from her lips and looked at the young nun before her with admiration.
“I didn’t expect soone so young to have already grasped this technique. Not bad, not bad. That old monk Yuan Zhi must be quite pleased to have taken you as his disciple. His legacy is secured.”
Shi Xin pressed her palms together. “You know my master?”
“Hehehe…”
Chen Suya chuckled.
“Of course, I do. When your master sees , he even has to call ‘Elder Sister’~”
Shi Xin shook her head, refusing to believe such nonsense.
Her master had always been an orphan. Where would an elder sister co from?
“If you are willing to leave Lady Chen’s body and return to the Buddhist sect with , I will spare your life. We Buddhists never lie.”
Chen Suya spread her hands.
“Oh, little nun, I already told you. I am Chen Suya. Chen Suya is . Xu Ming is my son. How could I leave? If I leave, then my dear son will lose his mother.”
“You remain unrepentant.”
Behind Shi Xin, radiant Buddhist light flourished, manifesting countless golden hands.
At the sa ti, golden lotuses blood upon the ground.
The entire courtyard transford into a Pure Land, an otherworldly paradise.
And Shi Xin, at this mont, seed to be its sovereign.
In truth, Xu Ming had completely misunderstood Shi Xin.
Shi Xin was not limited to defensive techniques.
On the contrary, she had mastered all the spells of Leiming Temple.
Among them, those designed for eliminating enemies were her specialty.
Otherwise, how could the abbot of Leiming Temple allow such a seemingly innocent disciple to roam the complexities of the mortal world?
The reason Shi Xin refrained from using offensive spells was, first, because she disliked them, and second, because she struggled to control her strength. She feared that if she miscalculated, she might accidentally “send” her opponent straight to the afterlife.
But this ti was different.
Her opponent was soone who had already died long ago.
They were rely occupying another’s body.
To Shi Xin, the dead should remain dead. And her Buddhist techniques could guide such lingering spirits into the cycle of reincarnation.
The process might be a bit violent, though.
The spells she used were entirely focused on attacking the soul.
While they might have so impact on the body, they would never be lethal to it.
“Amitabha.”
Shi Xin pressed her palms together and struck forward, summoning a colossal golden Buddha palm that descended upon Chen Suya.
Chen Suya furrowed her brows.
This spell was truly troubleso.
Buddhist techniques were already a natural counter to her.
To make matters worse, her own cultivation level was currently low, while Shi Xin’s was not only high but of exceptional quality.
That made things even more difficult.
“Boom!”
Shi Xin’s golden Buddha palm landed on the ground.
Though the force was overwhelming, not a single blade of grass or leaf was disturbed.
Yet, the more this was the case, the more uneasy Chen Suya felt.
Because such precision ant that Shi Xin had an incredibly high level of control over soul techniques.
Only soone with absolute mastery over soul-based spells could focus their attack solely on the spirit without causing collateral damage.
This young nun was truly a genius.
“Huh?”
Just as Chen Suya dodged that strike, she looked down and felt that she had stepped on sothing… unfortunate.
Sure enough, in the dirt of the courtyard, a seed had begun to sprout.
Golden vines erged from the ground, growing at an astonishing speed and wrapping tightly around her body.
Then, one by one, these golden lotus vines faded and disappeared.
“Amitabha. Now, benefactor, you have no ans of escape.”
Only when the spell had successfully taken effect did Shi Xin finally exhale in relief.
Her previous attack had been rely a feint—its true purpose was to force Chen Suya to step on the seed that Xu Ming had planted.
Shi Xin had predicted her opponent would eventually step on it because the entire courtyard was covered in golden lotuses, radiating a sacred aura that deterred her from stepping on them.
She had intentionally left patches of open ground.
If Chen Suya had avoided it this ti, Shi Xin would have continued to force her into position.
Sooner or later, she would step on it.
As it turned out, her opponent’s luck wasn’t great—she stepped on it the first ti.
“Interesting.”
Chen Suya nodded and looked at Shi Xin with an expression of admiration.
“If I’m not mistaken, that thing just now was your Buddhist sect’s Karmic Vines, wasn’t it?”
“Precisely.” Shi Xin nodded.
The effect of the Karmic Vines was to completely bind the target’s soul and body together.
Although Shi Xin’s soul techniques primarily targeted the spirit and caused minimal harm to the body, if she struck at a critical mont and her opponent forcibly pulled out Lady Chen’s soul as a shield, Lady Chen would suffer the consequences as well.
With the fragility of a regular human’s soul, there was no guarantee she could survive the impact.
Now, Shi Xin had no more reservations.
“Sigh.” Chen Suya shook her head. “I’ve already told you—I am Chen Suya, and Chen Suya is . Why won’t you believe ?”
Shi Xin let out a soft sigh. “Benefactor, you still refuse to repent.”
With those words, she had no interest in wasting any more breath on the woman.
A golden lotus blood beneath Shi Xin.
She sat cross-legged upon it, radiating an aura of sacredness, like a living embodint of a female Buddha.
Golden Buddhist light transford into eighteen golden Arhats, surrounding Chen Suya.
