The entire Demon-Suppressing Ravine shook, as if the earth’s crust were shifting and the world were turning upside down. Thick, crimson blood flowed from the towering scarlet walls on either side, viscous and fresh, a scene both horrifying and ghastly.
When the Great Sun Tathagata Dharma Aspect rose, Xu Qi’an did not retreat, but advanced instead. Was he really seeking death?
Of course not. He wanted his injuries to become even worse, ideally to the point of near death.
Only then would the damage returned by Broken Jade be more effective.
A first rank martial artist possessed overwhelming vitality. Any attack capable of threatening the life of a powerhouse at that level was naturally terrifying beyond measure. And only an attack of that magnitude, when returned, could effectively injure a Beyond-rank.
This plan had already been laid when they attacked Ananda. Xu Qi’an’s confidence came from two reasons. First, the Buddha had slept for five hundred years, so His condition definitely wasn’t at its peak. Second, by diligently arranging flowers, part of the spiritual essence had settled within his body.
With the spiritual essence of the Undying Tree, plus the immense life force of a first rank martial artist, he had dared to take the risk.
But even so, this still couldn’t guarantee absolute success. After all, the power of a Beyond-rank existed only in legend. Even though Xu Qi’an had stepped into the ranks of first rank, he still couldn’t estimate the upper limit of a Beyond-rank.
So it was very easy for everything to go wrong. The ending might even have been that Silver Gong Xu led the beyond-mortals to attack Ananda, the Buddha made a move, and Silver Gong Xu died on the spot.
A perfect explanation to the cultivators of Jiuzhou of what it meant to give it a try and die.
As for why, after waking, he had kept holding back and not using Broken Jade, it was because one had to judge the situation carefully. A trump card only displayed its true power when used at the right moment.
But it couldn’t be delayed for too long either, because the longer he delayed, the weaker the returned force of Broken Jade would become.
Broken Jade… Agaruka Bodhisattva, who had fought Xu Qi’an many times, was the first to react, and his face immediately darkened.
It wasn’t that he had forgotten Xu Qi’an possessed this method, he simply hadn’t expected it to be used here.
Agaruka Bodhisattva did not fear powerful enemies, but he was wary of enemies who were both powerful and clever.
A crude martial artist wasn’t frightening, but if that martial artist excelled at scheming, then he became a real headache.
The peerlessly beautiful Vaidurya Bodhisattva knitted her delicate brows tightly, and the youthful monk Samantabhadra’s face sank like still water. As a Beyond-rank powerhouse, the Buddha naturally wouldn’t be heavily wounded by the “counterattack” of a first rank martial artist. The problem was that His rhythm in suppressing Shenshu had been interrupted at once.
From the dark red walls of flesh, huge quantities of blood sprayed out. The flesh walls that had been frantically crushing Shenshu fell into momentary disorder, like someone whose actions had been abruptly interrupted by an attack.
No one needed to remind him. Shenshu seized the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, spun round abruptly, and plunged both hands into the flesh walls on either side of his head. With a deep growl, the muscles all over his body bulged one after another, containing terrifying power.
In the instant that the “monster” reeled in pain, he gave a fierce yank backwards and tore his head free from where it had been embedded in the flesh wall.
Snap, snap… Dense blood threads broke one after another, like taut sinews being ripped apart.
Shenshu had finally reclaimed his head.
He cradled his head in both hands and gently placed it onto his neck.
Don’t put it on backwards… Sweeping the scene with his divine sense, Xu Qi’an used that lampooning to ease the excitement surging in his heart.
He knew that a true half-step Martial God had been reborn.
The flesh and blood at the head and neck wriggled on their own and joined together. In the blink of an eye, Shenshu’s head merged with his body, without the slightest scar, as though his head had never left his body for five hundred years.
On that heroic face with its pronounced brow bones, the tightly shut eyes suddenly opened.
Heaven and earth changed colour.
