Chapter 298
Chapter 298
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Translator: Ace
Chapter: 0
Chapter Title: Martial Combat in Immortal Bridge Blessed Land
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Every martial combat in past metropolitan examinations had been the grandest spectacle that drew the most attention, and also the liveliest time of the year in Western Capital.
Previous martial combats had always been packed with seas of people everywhere. Crowds craned their necks to watch the duels inside Immortal Bridge Blessed Land, while vendors wove through the throng hawking melon seeds, tea, and assorted snacks. This was also the prime opportunity for men and women of Western Capital to pick their ideal match.
The juren entering Immortal Bridge Blessed Land for the contest were often not very old, many still unmarried—the finest talents selected from across the nation. Snagging one as a golden son-in-law or bringing one home as a husband was nothing short of ancestral blessings.
The Ministry of Rites didn't forbid spectators at all. They even proactively opened Immortal Bridge Blessed Land to allow public viewing, demonstrating fairness.
“Why have the Monastic Registry and Daoist Registry shown up too?”
Eunuch Feng peered from afar and recognized the officials from the Monastic Registry and Daoist Registry. Shocked, he said to Chen Tang,
“This year's grand exam feels off. Someone's definitely pulled strings behind the scenes!”
Chen Tang's face grew somewhat solemn as well. Monks and Daoists could participate in the metropolitan examinations, but their assessments differed from those of the juren. They were tested on Buddhist and Daoist arts, so their exam venues were at the Monastic Registry and Daoist Registry. Including the monastic and Daoist houses in the martial combat grand exam had never happened before!
In the past, each group had always tested separately!
Eunuch Feng couldn't hold back his anger.
“Those Grand Secretariat fellows have meddled after all! They've shifted the lay of the mountains and rivers, drawing the Daoist and Buddhist prodigies straight toward Little Chen!”
He laughed furiously. The ones controlling Immortal Bridge Blessed Land were from the Five Armies Battalion, whose left and right supervisors were the Xia family's twin great generals, Xia Fanghe and Xia Shouying!
“Outright cheating in broad daylight!”
Eunuch Feng slammed his wheelchair in fury.
Chen Tang's expression remained unchanged as he fixed his gaze on Immortal Bridge Blessed Land, searching for Chen Shi's location.
Immortal Bridge Blessed Land was immensely vast, spanning hundreds of li, filled mostly with mountains through which rivers wound. Sun, moon, and stars rose and fell in the sky. Blessed sub-lands dotted the mountains everywhere, with immortal palaces scattered among the peaks like a true wonderland.
Finding a single person in such an expansive realm was next to impossible.
Chen Tang scanned around and saw that many juren inside Immortal Bridge Blessed Land had already clashed, with battles erupting in fierce intensity. In just a few instants, two juren would often settle life or death!
He spotted two juren locked in combat. One cultivated the Minor Five Forms Transport Art, skilled at shifting objects—even a person's viscera. The other cultivated the Shenxiao Demon-Subduing Curse, able to transform into a True Martial True Form. The instant they spotted each other, the Minor Five Forms cultivator unleashed his spell from afar, yanking his opponent's liver right out of the body!
The other juren closed in before a second move could land, his True Martial Demon-Subduing True Form punching through the foe's chest. Yet though he slew his opponent, the loss of his liver doomed him too—he didn't last long before breathing his last.
Chen Tang averted his gaze and searched elsewhere. He saw a sneaky juren in a valley stripping bark from a tree—three feet long and half a foot wide—then using a drop of his pure yang blood to draw a talisman on the trunk.
The distance was too great for Chen Tang to make out the talisman.
Once finished, the juren replaced the bark, making the tree look unchanged. He repeated the process on over a dozen more trees. With that done, he slashed his own leg, lay on the ground wailing in feigned agony, and waited for other juren to take the bait.
Soon, another juren arrived at the sound—not out of kindness to help, but thrilled to pile on and claim a kill for his record.
The trap sprang. The talismans on the trees detonated—this time Chen Tang saw clearly: a Blood Lake Array formed from Blood Lake Talismans that instantly drained the “good Samaritan” into a husk.
“He cultivates the Blood Lake Great Law. A real talent.”
Chen Tang thought to himself.
The Blood Lake Great Law was a supreme art from the stele forest outside the Tomb of the True King—close to the tomb itself, yet a pinnacle demonic path technique long lost to time. Chen Tang had learned it from Scholar Zhu.
“Most likely passed down by Chen Shi.”
He kept searching for traces of Chen Shi.
Battles flared up one after another across Immortal Bridge Blessed Land. Any juren who crossed paths fought immediately without a word. In short order, over a hundred juren had met untimely ends. Chen Tang finally located Chen Shi and couldn't help frowning deeply. Chen Shi was heading straight for the Immortal Bridge.
