The light of the sword is like the moon reflecting on Kyushu

Chapter 2088 The Darkening History of the Holy Venerable
Everyone was dumbfounded when they saw Feng Jiuxiao leading more than twenty sleepy-eyed children back!
Venerable White Lotus followed at the back of the group, his eyes constantly scanning around, like an old woman afraid that some child would fall behind. His nervous and cautious appearance made it hard to believe that he was actually a master of the Demonic Sect!
She looks just like a mother hen protecting her chicks!
Yuan Zishan asked with a half-smile, "What's going on?" She immediately picked up a little girl, touched her frostbitten cheeks, and said with some heartache, "Why are there so many children?"

Feng Jiuxiao gave a brief explanation, and everyone was outraged!

The common people are like ants!
Human life is as cheap as grass!
At this moment, Chang Zijing, Chili, and Erni each picked up a girl. Xiong Mengyan was worried about not having a girl to hold when she suddenly spotted a toddler who looked like a boy but was actually a girl. Overjoyed, she quickly snatched the toddler into her arms!

Wang Sheng and Duanmu Yan were speechless!

They knew how clean Xiong Mengyan usually was. In the past, she wouldn't have gone even a foot away from a dirty child like this, because she couldn't stand the smell!
And now they hug each other without hesitation! They even ignore the snot on the other person's face!
Has the love for someone extended to everything they love to them really reached this level?

Yuan Zishan, holding the little girl, asked, "Then what do you want to do?"

Feng Jiuxiao said calmly, "Let's wait for the rabbit to run into the tree stump, and then nip it in the bud!"

Yuan Zishan said, "Are you planning to spread the word that you have a large number of young children to lure those Tibetan monks into a trap?"

That's exactly what I mean!

“But if you kill the first group of people who come, wouldn’t that be like stirring up trouble? Do you think anyone else will come? It’s difficult to eliminate them completely.”

Feng Jiuxiao said, "I can capture the first batch alive and incorporate them all into my sworn slaves. I can then send them back to lure their fellow disciples here! Once the vast majority have arrived, we can make our move!"

Yuan Zishan said, "If only they were moths, they would rush into the fire trap even if they knew you had set one!"

Feng Jiuxiao laughed and said, "Now we have what they want. If we use it properly, we can treat them like moths to a flame! This place can become their crematorium!"

"Don't they weigh the pros and cons? Compared to life, crafting magical artifacts shouldn't be important, right?"

Once crafting magical artifacts loses its strong appeal, then waiting passively for them to come to you will be futile!
“The ritual implements are not important, but what if I told you that among these boys and girls there are children with extremely yin and extremely yang destinies?”

Yuan Zishan's eyes flashed. "An extreme Yin-Yang destiny? What does that mean to them?"

Feng Jiuxiao said in a deep voice, "For the Tibetan monk, it means he can gain an extra 60 years of internal strength!"

Chang Zijing was shocked: "What? Sixty years of internal energy? For a martial arts master, being able to gain an extra sixty years of internal energy is such a fatal temptation! With sixty years of internal energy, one can be practically invincible!"

Wang Sheng, who was not far away, exclaimed, "Who would miss an opportunity to increase their internal energy by sixty years!"

Duanmu Yan suddenly blurted out, "Is Young Master Feng using the child as bait?"

Everyone's expression changed!

These words were like a thunderclap from a clear sky, stunning everyone!
Everyone knows the truth about this, but no one says it out loud!

Although Feng Jiuxiao's intention was to save the child, and given his strength, he wouldn't harm the child at all, he was actually using the child as bait and taking risks. It's not a pleasant way to put it!

That's the contradiction in reality!

Without children as bait, the monks of the Mahayana Maitreya Sect wouldn't have taken the bait so easily! Who would seek death for no reason? Who doesn't know that Feng Jiuxiao once forced Mingzun to retreat with a single strike under the moonlight? And Mingzun's combat power is no weaker than that of the Holy Venerable!
Therefore, if they knew that Feng Jiuxiao was here, no disciple of the Mahayana Maitreya Sect would take the initiative to cause trouble for Feng Jiuxiao.
But if they don't take the bait, it's like finding a needle in a haystack for Feng Jiuxiao to actively search for them! The territory of Tibet is not much smaller than that of the Song Dynasty.

