The Prodigies War

Lin Xun quietly memorized this name that seemed ordinary at this moment.

Ji Xuan couldn't help but lament, “Sword spirits inherit their character as well as sword intent from their owners. From the aura of this one, I judged that he was haughty and vicious in nature, but who would have thought that his temperament is actually as pliable as a leaf…”

Lin Xun also agreed. When he had been under the impact of that horrifying sword intent, what he had felt most profoundly was sheer madness!

However, once Sword Spirit Yezi retracted his intent, he was instead devoid of any trace of lunacy.

Ji Xuan said, “Let's go. We should be able to reach the vicinity of the Gate of Ruination in less than four hours.”

The Gate of Ruination!

Lin Xun's dark eyes narrowed. Without inquiring further, he resumed on the move.

As he traveled, the destructive aura covering Mount Heedless grew increasingly and dangerously thicker as it turned into the very aura of great dao Law Power and took over the atmosphere.

From time to time, horrifying visions could be seen: swarms of devils coming out from the abyss, gods crying blood, the heavens crumbling, all living beings being annihilated, and the great dao collapsing and the world burning to ashes…

Even though Lin Xun knew deep down that they were merely visions and not real, his heart still palpitated.

Surprisingly, however, the seemingly scary journey was free from dangers. He no longer encountered any obstacles or ambushes.

Even those bizarre and frightening ‘ferocious objects’ appeared to have evaporated into nothingness.

“It’s Yezi’s aura that scares those ferocious things away. Speaking of which, Yezi also belongs to that category as he has been tainted by the destructive aura of Mount Heedless. The only difference is that he still retains his consciousness, which keeps a sliver of his spirit from being wiped out.”

Ji Xuan’s explanation enlightened Lin Xun.

Over two hours later, after an uneventful trek of many twists and turns over mountains and hills, all that Lin Xun had seen was a greenless and broken scenery.

“Huh?” He suddenly perceived a figure with his spirit sense who was several dozen thousand feet ahead of him.

It was a naive-looking young monk with meek facial features, who was clad in a wide-sleeved, plain monk's robe. As he walked, a sacred Buddhist aura streamed around him.

Ling Kezi, a disciple of Nanhua Ancient Temple!

Lin Xun instantly recognized him. Back in the Kunlun Dominion, he had found this silly monk very interesting. Whenever the other party saw him, he would act like a frightened rabbit.

Yet, Lin Xun had heard before the Dao Debate Assembly that such a timid monk had emerged on top in the Dao Debate Contest of Demon State!

Demon State could be considered the territory of cultivators on the evil paths. Yet, as a Buddhist cultivator, Ling Kezi had dominated them all and gotten first place!

This was, without a doubt, incredible.

It was only after reading the records that Lin Xun had learned of Ling Kezi’s natural talent ‘Dustless Buddha Heart’ and his Great Dao Field ‘Sangharama Bodhi,’ which had the power to subdue people without a fight.

The word Bodhi originally referred to one’s great awakening to the ability to see through the thoughts and nature of a being, as though they had suddenly woken up one day with an enlightened mind and ascended to a transcendent state.

Having ‘Bodhi’ in its name, Ling Kezi's Great Dao Field was destined to be extraordinary.

As a matter of fact, him being sent to the Dao Debate Assembly as a state’s number one, and that he had been able to stand out in the Mythical Huang Secret Realm competition and become one of the strongest 108 to enter the Ancient Immortal Forbidden Zone, were enough to prove his power!

Lin Xun didn't expect to run into this guy once again in the treacherous Mount Heedless.

“Ahhhh!”

At the same time, Ling Kezi had also noticed Lin Xun not far behind him. He instantly shivered like a leaf, and panic filled his naive face as he wailed out loud and fled with a whoosh.

“How is it that in his eyes, I'm even more terrifying than Mount Heedless?” A speechless Lin Xun directly gave chase.

He wanted to ask what on earth about him that this young monk was so afraid of. The latter had acted like this in the Kunlun Dominion, and now, it was the same in Mount Heedless.

This was suspiciously strange!

After all, there was no grievance or enmity between them.

“Don't chase after me—no, don't kill me—I'll call you grandpa, okay?” Ling Kezi ran wildly like an overly frightened rabbit, constantly yelping as he did.

“You dork!” Lin Xun was angry. “When did I say I wanted to kill you?”

“But I’m… I’m scared!” Ling Kezi looked genuinely aggrieved and frightened.

Seeing the monk panicking to the point he paid no attention to the road, Lin Xun immediately shouted, “I may kill you for real if you keep running!”

Hearing this, Ling Kezi instantly skidded to a stop. Seemingly mustering all of his courage, he turned around with a posture of resignation and the word ‘terrified’ written all over his face.

“If you want to kill me, then make it quick!” said Ling Kezi, directly closing his eyes.

Lin Xun knocked on his shiny head and said, “If I wanted to kill you, would I actually need you to remind me?”

Ling Kezi opened his eyes in a daze, “Then why were you chasing after me?”

Lin Xun face-palmed with a helpless look. “If you hadn’t run, why would I have to chase you?”

Only then did Ling Kezi relax. “I thought that you thought that I leaked your identity and that's why you wanted to kill me to vent your anger, Brother Lin. So that’s actually not the case.”

Lin Xun narrowed his eyes. “So, you saw through it a long time ago that I wasn't Jin Duyi?”

Ling Kezi was startled. “Eh!? So you didn’t know?”