Xu Qi’an, Agaruka Bodhisattva, Vaidurya, and Samantabhadra, all within the Demon-Suppressing Ravine, instinctively raised their heads and, through the opening above the abyss, saw dark clouds pressing down over the sky, the heavy cloud layers forming a vortex.
This exaggerated whirlpool, perhaps more than ten li across, turned slowly. It looked sluggish, yet in truth it was stirring a terrifying hurricane in the mortal world.
Sand, stones, cattle, sheep, people, houses… everything on the surface was swept up into the sky.
Only the surviving monks within Ananda, relying on their own cultivation, withstood this force that seemed to come from nowhere.
This was no disorder in the elements of heaven and earth. This was a heavenly phenomenon, the end of the world.
Compared with it, the elemental turbulence created by a first rank martial artist was not worth mentioning.
Within a hundred miles of Ananda, every living creature prostrated itself on the ground, as if standing before a bottomless abyss.
Terror rose from their hearts. They couldn’t tell whether it was because they had seen that horrifying vortex in the sky, or because they were being suppressed by the aura of a half-step Martial God.
The only ones who had not prostrated themselves were the beyond-mortal powerhouses from the side of the Great Feng, and Master of Rain Nalan Tianlu, but this was probably the last of their dignity.
These beyond-mortal powerhouses were filled with fear and dread, and for the first time in a long while they felt once more that they themselves were mere ants.
“That, that aura…”
Li Miaozhen’s lips trembled as she said shakily:
“Is it the Buddha, or Shenshu?”
The Nine-Tailed Heavenly Fox sat cross-legged, and on her devastatingly beautiful face flickered emotions of grief and joy intertwined.
“It’s Shenshu, it’s Shenshu. He’s finally reassembled his body.”
Ever since the fall of the Wanyao Kingdom, she had thought of nothing but undoing Shenshu’s seal, reviving her father in the truest sense, and giving the Wanyao Kingdom an unshakable pillar of state.
Five hundred years later, today, she had done it.
“Xu Qi’an succeeded.”
The Nine-Tailed Heavenly Fox drew a deep breath and swiftly forced down the excitement in her heart, preventing her emotions from spilling out. She returned to being the unflappable ruler of the Wanyao Kingdom, always smiling no matter the situation.
But the trace of joy revealed at the corners of her eyes and brows was not something that could be calmed so quickly.
Looking back now, supporting Xu Qi’an’s growth and placing her bet on him had been the most correct decision she had made in five hundred years.
Back then, when she heard that Yeji was being taken advantage of for free every day by a human man at the Jiaofangsi, and had even secretly given her heart to him and fallen in love with him, the Nine-Tailed Heavenly Fox had been filled with killing intent.
Later, she had secretly descended upon Yeji, originally intending to let that man die without a sound, but the Jianzheng had secretly given her a warning.
It was also in that exchange that she chose to cooperate with the Jianzheng, laying plans in secret and trying to place her bet on Xu Qi’an.
Sending Shenshu’s right arm to his residence had been one part of that “bet”.
“A half-step Martial God really is terrifying. The feeling it gives me is like staring directly at the Warlock God from close range…”
Nalan Tianlu stood with a slight stoop. His white hair and robes flapped wildly in the chaotic air currents, while the sandstorm and the debris flying everywhere made distant Ananda look dim and indistinct.
The Master of Rain could sense that, deep within Ananda, an indomitable power was awakening.
If even Nalan Tianlu could sense it this clearly, there was no need to mention the three Bodhisattvas and Xu Qi’an, who were at that moment inside Demon-Suppressing Ravine.
Within the mountain’s belly, that terrifying aura was rising rapidly, rising without end, as though some dreadful monster were being born.
To resist such a monster, the whole of Ananda had completely come alive.
The mountain slid, the cliffs split apart, palace after palace was swallowed by the cracks in the earth, grove after grove sank underground. Within those torn fissures, tender crimson flesh writhed. It might only have been awakening, yet to mortals it brought a catastrophe as though heaven and earth were collapsing.
