Confucian and Taoist scholar

Chapter 599 Justice Never Dies
Since Lu Zheng arrived here, the two Bodhisattvas, who had not shown themselves, had been secretly observing him.

Unexpectedly, Lu Zheng started fighting with the Bodhisattva of Great Compassion without saying a word.

Moreover, judging from this situation, the Bodhisattva of Great Compassion is not gaining the upper hand.

If they don't come out soon, I'm afraid Lu Zhengzhen will really tear this place down.

If word gets out, who knows how the believers here will view them.

The Great Compassionate Bodhisattva glanced at the Great Mercy Bodhisattva, thinking to himself that they were actually beaten into their true forms by a Confucian cultivator of a lower realm, which was a disgrace to them.

The Bodhisattva of Great Compassion turned to look at Lu Zheng, his eyes flashing with golden light, trying to see through Lu Zheng's true strength.

However, Lu Zheng now exuded a majestic aura, standing there like a small sun, surrounded by powerful artifacts.

Upon looking at him, the Great Compassionate Bodhisattva felt that the light was so dazzling that even Lu Zheng's figure was blurry and unclear.

The compassionate Bodhisattva clasped his hands together and said slowly, “The Buddha is merciful. We have not offended you in any way, and have treated you with courtesy. Why have you gone to such lengths? Could it be that you have traveled thousands of miles just to be our enemy? This is not the way of Confucianism.”

Lu Zhengping said calmly, "We scholars study the teachings of sages and virtuous men. When we encounter injustice and unfairness, we should stand up to defend the righteous path."

"You have come to this harsh and cold place, yet instead of using the Buddha's teachings to save all sentient beings, you enslave them for your own pleasure. What kind of reason is that?"

Lu Zheng paused for a moment, then said, "I think you two are not human beings beneath your skin, are you? If you are human, then you are no different from beasts."

The Great Compassionate Bodhisattva's expression darkened slightly. "Does Your Excellency truly intend to fight us to the death? Do you intend to be an enemy of all of us?"

Seeing that Lu Zheng possessed so many treasures and cultivated such pure and righteous energy, they all felt that Lu Zheng had a remarkable background.

If they were to actually kill Lu Zheng, they might attract even stronger enemies, and then they might have to flee to other places for their lives.

This was a place they had painstakingly built up, and the Great Compassionate Bodhisattva really didn't want to offend the people of the Great Dynasty and have to run away for his life.

"The net of Heaven is vast, and though its meshes are wide, nothing escapes it."

Lu Zheng said unhurriedly, "If you are fish, you cannot break through the net of heavenly justice. You might as well surrender and atone for your sins."

The Bodhisattva of Great Compassion bared his teeth and glared, "You think you can do anything to us by yourself?"

This is their territory. With the help of three bodhisattvas and other methods, how could they possibly be unable to deal with a Confucian scholar?
During this time, they also observed other places, but they did not see Lu Zheng having any helpers in the shadows.

Lu Zheng said calmly, "The righteous path of the world will be aided by Heaven. One person is enough to eliminate you monsters."

The Great Compassionate Bodhisattva frowned. "If that's the case, then let's determine who's superior!"

He knew he couldn't reason with these Confucian scholars who valued righteousness and integrity. These scholars were willing to risk their lives for the sake of justice and wouldn't bother with human relationships or social niceties.

Moreover, their actions over the years have rendered them incapable of understanding human relationships and social etiquette.

Given the current situation, the only option is to take action and subdue Lu Zheng first.

Having said that, the Great Compassionate Bodhisattva clasped his hands together, and with a thought, activated the restrictive array of the Great Buddha Temple.

A moment later, the entire temple was enveloped in golden light, making it invisible to outsiders.

Below the holy mountain, some people in the holy city had noticed something unusual about the direction of the temple, but they couldn't see it clearly and thought it was some kind of Buddhist phenomenon.

Some nobles were so enthusiastic that they drove their strong servants to carry them to the holy mountain so that they could personally experience the Buddha's light.

