Chapter 159

The Dalai Lama lineage in Zàng Qū follows the living Buddha reincarnation system.

Every living Buddha, before entering final nirvana, will beforehand deduce the reincarnation place of the next living Buddha; after his passing, they follow that deduced direction to find the Reincarnated Spirit Child.

If, as Liu Junyan said, the current living Buddha is about to enter final nirvana yet cannot deduce the reincarnation place at all, what then?

This is nothing short of a disaster.

There are many kinds of situations where deduction fails, but they boil down to two main points.

First, the current living Buddha's mana is insufficient.

Logically, a living Buddha who has cultivated for a lifetime should not encounter this situation, but if he suffered some Heavy Damage before entering final nirvana?

Second, the current living Buddha's merit is lacking; he has done something contrary to the heavenly way, resulting in no reincarnation.

Regardless of which point, what if a strong Dragon Qi were infused into his body at this time?

Then forget about deduction and reincarnation; perhaps he could even live another hundred years.

Yes!

Perhaps there is a third scenario: the living Buddha has not entered the final nirvana stage, but rather he does not wish to die and is seeking a way to prolong his life?

Then what Buddha nature does he still speak of?

He is nothing but an evil monk from head to toe.

Earlier, Liu Junyan had Hui Moqiong investigate whether there was a Dragon Vein here; the final conclusion was that there was none.

Therefore, there is no Dragon Vein here; the source of this Dragon Qi beneath the Dragon-locking Formation is unknown.

But with it present, the Qiongqi evil formation cannot be disrupted.

Perhaps someone originally locked this Dragon Qi here in order to suppress the Qiongqi evil formation?

Who could that person be?

Once this Dragon Qi is completely plundered, the peace of these years will be destroyed in an instant, and the surrounding area will also face a large-scale catastrophe of suffering.

Liu Junyan's words hit the mark, and the other's face instantly filled with killing intent.

The prayer wheel in his hand suddenly began to turn rhythmically, accompanied by a dense chanting of sutras; a Golden Light flashed atop the prayer wheel, quickly enveloping the fake ascetic's whole body.

I and Liu Junyan exchanged a glance, and we both discovered that the Golden Scale was actually inlaid by the fake ascetic atop the prayer wheel.

Sutras are engraved on the prayer wheel; each full turn represents having recited the sutras once.

Under the Merit-boost of the Golden Scale, the mana of this sutra recitation could be increased by who knows how many folds.

Heh, ascetic.

I see his cultivation shortcut is proceeding quite vigorously.

Liu Junyan smoothed my shoulder and said in a low voice, 'Originally I didn't want to make a big move, but now it seems unavoidable. Xiao Jiu, find a chance to take Guo Zhen away first; if possible, inform Mo Qiong to withdraw, and I'll take charge of what comes next here.'

He applied a little force, pinched my shoulder, then released, stepped forward, and shielded me behind him: 'Don't reject Hu Yulin; at a critical moment he can help.'

Only then did I recall that Hu Yulin had also joined the battle earlier; where is he now?

Liu Junyan saying this shows that Hu Yulin did not flee the battlefield.

Could it be… they still have a backup plan?

Thinking this, I felt a bit more at ease.

At such a time, we cannot let emotions dictate; the main force of the battle is not me, what I can do is help Liu Junyan eliminate rear concerns, and for now the priority is to rescue Guo Zhen.

Guo Zhen had already fainted, curled up in the corner, pitiable to the extreme.

The sound of the prayer wheel turning rang out again; I heard Liu Junyan give a cold chuckle and say, 'Using my own things to oppose me—aren't you being a bit too naive?'

I turned my head and saw that Liu Junyan was already forming hand seals.

The Golden Scale originally belonged to Liu Junyan; they are inlaid on his natal magic artifact, signifying recognition of mastery.

To retrieve the Golden Scale might require some effort, but it will certainly not be too difficult.

The difficulty lies in how, while retrieving the Golden Scale, to also take away the Dragon Qi sealed beneath the formation, and at the same time suppress the Qiongqi formation.

I propped up the unconscious Guo Zhen, pinching her philtrum to wake her.

Guo Zhen woke up this time still quite panicked, but her eyes were clear and her soul steadied.

I tightly held her hand, letting her just follow me later.

Guo Zhen nodded straightaway, hiding behind me, not daring to look around.

As the prayer wheel turned and the fake ascetic incessantly chanted the sutra, countless golden sutras scattered throughout the meditation room; but in the next instant, those sutras instantly dimmed and vanished in the blink of an eye.

After several times, the fake ascetic grew somewhat panicked; he looked at the Golden Scale inlaid atop the prayer wheel, then at Liu Junyan, and exclaimed in astonishment, 'How is this possible? Could it be that you are truly the master of this Golden Scale?'

'Whether or not, just give it a try and you'll know.'

Liu Junyan suddenly withdrew his power, curling his five fingers toward his palm; as he moved, the prayer wheel in the fake ascetic's hand began to spin uncontrollably, turning a few circles clockwise, then a few counterclockwise, and the surrounding Qìchǎng instantly changed.

Turning a prayer wheel is not arbitrary; normally, for someone holding a prayer wheel like the fake ascetic, regardless of size, one should grasp it with the right hand and turn it clockwise; turning it counterclockwise carries the contrary meaning of 'acting against the proper way'.

This is a mistake that cultivators absolutely cannot allow.

But now, that prayer wheel behaves like a madman, turning clockwise and counterclockwise without any control, and the fake ascetic immediately fell into disarray in his formation.

At this moment, Liu Junyan suddenly struck out with a palm; in his panic, the fake ascetic tried to block it with all his strength, leaving no room to attend to anything else.

I seized this opportunity, pulling Guo Zhen and quickly exiting the meditation room from the other side.

Behind us, the fight continued; I pulled Guo Zhen and ran toward the temple's main gate.

But as soon as I stepped into the main hall, I felt the whole hall was gloomy, as if a pair of eyes were constantly staring at us.

Guo Zhen was even more shaken, her whole body trembling, her legs shaking like a sieve, unable to move even half a step.

I reached out and embraced her shoulders, letting her lean tightly against my chest to reduce her fear.

While holding Guo Zhen, I looked around in all directions.

After scanning all around and seeing nothing amiss, my gaze finally met the Buddha statue in the main hall.

It was a great Buddha, seated cross-legged, standing about one and a half times a person's height; at this moment, the Buddha Eye that should have been full of compassion—two copper-bell-sized, scarlet eyes—were fixed unblinkingly on me and Guo Zhen.

That sudden glance gave me a shudder.

I instinctively covered Guo Zhen's eyes and hurried her toward the gate.

The temple's surrounding walls were tall, and to get Guo Zhen out we had to go through the main hall.

But before we could step over the high threshold of the main hall, the heavy doors swung shut on their own.

If it were just me, I could flip out in time, but with Guo Zhen there's no way.

And at that moment I clearly felt the great Buddha behind me move.

The clay statue's body shattered, chunks falling down, and a wave of hot, foul-smelling air surged forth…