Chen Suya moved with an eerie grace, her steps light yet ghostly, dodging the relentless attacks of the Arhats ti and ti again. The black spiritual sword in her hand slashed through their golden forms, shattering them.
Shi Xin ford a hand seal.
A formation suddenly appeared beneath Chen Suya’s feet.
Chen Suya lifted her leg and stomped down forcefully, shattering the formation in an instant.
“Amitabha.”
Shi Xin uttered a Buddhist chant.
Four massive golden dragons lunged toward Chen Suya.
Each dragon seized one of her limbs, pinning her firmly to the ground.
Seizing this opportunity, Shi Xin unleashed a series of spells.
Golden lotuses scattered, their petals swirling in the air before rging together, transforming into golden chains that coiled around Chen Suya’s hands and feet.
Now, Chen Suya was completely immobilized.
Shi Xin slowly descended from the air and stepped toward her.
She raised her hand high.
As her monk’s robe slid down her arm, a slender, fair hand was revealed, glowing with the soft radiance of moonlight.
A golden sword began to take form in her grasp, continuously condensing.
Shi Xin gazed at Chen Suya with serene eyes.
Even now, she was willing to give her one last chance.
“If you are willing to turn back, you may return to Leiming Temple with . We will perform a proper ritual to guide your soul. Otherwise, you will suffer greatly.”
Though both paths would ultimately lead to exorcism, the difference was vast.
Being peacefully guided by Buddhist scriptures was one thing—being forcefully exorcised by Shi Xin’s thods was quite another.
The latter would be excruciating, like having one’s flesh flayed and heart ripped out. Worse still, there was even the risk of complete soul annihilation, forever barred from reincarnation.
“Hehehe, little girl, you truly are kindhearted. The more I see you like this, the more I wish you could be my daughter-in-law.”
As she spoke, Chen Suya’s figure began to dissipate.
Despite being bound just monts ago, she had suddenly escaped.
Chen Suya now stood before Shi Xin.
Dark energy continuously surged around her, exuding an ominous presence that made Xu Ming furrow his brows.
“Be careful, little girl. If you die, don’t bla .”
In an instant, a massive black dragon materialized behind Chen Suya.
Its scarlet eyes snapped open.
Shi Xin watched closely as the black dragon transford—first into a black tiger, then into a nine-tailed fox, then into a dark Xuanwu tortoise.
And finally, it morphed into Xu Ming’s own image.
“The Dao manifests in myriad forms. What you see may not be the truth.”
Chen Suya smirked.
“Consider this my gift to you, little girl~”
With that, she extended a hand and pointed at Shi Xin.
A surge of black energy erupted, rushing toward Shi Xin, seeking to consu her entirely.
At the sa ti, dazzling Buddhist light blood around Shi Xin.
Golden radiance clashed violently against the encroaching darkness, their energies intertwining, colliding, neither yielding to the other.
Outside the courtyard, Xu Ming’s eyes remained locked on the scene.
He couldn’t see exactly what was happening within, but the surging Buddhist light and dark energy made it clear—Shi Xin was engaged in an intense battle.
He desperately wanted to rush in and help.
But he also knew that if he intervened now, he would only be a burden.
The battle was so fierce that even the protective barrier couldn’t fully contain the impact.
The entire Xu residence trembled unceasingly.
The mbers of the Xu household, along with the estate’s guards and retainers, all rushed toward Xiaochun Courtyard.
“Ming’er, what’s going on?”
The first person to arrive was none other than Xu Ming’s so-called father—Xu Zheng.
The second to arrive was Madam Wang.
“It’s complicated,” Xu Ming shook his head. “Once this is over, I’ll explain everything to you.”
After this brief explanation, he had no desire to say more. His eyes remained locked on the entrance of Xiaochun Courtyard.
—
anwhile, inside the imperial palace, Emperor Wu, resting in his chambers, suddenly opened his eyes.
“Your Majesty, what’s wrong?”
By his side, Consort Die clutched the blanket to her chest and sat up.
The emperor ignored his beloved consort, grabbing a robe and stepping outside.
With a single thought, his consciousness drifted above the palace, gazing toward the Xu estate from afar.
At that mont, a particular courtyard within the Xu residence lay in complete ruin.
“How could this be?”
Emperor Wu furrowed his brows.
“Ten Enforcers!” he called out.
“Your Majesty!”
In the span of a single breath, the ten enforcers of the imperial palace appeared before him.
“Go to the Xu estate imdiately. Follow Xu Ming’s orders without question. Do not act on your own accord! But no matter what happens—Xu Ming must be protected!”
The emperor’s voice carried a chilling authority.
“At any cost, Xu Ming must survive!”
—
Within Xiaochun Courtyard, as the lingering Buddhist light and dark energy finally dissipated—
“You…”
Shi Xin’s gaze was filled with disbelief.
Chen Suya had seized Shi Xin by the throat, effortlessly lifting her into the air.
She looked at Shi Xin with a soft smile.
“See? I told you—I am Xu Ming’s mother. And yet, you still refuse to believe .”
Reviews
All reviews (0)