Immortal Bridge Blessed Land got its name from the “Immortal Bridge”—a real bridge linking the underworld and the mortal world. Beneath it flowed the Dawn-Dusk River, one bank bathed in light, the other shrouded in darkness, dividing the yin and yang realms. Standing atop the Immortal Bridge spanning the Dawn-Dusk River allowed one to take in the sights of both realms at a glance.
This bridge was of utmost importance.
Historically, the third stage of the martial exam—the martial combat—was always held in Immortal Bridge Blessed Land.
The blessed land offered protection to all juren who entered. Its most ingenious feature was its position at the convergence of yin and yang realms, harboring the power of life and death—unfathomable even to ghosts and gods. Any living being that entered, even if slain, would revive thanks to the land's life-death dao energies and not truly die.
Juren killed within would resurrect on the Immortal Bridge inside the blessed land.
That was why, in the martial exam, every juren had to strike to kill without the slightest mercy or hesitation—otherwise, victory would go to another.
Right now, over a hundred dejected juren stood lost on this Immortal Bridge, awaiting Five Armies Battalion soldiers to escort them out of Immortal Bridge Blessed Land.
Along both sides of the bridge sat Ministry of Rites experts serving as proctors, each at a desk with brush and ink, recording who was injured or killed, how the battles unfolded, assigning ratings to determine rankings. Though seated at their desks, their nascent souls floated high in the firmament, patrolling every corner of Immortal Bridge Blessed Land.
Five Armies Battalion experts also controlled the blessed land itself, monitoring everyone's movements to guard against cheating.
Martial combat was the pivotal event among the three martial trials. Talisman soldiers, talisman treasures, magical artifacts—all were strictly forbidden in Immortal Bridge Blessed Land. Regardless of cultivation realm, any dao art could be unleashed without restraint.
“This exam's proceeding normally so far. No funny business.”
One proctor multitasked, pen flying across paper to log performances while chuckling,
“Last grand exam, the martial combat turned into a total fiasco. Those Gong Province bastard juren banded together—dozens forming gangs to swarm lone competitors, sweeping the land like locusts and crushing the aristocratic heirs. Good thing the Grand Secretariat ordered the Five Armies Battalion's experts in to quash it.”
His words drew laughs from the other proctors.
That metropolitan exam session, the Gong Province juren had caused such a uproar that they were all stripped of juren status and blacklisted for life.
“The one before that had shenanigans too. Zhang Ao of the Zhang family and Gao Zhen'gang of the Gao family were the top favorites. Everyone figured they'd claim the yuan that session. But things went sideways during the combat.”
A white-bearded proctor chuckled.
“The two supervisors overseeing Immortal Bridge Blessed Land were the Xia brothers. During the combat, Zhang Ao and Gao Zhen'gang ran into each other early and battered one another to exhaustion, only for the Xia family's Xia Yao'er to swoop in and defeat them both. She became that session's female yuan. Naturally, suspicions arose that the supervisors pulled strings.”
No one dared pursue the topic further, not with Five Armies Battalion soldiers standing guard nearby.
One proctor cleared his throat.
“I heard there was once a martial combat where a juren fought every opponent to a draw.”
“That was Lord Chen Tang of the Ministry of Revenue.”
The white-bearded proctor laughed.
“Afterward, some dubbed him the King of Compromise. Others called him the King of Sandbagging...”
He trailed off midsentence, his laughter dying as he glanced to the side with a puzzled look.
The other proctors stopped laughing too and followed his gaze. They saw a youth who bore some resemblance to Chen Tang shambling dazedly toward them.
“It's Chen Tang's son! Child Prodigy Chen Shi!”
The white-bearded proctor cleared his throat sharply to snap Chen Shi out of it.
“Chen Jieyuan, you're still in the midst of the grand exam—this isn't a place for you! Step onto the Immortal Bridge, and we'll have to send you packing!”
Chen Shi jolted awake and hurriedly took in his surroundings. The land here was divided between underworld and mortal realm: the underworld a grim horror of shadows, the mortal world bright with sunlight.
Peering through the sky, he could see Western Capital, as if floating beyond the heavens.
Looking the other way revealed the underworld, where nascent souls of Void Returning Great Vehicle realm experts sat as if their bodies pierced both realms. Gazing even farther showed a colossal black iron pillar spanning heaven and earth.
A long river separated the two realms, its black-and-yellow waters emitting an eerie glow. The Immortal Bridge spanned it, dozens of zhang long, with defeated juren standing listlessly atop it. Now and then, golden-armored deities descended from the sky, scooping up batches of juren and flying off into the distance.
He hurried to thank the white-bearded proctor, then found a rock by the bridge and sat down. The proctors noted his odd state but said nothing, each harboring their own doubts.
