Chapter 223

Refine!

As his thoughts turned, within the Taotie Cauldron, the three Longxiang Relics suddenly burst forth with a scorching golden light.

Boom!

As if a great bell was vibrating, and also like the Buddha expounding the Dharma, the sound was like thunder.

In the moment he was submerged by the golden light, Shuo felt himself pulled by a tremendous force into a wondrous and strange world.

The original snow on the mountain peak, the vines and green pines, all vanished at this moment, replaced by an endless expanse of golden void.

In this void, there were three thousand sutras, five hundred arhats, various bodhisattvas, countless vajras, and the Buddhas of the three ages seated in meditation, chanting sutras together, like a Buddhist heaven above.

Countless golden Sanskrit characters sparkled like stars, cascading like waterfalls, and myriad Buddha voices gathered into a thunderous chanting that was deafening.

And beneath those Buddhas and Bodhisattvas, there was an immeasurably huge golden elephant, treading the Milky Way, raising its head and standing firm,

As if by its own power, it upheld this heaven of gods and Buddhas.

Its body, white as jade, was adorned with a jeweled kasaya, each tusk seeming able to pierce the heavens, and in its eyes was not bestiality, but boundless majesty and compassion.

"Is this the Martial Saint's will of the Longxiang Holy Monk?"

Qin Shuo's heart was filled with shock, overwhelmed by the sight before him.

Roar——!!

The elephant's cry rang out long and loud, as if the heavens of gods and Buddhas followed suit in making a vajra's wrathful gaze, emitting the most severe Buddhist rebuke.

In an instant, Qin Shuo felt his very soul was about to shatter.

Various bloody and violent memories flashed through his mind like a revolving lantern, as if someone were flipping through his memories, tallying his past.

Old Ginseng Mountain shot three hunters, killed Qian Biao in Heishui City, battled Xue Chengkong, and fought the Xiaoyue Demon King……

Song Ci, Song Tianlin, Fang Yongping, Fang Yongyuan……

These enemies who had once died miserably at his hands now appeared one by one in his mind, each showing the most ferocious and terrifying aspect they had at death.

"Is this observing my past, examining my good and evil?"

Qin Shuo endured the soul-crushing pain from the Buddhist sounds, and such a thought involuntarily arose in his heart.

Roar——!

As if in response to his thought.

The golden elephant raised its head and cried out again, and the three thousand gods and Buddhas atop it spoke in unison.

In an instant, the Buddhist sounds surged like a tide, transforming into a golden flood that ruthlessly rolled forward, as if to crush Qin Shuo's soul in this space.

"Is the killing too heavy, thus not approved?"

Qin Shuo slightly raised his eyebrows, feeling the formidable will contained within that tidal Buddhist sound.

The next moment, he mobilized the Vajra Buddha Nature in his sea of consciousness, transforming it into a golden Buddhist bell to protect himself.

Dong!

The Buddhist sound tide collided with the soul's golden bell, producing a magnificent and tremendous terrifying roar.

Qin Shuo only felt as if struck by a wave, dazed and darkened, his vision pitch black, and even his consciousness seemed about to dissipate in an instant.

"Not good, the Holy Monk's Martial Dao Will is rejecting him!"

Within the secret realm, Ku Ci Dashi saw Qin Shuo's brows tightly locked, blood trickling from the corner of his mouth, and immediately showed astonishment.

Chijiao Heshang also tightly gripped his snow-white long brows, his expression tense to the extreme.

"Om!"

Whether it was an illusion or not, the two vaguely heard an ancient, vast bell and cauldron tremble, accompanied by a faint, ferocious beast's roar.

At the same time, within Qin Shuo's sea of consciousness, the accumulated blood and qi energy of several days burned like fierce flames,

And the taotie with silver armor and golden whiskers on the cauldron wall also seemed to come alive, its pupils suddenly turning into brilliant gold, like two terrifying furnaces blazing fiercely.

A vast and ancient aura emanated from it, filled with extreme greed and domineering force.

Boom!

As if the seabed had collapsed, a terrifyingly strong suction erupted from the mouth of the taotie with silver armor and golden eyes.

At the same time, within the golden void where Qin Shuo's mind resided, a huge black hole as black as ink suddenly appeared beneath the white jade elephant's feet.

Under that terrifying suction, as if it could tear apart heaven and earth, the colossal body of the white jade divine elephant began to twist and disintegrate,

Along with the myriad gods and Buddhas on its body, they too, under the tearing of this terrifying suction, turned into golden floods and were swallowed into the black hole.

Roar!

The elephant cried out!

As its body disintegrated, it turned into strands of pure golden light, forcibly dragged into Qin Shuo's soul, and countless insights and mysteries of the Longxiang Divine Ability flooded into his mind like a mountain flood and sea tsunami.

