Cultivation: Fortune by Lots

The people of the Solitary Eagle Khanate were completely unable to recover from their shock, feeling instead an overwhelming sense of disbelief.

The result of forcing themselves to accept reality was a bone-deep chill spreading through their entire bodies.

Some of the most ferocious and viciously brave among them had their bloodlust stirred instead; they charged the Great Tang’s lines, intending to seize back Khan Harige’s severed head and avenge him.

But another portion felt the desire to retreat, falling into confusion.

In such turbulence, the remaining people of the Solitary Eagle Khanate found it all the harder to form a united force.

The cultivators of the Great Tang, at first, were also more shocked than delighted.

Aside from the time shortly after she first ascended the throne, when she drove back the Ninth Heavenly Layer Great Demon King Sea Chrysanthemum upon the East Sea Ocean, Emperor Tang, Zhang Wantong had almost never taken action again in the following decades.

Capturing the Eighth Heavenly Layer Mortal Tao Country member Guan Jing had seemed to her as effortless as lifting a hand; from that, no one could see how much her strength had grown.

Thus, as to what height Emperor Tang, Zhang Wantong’s strength had reached today, the Great Tang cultivators had no precise judgment.

Everyone merely guessed that with the nation’s fortune upon her and the advantage of her own territory, though she fought many alone, she ought to have a certain degree of confidence.

Yet no one had imagined that the final outcome, beginning with the foreign Khan Harige, would be the complete annihilation of the enemy’s army.

Harige, whose Martial Saint was at the pinnacle and whose body was that of an Immortal, not only lost the battle, he did not even manage to flee—he died on the spot in Yunzhou.

At this moment, however, the moods of the Great Tang cultivators quickly shifted from being more shocked than pleased to being more pleased than shocked.

Their morale surged as they counterattacked the remaining Solitary Eagle Khanate forces, whose formation had fallen into chaos and whose thoughts were no longer unified.

Although the enemy still had no small number of men, the final result of this battle was already beyond doubt.

The remnants of the Solitary Eagle Khanate suffered defeat upon defeat, taking grievous casualties; even as they retreated north back to the Yin Mountain line, they still could not halt their downward slide.

......

The Western Regions.

The place where the Diamond Temple Gate of Vajra Temple stood.

A cyan radiance unfurled, evolving into an incomparably vast Land of Wonderful Joy, perfectly complete in its clarity, inspiring a sense of Clear Purity and joy in all who beheld it.

Within the temple, Master Gongbu, Elder Ge Luo, Suoyang, and other high monks of the Vajra Lineage led the temple’s monks in silently chanting sutras together.

Outside the temple, in the far distance.

Veiled beneath the Taiching Eight Scenic Treasures Raincoat, Lei Jun quietly watched all of this.

In his right hand he held a silver cone, while the fingers of his left hand gently rubbed along its surface.

"It truly has its unique subtleties..." Lei Jun nodded slightly.

This silver cone, left by Xu Yuanzhen, Lei Jun had personally spent a long time Warming and Nurturing and refining; he had long since comprehended its mysteries.

What moved him at this moment was the Land of Wonderful Joy that unfolded when Vajra Temple’s Mountain Defense Array was driven to the extreme.

Although the two sides stood as enemies, this did not prevent Lei Jun from acknowledging the unique and exquisite aspects of the other side’s inheritance.

Within his twin pupils, the Heaven-piercing Earth-penetrating Taliscript flowed; his extraordinary Insight and comprehension allowed him far more than others to observe the wondrous subtleties of the Land of Wonderful Joy.

At the same time, through this on-site observation, he made the final fine adjustments to the silver cone.

Given the time constraints, it was naturally impossible to make it absolutely perfect.

"Masters of the Vajra Division in Sumi, I must trouble you..." Lei Jun released his hand, and the silver cone rose of its own accord into midair.

Its tip pointed from afar at the Land of Wonderful Joy. The Land of Wonderful Joy.

Then, in the next instant, the silver cone suddenly vanished.

When it reappeared, it was a streak of silver light, striking dead center at the Land of Wonderful Joy, which resembled blue-green glass.

The Land of Wonderful Joy appeared transparent and limpid, shrouded in cyan light, seemingly quite fragile.

In reality, under the manifestation of the Aksobhya Buddha’s light and shadow, the cyan light, inside and out, was like Vajra—Perfection fully present, containing the true meaning of the indestructible, deathless, eternally enduring, calamity-transcending; it was more solid than all manner of Refined Metal and divine iron in the Mortal World.

Yet at this moment, struck by that silver light, the vast Land of Wonderful Joy actually began to quake as a whole.

Centered on the point where the silver light hit, fine cracks appeared, and this blue-green, glasslike Vajra Buddha Country actually became like fragile porcelain, shattering apart!

Drawn by the qi, the monks within Vajra Temple, including Master Gongbu and the others, all shuddered violently; those of the lower realms were sent stumbling, some clutching their heads and wailing, some directly spitting out a mouthful of blood.

Master Gongbu, Elder Ge Luo, and Suoyang were all greatly alarmed; forcibly suppressing their surging qi and blood and their shaking minds, they exerted themselves to continue supporting the Land of Wonderful Joy.

The light and shadow of the Aksobhya Buddha held his left hand clenched in a fist at his side, while his right arm hung down, touching the ground.

With this change, the blue-green Buddha light, now covered in cracks inside and out, forcibly halted its trend toward shattering, and did not in the end directly break apart.

But that streak of silver light now seemed like flowing water, seeping deep into the interior of the Land of Wonderful Joy along the fissures, and beginning to dissolve that blue-green Buddha light.

The Land of Wonderful Joy could finally no longer be sustained.

The cyan Buddha light reverted once more to a golden hue.

Its power to shield and resist the outside world immediately dropped sharply.

"...What is that?!" Suoyang cried out in horror.

In the history of Vajra Temple, they had not been free of disasters or powerful enemies.

In the past, they had even been pressed by the Great Void Temple all the way to the foot of their mountain gate.

But never before had they encountered such a bizarre strike.

The Mountain Defense Array, stronger now than it had been in former days, had already evolved into the Land of Wonderful Joy; with Master Gongbu, who had reached the Eighth Heavenly Layer of Perfection, presiding over it, even an ordinary Ninth Heavenly Layer expert could not breach it from the outside.

Yet now someone had sliced it open as easily as a knife cutting tofu, sweeping away all resistance?

If it had been a top expert like Emperor Tang, Zhang Wantong, Lone Eagle khan Harigeer, or the Inner Mount Shu Sect Leader Ji Yao attacking, it would be one thing.

But now, who was it?!

"Inform the Master, contact Sumi!" Master Gongbu still kept his cool, speaking in a deep voice.

Elder Ge Luo also said, "The Master is currently engaged in battle with Tang Xiaotang of Dragon Tiger Mountain and may not be able to return in a short time. We must quickly request assistance from Master Cisong of Sumi and the others—either they come to this Mortal World, or we ask them to move the Aksobhya Buddha and the Mother Diagram!"

Master Gongbu nodded.

At this moment, every second counted; even sending someone back to Sumi with a report would be too slow.