Monochrome Sovereign [EN]: Chapter 896

“Ho-oh.”

The old monk’s beard was the color of ash from a fire.

The ashen beard was braided into three thick sections, each tipped with a thumb-sized gold ornament. These ornaments were intricately crafted, each bearing the fearsome face of a Buddha, resembling a Yaksha [a type of fierce, nature spirit].

His face was etched with wrinkles, yet his eyes were clear and deep. He appeared to be at least sixty years old, but his gaze held the pure innocence of a child.

“I expected them to assign a considerable force, but I didn’t think the Black Ghosts would fall so quickly.”

The black rosary beads around his neck constantly brushed against his blood-red kasaya [a Buddhist monk’s robe]. The sound of the beads against the silk was like the hiss of a snake.

Over the kasaya, he wore a monastic robe much darker in color. His attire clearly marked him as a monk serving Buddha, yet the color of his clothes and the menacing nature of his ornaments were far from serene.

The strange contrast between his pure eyes and his unsuitable attire made the old monk seem like an extraordinary figure.

And the old monk was gazing into a red bead the size of a child’s head.

“They were just the lowest ranks.”

“Of course, they were.”

The old monk burst into a hearty laugh.

It was a pleasant laugh, as clear as his eyes.

“Even if they were the lowest ranks, they had mastered the teachings of Veda [ancient Hindu scriptures], so I didn’t expect them to perish so quickly.”

“Weren’t they just capable of throwing darts or nets, besides that one thing?”

“The Black Ghosts were originally a group created by drawing on the sorcery of the eastern continent. The venerable masters captured them and taught them directly to better understand their teachings.”

“If that’s the limit of those continentals, there’s nothing more to investigate.”

“That’s another matter.”

The old monk tapped the bead with the object in his hand.

It was a vajra [a ritual weapon symbolizing firmness and spiritual power]. Specifically, it was in the shape of a single-pronged vajra, but it looked like a lavishly decorated dagger.

“It was the continentals who swiftly defeated those who learned that sorcery.”

“Even so, the Martial Alliance must have sent some masters.”

“Even if they were the lowest ranks, they had inherited the teachings of Veda. To capture sixty Black Ghosts so easily while on the move is no easy feat.”

“Even if they learned the Veda Body, they didn’t master even half of it. My Rakshasas [demon-like beings in Hindu and Buddhist mythology] could have wiped them out in an instant, even with just ten of them.”

“Decisively.”

A small red dot appeared in the pupils of the old monk, who had been so pure. It was a red color close to the blood-red of the kasaya he was wearing.

“If that Cheon Hyo-Rak or whatever requested support, there’s a high probability that an absolute master who has reached the Blood Buddha Realm is among them.”

The man who had been standing behind the old monk with his arms crossed flinched.

The Blood Buddha Realm meant a state that transcended everything that heaven had given to humans.

There were quite a few masters in the Western Regions who had reached the Blood Buddha Realm. The monstrous monk before him was also a monster who had reached the Blood Buddha Realm twenty years ago.

But such monsters did not only exist in the Western Regions.

There were a few in Xinjiang, and in the vast plains, deserts, and wastelands of Mongolia. Furthermore, no one knew how many more monsters who had reached the Blood Buddha Realm existed in the Blood God Sect, which had completely taken over this world.

Of course, he himself was a person who had experienced the grace of the Blood Buddha three years ago.

That’s why he couldn’t believe it.

“I still can’t believe that there are so many masters who have reached the Blood Buddha Realm in the land of those ignorant fools.”

“Is that so?”

“They call them the Thirteen Seats of the Holy Heaven, right? That means there are thirteen who have reached the Blood Buddha Realm, but does that make any sense? They’re just fools who learn sorcery from the borderlands.”

“Of course, there aren’t thirteen.”

“I knew it.”

“There are more than that. Those who have reached the Blood Buddha Realm.”

“……?!”

“Among them, there are those who are particularly outstanding, those who have reached the Blood Buddha Realm and have built their own world through further training. They call them the Holy Heavens.”

A look of disbelief flickered in the man’s eyes.

The Blood Buddha Realm was a state where a mere creature born in a human body opened their own nirvana in this world. It was an enlightenment where one felt with their body and qi [life force or energy] that the ground they stood on was not the entirety of the world.

He couldn’t accept that there were so many who had reached such a supreme state. Even he himself had been praised as one of the most talented geniuses in the history of the Great Thunder, and he had barely reached that point in his mid-forties.

“I heard from the Blood Madness side that one of the Holy Heavens was looking for the Evil Sound and got into a fight.”

“Is that so?”

“I heard that he was evenly matched with two masters who had reached the Blood Buddha Realm, so the Evil Sound Lord had to step in himself.”

The man’s eyes wavered.

“What was the result?”

“Of course, it was a complete victory for the Evil Sound Lord. The master was already greatly weakened. Of course, I don’t think the Evil Sound Lord would have lost even if they had fought in perfect condition.”

“Of course not.”

“However, the master’s martial arts were quite unique among the martial arts of the continent, so the Evil Sound Lord was interested in them, or so I heard.”

The man openly showed his displeasure.

“They’re just the sorcery of ignorant fools.”

The old monk smiled.

“Would you like to try it yourself? Those who use the sorcery of those ignorant fools?”

“Me?”

“I told you, there’s a high probability that a master who has reached the Blood Buddha Realm is among those who are escorting Cheon Hyo-Rak.”

“Is that true?”

“Cheon Hyo-Rak went to the Martial Alliance to request support and is returning this way. And the speed is very fast. What could be the reason?”

The man’s eyes narrowed.

“They are confident?”

