"So powerful!"
Gazing at the headless Arhat in front of him, which had been decapitated by a single sword stroke, Su Mu was both astonished and overwhelmed. The Sun Family Ancestor’s sword was too overwhelmingly powerful, so much so that even with his extraordinary comprehension, Su Mu found it difficult to grasp even a fraction of its mystery.
He vaguely sensed that the sword seemed to carry a hint of martial momentum, yet it was far more formidable.
Su Mu was amazed not only by the prowess of the Sun Family Ancestor but also by his reckless temperament. Not to mention the fact that this person had mistaken him for a descendant of the Sun Family and decapitated the phantom head of the founding Arhat from Vajra Temple in a fit of emotion before swiftly relinquishing responsibility.
The vivid image of a quick-tempered, unreasonable, and fiercely loyal yet somewhat rogueish character leapt into view.
"A little monk who hasn’t been fully killed..."
The Sun Family Ancestor’s final words suggested that the sword did not manage to kill the opponent, perhaps because the Sun Family Ancestor never intended to kill in the first place, or perhaps because he was merely a paper tiger, unable to completely eliminate the opponent.
Speculating about what had already occurred was futile; the fish-shaped Jade Pendant had already fallen silent. How to overcome the present predicament was crucial. Su Mu took a deep breath to suppress the unease in his heart.
Everything before him was already a fait accompli, and he could only rely on the borrowed power of the Sun Family Ancestor.
"I apologize for the offense, Master Kongshe. The ancestor has always been hot-tempered, and this is especially so upon awakening for just a few days."
Su Mu cupped his fists and slightly bowed towards the headless Arhat, speaking calmly.
"Splash!"
The lotus pond rippled once more as a perfectly round Arhat head leaped from the pond to rejoin its body, still glowing with Buddhist light. However, the scene was somewhat frightening and comical.
The Arhat was formless, yet Su Mu with his heightened senses felt the earlier anger of Master Kongshe dissipate and could vaguely detect an emotion called dread from him, which made Su Mu secretly breathe a sigh of relief.
As long as the other feared the Sun Family Ancestor’s sword, everything henceforth would be manageable, allowing him to continue ’being the fox assuming the tiger’s might.’
At that moment, Su Mu stood still.
Once the head rejoined the Arhat’s body, an invisible power spread forth, as heavy as a thousand somber mountains. Feeling this power, Su Mu’s eyes flickered and narrowed slightly, a glint of unusual color flashing deep within.
"A little monk who hasn’t been fully killed..."
Su Mu murmured again in his heart, suddenly discerning the deeper meaning in the Sun Family Ancestor’s words. At once, he realized the fiery sword might not have been pure impudence but deliberate.
"Such a Buddhist verse was actually composed by a ’Martial Artist’ outside of the Buddhist Sect..."
"Martial Artist!"
"After King Qin unified the world, he was titled the First Emperor, and at that time, there were many powerful martial arts practitioners. For the enduring reign of the Imperial Dynasty, he ordered the fusion of the Nine Tripods to cast Thirteen Bronze Men, seizing the destiny of heaven and earth, ... from then on, martial arts worldwide declined, and the term ’Martial Artist’ appeared in historical records."
Su Mu’s thoughts whirled, and his conjectures became more resolute. Beyond praising the Buddhist verse, Master Kongshe’s first words were to label him as a ’Martial Artist’ from outside the Buddhist Sect.
The term ’Martial Artist’ was first heard by Su Mu during a confrontation with Yuan Qing, who had taken away the Little Doctor, later explained by the Pharmacist.
The term ’Martial Artist’ might have originally had a different meaning from today. When passed down from Pre-Qin, it was a humble term for martial artists, but if used by other cultivators, it became a derogatory term.
Master Kongshe must have known this clearly.
Su Mu was a Martial Artist, and the Sun Family Ancestor was likewise a Martial Artist.
Realizing this, Su Mu connected and made sense of everything since he entered Vajra Temple, awakening to the truth.
While Su Mu’s mind raced, the Ancient Bell in the Ancient Mountain Lord Temple outside the Relic Tower began to tremble and resound without anyone touching it. The formation was spontaneously activated, streams of power converging toward Cyan Pine Forest.
Soon, the Formless Arhat was fully restored, but Sanskrit continued to writhe at the neck, with the wound healing and tearing repeatedly—the wound left by the sword had not completely vanished.
The Arhat’s Golden Body wavered slightly, a ripple spreading across its formless face, and the voice was no longer cold but carried a touch of kindness.
"The sword of your ancestor truly astonished, earning my old admiration..." With a wave of the Arhat’s hand, ripples spread across the lotus pond. "Since you can enter the tower, you have passed the test I set back then, but..."
From under the lotus pond emerged the shadow of hundreds of ancient scrolls, each turning into a luminescent orb floating above the water.
"What method do you wish to seek this time?"
To seek a method?!
If this scene were to spread, it would certainly shock Zen Jing and the current old monks of Vajra Temple to the core. Over the past hundreds of years, monks carrying the Dharma Seal into the tower struggled to obtain a single method, with the secret methods granted by Master Kongshe out of randomness, lacking any choice.
Yet now things had flipped, with Master Kongshe actively asking Su Mu what method he desired!
Watching the Arhat’s inquiry, a surge of intense emotions welled up in Su Mu’s heart.
"In this world, indeed, might makes right. Without the Sun Family Ancestor’s sword, my return empty-handed would have been fortunate already, much less having this opportunity to choose."
The ancestor’s sword made even an Arhat lower its eyes in admiration!
At this moment, Su Mu’s yearning for power reached an unprecedented peak, the seed for his longing for strength sprouting uncontrollably.
"Junior desires to learn the Vajra Secret Realm Method."
The Formless Arhat’s silhouette nodded slightly, ripples forming in the pond: "The method of the Secret Realm is of ancient transmission. In my youth, during my quest for the method, I only acquired an incomplete version, merely the remnants of the Little Vajra Secret Realm..."