Chapter 293: Acalanatha
Either way, both possibilities worked in Zen's favor.
Now, on the Cloud Sect List, the only opponent left for Zen was Patrick.
Although Evan ranked first in the previous competition, he was still held up in a secluded place for cultivation. Usually, such cultivation period could either be long or short. With the level Evan reached, he would be staying in that place for three months at least or one year at most. Therefore, his chances of making an appearance at this All Peaks Competition were slim.
That was how Patrick ended up as the last disciple to compete Zen. If he was defeated, then Zen would rank first among the Cloud Sect disciples.
The match between Rocher and Patrick had generated a lot of interest.
While Zen previously defeated Rocher, it didn't mean he was a weak fighter or competitor, because it was really not easy to gain advantage in the competition with Zen, who was dubbed a monster for the manner he had beaten his opponents.
As far as the other disciples were concerned, it was unbelievable that a human at the second grade of the nature level could be so powerful, and the only way they could explain this was to say Zen was a monster.
For them, it made sense that a monster had some kind of super power that a human did not possess.
Both Rocher and Patrick had demonstrated great competence at the start, so the battle between them would be very fierce.
When the referee called their names, Patrick and Rocher walked to the battle ring.
Still keeping a low profile, Patrick said lightly, “Rocher, I've been waiting for this competition for a long time.”
“Me too.” Rocher nodded.
The two had been observing each other for a long time, so there was no need to say more.
After comprehending the consummate sword intent, Rocher had gone to the Sword Washing Pool to practice cultivation and his ability increased considerably. However, competing with Zen humbled him slightly and he had realized that no matter how powerful he was, there would always be someone more powerful than him.
On the other hand, Patrick appeared very modest and till now had not demonstrated his real competence yet. He was like a volcano in the heavy twilight.
Nobody knew what kind of power this volcano would unleash once it erupted.
It was Rocher who thrust his sword first. Using the Sword Steps, he immediately advanced towards Patrick.
In the beginning, they didn't use much strength and seemed to be thinking of suppressing each other with their skills. Obviously, Rocher had the advantage in this aspect because he had both sword and Sword Steps.
However, when Rocher was close enough to Patrick and was about to attack, he realized how wrong he was about his opponent.
Still without a weapon, and not even using the Samsara of Buddhism for this competition, Patrick was already powerful enough and could put up a good fight.
With the protection of golden lights flashing above his hands, he simply patted Rocher's sword with his bare hands.
“Bang! Bang! Bang...”
Twelve times Rocher thrust his sword, but Patrick's fighting speed never slowed down as he parried each thrust. Like scattered leaves in the wind, his big strong hands floated in the air and slapped at Rocher's blade.
Everyone was shocked when they saw Patrick block Rocher's sword attack with bare hands. His form looked so powerful. Even Zen, who had dazzled other disciples with his sturdy build, couldn't parry Rocher's sword with bare hands alone.
However, some disciples with eagle eyes learned this was not the case at all.
The palm method Patrick was using right now called the Grand Leaf Palm Method was perfect both in strength and speed control. It looked as if he was patting the edge of Rocher's sword directly although, in actuality, he was only tapping the blade from the side and pushing it away.
To deflect the quick attack of Patrick's Grand Leaf Palm Method, Rocher kept on changing his Sword Steps. However, whether near or far from Patrick, Rocher couldn't break through his defense.
As the pace of attacks picked up, Patrick began to use more skills that he had never shown in front of the other disciples.
Grand Leaf Palm, Shadow Finger, Prajna Palm, Pattra Leaf Finger, Wisdom Knosmos Finger...
Rocher was dazzled by these magic cultivation methods of the Buddhist, and the other disciples were stunned too.
Everyone had so many questions in their minds, and things to say.
“How could Patrick have learned so many cultivation methods of the Buddhist?”
“He must have robbed the Sutra depository of some temple!”
“Don't be silly! There is no temple in the Eastern Region. All the famous temples in the Central Region have a longer history than our Cloud Hall, so he couldn't have robbed any of these.”
Since Buddhist cultivation methods were quite mysterious and not widely spread, these methods Patrick was demonstrating in his fight with Rocher seemed more valuable, and nobody could tell where he had learned all these methods.
The situation in the battle ring was gradually controlled by Patrick, who relied on his dazzling palm and finger cultivation methods for a counterattack. Rocher failed to take advantage in the battle with his Blood-corroding Sword and even had to withdraw on several occasions when under attack by Patrick.
Realizing that he couldn't compete with Patrick in skills, Rocher stepped back and raised his sword to accumulate strength.
As momentum converged in his body, Rocher started to summon the Heavenly Sword.
