209 Buddha is Merciful
After Ma Moxi and Ju Shoufen had visited the Tang Clan, the Tang Merchant Guild closed their doors. No more items would be registered to the auction after this.
The next day, Tang Deming published the list of all items that would be put in the auction week, making everyone excited.
On the other hand, the Qiang Clan's atmosphere was gloomy. Their clan lord, Qiang Sui, and the city lord, Qiang Han, were bickering in front of their men.
Qiang Sui was in a bad mood as he had failed to finish off Mao Xueyan. He had lost a lot of many good men to her in the ambush. Yet, they had been unable to kill the lord of the forbidden forest.
The clan patriarch's mood had turned sour because news had reached him about the ruined city, Siren City, becoming a hotspot for tourists as mysterious Qi and Essence was leaking from the city interior. The place should have been under their jurisdiction, but someone else had taken over the city under their nose.
Thus, Qiang Sui had blamed everything on Qiang Han. He also had demanded his brother to redeem himself.
In the throne room of Qiang Han, a stout man with gold skin stood in front of his brother.
Qiang Sui was 220cm tall and weighed over 300kg. He seemed fat at glance, but his steel-like muscles were hidden underneath all that flab. His facial outline resembled an ape, but his dreadlock hairstyle made him stand out from his brother, who had a similar face.
While standing face-to-face to each other, Qiang Sui and Qiang Han's gold element Qi collided as the two men didn't hide their killing intent.
"As I said before. You have to mobilize all forces and attack the city! I want that city and that mysterious source of Qi for our clan!"
Qiang Han crossed his arms and spat, "We've already confirmed that several 6th-stage experts are protecting the city! We will not wage war with them because you want that source of Qi!"
"Then, you're a moron! That place will become the center of attention after the auction. If we don't move now, Liu Bian or other sects will claim the city first! If the city falls into hands, your city will be next!"
Qiang Han rolled his eyes, "We can take the city, but how are we going to defend it from the other hyenas!? Liu Bian's army is here! The White Tiger is here, too! Xu Lanying and Zhao Bao are all here! Do you think we can defend that place from all the nascent soul experts!? Unlike you, who only cares about expansion and war, I think of my subordinates and the future of our clan!"
"No, you don't think about the future at all! Had you ever had a speck of the brain I have, you would have never let that upstart brat take the city in the first place! If I were you, I would have killed him when he had shown up in this room!"
"And who do you think I am!? I'm the strongest nascent soul warrior. I'm the god among men! Even Mao Xueyan is no match against me. Do you think I'm afraid of those half-ass nascent soul cultivators from the central plain!?"
Thus, their quarrel continued. Yet, no one dared to interject or stop the bickering.
…
After that day, the Qiang Clan had split into two factions. A small group followed the nascent soul warmonger, Qiang Sui, yet the vast majority of the clan followed the cautious little brother, Qiang Han.
Qiang Han insisted that they would never become an enemy of Cao Mao since the Crown Prince had come to form an alliance with them.
However, without Qiang Han's permission, Qiang Sui mobilized his remaining subordinates. Two core pillar elders and five foundation establishment elites followed Qiang Sui to Siren City.
They reached the city within a few minutes. When they got there, over 10,000 cultivators from Xuan City had already occupied the territory outside the wall, camping and cultivating in earnest.
Qiang Sui got frustrated. He believed that all Qi in the air rightfully belonged to him.
Thus, he bellowed, "ALL OF YOU, GET LOST! THIS CITY BELONGS TO THE QIANG CLAN, AND YOU ALL HAVE NO RIGHT TO BE HERE!"
The crowd booed. Seven 6th-stage cultivators were also unhappy with the sudden proclamation, so they banded together and confronted Qiang Sui.
"This place doesn't belong to you! I know for a fact that it used to be an abandoned village, but the people inside have rebuilt it!"
"That's right. You had abandoned this place for ages. And now that someone has rebuilt it, you dare to claim ownership!? How shameless are you?"
"Qiang Sui, you're a shameless bastard! You didn't do shit for this city. But the moment it prospers, you're showing up acting all high and mighty!? Why don't you get lost instead and let the people inside continue managing it?"
Being reprimanded by weaker cultivators was humiliating. Qiang Sui bellowed in anger, "All of you have three breaths to get the fuck out of this place! If you insist on staying, I'll personally fucking kill you all!"
As Qiang Sui was saying that, he activated his domain power right away.
A golden dome expanded and covered the radius of two kilometers around Qiang Sui. His dark gold skin brightened and shone in yellow light. His followers, whose average height was 185cm tall, transformed into 3-meter giants.
On the other hand, everybody else inside the domain suddenly felt weakened as their height and weight decreased by 10% of the original.
Qiang Sui's domain power was a support type. He strengthened himself and his allies while everybody else in his domain got weakened.
"T-This!?"
The 6th-stage cultivators in front of the city walls were shocked after they noticed that their bodies got smaller.
"TIME'S UP! LET'S SET AN EXAMPLE FOR ALL OTHER FOOLS WHO DARE DEFY ME!! YOU TWO, KILL THOSE SEVEN! THE REST OF YOU, SQUASH THOSE INSECTS!"
Qiang Sui pointed at the gang of strongest cultivators in front of the wall. He sent the two core pillar followers to take care of the seven 6th-stage cultivators. As for the other elites, he ordered them to kill everybody inside the domain.
The two core pillar experts behind Qiang Sui charged at the seven while the five foundation establishment elites scattered and went after the people on the ground. Despite being outnumbered, they were confident about their lord's domain buff.
The crowd was shocked. They stopped cultivating and threw all techniques at Qiang Sui's subordinates.
