Seeking Truth with a Sword-Chapter 480 - 431 Weapons

Chapter 480: Chapter 431 Weapons
Something was wrong.
Sui Yi’s expression changed dramatically. In her view, Li Ang had entered a state of stillness without warning, and one of Jianquan’s eyes had also become deathly pale.
The Zen Illusion Realm!
Sui Yi realized instantly that Li Ang had been dragged into an illusion. She immediately reached out, pulling his body behind her for protection while swinging her sword in defense.
CLANG—
The Yinghuo Sword firmly blocked the Shadow Demon’s rapidly lashing Thorny Whip, while Sui Yi’s body was enveloped in crisscrossing Sword Qi, wrapping Li Ang in layers of protection.
Jianquan, who was using half of his spirit to maintain the illusion and only had one eye to see normally, glanced faintly at Sui Yi before drifting toward the sky above Xingzhou City.
He allowed the Shadow Demons to keep Sui Yi suppressed while chanting Buddhist sutras, causing all the gathered Xingzhou people to look up at the sky.
"As I have heard: diligently cultivate precepts, concentration, and wisdom; extinguish greed, hatred, and ignorance. From ignorance arise volitional formations, from volitional formations arises consciousness, from consciousness arise name-and-form, from name-and-form arise the six sense bases..."
Jianquan’s voice spread to every corner of the city. One after another, the Xingzhou people widened their eyes as strands of white threads extended from between their brows, drifting towards Jianquan.
These threads were their souls. Once the souls completely left their bodies, even if the reinforcements called by Wei State arrived, it would be too late.
Sui Yi was gripped by intense urgency.
Jianquan, worried that Li Ang would detonate the talismans throughout the city, trapped him in the spiritual world with an illusion. In the real world, he also feared Li Ang’s death would cause the talismans to explode, so he had the Shadow Demons merely maintain pressure without pushing too hard.
Now, Sui Yi faced two choices. The first was to snatch the Mind Threads and detonate them directly, preferring to cause a massacre rather than let Jianquan’s plan succeed.
The result would be heavy casualties among the Xingzhou people. With their bargaining chips gone, she and Li Ang would be killed by an enraged Jianquan, who would then be free to act.
The second option was to wait: wait for reinforcements or for a turning point for Li Ang within the illusion.
The outcome could be stopping Jianquan successfully, meaning she, Li Ang, and the Xingzhou people would survive. Or Jianquan could ultimately succeed, killing the Xingzhou people, while she and Li Ang survived. Or perhaps Li Ang would be chosen as a Human Path Daoist and die prematurely...
Too many options and possibilities.
Sui Yi brandished the Yinghuo Sword, repelling the tide of Shadow Demons that attacked relentlessly. A fierce battle raged in her mind; she clenched her teeth so tightly she almost shattered her pearly whites.
What should I do?
「————」
Within the Illusion Realm, Li Ang soared high into the sky, facing off against Jianquan from afar.
"What are these things?"
Jianquan, who had never seen such a flood of steel, was uncertain. Although he had read publications from the Academic Palace and could barely recognize a few items resembling airplanes or motorcycles, he had never heard of or seen anything like aircraft carriers, submarines, or missile trucks. He couldn’t imagine what these weapons were.
"I am the bone of the sword I wield; this body is forged from the sword. Steel is my flesh, and fire is my blood; a tide of blood like iron, a heart like Glaze Glass."
Li Ang smiled faintly, mimicking Jianquan’s chanting of the Buddha Sutra, and self-assuredly recited, "This is the Infinite Saturation Bombardment Formation."
He waved his hand forcefully. All the airplanes took off in an "elephant walk" formation (jet fighters taxiing in a tightly packed, nose-to-tail line on the runway with minimal spacing), forming a vast shadow that blotted out the sky.
The old fighter planes activated their machine guns and autocannons, unleashing hails of bullets.
The new fighter jets locked onto their respective targets, firing air-to-air and air-to-surface missiles at the Bodhisattvas and Arhats.
The strategic bombers opened their bomb bay doors, dropping a rain of bombs over the Pure Land Buddha Country.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
The tearing of the air and the sound of explosions were deafening.
The peaceful and serene Buddha Country villages were completely erased from the landscape.
Forests, home to Ganoderma and Peach, and inhabited by immortal birds and exotic beasts, alongside Jade Towers storing Buddha Sutras, were scorched to barren wasteland by napalm.
Even the Vajras, Arhats, and Jiedis on the outermost reaches of the Buddha Country, who could not react in time, were shattered by cruise missiles.
The mortal weapons Li Ang had devised lacked any sacred elements; they were created purely for slaughter, designed to destroy other humans with greater efficiency.
The cold, brutal implications contained within were far more evil than those of so-called demons.
Jianquan realized this as well, but he had no time to ponder why Li Ang could conceive of such weapons. Damage to the Buddha Country was akin to an injury to his own spirit.
"Evil Demon, be purged!"
The Bodhisattvas and Arhats roared in unison. Instantly, numerous Buddha’s Instruments and Magic Treasures took to the skies, bearing down with pearlescent and gemlike radiance.
It was a magnificent sight, but...
Beneath Li Ang’s feet, a multitude of tanks and self-propelled guns roared as their cannons fired, launching various shells.
Submarines dove underwater; missile trucks raised their rear launch racks and fired missiles.
Man-made projectiles clashed with Divine Artifacts in the sky. The resulting blazing fireballs were like countless suns, scorching the eyes.
Li Ang casually waved his hand, summoning a pair of sunglasses to his face.
Jianquan’s spiritual power was much stronger than his. Logically, the Gods and Buddhas he imagined should have been stronger than the array of weapons. But Li Ang had a unique advantage: Jianquan, after all, was a monk, a universally recognized high monk. Even if he devoutly believed in the Buddha Sutras, deep down he could not possibly place the Buddha in the real world on equal footing with humans.
Li Ang, however, was different. He knew these weapons were material realities, capable of being produced and manufactured. Indeed, his memory bank from the Otherworld contained sporadic weapon blueprints.
It was this unshakeable confidence that allowed him to contend with the Bodhisattvas and Arhats of the Pure Land Buddha Country with relatively less spiritual power.
"You said before that you’re worried users of technology will forget their original purpose," Li Ang shouted. "This is the pinnacle of human technology!"
Just then, an unassuming strategic bomber, skirting the edges of countless fireballs, sped towards Jianquan at the heart of the Buddha Country.
Witness, codename AN602, the Tsar Bomba.
In the next instant, infinite light and heat blossomed from within the bomber—an absolute, pure white that overshadowed even the background luminance of the Six Paths of Reincarnation Illusion.
Wherever the light and heat reached, everything was annihilated.
Clouds, mountains, Buddhist temples, and mortal weapons alike—all turned to ash.
The shockwave continued unabated, flattening the remaining structures on the ground as if they were rotten wood.
The roaring heatwave melted the parked tanks, armored vehicles, and warships.
A giant, gray-black mushroom cloud, emblematic of death, rose slowly within the Illusion Realm. Around the cloud, numerous spots of black and white light flickered—signs that the Illusion Realm could not withstand the strain and was on the verge of collapse.