So using children to lure these Tibetan monks might sound "unscrupulous," but it's actually the most effective method! A true man doesn't concern himself with trivial matters; using children as a pretext is just a hollow gimmick. Under the protection of Bigwof, Pang Shiwu, Yuan Zishan, and Chang Zijin, these children are practically impregnable! What's more, Wang Sheng, Xiong Mengyan, and Duanmu Yan are also there to help.
Although Duanmu Yan is sharp-tongued and mean-spirited by nature, he would most likely step in to protect the child in this situation!
He would naturally care about anything that Xiong Mengyan cared about!
With Feng Jiuxiao around, Xiong Mengyan would naturally protect those children with her life!

Therefore, Feng Jiuxiao wants to protect these children, and everyone present will lend a helping hand, including Ouyang Zhong, Zhang Deyi, and Helian Rongguang.

Even if the Holy Venerable led ten top masters to the scene, they might not necessarily gain the upper hand. Instead, he would be facing not just martial arts experts, but masters wielding all sorts of divine weapons and demonic blades!

Pang Shiwu's Blood Rain Fragrance Sword and Frost Condensation Sword;

Chang Zijing's Green Demon Hand;
Big Wolf's Red Devil Hand;

Yuan Zishan's Immortal-Binding Rope;
Feng Jiuxiao's Heaven-Shaking Bow!
Xiong Mengyan's Seven-Character Demonic Zither;

Wang Sheng's flying sword, Azure Frost;
Duanmu Yan's Great Compassionate Bow!
Although Zeng Yong was bedridden, he had basically recovered. In addition to the Soft Finger Divine Eagle Sword, he also had the True Separation Sword at his waist!
These are beings that flesh and blood cannot contend with!

Anyone who touches it will die!
Therefore, the children are absolutely safe!

Chili rolled her eyes. "If you can't speak properly, then shut up!"

Duanmu Yan chuckled, "I'm just stating the facts. I didn't say he did anything wrong! I just wanted his confirmation!"

Chili scoffed, "You know perfectly well what I'm asking! What a load of nonsense!"

Duanmu Yan looked embarrassed, but quickly regained his composure. He had already witnessed Chili's sharp tongue before, knowing that this girl was quick-witted, forgot what she said as soon as she spoke, and never held grudges, so he didn't take it to heart. He had only said it instinctively, and regretted it as soon as he said it!

Who doesn't understand the principle of leaving a way out for others? I'm not stupid!
I just can't control my temper!
The moment he saw Xiong Mengyan holding the dirty child, he immediately felt that the image of the goddess in his heart had been damaged! In his anger, he couldn't help but vent his frustration and made a sarcastic remark about Feng Jiuxiao!
Since he had spoken out of turn, he couldn't blame Chili for criticizing him. So he quickly came to his senses, and his expression improved considerably.

Feng Jiuxiao said, "Let the children take a hot bath and change them into clean cotton clothes. Look, these children's clothes are almost showing their skin!"

The children, dressed in thin clothes, looked especially pale! They were so cold that they could only shiver and didn't even have the strength to speak.

Chang Zijin was naturally sentimental, and seeing the pitiful state of these children, she immediately burst into tears.

When she shed tears, Erni couldn't help but get teary-eyed as well.

The two were saddened, and the atmosphere instantly affected Chili.

Chili was defiant, asking, "What are you doing?" But tears were clearly welling up in her eyes!

Soon, news spread that many children with extremely Yin and Yang destiny in Jishi Military City were staying at the "Snow Peak Pearl" Inn.

It is said that this news was discovered by several merchants from Han areas!

One of them, an expert in Taoist secret arts, inadvertently discovered that several people in this inn possessed an extremely Yin-Yang destiny, a rare occurrence that is usually one in ten thousand!

Children with this kind of destiny have many uses, but of course, everything is a double-edged sword!

