The Prodigies War

Those billions of streaks were all the old monk’s silhouettes, blotting the space as they fled in all directions. It was impossible to tell which one was the real Dukong.

Almost no one present had expected that the old monk still had the power to struggle after being tightly suppressed on the ground like that.

However, the farmer had.

“Isn’t this the Myriad Apparition Art passed down by Earth Treasury Buddha? But you seem to have only scratched its surface, Fellow Daoist.”

Saying that, the farmer tilted his head up.

Rustle~

The countless towering trees in the void swayed their branches. From each leaf that was the size of a star, dazzling dao light streamed out.

For a moment, the whole world seemed to be submerged in this radiance.

Under its coverage, the billions of shadows of Dukong were like locusts being roasted by fire, incinerated to nothingness batch by batch.

“Do you really have to kill me at all cost?!” resounded Old Monk Dukong’s shocked and furious voice. One could hear the anxiety in it.

“Yes,” answered the farmer simply and honestly.

Boom!

Every corner of space was filled with tumbling dao light. Each ancient tree was like a great dao tree in the legend as they diffused an infinite, sacred power.

In just a few breaths, the billions of Dukong shadows were wiped off from this region!

He’s dead?

Many people swallowed hard with shock written all over their faces.

That was an Emperor! Yet that farmer looked like he needed no effort to kill him at all!

“Not dead yet,” said the farmer.

Under the puzzled gazes of the crowd, he suddenly reached out his hand and grabbed at the air.

In the distance, Wuming as well as over a dozen Earth Treasury Realm disciples all turned into ashes on the spot before they could even tell what was going on.

“You are cruel!” Dukong’s angry and unwilling scream suddenly echoed in the void before coming to an abrupt end.

Only then did the farmer explain, “I’m not as cruel as this old monk. Those Earth Treasury disciples were actually already killed by him, and he then used a secret art to take over their bodies. So, what I killed were only his incarnations.”

The crowd was astonished.

They had thought that Dukong had only used the Myriad Apparition Art to escape. Who dared to imagine that he had noiselessly killed Wuming’s group and occupied their shells as well?

This was simply horrifying!

“Granny, are all the people of Earth Treasury Realm this merciless…?” The hemp-clothed youth was greatly taken aback.

“It’s one of the Three Dark Giants, so the way their members act are naturally different from normal cultivators,” replied the old woman heavily.

What had shocked her even more was the farmer’s strength.

He had defeated Dukong with just three punches, and then he destroyed the latter’s billions of incarnations in a crushing manner.

An Emperor had been put to death without being able to put up a decent struggle!

This sent chills through every inch of her. Just where exactly does this farmer come from?

Why have I never heard of such an extraordinary existence on the Ancient Nebula Road before?

The field was dead quiet, and the atmosphere was oppressive.

The farmer stood in front of Lin Xun as he turned to the cloth-robed old man.

Before he could open his mouth, the latter had taken a deep breath, bowed his head, cupped his fist, and said, “I am Jintian Hong, a humble disciple of the Imperial Jintian Clan’s sixteenth generation. I concede that your attainments on the path of dao are unfathomable and far superior to mine, Fellow Daoist. I hope that you can show this old man some mercy.”

His voice was taut with bitterness.

So what if he was an Emperor?

In front of absolute power, he still had no choice but to bow down!

At this moment, Jintian Xuanyue couldn’t be more pale.

Outstanding and talented, she was the most dazzling heaven pride of the Imperial Jintian Clan’s younger generation. However, she had been quickly suppressed by Lin Xun in a fight.

Furthermore, the mighty old ancestor who she had revered, a Sword Emperor whose name could shake the Ancient Nebula Road, was also forced by the situation to bow his head and bend his spine!

This series of blows had pushed her to the brink of collapse.

Her self-regard, her conceit, and the identity that she took pride in had all crumbled at this moment.

Even the old woman lost her composure when she saw the cloth-robed old man bow down, and her heart flooded with emotions.

The Emperor Stage was looked up to by countless people, having the power to shake heavens.

However, who else knew that Emperors would also feel afraid, surrender, and could also die?

Just like now, after having witnessed Old Monk Dukong being executed, Sword Emperor Brave Gale bowed his head!

“In addition to not telling lies, I also love taking things seriously and pursuing matters to the end,” said the farmer, his voice as dull as ever. “If I’ve deemed you to be in the wrong, then even if you kneel and kowtow, I still won’t let you off.”

The cloth-robed old man’s heart sank.

The farmer continued, “You said that the Jintian Clan’s face couldn’t be lost, thus my junior brother had to be imprisoned for ten thousand years. Then let me ask you this. If I, as his senior brother, wouldn’t help him get back at you for this humiliation, then where can I put my face?”

Junior Brother!

The way he addressed Lin Xun was like a sky-breaking stone!

The cloth-robed old man was shaken to the core as he found this difficult to believe. How could an ant have such a terrifying Emperor expert as his senior brother?

The old woman and the youth shared a glance and both saw the shock in the other’s eyes.

They had assumed that the farmer was Lin Xun’s elder in his sect, but who could have imagined that they were actually fellow disciples?!

Grand Elder Liang Chuan of Heavenly Sound Pavilion, who had been staying a far distance away where no one would notice him, was directly stupefied.

Everything that he had seen today was just like a nightmare!

How did a member of the Yu Clan become the junior brother of an Emperor?

