Chapter 885: Ancient Temple of a Thousand Years, Green Lamp Before the Buddha

The flying ship began to fly once more.

On the deck was a large mass of colorful light, with four flags distributed around it, within which one could faintly see golden flowing light and scorching flames.

Amidst this mass of light, Li Fei, Shi Caiming, and Zhou Xuanyi stood in a circle, watching Bai Meng "fiddling" with the Dharma Corpse Holy Body of Wuche.

As a top-tier True Person with two life-bound magic treasures, although one had been self-detonated, a portion of his true spirit remained in the other, so his life was not in immediate danger.

If Wuche had not thought of relying on self-detonating his life-bound magic treasure to severely wound Li Fei, but instead had decisively abandoned the Nine-Tin Flying Dragon Staff and used the Dharma Corpse to cast 【Divine Footwork】 to escape, Li Fei and the others would not have been able to keep him.

As it turned out, the self-detonation of the Nine-Tin Flying Dragon Staff affected the spatial divine ability, preventing Wuche from leaving immediately.

Taking advantage of the moment he was at his weakest, Bai Meng seized the opportunity to channel her unique divine ability 【Star Picking】 to snatch control of the opponent's Dharma Corpse Holy Body.

Precisely because of this, the 【Divine Footwork】 that Wuche was in the middle of casting was interrupted, and he completely lost the chance to escape.

Now, Li Fei, Shi Caiming, and Zhou Xuanyi were each using their own Martial Dao Domains and formations to jointly suppress Wuche, helping Bai Meng complete the plunder of the Dharma Corpse Holy Body!

Bai Meng rarely revealed an expression of excitement; she placed her own life-bound magic treasure, the Seven-Treasure Profound Bracelet, onto the wrist of the Dharma Corpse, using a formation to "infect" the formation of the Dharma Corpse Holy Body, thereby channeling the 【Star Picking】 divine ability with all her might so that Wuche could not even self-detonate if he wanted to.

This Sect Master of the Star Picking Sect only had a cultivation base of the Heavenly Dipper realm; even if Wuche only had a Dharma Corpse Holy Body left, its formation was still far stronger than hers.

The reason she could carry out the plunder so calmly was, first, because there were three experts beside her helping to guard the formation, and second, because Wuche's current state was very poor.

The Dharma Corpse, which had previously been like a Vajra Venerable, now looked extremely miserable:

Its abdomen was completely pierced through, and the wound had yet to heal.

The top of its head was split open, looking like a watermelon smashed in half, revealing the metal patterns engraved with golden Sanskrit inside.

The head, along with the neck, had been "embedded" into the chest.

Various divine abilities of the Dharma Corpse had been suppressed, causing the Dharma Corpse to be unable to heal and forced to maintain this tragic state.

Bai Meng fumbled around the Dharma Corpse with an excited look for over thirty minutes, then stood up and looked at Li Fei and the others:

"The difficulty is a bit high; it will have to be worn down slowly."

No one expected her to be able to snatch the life-bound magic treasure of a top-tier True Person—who was at the peak of the Great Perfection of the Heavenly Dipper and Earthly Fiend realms and only one step away from breaking through—so quickly.

If the Star Picking Sect were that powerful, it would have long since been the number one sect in the world.

"Is there really a chance to snatch it over?"

Zhou Xuanyi asked curiously.

In his view, this 【Star Picking】 divine ability was just for bullying the weak and was only useful against those with a lower realm than oneself.

"Nonsense, otherwise why would I be wasting my time?"

Bai Meng rolled her eyes.

"If this thing is snatched over, can it retain its original divine abilities?"

Li Fei also couldn't help but ask curiously.

The reason a life-bound magic treasure has the word "life-bound" is because it is connected to the practitioner's life, so the divine abilities contained within the magic treasure are also closely related to the practitioner themselves.

Once the practitioner's true spirit is extinguished, all the divine abilities of the life-bound magic treasure will dissipate along with it, leaving only an "empty shell."