In the dark red cavern, layers upon layers of flesh squirmed, ceaselessly squeezing Shenshu, devouring Shenshu.
Boom!
Not far behind Xu Qi’an, the wall of flesh suddenly exploded. Meat and gore burst out extravagantly, like minced meat chopped up for pie filling, and a huge gash was torn open there.
Then came another boom, as the force that had ripped open the flesh wall slammed into the towering wall opposite.
What terrifying strength. Is this what a half-step Martial God was like… Xu Qi’an’s pupils contracted slightly. He had experienced the horror of this mountain of flesh himself. Even the Sovereign Sword could only carve out sword marks as insignificant as a cup of water on a cart of firewood, it couldn’t open a passage.
Even if he gave it everything, he could only pry open a slit in the flesh a little.
Yet with one simple punch from Shenshu, a passage was blasted open directly, and the “Buddha” was torn apart in flesh.
While thoughts flashed through his mind, the flesh wall wriggled rapidly and soon repaired the breach.
Boom boom boom… The towering flesh walls kept exploding open, minced flesh spraying like torrential rain, drenching Xu Qi’an and drenching the three Bodhisattvas.
This flesh seemed to possess life. It produced blood threads on its own, trying to burrow into the skin.
But their power was too weak, unable to do anything to a first rank martial artist. Xu Qi’an casually wiped them away, and they fell to the ground, then melted back into the tender crimson flesh and returned to the main body.
Boom boom boom!
The mountain of flesh kept deforming from the explosions, swelling at times and contracting inward at others, like a trembling lump of jelly.
It was no longer composed. It seemed that suppressing a half-step Martial God for even a moment was an enormous drain.
Boom!
This explosion was far stronger than any before. A gigantic figure burst out of the flesh. His skin was black as ink, he had twelve pairs of overlapping arms, his ugly features carried a fierce heroism, and between his brows was the mark of a black flame.
Behind his head was a blazing ring of fire.
Shenshu’s Vajra Dharma Aspect.
The instant this Dharma Aspect appeared in the world, this whole stretch of heaven and earth trembled. The vortex of dark clouds in the sky expanded and spread, creating a scene like the end of the world.
The “Buddha” was no exception. Endless flesh clung to Shenshu’s body and crawled upwards, trying to wrap around him and devour him.
One hundred feet, two hundred feet, five hundred, one thousand…
Shenshu’s Vajra Dharma Aspect quickly “swelled” to two thousand feet tall, like a giant holding up heaven and earth.
As he rapidly grew taller, the twelve pairs of arms either hammered at the flesh mountain or tore away the flesh stuck to his body. He actually managed to suppress the flesh mountain that was suspected to be the Buddha.
But the flesh seemed endless. However much he grew, the flesh mountain expanded by the same amount.
The dark clouds in the sky formed a vortex like a hole in heaven. Beneath the dim sky light, the two thousand foot giant wrestled with the twisted, horrifying mountain of flesh.
To Li Miaozhen and the others in the distance, this scene was no less than the chaotic melee of gods and demons from ancient times, even though they had never lived through that age.
“Shenshu has recovered his true form. We can’t let him leave the Western Regions. He must be sealed again.” Agaruka Bodhisattva’s expression turned grave.
At once, they felt the pressure.
At present, it was impossible for the struggle between Buddha and Shenshu to be decided in a short time. But although Buddha had accumulated power for five hundred years, for certain reasons, the nine Dharma Aspects couldn’t be used.
The only one he could use now, the Great Sun Tathagata Dharma Aspect, wasn’t at its peak either.
Samantabhadra Bodhisattva narrowed his eyes and gazed at the enormous Dharma Aspect and the surging flesh mountain. After a moment’s thought, he said,
“Buddha needs our strength.”
Agaruka and Vaidurya exchanged a glance and nodded in tacit understanding.
Vaidurya Bodhisattva’s left hand, pale as carved white jade, slipped into her right sleeve and gently drew out a slender little black dragon.
The black dragon’s tail hooked a delicate jade flask.
