Master is Also Running Away from Marriage Today (Transmigration) - Chapter 62

Across the vast lotus pond stood a winding complex of pavilions and towers that disappeared into the mountains. Unlike the dignified and imposing facade of the counterfeit Bodhi Crossing, the structures within the true Bodhi Crossing were bizarrely constructed. Houses were densely packed along the mountainside, piled so closely together that they evoked an instinctive discomfort. At first glance, they resembled a massive tumor growing out of the mountain.

At the very top of this tumorous mass, a giant stone lotus flower was carved, its petals radiating an eerie mist that seeped faintly from its stamen.

No wonder the counterfeit Bodhi Crossing had been saturated with the scent of lotus, the fragrance originated from here.

At that moment, nearly a hundred figures stood atop the buildings.

Yan Qi swept his spiritual sense across the surroundings and confirmed that the rumors were not mistaken. The number of disciples in Bodhi Crossing was indeed extremely small, but their cultivation levels were unparalleled in the immortal realm. With just a cursory glance, Yan Qi could tell that even the weakest among them had reached the Golden Core stage.

The demonic cultivators, observing the scant number of Bodhi Crossing disciples, recalled the rumors they had heard and sneered, whispering among themselves.

Though demonic cultivators were hardly righteous figures. Their hands stained with blood—they at least openly admitted to being villains. Unlike Bodhi Crossing, which paraded as a benevolent and compassionate orthodox sect while luring innocent disciples into its ranks, only to secretly commit countless atrocities. Truly, they were hypocrites of the highest order…

The disciples of Bodhi Crossing, clad in gray monastic robes, stood with palms pressed together before their chests, their expressions indifferent as if deaf to the murmurs. They exuded the solemn demeanor of revered monks.

At the forefront stood an elderly man draped in yellow kasaya robes, his face deeply lined, his eyes sharp and unfathomable. Yan Qi found himself momentarily unable to gauge the man’s cultivation level.

This must be the Patriarch of Bodhi Crossing, the Bodhi Ancestor.

After all, it was said that Bodhi Crossing had a tradition of succession. Only the Patriarch could wear the yellow kasaya, and the title of “Bodhi Ancestor” was not tied to a single individual. When the previous Ancestor passed away, the succeeding leader would inherit the title.

“Esteemed guests have traveled far, mustering such a grand force to defile our sect’s reputation. Pray tell, what is your purpose?” The Bodhi Ancestor rose into the air, his demeanor still dignified, even wearing a faint smile. Yet, true to the hypocritical nature of Bodhi Crossing, while his outward appearance remained righteous, his body suddenly expanded many times over. An invisible, crushing pressure descended like a massive boulder, dark and suffocating.

Only when the Bodhi Ancestor spoke did Mu Ling recognize him as the source of that earlier, insidious voice that had twisted minds with its mocking tone.

There was no denying the Bodhi Ancestor’s formidable cultivation. The moment he spoke, the whispers ceased instantly. Mu Ling’s chest tightened, an almost instinctive urge to kneel surging within her.

Yan Qi pressed his lips together, his fingers twitching slightly as a cool breeze swept past, allowing Mu Ling to breathe again.

Glancing around, Mu Ling noticed that aside from herself and Yan Qi, all the demonic cultivators nearby wore strained expressions.

This was an incredibly powerful opponent!

Could Yan Qi handle him?

Mu Ling’s heart tensed with vigilance as she gazed worriedly at Yan Qi, who stood at the forefront of their group.

When Mu Ling shook her head and looked around like a little hamster, a warmth flickered in Yan Qi’s eyes. But as her gaze shifted to the Patriarch Bodhi across from her, a cold sternness swiftly flashed through them.

Drawing the ancient sword at her waist, its blade intent surged with spiritual pressure, sweeping through the air like a storm. It tore through the lake, raising a hundred-foot wave of blood and shattering the oppressive aura of Patriarch Bodhi. Almost instantly, Yan Qi leaped into the air, the second sword’s energy already at the patriarch’s side.

Patriarch Bodhi’s enlarged form nearly blotted out half the sky, yet his movements were astonishingly nimble. Seeing the attack, he swiftly sidestepped, shrinking back to his original size before pulling out a heavy sword to engage Yan Qi in a fierce duel.

Having ascended to the position of sect leader, Patriarch Bodhi had absorbed countless spiritual energies over the centuries. His strength was formidable, to say the least.

After exchanging a few blows, Yan Qi found her fighting spirit ignited.

She had always been ruthless and unrestrained. Apart from the years she was deceived into becoming the former Demon King’s blade, she had never bowed her head to anyone except Mu Ling.

Having mastered the final layer of the Heaven-Sundering Art, Yan Qi had long since found few worthy opponents in this world. Patriarch Bodhi was undoubtedly the most formidable adversary she had encountered in fifteen years.

Narrowing her eyes, Yan Qi charged forward, clashing with the patriarch. His techniques were sinister and unpredictable, and though she couldn’t be sure, something about them felt eerily familiar.

After a hundred exchanges, Yan Qi had largely gauged his strength: while his spiritual power was vast and profound, years of seclusion in the mountains had left him sluggish in actual combat, unable to fully harness his cultivation’s potential.

