Falling Flowers

Before the mist had dispersed, a figure had already pierced through it, arriving before Guan Hai Monk, leaving a faint shadow in his eyes, causing the young Buddhist powerhouse's usually calm eyes to finally show traces of tension.
Seeing Ning Que break through the mist, Guan Hai Monk did two things: his clasped hands separated, his right thumb pressing into his palm, transforming from the Ming Wang Seal to the Heart Seal; his left hand shifted from an upright stance to horizontal, palm facing forward in the strongest posture of the Ming Wang Seal, directly confronting Ning Que. At the same time, his chest and abdomen suddenly contracted, and he took a deep breath, about to recite a Buddhist chant.
As the two mutually supportive Buddhist hand seals emerged, the mist around him suddenly became chaotic. The milky white clouds, piercing through the faint twilight outside the hall, seemed to want to condense into different flowers in different spaces. And as the first syllable of the Buddhist chant echoed from his chest, those illusory flowers of Heaven and Earth Qi suddenly took shape, beginning to fall like scattered petals.
Some flowers shattered into many petals, raining down. Some fell with their entire branches and stems, densely covering his body. These petals, branches, and leaves contained the Heaven and Earth Origin Qi summoned by the two hand seals, aided by the Buddhist chant. Once they touched an enemy's body, they would explode, angrily inflicting injury upon the foe.
The right hand fixed the Buddhist heart, the left hand the Ming Wang's wrath, further aided by the Buddhist chant to shake the enemy's mind. In an extremely short time, Guan Hai Monk had unleashed his strongest Buddhist cultivation method. It must be said that this inner disciple of Lanke Temple's elder possessed a pure and firm Buddhist heart, and even in this situation, he could remain calm and devise the most accurate countermeasure.
Compared to ordinary people, whether Dao or Buddhist, the greatest advantage of Cultivators was speed. Before an ordinary person could even clearly see the light, they would be pierced through the throat by a flying sword. Before an ordinary person could even dodge, they would be crushed into bloody, monstrous remnants by a sky full of falling flowers. Guan Hai Monk naturally knew Ning Que was no ordinary person, but facing the opponent's strange mist-breaking surprise attack, he believed his choice was correct.
Unfortunately, he had forgotten one thing: the so-called advantage of speed or the fluid passage of time required a certain spatial distance to manifest, and at this moment, the distance between Ning Que and him was less than a foot, right before his eyes.
As those beautiful Heaven and Earth Qi flowers slowly fell from the mist, as Guan Hai Monk's hands were still forming hand seals, Ning Que performed the simplest action: a punch straight to the monk's face.
Two streams of fresh blood gushed out.
In a painful cough, Guan Hai Monk's left-hand Heart Seal and right-hand Ming Wang Seal both dissipated. The Heaven and Earth Qi flowers falling from the mist also vanished without a trace, and finally, the mist cleared.
The clouds dispersed, the mist scattered, and the Daoist hall returned to its quiet, empty appearance.
Ning Que slowly withdrew his fist.
Guan Hai Monk wiped the blood from his face, was silent for a moment, then said, "I lost."
Snowmelt from melting ice slowly flowed in the crevices of the black wooden floorboards, a faint, clear clinking sound echoing.
Guan Hai Monk looked up, and sighed with emotion, "Mister Thirteen is indeed worthy of being a Divine Talisman Master's successor; the profound uses of the Talismanic Dao are hard to imagine. Four consecutive talismans, each with its own unique concept, arriving in sequence, like a grand literary masterpiece of indescribable beauty in its opening, development, turn, and conclusion. The final move, abandoning talismans for a fist, truly comprehends the essence of combat. Thinking back now, I wanted to challenge Mister, which was indeed a bit overestimating myself. No wonder Mister hesitated at first; he must not have wanted to dampen my spirit."
Ning Que had indeed shown mercy in the end. With the current abundance of Haoran Qi in his body and his physical strength, that punch had once shattered Gu Xi's head like a broken melon. Why did it only make Guan Hai's nose bleed?
