The Academy has Reason, The Gentleman Holds Rectitude

A tragic wail instantly pierced through the autumn rain, which was gradually growing heavier, echoing throughout the ruins of the ancient temple.

Grandmaster Bao Shu looked at his severed arm in the rain, his face pale, his blood-soaked body swaying as if about to collapse. As the Head of the Judicial Hall of Xuankong Temple, his Buddhist dharma was profound and his will steadfast. When Ning Que had previously severed one of his arms with a cleaver, he had managed to grit his teeth and endure without a sound. However, now that his cultivation was severely damaged and his remaining arm had been severed by Jun Mo's iron sword, it was as if everything he possessed had been destroyed, leaving him unable to endure any longer.

Qu Ni Ma Di stared blankly at the scene before her, then suddenly let out a shriek and rushed to the shattered stone steps, pulling the blood-drenched Grandmaster Bao Shu into her arms, desperately trying to help him stop the bleeding.

Qi Nian's expression was sorrowful as he watched Jun Mo advancing toward him, and he softly chanted a Buddhist name. Because he had not spoken for so many years, his voice was somewhat dry and lacked fluency:

"Second Mister, your actions are truly too..."

He could not finish the sentence, for Jun Mo had no desire to listen to him at this moment. Jun Mo's right hand tightly gripped that strangely wide and straight iron sword, and he swung it directly down toward the other's head.

Qi Nian's face was now pale. The breaking of his sixteen-year Vow of Silence had created those incredible displays of radiance earlier, but it had also caused a massive backlash to his Buddhist heart. Combined with the wounds left by Ning Que's arrows and talismans, his strength was significantly depleted, and he was no longer at his peak.

But as the World Walker of the Buddhist Sect, facing the iron sword pressing down like a great mountain, his face showed no sign of terror. Instead, he extended his right index finger and drew a circle in front of him. Qi Nian's finger trembled slightly, drawing continuously in the air amidst the cold autumn rain. As one circle ended, another was born, large circles encompassing small ones, endless and eternal, like the eternal radiance behind the Buddha.

Jun Mo's iron sword slashed vertically and horizontally, still following a perfectly square and upright path, exactly like the man himself. The iron sword traced countless squares in the autumn rain, each stroke of identical length and intensity. The circles drawn by the finger were perfectly rounded, encompassing each square of the iron sword. The raindrops that fell into those circles were instantly repelled by the aura.

Qi Nian looked at Jun Mo and said in a raspy voice:
"The heavens are round and the earth is square; how can you break me?"

Jun Mo replied indifferently:
"As a man, one must understand that he stands upon the earth."

As he spoke, several dull thuds rang out. The iron sword slashed across, shattering the Buddhist aura in the air. The square sword intent was incredibly powerful, breaking through the circles and escaping!

Qi Nian's expression was shaken. He chanted a Buddhist name and laid down twenty-seven layers of Buddhist barriers before himself.

"Can a gentleman be deceived by rectitude?"

Jun Mo gave a low shout, using the iron sword to shatter all twenty-seven layers of barriers in succession. Blood seeped from the corners of Qi Nian's mouth as his hands formed the shape of a blooming lotus, creating a powerful True Word Hand Seal.

"Can a gentleman be deceived by rectitude?"

Jun Mo shouted loudly, shattering the True Word Hand Seal with his iron sword. Qi Nian spat out a large mouthful of blood, but his battle intent remained steadfast as he summoned the Acala Dharma Body to meet the iron sword.

"A gentleman responds with rectitude!"

Jun Mo roared, the iron sword tearing through the rain as it struck down, cleaving Qi Nian's Dharma Body in two!

Seeing the World Walker heavily injured and his life hanging by a thread, the monks who could still crawl up in the back of Lanka Temple roared and rushed toward the stone steps, intending to use their flesh and blood to save Qi Nian. Jun Mo let go, and the iron sword left his hand. Amidst the whistling sound of the sword tearing through the wind, over a dozen monks fell dead.

The iron sword traced four straight lines on the stone courtyard before returning to its original position and slashing toward Qi Nian. A perfectly straight wound instantly appeared on Qi Nian's body. His face was deathly pale as he sat in the lotus position, forming the Lotus Seal and closing his eyes to circulate his Chan intent. One thought of life, one thought of death; one thought of flesh growing on white bones, one thought of immortality.

Jun Mo did not care what he was doing and simply let the iron sword strike. In an instant, the iron sword struck seventy-seven times. Qi Nian circulated his Chan intent through eleven cycles. The monastic robes on his body were shredded into fragments, and countless wounds were cut into his flesh. Those wounds healed at a speed visible to the naked eye, but before they could close, they were sliced open again by the iron sword.

No matter how fast Qi Nian's thoughts moved, the recovery speed of his Buddhist body could never keep up with the speed of the iron sword! At this moment, he was primarily struggling to endure, while simultaneously suffering excruciating agony. The pain was nearly that of being sliced to death. Even someone with a Buddhist heart as steadfast as a rock could not hide the look of pain on his brow.

The iron sword came again. Qi Nian's body was violently shaken, and he flew backward, crashing into the ruined Buddha statue in the hall, spitting out a mouthful of blood. Jun Mo continued to advance toward him. At this moment, Ye Su finally rushed to the front of the ruined Buddhist hall, standing in front of Qi Nian to block the way.

He looked at Jun Mo and said:
"The mute was already injured; winning is not honorable."

Jun Mo replied:
"If there is reason in those words, with what face did you all surround and attack my Little Junior Brother?"

