Chapter 124: Tathagata's Ten Powers

As a faint golden light signaling the end of a premonition faded, a line of prompt appeared on Mu Yi's retina:

"Zongwang Prompt: You are attempting to craft a military technique, performing a will check…"

"Will check succeeded, determining the military technique crafting level…"

"【Six Paths】 participation check in progress…"

"Zongwang Prompt: You have created a brand‑new military technique recipe; its spiritual radiance flickers, and you glimpse its mystery!"

Dragon‑Elephant Supreme Tonic:

Item Level: 10

Quality: Golden Legend

Type: Military Technique Distribution/Recipe

Materials Required: 1 unit Dragon‑blood material, 1 Transcendent Elephant heart (creature level 10), several Crimson Fruits, several Snow Lotuses…

Effect: Upon consumption, the character restores a large amount of HP, stamina, and energy recovery efficiency within one hour (based on current constitution and material level).

Additionally grants Dragon‑Elephant Power: Strength +1, Constitution +1.

If the consumer's Constitution is below 20, the Dragon‑Elephant Power changes to Strength +2, Constitution +2, and also confers the Blood‑Vein Scalding effect.

Blood‑Vein Scalding: the character takes a certain amount of surging blood damage each second, all incoming damage is doubled, and healing received is only 50% effective.

PS: Paired with Dragon‑Elephant, the taste is superb; the strength surges as you eat! — Golden-winged Roc.

"Based on your military technique level, you have obtained the food: Dragon‑Elephant Supreme Tonic."

Dragon‑Elephant Supreme Tonic:

Attribute Changes:

1. Recovery amount upgraded from large to massive; duration extended to 2 hours.

2. If the consumer's Constitution is below 25, Dragon‑Elephant Power changes to Strength +3, Constitution +2, and also grants Blood‑Vein Scalding.

Blood‑Vein Scalding: the character takes a certain amount of surging blood damage each second (scaled by the deficit from 25 Constitution points—the larger the gap, the higher the damage), all incoming damage is doubled, and healing received is only 50% effective.

3. This kind of bonus cannot stack with similar effects; when other food bonuses are obtained, the highest value applies as the actual effect.

4. The food's deliciousness receives a massive boost.

5. New special effect:

Dragon‑Elephant Power: after the Blood‑Vein Scalding effect ends, the character gains a permanent Dragon‑Elephant Power effect (the only active one), Strength +1, Constitution +1.

"What a fragrant taste!"

Mu Yi watches the Dragon‑Elephant Supreme Tonic simmering in the pot, faintly echoing the combined roars of dragon and elephant, and can't help swallowing his saliva.

Yet merely approaching, Mu Yi feels the broth's boiling heat, as if the soup inside were magma rather than liquid.

Mu Yi cautiously scoops a small spoonful of the Dragon‑Elephant Supreme Tonic with a fine steel round ladle, then drinks it…

It enters softly, a single line down the throat.

The taste is quite delicious, but the next instant Mu Yi's whole body feels as if it exploded, a strange sensation of being overwhelmed, as if an elephant were trampling him upon the earth.

The last time he felt this was when Mu Yi first activated Tenfold Time Acceleration.

Mu Yi looks at his pitiful Strength and Constitution, and from his insights chooses to seal and portion it with Zongwang; this thing he cannot safely consume now, it might cause his body to burst and die.

The Kunlun mountain breeze carries a faint chill; atop the desolate range, Mu Yi lies with his pillow against Chu Yi, the surroundings unusually crisp.

Gatherings are only fleeting enthusiasm; solitude is the companion that endures.

Fortunately, Mu Yi is not alone.

Chu Yi nudges Mu Yi with his fluffy big head, seemingly showing companionship through action.

Mu Yi likes solitude and also enjoys bustle; the two do not conflict.

Gazing at the starry sky, Mu Yi's heart remains calm.

The Morning Star already flickers its brilliance; night and Starlight blend together, darkness and light reflecting each other.

The message on his retina shatters this tranquility.

"Zongwang Important Prompt: The Hundred Schools Contest will commence in ten days; do not miss it."

Mu Yi opens his inventory; within his bag, an invitation ticket glows with an odd light, lying quietly.

That is a ticket to Jiuzhou, and also his hope of returning home to apprentice and study…

【Hundred Schools Contest Invitation Ticket】

Type: Dungeon Challenge Scroll/Consumable

Remaining Uses: 1/1

Status: Countdown 9 days 23 hours 59 minutes

Description: After use, the player can enter a Hundred Schools Contest dungeon once.

"Finally!" Mu Yi's usual composure is broken, a smile appears on his face, not knowing which sages he will meet this time.

