Chapter 9: The desperate counterattack
The Western monk turned over and jumped up. He was hit by the powerful armor-piercing sword. Although it did not cause fatal injuries, his expression became solemn.

The monk put his hands together and chanted: "The great sal tree is called Invincible. It has three kinds of flowers. One is newly born. The second is full. The third is dry. Just like the flower, when it dries and falls, so should the piles that my monks suffer from. No more bleeding and pus. The pain will be completely gone and all will be healed. Just dry up."

What he was reciting was the "Buddha's Sutra on the Treatment of Hemorrhoids". As he chanted the sutra, the power of Buddha poured into his whole body. The burn scars on his shoulders scabbed and fell off at a speed visible to the naked eye, revealing white and tender new skin, as if he had never been injured.

The injuries healed instantly, but the Buddha's light surrounding the Western monk seemed a little dim, and it was obvious that he had consumed a lot of energy from performing his magical powers continuously.

The magic power that kept the floating island solid and afloat was no longer sustainable, and the slowly rising floating island suddenly collapsed, turning into rubble and dust that fell to the ground.

He Lingyun broke free and swooped down like a seabird catching fish. Taking advantage of the opportunity of being covered by the smoke, dust and mud from the falling rocks, he dived into the ground and drilled into the hole again without hesitation.

"Even a young bird can be taught. That's right. This is exactly the truth of the art of war: 'Those who are good at defense hide under the nine earths; those who are good at attack move above the nine heavens.'"

The crane girl rolled in the mud and heard Senior Brother Wen's praise from the communication device behind her: "It's so stable to hide in the cave and control the unmanned flying sword to launch a sneak attack. I have never understood why the immortals in the Conferred God War had to fight openly and face to face with magic weapons and supernatural powers, turning the real-time system into a turn-based system."

These words woke He Lingyun up, as if they opened the door to a new world for her and greatly expanded her thinking on fighting. The more she thought about Senior Brother Wen's words, "Those who are good at defense hide under the nine earths; those who are good at attack move above the nine heavens," the more she felt that it contained great truth.

Even though the image of a crane burrowing into the ground was indeed indecent, He Lingyun no longer felt ashamed.

"Brother, why did you frame me?"

Taking advantage of the time when the Western monks' continuous offensive slowed down, He Lingyun hurriedly asked into the two-way communicator on the bracket: "I have no intention of seeking revenge, I just want to win the sect competition, but you brought me here to provoke that powerful monk!"

"How can you say that? How could my brother harm you for no reason? You must know that actual combat is the best training method. A thousand rounds of sparring cannot compare to a life-and-death fight."

Wen Rui's calm voice came from the communicator: "You have made great progress. You no longer dance the flashy crane dance, but have learned to stick your butt out and dig into the ground."

He said confidently, "If I had taught you to burrow into the ground during normal training, I'm afraid you would have been so arrogant and refused to obey me. But now, after only a few rounds of actual combat, you have spontaneously realized the truth of the way of war. It would have been fine if you didn't thank me, but you are biting back. How can that be?"

He Lingyun felt his cheeks getting hot and was speechless for a moment. He even felt that his senior brother was right.

"But, that guy is simply ridiculously strong."

Thinking that the powerful enemy was still searching for him on the ground, and that the danger was not over, He Lingyun said in a hoarse voice: "He has profound Buddhist knowledge and great magical powers. If I stay here for a long time, I will definitely lose. Sooner or later, he will catch me and kill me. By then, I'm afraid you won't even be able to piece together my complete corpse."

In order to save his life, He Lingyun had a careful idea. He thought that his skin was the only thing that could catch the eye of Senior Brother Wen, so he wanted to threaten Senior Brother Wen to rescue him by damaging his skin.

"That monk is a great enlightened person who follows the Bodhisattva Mahasthamaprapta in cultivation. His Dharma name is 'Fashan' and his realm is 'Master' in Buddhism. If converted into the realm of Taoism, it is the Nascent Soul Stage, which is only one major realm higher than you."

As He Lingyun expected, Senior Brother Wen had obviously done a detailed background check and reported the whereabouts of the Western monk like he knew everything about him.

"The advancement of Western monks is different from that of Chan and Jie monks. They do not transcend tribulations to become immortals, but to achieve the 'fruit position', or enter the cycle of reincarnation to use great wisdom to understand the mystery of the womb, or realize the great liberation and nirvana to be reborn, or make a great vow to enter the world to fulfill the vow, and so on."

Wen Rui explained carefully like a lecturer: "That fellow might have made a great wish to 'eliminate all demonic influences and purify the human world', and wanted to step on the bones of demons to level up."

"Equivalent to a Buddhist master in the Nascent Soul stage? No wonder he is so powerful."

He Lingyun said in a trembling voice: "I am just a little golden elixir demon, bah, bah, a little cultivator, how can I be his opponent, I must quickly send a message to the sect for help!"

"I advise you not to waste your time. The old coward Lishan Laomu was frightened by the battle of the Ten Thousand Immortals Formation. Now she only knows how to 'measure the resources of the sect and win the favor of friendly nations'."

Wen Rui said with disdain, "Over the past hundred years, she has been in close contact with several Bodhisattvas of the Western Religion, and has been trying to squeeze into their circle. How could she possibly offend the direct disciple of Bodhisattva Mahasthamaprapta for a third-generation disciple like you? You should know that Bodhisattva Mahasthamaprapta is not well-known in the Central Plains, but in the West he is the right-hand attendant of the Buddha, as famous as Guanyin Bodhisattva, and has a very high status."