And yet…

A smirk curled Yan Qi’s lips. Patriarch Bodhi seemed to harbor some deep-seated grudge against her. Though he masked it well behind the guise of an aloof sage, the hatred in his eyes couldn’t escape her notice. Having clawed her way up from the lowest rungs of society, Yan Qi was acutely sensitive to malice.

She couldn’t recall ever crossing paths with this reclusive monk before.

But who knew what hidden grievances lay beneath the surface?

Not that Yan Qi cared.

The longer they fought, the more flaws Patriarch Bodhi revealed, and soon, Yan Qi felt a wave of weariness wash over her.

The cultivation world was like this. Endless cycles of killing, plundering, and scheming. Once entangled in its web, one could never escape the ceaseless feuds and vendettas.

Compared to the joy of teasing a certain little girl, none of it held any real appeal.

Once she captured these sanctimonious bald donkeys, she’d turn their own methods against them draining their cultivation through an array and funneling it into Mu Ling. Then, when the moment came to tear through the void, she’d drag the girl along with her, shattering this dull, filthy world and ascending to godhood together.

With that thought, Yan Qi’s fighting spirit flared anew. Resolving to end this quickly, she unleashed a storm of sword energy, raining down on Patriarch Bodhi like a tempest. Even as he desperately parried, stray slashes whistled past him. One crashing into the massive stone lotus atop the roof with a thunderous boom, splitting it clean in two and sending half of it crumbling down.

Yan Qi narrowed her eyes. No one had expected that a statue of a woman would roll out from within the stone lotus.

The statue concealed a single soul and a fragment of spirit.

Placed inside the lotus, it was likely that the people of Bodhi Crossing intended to nurture the spirit within the statue using dark arts.

Yan Qi’s sword energy was overwhelmingly fierce; not only did it cleave through the stone lotus, but it also utterly annihilated the soul hidden within.

Yan Qi paid it no mind, glancing briefly before turning away. Whoever the Bodhi Ancestor had hidden away to nurture couldn’t have been a good person.

Mu Ling, who had been watching the battle nervously from the side, furrowed her brows. For some reason, the statue of the woman seemed vaguely familiar to her. But before she could take a closer look, the statue was shattered into several pieces by the aftershock of Yan Qi’s sword energy.

When the Bodhi Ancestor turned back and saw the shattered statue within the lotus, his eyes nearly burst with rage!

“How dare you!”

The Bodhi Ancestor lunged at Yan Qi with reckless abandon, as if he no longer cared for his own life.

Yan Qi pressed her lips together, watching his reaction with interest. She admitted she had done it on purpose.

She didn’t know why, but she had found the stone lotus extremely displeasing, as if its very existence disgusted her. Some subconscious voice had urged her to destroy it.

Meanwhile, the disciples below, locked in battle with the demonic cultivators, all turned pale. Their expressions weren’t so much angry as they were terrified.

“Ancestor, we beg for your mercy!”

Someone started the plea, and soon, the disciples of Bodhi Crossing, regardless of the ongoing battle fell to their knees before the Bodhi Ancestor.

What was going on?

Yan Qi narrowed her eyes, studying the Bodhi Ancestor before her, yet her sword never relented, still slashing toward him.

The Bodhi Ancestor misstepped, and Yan Qi’s blade struck his arm again. He staggered back two steps, but when he lifted his head once more, his entire body convulsed violently. His gaze suddenly shifted into something else entirely.

Yan Qi couldn’t quite describe the change, but the Bodhi Ancestor before her now felt infinitely more dangerous. She wasn’t even sure if she could defeat him anymore!

This was the most formidable opponent she had ever faced in her memory.

Her instincts screamed of peril, and the moment she sensed the shift in the Bodhi Ancestor, she swiftly retreated several steps.

In the next instant, a swirling tide of spiritual energy surged forth, blasting the spot where she had stood into a gaping crater!

“You’ve angered me,” the Bodhi Ancestor said lightly, his voice dripping with venom, cold and slithering like a serpent crawling over bare skin. “After all these years, you still haven’t learned obedience.”

Yan Qi’s eyes widened, her grip on her sword tightening until her knuckles turned white. A faint crimson hue gradually clouded her vision. “It’s you? You really didn’t die!”

“Ah, you recognized me!” The Bodhi Ancestor’s voice twisted into an exaggerated, shrill tone. “I always knew you were an unkillable stray dog. Naturally, I had to secure a backup plan for myself.”

Yan Qi clenched her sword, ignoring his taunts. Holding nothing back, she poured every ounce of her strength into her next strike, charging straight at him.

Yan Qi had ventured forth with a near-suicidal resolve to assassinate the former Demon King. Yet, to her surprise, the typically formidable adversary proved unexpectedly weak during their final confrontation.

With her last strike, Yan Qi’s blade pierced through the former Demon King’s heart. At that moment, she felt an eerie sense of unreality, unable to believe he could fall so easily to her hand. Even after ascending to the Demon King’s throne, she never slackened in her training, maintaining relentless discipline.

Years passed without any sign of the former Demon King’s return, and Yan Qi gradually put the matter out of mind until he suddenly reappeared before her now.

“If I could kill you once, I can certainly do it again!”

Both were among the realm’s finest sword cultivators. Yan Qi knew her opponent sought to provoke her into revealing an opening. But she was no longer the same person from a decade ago. With unwavering composure, she faced the former Demon King’s taunts, ready to utterly annihilate this long-standing nemesis!