Chapter 96: I Can Learn This Stuff with One LookTranslator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
It was winter. The lifeless highland was flat as a board with no place to hide. There was only some lonely greenness among the patches of withered weeds. In the distance, a drove of wild goats stormed through the land, rousing the sand and dust into the air.
Soon after, some people appeared.
“Bodhisattva, it’s been a while,” greeted a virtuous-looking, old monk with a solemn face. He wore a kasaya and fiddled with a string of rosary beads.
Bodhisattva Spirit King only smiled slightly, but he did not say anything else.
“You have descended before the others and set up your own a.s.sociation. It was a little puzzling…” The old monk frowned as he continued to fidget with his rosary beads.
The other man still kept his silence.
The old man ran out of things to say.
“Ha ha ha, I didn’t know you two had arrived, looks like I’m late,” said a grey-haired old man in black Taoist robe as he appeared.
The Taoist priest appeared a little strange, not for the white fly-whisk 1 he was carrying, but for the man he was carrying.
“Let me go, old man…” the young man hollered.
“Silence. You can either call me Master or Temple Master in public. How many times did I tell you, you were sent to me through express delivery…” the Taoist priest reprimanded the young man.
“Yes, old man,” as soon as he finished, the Taoist priest let go of him as he fell to the ground with a loud thud.
“Ho ho, please do not look at me with those weird gazes of yours. I am a votary priest, how would I have a wife and children of my own? This child was raised by me from a young age, it could be said that he sees me as a father, so he does not filter his words…” explained the priest smilingly to the other two.
The old monk heard him and nodded with a smile, but did not say anything else.
It piqued the younger man’s interest, however. He looked at the young man on the floor, who looked average and just a year or two shy of twenty years old. He glanced over to the Taoist priest and said, “Master Ma, I heard you were already thirty-eight years old when you became a priest. Looks like this child does have some kind of connection to Master Ma. Let me give you something as a meeting gift. It’s just something small, let the boy have it for protection.”
As he finished his sentence, a crystalline bead flew out of the man’s palm.
Master Ma took the bead and rubbed it a little, he even raised it against the sun to check it out.
After examining it, Master Ma’s face brightened, “It’s true what people say about Bodhisattva being generous. Since Bodhisattva is willing to part with something so precious, you must have been taken by the boy. What if I gift the boy to you as a disciple…”
The youth on the ground moaned, “Old man, you’ve only been bribed with a single Sarira pearl 2 , and here you are selling your son out.”
The old Taoist priest waved his fly-whisk slightly, “You do not like going to school, and you ran back to me before you even finished high school. You only like to hide inside the temple and play your video games. I cannot discipline you, so I will give you away to other people to do so. No one else was as soft-hearted as I am…”
The younger man was going to speak up, but his face tightened suddenly as he reminded his two comrades, “They’re here…”
The old priest got serious. He hoisted the youth up, put the Sarira pearl in the youth’s hands, and said, ” Ping Er 3 , the reason I brought you out was to look at the world, so don’t act tough, hide well.”
As soon as he finished, he pushed the youth aside, swinging him into the air where he disappeared.
At this point, the swarm was starting to be visible. They covered the sun, casting a big blanket of shadow onto the ground. A number of jets followed them from behind as if to keep watch.
“Terrifying. If they were let into places dense with population, the death count would be horrible,” the monk said, his brows tightly knit.
The Bodhisattva said, “It’s a shame. I have yet to set up my Spirit Summoning Banner, lacking the Three Great Spirit Kings as the Banner Master, or else these insects would never have been able to gain so much traction in the human realm.”
The old Taoist priest laughed heartily. In his hands, an iridescent artifact appeared. He said, “This artifact I’d refined for a few years is finally completed, I’d been looking for something to try it on ever since. Today shall be the day the Mount Indigo Monastery earns its fame and flourish.”
As the three were chit-chatting, the swarm had approached the area. Beneath the area, a silhouette was racing his way toward them.
The three of them simultaneously saw the man.
“Brother Dragon is here as expected,” Bodhisattva smiled.
The monk’s brows unraveled, saying, “Since the true dragon is here, with the four of us combined, it should not be difficult to get through this battle.”
The Taoist priest stared into the distance and sighed, “Another one here to s.n.a.t.c.h my business away from me.”
Within seconds, Vigilante A had arrived before the three. By this time, the swarm of Giant Yellowjackets had stopped advancing, but slowly, they started to descend.
In the System s.p.a.ce.
Fang Ning could not persuade the System, so he stayed in the System Cyber Cafe, reading novels to quell his boredom.
At this point, the System had ended its control of Fang Ning’s body.
The System ordered, “Go out and get these three away, don’t let them steal my experience points.”
Fang Ning whined, “What the? You’ll only let me use my body when I have some use. I have social anxiety, I’m not going out…”
The System said, “Don’t regret saying that.”
Fang Ning said quickly, “Okay, fine. I’m going out…”
Vigilante A glanced over at the three people. There was only one person he recognized–Bodhisattva Spirit King.
