Chapter 726: Chapter 725: Settling Accounts, Pranja’s Helplessness

This slap cleared Li Jing’s mind and invigorated his spirits.

Yet, Ye Piaoran saw something more.

Li Jing used a subtle force with his strike.

Not a single person inside or outside Heaven Dragon Temple died, however, most of them were knocked unconscious by the overwhelming power and buried under a pile of rubble. Only a minority, who were sufficiently strong, remained conscious.

However, faced with this sudden attack, no one dared to resist.

Including those whose power actually far exceeded that of the Sacred Emperors, such as elders of the Sixteenth Realm...

Even though their peaceful cultivation ground was turned into powder by Li Jing, forcing them to break their concentrated cultivation, all of them chose to feign death and did not dare show themselves casually.

Even the powerful Heaven Dragon Temple, the strongest Buddhist force in the Upper Three Realms, was made a laughingstock at this moment.

This vividly demonstrated the core essence of the cultivators’ world - only the strong are revered.

The forces represented by the Three God Emperors and Five Sacred Emperors, weren’t they all dominant in the Upper Three Realms?

To analyze the reasons.

The strength of the Three God Emperors and Five Sacred Emperors is only a small part, more importantly, the forces behind them are strong enough.

However, today.

All of this was ruthlessly crushed by Li Jing.

The sect’s Protection Array.

Whether in the Immortal Realm or the Upper Three Realms, it is the foundation of a sect’s standing and also one of the important indicators of a sect’s strength.

Let’s not talk about the small sects for now.

For a sect like Heaven Dragon Temple, once the Protection Array is activated, it should easily withstand a joint attack from the Three God Emperors and the Five Sacred Emperors, this is very basic.

If given enough preparation time to reach full activation, it could even withstand the onslaught of several elders of the Sixteenth Realm for a short time.

Despite the suddenness of the previous attack and the Protection Array of Heaven Dragon Temple had just reacted and was not fully activated, let alone managed by someone.

However, when it encounters an attack exceeding its limit, there is a most basic "safety mechanism" in the Protection Array...

This mechanism would allow the Protection Array to explode with its full force at the moment of collapse, ensuring that at least one strike could be withstood to prevent any damage, and allowing enough time for a counterattack.

However, when Li Jing made his move, he shattered it like a rotten wood.

Even when the Protection Array of Heaven Dragon Temple exploded with its full force during the collapse, it was instantly destroyed, to the extent that visually one could hardly tell that the Protection Array had exploded and resisted, the Heaven Dragon Temple was instantly flattened.

This was enough for everyone in Heaven Dragon Temple to understand that the strength of the enemy was beyond imagination.

Even if all the people in Heaven Dragon Temple were gathered together, they would not have the possibility to resist.

Including the elders of the Heaven Dragon Temple.

Everyone was scared...

Those who were used to dominate the Upper Three Realms, how could they expect that one day Heaven Dragon Temple would encounter such an enemy?

After flattening the Heaven Dragon Temple with one slap, Li Jing was not in a hurry to leave.

To kill, you must have the intent to kill.

If no one in Heaven Dragon Temple comes forward today, he would not leave.

He remembered how back then, if it wasn’t for the intervention of Heavenly Dao who granted her will onto him, he wouldn’t even have the chance to arrive at the Upper Three Realms, and would have dissipated on the spot.

This hatred.

Runs deep.

His growth journey was not smooth, but in terms of danger, the encounter with Heaven Dragon Temple back then was undoubtedly the most dangerous one.

Even when he later faced Cang Tian, it wasn’t as dangerous...

If not for the fact that Heaven Dragon Temple was so weak in the eyes of Li Jing today, and that he was a World Watcher who would disrupt the existing order of the Upper Three Realms, the slap just now would not have simply destroyed Heaven Dragon Temple.

Li Jing was always cautious.

People, he might not kill.

It’s even difficult for him to commit murder.

But today, unless a few leaders from Heaven Dragon Temple came forward to confront him, he wouldn’t leave.

Of course.

During this time, Li Jing had another thought.

To avoid delays in his journey later, he needed to tell the whole Upper Three Realms, the invincible him has arrived.

The Heaven Dragon Temple is not foolish either.

None of their disciples died, and Li Jing was hovering in mid-air and obviously had no plans to leave, they understood they had become someone’s stepping stone to establish power in the Upper Three Realms.

So.

Who is this person?

And why does he have beef with Heaven Dragon Temple?

While the elders of Heaven Dragon Temple hiding behind the scenes had doubts, they assigned the task of "confronting the enemy" to the temple’s spokesperson.