If he had known this, then his Heavenly Sound Pavilion would have built Yu Xuan a shrine and worshiped him like an ancestor long ago, not daring to show the slightest bit of negligence!

It was also now that Liang Chuan understood why Yu Xuan dared to kill those experts of Primordial Dao Court without scruples.

Look at that senior brother of his who had killed an Emperor without blinking. Having such a senior brother in place, what wouldn’t he dare to do?

“No wonder, no wonder…” muttered Liang Chuan with quivering lips, his mind in a trance.

Only Lin Xun smiled.

Sure enough, it was one of his senior brothers. No wonder Xi hadn’t shown herself.

“I am willing to pay a heavy price for this.” The cloth-robed old man’s voice grew more and more bitter, and his head hung low.

The farmer only said, “I’ll ask you again, if my junior brother is an ant, then what am I?”

Previously, the cloth-robed old man had kept saying this ant this and ant that while full of lofty disdain, viewing Lin Xun as a sheep to be slaughtered at any time.

Unfortunately, at this moment, faced with the farmer’s question, he looked bleak and speechless. How could he even explain this?

The farmer continued, “In the fight with the other youngsters, my junior brother showed mercy and didn’t kill anyone. Yet you, an Emperor, personally stepped in for the sake of your so-called face of the clan. You don’t think that’s being too much of a bully?”

The cloth-robed old man stiffened, only his lips kept opening and closing. In the end, he had nothing to refute and could only let out a sigh.

The farmer said, “Those with high cultivation can just treat people like ants and rob from them, and those who come from a noble background can just look down on others and trample on them at will.”

He then thought for a moment and resumed, “This is indeed something that has been happening every day for eons, and the world seems accustomed to it.”

His face then became unprecedentedly solemn. “But that is wrong in my view. I see all beings as they are equal, with no division in strength or status. Only then can I understand the will and thoughts of all beings and maintain a heart of reverence for them!”

Hearing this, Lin Xun was stunned.

Looking at all beings with no division in strength or status!

This must be Senior Brother’s noble aspiration for his great dao, right?

“For a farmer to be able to speak these words, could this be the reason why he can have such attainments in the Emperor Stage?” pondered the old woman.

The Emperor Stage was esoteric as it was all about cultivating the mindset. One’s achievements in this stage were inextricably linked to the beliefs they held.

The farmer appeared unpretentious and modest, but his mindset and power were nothing but awe-inspiring!

The cloth-robed old man pursed his lips and said nothing.

He had already accepted his fate and was only waiting for the final judgment.

The farmer sighed softly, “You all don’t like to reason, and you also don’t want to listen to people reasoning, but reason…is the logic of the great dao[1]! If you are unreasonable, then why do you even want to seek the dao?”

Lin Xun’s heart trembled. Reason is the logic of the great dao?

This exposition of the great dao hit him with an epiphany.

He couldn’t help but ask, “Senior Brother, what is the grandest reason?”

The farmer smiled and raised his fist, “I thought hard on this for many many years, and in the end, I realized that it is right here.”

Lin Xun was dumbfounded. “Your fist?”

“Yes, whoever has the stronger fist holds more weight when they speak.” From the farmer’s earnest expression, he clearly wasn’t joking. “Regardless of whether it’s a war in seeking the great dao or one between different heritages, a real fight is ultimately inevitable. And in a fight, whoever is stronger, wins. Once you win a war of heritages, your reason becomes the reason that everyone in the world will follow.”

Lin Xun said, “If so, Senior Brother, then why do you still need to reason with people?”

The farmer shook his head. “When you meet someone you can reason with, you won’t need to use your fists. Your fists are to deal with unreasonable people, just like that old monk, who just jumped straight to a fight. That’s why I had to use my fists to strike some sense into him.”

Lin Xun looked at the cloth-robed old man and asked, “How do you plan to reason with him?”

The farmer asked back, “What do you think, Junior Brother?”

All eyes immediately fell on Lin Xun. The cloth-robed old man and Jintian Xuanyue couldn’t help but become nervous.

Even the old woman and the youth in the courtyard were curious as to what kind of answer Lin Xun would give.

They all knew that the words that would come out from his mouth next would impact the fate of the old Emperor!

However, Lin Xun said without thinking, “How about imprisoning him for ten thousand years?”

The cloth-robed old man’s face faltered, but in fact, he was slightly relieved in his heart.

Ten thousand years?

To an Emperor, this still couldn’t cause a serious setback.

The farmer, however, shook his head and criticized Lin Xun, “Why are you even more honest than me, Junior Brother? Honest people are most easily taken advantage of.”

Lin Xun was so flabbergasted that the corners of his lips twitched. He finally got a taste of being rendered speechless by the words of an honest man.

The farmer sternly continued, “He’s different from you. The Emperor path is not bound to time, so it doesn’t affect him how long he is imprisoned. In your case, however, what is most important to you right now is time.”

He concluded his lecture, “Therefore, his punishment for you is too heavy, while your punishment for him is too light, which is unfair.”

Lin Xun’s first impression of this senior brother was that he was quiet and taciturn by nature. Who would have thought that when it came to reasoning, he could be so serious and loquacious?

However, Lin Xun wasn’t one bit displeased by this kind of personality and conduct. On the contrary, he felt indescribably comforted and supported.

Although the farmer was no gentleman, he treated his own junior brother exactly like how a gentleman of noble character would!

1. ‘Reason’ in Chinese is 道理. 道 is ‘dao’ and 理 means ‘logic’ ☜