The Villain's Counterattack

"You shouldn't have come." Outside the city of Chang'an, Zhao Deyan reined in his horse and stared at a snow-white figure not far ahead. A familiar voice came to his ears, and his whole body tensed up, and his expression changed drastically.

"Evil King, you are the Grand Master of my Holy Sect. Do you want to watch a Grand Master appear in the Buddhist Sect?" Zhao Deyan asked angrily.

Shi Zhixuan suddenly turned around and looked at the timid Demonic Appearance Sect's leader, a hint of sarcasm on his face. "What? You've defected to a foreign race, so you can't stand seeing the Han people have another Grandmaster? You're really doing your job, you dog. Besides, who told you that a Yin Zhao Buddhist disciple could become a Grandmaster?"

Zhao Deyan was furious when he heard this, but at the same time, he sensed something a little different. "With the power of the sutra, the combined strength of the Four Great Sage Monks and three thousand Buddhist masters, and the combined fortune of the Central Plains Buddhism, how could he not become a Grandmaster?"

Upon hearing this, Shi Zhixuan laughed heartily and said, "Zhao Deyan, you are only a Grandmaster after all. How can someone who has never taken that step, who has never achieved the status of a Half-Step Grandmaster, possibly understand the difficulty of achieving the status of a Grandmaster? Without the support of the Dao, there can be no Grandmaster. Even if one has the Dao, it is useless if one cannot comprehend and transform it into one's own."

"As you said, Yin Zhao's disciple has made great achievements, has won the hearts of the people, and is constantly gathering momentum. He is indeed striving to become a Grandmaster. However, the iron must be forged with strength. After all, he is only a Peak Grandmaster at this point, not a Half-Step Grandmaster. He may have seen the Tao and sensed the Tao, but it has not been absorbed into himself. He still needs constant external stimulation to awaken."

"And you challengers..." Shi Zhixuan paused for a moment and said coldly, "And you, the endless stream of challengers, are the indispensable aids on his journey to becoming a Grandmaster!"

"If no one paid attention, no one challenged him, Yin Zhao might become famous, but he would never achieve Grandmaster status. Just as an unpolished gem can hardly radiate its brilliant light. The Four Great Saints were truly wise. Their public call for the Buddha's disciple Yin Zhao to challenge the Grandmaster was a blatant conspiracy. Who wouldn't want to achieve Grandmaster status? That's why countless powerful Grandmasters rushed to him, only to become grinding stones, ultimately making Yin Zhao's disciple a Grandmaster. You pushed him, who originally wasn't capable of achieving Grandmaster status, to become one."

Shi Zhixuan's words made Zhao Deyan feel like he was struck by lightning. He secretly calculated in his heart, how powerful is Yin Zhao Fozi?

Anyone who can defeat me must be at least a top-level Grandmaster, but I don't feel any absolute deterrence from him. This guy doesn't even pose a greater threat to me than any of the Four Great Saint Monks. Can such a person really break through to the Grandmaster level in just one month?

Ever since he heard from the Gentleman Sword Yue Buqun about achieving the Grandmaster status, he had discussed it with the Martial Honored Bi Xuan many times, and each time he felt benefited a lot, both he and Bi Xuan felt the same, so they did not have too many doubts about it. Earlier, he suddenly received news that the Buddhist disciple Yin Zhao was openly preaching in Chang'an City, using this to challenge the Grandmaster status.

With the four great holy monks supporting him, he just couldn't believe it was fake, so he tried to deal with Yin Zhao again and again. First, he sent a Turkic warrior, then he took action himself. After failing twice, he even invited Wu Zun Bi Xuan to come to Chang'an secretly.

However, when the appointed time came, Wu Zun still did not show up. Zhao Deyan guessed that there must be something unexpected that he didn't know about, so he hurried out of the city to greet him. He never expected that he met the opponent he least expected to face before he had gone far.

If I were to say who I least like to face in this world, Emperor Yang Guang of the Sui Dynasty would only be second, and the first would have to be the Evil King Shi Zhixuan.

Unable to defeat, unable to escape, unable to catch, Shi Zhixuan had the upper hand over him in all aspects, especially since he was in the Central Plains. He could not find the fourth advantage, and everyone was a disciple of the Holy Sect, so he had no excuse to seek help from his fellow disciples.