The Saint Amitabha, who was feigning death buried under the rubble of the main hall of Heaven Dragon Temple, was very distressed.

But there was no other way, he had to bravely break out of the rubble and deliberately injure his own internal organs with his inner force.

This move, represents the greatest degree of demonstrating weakness.

Typically, the strong have their own pride.

Bullying the weak is not something a true strong one would do.

Even if they had to do it, it would be done by their subordinates.

If not necessary, the strong one himself would not get involved in such controversial matters.

As the injured weakling, surely they wouldn’t go out of their way to make things difficult for him?

Harboring such thoughts, Prajna rose into the sky, his mouth slightly bloody from his "serious injuries."

Upon meeting Li Jing, Prajna displayed the "temperament" a saint emperor should have and the will to survive when facing an unstoppable enemy. There was no anger on his face due to his sect’s destruction, only respect.

"Prajna, the saint emperor of Tianlong Temple, greets the senior."

As the saying goes,

One never hits a smiling face.

Prajna was like this as soon as they met, normally, there would be no reason to make things difficult for him.

As a saint emperor, he had already put aside his dignity.

As the figurehead of the Tianlong Temple, he even gave up the dignity of the sect and appeared with a humble attitude.

But the situation right now was not so "normal".

Li Jing responded to Prajna’s greeting with a warm smile.

Seeing him smile, Prajna subconsciously followed with a smile of his own.

Then,

Before his stunned eyes, Li Jing transformed into the Fox Demon Empress, who nearly wreaked havoc on the Heaven Dragon Temple in the past with the blessing of the Great Dao.

This abrupt change left Prajna dumbfounded.

Li Jing’s Formless Divine Skill has been fully mastered from the start.

When he first ascended to the Upper Three Realms, no one could see his transformation. The Prajna Monastery didn’t even know he was a human cultivator, they still thought it was a fox demon with a connection to the Will of Heaven that caused the upheaval.

And in fact,

The moment Prajna saw Empress Jiu Li, even though he was completely bewildered, he immediately assumed that the handsome man from before was the fox demon deliberately changing...

As he faced Empress Jiu Li, Prajna’s expression kept changing.

The past humiliation by Li Jing, the Heaven Dragon Temple did not let it go.

If she offended the Heaven Dragon Temple, how could they let her off?

This female demon has a close connection with the Will of Heaven, if they get a hold of her, they might be able to get to the latter.

After the Immortal Realm was annihilated, the Heaven Dragon Temple had sent people to stealthily go to the Immortal Realm to find out about Empress Jiu Li’s whereabouts more than once.

However, they only found various "legends" left by Empress Jiu Li in the Immortal Realm, she seemed to have evaporated from the face of the Earth, with the only connection being Chen Tang City.

The Heaven Dragon Temple has not refrained from attempting to infiltrate and investigate Chen Tang City.

However, no matter how they investigated, they couldn’t even figure out who the city master was...

One has to say,

Li Jing’s presence in Chen Tang City is too weak.

He only identifies himself as the city master if he feels it necessary while he’s out.

Those who truly know he is the city master of Chen Tang City are people who are not ordinary themselves and also aware of his backing, ordinary people simply don’t have the chance to come into contact with them.

Prajna couldn’t fathom,

That one day, the Fox Demon Empress, whom the Heaven Dragon Temple had been painstakingly searching for over two hundred years, would run to the Upper Three Realms...

What he was even more surprised about was,

This female demon, who had barely managed to cause a bit of trouble for the Heaven Dragon Temple with the blessing of the Great Dao in the past, had become so powerful beyond his imagination...

Prajna’s dumbfounded, astonished and skeptical look pleased Li Jing.

"You, you should still recognize me?"

"..."

Prajna.

If he could, he would like to pretend not to know. 𝐟𝚛𝕖𝚎𝕨𝗲𝐛𝚗𝐨𝐯𝐞𝕝.𝐜𝗼𝗺

But he didn’t dare.

The female demon in front of him had a real grudge against Tianlong Temple, and he was the one who had the feud with her.

Face to face at this moment,

With her ability to have eyes and ears everywhere, he was not sure he wouldn’t end up dead...

He swallowed hard, Prajna clasped his hands together, trying to remain calm.

"It has only been over two hundred years, of course I still remember you, sir."

"As long as you remember it, that will be easy,"

Li Jing calmly said,

"Over two hundred years have passed, it’s time for us to settle the accounts from the past."

When faced with such a straightforward statement by someone, Prajna’s lips quivered, and he uttered in a low voice.