In the distance, a young monk had just bested several juren in a row with impressive skill and was heading toward Chen Shi's position.
The white-bearded proctor's nascent soul surveyed the surroundings and spotted, besides the young monk, a Daoist with a long sword on his back and another with three golden scrolls floating behind his head—both approaching as well.
He frowned and whispered to a younger proctor nearby,
“The Xia family's two supervisors are probably manipulating the blessed land's geography again, funneling experts this way. Their goal must be to wear down Chen Jieyuan and clear the path for others.”
The young proctor lowered his voice.
“Old Zheng, if you've seen through it, why voice it? What if you offend the supervisors...”
The white-bearded proctor's expression hardened, and he fell silent.
Among Buddhism's three holy sites this time, Water Moon Victorious Realm's Fan Kongliu was nowhere to be found, while Bodhi Dojo's Xuan Saintess had lost her dao heart and returned to her dojo without sitting for the exam. Only Great Nation-Protecting Temple's Monk Wuxiang was competing via the Monastic Registry, leading the pack alone. Dressed in a white monastic robe with white-soled black cloth shoes on his feet and empty hands at his sides, he stared straight ahead.
His inner heart gleamed pure as a snowcapped sacred mountain, a halo of buddha light shining behind his head where a blissed-out Western Paradise faintly appeared.
He strode forward, eyes landing on Chen Shi as he silently recited a true mantra, the Great Freedom Wheel King Divine Seal already brewing.
Just then, a familiar voice called from behind him.
“Senior Brother Wuxiang.”
Monk Wuxiang turned to see another young monk of similar age and attire, bald head gleaming like polished metal—none other than Monk Wuchen from under Zen Master Kuzhu. Wuxiang returned the courtesy.
“Wuchen, what brings you here?”
Wuchen smiled.
“This humble monk has come to vie with Senior Brother for the title of Great Nation-Protecting Temple's buddha scion.”
Wuxiang's face remained impassive, betraying no emotion as he stared at him.
“Your master Kuzhu has passed away. The scraps of skill he passed to you have already worked a miracle by keeping you in the running this long. Wuchen, your heart is too mired in worldly gain—you're unfit to be buddha scion.”
He had always held Wuchen in low regard.
Wuchen was a snob, fawning over those from great clans while scorning the lowly—a vulgar monk through and through. Western Capital's elites dismissed him outright, saying he had no buddhist cultivation whatsoever.
Wuchen kept smiling.
“My progress under Uncle-Master has outstripped even what I gained under Master. Senior Brother, I must claim this buddha scion title! Only then can I become a great monk!”
Wuxiang looked puzzled.
“Which uncle-master is instructing you?”
“Zen Master Rumeng!”
At that, Wuchen took a step forward. As he did, his flesh ballooned section by section, transforming in an instant into a zhangliu golden body. This was the Bodhisattva Golden Body, the supreme art of the sacred snow mountain—a flawless physique forged by the Great Freedom Wheel King Divine Seal!
The technique was the one Zen Master Kuzhu had cultivated, derived from the golden bodhisattva enshrined at Great Nation-Protecting Temple. Wuchen unleashed his version with berserk fury, launching straight into a Ruyi Wheel strike. The palm force turned the several-zhang space beneath it into a spinning jade wheel!
Monk Wuxiang activated his own flawless golden body, manifesting a zhangliu frame. The two collided like a pair of golden buddhas right before the Immortal Bridge.
Each clash of their golden bodies unleashed a burst of sanskrit chants, making the great buddhas within their Western Paradise halos appear ever more vivid. The proctors couldn't help but react with awe.
They knew Monk Wuxiang was Great Nation-Protecting Temple's buddha scion and tremendously skilled—the young master had banqueted him multiple times and held his dharma attainments in high esteem. They hadn't expected this obscure Monk Wuchen to match him blow for blow! The pair fought at blinding speed, trading over a dozen exchanges. Suddenly, Monk Wuxiang ate a full Diamond Wheel Seal from Wuchen to land a finger strike dead on Wuchen's Tanzhong acupoint.
He took the hit in turn, his left arm shattering as his face paled. Astonished, he said,
“Your flawless golden body has no flaw at the Tanzhong?”
Wuchen crowed with excitement.
“Senior Brother, the young master told you about that flaw, didn't he? But you never imagined—my uncle-master Zen Master Rumeng has patched it!”
He charged forward at top speed, unleashing a seal amid howling gales!
Monk Wuxiang blocked while crying out in horror.
“Great Nation-Protecting Temple has no Zen Master Rumeng! Wuchen, who the hell is your uncle-master?”