The "Extreme Yang Destiny," also known as the "Pure Yang Body," is considered by orthodox Xuanmen sects to be the chosen one, like the Pure Yang Immortal Lü Zu, who is invincible in exorcising demons and monsters. His pure Yang blood can amplify the power of talismans tenfold! A Pure Yang Body living in an inauspicious house can naturally purify the evil spirits of the land!
However, for evil spirits and heretics, a pure Yang body is an excellent magical tool. For example, it can be used to "attract living lightning tribulation," binding a person with a pure Yang destiny to the eye of the tribulation array, attracting 80% of the heavenly lightning's power! As for the fate of a person with a pure Yang destiny, of course, they will be carbonized into ash!
Some unorthodox Taoist priests will imprison people with extremely Yang destiny in the "Samadhi True Fire Cauldron" for seven days and seven nights to extract their Yang energy and refine the "Nine-Turn Rejuvenation Pill". The fate of people with extremely Yang destiny is that "their five internal organs wither and they become empty shells"!
Some wizards will place those with "Extreme Yang Fate" in the center of the battlefield to activate a berserk aura, causing their own army's combat power to triple and the enemy's mind to become confused within the aura! The fate of those with Extreme Yang Fate is "death by bloodline explosion"!
As for those with an extremely Yin destiny, the orthodox Xuanmen sects will cultivate them to become the nemesis of Yin energy! For example, standing in a graveyard can freeze a zombie to death for a hundred years!

It is said that the Tianshan Sect has a secret record that dripping the blood of someone with an extremely Yin destiny into a jade bottle containing medicine can lock in the efficacy of the medicine for a hundred years!
Those practicing unorthodox methods will use individuals with extremely Yin destinies in the "Nine Netherworld Array Eye" or the "Jade Marrow Cold Coffin." In the "Nine Netherworld Array Eye," nailing them to extremely Yin acupoints (such as mass graves) is said to open a passage to the underworld! It is said that the fate of those with extremely Yin destinies is "their souls eternally imprisoned at the Gates of Hell!"
Those with an extremely Yin destiny placed in a "Jade Marrow Cold Coffin" are to be buried alive! They are sealed alive into a mysterious ice coffin to be buried with the dead! The purpose is to preserve the deceased's body from decay forever! How good can the fate of those buried alive be?
Whether they are extremely yin or extremely yang, once they fall into the hands of evil cultivators, their fates are all more tragic than the last!

Therefore, Feng Jiuxiao is determined to completely eradicate the Mahayana Maitreya Sect!

Apart from the difference in names, the Mahayana Maitreya Sect and the Demonic Sect are almost indistinguishable in essence!

They are completely contrary to the orthodox teachings of Taoism!

Righteous people, seeing injustice on the road, will draw their swords to help!

They, however, were indiscriminately killing and treating human life as worthless!
Many righteous people sacrifice their lives for others!

They would rather sacrifice other people's lives to achieve their own interests, their selfishness reaching an outrageous level!
How can we face the common people and our own conscience if we don't eradicate such evil forces?
Feng Jiuxiao decided to stay at "Snow Peak Pearl" for a few more days, and no one objected.

Zeng Yong, who was most eager to get to Qinghai Lake, was still unable to move normally, so there was no point in forcing him to travel. It would be better to stay for a few days, which would allow Zeng Yong to recover quickly and also eliminate the malignant tumor that was the Mahayana Maitreya Sect! Feng Jiuxiao recalled some fragments that Bai Lian Venerable had described to him, along with the anecdotes about the Holy Venerable that others had told him. All the fragments began to connect into a complete story!

That year should have been the seventeenth year of the Zhenyuan era in Chang'an.

Pei Zhaoyou, 24, was a translator monk at Ci'en Temple.

The figure in the blue robe, looking disheveled, buried himself in the Buddhist scripture box containing the "Maitreya's Descent Sutra" every day, his fingertips rubbing the characters for "compassion" until calluses appeared.

At that time, he did not know that the woman in red who rode past the scripture pavilion in the spring rain of March in Chang'an would be the karmic fire that consumed his Buddhist nature!

"Hey! Monk!" Li Wanzheng's whip lifted the bamboo curtain, her almond eyes blazing with a burning light. "Can Maitreya really save all sentient beings?" Behind her was a princess's retinue, surrounded by a thousand Golden Guards. Later, he learned that this Princess Shengping, Emperor Xianzong's most favored concubine, had actually sneaked out of the palace and loved to wander around disguised as a knight-errant.

Pei Zhao clasped his hands together and said, "If one harbors good intentions, one can save all living beings."