Sensing the energy emanated from Rocher's body, Patrick turned sober. Although Zen had broken through the attack of Rocher's Heavenly Sword, it didn't mean his opponent was too weak to fight. Rather, Rocher had failed because Zen was just too strong.
“Samsara of Buddhism!”
As soon as Patrick shouted, six golden beads appeared on his side.
The beads were called Six-realm Beads because they contained the strength of six realms.
When Patrick summoned the Six-realm Beads, they began spinning slowly. Patrick had defeated Wing with these beads in the previous competition. In that match, he had absorbed Wing's attacking strength by directing it to the beads, then used that strength on Wing leading to his defeat.
So this time Patrick summoned these beads again, Rocher became more cautious.
“Heavenly Punishment Sword!” Rocher shouted.
He knew how powerful the Six-realm Beads were, so he needed to use his most powerful skill. Many of the disciples nodded in agreement with his wise decision. Had they been in Rocher's place, they would have taken the same action. Because if Rocher didn't go all out, his strength would be absorbed by Patrick and he would end up being passive in the competition.
The power of the Six-realm Beads might be horrible, but they did have their limit. If Rocher could get past that limit, he would be able to break the Samsara of the Buddhism!
With the overwhelming pressure from Rocher's Heavenly Punishment Sword, a stream of full sword intent as thick as a bucket rushed towards Patrick.
After several buzzes, the Six-realm Beads started spinning at an extremely high speed.
The beads were spinning so fast that they looked to be forming a golden circle in the process. In the blink of an eye, Rocher's sword that completed the Extreme Thunder Sword Intent got pulled into the circle.
“Block!”
As Patrick's eyes glinted, the force field in the golden circle began changing radically. The sword Rocher had thrust had reduced in speed, and now looked like it was about to be blocked in the golden circle.
If Rocher's sword ended up blocked, Patrick could easily reverse the Six-realm Beads and strengthen the attacking strength from Rocher before bouncing it back. That would undoubtedly lead to Rocher's failure.
Of course, Rocher was not about to let that happen. Since he would give his all, there was the possibility of burning and releasing all his life vitality.
''Are you trying to block my sword?
No way!' he thought. Because of Rocher's momentum, the Extreme Thunder Sword Intent in his weapon went berserk. Every bolt of lightning it released was now as thick as an arm and looked like trapped beasts attempting to break out of the cage.
A series of snaps were overheard, until cracks finally appeared on Patrick's golden circle.
There was no doubt it could no longer withstand the tearing of the Extreme Thunder Sword Intent.
Discussion among the crowd grew. “Look at that! Rocher's sword is indeed more powerful!”
“Since ancient times, defense has always been more difficult than attack. Patrick may be powerful, however, compared to a mere defense, attacking is still the best defense.”
“If the golden circle breaks, defeat is certain for Patrick!”
As minutes passed, it seemed like the golden circle was on the verge of collapse because more cracks were showing, and it even began shaking.
Taking advantage of the favorable situation, Rocher roared, “Break!”
This was instantly followed by a loud ripping sound.
The Extreme Thunder Sword Intent used by Rocher finally ripped the golden circle.
But the battle was not over yet. Patrick, who was now frowning, was suddenly bathed in golden light. He stretched his arms, and a shadow appeared behind him.
There was a slight gasp from the crowd as a Buddha emerged.
Unlike other Buddhas that were always smiling, this one looked like he was in a rage.
Buddhas generally had two expressions. He looked peaceful as he smiled while in meditation. On the other hand, when he wanted to teach wicked people a lesson or alert the masses to get rid of their sins, his face took on an aggressive look.
"It's Acalanatha!
How could Patrick summon Acalanatha?
Is he a descendant of Acalanatha?"
The questions were fired by one disciple, while others around him stared at him, thinking he was an idiot.
The Buddha was far different from the legendary beast.
Moreover, monks in temples were not allowed to be intimate with women, so it was impossible for them to sire an heir.
So how could a Buddha have any descendants?
Realizing he had said something wrong, the disciple's face flushed pink. “Maybe Patrick is the reincarnation of Acalanatha!” he suggested.
“Yes, that's probably it! Otherwise, he wouldn't have been able to learn so many of the Buddhist cultivation methods!” another disciple shouted in agreement.
"No wonder he's so powerful!
He's the reincarnation of Acalanatha! Rocher is not likely to fight the shadow of Acalanatha!"
At this point, Patrick appeared calm. On the other hand, the shadow of Acalanatha behind him looked horrible with its angry expression.
“Acalanatha Palm!”
As Patrick cried out, he clasped his hands then pointed at the Extreme Thunder Sword Intent lightly. Then a palm appeared in the air before it swept towards the Extreme Thunder Sword Intent.