Chapter 1658 (Raw 1670): Iron Hand Yama
Seven days later, everything was peaceful in the starry sea.
The Black Cutla.s.s already left that battlefield long ago. It was now very difficult to find a pirate group in this vast Grave Sea.
The people that the Divine s.h.i.+eld Army sent out could not find Xiao Chen and could only withdraw helplessly.
The disappearance of the dark-gold-armored Venerate and the eight gold-armored cultivators struck the entire Divine s.h.i.+eld Army as strange. They could not figure out what happened.
Ignoring all that, Xiao Chen had finally escaped the clutches of the Divine s.h.i.+eld Army and no longer had to worry about its pursuit.
For the past seven days, Xiao Chen had been pondering the Mahāmāyā Abstinence Violation Saber Technique.
He felt somewhat disappointed. This incomplete Saber Technique had only three moves: Breaking the Mundane, Resolving the Mundane, and Entering h.e.l.l.
Right now, he focused entirely on comprehending Breaking the Mundane. However, the deeper he delved into it, the greater the chill he felt spreading in his heart.
When one was in this teeming world, there were accomplishments, love, and hate. Everyone yearned for them and could not let them go. How could one break the mundane so easily?
"That"s not right, not right at all. I must have gotten something wrong. The further I go, the farther away I get. This is clearly a sign of entering Berserking Qi Deviation."
Xiao Chen stopped comprehending and took out the painting to look at it again.
As he gazed at the painting, he focused his mind.
There was a monk holding a Buddhist monk"s knife under the ma.s.sacre Buddha image. As he moved and stepped forward, he sent out many saber lights.
The mantra for Breaking the Mundane slowly appeared at this moment.
The mundane is bitter. One grows old, gets sick, and dies. There are grudges and hatred, unable to obtain what one desires, parting from love.
One must not desire to be immortal!
One must not desire to be free of illness!
One must not desire to never part from love!
One must not desire to never separate!
Bitter, bitter, bitter. The various things of the mundane are all sorts of bitterness. Break the abstinence and purification. Use the mundane as a cauldron to temper my Buddha-like heart!
[TL Note: Buddha-like heart also refers to a heart full of compa.s.sion, although it is also literal in this novel. It likely contains a double meaning.]
"Whoos.h.!.+ Whoos.h.!.+" The sound of saber winds rang out. It was like the saber winds of the monk in the painting were pa.s.sing by his ears.
Xiao Chen"s thoughts wandered to the various difficulties he had faced. He felt that this saber light was emotionless, that the saber wind was sinister and cold. His entire body felt a chill that he found difficult to understand.
Stuck again!
Xiao Chen closed his eyes and took a deep breath. After resting for a long time, he finally calmed his emotions.
"If I just follow the painting and simply execute it, this Saber Technique is not difficult. However, if I want to seek the correct interpretation, it is really difficult. If I am not careful, this will turn into a demonic Saber Technique."
Shaking his head, Xiao Chen collected his thoughts and put this Saber Technique down for now.
It is better to think of happy things. Then, with a thought, the dark-gold-armored Venerate"s storage ring appeared in his hand.
Xiao Chen still had not looked at the possessions of that peak Major Primal Core Venerate. He did not know what was in there.
When his Spiritual Sense entered the storage ring, the first thing he saw was glittering Spirit Jades.
"Medial Grade Spirit Jades! Eight hundred thousand of them!"
Xiao Chen rejoiced in his heart. He recalled that this dark-gold-armored Venerate was a deputy general or something like that. Indeed, his wealth was extraordinary. Just the Medial Grade Spirit Jades he carried on hand were already so many. This did not include the scattered Inferior Grade Spirit Jades yet.
He continued looking around. What is this?
Xiao Chen"s Spiritual Sense moved, and he took out a manual. When he looked at the manual, he muttered, "Thousand Army Sword Technique."
This should be the Sword Technique that the dark-gold-armored Venerate and the Sword General used.
Great stuff!
Xiao Chen revealed a smile. The dark-gold-armored Venerate"s Sword Technique had left a deep impression on him.
Sweeping through with the sword amid cannon fire. The One Sword Conquering the Country even managed to block the Dragon Subduing Stance that Xiao Chen executed with Dharmic World.
Its aura was grand and boundlessly tyrannical.
Unfortunately, Xiao Chen was a bladesman. However, he could still study it. Perhaps he could make some alterations to use it in his Saber Techniques.
More importantly, the style of this Sword Technique suited Xiao Chen, taking the tyrannical path.
He continued looking. Aside from the Sword Technique manual, there were a few general Spirit Herbs and supplements, all specially for the Divine s.h.i.+eld Army"s use and their circulation strictly prohibited, which made them extremely rare.
"Dynasty Influence Record. It records the birth and rise of the Central Great Realm dynasties…"
Xiao Chen found a book, one circulated in the Divine s.h.i.+eld Army to introduce the various dynasties of the Central Great Realm as well as a few of the strong empires.
This is interesting. Xiao Chen scanned down the contents page and found a shocking dynasty.