Some monks in the city were also very curious and rushed to the holy mountain.

The Great Buddha Temple was enveloped in Buddhist light, severing Lu Zheng's connection with the power of heaven and earth.

The Great Compassionate Bodhisattva was well aware of some of the methods used by Confucian scholars. Since Lu Zheng could influence heaven and earth with his writings, he directly cut off part of Lu Zheng's source of power.

Within the grand Buddhist formation, even if Lu Zheng possesses the most powerful literary treasures and artifacts, the power he can unleash will be greatly diminished.

Once the temple's grand formation was activated, the Great Compassionate Bodhisattva waved his sleeve again, and one after another, mysterious artifacts flew out from his sleeve.

Those were objects refined and nurtured by Buddhist energy, possessing a strong Buddhist character.

Looking at those Buddhist artifacts, Lu Zheng thought to himself that these few freaks were not practicing proper Buddhism, but rather liked to use people to make artifacts.

Suddenly, he thought of those pilgrims who possessed pure Buddhist nature, and they probably knew the origin of these objects.

The so-called pilgrimage to attain rebirth in paradise is nothing but a scam, designed to allow believers to cultivate pure Buddha-nature through suffering and hardship, which is then used to refine weapons.

Lu Zheng's gaze turned cold, and in a flash, his aura intensified.

Holding a writing implement, he moved with the rapid flow of the sun and moon around him, disrupting the dense Buddhist aura, and rushed straight toward the Great Compassionate Bodhisattva.

The compassionate Bodhisattva remained unmoved and raised his hand to grab.

A gigantic golden hand appeared, carrying a powerful suction and suppressive force, pressing down on Lu Zheng like a mountain.

Lu Zheng raised his hand, and Su Wujie flew up to meet the giant palm. His powerful righteous energy surged out and forcefully blocked the golden hand.

The Bodhisattva of Great Compassion remained unfazed and exerted even more force, unleashing one mysterious artifact after another, which then attacked Lu Zheng from all directions.

Lu Zheng's literary artifacts were all touched and turned towards those Buddhist mystical artifacts.

In an instant, dazzling rays of light burst forth.

The collision of powerful magical artifacts resulted in a dazzling explosion, with the residual power spreading outwards and causing the earth to tremble.

Seeing this, the Bodhisattvas of Great Compassion and Great Virtue also joined the battle.

One by one, they wielded mysterious weapons, unleashing their power as they bombarded Lu Zheng.

In an instant, Lu Zheng was completely engulfed by the golden light, and his imposing aura was greatly diminished.

The Bodhisattva of Great Compassion narrowed his eyes and looked at the location where Lu Zheng was.

A moment later, Lu Zheng reappeared, completely unharmed except for a slightly weakened aura. There was also a faint flow of energy on Lu Zheng's body, in addition to his righteous and awe-inspiring aura.

The Bodhisattva of Great Compassion's eyes flickered slightly, knowing that Lu Zhengding had a protective treasure that could not be suppressed and killed in one fell swoop.

The Bodhisattva of Great Compassion was not surprised by this. It was unlikely that a scholar from Anguo could travel all this way without possessing any powerful treasures.

It's no wonder this person was confident he could fight them... The compassionate Bodhisattva's mind raced.

For a time, the two sides were deadlocked.

Furthermore, everyone vaguely sensed that neither side had gone all out and both were holding back some strength.

Lu Zheng put away some of the artifacts and used their power to strengthen his body, causing his aura to surge.

Holding Zhang Liang's mace, he saw that the Great Virtue Bodhisattva's aura was the weakest, so he charged straight ahead, breaking through layers of suppression and attacks, trying his best to get close to the opponent.

The heavy iron hammer was surrounded by purple lightning. With a single strike, countless bolts of lightning exploded and transformed into streaks of electric snakes.

The virtuous Bodhisattva opened his mouth to chant the Buddha's name and raised his hand to make a Buddhist seal.