"In the past, there was some misunderstanding between Tianlong Temple and sir. It’s only right for Tianlong Temple to compensate you for it. Just tell us what you want, sir. As long as it’s within the capacity of the Tianlong Temple, we will not refuse."

Prajna admitted his defeat very thoroughly.

However, he still had a bit of persistence left in him.

He could show weakness.

But he could not let the reputation of Heaven Dragon Temple be completely lost...

Otherwise, Heaven Dragon Temple would probably have no place in the Upper Three Realms in the future.

Li Jing understood this principle.

He was not a devil, after all.

If Heaven Dragon Temple wanted to write off their past hatred as a misunderstanding, he could show some understanding.

Resting his cheek on his hand as if pondering, Li Jing, transformed into the Fox Demon Empress Jiu Li, smiled charmingly.

"I see your apology is sincere, lacking the wild and tyrannical demeanor of the past. I won’t make things hard for you and Heaven Dragon Temple this time, so no one can accuse me of bullying the weak with my superior cultivation level."

With that, he smiled brilliantly.

"In that case, if Heaven Dragon Temple provides me with a thousand divine objects, all past grievances can be written off."

"..."

Prajna.

"...."

Ye Piaoran, who was just a bystander.

Divine objects.

How rare is that?

A hundred items...

Are you kidding?

In the past two hundred years, Chen Tang City has tried to collect divine-level spiritual objects and materials, but the results have been pitifully slim.

The Immortal Realm is ultimately limited by the environment and produces few divine objects.

But this does not mean that such objects are plentiful in the environment of the Upper Three Realms.

Forces like Heaven Dragon Temple, that control the entire Five Heavy Sky of the Upper Three Realms, barely have the capability to dole out a thousand divine objects at once, but their reserves might be drained in the process.

Divine objects, possessing myriad miraculous effects.

For superpowers like Heaven Dragon Temple, they are tantamount to strategic resources.

If they are depleted, they could quickly become the weakest force under the structure of the Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors of the Upper Three Realms.

Regardless of their combat prowess.

The wealth and resources they control are the most crucial factors in determining their power.

Combat power can be cultivated and won over.

The only essentials in this process are wealth and resources.

If you want to get down to brass tacks...

The disposition of forces in the Upper Three Realms is essentially no different from that of the different nations on Blue Star.

Whoever has money, is powerful.

It’s been this way since ancient times.

Without money, how could you maintain a strong military?

Without money, how could you climb the technology tree and stay at the forefront of the world in terms of military technology?

At this moment, facing Li Jing’s demand, Prajna wanted to curse.

Even someone making exaggerated demands wouldn’t go this far, would they?

But did he dare to refuse?

He.

Was afraid to die.

As one of the Five Sacred Emperors, he had limitless prospects and room for advancement.

Moreover, in reality.

In the past two hundred odd years, Prajna had made breakthrough progress in his cultivation and his power was nearing the level of a God Emperor.

He didn’t want to die just like that...

Grinding his teeth in frustration, Prajna brought his hands together and chanted a Buddhist mantra.

"Amitabha, as the elder has wished."

While speaking, he didn’t hesitate and waved his hand to open an intact array located somewhere expected to be the treasure vault among the ruins of the Heaven Dragon Temple, drawing out one spiritual object or material after another, all giving off a strong spiritual rhyme.

Li Jing no longer needed the Eye of True Vision to evaluate the quality of spiritual objects or materials.

Upon seeing the objects, his perception brought about by his realm would naturally give him feedback, although he was unable to determine the exact effects of the spiritual objects directly.

All those brought out by Prajna were indeed divine objects.

Their quality varied.

The inferior ones were only slightly better than Heavenly Treasures.

The more superior ones were of a standard nearing that of Heavenly Treasures.

Li Jing was quite pleased with his haul.

Even though there are heavenly treasures above the divine objects, getting the Heaven Dragon Temple to produce one would be too much to ask. They might not even have the available heavenly treasures on hand.

He casually collected everything into the Little Universe and instructed Xiao Ai to classify these treasures, checking for any with planting values to sow directly in the Little Universe. Li Jing spoke calmly.

"All sorted. I have settled my personal account with the Heaven Dragon Temple."

Upon hearing this, Prajna’s eyebrows furrowed.

There was nothing wrong with Li Jing’s words.

But his deliberate emphasis on the term "personal"....

A discomforting sense of foreboding arose in Prajna’s heart, prompting him to instinctively cast a glance at Ye Piaoran.

