Seeking Truth with a Sword

Chapter 367 - 319: Thousand Faces

Waves of Demonic Qi cascaded down the steps, withering all grass and trees in its path.

Abbot Liao Wu’s face changed repeatedly. He promptly put his palms together as golden light appeared around his body, solidifying into a bell-shaped shield. He stood alone before the hall, blocking most of the surging Demonic Qi.

But still, many Martial Monks accidentally touched the black fog.

"AH!!!"

These monks fell to the ground, writhing in agony, transforming into something neither human nor ghostly—some had their arms turned into long swords, others had swollen bellies with intestines bursting forth, some shrank in size with their bodies covered in tough hair, and others grew wings on their backs and giant tumors on their heads...

A thousand demons, a thousand visages. The monsters rose from the ground, howling as they pounced on their former fellow disciples.

With familiar brothers dying before their eyes, most of the Cultivating Monks were too shocked to counterattack decisively and only retreated instinctively. This led to over a hundred of them being thrown down, bitten, and killed by the creatures.

Blood spilled on the ground before the Grand Hall. The monks died in agony, clarity fading from their eyes. Their mangled bodies, still driven by Demonic Qi, shakily rose again.

"OM!!!"

Abbot Lian Nan formed a Dharma Seal with his hands, his mouth wide open, his voice reverberating like a great bell, echoing powerfully before the hall.

The resonating Buddha sound of the Lion’s Roar was powerful enough to penetrate straight to the heart, clear the mind, and expel all stray thoughts.

But the Demonic Qi’s infection went deep into the marrow, altering their bodies and even twisting their minds. Abbot Lian Nan’s Buddha sound merely caused all the Demons to stiffen in unison for a moment before they plunged back into another round of slaughter.

Like thick ink dripping into a water tank, a large number of fearless demons forcefully broke through the Martial Monks’ defensive line, lunging at the ordinary monks and the countless pilgrims below the steps.

It was a one-sided massacre.

Limbs and severed arms flew high; the rich scent of blood soared to the heavens.

The monsters tainted by Demonic Qi had abnormally tough bodies. Their strength and speed far exceeded those of ordinary humans, and neither Buddha sound nor Magic had much effect on them. Furthermore, if a person’s flesh directly touched the Demonic Qi clinging to these Demons—regardless of their Cultivation level or willpower, whether strong or weak—they would be infected and assimilated by the Demonic Qi. Within mere seconds, a new Demon would be "freshly produced."

Only by cutting off their heads and severing their limbs could their movements be halted.

Nearly ten thousand monks resided on the Mountain of Mind and Heart. Only eight hundred of them were true Cultivators, and they were scattered across the square, completely unable to contain the spread of the demonic tide.

「In an instant」

Cries, screams, howls, roars, the sound of blades cutting flesh...

Myriad chaotic noises overlapped.

The plaza before the hall had become a veritable Asura Hell.

Prince Xia Jun of the Zhou Kingdom watched the scene before him, feeling as if his entire being had plunged into an ice cellar.

When he was at the Zhou Kingdom Academy, he had followed armies into deep forests to eliminate bandits, rebels, and the Demon Sect. Back then, observing the ground littered with corpses and the stacks of the unblinking dead, he had vomited. After regaining his composure, he thought that the slaughter described in books was just like this, and he would never lose his composure again.

Until... now.

"Snap out of it, Your Highness!" Xiao Da shouted fiercely at Xia Jun, striking away an attacking monster with his sword.

Xia Jun then snapped back to reality. Commanding his Flying Sword, he sliced the creature in midair in two and looked around.

The situation was chaotic to the extreme.

On the open ground before the hall, those who hadn’t been touched by Demonic Qi were panic-stricken, fleeing in every direction.

A potbellied rich man barely managed to run a few steps before tripping over a severed limb and falling. He could only wave his cane and shout for his servants to carry him, but no one paid any attention. Eventually, a demon caught up to him and impaled him through the heart with a sword.