At the same time, a magical artifact on Lu Zheng's body suddenly activated.

A light enveloped Lu Zheng, and the phantom image of a soldier appeared.

The soldiers gripped longswords formed from righteous energy, thrusting them straight forward, transforming into streaks of light as they pierced towards the virtuous Bodhisattva.

He fought across three thousand miles, and his sword once faced a million soldiers.

The Bodhisattva had just parried one attack when he saw the sword light approaching in an instant, and a sense of unease arose in his heart.

The power of this sword cannot be resisted by force.

Without a second thought, the Bodhisattva shrank his size and nimbly dodged the attack.

However, the sword light had already locked onto the Great Virtuous Bodhisattva and was close behind.

The virtuous Bodhisattva, quick-witted and agile, tossed aside his magnificent robe.

In the blink of an eye, the sharp sword energy shredded the cassock into dust.

The Great Virtuous Bodhisattva raised an eyebrow; that was one of his precious robes, and it was gone just like that.

The Bodhisattva of Great Compassion, who was not far away, frowned slightly. Why was the fight getting more and more energetic? This commotion couldn't go on.

He turned his head and looked at the hundred-foot-tall golden Buddha in the temple.

Without hesitation, the Bodhisattva of Great Compassion transformed into a golden ray of light and rushed into the Buddha statue.

In an instant, the entire temple began to shake.

The Buddhist aura that enveloped the temple quickly receded and headed straight for the Buddha statue.

But everyone present felt that the oppressive atmosphere here had become even stronger.

Even the Bodhisattvas Da Bei and Da De retreated a bit, distancing themselves from Lu Zheng, and looked towards the direction of the golden Buddha.

Lu Zheng also sensed something and couldn't help but look up at the Buddha.

The golden Buddha was shrouded in a thick fog of Buddhist aura, and an even taller Buddha image materialized, its face resembling that of the Bodhisattva of Compassion.

The illusory Buddha, which had been slightly narrowing its eyes, slowly opened them, its gaze fixed on Lu Zheng, directly locking onto Lu Zheng's aura.

The Buddha statue, over a hundred feet tall, exuded a terrifying pressure that made Lu Zheng feel suffocated.

He couldn't help but straighten up, his blood and qi surging wildly as he used his scholarly energy to resist the oppressive force.

On and off the mountain, many people saw the golden Buddha suddenly move and assumed it was a divine manifestation. They immediately knelt down, chanting prayers and worshipping.

The subtle power of the thoughts of all beings silently blessed the Buddha, making its aura even stronger and taller, as if a true Buddha had descended to earth.

"My Buddha is compassionate..."

The golden Buddha spoke slowly, its voice echoing through heaven and earth, reaching the holy city below.

As more and more people in the holy city witnessed this scene, they knelt down to show their piety.

The Bodhisattva of Great Compassion sat within the Buddha statue, and a voice reached Lu Zheng's side.

"My Buddhist practice allows me to stand between heaven and earth and to fulfill the wishes of all beings. What do you have to fight me with?"

The golden Buddha looked at Lu Zheng with a hint of pity in its eyes.

Lu Zheng remained unmoved, his voice booming like a bell: "Between heaven and earth, there is righteousness and evil, good and wickedness. We scholars should distinguish right from wrong and eliminate evil to uphold righteousness."

"The masses are ignorant; we must educate them so that they may know good and evil, and not be misled by evil..."

"You are nothing but deceitful rats who deceive heaven and man; you cannot last long!"

Upon hearing these words, even the illusory image of the Great Buddha changed color.

"presumptuous!"

The enormous Buddha statue opened its mouth, unleashing a vast surge of Buddhist energy that, along with the profound power of heaven and earth, suppressed Lu Zheng.

Lu Zheng felt heavy, as if the ground beneath his feet had sunk, with most of his legs sinking into the ground, but his body remained upright.

Lu Zheng tilted his head back, his eyes as bright as the sun, filled with boundless fighting spirit.

"Justice cannot be killed..."

(End of this chapter)