Chapter 126 Aftermath
When all the wounded were gathered, Eric waved his hand, casting a wide-ranging "Healing Light" spell.
Immediately, countless people on the field who could recognize it began to exclaim, "Buddha's light shines upon us..."
Under the gentle white light with healing powers, about a dozen wounded individuals stopped groaning in pain and emitted a faintly pleasant moan. Their wounds also visibly healed at a rapid pace.
With the lightly injured monks healed and back in the fray, the situation on the field changed drastically. The Sakya monks, who had been suppressed, began to counterattack vigorously, displaying unwavering morale.
On the other hand, the members of the Shura Sect all had pale faces and looked inexplicably depressed. Their once decisive movements now seemed hesitant.
Many of them murmured, "Is this a mistake? Sakya invited a dignitary. What's left for us to fight for? With just one move, they could wipe us out..."
Li Hong also noticed Eric's performance. His expression was one of shock as he said, "You definitely can't be from the Hongmen!... Could it be, could you be the Living Buddha?" His face turned extremely unpleasant as he said the last two words.
"I have indeed been called that by some..." Eric did not directly admit his identity as the "Living Buddha," merely stating a fact.
Feeling he had found the answer, Li Hong was speechless. Seeing his suddenly pale face, it was clear that his heart was filled with despair.
Although the situation on the battlefield was now evenly matched, Eric was not satisfied. He could have used several top-tier magic spells, but in the chaotic situation, he was afraid of harming his people.
Since he couldn't use elemental magic, he decided to use mental magic.
When he was in Celestia, Eric borrowed a scroll on Fairy mental magic, which contained almost all types of mental magic.
However, because of the characteristics of the Fairy race, the scroll mostly contained... illusions.
Previously, Eric wasn't interested in these, just skimming through them. But now, he was ready to practice with the members of the Shura Sect. After all, times had changed, and his magic was no longer inexhaustible. It was necessary to properly master some mental magic to avoid wasting his unparalleled mental power!
—To make the person under this technique see an illusion of everything around them, unable to distinguish between reality and illusion.
This was originally the most basic technique in illusions, but it was very useful in close combat. Just like the Golden Wheel Lama, who had been chosen by Eric as the test subject.
Originally fighting well, even though he was shocked by the "Healing Light," he still firmly suppressed the two monks who were his opponents.
However, suddenly, the two monks turned into four. The Golden Wheel Lama initially thought that the enemy had received reinforcements. However, upon closer inspection, he realized that the two new arrivals looked exactly like the previous two.
Twins?... Two pairs of twins?... However, no matter how much they were twins, their expressions and actions couldn't be the same?... That's right, this must be a special martial art similar to "Splitting Illusion"!
Thinking he had the right idea, the Golden Wheel Lama, looking at the "four" monks, sneered, "Hmph, kids, thinking you can resist my attacks with such tricks! I'll tell you, in the face of absolute strength, all trickery is ridiculous!"
The two monks who didn't know what the Golden Wheel Lama was talking about looked at each other and, without saying a word, were convinced that this person was mentally ill for constantly hitting the air.
Following the principle of "strike while the iron is hot," the two monks mercilessly attacked the "patient" with no mercy.
After about a dozen moves, they finally took advantage of the Golden Wheel Lama missing again and placed their four palms on his chest and back respectively.
After falling to the ground, the Golden Wheel Lama, coughing up blood, said with difficulty, "You guys are quite skilled in your Big Handprint, but what truly impresses me is your Splitting Illusion..."
The two monks looked at each other again and sighed in unison, "Who would have thought that the Shura Sect would let a person with a delusional disorder be their Lama..."
Until his death, the Golden Wheel Lama never understood why he was seen as a delusional person by those two monks.
Having obtained satisfactory results from the Golden Wheel Lama, Eric smiled slightly and began the next experiment.
Without a doubt, with Eric's covert assistance, the Sakya quickly eliminated the incoming enemies.
Even the deceased members of the Shura Sect did not find peace, as in the hearts of the Sakya monks, they had become patients suffering from delusional disorder.
Furthermore, some "smart" individuals said that this was the aftermath of Li Hong's brainwashing of his subordinates. This view was widely accepted.
Currently, there were only two battlegrounds left in the Jiecai Temple. One was the duel between the two chief guards and Li Hong, and the other was between the Great Vehicle Dharma King and the Golden Wheel Lama.
Eric took a look and felt that the Golden Wheel Lama was already firmly suppressed by the Great Vehicle Dharma King, and defeat was just a matter of time. On Li Hong's side, however, the performance of the guards was somewhat embarrassing.
After all, the gap between them and Li Hong was too great. Although their divine power protected them and they were not afraid of attacks, they could not harm Li Hong in any way and were now exposed.
Regardless, the guards were nominally his direct subordinates, and it was not a good thing to let them lose face like this. So Eric took action.
The Unified Mind Technique—able to forcibly extract memories from others, those affected by this spell generally became idiots, with its effects and consequences similar to "cutting" and "copying" in a computer.
This spell caused too much harm to others, so Eric generally did not use it unless he disliked someone. However, Li Hong was certainly in that category.
