Chapter 105: Chapter 78: Watching the Tide Rise and Fall, the Peacock Mother Buddha
But in the next moment, the wounds on her body spat out the arrows, and the "wounds" instantly healed.
Such an abnormal scene, combined with continuous setbacks and an entirely unfamiliar enemy, pushed this elite force to the brink of collapse.
"Retreat!"
"Retreat!"
"Retreat!"
The leader of the hundred-man squad shouted with eyes about to burst.
No sooner said than done, he spurred his horse and darted away.
Whoosh~~
Both man and horse shot out like an arrow.
The hundred-man commander no longer glanced back; today’s events had completely exceeded his imagination, and continuing forward was absolutely not advisable. Bringing the information back was the urgent task at hand.
He frantically spurred his horse, fleeing.
Yet, a strange feeling soon arose within this commander.
Not long afterward, the strange feeling found its answer.
The commander felt that he had fled several miles, yet upon looking up, he still saw the same scenery: fragrant mist, the head-exchanging Grand Buddha, and the black-hooded nun.
For a moment, he was bewildered, unsure whether he had been caught up with, or if... he had never really escaped at all?
But how could that be possible?
He had clearly fled several miles!
Miles, indeed!
At this moment, the Grand Buddha leaned forward and reached out a hand towards the commander’s head.
The commander completely broke down, turning his horse around and drawing his sword to spur the horse.
The horse, in pain, dashed forward wildly.
Yet, the Demon Buddha’s hand slowly yet steadily landed on his head, twisting it off, and then slowly putting it on its own decapitated neck.
At this moment, not only the commander, but other cavalrymen were also fleeing madly.
No matter how they ran, they could not escape the area covered by the spreading fragrant mist.
Like monkeys jumping in the Buddha’s palm, they ran tens of thousands of miles, yet remained in the same place.
The Demon Buddha took heads, the nun killed.
The elite cavalry of Great Yin became mere fish on the chopping block, utterly at their mercy.
The scene was incredibly chaotic and bloody.
Yet...
The incense scattered on the rainy ground was already mostly burnt out.
As the incense decreased, the entire area of fragrant mist also thinned and shrank...
...
...
Cyan Wood Province, examination hall.
Li Xuan slowly put down his pen.
He pressed down the slightly raised corner of the paper with both hands, then looked up.
The blood rain had stopped, and the fierce wind had calmed.
The thick dark clouds dispersed, with sunlight piercing through, forming beams of light, one of which fell upon the fresh ink on his paper.
He stared at the ink characters floating in the golden light, then glanced at the surrounding students still immersed in answering, before withdrawing his gaze.
No one would deliberately target ordinary students.
Even amidst terrifying whirlpools, ordinary students wouldn’t be at the center; at most... they would be affected.
And being affected, he was quite capable of handling, and could even gain clarity on the situation.
As long as the State City wasn’t destroyed, as long as he didn’t blindly rush about, he, just an ordinary student, wouldn’t face any danger.
Li Xuan saw there was still time and carefully reviewed his paper again.
Flawless.
His high spirit attribute allowed him to utterly surpass his peers.
Li Xuan began to ponder his future path.
Seeking demons?
In a world where even staying put might lead to instant death, actively seeking demons was tantamount to courting death.
Searching for cultivation techniques?
Great Yin’s grandmaster cultivation techniques were likely hidden within the Prime Minister’s Residence.
Though the Prime Minister’s Residence had lapses, it was certainly under surveillance.
Anyone attempting to search for grandmaster cultivation techniques would likely fall under the Prime Minister’s watchful eye, with predictable outcomes.
In an era of centralization, once those in power discovered a "path to strength," resources would naturally be gathered and controlled by a few forces.
Trying to obtain these resources on one’s own would be as challenging as "searching for a country’s core technology through various means" in the previous life; not only would it be unfruitful, but it was highly likely to lead to interrogation.
’How long have the demons been around?’
Li Xuan couldn’t help but ask himself.
But he had no answer.
Yet, he didn’t believe that "the era of demon chaos started when he encountered the Mist Leopard."
Long before, various places had quietly circulated rumors about demons, only... these bits of information were forcibly suppressed by local governments. Outwardly, the wise claimed that "the Monarch saw demons as an ominous sign, and officials, fearing for their positions, dared not report them." But was that really the truth?
Li Xuan felt it wasn’t entirely so.
Someone was intentionally hiding it, fearing large-scale chaos and unrest.
Now... it’s become impossible to hide! Hence the loosening of tongues.
This is evident from the disappearance of the eldest of the Zhou family — Zhou Xunhu.
Two years ago, Zhou Xunhu was already a Triple Cultivator martial artist, and he went to Yunmeng Province to address a demon incident, yet in such an event... he vanished.
What does this indicate?
This indicates demons had appeared long ago, just that he was fortunate that no demons appeared much in his area.
No!
That’s not right!
The "mutated monster monkey" had indeed been around for a while. There were records of an "Adjacent County Flower Thief" in the archives of the County Captain of Xiongshan County, yet those cases were so scattered that they went unnoticed.
And that’s just the situation within one dynasty of Great Yin. According to Liu Baiqing, the continent where Great Yin was located is called the Starry Continent.
What’s the status of other dynasties?
As the information gathered increases, Li Xuan’s deductions also grow.
Though it’s only autumn, a piercing cold suddenly swept in from all directions. The sunlight appeared ghastly white, instilling a sense of helplessness and suffocation, as if being in deep sea.
...
Time passed...
When night fell, the provincial examination ended.