Tianwu Dynasty!
Xiao Chen was about to read further when Xiao Suo"s voice rang out in his ears. Captain, there"s a situation. We found an ordinary s.h.i.+p of the Divine s.h.i.+eld Army.
An ordinary wars.h.i.+p?
Yes, a lone s.h.i.+p. It is about as strong as an ordinary 4-Star pirate s.h.i.+p. It is chasing a person and not coming after us.
Keep an eye on it first. I"ll go and take a look.
Xiao Chen put away the Dynasty Influence Record. With a few flashes, he arrived at the control room.
The water screen in the center showed the scene of a lake where a Divine s.h.i.+eld Army wars.h.i.+p was pursuing a man who was covered in blood. His face looked blurry.
That man was in a sorry state, fleeing with several gold-armored cultivators hot on his tail.
As for that group of gold-armored cultivators, the leader was just a peak Minor Primal Core cultivator. The ones following him were Yang Essence soldiers.
The wars.h.i.+p followed unhurriedly, not showing any urgency at all.
"Captain, should we help?"
Normally, Xiao Suo would definitely immediately go and help. However, the Black Cutla.s.s had just escaped the Divine s.h.i.+eld Army. They could not easily take such a risk.
Even if they managed to destroy that wars.h.i.+p, the Divine s.h.i.+eld Army might be able to figure out some clues from where the wars.h.i.+p disappeared.
This matter was of great importance, so Xiao Suo could only leave the decision to Xiao Chen.
Of course, Xiao Chen was not a person who would help everyone. If he could help, he definitely would not mind. However, he would not be foolish enough to aid a stranger if doing so would implicate him and all the brothers on the s.h.i.+p.
"Wait."
Just as Xiao Chen was about to decide to go away, his expression suddenly changed. "Why do I find this person somewhat familiar?"
"Whoos.h.!.+"
Xiao Chen"s Heavenly Eye flew out, and after a while, he clearly saw who that man was before recalling the Heavenly Eye.
Xiao Chen said, "It is the Savage Blood Pirate Group"s Iron Hand Yama."
"Ah!"
This greatly startled the people in the control room, giving them an incredible shock. The Iron Hand Yama was a very strong person, even stronger than that dark-gold-armored Venerate.
The Iron Hand Yama was known as the strongest person under the Cloud Sea Realm in the Grave Sea, an unrivaled Venerate.
To think that the Iron Hand Yama appeared in such a sorry state, chased by a bunch of mediocre Divine s.h.i.+eld Army cultivators like a monkey.
Xiao Chen looked at Xiao Suo and said, "You take charge and make the decision yourself."
Back then, the Iron Hand Yama had ruthlessly lectured Xiao Suo, humiliating him. They could be considered to have some conflict with each other.
Xiao Chen could accept saving or not saving the Iron Hand Yama. It all depended on Xiao Suo"s decision.
"Save him!"
Xiao Suo only hesitated for a second before decisively making his choice.
Xiao Chen revealed a smile and patted Xiao Suo"s shoulders. "Go, then. After using the Cold Steel Eagles to rescue him, circle around that wars.h.i.+p and fly off in a different direction before returning to the Black Cutla.s.s."
That way, they would not expose the Black Cutla.s.s"s position.
"Yes, I guarantee that I will not expose the Black Cutla.s.s."
Xiao Suo left to fulfill the order. He led the two Cold Steel Eagles into the sky, departing silently.
The Black Cutla.s.s slowly sailed on, getting farther away from that Divine s.h.i.+eld Army wars.h.i.+p. After a while, the Divine s.h.i.+eld Army wars.h.i.+p disappeared from the water screen.
Xiao Chen and the others went on deck and started to wait quietly.
There was no need to doubt the success of this operation. Given Xiao Suo"s strength as an early-stage Major Primal Core cultivator and the two Cold Steel Eagles—tyrants of the sea—there was no possibility of failure. It was just a matter of how long it would take.
Indeed, after one hour, the two Cold Steel Eagles appeared in everyone"s vision.
"Bang!"
Xiao Suo jumped down from the sky, carrying a person, and landed heavily. Then, he slowly set the person on his back down on the deck.
Now, the Iron Hand Yama had none of his past glory. He looked so weak that he could not compare to even an ordinary Veritable Personage.
The Iron Hand Yama appeared pale, covered in blood. His physical body had been corroded by the starry sea to the point where he was nearly unrecognizable. His eyes had lost their light, and his spirit was depressed.
Xiao Chen looked and saw a wound on Xiao Suo"s chest. Given Xiao Suo"s strength, he should not have sustained an injury.
"What happened?"
Xiao Suo"s expression turned somewhat unsightly. "This fellow didn"t want me to save him. He wanted to die. Even after I put in a lot of effort, he still scolded me."
"Help him with his injuries first. After he is healed, leave him be."
Xiao Chen did not find this hard to understand. It looked like the Savage Blood Pirate Group was mostly destroyed. The faith in the Iron Hand Yama"s heart had collapsed. Naturally, it would be hard for the Iron Hand Yama to look past this.