But in reality, he had also won very fortunately.
Ning Que had cast four talismans consecutively, using too much Nian Power, but thanks to the deep Nian Power in his Sea of Consciousness, he was fine. The key was the Haoran Qi he infused into the first three talismans, which directly exhausted the Haoran Qi in his body. After casting the Scattered Character Talisman, he forcibly flew and broke through the mist to attack, his body already extremely weak.
If Guan Hai Monk had not chosen to use his most powerful Buddhist cultivation method to counter, but instead once again transformed his body into the solemn Dharma Aspect of the Protector Ming Wang, strengthening his own defense, if he had only held on for a little longer, the one to fall first might have been Ning Que.
Ning Que looked at Guan Hai Monk sincerely admitting defeat before him, secretly thinking how lucky he was. This Lanke Temple monk, though his realm was profound, had cultivated and read Buddhist scriptures in the mountain temple year-round, and seemed to not understand what fighting was truly for.
He suddenly recalled a passage Ye Hong Yu had said in the hanging basket when leaving the Demonic Sect Mountain Gate: "Most Cultivators in this world don't understand combat; defeating them is a very simple matter."
"It's a pity that this humble monk's cultivation base is insufficient, and I couldn't witness the Academy's legendary Bu Qi Intent."
Guan Hai Monk was still sincerely re-analyzing and reviewing the previous battle.
The more sincere his attitude, the more Ning Que felt his face burning, secretly thinking that his reluctance to fight him on the road earlier was not out of concern for bullying the strong and dampening his spirit, but entirely out of concern for losing miserably and dampening his own spirit.
Ning Que reached out to help him up.
Guan Hai Monk thanked him, then said somewhat vaguely, "It's just that I still don't quite understand how Mister avoided the raindrop that shot from my fingertip at that time. One must know that raindrop was imbued with my combat intent..."
Ning Que smiled faintly, said nothing, and silently and slowly recovered his spirit.
Guan Hai Monk looked at his expression, and couldn't help but say shamefully, "How presumptuous, how presumptuous."
He thought that Ning Que had silently endured his attack earlier, surely using some kind of supreme Academy technique. That supreme technique was probably on par with the Bu Qi Intent. Was he not presumptuously prying into the Academy's secrets by asking?
Ning Que smiled and shook his head, helping him out of the hall.
In truth, only he himself knew how he had dealt with that raindrop at the time.
He did nothing.
He just slightly lowered his head, letting the raindrop fall onto his forehead, then soak into his hair.
That raindrop indeed contained an extremely intense power.
However, Ning Que's face had always been extremely thick; especially after entering the Demonic Path, his face became even thicker.
...
...
The Daoist priests outside the main hall of the South Gate Daoist Temple had always silently paid attention to the inside of the hall.
This was the first battle of the Academy's new generation of disciples after entering the mortal world.
Some white-haired Daoist priests couldn't help but recall the madman surnamed Ke from the Academy many years ago, who rode a small black donkey into Chang An City and then caused bloody storms, their emotions extremely complex.
The main door of the Daoist hall had always been tightly shut, and no one dared to approach the windows to peek.
The observers only saw fierce flames rising in the hall, hot air wafting from the window crevices, immediately followed by the sound of torrential rain, water flowing out from under the door, then a wave of coldness emanating from the hall, seemingly wanting to suppress even the winter cold outside by a few degrees. Next came a great surge of Buddhist light, solemn Buddhist chants, and then everything returned to silence.
Inside the hall, it was completely silent. No one knew the final outcome, whether Mister Thirteen of the Academy had won, or the inner disciple of Lanke Temple's elder had won.
Mo Shan Shan stood under an ancient tree outside the Daoist hall, looking at the hall. When Ning Que consecutively cast four talismans, her eyes suddenly became exceptionally bright. And when the Buddhist chant echoed in the hall, and Buddhist light vaguely appeared, a worried expression began to show in her eyes. And when the Daoist hall returned to silence, she roughly guessed the outcome, and thus returned to calm.
