Chapter 238 Quarter Finals.
Hao Ren returned to the seat without minding the gazes of the Buddhist disciples. They all gained the information that Hao Ren's words caused damage to Little Master Vajra. They were angry, and someone said, "I wonder if he practices the evil ways of witchcraft?"
This murmur reached Hao Mei and she frowned. She used her spirit sense, and said, 'Ren, there is a rumor going on about you that you might practice witchcraft. In the next fight, you need to show them something or it might draw attention from the Big monks, and the hunters on Warring Peak.'
Hao Ren simple replied to her, 'Okay.'
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The young man really wanted to smack the hell out of the person who started this rumor. He raised his head and using his Yin and Yang eyes he began to inspect the surroundings carefully. He also used his augmented hearing. A lot of murmurs flowed in his ears, he found that people were really talking about him, and the opinion did not seem to be good.
He frowned and opened his eyes to look in the direction where he was being discussed most vividly, as expected, the monks were not as calm as they seemed to be on the surface.
As the matches finished and the top eight were announced, the topic changed again. The top eight contenders were Ma Blade, also known as Mad Blade, Hu Jitian, the third prince of the Warring Nation, Hu Baihe, the fifth princess, Monk Prajna, the candidate who could ascend to the Arahat level, Shen Baitian, successor of the Shen General Family seat and duties. Jiang Qui, and Liang Hiefang, both were similar to Shen Baitian, they were the successors of their family seats and duties.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om
Including Hao Ren, the number of participants added up to eight. Hu Baihe, and Ma Blade represented the forces of the warring peak, Monk Prajna stood for the Bright Peace Temple. However, Hu Jitian, Shen Baitian, Liang Hiefang, and Jiang Qui represented the strength of the royal court.
Hao Ren raised his brow and a faint smirk appeared on his lips, as he thought, 'The dynamics of power are changing, it seems to me that the royal court wishes to be done with the sect and the temple in one go. What a meticulous plan, sure enough the king is not senile.'
With this sudden change, many people in the shadows would be making a move, Hao Ren used his spirit sense to talk to his sister, 'Tell all the spies, not to act recklessly and just be normal, there might be some other old monsters hiding in the palace. We cannot give them a chance to take an action.'
Hao Mei nodded, obviously, with the current situation she could also understand what was going on here. The pieces on the chess were all placed on the board equally. She looked at Xi beside her and told her what to do.
Xi left the arena silently and headed back to her own secret operative center in the capital. This was how she operated the spies and Hao Ren did not intervene in it. He only told her to teach one of the twenty kids about her methods so that they could manage the situation in her absence. They were all reaching the threshold of Foundation Establishment realm.
...
The rest period finished, and the chief inspector appeared on top of the stage as he said, "Are you all ready?"
The eight participants nodded and the man began to call forward the participants for battles. Hu Jitian was fighting against Jiang Qui. This was bound to happen with lesser people the chances of clashing with allies increased. However, the battle seemed to be very boring. After an intense spar, Jiang Qui took initiative to back off.
Hu Jitian won the match and advanced to the semi final. Ma Blade managed to deal with Liang Hiefang, Hu Baihe faced Shen Baitian and won by a narrow margin. However, she was still holding back something up her sleeves and Hao Ren could tell it was going to be a steep climb later for him.
Finally, Hao Ren was called over to face against Prajna. The two stood facing each other, and Hao Ren had to admit that he was lacking in terms of temperament when facing the Monk. He cupped his fist and greeted the bald man with a bow, as he said, "Greetings, Master Prajna, I seek your advice."
Master Prajna, and the rest of the spectators were surprised by his humble attitude. The monk asked, "Patron Hao, are you holding back because of the murmurs around?"
The bald man revealed a faint smile as he asked, Hao Ren shook his head and said, "I am willing to take a heavenly oath to prove that I have nothing to do with witchcraft or evil forces in the world. While the laymen are ignorant, someone as wise as Master Prajna must have the skill to see through the worldly illusions of words."
Prajna was surprised momentarily and then he smiled as he said, "You do have a way with words, Patron Hao, my thoughts swayed a little because of what you said but I am sure that it was not Witchcraft or evil energy bewitchment. Now I am curious to see what you have to show. Please advise me."
As he said this, Prajna made a gesture of invitation. Hao Ren smiled and took out his long Qin. The people were surprised and did not understand what was his intention. Hu Baihe frowned and mumbled, "What is the meaning of bringing out a music instrument?"
Ma Blade who was sitting next to her remarked, "Dao manifests in all things, if a stalk of grass can become a sword, why can he not use music instrument to fight?"
Hu Baihe was surprised and stunned, she did not expect Hao Ren to have such a skill.
They all looked at the young man sitting in the void with the Qin resting on his lap and said, "Master Prajna, please be careful."
Prajna was looking at him solemnly and nodded in return. The young man began to pluck the strings of the instrument and channeled his spiritual energy through them while doing so. His speed increased, and the sound echoed throughout the stadium.
By the time, Hao Ren raised his hand to pluck the string for the second time, Monk Prajna moved around to dodge the invisible spiritual blades that were hurled at him from random directions. Just when he thought that he got the hang of the rhythm, a phantom of a fairy appeared before his eyes.
Prajna was stunned, and so were the people, even the Chief Inspector furrowed his brows, but soon he was shocked as he looked at Hao Ren, the young man had created the phantom with his spiritual energy vibrating in a specific zone. This was not an easy task.
Hao Mei looked at the display and smiled as she took out an image stone to record the situation.
...
The phantom had the stature similar to that of Han Lingshi, it was a woman with beautiful eyes, but the face was covered with a silky vail. The people did not know what to say as they were enchanted by the fairy dancing with a sword in her hand.
Prajna felt drawn in the illusion but and chanted the clear heart sutra to control his thoughts and then he made a seal with his hands as he said, "Vajra Mountain Shield."
A spiritual phantom of the mountain appeared before the sword fairy, and Hao Ren smiled as he said, "Song of the Dancing Lion."
His song changed and the dancing fairy also changed her moves. The momentum of her sword became ferocious. Every slash became stronger and it began to leave marks on the mountain wall. Hao Ren had a purple gold spiritual energy, which was at least two grades higher than what the Monk had.
After five notes the sword slash made it through the wall, and hit the Monk, who had prepared a golden bell to defend himself. Inside the bell, Prajna was shocked and surprised, because the attack caused his golden bell to ripple.
Hao Ren was so strong, but he was not yet done, he closed his eyes while playing the song and imbued his soul energy into the notes. The soul energy slashed directly through the golden bell and a phantom of Hao Ren appeared directly inside the Monk's soul sea.
Prajna was shocked and wanted to resist when Hao Ren said, "Master Prajna, if you resist, the ripple of the attack will damage your soul sea as well. Please be calm, I do not wish to make enemies or to attack more than I need to. I will ask you now...."
After a few seconds, Hao Ren opened his eyes, and Prajna said, "I concede, Patron Hao, your grasp on the Music Dao, and the Soul Dao can indeed cause trouble for many people."
Hao Ren smiled and replied, "It was your excellent defense that pushed me to do this much, Master Prajna, thank you for your guidance."
Prajna shook his head with a smile and walked off the stage. The people were silent, Prajna admitted defeat. The quarter finals came to an end.