If other practitioners obtain this "empty shell," they must re-condense the divine abilities, though it can save a sum of "materials."

The True One magic treasure "Dream-Like Order" that Li Fei once obtained was an "empty shell" left behind after a True Monarch died.

If Bai Meng only wanted to snatch an "empty shell," she could simply extinguish the true spirit Wuche left inside the Dharma Corpse Holy Body; there would be no need to go through all this trouble.

Therefore, Li Fei guessed that the opponent's methods must have some special aspects.

Facing Li Fei, Bai Meng's attitude was much better, as Wuche had been defeated by him:

"As long as I can snatch it over, even if the opponent's true spirit dissipates, I can preserve the divine abilities of this life-bound magic treasure, though its power will be somewhat reduced."

Li Fei was somewhat surprised: "In that case, you could also possess a second life-bound magic treasure, or even more?"

Bai Meng shook her head: "If I want to channel the divine abilities, I must entrust my true spirit into it; in essence, I still only have one life-bound magic treasure, just with more available divine abilities."

Li Fei understood.

To simultaneously control multiple life-bound magic treasures, one must nurture more true spirits, and the requirements for talent for this are extremely high.

Although Bai Meng could plunder others' life-bound magic treasures and keep their divine abilities from dissipating, she only had one true spirit and could only use one life-bound magic treasure at a time.

However, even so, this gave her the opportunity to break the limit on the number of divine abilities.

Once she could successfully plunder this Dharma Corpse Holy Body of Wuche, her strength would immediately rise by a level!

It was just that defeating a top expert was already very difficult, and capturing them alive, completely suppressing them, and then slowly plundering the life-bound magic treasure with divine abilities was even harder.

This was just the first time Bai Meng had the opportunity to try.

Next, Zhou Xuanyi and Bai Meng, these two imperial retainers, would both be joining Li Fei on the northern expedition, so Li Fei naturally hoped that Bai Meng's strength would be as high as possible.

"How long is it expected to take to succeed?"

Li Fei asked.

Bai Meng: "That's hard to say. If it's fast, ten days or half a month. If it's slow, a year or so is also possible. And during this period, I must ensure this holy monk's true spirit doesn't cause trouble."

Zhou Xuanyi spoke up: "We can't just keep dragging it out like this; let's suppress his true spirit first."

He and Bai Meng were both top-tier True Persons, and Li Fei could also be considered a top-tier True Person; the three of them working together still had some methods they could use.

"I can weaken his true spirit first."

Li Fei said.

Bai Meng nodded immediately: "Then I will have to trouble the Marquis of Jing'an."

Thereupon, Li Fei narrowed his eyes and looked at the Dharma Corpse on the ground.

The three experts present all sensed a powerful sword intent filled with killing intent flash by, as if a colossal beast had emerged beneath the sea surface, only to quietly submerge back into the deep ocean.

That sudden sense of horror made the three of them secretly alarmed!

"Is this the Unification of Dharma and Martial Arts?"

Bai Meng looked at Shi Caiming.

She sensed the true power of sorcery and the mental focus of the Martial Dao from this sword intent; the two powers were perfectly fused, a mental attack method she had never seen before.

Consciousness world.

Wuche was dressed in white monk robes, just as he was when he first entered Pudu Temple.

He knelt before the Buddha statue, and a green lamp before the Buddha illuminated the great hall.

Wuche pressed his palms together, chanting sutras devoutly.

This was his self-defense posture; after being captured, he used his true spirit to construct such an illusion to resist the intrusion of external enemies.

Outside the temple, the setting sun, like congealed blood, sank into the distant mountains, and the sound of the sky tearing like silk shattered the cicadas' chirping.

A giant blood-colored sword broke through the firmament and stabbed toward the temple below!

The sea of clouds surged, the giant sword like heavenly punishment; the closer it got to the temple, the stronger the oppressive feeling became.

The copper bells under the eaves of the ancient temple went silent, and the stone lions guarding the steps cracked.