The little dragon bit into the web of Vaidurya Bodhisattva’s thumb and forefinger, greedily swallowing the female Bodhisattva’s essence blood.
As it drank, the black dragon’s head turned golden, including its mane.
What are they doing? What’s that dragon…
At this moment, Xu Qi’an, who had risen on the wind, saw this scene. He didn’t know what they were trying to do, but he knew he couldn’t let the Bodhisattvas continue unchecked. He wanted to stop them, but a martial artist’s danger sense told him he couldn’t draw close. If he approached the flesh mountain, his life would be in danger.
While he watched, the black dragon had already swallowed the essence blood of Samantabhadra and Agaruka in turn.
From a little black dragon, it became a little golden dragon as though cast from gold.
At the moment the little golden dragon’s transformation was complete, the surrounding flesh mountain suddenly grew more active, as if it could scarcely wait.
The little golden dragon twisted and danced through the air, letting out a clear dragon’s cry, then plunged headfirst down and smashed itself apart against the flesh mountain.
Bang!
The golden dragon burst apart, turning into tiny flecks of golden light that merged into the blood-coloured flesh mountain.
Immediately after, those golden flecks displayed the force of sparks setting the prairie ablaze, spreading rapidly and little by little dyeing the blood-coloured flesh mountain gold.
Xu Qi’an in the air at once sensed an energy of utmost hardness and blazing yang. At this moment, this flesh mountain, suspected to be transformed from Buddha, was like a volcano.
Agaruka, Samantabhadra, and Vaidurya Bodhisattva sat in meditation, and their bodies slowly sank into the flesh mountain, as if sinking into a swamp.
In the next moment, an astonishing scene took place.
This terrifying flesh mountain no longer tangled with Shenshu. On the contrary, it actively withdrew from the half-step Martial God, consciously gathering and writhing. A moment later, the outline of a great seated Buddha holding a flower took shape.
At the moment the outline of this great Buddha formed, the gold lacquer happened to spread across its entire body, turning it into a resplendent golden Buddha statue.
It was several thousand feet tall. Even seated cross-legged, it was level with Shenshu.
The Buddha statue had no facial features. Its whole form was blurred, and no emotion or divine intent emanated from it, as if it were merely a rule of heaven and earth.
The pitch-black Vajra Dharma Aspect stopped all movement and silently gazed at the golden Buddha of equal height.
In contrast to the Buddha statue, the pitch-black Vajra Dharma Aspect’s eyes were wide open, its aura violent, filled with the will to battle heaven and earth.
It seemed as if nothing in the world could make him afraid or wary, not even a Beyond-rank existence.
He was like a god of war.
On one side was Buddha, shrouded in Buddha light, majestic and sacred, seated as the supreme sage of the Buddhist sect. On the other was the Vajra Dharma Aspect, pitch-black all over, with knotted muscles and a somewhat savage appearance.
Behind Buddha, the clouds in the sky were pale gold, spilling down gentle Buddha light, while the sound of Sanskrit chanting arose from the void, like a blissful paradise on earth.
Behind Shenshu was a huge vortex like a hole in heaven, along with dim, hazy sandstorms, a vision of the end of the world.
The world seemed to have been split into two halves, clearly divided.
Just like the yin and yang taiji fish.
Buddha has truly appeared in the fullest sense… At this moment, Xu Qi’an nearly blurted out something like, “Sorry to interrupt, I’ll get going now.”
He narrowed his eyes and examined the blurred-outline Buddha.
For no reason at all, he thought of that line the Jianzheng had written in How to Advance to Half-step Martial God:
Transcend the Three Realms, abide within the Formless.
Song Qing’s explanation of the first half had been, the higher one’s cultivation, the more one lost the seven emotions and six desires.
Just as his heart pounded with alarm, the gold covering the flesh mountain began to gather towards one point, causing that place to shine with a blinding light, like a rising sun.
The Great Sun Tathagata Dharma Aspect!
Again?
Before that blazing sun could rise, Xu Qi’an used a shadow jump and vanished.
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