At this point, Lin Xun became even more curious.

After all, he had been walking around with the White Metal Dao Body and the Well-Wishing Dao Robe on the whole time. Back in the Mythical Huang Dao Court, even the crowd of Emperor experts hadn’t been able to see through his identity.

Yet, Ling Kezi had managed to do so!

After some thought, Lin Xun decided, “Let's travel together.”

Ling Kezi was a very peculiar Buddhist cultivator. No matter what intention this fellow had for not divulging his true identity at all after seeing through it, it still gave Lin Xun a very good feeling.

This was also proof that Ling Kezi held no hostility to him.

“Uh, about that…” Ling Kezi’s face scrunched up. “Brother Lin, this is Mount Heedless, a place of great peril. I will definitely become a liability if I follow you around.”

“But why do I have a feeling that in your eyes, I’m even more vicious than this mountain?” asked Lin Xun.

Ling Kezi smiled bitterly. Feeling tangled and apprehensive, it took him a long time to finally utter, “Brother Lin, I know what you want to ask, but I really can't reveal the answer. It's not good for both you and me if I do. Maybe…you could just let me go like a fart, alright?”

Lin Xun was once again utterly speechless. Isn’t this disciple of Nanhua Ancient Temple whose title is ‘Little Western Heaven,’ a supreme Saint-King who won the qualification to enter the Ancient Immortal Forbidden Zone, a little too cowardly in front of me?!

He said, “I'll give you a choice: either you obediently follow me or I'll carry you along. Choose one.”

Ling Kezi's eyes widened. “You call this a choice?”

Lin Xun glared at him. “Are you going or not?”

Under his glare, Ling Kezi shivered and wailed, “Of course I am! How dare I not? I’m scared I’d drop dead otherwise!”

Lin Xun laughed and patted his shoulder. “Very wise choice.”

The two of them then hit the road together.

Along the way, Ling Kezi looked hopeless as if the world had all burned to ashes. This gave Lin Xun the urge multiple times to bonk his shiny head and ask him what exactly was going on in there.

He asked, “Tell me how you managed to see through my identity.”

Ling Kezi put his palms together before his chest. “Buddha says this cannot be told.”

Lin Xun's lips twitched. “Then, another question, why are you so scared whenever you see me?”

Ling Kezi looked down at his own nose. “Buddha says this cannot be told.”

Lin Xun was speechless.

He took a deep breath to resist the urge to punch the monk as he said, “Your natural talent is Dustless Buddha Heart, right? So you must have seen something from me.”

“Buddha says this cannot be told.” Like a dead pig who didn’t fear boiling water, Ling Kezi refused to reveal anything.

Lin Xun stopped walking and glanced sideways at the monk who was facing death unflinchingly. The latter was so scared that goosebumps sprouted high all over his skin, but he just clenched his jaw and sealed his mouth shut.

“Fine. If you don't want to say it, then stay by my side. When you change your mind, I might just consider letting you go.”

Ling Kezi looked as though he was struck by lightning. His eyes went wide open, “Buddha says…”

Lin Xun smiled. “What does Buddha say this time?”

Ling Kezi wanted to cry but there was no tear. Feebly, he said through gritted teeth, “What an upstanding suggestion!”

Lin Xun burst out laughing. He started walking forth again in strides, no longer asking the monk any other questions.

A dejected Ling Kezi followed him with a tangled expression, hesitant to speak time and time again. Lin Xun just pretended like he didn’t notice, his attitude was that of an expert who sat at ease in a small boat despite the storms around.

What surprised Lin Xun was that Ling Kezi, who was so afraid of him, held back from revealing any bit of the profound mystery he had seen.

Apparently, this guy must have seen something from me that must be kept secret… Lin Xun pondered.

Very early on, when he had still been in the Ziyao Empire in the lower world, the old seer of the stargazing platform had secretly divined his fate.

What the old man had gotten was a result shrouded in a fog and could not be glimpsed.

After that, when he had proceeded to divine Lin Xun’s luck, he had seen an appalling vision—The road ahead of Lin Xun was covered in thick fog.

Behind him, the world had collapsed, every being was annihilated, and everything ceased to exist!

Even the old seer was unable to comprehend this.

Now, Ling Kezi had obviously also seen something that made him so afraid and apprehensive of Lin Xun. However, he refused to utter a word about it despite being so intimidated.

Although Lin Xun felt helpless, he could only drop the matter.

Ling Kezi suddenly spoke up, “Brother Lin…”

Lin Xun turned to him. “Yeah?”

Ling Kezi took a deep breath and said, “When the time comes, I will definitely tell you, but you have to promise me something first.”

Lin Xun asked, “What is it?”

Ling Kezi's forehead was drenched in a layer of sweat. He looked incomparably anxious, but in the end, he still bit the bullet and said:

“One day, when you have the power to ascend the highest heights and cross the Ancient Nebula Road, could you…could you also bring me along to the other side of the cosmos…to have a look?”

He stumbled over his words, and once he finished, he looked exhausted as he wiped off the sweat on his forehead. His gaze on Lin Xun, on the other hand, contained endless anticipation.

“Alright, I promise you.” Lin Xun was stunned but still nodded in agreement.

After all, Sword Spirit Yezi had just made a similar request. And if there was really a day when he crossed the starry river to the other side of cosmos, he didn't mind bringing one or two more with him.

However, inwardly, he still found it strange.