Arrows, swords, spears, elemental energy, explosive balls, and talismans were thrown to the Qiang clansmen.
TINK!
TINK!
Something illogical occurred. Nothing harmed Qiang Sui's subordinates despite being showered by numerous skills and abilities, including elemental attacks.
"The defensive power of the gold domain is absolute, you fool!"
All of them mastered metal Qi, and their bodies were stronger than steel. Combined with the power of the golden domain, their bodies became invulnerable to physical attacks!
Seeing how badly the situation was, one of the seven 6th-stage cultivators detached from the group. He chased after the five weaker subordinates of Qiang Sui, attempting to detonate their element Qi and help the others.
However, Qiang Sui suddenly appeared before him and sent his golden fists to his face.
BOOM
As if his head was watermelon while the fist was an iron hammer, his head got splattered. Pieces of soft brain scattered everywhere.
BOOM
BOOM
As no one could harm the five elites and the two core pillar experts, a massacre ensued. Aside from the remaining six core pillar cultivators, the rest of the crowd was helpless against the five elites of Qiang Sui.
Realizing how powerful the Qiang Clan's patriarch and his goons were, the crowd dispersed and fled the area. Even the remaining 6th-stage cultivators flew away, leaving the domain of Qiang Sui and regaining their height and weight.
Qiang Sui and his company didn't pursue. They laughed and sneered at the runaway weaklings.
Now that the pesky insects were out of the way, Qiang Sui turned his attention to Siren City and its hidden arrays. His men also returned to his side, levitating behind their lord.
Currently, a layer of dark arrays covered the entire city. No one, including Qiang Sui, could see the city interior behind the walls. They couldn't even sense the life signatures of the local people.
"PEOPLE OF SIREN CITY, SURRENDER AT ONCE! IF YOU DISABLE THE ARRAYS AND LET US IN, WE PROMISE THAT WE WON'T KILL ANYONE!"
Qiang Sui tested the water. He intentionally promised the people in the city to spare them. Nevertheless, he had never intended to keep that promise. As soon as he was allowed in, he planned to kill everyone regardless if they would surrender or not.
The men waited for five minutes. Yet, no one in the city responded to his threat.
"Forget it. Attack!"
Qiang Sui pointed his finger. The seven men behind him launched their attacks on the dark dome around the city right away.
But as the men approached the black dome, Qiang Sui sensed the collision between his golden domain and someone else's domain power from inside the city.
There was not only one domain power, but two! Moreover, they worked together to push his gold domain back!
Sensing the bad omen, Qiang Sui bellowed, "RETREAT!! GET AWAY FROM THE BLACK DOME!"
However, it was too late. A transparent dome and a bright dome expanded and pushed back Qiang Sui's golden domain.
The two domains devoured the golden domain's territory. Soon, all Qiang Sui's subordinates had entered the unknown domain dome. Their bodies reverted back to their original form as Qiang Sui's buff couldn't reach them.
Before the men could react, a hundred spears manifested around the five foundation establishment elites. The weapons impaled them while they were still shocked by the sudden change.
All five foundation establishment experts died on the spot! None of them were aware that they had entered Ma Ping's domain.
The two other core pillar experts broke into a cold sweat. They turned tail and flew back to Qiang Sui.
But an eye of light appeared in the sky within the bright domain. It had the same appearance as the Eye of Heaven's Will, but its gaze was without a speck of killing intent.
Yet, two invisible hands squashed them as if they were merely some mosquitoes. The two core pillar experts didn't even know what hit them.
Qiang Sui widened his eyes in astonishment. He could also hear the voice of an old man.
"Amitabha. Buddha is kind, benevolent, and merciful. If you leave us alone, we shall forget what has happened today."
It was the voice of Zhao Bao, the first elder from the Huangjin Sect.
Meanwhile, the spears dragged the five corpses of Qiang Sui's subordinates into the black dome. For a brief moment, Qiang Sui could sense someone using blood element Qi from the inside. It also revealed the cultivation of the user.
'Two nascent soul cowards and one foundation establishment motherfucker! Goddammit! Hadn't my men died in the fight against that bitch, we would have had enough forces to kill these assholes!'
Even in crisis, Qiang Sui never blamed himself for his mistakes. He still believed that somebody else was at fault for this failure.
"WHO ARE YOU!? IF YOU HAVE THE GUTS, SHOW YOURSELF! STOP HIDING BEHIND THE ARRAY SHIELDS AND COME OUT!!"
The bright eye on the sky squinted. Zhao Bao reminded Qiang Sui again.
"Amitabha. Buddha is kind and merciful. If you leave us alone, we shall forget what has happened today."
"Buddha!? The demon god? Ha! You must be one of those demon worshipers from the Huangjin Sect! Now, I know where you've come from. I'll destroy your sect and hunt down your friends. Then, I'll kill your parents, enslave your children, rape your wives, and kill the dogs, too! You'll regret messing with the great me, Qiang Sui!"
"Amitabha. Buddha is merciful..."
Suddenly, the light domain expanded and devoured Qiang Sui's golden domain. Within a second, the Qiang patriarch ended up inside the attack range of the monk.
Furthermore, a humongous avatar of the Golden Buddha Statue materialized. Its right open palm was also underneath Qiang Sui, becoming a platform for the latter to stand.
Gravity suddenly pulled Qiang Sui to the palm. He could no longer fly or move!
Zhao Bao's consciousness merged with his avatar. The giant statue opened its bright eyes and gazed at the small being.
Zhao Bao's voice and the archaic voice of the Buddha Statue merged as one, "Buddha is merciful, but he can only forgive you thrice. This is the third warning. Leave."
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