Chapter 391: Eight Treasures Merit Sword

Within the Dharma Realm, the negative will of the entire Da Mo pressed down like a collapsing mountain and an overturning sea; the terrifying demons and monsters from all directions were even more powerful than the giant beetle Demon God from the night before.

Nine-tailed scorpions, six-winged bats, swarms of three-eyed sand wolves, seven-colored spiders as large as houses, lizards comparable to dinosaurs... Fire Essence circling the flames like individual little suns... faceless Lost Demons, thousand-year-old dried corpses lurking in the yellow sand, possessing flame abilities almost comparable to a Drought Demon...

They all represented a portion of the Da Mo's Quanshen, bestowing the greatest malice upon this "Extra-Territorial Heavenly Demon."

Yet this tiny Wuse Liuli Fajie was truly "indestructible," as if it were a circle drawn by Sun Houzi, or like the isolation of You Ming after Zhuanxu Dadi Cut Off Heaven and Earth, establishing the rule for demons, monsters, and ghosts: "Do not enter without an invitation."

In short, this tiny Daochang within the world of the living could also be considered Xu Jia's: "Guangming Daochang."

The consciousnesses of Huogong Toutuo and Shifang dared not move rashly for a moment, yet they heard a voice say: "The Daochang's power is limited. The light you see in the main hall originates from the Dharma nature of the Oasis's energy. It is used to refine a glazed lamp; once the lamp is lit with oil, it can protect this place. When the oil is exhausted and the lamp shatters, these demons will devour all of your consciousnesses."

"Only by killing those demons can you obtain Dharma-nature lamp oil. If you cannot defeat the powerful ones, defeating the weak ones will also suffice."

Xu Jia said it as such, himself completely fearless, merely grabbing the two of them to serve as laborers.

Just as they were struggling within the Dharma Realm, suddenly, Buddha light illuminated everywhere in the distance, and then a massive Buddha Golden Body was revealed; wherever the golden light shone, everything turned golden.

"Huangjin Zhi Guo!"

Shifang Xiaoheshang muttered as he looked toward that place.

Xu Jia also sensed this vast Buddha-element Dharma Power in the present world and had a faint premonition that there was a treasure there that actually had some Karmic Connection with him.

He immediately performed a quick calculation; it turned out to be a Fomen Feijian. Though called Fomen, it was actually an "Earth-element flying sword." This sword was refined from the Merit mud in the Babao Gongde Chi. The mud, tempered by fire, became a Merit Golden Body; melting the Golden Body to refine the sword resulted in the Babao Gongde Sword.

Because this sword carried Merit, it severed karma rather than people; killing with it did not stain one with Cause and Effect or karmic force, and it was also related to the "Great Vow for All Living Beings" that Xu Jia had made.

Since there was a Karmic Connection, he could not help but take it for use. Although the Hundred Poison Yellow Sand Gu could continue to be refined, it was ultimately just a toy.

Waiting until dawn, when the Dharma Realm receded and Huogong Toutuo's consciousness returned to his physical body, Xu Jia ordered him to harvest the Sun True Fire Qi, then said: "You should properly cultivate that Sand-Escaping Technique. In two days, we will go to that Foguo Mijing."

"Two days later? I fear there won't even be a hair left for us by then."

"Since it is a Buddha Kingdom, there are naturally Buddha Kingdom trials. Those who are not proficient in Dharma and have no Karmic Connection with the Buddha will naturally not obtain the opportunity. Do you really think the Buddha Gate is a charity house? The Cause and Effect and destiny within are clearer than what you calculate. I fear that after this time, the Da Mo's Dharma will flourish, and the Buddha Kingdom will be re-established."

Upon hearing this, Huogong Toutuo felt his scalp tingle.

Shifang Xiaoheshang, however, asked to leave: "The Abbot is in that place, and I fear it is somewhat dangerous, so this little monk will not stay long."

He had been frightened by being grabbed by Xu Jia to do manual labor in the Dharma Realm.

Xu Jia, seeing through his thoughts, said: "Your master mortgaged you to me; you must bring something to redeem yourself when the time comes. If you want to leave, you must pay the ransom yourself: a Sword Scripture or a method for refining swords."

Shifang Xiaoheshang's face turned beet red. He had nothing on his person but this Cimei Staff; he had no other possessions. The cultivation method he practiced was also traditional Buddha Gate martial arts, focusing on external techniques, entering from the outside to the inside, slowly refining the innate—where would he have any Sword Scripture or sword-refining method?

Xu Jia saw his embarrassment and said: "Very well, you may go."

Shifang squeezed out a sentence: "I will return a Sword Scripture to you." Having said that, he carried his staff and left.

Huogong Toutuo was curious: "Just let him go like that?" In his heart, he thought: Should I ask too? Maybe he'll let me go as well?

Xu Jia said: "If you wish, you can go with him, but you don't have a good master; I fear that if you go, it will be a path to death."

Huogong Toutuo had no choice but to give up.

Xu Jia then began to calculate: "That Babao Gongde Sword has a Karmic Connection with me; I fear it has taken a liking to the so-called Yellow Heaven Sect destiny of this body. The Yellow Heaven Sect is passed down from the Yellow Heaven Sect, which is an orthodox sect of Shangjie... But even with Shifang's Omniscience and the Three Realms' clarity, it is impossible to calculate that this body is not my true self."

Since this Karmic Connection was like fishing with bait, one could not be impatient; otherwise, if the bait wasn't eaten but the hook was caught, it would be troublesome. For these two days, he taught Huogong Toutuo the Sand-Escaping Technique during the day.

Huogong Toutuo practiced the Fire Method and actually had no talent for sand, but Xu Jia had his own ways. He taught him to refine a grain of "Red Sand"—this sand was cinnabar and fire sand. By utilizing this sand, he could transform fire-escape into sand-escape; it was nothing more than gathering, dispersing, combining, separating, Yin/Yang changes, and Five Elements conversion.

