Chapter 157: Chanting Sutras Dueling Dharma

The man was bare-chested, with only a tattered monk's robe wrapped around his waist, revealing scriptures tattooed all over his body.

And in his hand he held a leg bone.

That leg bone had been polished to an oily sheen, the whole bone black, engraved with scriptures all over and coated in gold lacquer, obviously not an ordinary object.

The man exuded a terrifying killing aura; he must have been a heinous villain before death, but after death he was refined into a corpse, wearing a monk's robe, covered in scriptures, wielding an evil weapon that also bore engraved scriptures.

This extreme sense of dissonance makes one's hair stand on end at a glance.

Although we had already inferred much beforehand, tonight, truly coming up the mountain and entering this temple, everything we saw was still beyond expectation.

Whether it was the corpse formation bathed in golden light all over, or this scripture-covered zombie man before us, neither could be refined and controlled by an ordinary person.

Guo Zhen's little soul had been tormented into scattering; I helped summon it simply, and it recovered a bit, only to be frightened away again.

She dazedly huddled in the corner, constantly trembling.

I stepped in front of her, summoned Feng Wu, drew the bow, and shot a flame at the incoming person.

Feng Wu's flame is lethal to this kind of corpse.

Once the flame enters the corpse's or soul's body, it instantly ignites like a prairie fire.

But before the flame could approach, the man swung the leg bone up, precisely meeting the flame.

At the instant the leg bone met the flame, a chanting of scriptures drilled into my ears, and the flame instantly shattered into pieces.

Not to mention burning it inside the corpse; it's hard even to get near the corpse's body.

Moreover, the opponent not only crushed that flame, but the chanting also affected me.

I know that the longer this entanglement continues, the worse it is for me; I need to settle this quickly.

The copper coin Liu Junyan gave me was again pinched in my hand; success or failure hinges on this move.

If it fails, Guo Zhen and I may face more misfortune than fortune tonight.

I drew the bow fully; when the bowstring shot the copper coin out, I actually had no confidence at all.

No matter what magical implement, it has a usage limit.

For example, someone obtains a peace talisman from a temple and wears it; that talisman can block one calamity for the owner, after which the runes on the talisman may disappear.

Also, someone wears an inherited jade pendant; after surviving a major calamity, they find the jade broken unbeknownst when, which is also the pendant blocking a calamity for the owner.

And the golden copper coin Liu Junyan gave me—I had just used it to repel Fengli Shu earlier; now pitting it against the corpse before us, once its contained mana is overdrawn, it will become useless.

But I have no other choice now; I can only give it a shot.

The copper coin whizzed toward the corpse, and he indeed raised the leg bone again.

At the moment they collided, the scripture chant sounded again, incessantly vibrating my eardrums.

But this time the chanting sounded strange; I could discern two chanting voices intertwined.

It was as if two old monks sat facing each other, endlessly chanting sutras in a duel, you and I exchanging blows, the chanting merging into one continuous sound.

In the corner, Guo Zhen covered both ears, vigorously shaking her head, looking extremely painful.

Not long after, I saw two lines of blood trickling from beneath her nose.

I also felt especially irritable; the "slave" character on my cheek burned like fire.

At this moment, Guo Zhen's ears also began to bleed.

I felt my pocket; the talismans Yu Nian had given me I was carrying all along, and now several had turned to ash, leaving only one.

It turned out that in that instant just now, the talismans had already helped me block several calamities.

No wonder my reaction wasn't as strong as Guo Zhen's.

Without hesitation I shoved the talisman into Guo Zhen's pocket; in an instant her mood improved greatly.

Meanwhile, on the other side, the red line extending from the copper coin's eye kept seeking an opportunity to wrap around the leg bone the man swung.

But as soon as the red line appeared, the scriptures on the leg bone flashed bright light, repelling the red line.

Since the red line couldn't land, the copper coin formation couldn't be set up.

I couldn't help but sigh, truly there are people beyond people, heavens beyond heavens.

I waved my hand, and the copper coin immediately returned to my grasp.

The man gripped the leg bone, staring at me with a tiger's gaze.

Obviously, he was also looking for an opportunity to take me down in one move.

There are many kinds of corpses, but this one before us not only has opened spiritual wisdom, but even possesses a Buddhist nature; I've truly never heard of such a thing.

What on earth is the origin of this fake ascetic monk?

How did he refine such a bizarre thing!

The man ground his teeth, his sharp fangs emitting a grating sound; the next moment he lifted his foot and strode toward me.

His speed was especially fast; before he even got close, the leg bone in his hand was already raised high, this time with a large sweep, aimed straight at my face.

I quickly jumped to the side, redirecting his attack direction, fearing it would affect Guo Zhen.

At the same time I bit my finger, squeezed out a blood drop onto the copper coin, then drew the bow fully again and shot the copper coin at the opponent.

At the moment the leg bone and copper coin collided again, the red line spread like blood vessels, instantly wrapping the leg bone tightly.

That scene looked especially terrifying to the naked eye.

A pitch-black leg bone engraved with golden scriptures had countless blood lines, visible to the naked eye, tracing the scripture patterns at visible speed, constantly climbing; in the blink of an eye, like maggots in a bone, they altered all the scriptures.

The blood-red flooded over, replacing the original gold, as if the leg bone had been reinfused with fresh blood and come back to life.

Of course, the leg bone couldn't actually come alive; after the blood lines seeped into it, a sheet of flame burst from its interior.

The man stared in disbelief at his hand's leg bone, at the disappearing gold and the igniting flame; he suddenly let out a howl, utterly reluctant yet furious, and threw the leg bone away.

At the instant the leg bone hit the ground, like a piece of charcoal burned through, it shattered into powder.

My heart eased; losing this magical implement was like losing his right and left arms for him—a good thing.

I glanced at the copper coin already back in my hand and found it still intact as before.

I frowned, wondering how much mana Liu Junyan had poured into it.

It hasn't been used up yet?

But then I thought of a possibility—could this golden copper coin not be an independent entity?

Initially, Liu Junyan gave me a piece of scale armor for protection; that scale armor indeed protected me several times, but in the end its mana and merit were exhausted and it disappeared.

The situation with this copper coin seems somewhat different from that of the scale armor.

Could it be... that it's always connected to Liu Junyan's side?

Every time I consume the mana of this copper coin, I'm actually overdrawing Liu Junyan.