Chapter 598: Heh, Holding the Pass Alone

Even though Liu Songtao understood Wang Xianzhi's intentions, he still blocked his path.

With a single move, the "Falling Sword Style," he summoned countless Bodhisattva apparitions, trapping Wang Xianzhi within them.

The Bodhisattva apparitions varied in height, some clear enough to show facial features, others ethereal and indistinct. Among them, four Bodhisattvas were the tallest and most majestic, guarding the four directions: Guanyin, who alleviates the suffering of all beings; Manjushri, who remains pure and undefiled while benefiting the world; Samantabhadra, who never retreats from his vows; and Ksitigarbha, who vowed to save all sentient beings before attaining Buddhahood.

Samantabhadra Bodhisattva, in particular, appeared most vivid and approachable, subtly resonating with the swordsman Wang Xiaoping's previous unwavering sword heart, which remained resolute even in death.

After Wang Xianzhi stepped on the ground, he abruptly unleashed his fists. With him at the center, a surge of energy, powerful enough to overshadow the turbulent tides crashing against Wudi City, burst forth. Wherever this energy reached, most of the Bodhisattva apparitions, both those that had landed and those still in the air, collapsed with a resounding crash. A few others swayed precariously, showing clear signs of disintegration.

Only the four great Bodhisattvas remained motionless. Manjushri Bodhisattva even parted his golden lips slightly, chanting sutras, while faintly visible celestial maidens with flowing sleeves circled above his head.

Golden light spilled forth across the heavens and earth, with glowing, shimmering colors, as if one were transported to a Buddha-land on the other shore.

The foremost figure of the martial arts world from a century ago, meeting the even more transcendent paramount figure of the current era—this all-out battle truly reached a magnificent realm unrecorded in ancient texts and unimaginable to people today!

Wang Xianzhi did not bother shaping energy into swords or blades. His form blurred, and he struck a punch in each of the four directions. Before his afterimages could merge, a streak of snowy white light bypassed Manjushri's apparition and shot towards the meditating old monk Liu Songtao.

Behind Liu Songtao, a wrathful Vajrayaksa, a Bodhisattva of Esoteric Buddhism, manifested.

After being violently struck by Wang Xianzhi's main body, Liu Songtao's seated posture remained unchanged, though his position slid back several dozen yards. Another impact followed, exploding like thunder. Liu Songtao, still seated on the ground with clasped hands, retreated further and further. However, as both he and the apparition receded, the Immovable Wisdom King let out a deep, muffled roar.

Obstinate people would have been awakened by the roar. Stubborn demonic obstacles would have long been repelled.

Unfortunately, the one crashing in was Wang Xianzhi, a martial artist capable of rivalling the immortal Lü Dongxuan!

With the third strike, the standing Wang Xianzhi delivered a downward kick to the forehead of the seated Liu Songtao.

He directly kicked the former demonic sect leader, who had renounced violence and cultivated Buddhism for a hundred years, into the ground. The Immovable Wisdom King apparition sank deep into the earth along with him, only its terrifying, dissipating face visible.

Simultaneously, the four distant Bodhisattva apparitions transformed into earthly fireflies, slowly ascending into the sky, returning to the heavens.

Wang Xianzhi halted his seemingly simple yet invincible assault. For the first time, a hint of anger flickered across the old man's face as he asked in a deep voice, "Do you know of someone's wish?!"

Liu Songtao, still underground, rose to his feet, turned, and bowed with clasped hands, voluntarily dissipating his last apparition.

Then he slowly walked along the sloping, smooth dirt path, as if carved by a single sword stroke, and stood before Wang Xianzhi. He nodded and quietly replied, "My wish is for every future generation to be able to open the Heavenly Gate with their swords."

Wang Xianzhi said indifferently, "I am merely an old man who cares only for the martial world."

Liu Songtao thought for a moment, then calmly said, "You believe the rise and fall of empires are burdens for kings, nobles, and scholars. If they do well, there's peace and prosperity; if they fail, people suffer worse than dogs in chaotic times. In any case, you, Wang Xianzhi, only bear the burden of martial arts. But while you have your thoughts, I have mine. Ultimately, our paths diverge, and thus our aspirations differ. The Liyang and Beiman dynasties, in their quest to conquer the realm, lacking military funds and silver, suppress Buddhism under various pretexts. They have not only allowed Daoists to seal the mountain gates of temples but have also destroyed countless temples and scriptures. Moreover, they relentlessly strive to sever the Buddhist lineage. Yet, Liu Songtao insists on this very moment, in this very place, to preserve a flicker of hope for Buddhism! It is not that I, Liu Songtao, wish to curry favor with the young King of Beiliang, but rather to contribute my meager strength to Buddhism, to protect the last remaining pure land as much as possible, inch by inch. Even if it only means providing a single monk a place to stand, it is a good deed."