Wuchen seized his other arm and smashed it with a knee-and-elbow combo, snapping it clean off. Then one hand unleashed Great Cloud Wheel while the other Buddha Apex Wheel, slamming into Wuxiang's skull and bursting his brains in a gory spray—he dropped dead on the spot! Wuxiang's corpse dissolved away as a new Monk Wuxiang slowly reformed on the Immortal Bridge.
Wuchen let out a whoop and flipped head over heels in glee.
“This time, it's finally my turn to be the great monk!”
Wuxiang glowered at him darkly but said nothing.
Deeply unwilling, he couldn't fathom it—Wuchen's heart brimmed with desire, far from the emptiness of the four noble truths, so how had he won? At that moment, Five Armies Battalion soldiers arrived to escort him out of Immortal Bridge Blessed Land.
Wuchen's excitement ebbed. He waved at Chen Shi with a grin.
“Benefactor Chen, you owe me a favor now—don't forget to pay it back!”
Shockingly, he didn't strike at Chen Shi. Under the proctors' stunned gazes, he bounded off like a hopping giant mushroom.
No sooner had Monk Wuchen left than a young Daoist sauntered into view, his eyes locking onto Chen Shi—who sat on his rock lost in thought—from afar. The Supreme Haoyuan Palace's Daozi, Daoist Jinlu.
“Senior Brother Jinlu, I hear that Supreme Haoyuan Palace's Flying Immortal Sword Scripture lets one achieve corpse liberation and soar to immortality at its peak.”
Daoist Jinlu halted and turned to see Yulingzi striding this way.
“No idea what step you've reached in the Flying Immortal Sword Scripture, Senior Brother Jinlu?”
Daoist Jinlu glanced at Yulingzi, then at the spaced-out Chen Shi on the rock, feeling pinned from front and back. He immediately turned his blood to sword energy, cloaking his body in sword light and fleeing!
“Don't run!”
Yulingzi gave chase, shouting,
“Let me test if your fingers can withstand my Supreme Truth Jade Art!”
Chen Shi paid them no mind. Moments later, a small Daoist priest with three golden scrolls hovering over his head approached with a smile.
“Senior Brother Jinlu's sword is too swift, and Yulingzi loves snapping fingers—both bad news. I won't vie for the yuan or zhuangyuan. Better to squeeze a soft persimmon. Heavenly Master Mansion's Guo Daozi pays respects to Senior Brother Chen!”
“He's pondering something crucial. He won't pay you any mind.”
A voice drifted from nearby. Guo Daozi looked over and breathed a sigh of relief, chuckling,
“So it's Senior Brother Zhang You. Does that mean Senior Brother Zhang plans to shield Chen Jieyuan?”
Zhang You walked over slowly with a faint smile.
“Not shielding him. I was set up by the Five Armies Battalion's two supervisors and ended up here by mistake. They want Chen Jieyuan and me to wear each other down, paving the way for the young master to take first.”
Guo Daozi laughed.
“Then I've been set up too. I shouldn't have ended up here, but somehow I did. The two supervisors must've tweaked the blessed land's layout to lure us over intentionally.”
He glanced at Chen Shi, then turned to leave with a smile.
“Best not linger in a place of strife.”
Zhang You hesitated a moment before turning away as well.
Suddenly, heaven and earth shuddered. Guo Daozi's face shifted as he looked skyward and murmured,
“Senior Brother Zhang, are the supervisors going that far—not letting us leave?”
Zhang You shook his head.
“They wouldn't dare antagonize the Zhang family just for the young master. Something must've gone wrong with Immortal Bridge Blessed Land.”
Another earth-shaking boom rang out. A white jade drawbridge plunged into Immortal Bridge Blessed Land, its far end bearing a floating female immortal in flowing white robes. The intrusion affected the entire land. Immortal Bridge Blessed Land tilted with deafening creaks, sliding toward the underworld!
Five Armies Battalion's left and right supervisors Xia Fanghe and Xia Shouying each sat bolt upright, faces ashen as they blurted in unison,
“Disaster!”
They'd interfered too heavily with Immortal Bridge Blessed Land, causing it to collide with Perch霞 Temple's Ghost God Domain!
“Five Armies soldiers, heed orders! Rescue every juren you can—save all possible and evacuate the land at once!”
The supervisors' nascent souls descended into the skies above the land, bellowing,
“Ministry of Rites officials! Evacuate immediately—no delays! No lingering! Immortal Bridge Blessed Land is crashing into the underworld!”
Golden-armored deities plummeted from the sky one after another, extending vast hands to scoop up Zhang You, Guo Daozi, and the juren atop the Immortal Bridge before soaring toward the outer heavens.
The white-haired proctor was just about to grab Chen Shi when the sky convulsed violently. Many Five Armies Battalion experts got swept by the white-clothed female immortal's aura and exploded in bursts, perishing on the spot.
“Go—now!”
The proctors took to the air and fled the scene.