“Bodhisattva, it’s been a while. How are you doing?”
“Brother Dragon, you’re being kind. I’m actually doing well. I have also cleaned up my a.s.sociation, some of them toxic people had been expelled. Just some time ago, Gui Er reported that they’ve already negotiated with the Greater Rat Demons to not touch the underground pipes, so no worries on that end.”
Fang Ning heard and thought, ‘This is great news, I didn’t waste my time going over there. Is Gui Er afraid of Vigilante A to the point of not wanting to report to me himself?’
Vigilante A answered, “Thank you for your a.s.sistance.”
After the pleasantries, Fang Ning was stumped. The System was not human, so he did not know the intricacies of human communication. Chasing people away just like that would only enrage them. Not only Bodhisattva Spirit King, the other two must be as strong as him. It was easy to say he wants them gone, but how does Fang Ning do that?
Vigilante A looked like it was s.p.a.cing out, so the other three only thought he was brainstorming for ideas to deal with the swarm of descending insects.
The monk waited for a while and said, “I have here a set of Four Symbols Formation, gifted to me to be Taoist friend of mine. Its insurmountable power can be used to create a sealed s.p.a.ce to trap all the insects inside. The only thing is it needs four powerhouses of similar power level to coordinate the usage.”
In the System s.p.a.ce.
The System said, “No need to ask them to leave. Let them stay. Just ask them to maintain the sealed s.p.a.ce and to not let a single one of those vermins go. I will do the exterminating.”
Fang Ning answered, “Thank goodness I haven’t asked them. Sir, you keep changing your mind, it’s tough for me to keep up, you know?”
The System said, “Go, now.”
Vigilante A greeted the monk with a hold fist salute, saying, “It is to your credit for having this idea. Let’s do it. All three of you are votarists 4 , you should not have blood on your sleeves. Even if there are thousands upon thousands of these Giant Yellowjackets, how about you let me handle the extermination?”
The monk smiled in satisfaction. He had heard that Vigilante A was arrogant, but after meeting him personally, he realized Vigilante A was actually pretty humble.
It was not in his best interest to cover himself in blood, but according to the previous world, only suppressing the swarm would be like setting a time bomb and might even attract vengeful powers. It would be best to exterminate them all, he knew that.
Bodhisattva Spirit King also nodded, “True, I don’t want to add these kills anymore than I already have. Brother Dragon, thank you for taking them on.”
As soon as the Taoist priest of Mount Indigo Monastery saw the other two agree, he looked at his artifact and sighed, “Ah well, votarists should be indiscriminately compa.s.sionate. Vanquis.h.i.+ng demons is part of what we do, but to exterminate this many, even I could not bear the killings. The only thing is it was a waste of my artifact…”
At this moment, Ma Ping who was hidden on a depression on the ground heard his father and immediately rolled his eyes, murmuring, “Dad, who are you kidding? With the number of malevolent creatures you’ve killed to refine your artifact, you would be hesitant to kill? You’re only worried about being exposed in front of the two genuine votarists, don’t you?”
As the four were discussing, the swarm of Giant Yellowjackets was still descending. The monk immediately produced a thick cloth with some words and images embroidered on it.
The monk said, “This Four Symbols Formation is powerful, yet simple to set up. In the hands of experts, it would be able to produce the intended effects immediately. It was the masterpiece of my close friend in the last world, please have a look.”
As he spoke, he extended his hand and the cloth hovered over to Bodhisattva Spirit King.
Bodhisattva Spirit King did not even take it. He glanced at the cloth and immediately said, “I already understood.”
The Bodhisattva pointed at the cloth, causing it to fly toward the Taoist priest, Master Ma.
Master Ma stroke his beard leisurely and scanned at the cloth.
He cursed wordlessly but maintained a smile, “This is based on Taoist concepts after all, I have no problem with it.”
At the same time, he sent a silent message to his back.
“Ping Er, I’ll send you a picture of the Four Symbols Formation, tell me what I should do…”
Ma Ping messaged back, “Dad, you always spend time cultivating that high-efficiency demon vanquis.h.i.+ng thing and had forgotten what the basics are, and you still claim you want to bring glory back to the Mount Indigo Monastery…”
“Stop nagging, be quick. If I dishonor me in front of my comrades, I will confiscate your consoles, tablets, and cell phones. You can play with spirits after that…”
“I will do it immediately, just wait for a moment. You even said you want to show me the world, I think you’ve just predicted such a situation…”
The monk did not know this side story, of course. He was relieved that Master Ma said that. After all, it was gifted to him by one of his Taoist friends, he did not worry about the famed exorcist not being able to understand.
On the other hand, he looked at Vigilante A with concern in his eyes. This is a dragon, he might not understand much about Formations, so Vigilante A might need a little explanation.
Unexpectedly, Vigilante A glanced at it without any expression on his face, “It’s quite easy, I can understand it.”
Fang Ning thought, ‘It is so easy. Sir System only used up a few hundred Experience Points…’