Wang Xianzhi waved his hand. "I still have to travel; I don't want to waste time arguing with you."

The purple-gold light around Liu Songtao flickered unsteadily, his aura unstable. Suddenly, he smiled and asked, "Wang Xianzhi, how much strength did you truly use?"

Wang Xianzhi did not answer, but instead retorted, "Will you block me, or not?"

Liu Songtao turned sideways and extended a hand. "Liu Songtao of Zhulu Mountain, having no further desires, has already let go. Besides, shedding my kasaya doesn't mean I'm no longer a monk, and I cannot die just yet. Furthermore, you might not truly be able to kill that person."

Wang Xianzhi remained silent, brushing past Liu Songtao.

In the end, Liu Songtao never knew if Wang Xianzhi had used his full strength, nor did he expect to. He merely thought that eighty to ninety percent would be sufficient.

In this martial arts world, a century later, the water level had risen far higher than before. He had arrived a bit late, but at least not too late.

Liu Songtao walked to a spot by the Guangling River bank, scooped up a handful of muddy river water, and carelessly washed away the bloodstains. He thought of going back to carry Wang Xiaoping, the Wudang Daoist whose path differed from his own but with whom he could still conspire. However, he lost his balance and sat down abruptly in a pile of wet stones, sighing. He struggled to his feet and looked south, saying, "It's a pity that the Peach Blossom Sword God, whose name I've only heard but never seen, probably won't come."

Liu Songtao endured the stinging pain, darted away, found Wang Xiaoping, and bent down to carry the Wudang Daoist, who could have surveyed the sword forest after Deng Tai'a. Straightening up, he quietly said, "Gao Shulu's physique, your peach wood sword, and this monk's meager Buddhist fortune—even combined, the odds are still not great."

Liu Songtao gave a wry smile. "To have such an old scoundrel suppressing the martial world, is it misfortune or great fortune? For us, it's debatable, but for that young king, it must surely be a great misfortune."

On the opposite bank, Zhao Huangchao was nowhere to be found.

At the bottom of the river, the woman who had miraculously survived the battle and passed that trial was still there.

Liu Songtao stared blankly at the eastward-flowing river, silently saddened. He recalled how, in the past, she had once laughed and said there were partridges south of Jiangnan, repeatedly chanting, "Cannot proceed."

Liu Songtao closed his eyes, silently recited "Amitabha Buddha," then opened his eyes and strode forward.

Wang Xianzhi's fist aura, like a rainbow, sent the purple-robed figure from Huishan to the riverbed. Afterwards, he blocked Wang Xiaoping's sword after his death, and then, in one fell swoop, moved past Liu Songtao, who had transitioned from demon to Buddha, like a stumbling block. Within a single day, he consecutively fought three top-tier masters without much trouble. Yet, the undisputed paramount figure of the current era, the City Lord of Wudi City, was almost driven to fury by an unknown, reckless, and tireless young girl.

The first inexplicable ambush occurred at the end of Songxian River, a tributary of Guangling River. At that time, Wang Xianzhi was surprised that he hadn't detected any trace of her before she leaped out of the water. The old man was merely curious, and his reaction to her fierce hand-blade strike was more of an elder's appreciation for a junior, without any anger. After dodging, he didn't pursue her, watching the young girl's figure disappear as she bent low to withdraw from the battle, running like a swift fox, incredibly agile. Her hurried comings and goings, almost completely avoiding any disturbance to his energy perception, were particularly remarkable. At that moment, Wang Xianzhi simply recalled a widely circulated saying in Wudi City: Wang Mingyin, once the eleventh greatest expert in the world, had been fatally stabbed through the chest by a cunning hand-blade wielded by a young female assassin. At the time, Wang Xianzhi hadn't paid much attention, but later, upon hearing a truly verified secret, he genuinely remembered this assassin: she had seized the opportunity to kill Liu Haoshi, the gatekeeper of Tai'an City and a Heaven-Phenomenon expert!

Presumably, she was the young girl who had come knocking, acting as that fourth stone.

"Four." It sounds like "death." Little girl, that's not very auspicious.

At first, Wang Xianzhi found the young girl quite interesting. If they met, he thought he might chat with her for a bit, simply to pass the time.