Wuche knelt before the Buddha statue, the flame of the green lamp flickered, and the sound of chanting stopped abruptly.

He did not stand up, but maintained his kneeling posture and continued to chant.

This time, he was chanting the "Diamond Sutra."

A golden Buddha statue appeared out of thin air, one hand placed before its chest, with the temple where Wuche was located resting in the palm of the Buddha statue.

The other hand pointed upward toward the sky, the fingertip meeting the blood-colored giant sword.

Broken spears and halberds, cracked shields, warhorses fallen in pools of blood... scenes from the battlefield appeared on the body of the giant sword.

When the sword tip struck the Buddha's finger, a map of the mountains and rivers of the world unfolded with a boom at the point of impact, and mounds of bones built into monuments appeared.

In the silent collision, the ginkgo tree inside the temple shed its leaves frantically, each golden leaf turning into dust as it fell.

Wuche, who was chanting, suddenly shed tears of blood!

The damage brought to him by self-detonating his life-bound magic treasure was extremely severe, and with the Dharma Corpse being suppressed by several experts, the power he could exert at this moment was limited.

And this strike of Li Fei's Blood Might Seven Kills did not hesitate to use the 【Refining Objects】 divine ability to refine blood souls to increase its power!

Therefore, with just one collision, Wuche's injuries were compounded.

He still refused to give up, his hands forming seals, and the golden Buddha statue also extended its other hand, the two palms overlapping to strike upward with a 【Wish-Fulfilling Seal】.

"Bestowing charity upon the world? Does the world need your charity?"

Li Fei's voice resounded through the heavens and earth.

Wuche remained unmoved, his chanting continuing:

"If I do not enter hell, who will enter hell?"

Their thoughts intertwined, and their respective philosophies could be clearly reflected in each other's hearts:

"Buddhism does not engage in production; if everyone ate vegetarian food and chanted Buddha's name, how would the world function?"

"This is a foolish view. In our Buddhism, from the small novices up to the Buddhas, we emphasize the unity of farming and Zen; if one does not work for a day, one does not eat for a day. If everyone believes in Buddha, then everyone works, and there will be no meat-eaters plundering the production of others."

"Buddhism says all living beings are equal, but why can the Buddha be high and mighty? Your Pudu Temple claims to be a holy land of Buddhism; dare you say there is no distinction of rank?"

"Only with cause and effect and reincarnation can there be equality among all living beings. If one life is unequal, when viewed over thousands of lives, then everyone is equal, and everyone can become a Buddha."

"."

Li Fei quickly gave up on communicating with the opponent.

Any school of thought that can be passed down for generations cannot have obvious loopholes for people to refute.

Facing a holy monk like Wuche, it was even more impossible for Li Fei to rely on "debating the Dharma" to persuade the opponent.

He also didn't care about persuading the opponent.

Just beating him into submission would do!

He continued to channel the 【Refining Objects】 divine ability to convert blood souls into true power and mental strength.

The blood-colored giant sword continued to descend, the Buddha's finger breaking inch by inch from the tip, and then the entire Buddha statue collapsed along with it!

Wuche inside the temple bled from his seven orifices and could no longer maintain this illusion.

On the deck, Li Fei withdrew from the consciousness world of Wu Che.

Taking advantage of Wu Che's spirit suffering heavy damage, Bai Meng and Zhou Xuan joined forces to cast a technique to suppress his true spirit.

A moment later, the two stopped.

Bai Meng nodded to Li Fei and Shi Caiming, signaling that there was no need to continue using the Martial Dao Domain to suppress the Dharma Remains Holy Body.

With this, this fourth strongest expert of the Buddhist school, the holy monk with the greatest chance of breaking through to become a new Buddha, was truly captured!

His physical body should still be inside Pudu Temple, but without his two natal magic treasures, he was basically considered crippled.

If the true spirit within the Dharma Remains Holy Body were to perish next, the physical body would be in mortal danger!

"I have troubled you two to watch over these Dharma remains."