Since he was already close by, he of course noticed that the pivotal figure from the past Immortal Realm battle, the Saintess of Yaochi who reincarnated into another plane space, happened to be traveling with Li Jing.

Ye Piaoran responded to Prajna’s gaze with a blank fluttering look in her beautiful eyes before turning to Li Jing.

Seeing this, Li Jing gave a charming smile.

"Isn’t she quite conscious of the situation? Although I don’t know how Yaochi managed to have you reincarnated on Earth and return at the appropriate time, a large part of it was undoubtedly through the Karma Secret Method of the Heaven Dragon Temple. I will seek justice for you now. Feel free to voice out what you want."

"..."

Ye Piaoran.

She understood.

Although Li Jing’s words were comforting-intending to seek justice for her-

In reality, he wanted her to verbalize it so he could extort the Heaven Dragon Temple again.

This.

Frankly, she didn’t object.

Her reincarnation didn’t immediately take birth on Earth, instead, she wandered in the form of a soul for countless years, until the situation in the Immortal Realm had formed and she was reincarnated on the verge of launching.

During this period, Ye Piaoran’s consciousness experienced boundless solitude, edging nearly towards a breakdown of her conscious mind.

If it weren’t for her insistence on returning to Yaochi, she would have probably gone insane.

This was not something the reincarnated Ye Piaoran personally experienced.

But it can never be denied that-

Ye Piaoran is her, and she is Ye Piaoran.

The moment she awakened and regained her powers as an adult, she was hit by all the loneliness the original Ye Piaoran ever experienced.

That feeling, indescribable.

To say that Ye Piaoran harbored no resentment would be a lie.

Given the current situation, she also saw a need to cooperate with Li Jing.

After briefly considering, Ye Piaoran gently opened her red lips.

"Well then... I’ll take the Karma Secret Method from the Heaven Dragon Temple."

Upon hearing her words, Li Jing remained expressionless but commended Ye Piaoran silently in his heart.

The moment she started speaking, she was proven more relentless than him.

Without much thought, he could guess-

That the Karma Secret Method was the greatest dependency the Heaven Dragon Temple had in standing out among all Buddhism inheritances and becoming the controller of the Five Heavy Sky.

If it fell into other people’s hands, even if Ye Piaoran did not practice the Karma Secret Method or disclosed it, the impact on the Heaven Dragon Temple would still be substantial.

Look, there it is.

The face of Prajna from across changed drastically when Ye Piaoran made her demand.

"Ye, pardon my directness. The Karma Secret Method is the biggest dependency for the Heaven Dragon Temple to establish itself in the Upper Three Realms. I can’t agree to hand it over. As a former disciple of Yaochi, you must also understand the importance of preserving our sect’s secret methods. I kindly beg you not to make things difficult..."

Before his words were finished, Li Jing clicked his tongue and Prajna halted.

Ye Piaoran said nothing; she reached out, took Li Jing’s arm, held it, and silently watched Prajna like a little sister holding onto the Fox Demon Empress.

Under such circumstances, Prajna opened and closed his lips repeatedly, but in the end he sighed deeply and put his palms together.

"Amitabha, all changes in the world are due to causes and effects, and the fruit of today is caused by the seeds I planted in the past."

As he spoke, he pulled out an Simple bamboo slip from thin air.

"This is a copy of the Karma Secret Method, which I shall hand over to Ye today. But first, I hope that Ye can promise me not to divulge the Karma Secret Method..."

As he is halfway through the sentence, Li Jing takes the bamboo slip from Prajna, opens it and takes a glance.

"Don’t worry, our Chen Tang City is prosperous now. With things like the Karma Secret Method that our own people can’t finish studying, we wouldn’t possibly teach it to outside people."

"..."

Prajna.

He knew about the prosperous situation of Chen Tang City.

After all, they claimed their dominance not only in the whole Immortal Realm but also did Corpse Immortal step forward as a pillar of the entertainment industry under Chen Tang City.

As a matter of fact-

Compared to the mysterious Jiu Li who was favored by the Will of Heaven, Chen Tang City had already become a force to be reckoned with in the Upper Three Realms ever since the Corpse Immortal showed his trace.

The power of an original and unique figure was not something anyone could imagine.

The experience of the original Corpse Immortal, Ye Qingyu, was not a secret among some people in the Upper Three Realms.

In the past, some gods of the Western World tried to control Ye Qingyu and it was due to the predecessor of today’s Heaven Dragon Temple which leads Buddhism. After being annihilated single-handedly by an furious Ye Qingyu, the Heaven Dragon Temple emerged.