Half a fortnight later, their second encounter took place on a post road near Hezhou. Wang Xianzhi was strolling leisurely beneath the shade of willows by the roadside when a caravan of merchants passed by. Just as the last rider was about to cross paths with Wang Xianzhi, the young assassin suddenly darted out from under the horse's belly, moved low to the ground, and then leaped up very quickly, still delivering a hand-blade strike towards Wang Xianzhi's heart.

Wang Xianzhi gripped her wrist and threw her. Her delicate body violently smashed into and broke a willow tree as thick as a large celadon bowl.

Wang Xianzhi had thought that things would not go beyond three, and the young girl would have understood the gravity of the situation. To his surprise, the ambush followed closely that very night.

Wang Xianzhi was meditating with closed eyes in the wilderness, sitting and sleeping for a full three hours until midnight. Only then did the girl emerge from the ground about a zhang (approx. 3.3 meters) away. Even Wang Xianzhi didn't know how she had guessed he would rest in that specific spot, because no matter how profound the Qimen Dunjia technique, it couldn't produce undetectable movements right under his nose.

This time, it forced Wang Xianzhi, who was indifferent to whether he was asleep or awake, to hastily turn his head to barely dodge the young assassin's hand-blade aimed at his eye. From their first encounter, Wang Xianzhi had already confirmed that the girl's hand-blade technique was very peculiar—a novel method he had never heard of. It was clean and decisive, adept at breaking through protective aura. Even the adamantine physique of a common martial artist might not be able to withstand it directly. Moreover, the girl's hand-blade concealed its energy almost self-abusively, allowing it to unleash an ingeniously profound "Finger of Mystery" at the instant before striking. This technique bore a striking resemblance to Renmao Han Shengxuan's method of "skinning and tendon-pulling." In essence, her hand-blade could easily kill martial arts masters below the first rank, but its primary purpose was far more perverse: it was designed specifically to assassinate Heaven-Phenomenon and Land Immortal realm experts, the two ranks beyond the first.

In the world, who could have taught such an incomprehensible assassin?

So, during their third confrontation, Wang Xianzhi, who remained cross-legged, not only tilted his head to dodge the hand-blade but also grabbed her ankle, violently slamming her back onto the ground in front of him, while simultaneously asking, "What is your name?"

The girl leaped out of the pit her body had created, remained silent, and vanished in a flash.

Wang Xianzhi merely felt a sense of futility, like playing a lute to a cow. He didn't get up to pursue her, treating her more as a mischievous child with a bad temper.

Soon, Wang Xianzhi's helplessness turned into annoyance. The young assassin simply didn't know when to quit. Just three days later, as Wang Xianzhi entered Hezhou, a region bordering Beiliang, another cunning ambush was launched.

Wang Xianzhi was drawing water from a deep well to drink when the young girl, without any warning, slid out along the well wall and thrust her hand-blade towards Wang Xianzhi's neck.

Angered by her recklessness, Wang Xianzhi struck down with an elbow, hitting her head and knocking her to the bottom of the well, followed by the sound of her splashing into the water.

With this elbow strike, Wang Xianzhi showed no further mercy. Even a first-rank Vajra realm master would likely need to recuperate for half a year to a year before being able to walk again.

But.

When the young assassin reappeared, her face utterly devoid of color, she relentlessly carried out a fifth assassination attempt!

Wang Xianzhi was walking through a bustling market when the raggedly dressed young girl rushed out from a dark, narrow alley. This time, Wang Xianzhi directly struck her head with a punch.

The girl's head snapped back, hitting a restaurant building, smashing through an exterior wall and several dining tables, before she slumped against the inner wall of the building.

Wang Xianzhi said coldly, "Next time, you will truly die."

The stubborn girl pressed her frail back hard against the wall, her toes digging into the ground, trying to use it as support to stand up. But she only managed to rise halfway before sinking back down.

She repeated this process countless times, each attempt futile.

Half a fortnight later.

It was the last time.

Wang Xianzhi was walking on the post road at the border between the two prefectures, and he could already see the boundary marker where the You and He Prefectures met.

Beside the tall boundary marker stood a young girl. Despite the scorching heat of the northern region, she still wore a slightly crooked mink hat and carried a sunflower, just standing there.

She seemed intent on foolishly holding the pass all by herself.

The girl let out a soft huff.

She was no longer capable of ambushing or assassinating anyone.

She could only openly stand her ground here.

Then she raised an arm, wiping away the trickles of blood that seeped from her nose or mouth. She gently placed the sunflower onto the boundary marker, then carefully removed her mink hat and took out an old pearl hairpin, placing them all together with the sunflower, which had not yet turned golden.