Longevity begins with slaying demons and eliminating demons

"I'm fine," Da Qi Imperial Master replied after hearing Xiao Shangyuan's words, "That boy Gu Xu hid the illusion formation in the city defense formation and almost deceived me."

The national master's tone sounded very relaxed, as if the illusion just now did not cause him much trouble.

"National Master, you just stood motionless for two hours, which made me very worried," Xiao Shangyuan frowned, "I'm afraid that there is Gu Ni's trap hidden in that formation, and I want to take this opportunity to do you harm-"

"——Don't worry about me," the national master interrupted him, "Gu Xu is indeed talented in the way of talisman formation, but after all, he is only a sixth-level monk, and several saints and true kings around him are also He knows nothing about the art of talisman and seal script.

"And I am currently the only seventh-level monk in the wilderness who has realized the Tao through talismans.

"His formation may only cause me some trivial trouble at most, but it will never kill me."

As soon as he finished speaking, as if to prove his ability, the national master once again left his body and began to concentrate on studying the defensive formations of the six northwest cities.

This time, he saw the vast sea.

The vast sea stretches to the skyline, like the end of the world. Here, the seawater suddenly falls into the endless abyss, forming a magnificent waterfall.

The Imperial Master couldn't see what the bottom of the abyss looked like, but he could only hear the water rushing down, making a low rumble, like the lamentation of the earth.

In a daze, he seemed to have glimpsed a long time from this waterfall.

He saw the evil ghosts raging in the barbaric era, the first human city in the endless wasteland, the flames of war and the smoke of dynasty changes, the overt and covert struggles in temples and rivers and lakes...

The stars and frost are passing by, the dusk is coming and the morning is coming.

Among the rapidly changing images, his attention was attracted by a picture like this:

He saw an ancient sect standing among the mountains, and fire was raging among the houses and medicinal fields.

The greedy tongues of fire devoured the vicissitudes of stone pillars and wooden structures, and the walls and wooden beams made creaking sounds in the sea of ​​​​fire. Thick smoke billowed, turning the sky into a hazy gray.

A dark-skinned young man stood on the top of the mountain, his resolute eyes illuminated by the firelight.

The Imperial Master felt inexplicably that the young man's face looked familiar, and he looked very similar to a person in his memory, but he couldn't remember who it was for the moment.

He looked at the young man in trance for a long time.

Time passed quickly, and he didn't even notice it.

It wasn't until someone tapped him heavily on the shoulder and shouted "Hey, wake up" that his thoughts returned to the real world.

The person who awakened the Imperial Master was certainly not the eldest prince Xiao Shangyuan.

Xiao Shangyuan dreams of inheriting his father's throne and is determined to be a better king than his father.

He has always maintained a respectful and polite attitude toward saints and powerful men like the Imperial Master, to show that he is a virtuous person.

"Why are you here? Didn't you say before that you just wanted to practice quietly in the mountains instead of participating in this war?" Grand Master Qi turned his head and looked at the bright bald head that suddenly appeared in front of him.

This bald monk, wearing cassocks and holding a Zen staff, had a helpless smile on his face.

It was none other than the powerful saint of Lingshan Temple, Master Jueming.

Not long ago, when Gu Xu had just captured the six northwest cities as his base, the Imperial Master personally went to Lingshan Temple, hoping that Master Jueming could help the Qi court deal with the rebels and put down the rebellion.

But he was rejected by Master Jueming.

The reason is, "This is not a war that Lingshan Temple should participate in."

But now, the old monk appeared on the battlefield and could no longer maintain his previous attitude of staying aloof.

"His Majesty's projection personally came to Lingshan Temple and asked me to come out. Can I not give him face?" Master Jueming sighed softly and explained. Master Jueming used the word "please" in his words.

But the Imperial Master knew that with Emperor Tianxing's vigorous and resolute temper, he would never be able to politely invite the old monk out of the mountain - the most likely scenario is that the emperor pointed the "Tai'a Sword" at the old monk's throat and pulled the old monk out of the mountain. The old monk who wanted to protect himself wisely was forced out of the mountains.

He looked up at the tall city wall in front of him.

It was already dark by this time.

The city wall was bathed in the dark night, like a giant beast lying on the earth.

As the night wind blew by, the flags on the city wall rustled, as if telling the story of the wars, conflicts and vicissitudes of life.

Behind this city wall, there are two true kings, a saint, and Gu Xu whose strength is difficult to judge by common sense.

Confronting these people, it is impossible for the national master to be without pressure.

He was like the mainstay in the chaos. When other saints rebelled against Daqi, he kept his inner loyalty and shouldered the heavy responsibility of protecting his family and country without any regrets.

Until now.

When Master Jueming came to him, he finally breathed a sigh of relief and felt sincerely that someone could finally take some of the pressure off of him.

"Were you trying to crack the city defense formation just now?" After a brief silence, Master Jueming asked straight to the point.

"Yes." The Imperial Master nodded.

"The expression on your face just now seemed like you were possessed by something crazy," Master Jueming continued, "Did that boy Gu Xu do some tricks in the formation?"

"That's right," the Imperial Master replied, "That boy was so scheming that he actually tried to use the secrets of the great road as bait to distract me, causing me to almost have an illusion of enlightenment."

Hearing the words of the Imperial Master, Master Jueming couldn't help but think of the scene a few days ago when Gu Xu and Luo Chuan came to Lingshan Temple together and tried to form an alliance with him——

That day, Gu Xu's eyes were mature and profound, and he looked at the buildings in the temple with a detached attitude.

Luochuan, on the other hand, stood sideways beside Gu Xu like a loyal old servant, looking like he was following Gu Xu's lead.

It is different from the national teacher who serves the country wholeheartedly.

Master Jueming really believed that Gu Xu was the reincarnated Emperor Ziwei.

After all, "Ksitigarbha", the founder of Lingshan Temple, once left a sentence: "Until hell is empty, I will never become a Buddha." This is quite consistent with Gu Xu's statement that "after Emperor Ziwei was defeated, he was imprisoned in the wilderness by Supreme Haotian" .

Because of this, if Emperor Tianxing hadn't come to the door in person with a sword, Master Jueming would not have wanted to participate in this battle and stand on the opposite side of Gu Xu.

For ordinary monks, the secret of the great road is extremely precious——

A perfect understanding of the great road of heaven and earth is enough to make a monk transcend the ordinary and become a saint, and look at the wilderness. Usually, he will not share it with others easily.

But for the reincarnated gods who have mastered many heavenly ways, the secrets of the great avenues may be as worthless as cabbage. They can be used as bait in luxury, just to slow down the progress of the national master's cracking formation.

"Do you want to continue breaking the formation?" Master Jueming asked again.

"of course."

Master Jueming clasped his hands together, closed his eyes, and began to murmur the mantra: "Namo, Heluadhana, Doroye, Namo, Ajuye, Balukadi, Shuoboloye, Bodhisattva Poye..."

During the process of Master Jueming reciting the mantra, the Imperial Master felt that his soul had become as pure and transparent as a mirror, and his will had become as hard and unyielding as steel. The troubles of the world could no longer disturb the inner peace, nor would they. No matter how easy it is to be beguiled by any illusion.

He took a deep breath and once again devoted his mind to cracking the formation.