Li Wanzheng said, "What if the person I'm trying to save deserves to die?" She suddenly grabbed his wrist and pressed it against his heart. He felt a heartbeat throbbing beneath the soft gold armor in his palm, the same rhythm as the ink stain on a page of the Diamond Sutra—the stain left by the dying assassin he had saved three years ago!
The third year of Yuanhe - Zhongnan Death Valley
As Pei Zhao carried Li Wanzheng, who was pierced by a poisoned arrow, through the encirclement, the Buddhist prayer beads on her blood-stained clothes shattered inch by inch. The leader of the ambush removed his mask, revealing himself to be Zhiyuan, the abbot of the Great Ci'en Temple—his mentor who had taught him to write the word "compassion"!

"The princess has witnessed the Crown Prince's secret of creating corpse soldiers," the old monk said, his staff dripping with blood. "His Majesty has decreed that she be sent to the Pure Land of Ultimate Bliss."

Pei Zhao vomited blood onto the tattered pages of the *Maitreya's Descent Sutra*! The woman in his arms suddenly opened her eyes, the tip of her hairpin piercing a vital acupoint in his throat: "Go!" In the midst of excruciating pain, her inner energy surged, and she used her life to stimulate his Ren and Du meridians. Instantly, golden light erupted from all three hundred acupoints throughout his body, propelling him through the sixth realm of Buddhism to the ninth heaven!
He watched helplessly as her body turned to dust in the shimmering light of the Buddha, leaving only half a golden hairpin in his hand! The hairpin's tip bore the smiling face of Maitreya Buddha, stained with blood!
4th year of Yuanhe (896 AD) - Mount Kailash
Pei Zhao knelt in the blizzard on the sacred mountain, the Ninefold Glazed Realm devouring his internal organs! Suddenly, the golden hairpin in his bosom soared into the air, its tip drawing heavenly lightning that struck the mountain peak!

A deep blue cave appeared amidst the avalanche. The ice walls were carved with Sanskrit in reverse: "The three poisons are Buddha-nature; killing is protecting life." This is the cave of the mad Indian monk Lianhuo, who used the "Maitreya Sutra" to oppose the orthodox Nalanda tradition during his lifetime.

Pei Zhao ripped blood from his heart and dripped it into the Ice Wall Demon Scripture. The blood, upon contact with the scripture, condensed into a crimson bead that swirled in the air, forming sixteen blood-red characters:
Slay all false Buddhas and establish true enlightenment.

Blood freezes the three realms, proving enlightenment!

The wind and snow suddenly stopped. He stood in the charnel ground with his white hair disheveled, holding the first withered blood Zen bead in his palm.

The Palace of Lhasa, Year 5 of Yuanhe
The Tibetan king, seeing the Han monk approaching through the snow from afar, was astonished, thinking him a celestial being!
With a flick of his crimson monk's robe, the blizzard outside the hall solidified into ice lotuses ten feet away! With a slight press of his left palm, the bronze bell of the Jokhang Temple rang nine times!
"I am the incarnation of Maitreya." Pei Zhao flicked his finger, and a bead of dried blood shot into the golden throne. The gilded throne instantly cracked, but the chilling aura lingered around the Zanpu without harming him!
The king asked in a trembling voice, "What proof do you have?"

Pei Zhao's right palm suddenly revealed the throat of the Great Wheel King!

The Great Wheel King, the top Tantric master who had ambushed and killed him three days ago, was now kneeling on the ground like an ice sculpture!

"You false Buddhas deceive the world." He crushed the throat bone of the Great Wheel King. "I, the Great Deity, establish the Mahayana Maitreya Teaching, using killing to stop killing!"

All the Tibetan monks in the hall were terrified and knelt down!

No one saw the flesh sprout emerging from the shattered throat of the Great Wheel King—Pei Zhao had already planted a withered blood bead in his heart meridian. This was the first living magical artifact he had crafted!
At this moment, in the Holy Venerable's meditation room...
The octogenarian saint suddenly opened his eyes. Blood dripped from the ice bead in his palm, cracking into a red lotus. From the lotus's heart emerged the face of the Great Wheel King: "Pei Zhao! Do you know the golden arrow that killed Li Wanzheng back then?"

Before he could finish speaking, the Holy Venerable suddenly clenched his five fingers together!

The Dharma King roared, freezing everything!

Suddenly, the scripture shelf in the meditation room tipped over, and a fragment of the *Maitreya's Descent to Earth Sutra* fell and unfolded, revealing a line of delicate small regular script at the bottom of the page:

"At midnight, evidence of the Crown Prince's crimes was displayed at the separate residence."