A couple ran frantically, hand in hand, trying to escape, when suddenly the husband felt a chill on his shoulder. He looked back to find his wife had been infected by Demonic Qi. Her eyes were blood-red as she tore off one of his arms and voraciously gnawed on it.

Among the pilgrims were quite a number of Cultivators. But the situation was far too chaotic now, and the demonic tide spread so quickly that when they brandished their weapons, they faced thousands of creatures crawling up from the ground.

The Cultivators exchanged glances. A portion of them immediately took to the air, fleeing the area.

Another portion shouted to Abbot Liao Wu, "Abbot, quickly open the Mountain Guarding Array! We need to fight our way out!"

"It cannot be opened!" Abbot Lian Nan shouted sternly. "To disengage the Array from the inside out, we need at least an hour!"

An hour? They didn’t even have fifteen minutes to spare now!

"Once the Demon Buddha inside the Grand Hall fully awakens, the entire Jialan Sect will be doomed."

An elder with white whiskers swung his Zen Staff, shattering the head of a Demon. He didn’t bother to wipe the gore from his face as he hurled the staff like a spear, targeting the old scholar leaning against a wooden table in the hall.

WHIZZ—

Iron rings clanged on the Zen Staff as it darted like lightning, piercing through three Demons blocking the way.

The old scholar kept his eyes lowered, showing no intention to dodge—there was no point.

The flying Zen Staff slowed in midair, its golden sheen rapidly fading until it lost all momentum and plummeted to the ground.

The Misu Hourglass, into which the Time Sand had been poured, operated on its own, distorting the surrounding time. No force could penetrate this temporal distortion.

"..."

The elder with the white whiskers took a deep breath and bellowed, "Mituoduo Pure Land!"

His kasaya billowed as Buddha Light radiated brightly from him. This light spread to the surrounding Martial Monks, with each monk acting as a node, forming a "breakwater" to seal off the Demonic Qi from the Grand Hall.

"No one may retreat! Only by blocking the Demonic Qi can we survive!" the elder shouted to the monks, then turned and called urgently to Abbot Liao Wu, "Abbot, start the ritual to activate the Mountain Guarding Array and use the Array to destroy the entire hall!"

Abbot Liao Wu immediately understood his intent. The Demon Buddha, transformed from the Jialan Master, was beyond human resistance; only by relying on the destructive power of the Mountain Guarding Array was there a chance to counter it.

They could not run; they had to fight.

He clenched his teeth, sat down on the spot, and pulled out a string of white jade Buddha Beads from his robes.

This string had over two hundred beads, exquisitely made, with Zen scriptures etched onto their surfaces with fine golden thread—it was the core of the Jialan Sect’s Mountain Guarding Array.

"Protect the Abbot!"

The elder with white whiskers pressed his palms together, repelling the approaching creatures. The other Cultivating Monks, following suit, took their positions around Abbot Liao Wu, striking wooden fish and chanting Buddha Sutras, countering the Demonic Qi with Buddha Light.

The remaining Cultivators who had not yet fled, seeing the Jialan Sect monks setting up defenses, recognized the severity of the situation and joined the remaining monks in resisting the surrounding creatures.

"What should we do?!" Xia Jun asked urgently. "Do we fight or flee?"

They had been unwittingly brought to the night of the Jialan Sect’s destruction three hundred years in the past, seeking nothing more than to return home. But now, whether they could even survive was uncertain.

"..."

Jiu Fenghai clenched his fists. He also wanted to escape, to try again to break through the Mountain Guarding Array. But it was as if a voice in his subconscious reminded him that forcing his way through the Array would only lead to a miserable death.

"We should help..."

Before Jiu Fenghai could finish, Li Ang cut him off decisively, "To the Floating Tower!"

Everyone’s gaze shifted to Li Ang. His eyes were devoid of any turbulence as he tightly gripped the mysterious iron box in his hand.

The Misu Hourglass and Time Sand capable of reversing time; the missing fourth Buddha statue; the inscribed iron box; the sudden journey through time... All the clues they had gathered thus far converged into a straight line in his mind. He understood the key to breaking the deadlock.