<b>Chapter 1028: South Emperor</b>
Li Qiye went against the Three Grand Temples, causing strange visual phenomena to emerge. In just a moment, the mountain was filled with Buddhist lights and blooming golden lotuses. Golden Springs gushed out from the ground as well.
Buddhist hymns majestically echoed across the region as if a Buddhist Lord was about to come into being.
The temple fought hard against his challenge. A torrent of endless runes rushed out from above the temple. A single glance was enough for people to immediately know that an extraordinary Arhat or Bodhisattva had appeared.
Each of the temples here had their own great characters chanting and debating against him. A Buddhist world opened on this side of the land, causing the entire mountain to become quite holy.
“Amitabha…” More chants echoed as if countless Arhats were singing together. They wanted to use the supreme mantras to defeat Li Qiye.
As the chanting continued, a magnificent Buddhist rune emerged in the sky as if a Buddhist Lord himself was coming out to fight. He spewed out mantras and endless laws.
These supreme phenomenon would leave anyone speechless no matter how powerful they were. The image attracted many experts in the plateau. Amazing geniuses like Lin Tiandi all came to watch.
The worshipers outside were filled with reverence from seeing these images. They started prostrating and wouldn't get up. Some were in tears and shouted: “Merciful Buddha!”
In just a short time, the crowd was shocked to see Li Qiye challenging the Three Grand Temples. He defeated the Grand Earth Temple in a short time, so even geniuses like Jikong Wudi, Zhan Shi, and Lin Tiandi became serious.
Someone murmured: “I think only Immortal Emperors would dare to challenge the eighteen temples like this.”
A particular expert who had been staying at the plateau for a long time spoke: “Judging by this phenomenon, it seems like the Grand Earth Temple sent out a Bodhisattva to debate against him. This is too amazing. In some legends, a Bodhisattva from this temple converted a God-Monarch with just one phrase. But now, the challenger defeated them in a debate, how heaven-defying is this?”
“A Bodhisattva from the Grand Earth Temple…” When this level of existence was brought up, even God-Monarchs felt dreadful: “This kind of dharmic existence… it is best to stay far away from them if you don't want to join Buddhism. After all, he only needs one mantra to convert you, to make you kneel on the ground and worship Buddha!”
“Is this the birth of a new Buddhist Lord?” Even the monks on the plateau came to watch because this phenomenon was too frightening.
“Amitabha.” A monk placed his palms together and spoke: “To be able to debate at this level, this must be a sacred monk, or maybe even a Bodhisattva. Since he can defeat the Four Buddhas Temple's Eight-faced Radiant Bodhisattva, he can obtain enlightenment and ascend, enter Nalanda and then the Buddhist kingdom.”
“The Buddhist kingdom is the real immortality of legend.” Someone enviously spoke.
Everyone in the plateau ran over. The newly arriving monks started chanting as well. They were all in awe of the phenomenon.
Right now, no cultivators dared to step foot on Spirit Mountain due to the great Buddhist aura surging about. Even those with strong dao hearts could be converted to Buddhism!
“Extraordinary.” While people were looking at the phenomenon, a youth appeared out of nowhere. His arrival immediately attracted a lot of attention.
His appearance came with an abundant ancient aura, as if he had lived for countless years. He did as he pleased with a free style. No matter where he stood, people would think that he was standing tall among the heavens. He is aura also gave the feeling that he was insurmountable. No matter how strong and heaven-defying one might be, they would feel unable to surpass this young man.
Zhan Shi, Jikong Wudi, and Lin Tiandi, all of their expressions changed the moment they spotted this youth.
It didn't matter if they recognized him or not. As supreme geniuses, they immediately knew that they had met a terrifying opponent. An existence comparable to a true dragon — matchless in all the eons!
“Let me come take a look at the erfamous Spirit Mountain.” He laughed after seeing the supreme image on the mountain. With just one step, he instantly stood before the Four Buddhas Temple.
“Is he taking the Four Buddhas Temple on?” Many people rolled their eyes after seeing this.
This temple was the leader of the eighteen and directly below Nalanda. Even the most supreme of geniuses wouldn't dare to challenge it so carelessly.