Ye Su was silent, then said:
"Ning Que and the Daughter of the Underworld Lord are dead; the matter is settled. Today Lanka Temple is destroyed, and countless monks are dead or injured. Does the Academy still wish to exterminate the Buddha?"

Jun Mo said expressionlessly:
"The Buddhist Sect deceived my Academy, and this bald one tricked my Senior Brother, being hypocritical to the extreme. Such a rotten dharma naturally deserves to be erased from the world."

Ye Su said:
"No one wanted to kill Ning Que today; otherwise, Qi Nian would not have waited for the Buddhist light to descend to execute the Daughter of the Underworld Lord. I believe the Daoist and Buddhist sects have shown enough respect to the Academy, and the Buddhist Sect has paid a sufficient price."

Jun Mo said:
"Do you think killing Tang Tang requires no price? I will temporarily set aside the Daoist Sect's role in this, so do not force my Academy to go to war with the Daoist Sect right now."

Qi Nian lay at the foot of the shattered Buddha statue, his body covered in wounds and looking wretched, yet his expression remained calm and his voice steadfast:
"The Daughter of the Underworld Lord... must die."

Jun Mo looked at him and said:
"She committed no fault; why should she pay the price for things that might happen in the future? If being the Daughter of the Underworld Lord is an original sin, then should the descendants of all the lecherous monks in the world be slaughtered? The Tang Laws have no such precedent, and ancient rites have no such decree. Therefore, your actions today are without reason."

In the strangely silent autumn rain, everyone knew the temperament of the Academy's Second Mister, so they were not surprised to hear these words, but no one truly thought he was arguing reason, for this reason sounded quite unreasonable. It was just that looking at the wide, straight iron sword in his hand, no one wanted to argue with him.

Unexpectedly, the one who stood up to refute the Second Mister at this moment was Lu Chenjia. Although this Princess of the Yuelun Kingdom was famous as the "Flower Addict," in front of Jun Mo or the representatives of the various sects, both her status and strength were not worth mentioning. However, it is true that the ignorant have no fear; she was already heart-broken, which was why she had dared to strike Tang Tang, and why she dared to speak now.

Lu Chenjia slowly stood up, wiped the rain from her face, looked at Jun Mo, and said:
"I dare to ask the Second Mister, if everything follows the Tang Laws and ancient rites, why did your iron sword kill so many people today?"

Jun Mo replied:
"The Tang Laws state that he who kills must die."

Lu Chenjia said:
"But currently, no one knows whether Ning Que and the Daughter of the Underworld Lord are actually dead. Since their deaths cannot be confirmed, there is naturally no killer within Lanka Temple."

Jun Mo was silent for a moment, then said:
"Those words have reason."

Qu Ni Ma Di, holding Grandmaster Bao Shu and seeing his pale face, wept bitterly. She suddenly looked up at Jun Mo and cursed in fury:
"You people from the Academy always think you're right! In truth, from that madman Ke Haoran onward, when have you ever listened to reason? Look at how the Head is suffering now!"

Hearing this old woman mention his Little Martial Uncle with such disrespectful words, Jun Mo's eyebrows twitched slightly. He looked at Ye Su, who was blocking Qi Nian, and his right hand suddenly tightened around the iron sword! Ye Su's expression changed drastically.

Grandmaster Bao Shu, in Qu Ni Ma Di's arms, suddenly snapped his eyes open as if seeing something terrifying, and then a straight beam of light flashed in his eyes, and he died just like that. Qu Ni Ma Di did not react immediately, staring blankly at the old monk in her arms. The Head of the Judicial Hall of Xuankong Temple was dead.

Qi Nian was horrified and abruptly looked up, staring at Jun Mo in fury. Lu Chenjia had thought she had used her words to stop this upright Second Mister, but she never expected the tragedy to occur immediately afterward. She turned pale and muttered:
"Why... why is it like this?"

Jun Mo said:
"Tang Tang was innocent, yet this bald one wished to execute her heart. Ancient rites teach that he who wishes to execute the heart of another must die."

The sound of Qu Ni Ma Di's despairing cries echoed in the autumn rain. Lanka Temple, the oldest temple in the human world, had today suffered unprecedented devastation. The stone steps were damaged, the courtyard walls collapsed, the Buddhist hall was cracked, and the back hall had turned into a pile of ruins. In the stone courtyard, corpses lay everywhere, blood mixing with rainwater and flowing silently over the blue stone slabs, appearing incredibly desolate. The monks were dead or injured in countless numbers; the essence of the Buddhist Sect, accumulated over many generations, had been wiped out by a single iron sword in this battle.

Decades ago, Lian Sheng—who was then the Judicial Divine Officer of Xiling—had secretly led Demon Sect experts to bloodily slaughter countless sects before the gates of Lanka Temple, but he had not attacked inside the temple. Decades later, another tragedy had occurred, and this time Lanka Temple itself had to bear the catastrophic result. From today on, this temple would find it difficult to maintain its status in the cultivation world.

"Today... too many people have died."

Grandmaster Qi Shan looked at the corpses of the monks lying in the rain, at the streaks of blood, his aged face showing neither sorrow nor joy, and his voice was devoid of emotion. He looked toward Jun Mo, forced a smile, and said:
"Although the chessboard is destroyed, I cannot be certain whether Ning Que and the Daughter of the Underworld Lord are alive or dead. Jun Mo, withdraw your hand."

Jun Mo remained silent and did not respond. He wanted to kill Qi Nian. Neither Ye Su nor the silent Tang could stop him from acting, for that was the reason of the Academy. But the one speaking was Grandmaster Qi Shan, and he was forced to be cautious, for he knew the Grandmaster was not like those hypocritical monks of the Buddhist Sect.