—Wan Zheng's Last Words

Past events are like smoke—

Blood ice dripped from between the Holy Venerable's fingers.

For the first time in eighty years, he questioned the truth of that night.

Outside the window, the wind and snow howled like dragons; deep within the frozen earth, hundreds of thousands of Maitreya followers chanted scriptures in sync with the pulse of dried blood beads.
Killing is for the purpose of protecting life
Slaying karma, not killing people.

On the Holy Venerable's white bone staff, the 108th bead began to crack—there, frozen was Li Wanzheng's last tear.

His heart skipped a beat. He thought to himself, "There's a powerful expert plotting against me! That person's will is so strong that I can even feel their intense hostility! Who could it be? The Demon Lord, the Bright Lord, and the Bear Island Lord are all dead. Could it be the Light Dharma King?"
Suddenly, a disciple whispered outside the window, "Your Majesty, several messages sent by carrier pigeon have arrived one after another."

Although the Holy Venerable was already eighty years old, his face was as handsome as jade, making him look no more than fifty! A sharp glint flashed in his eyes, "Recite!"

"The first letter comes from Baoning County: Prince Gyatso has been murdered!"

The Holy Venerable raised an eyebrow, nearly losing his composure! That was his personally trained disciple! The future heir to the Tubo Empire!

He tapped the table lightly with his index finger. "Keep reading!"

The disciple outside the window suddenly felt the temperature of the surrounding air drop sharply, and the cold was bone-chilling!

Terrified, he knew the Holy Lord was truly enraged! He could only force himself to remain calm and continued, "The second letter comes from Kuozhou. The Fourth Prince, Duoba, was blocked by the Song army when he entered Kuozhou City. A fierce battle ensued, and His Highness... was killed by a hail of arrows!"

"Continue!" The Holy Venerable's voice trembled noticeably, and the temperature instantly dropped several degrees!

"The third letter comes from Jishi Military City. The Xiaozhao Temple has been destroyed, and no one in the entire temple survived!"

"Who did it?" The tone was still subdued, but it was already like the eve of a volcanic eruption, instilling fear and making people want to run away immediately!

"It is said... to be the White Lotus Venerable of the Great Bright Temple!"

"The White Lotus Venerable?" The Holy Venerable narrowed his eyes. "Just a mere peak Ninth Realm cultivator, when did he become so powerful? No accomplices?"

"I don't know... It's said that the monks at Xiaozhao Temple have captured more than twenty boys born at the age of seven, and they are all now under the control of the White Lotus. Rumor has it that among those boys, at least five have extremely yin and yang destinies!"

A glint flashed in the Holy Venerable's eyes. "An extreme Yin Yin Yang destiny? Good! My Great Black Heaven Star Devouring Scripture technique has just reached a bottleneck. If I can use the blood of a child with an extreme Yang destiny to add sixty years of power, I will definitely be able to break through to the Sixfold Glazed Realm! At that time, I can finally spar with that little thing surnamed Feng! Issue my decree!"

"The disciple is here!"

"Send some men to rescue those boys with extremely Yin and Yang destinies! The White Lotus Venerable is nothing to fear! Also, I need to know who exactly killed Qu Jiacuo! What were those spies there doing? Anyone can deliver a death message! I need the complete, detailed account!"

"Yes!"

The Holy Venerable narrowed his eyes, muttering to himself, "Feng Jiuxiao, did you kill Jiacuo? I have a feeling it's related to you. Did you come to Tibet? Hehe, you better not be heading to Qinghai Lake! Hehehe, you'll never guess, that will be the second Blood Pool of the Demonic Cult!"

Thousands of miles away, Feng Jiuxiao's right eye suddenly twitched!

"Looks like someone's been talking about me! It's most likely the Holy Venerable!"

Yuan Zishan was somewhat incredulous: "You can sense him? He's at the Garan Temple, a thousand miles away!"

Feng Jiuxiao said, "It's not that far! I'm not sure, but I have a feeling it must be him! Because I was just talking about him!"

Yuan Zishan frowned: "So cheesy!"

Feng Jiuxiao laughed and said, "He hates me to death. Even when he misses me, he wants me dead. What's so cheesy about that?"

Thank you for your support and encouragement, 202005028005038787!
The image above is a portrait of the Great Buddha Maitreya of the Great Buddha Sect, generated by AI, and it differs considerably from the artist's vision.