There are ten days left; within them he must comprehensively improve himself.

Although he is excited to return to Jiuzhou, he hasn't forgotten Jiuzhou's unique custom—testing juniors.

Opportunities sometimes are disguised by them as difficult trials, or unsolvable puzzles.

If he fails to improve himself, he'll miss the chance, which would be too disappointing.

After checking his Universal Experience and the abilities he can currently enhance, Mu Yi focuses on the only Elite Talent that can be upgraded through Universal Experience.

As a quality‑type Elite Talent, pushing it to the limit is the only risk‑free deal for Mu Yi.

"Upgrade Elite Talent – Ten‑fold Versatility to LV3? This operation requires 100,000 experience points."

Although he already knew, when the prompt appeared, Mu Yi's eye twitched.

One hundred thousand experience… He has toiled through these dungeons, earning only about two hundred thousand experience in total, just enough to get ahead; who knows when he'll be able to max this ability.

"Yes!"

Zongwang Prompt: Tenfold Versatility (LV2) → Tenfold Versatility (LV3)

Zongwang Prompt: Tenfold Versatility Talent Effect 1 has changed.

Talent Effect 1: All-domain enhancement 50% effect, all independent skill effects enhanced 10%.

New Talent Effect 2: Technique-type skills can be mimicked through observation, achieving 70% effect.

An effect of unclear meaning, Mu Yi pinched his chin, unable to find a reference point for a moment; he cannot yet use this effect, but the change to Talent Effect 1 alone is enough to be exciting.

The 50% all-domain boost is essentially equivalent to a full attribute 1 increase, and the effect is even more evident; Mu Yi can't pinpoint where the change lies, but he feels his body becoming more coordinated and fluid.

Do you wish to upgrade Elite Talent - Tenfold Versatility to LV4? This operation requires 200,000 experience points.

Fortunately, advancing to the next level only needs 200,000 experience, not the terrifying 1,000,000, though even that is an astronomical figure.

Helplessly close it; the eyes see nothing, yet his heart remains unsettled.

His daily self‑training actually yields some experience gain, only 100–1000 experience per day, a drop in the bucket, requiring roughly over two years to complete the upgrade.

After a deep breath and preparing himself, Mu Yi opened the Buddha's Scripture on the Strongman Moving Mountains in his hand and read it through completely.

When the final character was read, in an instant Mu Yi seemed to enter a brand‑new space, yet he could not move; he felt an unknown force pressing him down immovably.

The Mu Yi who can lift a cauldron cannot even wiggle a pinky; not only his body, but even his soul seems to sense the weight.

In the silence, a handsome monk clasped his hands and began to expound Buddhist doctrine to Mu Yi.

The monk's voice was low and pleasant, hands clasped, looking into the darkness: "Thus the hell consists of the evil beings of the southern Yánfú continent; the karmic feeling is thus, the karmic force is enormous, capable of opposing Mount Sumeru, capable of reaching the deep great sea, capable of obstructing the holy path…"

Mu Yi was startled; it wasn't the Buddha's Scripture on the Strongman Moving Mountains but the Ksitigarbha Original Vow Sutra. Earlier, to fortify his will, he had perused some Daoist, Buddhist, and Confucian texts, seeking to learn meditation abilities.

This is also why he was previously able to answer some of Princess Liliana Brenda's questions about Jiuzhou culture.

Although Mu Yi's understanding wasn't deep, he grasped the basics of translation.

The content of the Ksitigarbha Original Vow Sutra spoken by the monk before him is as follows:

Entangled karmic force, for a person, is heavier than Mount Sumeru, deeper than the Four Seas, blocking the path forward, making one feel as if treading mud, burdened by heavy stones, increasingly trapped and heavy… It advises sentient beings not to commit minor evils, otherwise retribution is inevitable, even the slightest will be constrained.

Countless hungry ghosts' cries and roars rose; they struggled in anger, trying to smash the shackles binding them, in a mountain of swords, in a sea of fire, they roared angrily: "No release! No release!"

As if standing in hell, Mu Yi at this moment understood what the weight of Mount Tai is; the weight pressing on him now is the entire hell's mass, the weight formed by incalculable sins, so he cannot move at all.

Mu Yi's face showed a wry smile; no wonder the few young talents of the Silver Moon Empire had failed before—so it is. Facing the immovable incalculable sins, the monk before him is likely about to employ thunderous methods.

A simple routine, yet the displayed power resonated deeply.

As expected, after reciting the Ksitigarbha Original Vow Sutra, the monk rose slowly and began to chant the Buddha's Scripture on the Strongman Moving Mountains into the void.