Even in terms of influence within the Saint Sect, he was far inferior to him. If it weren't for the pressure from the Evil King Shi Zhixuan and the Queen of Yin Zhu Yuyan, he wouldn't have traveled so far to the borderlands to become the Imperial Preceptor of a foreign race. Although, with his help, the Turks had indeed become powerful enough to suppress all opponents on the grasslands, they were repeatedly defeated by the Sui Emperor and were ultimately not a truly invincible overlord.

"Wu Zun was intercepted by someone. Was it the person behind you who took action?" Zhao Deyan's heart moved slightly, and he couldn't help but test it.

Shi Zhixuan let out a faint smile as he said with interest, "Should I scare you now by saying that there's a massive force in the Central Plains, with Xiantians everywhere, Grandmasters as numerous as dogs, and even Grandmasters on the order of two hands?"

Zhao Deyan couldn't help but twitch his lips when he heard this. "If such a force really existed in the Central Plains, not to mention the heroes of the Central Plains, even the countries outside the Great Wall would have knelt in submission long ago. Not to mention the Buddhist sect that is still cultivating its first Grandmaster, even the Taoist sect, including the elusive Xiaoyaozi, Sanfeng Zhenren, and Ning Daoqi, only has three Grandmasters. If there really was a super-large force with ten Grandmasters, I'm afraid it can only be a unified Holy Sect. What a pity..."

As the third strongest person in the Demon Sect, Zhao Deyan was very envious of the fact that the Evil King Shi Zhixuan and the Queen of Yin Zhu Yuyan were able to become grandmasters. He had been dissatisfied with them in the beginning, which was why he went far away to the frontier and achieved a higher status than them.

But just when he was feeling proud of himself, these two huge mountains pressing down on him suddenly became grandmasters one after another, almost suffocating him.

This was a Grandmaster! Originally, there were only three in the world, and now there were two in the Demon Sect alone. It was incredible no matter how you looked at it. According to the rankings, was it my turn next?

This was also the most important reason why Zhao Deyan personally took action to test Yin Zhao, his desire for the Grand Master made him temporarily lose his mind, so that he took action personally and became a stepping stone for Yin Zhao to advance.

"If our Holy Sect were to unite, how do you think the Daoist Sect, the Buddhist Sect, and the Imperial Court would react?" Shi Zhixuan curled his lips and said, "A relatively divided Holy Sect is a good one. There's no need to unite, but we can form an alliance and produce a true Holy King!"

Zhao Deyan's eyes suddenly narrowed, and he laughed, "So the Evil King is no longer satisfied with the title of Evil King and plans to become the Holy King, the King of the Holy Sect!"

"I'm the first Grandmaster of the Saint Sect, so why can't I become its King?" Shi Zhixuan sneered. "The Huajian Sect and the Bu Tian Dao are my descendants, the Tianlian Sect is my vassal, the Demonic Element Sect's inheritance was seized from you, the True Transmission Laojun Temple secretly submitted, and the Xieji Sect exists in name only, but its inheritance is also mine. How long do you think the Yingui Sect can hold out?"

"Oh, by the way, Master Mieqing was re-installed by Yue Shan and was dying. I was the one who sent people to rescue him." Shi Zhixuan added, which made Zhao Deyan shudder.

There are six paths in the two sects of the Demon Sect. Now, except for the Yingui Sect led by Yin Queen Zhu Yuyan, the inheritance of other branches has been taken away by him. It is rumored in the martial arts world that after the evil king Shi Zhixuan broke through to the Grandmaster level, he hid himself in order to join a small group of hermits. Now it seems that this is not the case at all. He is like a lurking poisonous snake, growing and developing silently.

"The Heavenly Demon Strategy" is praised as the second of the Four Great Books. If it is separated, it can make a master or even a grand master. What will happen if it is combined into one?

Zhao Deyan took a deep breath, "What do you want? What do you need me to do?"

"Expel the participants of the Chang'an Dharma Assembly, dilute the influence of Buddhism, and intercept the masters who serve as whetstones for Yin Zhao's disciples. If possible, send people to the Central Plains Buddhism to disrupt the itinerary of the girl Kan Kan. The Yingui Sect cannot have a second grandmaster!" Shi Zhixuan's words made Zhao Deyan's eyes suddenly light up. This might be his biggest gain today.