Thus, refining sand by day and fighting in the Dharma Realm by night, Huogong Toutuo's aura gradually became refined, and the sword intent of that Dutian Liehuo Sword became much sharper.

This was the difference between the guidance of a master and being a lone rogue cultivator.

After doing this and that, Xu Jia handed the Dust-Avoiding Pearl to him: "Go."

Huogong Toutuo was bewildered: "Are you not coming with me?" Xu Jia replied: "When did I say I was going with you? This trip will naturally be yours alone. But do not worry; you already have the capital to survive. After all, I will still need you, the successor of Dutian Liehuo Zushi, to open the Huashan inheritance. Go forth and venture with confidence."

This time, it was Huogong Toutuo who dared not: "Should I refine a bit more? Others refine techniques for years or decades; I've only had three days of crash-course training. Will it work? What if it fails when the time comes?"

Xu Jia did not answer him but kicked him with a clever force, sending him flying several hundred feet, rolling eighteen times in the sand, before he escaped into the sand and disappeared into the distance.

After sending him off, Xu Jia began to mold mud into an image, creating a statue of himself in this small Glazed Temple.

As for anything else, there was nothing, but having drawn water that day and gained some faith, he channeled it into this, and there was a faint "Divine Path change." Thus, the image of a yellow-robed Daoist holding a Beetle Horn staff and standing on a yellow lotus appeared.

"Edict: Appointed as the Northwest Da Mo Oasis Land Manager!"

Xu Jia severed this part and bestowed divinity upon this living physical body. The method of enshrining an external god within one's Inner Landscape was the wrong path he had taken in his previous life; now, performing such a maneuver, there was not a hint of incongruity.

"Wonderful, wonderful, wonderful!"

Through this temple, Xu Jia finally connected to where his true body was and could return at any time; it was considered a safeguard, having opened a teleportation point.

With this clay dummy, Xu Jia's consciousness could finally be liberated from this mortal flesh.

The next moment, the yellow-robed Daoist's pupils rolled, the double-pupil anomaly vanished, and instead, the clay Golden Body in the Glazed Temple revealed divine light and consciousness.

The yellow-robed Daoist was stunned for a moment, as if he had lost a segment of memory—how had he suddenly arrived here?

Suddenly, he felt more True Qi in his body, along with a flying sword. He was ecstatic for a moment, completely failing to notice the divine statue in front of him emitting an eerie light, confusing his mind.

"So I am the leader of the Yellow Heaven Sect, practicing the Thick Earth True Method. In my previous, previous life, I was the Third Prince of a small kingdom in the Buddha Kingdom. Because I was dissatisfied with the whole country believing in the Buddha, I left, but when I returned, the entire country had been buried by yellow sand..."

The yellow-robed Daoist, in this state, narrowed his eyes: "It must be the Buddha Gate playing tricks!"

He immediately left the small Glazed Temple and flew toward the Foguo Mijing.

This time, Xu Jia was truly alone and for the first time formally experienced the "Divine Path," having become a clay and stone idol he had molded himself.

He immediately sank his consciousness into the Dharma Realm, truly observing the scene within: yellow sand filled the sky, fire condensed in the void, and heat waves rolled, comparable to Huoyanshan.

"It is hard on them. This Dharma Realm has not been utilized to a great extent. The native Demon Gods within and the laws corresponding to the world of the living are all very raw, as if it were a scene before the Ancestor Heavenly Master set the Zheng-Yi Alliance Oath. These sand demons, wind demons, and Yanmo are all of the same class as the Six Heavens Great Demon Kings."

Although Xu Jia had now become an Oasis Earth Deity, his authority was only around that of an "Er Deng Dixa Zhu," not even governing a village, with only about five mu of land.

"Slaying monsters and expanding the Dharma Realm's divine domain will allow me to carry rules that can change reality, expanding the Oasis area until it attracts caravans and resident living beings to preside over sacrifices for me. Once faith is maintained, I can frequently perform God Descent into this realm without being so rushed and hurried."

The flying sword technology here was simple and effective, but the true core technology was mastered by very few. If one really wanted to delve deep, without ten or eight years, one might not achieve anything.

On the other side, Huogong Toutuo, carrying the Dust-Avoiding Pearl, entered the Buddha Kingdom. Although viewed from the Dharma Realm, everything illuminated by the Buddha light was gold—a Huangjin Zhi Guo—when he approached, apart from it becoming increasingly hot, there was nothing special.

Then, using sand-escape, Huogong Toutuo dodged several heterodox cultivators from the Da Mo who were joining in the fun.

He secretly felt proud: "Before, I was just a third-rate sword immortal like you all; now I have ascended to the second rank. Naturally, a phoenix is different from a chicken."

He did not think much of his former fox friends anymore.

After he escaped in a circle, he saw a huge stone gate and knew it was the entrance to the Buddha Kingdom, so he slipped in through a crack in the gate.

The next moment, the world spun, with yellow Sand, skeletons, mummified corpses wearing monk robes, and a large number of monsters, comparable to the situation in the Dharma Realm those few days.

Several Sword Immortals were clearing these things out, but none of them were formidable; after killing the mummified corpses, they rummaged through them, actually looking for things like Sarira.

One of them obtained a Sarira and was immediately envied by the others; fearing they would not be able to take it out, he actually swallowed it directly into his stomach.

The sword cultivator who swallowed the Sarira immediately saw his cultivation increase, but his aura was impure, with Buddha essence mixed into his Dharma Power.

Having received a reminder from Xu Jia, Huogong Toutuo naturally knew these were not good things, so he sneered and continued to squeeze further inside.

(End of this chapter)