Jikong Wudi was invincible enough. He attained an enlightened fruit, yet he still didn't dare to challenge the Four Buddhas Temple! Zhan Shi had a powerful dao heart. He challenged it, but only in a scripture hark and not in attainment or debates because he was not confident at all in these two.
The young man smiled and declared outside of the temple: “Monks of the temple, listen up. Today, I, South Emperor, have arrived to try your Grand Diamond Formation. Let your eighteen Vajras come out now.”
Everyone could hear his soft-spoken words clearly for they carried the weight of gold.
“Challenging the Four Buddhas Temple with force?” The crowd glanced at each other. Some even turned silly after hearing this.
In fact, outside of the three trials, there was another one. It was something that people never used, a challenge via combat against the eighteen temples. No one wanted to use this method because it was well-known that the sacred monks in the temples were ridiculously strong.
Although Buddhism did not promote violence, the majority of these sacred monks were terrifying beyond imagination before their conversion. Some sacred monks used to be Godkings and others were Emperor Candidates. There was a legend that some sacred monks were actually True Gods before they converted…
Who would dare to challenge these powerful existences in force? These Godkings and Emperor Candidates had only become even more unfathomable after turning into Arhats and Bodhisattvas.
But now, this youth was not only challenging the temple, he was specifically aiming for the eighteen Grand Vajras. This made many people's hearts skip a beat.
“Four Buddhas Temple's eighteen Grand Vajras!” An ancestor who had been a devout worshipper of the plateau for a long time murmured: “These vajras are combat warriors. An arrogant Godking considered himself to be invincible and went inside the temple alone to fight against the eighteen vajras. In the end, he was captured alive.”
“South Emperor…” A lot of people hadn't heard of this name, but they quivered inside. A person daring to proclaim himself an emperor. Outside of the foolish ignorant ones, those who dared to do so were definitely frightening.
This youth was definitely not an ignorant person, so he must belong to the latter.
“Amitabha, benefactor, please come inside.” The Four Buddhas Temple was not afraid of this challenge. With a Buddhist chant, the entire temple lit up with a golden radiance with images of vajras inside.
“Good.” The youth was very straightforward. He smiled and passed through the Buddhist gate.
The entire mountain shook after the youth made his entrance into the temple. Buddhist chants echoed across the entire plateau. A boundless Buddhist power pressed down on the entire sky. Under this endless energy, the plateau resembled a leaf in the middle of a torrential ocean. This power could crush the entire plateau at any time.
The people here were terrified. Many characters kneeled on the ground and didn't dare to get up. Even ancestor-level characters felt their knees give in and couldn't stand straight anymore.
Prior to this, the Buddhist aura at the plateau was very gentle and peaceful. No one had imagined the scene of Buddhists becoming angry. But now, with this suppressive power, they finally understood that Buddhism was not just peaceful. Once enraged, this power was no weaker than an imperial aura!
Someone murmured while aghast: “Vajras are emerging to subdue the demon, the Buddhist Lord has become angry!”
“How fun…” The battling youth continued to laugh inside the temple that no one could peer into.
“Amitabha…” A thunderous chant resounded. A Buddhist kingdom opened in the sky and eight races of deities came out while the vajras defended the temple.
“Deva, Naga, Yaksha, Gandharva, Asura, Garuda, Kinnara, and Mahoraga… The eight deities…” The crowd was petrified when they saw the deities protecting the temple.
“Just how powerful is the Four Buddhas Temple?” A God-Monarch quivered after seeing this.
In just a second, only silence could be found both on and off of Spirit Mountain. Both the temple and this youth named South Emperor were powerful to the point where people had no choice but to retreat.
“Fighting the Four Buddhas Temple with force… Legend states that Immortal Emperor Min Ren did so as well in his youth.” An ancestor was lost in a daze while commenting.
“So tough, just who is this South Emperor?” Even the arrogant geniuses couldn't stay arrogant at this time.
Jikong Wudi and the other top geniuses were quiet as well. This person called South Emperor was too powerful. Some people even speculated that he was an Emperor Candidate that was only one step away from becoming an Emperor! Anyone would shiver after hearing the title of Emperor Candidate.