Caught off guard by Eric's unparalleled mental power, Li Hong was defenseless and was struck by the technique without resistance. As he stood there blankly, speechless, the four golden fingers of the guard simultaneously pierced his body.
The idiotic version of Li Hong opened his mouth, fell silent, and silently died.
With such a sudden turn of events, not only were the onlooking Sakya monks dumbfounded, but even the two guards who were directly involved couldn't believe their own bloodied fingers.
"Li Hong is dead like this?" Ren Qingang stared blankly at the corpse on the ground, his expression lost. "The traitor who has kept our Sakya heads bowed for over twenty years is dead like this?"
Eric could understand his feelings and nodded slightly. "He's dead, there's no hope of him coming back to life."
"But he's a pre-heaven expert! How could he be so easily killed by just two top-notch masters?" Ren Qingang was bewildered. "Could the power of 'clear the mind, perceive the nature, and achieve the Arhat's golden body' be really that great?"
Eric couldn't elaborate and simply said, "If you can't accept his death in this manner, then attribute it to divine will, perhaps? Anyway, no matter how you look at it, the mastermind behind your exile to a foreign land is now dead..."
Ren Qingang nodded, then suddenly burst into tears and knelt, first kowtowing heavily to Eric three times, then turning to mutter in the direction of their homeland in China. Many older monks followed suit with the same action.
Seizing this opportunity, Eric rapidly absorbed the information from Li Hong. He mainly wanted to know three things:
Firstly, of course, about martial arts techniques. He had already wasted one opportunity on the Dragon Elephant Dharma King, so he wouldn't make the same mistake again. With the sinister Sakya's forbidden martial arts "Shura Yin Sha Gong" in hand, along with numerous other top-notch martial arts, the gains were substantial.
Secondly, about Li Hong's achievements in building his influence. Eric didn't want Li Hong to leave behind any threats to him. Fortunately, Li Hong didn't have any secret bases or deeply hidden pawns. His covert forces amounted to nothing more than a smuggling ring.
Thirdly, information about wealth. Running a sect was quite profitable, a fact Eric was well aware of since his time in Celestia. Now that Tan Ailing and Tang Feiyan were out of jobs, although they still had considerable savings, Eric wanted to bring in some income to avoid emptying his coffers. And Li Hong didn't disappoint. In the six independent accounts at the Swiss bank, Li Hong left Eric a hefty sum of seventy-five million US dollars.
After absorbing Li Hong's memories, Eric smiled satisfactorily, paying no attention to Ren Qingang and the other old monks who were still kneeling and contemplating. He led the four chief guards straight to the battleground between the Great Vehicle Dharma King and the Golden Wheel Lama.
The battleground was already surrounded by young monks, who, upon seeing Eric, quickly paid their respects and stepped aside to allow him to enter smoothly.
Though both the Great Vehicle Dharma King and the Golden Wheel Lama were pre-heaven experts, the latter was somewhat inferior. Under the relentless pressure from the Great Vehicle Dharma King, Menchikov was barely able to defend himself, so he had not yet received news of Li Hong's death.
"Great Vehicle Dharma King, please finish this quickly, you're the only one left!" Eric urged lightly.
Upon hearing Eric's voice, the Great Vehicle Dharma King immediately paused his assault and asked, "Rinpoche, does that mean everyone else has been dealt with?"
"Yes, they're all taken care of, including Li Hong."
Great Vehicle Dharma King was overjoyed, but before he could inquire further, the Golden Wheel Lama, who had been observing the situation around him due to the slowing of Menchikov's attack, voiced his doubt, "Kid, what are you joking about? How could our leader be taken care of by you?"
"Insolent! Do not be disrespectful to Rinpoche..." The Great Vehicle Dharma King roared, intensifying his attack and immediately suppressing the Golden Wheel Lama, rendering him speechless.
"Alright, Great Vehicle Dharma King, stop now, he won't escape anyway!" Eric saw that they seemed determined to fight to the death if necessary, which wouldn't be resolved for another two or three hours at least!
Great Vehicle Dharma King also knew that although he had suppressed the Golden Wheel Lama, he was still "unable to retaliate, only able to defend himself," so he stopped decisively.
The Golden Wheel Lama, seeing Menchikov, who had been effectively neutralized by his opponent, asked in disbelief, "Kid, what did you do just now?"
After obtaining Eric's permission, the Great Vehicle Dharma King looked at him and said, "This is our Rinpoche..."
Confirming that he had not misheard, the Golden Wheel Lama looked at Eric, opened his mouth for a long time, and finally asked with a bitter tone, "He's the Zhébù Zūndānba Living Buddha of your Sakya?"
Great Vehicle Dharma King nodded solemnly and said, "Exactly."
The Golden Wheel Lama, without any fighting spirit left, looked at Eric and asked, "Living Buddha, so you mean, our leader...?"
Eric said lightly, "Yes, the enemies who invaded from the Shura Sect, except for you, have all been exterminated!"
The Golden Wheel Lama opened his mouth, and finally, trembling, knelt, softly saying, "Please, Living Buddha, punish me."
Just as Eric was about to unleash a "Fire Blade Technique" on him, the Great Vehicle Dharma King suddenly said, "Rinpoche, wait."
"What is it?"