Chapter 153: Śarīra

Stop, don't kill me. You can't kill me!

The monk looked at Chen Shicheng with some fear, shouting hoarsely.

Chen Shicheng looked at his twisted, deformed face, stunned for a moment; it seemed he still underestimated the monk's strength.

According to his expectation, once he triggered the blade gang inside the opponent's body, it would immediately burst out, turning them into a lump of rotten flesh.

But in reality, the monk's golden body wasn't to be trifled with; although it was about to explode like a kidney holding urine for three days, he could barely rely on his golden body to hold on for a moment.

"Not kill you? Do you think that's possible?" To ease the awkwardness, Chen Shicheng continued to trigger the blade gang with one hand while seeing what reason this naive monk could give for not killing him.

"I know what you players want; all my assets are at Great Cloud Temple. If you kill me now, you'll get nothing. Better to take me as a hostage back; I guarantee you'll gain several times—no, dozens of times—the reward."

"Great Return Pill! Yes, Great Return Pill!" the monk hurriedly said, "Below the Zifu Realm, one pill can raise one's level by one; you can exchange me for it."

"Don't talk to me about leveling up; I'm feeling depressed right now."

Looking at the experience points on the panel showing level 15 (233/100), Chen Shicheng sighed; Buddhist divine abilities almost always carry a certain salvation effect, and though he could resist, he was still affected to some extent.

If it weren't for the swastika character smashing down, bringing him a deadly threat too great, he might not have remembered that he still had merit points left on his panel to use.

"Moreover, I don't like leaving any lingering threats; if your last words are done, then go."

Chen Shicheng shook his head and began to fully exert the blade gang inside the monk's body.

Instantly, the monk's complexion turned golden with a hint of red, his eyes almost popping out of their sockets.

"Wait a moment. My master is Master Jianzhen, Elder of the Arhat Hall at Great Cloud Temple." The monk squeezed out these words from between his teeth.

"Here it comes, here it comes!"

Chen Shicheng watched with interest as the monk, unable to hold on, had his knees buckle.

What a classic xianxia novel trope: when you can't beat them, you start pulling out senior sect members; the plot likely goes like beating the junior brings out the senior, and in the end you'd wipe out the entire Great Cloud Temple.

However, it's a pity that although he has set foot on this otherworldly land, he's truly not a lone transmigrator; after all, there are still people from the Cultural Tourism Bureau Logistics Department and the Iron Blood Great Wall backing him up.

To wipe out the Great Cloud Temple causing trouble domestically, there's no need for him to act himself!

Seeing the monk's skin begin to swell with moving lumps, Chen Shicheng stepped forward and pressed his hand onto the monk's head.

In the next instant, the monk's terrified expression froze on his face; countless red lines appeared on his body surface, and densely packed blade gangs burst out like a thousand knives, his golden body dissipating back to mortal flesh, then collapsing like a pile of blocks into a heap of minced meat before Chen Shicheng.

【Slain Lv. 27 Hui Kong, cross-level kill experience doubled, gained 48 experience points, gained 6 gold, gained Śarīra ×1.】

The monk named Hui Kong really hadn't lied; besides the Śarīra that dropped, there were only a few taels of gold.

Chen Shicheng, unwilling to believe it, pulled out his two-handed greatsword and turned over the minced flesh on the ground, not even finding a storage bag—meaning that after defeating the strongest enemy he'd faced since entering the game, his gains were pitifully few.

"Pah, pauper!" Chen Shicheng plopped onto the ground and began to restore his stamina and true essence.

The battle's duration wasn't long, but it consumed a lot of stamina, not to mention the frantic consumption of true essence under the suppression of the Six Syllable Mantra; even after casting Universal Rainfall twice on himself, his wounds were only half-healed, and his meridians remained riddled with holes.

If it weren't for the Slay Immortal Grand Formation being able to draw heaven-and-earth spiritual qi to condense blade gangs, the outcome of this battle would truly be uncertain.

He sat cross-legged in place for ten-odd minutes, restoring his true essence to full, then gave himself two more doses of Universal Rainfall; the burning meridians finally returned to normal, after which Chen Shicheng scratched his head at the sight of the ground covered in minced flesh.

"In this state, it probably can't be refined into a Yellow Turban Strongman, right?" He took out a bean-seed relic and tentatively placed it on the pile of minced flesh.

【Corpse severely damaged; please replace with an intact corpse for refinement.】

As expected.

But there's nothing to be done; he had already exhausted his fuel and dried his lamp, the surrounding heaven-and-earth spiritual qi had been sucked dry by the Slay Immortal Grand Formation, and up to now he had only recovered a little.

Moreover, even if this bit of spiritual qi were condensed into blade gangs, it likely couldn't pierce the monk's golden body; one could only rely on blade gangs emanating from within to resolve it.

He shook his head, tossed aside the regret of wasting a corpse, and took out the Śarīra that had just dropped to examine it.

Unlike the stone-like śarīras in museums, Hui Kong's śarīra is thumb-sized, crystal clear throughout, emitting a faint Buddha light; just holding it in hand gives a feeling of being bathed in spring breeze, with a clear mind.

【Śarīra: formed after the death of a highly cultivated monk; wearing it speeds true essence recovery, increases comprehension to a degree, and hastens skill comprehension.】

"Great stuff!"

If it weren't for his wariness that the śarīra is a stone produced after cremation, Chen Shicheng would have almost kissed it directly.

Speeding true essence recovery and such are merely side functions; what he values most is the ability to increase comprehension and hasten skill mastery.

Compared to other players, this ability is just the icing on the cake; though precious, it hasn't reached the level of a treasure.

But for him, this thing can save a lot of merit points, and as time passes, the merit it saves grows, increasing its value to him; it's a long-term, sustainable source of profit, a supreme treasure!

He placed the śarīra close to his body, feeling his mind grow clearer, and Chen Shicheng turned his gaze to the panel.

After slaying the 27th-level Zifu Realm monk, his experience points had reached level 15 (281/100).

Although reports say the top expert of the Iron Blood Great Wall is locked in a stalemate with the Silent Council's people, with sufficient support this incursion of the game into reality could be resolved.

But right before his eyes appeared native cultivators of the Zifu Realm, making it hard not to suspect that side is also a trap; he's just waiting for those supporters to go over, then net them all at once.

Therefore, for safety's sake, it's still better to raise his level; after all, defeating this monk relied on the enemy underestimating him, plus he didn't know his own details.

Even so, this left him covered in wounds, barely alive; if it happened again, he truly couldn't be sure he'd escape with his life.

Moreover, Hui Siye wants to revive but must wait 24 hours; lacking half its attribute bonus, he can only make up for it by leveling up.

(End of chapter)