Because she knew that someone like Ning Que might be defeated, might die, but would absolutely not be defeated or die silently.
The main door of the Daoist hall opened, and Ning Que helped Guan Hai Monk slowly walk out.
The observing Daoist priests saw this scene, especially the bloodstains on Guan Hai Monk's face, and couldn't help but be extremely surprised, secretly thinking that Ning Que was indeed worthy of being the Academy's representative in the mortal world, capable of winning so easily.
Of course, due to his relationship with Grandmaster Yan Se, Ning Que was also considered half a person of the Hao Tian South Gate, so seeing him win, the Daoist priests in the South Gate Daoist Temple couldn't help but show joy on their faces.
After a few simple words with He Ming Chi, Ning Que spoke many nonsensical words to Guan Hai Monk, expressing deep affection, saying that next year he would definitely personally attend the Yulan Festival at Lanke Temple, and would then light candles and converse all night. Then they wished each other well and departed.
Stepping out of the South Gate Daoist Temple, snow fell again.
Walking a few dozen steps along the base of the imperial city wall, Ning Que's face was slightly pale, his hand holding the large black umbrella trembling a little. Mo Shan Shan beside him pondered for a moment, then threaded her arm through his, looking like a couple walking arm-in-arm, but in reality, she was supporting his swaying body.
Mo Shan Shan said, "Guan Hai, though young, has been meticulously cultivated for many years by Lanke Temple's elder, whose realm is unfathomably deep. His Buddhist arts are exquisite, and his cultivation base is astonishing. In fact, he is one of the few Buddhist powerhouses. Today, you defeated him without using talismanic arrows or the pouch Grandmaster Yan Se left you, relying solely on your own cultivation base. This truly surprises me a little."
Ning Que heard her say Guan Hai was one of the few Buddhist powerhouses, and secretly thought he could directly defeat the opponent. Just as he was feeling a little smug, he heard the word "surprises," and couldn't help but feel a little annoyed, saying, "Am I very weak in your eyes?"
Mo Shan Shan looked at the fluttering snowflakes outside the umbrella, and smiled, "Because you are indeed very weak."
Ning Que was silent.
Mo Shan Shan stopped, looked at his profile, and seriously said, "But today, you were very strong."
Ning Que seriously said, "Thank you."
Mo Shan Shan thought of something, and asked in confusion, "I always felt that the three talismans you cast in the Daoist hall had some issues. With your current cultivation realm and understanding of the Talismanic Dao, in theory, you shouldn't be able to write such powerful talismans. Before I saw the Kuilei Great Array outside the Demonic Sect Mountain Gate, the talismans I wrote were only at this level."
With her status and realm, she naturally had the right to evaluate other Talisman Masters with her cultivation.
Ning Que only then thought that the maiden beside him understood the Talismanic Dao even better than himself, and couldn't help but feel a little uneasy, secretly thinking if she saw through some of the strange methods he used on those talismans, or even discovered his Demonic Sect methods...
"Those weren't talismans."
Mo Shan Shan reached out to catch a snowflake, watched the snowflake slowly melt in her palm, and said, "I understand. You were using intent to simulate talismans. Is this the Academy's legendary Bu Qi Intent?"
Ning Que, though a student of the Academy's Second Floor, truly didn't know what the Academy's Bu Qi Intent was. However, at this moment, since Mo Shan Shan didn't associate it with him using Haoran Qi to replace Heaven and Earth Origin Qi, he naturally wouldn't open his mouth to explain.
However, thinking of the four words "Bu Qi Intent" of the Academy, he couldn't help but recall the day he climbed the mountain, seeing the four words "Jun Zi Bu Qi" carved on the stone slab outside Chai Gate, secretly thinking, could these four words have a profound meaning?