Seeking Truth with a Sword-Chapter 484 - 435: Heaven and Earth

Chapter 484: Chapter 435: Heaven and Earth
Upon hearing this, Shen Tuyu showed disdain, while Lu Qingya’s expression grew heavy—he and Jianquan had been close friends for many years, their friendship of over thirty years widely known.
"No wonder they say, without madness, there is no enlightenment. Jianquan, that fellow, has enlightened himself and enjoyed it, yet he has dragged the entire Zen community into this mess."
Shen Tuyu spat on the ground. As an Imperial Palace Tributor, firmly standing with Yu Country, he naturally had no fondness for Jianquan, who intended to subvert the common understanding of home and country.
"Alas, Jianquan..." Lu Qingya’s lips twitched, the words ultimately dissolving into a long sigh. "Well, saving people is what’s most important now."
BOOM—
Perhaps from absorbing too many storm clouds, the rapidly spinning Chaotic Wind gradually darkened, a faint rumbling of thunder echoing from within.
Dressed in a large cloak, Lu Qingya flicked his sleeves and soared into the air, chanting a complex and obscure spell.
THUMP!
The earth trembled violently. Centered beneath the Chaotic Wind, the ground of all streets in Xingzhou City uniformly turned to sand, immobilizing the scattering common people of Xingzhou.
Candle Cloud Technique·Miles of Yellow Sand.
This Magic could turn an entire city’s soil and rock into sand. Under Lu Qingya’s exceptionally precise control, it perfectly avoided the buildings along the streets, immobilizing only the common people and preventing any structural collapse.
Even after casting a Candle Cloud Technique, Lu Qingya still had energy to spare. He steadied his breath slightly and once again began to chant a spell.
The sand covering the city streets surged like unpredictable waves, cresting one after another. The common people, immobilized by the sand, screamed in terror. Unable to stand, they could only drift along with the surging sand.
WHOOSH! WHOOSH!
After several undulations, the waves building within the sea of sand finally reached their peak. Three-meter-high sand waves surged along the main thoroughfares of Xingzhou City, washing towards the city’s exterior.
Shen Tuyu’s eyes narrowed. His figure instantly vanished. The longsword in his hand became a blur in mid-air, and with a single strike, he shattered the thick southern city gate.
So fast!
Li Ang only saw a fleeting afterimage before Shen Tuyu stomped the ground again. His body transformed into a Body Sword Light, sweeping through every corner of the city in mere moments, shattering the north, west, and East City gates as well.
Unobstructed, the three-meter-high sand wave easily carried the common people out of the city. It gradually lowered in height, eventually fanning out like an alluvial plain on the flat land beyond the walls.
Only when the sand generated by the [Miles of Yellow Sand] Magic was completely exhausted had all 800,000 Xingzhou people safely reached the area outside the city, without a single trampling casualty.
The only visible impact within Xingzhou City itself was the ground, now scarred with savage, ugly, deep ravines.
"..."
Li Ang looked at the street surfaces, which appeared as if a colossal beast had brutally clawed them up. He gained a new appreciation for the destructive power of a Candle Cloud Realm Magic Master.
Lu Qingya drifted down from the air, his breathing steadying as he recovered his strength, while the other Cultivators in their group took his place.
Some summoned strong winds to disperse the unabsorbed storm clouds still high in the sky. Others destroyed buildings along the street, using Magic to transform the wood, brick and tile of the houses into solid rock, preventing the Chaotic Wind from sweeping them away and causing casualties outside the city. Still others went outside the city, using broadcasting talismans to instruct the people of Xingzhou to follow directions and evacuate the area.
This group of Cultivators clearly had abundant experience in dealing with anomalies. Li Ang and Sui Yi, having expended much of their energy, soon found themselves with nothing to do. They exchanged glances and silently retreated to the perimeter.
"You did very well." Shen Tuyu, arms crossed, nodded at them appreciatively. "If it weren’t for you, who knows how many more would have died tonight."
"We just did what we could and left the rest to fate," Li Ang said with a wry smile, shaking his head. "Did Senior Shen Tu come from Luoyang?"
Shen Tuyu was several years senior to Li Ang’s teacher, Pu Liuxuan, when they studied at the Academic Palace, and they had been quite familiar. Thus, it was perfectly fine for Li Ang to address him as ’Senior Uncle’.
"Yes, I was originally sent by His Majesty to protect you all. I’d been following you for some time. After receiving the Nearby Worm message from Wei State, I rushed over immediately." Shen Tuyu shrugged, a hint of regret in his voice. "Tsk, Jianquan is truly an old fox. Zhao Ming, Shixing Monks... he even fooled me."
As a former Academic Palace Disciple and a current Imperial Palace Tributor, he naturally knew about the Zhao Ming Organization. However, his duty was to protect the Li Yu Royal Family, and Jianquan’s true intentions hadn’t been exposed at the time. So, he had escorted Li Leqing, Qiu Feng, and Yang Yu Liwei to Luoyang, instead of remaining in the city.
Li Ang thought for a moment, then hesitated. "This Chaotic Wind..."
"Once a Chaotic Wind forms, it cannot be completely eliminated. That’s an ironclad rule," Shen Tuyu said earnestly. "What we can do now is secure everything it might sweep away to the ground, thereby reducing its scale. Over time, the Chaotic Wind will gradually diminish to a certain point and then merge back into the fabric of the world."
Sui Yi frowned. "Merge into the fabric of the world?"
"You can think of the Chaotic Wind as a natural phenomenon, like thunderstorms," Shen Tuyu explained. "Thunder is born from clouds and only appears where there are thick storm clouds. The Chaotic Wind is similar; it only appears where there are natural disasters or man-made calamities."
As he spoke, the tornado-like Chaotic Wind gradually subsided. No longer detecting natural or man-made disasters, the Chaotic Wind ceased its violent surging. It continually shrank: its diameter reducing from thirty meters, to twenty, then to ten... Eventually, it turned into a wisp of breeze, drifting away and vanishing.
United with the world, omnipresent. Jianquan, after all, had achieved his goal.
"..."
Li Ang gazed at the now tranquil night sky, silent for a long time.
As the Chaotic Wind dissipated, the fluctuations of spiritual energy that had enveloped Xingzhou City also subsided.
Shen Tuyu took a bamboo tube from his robes, retrieved a crimson Nearby Worm from within, and stepped a short distance away from the others, murmuring something to the creature.
Li Ang faintly caught a few words, such as "pursue," "seal off," and "Zen."
After a moment, Shen Tuyu put the Nearby Worm back into its bamboo cage and rejoined the group.
"His Majesty and the Mountain Master are already aware of the situation in Xingzhou," Shen Tuyu said in a low voice. "Regarding tonight’s events, there is no such heresy as the Six Paths of Reincarnation. It was all the old monk Jianquan, straying onto the Demon Path, who, in his madness and frenzy, committed these unspeakable crimes. All his disciples—including the prominent ones from Tiantai Mountain, the nominal disciples he acquired during his travels, and anyone claiming to be an inheritor of Jianquan’s will—are suspected of having followed Jianquan into demonry. Everything they say is to be considered mad ravings. The nations of the world and Taihao Mountain will unite, cooperate, share information, and dispatch personnel to track them down."