Li Fei left behind this sentence and turned to enter the tower ship to see Li Lei and Zhang Yuqing.

He gave the two a rough explanation of today's events and comforted them.

After returning to his own private room, Li Fei finally had time to summarize his battle with Wu Che today.

This fourth strongest expert of the Buddhist school was indeed worthy of being a Prince-level expert.

But in reality, the amount of blood soul energy Li Fei consumed to deal with Wu Che was not as much as he had consumed previously when fighting seven Dukes at once.

Yet the pressure Wu Che brought to Li Fei was stronger than those seven Dukes combined.

Because those seven Dukes were not actually skilled in joint-attack techniques, and their coordination was far inferior to Wu Che's two natal magic treasures.

"Wu Che's strength lies in the coordination of his two natal magic treasures, but this is precisely his greatest weakness."

Li Fei pondered, "If the connection between the two natal magic treasures were stronger, making it impossible for me to sever it, then this battle would have truly been troublesome."

If the connection between the Nine-Tin Flying Dragon Staff and the Dharma Remains Holy Body had not been severed, no matter which natal magic treasure Li Fei attacked, the attack would have been rebounded back; that would have been truly difficult to fight.

He would either have to slowly wear Wu Che down and see who had more stamina.

Or he would have to risk 'unsheathing' his Flying Sword Body and consume even more blood soul energy to execute 【Sword Sacrifice】 to strengthen his attack power. He would have to gamble and see if his attack ceiling could break through the opponent's defense ceiling and shatter the opponent's 'rebound mechanism'.

But if he did that, the risk would be very high.

"Therefore, in a duel between top experts, it is more important to find loopholes through the 'interaction' of domains and formulate targeted tactics."

Li Fei summarized the gains from this battle.

"Wu Che's weakness lies in the connection of his two natal magic treasures, so what are my weaknesses? If I were the enemy, what kind of tactics would I formulate to target myself?"

Li Fei's thoughts stirred, and through Wu Che, he thought of himself.

He fell into deep thought.

After thinking for a very long time, Li Fei had to admit with a touch of narcissism:

"I don't seem to have any obvious weaknesses."

Xiji Province.

Mount Pudu.

The place where the Buddhist holy site, Pudu Temple, is located.

Seventy-two pagodas wind up along the mountain, and the prayer flags hanging from the pagoda spires dance in the gale.

The setting sun dyes the entire mountain range red, and the floating clouds and mist between the mountains are plated with gold edges.

The entire temple is brightly lit, permeated with a faint scent of sandalwood.

In front of the main hall of the temple are three thousand steps of green jade, with fragments of Buddhist scriptures carved into every step.

Every time Qin Zihong walks past these steps, he feels as if his heart has also been stained with a faint sense of Zen.

But the anxiety in his heart, growing stronger with each passing day, makes it truly difficult for him to be calm.

In the Battle of Baifeng Plain, the army he led was defeated.

He and the King of Li, Qin Mingli, could only return to Mount Pudu with the people from Pudu Temple.

Afterward, he learned the news of the Third Imperial Prince's death, and through the various details of that battle, he roughly guessed the plot between the Buddhist school and the Third Imperial Prince.

Thus he understood that he was actually the pawn being sacrificed!

The reason he was still alive now was thanks to the imperial court winning.

With a mutiny in the Southern Border and the defeat at Baifeng Plain, Qin Zihong's power had basically been exhausted.

He knew very well that his only value now was his former status as the First Imperial Prince.

If the Buddhist school wants to strike out of Xiji Province in the future, they might need to use his name to overthrow the current new monarch.

But his role had gone from being indispensable at the beginning to becoming less important now.

Qin Zihong was not reconciled to this situation!

He stepped over the stairs one by one and arrived outside the main hall.

Because of his status, no one stopped him along the way.

Inside the main hall, an old monk sat in meditation before a Buddha statue, his back to Qin Zihong.

"Qin Zihong requests an audience with the Elder."

Qin Zihong bowed to the old monk.

"Your Highness, please enter."

