Chapter 899: and translation of title

Awakening?

Xiao Jiu exclaimed, "If it is passed down through awakening, there should be a next-generation successor, right?"

The so-called awakening means that among the vast sea of people, there is a suitable candidate; given the right opportunity, he will come to this temple on his own and assume his responsibility.

This is somewhat like Xiao Jiu's eldest son, Xingchen.

He was destined from the womb to be a Buddhist; after birth he remained in the Buddhist order, shouldering his duty.

This is fate.

Therefore, as long as this small temple and this statue remain, there is no such thing as a final temple keeper in the true sense.

"He was killed by him." Chishe said, "Not only the next successor, but the three successors after him were all killed by him."

Xiao Jiu closed her eyes, her heart filled with grim sorrow.

Human nature has always been this way.

Where there are selfless people, there are also selfish, ruthless individuals.

To survive, they will stop at nothing.

Even if the physical body is dead, they are unwilling to accept it and still seek an immortal soul.

Once the soul becomes strong enough, they then seek to reforge the flesh...

Liu Junyan's idea to kill the temple keeper was correct, but before she could act, the keeper was eliminated by a sudden surge of blood qi.

That could be seen as reaping what one sows.

Xiao Jiu further asked, "Do you know what exactly is being suppressed beneath this statue?"

"I don't know." Chishe said, "But since it is sealed with a corpse-restraining gold talisman, it should be some kind of zombie."

With such heavy blood qi, it might be a high-level blood corpse.

Xiao Jiu lowered her head, looked at Chishe, and said, "You should leave first; I can stay here alone."

Chishe shook its head like a rattle drum: "I cannot leave; I must fulfill what I promised him."

Chishe promised Liu Junyan that he would guard this area from now on.

At such a crucial moment, how could he leave?

Xiao Jiu found it somewhat amusing; this guy is quite trustworthy and responsible.

Chishe insisted on staying, so Xiao Jiu did not persist in making him leave, only urging, "Take care of yourself; don't act unless absolutely necessary."

Chishe agreed.

As it retracted into Xiao Jiu's sleeve, Chishe's tail tip rose, tapping its own head repeatedly, reminding itself: "Don't act rashly; it's not your turn to show off your skills."

Time passed second by second; Xiao Jiu stared at the statue, and suddenly noticed another problem... the inner seal was gradually breaking, the outer layer growing thinner; once it reached a certain point, she realized that each time the ground trembled, a faint light would flash and then fade at the statue's chest.

What is that?

Xiao Jiu quickly realized it was an inner core!

It is the inner core of the temple keepers sacrificed to the statue throughout the ages!

With each layer of seal broken, the inner core's mana was also depleted.

What a pity.

The ground tremors grew stronger, cracks appeared in the temple walls; Xiao Jiu guessed Liu Junyan's side was likely about done, so she decided not to wait any longer.

She flicked her wrist and told Chishe, "I am now preparing to break the statue's seal; if anything good flies out later, remember to swallow it quickly."

As her words fell, Xiao Jiu had already summoned Feng Wu, holding a bow in one hand and nocking an arrow in the other, shooting straight at the statue without hesitation.

A tearing sound rang out; the arrow pierced the statue's heart, then returned to Xiao Jiu's hand in the next instant.

Immediately afterward, another arrow was shot.

Xiao Jiu fired three arrows in succession, and Nirvana flame ignited from within the statue.

The statue's interior was already empty; as it burned, the whole statue looked like a human-shaped lantern as tall as a person.

At this point, the statue's layers became clearly visible, and the three remaining inner cores at its chest could be seen distinctly.

Chishe also saw them and instantly became excited.

Xiao Jiu struck again with the Mòyù Bānzhǐ, hitting the statue's heart; the three inner cores, the innermost one already nearly exhausted, shattered on impact, while the other two were shaken out of the statue by the impact of the Mòyù Bānzhǐ.

A rich surge of blood qi burst from the statue's innermost layer, rushing straight toward the two inner cores.

Chishe acted faster, spewing a mouthful of venom that dissolved the blood qi while simultaneously gulping down the two inner cores, then flashing back into Xiao Jiu's sleeve.

The next second, a blast echoed from the statue's direction, and the entire statue instantly turned to ash.

After the blast, the whole world seemed to fall silent; the temple became eerily quiet.

But Xiao Jiu knew this was the calm before the storm.

She had been standing at the doorway; after the blast, she slowly retreated to outside the threshold, her eyes never leaving the spot where the statue had stood.

Not long after, the pile of debris was lifted by a surge of blood qi, swirling upward at the temple's center, growing redder and condensing into the shape of a sword... ultimately becoming identical to the Qingming Sword.

However, the Qingming Sword is cast of bronze, whereas this sword is formed from blood qi mixed with the statue's ruins, its resentful aura soaring to the heavens.

After swallowing the two inner cores, Chishe felt a bit overloaded; it stayed in Xiao Jiu's sleeve, continuously circulating its energy to digest the cores as quickly as possible.

When it saw the sword condensing in midair, its anxiety grew even more.

It sensed a trace of Dragon Qi from the earth veins within the condensed sword.

Needless to say, Xiao Jiu Zhanggui's abilities are formidable, but she is not made of iron.

If the opponent continuously draws Dragon Qi from the earth veins to infuse the sword, Xiao Jiu Zhanggui will eventually exhaust her strength.

By then, no matter what, he will have to charge forward!

Xiao Jiu also sensed the earth-vein Dragon Qi within the sword, but she did not share Chishe's worry, believing it only temporary; once Liu Junyan finishes her business elsewhere, she will not let this fellow run amok.

Xiao Jiu is waiting, waiting for that fellow to reveal his true form.

Yet even after the sword was fully formed, Xiao Jiu still did not see the opponent appear.

This means that there is still another seal beneath the small temple; the opponent can only use blood qi as a weapon to attack for now, but they still lack the ability to completely break this seal!

What kind of formidable thing is this, that it requires so many seals just to suppress it?

At that moment, the blood sword hovering in midair suddenly changed direction and thrust straight toward Xiao Jiu.

As it moved, the corpse‑suppressing talismans left by the white‑eyebrowed, white‑haired old man on the outer wall of the temple clattered loudly all at once.

Immediately afterward, Xiao Jiu saw streams of yellow or purple qi rushing from all directions toward the blood sword.

The corpse‑suppressing talismans laid down by that old man were half yellow and half purple; although they were far inferior to the earlier golden talisman, their great numbers, combined with the formation array, gave them an explosive power that should not be underestimated……