"Encircling the mountain, the realm becomes four directions. Within it, the people obtain divine foot. Like Mahamati. Each fills the three thousand great thousand worlds. Yet it does not match the Tathagata's divine power. Hundred times, thousand times, ten thousand times, hundred million times, countless billions of times. The void cannot compare, no analogy. This is the Tathagata's divine foot power…"

Immediately, the monk placed his hand on Mu Yi, and Mu Yi felt his whole body relax.

The mountain formed from incalculable sins was lifted by the monk, and Mu Yi was released from the unbearable weight of those sins.

"I do not enter hell; who will enter hell? The hell is not empty; I vow not to become a Buddha!"

The monk chanted the Buddha's name, then gently sat cross‑legged where Mu Yi had just been; he took over Mu Yi's burden of incalculable sins, and made a great vow to bear the hell's countless sins for countless lifetimes.

Even knowing that all this is a routine devised by the Buddhist Sect, Mu Yi still respectfully bowed, because he knows this is the great deed established by Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva, and even though the Buddhist Sect now uses it as a routine, it remains awe‑inspiring.

It was not the deceit and mental suggestion Mu Yi had imagined before, but simple imagery; the sincerity embedded in the routine is the most lethal enchantment.

"Praise Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva!"

Mu Yi clasped his hands, bowed deeply with full respect, and paid homage; although he has no intention of joining the Buddhist Sect, it does not hinder his respect for Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva.

"Good!"

In the dim, Mu Yi heard a voice, but when he looked, the Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva bowed his head reciting the sutra seemed unchanged.

Just as Mu Yi was about to speak, the image dissolved into nothingness, and Mu Yi returned to reality.

Zongwang Prompt: By reading the book, your comprehension of the Buddha's Scripture on the Strongman Moving Mountains deepened, and you successfully mastered 【Tathagata's Ten Powers】.

Zongwang Prompt: By reading the book, your comprehension of the Buddha's Scripture on the Strongman Moving Mountains deepened, and you successfully mastered 【Upholding the True Dharma】.

【Upholding the True Dharma】: You have mastered the precepts and the Buddhist Path's incantations; you can depict and engrave these spells to turn the engraved target into a "Temple".

After becoming a Temple, the engraved target can offer itself, continuously evolving and strengthening its body and spirit.

Zongwang Important Prompt: Tathagata's Ten Powers have merged with Strength Enhancement; the current 【Tathagata's Ten Powers】 are now compatible with Strength Enhancement.

The current Strength Enhancement level has increased; the present level is LV2.

Strength Enhancement

Elite Talent: Strength Enhancement (LV2)

Talent Effect: Strength base attribute 1, Strength judgment 1.

Expending a large amount of stamina can briefly enter Tathagata's Ten Powers state

(In Tathagata's Ten Powers state, Strength attribute 2)

Exiting the power burst state will plunge into a fatigue state (Strength attribute -4).

Mu Yi's eyes brightened; the noticeable upgrade not only strengthened the enhancement effect, but even the strength penalty weakened.

Another step further strengthened his burst output.

Contentedly, he tossed the Buddha's Scripture on the Strongman Moving Mountains back into his inventory; he doesn't intend to probe it further, as using it to boost Elite Talent is the best use.

However, he also realized that, in fact, whether it's Elite Talent or Buddhist Sect incantation divine skill, there is no real difference at the foundation.

The Buddhist Sect's power is power, and the Military Strategist's power is likewise power; both stem from unified basic development, and though the terms differ, they lead to the same end.

Perhaps... he could try another path?

Shaking his head, Mu Yi cast the thought from his mind; how could such an idea arise? He hasn't even fully grasped the Military Strategist's abilities, yet he ponders cross‑cultivating other schools—it's sheer self‑destruction.

It must be the Buddhist Sect's doing!

Throwing the blame onto the Buddhist Sect, he then strives to clear his mind of lingering thoughts; he still has one final preparation uncompleted.

Mu Yi opened the Zongwang Panel and selected a long‑sealed function—Martial Soul Trial.

When he was weak, even possessing Inner Qi of the same attributes as Hua Xiong, he still could not survive Guan Yu's decapitating strike.

Now… maybe… perhaps… possibly… he can endure two more strikes and learn a bit more?

Winning is impossible; just the thought of that blade flash falling, he doesn't even know how to win.

Learning even a little is a gain!

"Will you consume 1000 Zongwang Disaster Coins for a Martial Soul Trial!"

"Yes!"

Accompanied by the confirmation, Mu Yi heard that angry shout once again.

"Hua Xiong, remember the one who slashed you was Guan Yu Guan Yun Chang!"