"Amitabha."
"Since you've already gained wisdom, why must you trouble these ordinary people?"
A middle-aged monk draped in kasaya, hands pressed together, looked at the mutant turtle before him.
Under its massive body, he appeared so small.
"..."
The mutant turtle looked at this hairless person before it. Its talent was high—even among humans, though it might not qualify as First Sequence, it could certainly count as Second Sequence. So it could roughly understand human meaning.
Why trouble these ordinary people?
Of course, because they were weak!
If they were even slightly stronger in numbers, it wouldn't have come.
It was only because they were weak, possessed considerable spiritual energy, and gathered in groups that it had been attracted.
"Why won't you speak, benefactor?"
The middle-aged monk frowned slightly, his tone becoming serious.
"..."
The mutant turtle's gaze toward this man also grew increasingly displeased. Did it not want to speak?
It fucking couldn't speak!
Turtles had no vocal cords. They were naturally mute. Even after mutation, it hadn't developed vocal cords.
Very clearly, this middle-aged monk didn't know this fact.
The mutant turtle didn't want to bother with this monk. It prepared to bypass him and search for other food.
In its perception, this human wasn't weak. Rather than waste time with him, better to hunt different humans.
The middle-aged monk also seemed to see through its intention to continue hunting humans. His expression turned cold.
His tone no longer held its previous friendliness.
"Evil creature—this poor monk kindly advised you, yet you show not the slightest remorse."
"Since that's the case, this poor monk shall practice the Way of Heaven on behalf of the people today and eliminate you, this evil creature."
"Great Mighty Heavenly Dragon, World-Honored Ksitigarbha, All Buddhas of Prajna, Prajna Paramita Hum!"
"Vajra Flames!"
"Go!"
"BOOM—"
Words spoken, dharma followed.
Hands forming Buddha mudras, golden Buddha flames burned from the void—as though bearing Buddha's wrath, cleansing this world's evil.
The mutant turtle curled within its shell, yet still couldn't endure for long. After ten-some minutes, it was forcibly burned to ashes.
"What a stubborn evil beast."
"My Buddha's Vajra Flames burn even the soul, yet it didn't emit a single wail."
The middle-aged monk also felt shocked by the mutant turtle's backbone. Buddhism's Vajra Flames burned not just the body—even souls would be scorched by the flames. These were truly terrifying flames that utterly destroyed both form and spirit.
If not for his strength being too weak, unable to unleash Vajra Flames' true might, it couldn't possibly have resisted this long.
But under Vajra Flames, lasting ten-some minutes without making a single sound—if such willpower were allowed to continue living, in the future it would definitely become a great demon!
"Master, you're so amazing!"
Seeing the mutant turtle had died, a small boy wearing gray monk robes ran out, hugged the middle-aged monk's thigh, and looked up at him with shining eyes.
"Buddha's wrath is naturally powerful."
Under the small boy's praise, the middle-aged monk couldn't help but show a smile.
"Are the junior uncles as strong as you, Master?"
The small boy asked curiously.
Hearing this question, the middle-aged monk's original smile couldn't help but fade. Stroking the boy's head, he spoke flatly:
"They—they recite Buddhist scriptures fluently enough. They speak of Buddhist principles eloquently."
"But that's all they can do."
"Buddha has no form, no appearance—yet the Buddha in their hearts has form and appearance. Gold, lapis lazuli, jade, coral, amber, giant clam, agate—their minds hold nothing but wealth and carnal desire."
"How can such people deserve to be Buddhist disciples?"
Those with no Buddha in their hearts—no matter how well they spoke, they wouldn't gain Buddha's acknowledgment.
In the current Buddhist order, people devoted to Buddha existed—but the numbers were too few.
Truly too few.
He sighed softly.
Even worse, that group held high positions in Buddhist orders. Even if he wanted to drive them out, he couldn't.
"Oh..."
The small monk nodded dimly. Though unclear on the meaning, it seemed those junior uncles weren't good people.
"Don't think about them anymore. Many people here still need us to save them."
"Yes, Master."
"But Master—is it okay for us to kill them? Didn't the Abbot say we shouldn't intervene?"
"That old fool understands shit. Besides opening gates to let people in, what else can he do? And he only lets the wealthy and powerful in."
"Remember Master's words: Kill to protect life—sever karma, not people."
"Our current killing is to protect this nation."
"But the Abbot grandfather also said all life is equal."
"If it's equal, why does he worship Buddha? Why doesn't he call Buddha his brother?"
"Don't listen to that old fool anymore. He just lies."
"Oh, then I'll only listen to Master from now on."
Vantora Capital, General Spiritual Energy Bureau.
"Cloud City is applying for First Sequence prodigy resources?"
"During this Beast Tide, Cloud City produced a First Sequence?"
The Director-General looked at the materials on screen, somewhat surprised—but more than that, delighted.
What Huaxia currently lacked most were First Sequence talents.
The more such prodigies, the better.
The more there were, the safer Huaxia would be.
However, as he reviewed the materials, he suddenly frowned.
"Talent assessment is Second Sequence?"
"Relying on powerful swordsmanship to cut through the Beast Tide, displaying strength no less than First Sequence?"
"Swordsmanship?"
How powerful would swordsmanship need to be to let a Second Sequence person display First Sequence strength?
The gap between First Sequence and Second Sequence was immensely vast—simply not something external objects and abilities could bridge.
If something could—it absolutely shouldn't be cold weapons.
No matter how hard a sword—facing mutant beasts with powerful defenses, it couldn't break their defenses. Not as sharp as compressed wind or water elements.
Moreover, mutant beasts didn't only fight in close combat. They'd also awakened various abilities. How would one defend against ranged attacks?
Though First Sequence also had shortcomings, those shortcomings were relative to other First Sequence.
In others' eyes, they remained unreachable ceilings.
This person called Chu Han—still fell somewhat short.
"Oh, there's even video."
"Did they anticipate I wouldn't believe it? Haha!"
The Director-General shook his head with a laugh, then opened the video to watch.
Exactly what kind of bearing could make them believe this person could rely on swordsmanship to forcibly pull himself from Second Sequence to First Sequence?
As he watched, he fell silent.
One person, one sword—cutting through the entire Beast Tide.
Even elemental attacks could be severed by sword.
God-like swordsmanship, freely shuttling through the Beast Tide, evading mutant beast attacks with minimal movement range.
Finally, at the end—those mutant beast corpses covering the entire road. Sitting alone atop the remains.
"Hiss—"
The Director-General couldn't help but suck in a sharp breath.
If this were like Skyler Quinn or Chen Bing deploying abilities to destroy the Beast Tide with overwhelming force, he actually wouldn't feel much—would only sigh at their might.
(End of Chapter)