In a daze, he seemed to see an old monk with white eyebrows and white beard, with a waxen yellow complexion, looking at him from across ancient times.

Just one glance, Qin Shuo felt his pores explode like thunderbolts, all his hairs stand on end, and a great terror arose in his heart.

"Martial Saint!"

His mind and spirit violently trembled, and he truly felt the terror of the Martial Saint's will.

Clearly just a casual glance across time and space, he yet felt his mind's lake struck by a ten-thousand-jin boulder, leaving him breathless while also stirring up heaven-rending waves, long unable to subside.

"Amitabha……"

The waxen yellow old monk put his palms together, withdrew his gaze, as if tacitly permitting Qin Shuo's refinement.

The waxen yellow old monk's figure gradually dissipated upstream in the river of time.

At the same time, in the mysterious void, the elephant's body disintegrated,

And a majestic, unparalleled golden heavenly dragon, as if crossing a thousand years of time and space, surged forth from where the waxen yellow old monk had disappeared.

Roar——!

The heavenly dragon raised its head, issuing bursts of dragon cries.

But the dragon's roar was not a beast's howl; it contained myriad Buddhist chants and Zen hymns, vast and magnificent, like thunder piercing the ears.

In the end, the body of the giant elephant and the soul of the celestial dragon were both swallowed into the black hole, and even Qin Shuo's mind and spirit were instantly shattered under that terrifying suction.

Huh~

As his mind and spirit returned to the sea of consciousness, Qin Shuo felt a sudden dampness on his back—he had broken out in a cold sweat from fright.

At the same time, text appeared floating beneath the Taotie Cauldron:

【Longxiang Divine Ability, Second Layer: Refined!】

【Refinement Effect: Possesses the strength of ten elephants, spirit gathers the soul of the celestial dragon!】

【The soul of the celestial dragon, using qi and blood as a guide and spirit as a medium, can emit the 'Celestial Dragon Roar'! When this sound arises, it is as if three thousand buddhas chant in unison, specially to destroy demons and evil spirits, and to shock the spirit!】

【Current Refineable Node: Longxiang Divine Ability, Third Layer!】

【Refinement Condition 1: Buddhist perfection, like the sun wheel hanging in the heavens (Not Achieved)】

【Refinement Condition 2: Golden body without flaw, its form sixteen feet! (Not Achieved)】

【Refinement Condition 3: Divine Intent Manifestation, Golden Dragon White Elephant! (Not Achieved)】

【Note: Only by taking the elephant as form and the vajra as spirit can one hold the Wisdom King's strength and master the ten-dragon ten-elephant strength!】

【Current Refinement Progress: Cannot Be Refined!】

【The Taotie Cauldron's energy is insufficient; please replenish energy promptly!】

Three hours passed in an instant.

When Qin Shuo opened his eyes again and his consciousness returned to the peak of the Secret Realm, Monk Ku Ci and Monk Chijiao were both staring at him with strange expressions.

Although they did not know exactly what had happened to Qin Shuo, they could clearly sense that,

at some moment just now, Qin Shuo's body had undergone an earth-shaking change, and his spiritual power had surged more than double in an instant,

moreover, faint Buddhist chants emanated from within his body, like a dragon's roar, like an elephant's cry,

but it seemed as if countless gods and buddhas were chanting sutras inside his body, the voice solemn and magnificent, causing those who heard it to have their minds and spirits shaken, as if they were about to be saved.

"Really done?"

Monk Chijiao gripped his long eyebrows tightly in his hand, his eyes full of excitement and disbelief.

Although they knew Qin Shuo's talent was extraordinary, truly witnessing him break the iron law of the world-renowned divine ability's second layer still stirred great waves in their hearts.

"Fortunately, I did not disgrace my mission; thank you, two great masters, for your fulfillment!"

Qin Shuo clasped his hands and bowed deeply to the two great masters.

"Your killing intent does not diminish, your Buddhist nature increases—Qin Shuo, you truly have opened this old monk's eyes!"

Monk Ku Ci pressed his palms together, his heart filled with shock.

Qin Shuo gave a slight smile, took out a kasaya from the Taotie Cauldron, and handed it to Monk Chijiao:

"Great Master, this is the Longxiang Golden Body Divine Intent Map left by the Longxiang Great Master; now that I have fully accomplished my practice, this object should return to its original owner."

Although his Longxiang Golden Body is now only fully accomplished, he has already used the Taotie Cauldron to make rubbings of the subsequent divine intent markings, so this kasaya is now useless; it would be better to do a favor.

"The junior master's relic..."

Monk Liaokong raised his eyebrows, extended both hands, carefully received it, and then said: "Thank you, Qin Shuo."

Monk Ku Ci also pressed his palms together and bowed in gratitude.