“It is said that the martial arts of the Divine Forest Lord are comparable to those of the Three Lords. They say that he is not lacking compared to the Divine or Evil Sound, though I have never seen it myself.”

“…….”

“Since such a Divine Forest Lord is imprisoned in the Thunder Prison, wouldn’t they think that there is a master who could harm him?”

It was a valid point.

No, they would definitely have thought so.

The Divine Forest Lord was a being that the continentals called a Demonic Immortal, an absolute master who was among the top three of the Holy Heavens. Of course, they would have sent a master who had reached the Blood Buddha Realm.

‘If they really exist, that is.’

The man, Daeguem Bul, said.

“The leader here is the Blood Serene Divine Monk. If the Divine Monk has made that judgment, then just give the order.”

The old monk, called the Blood Serene Divine Monk, whom people commonly called the Blood Monk, chuckled.

“No matter how I look at it, you should have come to our side. A person born and raised in the Great Thunder speaks like a soldier who lives and dies by orders.”

“Stop talking about that.”

Daeguem Bul showed his displeasure once again.

The Blood Monk shrugged.

“Anyway.”

He turned his gaze back to the bead.

The Blood Monk closed his eyes and muttered something. It was a language that was impossible to understand, similar to but completely different from the language of India.

Woo-oong.

A dark red haze rose from the Blood Monk’s body.

As if casting a spell, the white energy flowing from his muttering mouth mixed with the dark red haze and enveloped the bead.

Daeguem Bul frowned.

‘No matter how I look at it, I can’t get used to this energy.’

The martial arts of the Small Thunder Sound Temple had developed on their own.

But it wasn’t just the martial arts that had developed. The Small Thunder Sound Temple had transformed into a crazy group that was trying to purify the world with a blood-soaked Buddha on their backs.

They would use any method to suppress their opponents. They were not skilled in strategy or tactics, but they also knew how to use strange spells that they had created, the origins of which were unknown.

‘It’s similar to the death energy that emanates from a freshly dead corpse.’

After a while.

Woo-oo-oong!

The bead began to emit a red light.

“Ho-oh.”

The Blood Monk, who had opened his eyes, smiled.

To Daeguem Bul, it was just a bizarre bead emitting a red light, but the Blood Monk was seeing a place hundreds of miles away within that bead.

It was a technique close to the divine power that people often talked about. The Small Thunder Sound Temple was the place that had actually implemented the six supernatural powers that the later generations had created to honor the greatness of the Buddha.

Of course, no one could properly handle all six supernatural powers. Except for the clairvoyance and clairaudience, the rest were just theoretical spells, and even the two spells of clairvoyance and clairaudience could only be used under certain conditions.

The Blood Monk was the one who knew how to use the clairvoyance technique through the bead.

“Amazing. They’ve almost passed through the Shaanxi land.”

Daeguem Bul was startled.

“Already? How long has it been since the Black Ghosts were annihilated?”

“The Black Ghosts were actually annihilated two days ago. It just took time for the wandering souls of the Black Ghosts to reach this place without reaching the cycle of reincarnation.”

Daeguem Bul couldn’t understand what the Blood Monk was talking about at all.

“So, did you see them?”

“Only half.”

“Hmm? What do you mean?”

The Blood Monk frowned.

“It seems they did send a Holy Heaven. I confirmed some of their faces and that they reached the end of the Shaanxi land, but I couldn’t see the rest.”

“What does that have to do with the existence of the Holy Heaven?”

“Those who have reached the Blood Buddha Realm and have the heavenly energy on their bodies cannot be seen. To be precise, they are those who are not affected by the spells of clairvoyance or clairaudience.”

The Blood Monk’s eyes deepened.

“I know one thing. It’s not one person.”

“……Not one person?”

“There are at least two. If it were one, it wouldn’t be so dark.”

Daeguem Bul shook his head.

“I have no idea what you’re talking about, Blood Monk.”

“You don’t need to know. There’s no need to think deeply about it. The important thing is how to deal with these guys.”

“If there really is a master who has reached the Blood Buddha Realm, sending the Black Ghosts is meaningless, isn’t it? Even the elite Black Ghosts would die without being able to do anything.”

“Hmm.”

“And we also have to keep that Cheon Hyo-Rak or whatever alive, don’t we?”

“That’s right.”

The Blood Monk, who had been lost in thought, asked as if throwing a question.

“How many Rakshasas did you bring?”

“One hundred.”

Daeguem Bul’s voice was full of reluctance. It seemed he was displeased with the fact that he had brought a hundred Rakshasas.

The Blood Monk nodded.

“I brought eighteen Red Arhats [enlightened beings in Buddhism]. It was a bit of a struggle to call out my disciples.”

Daeguem Bul’s eyes wavered.

The Red Arhats of the Small Thunder Sound Temple were as famous as the Arhats of the Shaolin Temple were to the continentals.

Moreover, the Blood Monk had called them his disciples. Considering that the Blood Monk was a former elder of the Small Thunder Sound Temple, the Red Arhats he had called were the Arhats of the current abbot’s generation.

Eighteen Red Arhats would be a difficult match even against a hundred Rakshasas.

“Did you come to start a war?”

“If we don’t handle this properly, even if the Three Sects take over the continent, the land we can take will be reduced.”

“…….”

The Blood Monk put the bead into a large pouch.

“We need to call back all the Black Ghosts except for the ones we sent ahead. I was going to wear down their stamina, but it won’t be of much use.”

“Then?”

“It’s not the time to enjoy ourselves slowly. We’ll only raise the enemy’s morale like this.”

The Blood Monk’s eyes, which had been so pure, were gradually stained with a ferocious madness.

“Call them all. We need to strike quickly and eliminate them.”