A gentle voice came from within the great hall.

Regardless of anything else, at least on the surface, Qin Zihong was still very much respected within Pudu Temple, this Buddhist holy site.

He stepped into the great hall.

But the old monk still showed no intention of getting up, which surprised Qin Zihong somewhat.

However, he did not make a sound, nor did he urge him, waiting quietly behind the other party.

He knew that this old monk's status in Pudu Temple was extraordinary; the other party was one of the six Great Arhats and also the monk of the 'Jing' generation with the highest seniority in Pudu Temple, with the Dharma name Jing Lian.

Not only that, the other party also had a disciple, who was the current fourth strongest expert of the Buddhist school, Wu Che.

Therefore, with the Buddha Jing Heng in seclusion and the two Heavenly Kings not managing much, almost everything in the entire Pudu Temple was decided by Jing Lian.

Qin Zihong stood for a while and discovered that Jing Lian seemed to be staring at the green lamp offered before the Buddha statue the whole time.

He could not help but take a few more looks at this green lamp as well.

Having stayed in Pudu Temple for so long, he had also learned a lot.

For example, this green lamp offered before the Buddha statue in the main hall had a great origin; it was rumored to be a magic treasure left behind by the Buddha!

The Buddha and the Dao Ancestor respectively founded the Buddhist school and the Daoist school.

In the cultivation world, some people felt that these two had already reached above the peak and had long since transcended the world.

Others believed that these two were still just peak experts and had not broken through that boundary.

In fact, more people believed the latter.

Because if the Buddha and the Dao Ancestor had both broken through to above the peak, they should have at least left behind some inheritance.

Yet for thousands of years, both the Buddhist and Daoist schools had been groping for the path above the peak.

True Lord Qingxu made an attempt, but failed.

However, regardless of which viewpoint one held, it was at least recognized in the cultivation world that the Buddha and the Dao Ancestor could not be viewed as ordinary peak experts.

The green lamp left behind by the Buddha was naturally not simple either.

It was rumored that this green lamp before the Buddha had been lit ever since the day Pudu Temple was built.

To this day, it had been burning for a thousand years!

Qin Zihong looked at this green lamp and gradually became somewhat mesmerized.

In a trance, he felt that the wick of this green lamp seemed to be flickering?

"Your Highness."

Jing Lian's voice brought Qin Zihong back to his senses.

Without knowing when, Jing Lian had already stood up and turned to face Qin Zihong.

"Greetings, Elder."

Qin Zihong hurriedly bowed.

"Does Your Highness have any business?"

Jing Lian asked gently, his expression appearing to reveal a hint of obvious fatigue.

Qin Zihong looked at the other party, took a deep breath, and suddenly knelt down on both knees!

Jing Lian was startled and hurriedly stepped aside to avoid it:

"What is the meaning of this, Your Highness?"

Qin Zihong looked up at the solemn Buddha statue above:

"Elder, I have also enjoyed all the glory and had lofty ambitions. But looking back now, my imperial father has perished with the nation, and my younger brother has died.

Grand ambitions and hegemony are, in the end, all for nothing!"

Jing Lian frowned: "Why must Your Highness be so disheartened? This is merely a dragon stranded in the shallows..."

Qin Zihong knew that the other party was peerless in debate and that he certainly could not out-talk him, so he did not give the other party a chance to finish his sentence at all.

Facing the green lamp before the Buddha in front, he bowed down to the ground:

"Having lived in the Buddhist holy site for several months, I have observed the incense smoke in the precious tripod before the hall, gathering and dispersing without reason, just like the glory of the human world, like dew and like lightning.

Now I have suddenly awakened; although the jewelry is heavy, it is not as cool as a kasaya; although the palace is vast, it is hard to compare to the square inch of a meditation cushion."

Having said this, Qin Zihong used his internal energy to propel his voice, which resounded through the great hall:

"My Buddha is merciful; I am willing to use my body as a descendant of the imperial blood to seek the Tathagata's path of nirvana!"

(End of chapter)