Chapter 156: Buddha Realm in the Palm, Divine Sense Mount Sumeru
Chapter 156: Buddha Realm in the Palm, Divine Sense Mount Sumeru
In this round of the competition, Mu Yuan’s opponent was Qiong Hua. He had just seen her techniques, full of swirling flowers meant to confuse the opponent, but he didn’t care at all!
The duels went very fast; the first round wasn’t long at all. Mu Yuan pondered as he waited, thinking about how to deal with the strange monk and Xuan Jia!
Of all those present, only these two had the greatest strength.
It must be said that the personnel recruited by Tianyu Kingdom weren’t particularly outstanding. Although Tiandu was a small country, it had two Elixir Formation cultivators: You Longfei and Chen Huayi.
Among those present now, aside from those two who were beyond Mu Yuan’s reckoning, the rest were only at the Refining Gang Realm!
Given Mu Yuan’s current capabilities, it could be safely said that as long as his opponents didn’t have overly secretive techniques, he could basically sweep through anyone below Elixir Formation!
Even ordinary Elixir Formation cultivators weren’t usually a match for him!
After the Longevity Sword transformed into the Heavenly Fiend Child, his false elixir realm vanished, but his combat power became even greater!
The Heavenly Fiend Child’s current level was beyond even Mu Yuan’s perception. In a life-or-death struggle, he wouldn’t hold back. Once the Heavenly Fiend Child appeared, likely even Elixir Formation cultivators would have to retreat!
But with both this monk and Xuan Jia having fought without showing clear techniques, Mu Yuan couldn’t figure them out.
On the other hand, the other cultivators were truly useless. They had cultivation levels but lacked corresponding Divine Abilities or skills. Now Yun Xi was taking the stage. His Magical Power wasn’t low, and he had techniques. Although Mu Yuan didn’t think he could win, Yun Xi would be just the person to test the monk’s methods!
It wasn’t only Mu Yuan; everyone present was deeply curious about this monk. He had somehow made an opponent willing to become his disciple and defect to his side in a single match; it was truly unfathomable.
Even that cold-looking middle-aged scholar seemed interested in this monk!
This middle-aged scholar was actually the Emperor Jianming’s brother. In his youth, yearning for the path of immortality, he trained under a great scholar, cultivating the Vast Righteous Qi of the Confucian school. His Divine Abilities had reached the peak of Qi Refinement.
However, he focused entirely on secluded cultivation, ignoring worldly affairs. His knowledge might even be less than Mu Yuan’s. Seeing Buddhist Supernatural Power today, he too felt an intense curiosity!
As Yun Xi entered the Kylin Seal arena, the monk’s eyes were downcast, calmly waiting.
With a mischievous smile, Yun Xi greeted him, “Master, greetings!”
The monk’s eyelids lifted, a flash of brilliance like lightning vanishing instantly in his eyes. For a moment, Yun Xi felt the same shock as seeing lightning split the night sky!
“Respects to the benefactor!”
This was the first time the strange monk had spoken. Seizing the chance, Yun Xi sized him up.
Though dressed in worn-out robes patched many times, giving the feel of a mendicant monk, seemingly weathered and exuding an aura of age and exhaustion, the monk himself was incredibly young. He looked no more than thirty, with fair skin and handsome features. He carried an air of scholarly refinement, bookish and elegant. His silence and tranquility made him seem more like a studious scholar buried in books, oblivious to worldly matters.
Yun Xi’s mind full of playful words suddenly stalled. The other seemed to emanate a strange warmth, causing an inexplicable feeling of affinity. He couldn’t muster any hostility at all. He shook his head slightly, thinking how strange this was.
“Master, forgive my offense!”
Yun Xi didn’t dare be careless. Though he knew his chances of winning were slim, he still went all out. Silvery white Zhenqi whirled around him. Whirlpools of Qi erupted under his feet. Radiant light surged along his arms, coiling before shooting out from his palms. He didn’t even hide his flying needles; they shot violently forward along with the Qi pulses. White streaks crisscrossed the air; Sword Qi filled the space!
“The Buddha speaks the Dharma, my heart remains unmoved, the ten thousand things fall silent. Buddha Realm in the Palm, Mount Sumeru beyond the world!”
The monk spoke softly, almost mumbling. Around him, a circle of shattered seven-colored light appeared, the color of precious glass. Countless light and shadows intertwined, rising and falling. Yun Xi’s flying needles and Zhenqi shot into it and instantly felt heavy, sluggish, and rigid; their movement became unresponsive!
“Buddha sits within the heart, seek not outside the body!”
The monk merely chanted one phrase. To Yun Xi’s ears, it was as if countless heavenly sounds and wondrous melodies had appeared – the babbling of flowing water, birdsong and insect chirps, the distant tones of bells, chimes, and wooden fish, indistinct and blurred, impossible to distinguish clearly!
The more this happened, the more it tugged at his consciousness, forcing him to divert his spirit, to try and listen to these wonderful notes!
This distraction brought with it the impression of the Buddha preaching sutras, of Arhats chanting Sanskrit, making it even more mesmerizing and intoxicating!
The flying needles trapped in the colored light slowed down, then stopped completely suspended in the Void. Silvery light flickered erratically on them.
The Zhenqi within Yun Xi, previously surging like a raging river, now seemed blocked by a massive dike. It roared for a while, then gradually quieted down!
“Mount Sumeru is vast beyond measure. Within heaven and earth, yet transcending them. Seeing things within the heart, changing with thought. The false and the real, all become indistinguishable!”
Within Yun Xi’s Divine Sense, a massive, towering, impossibly tall mountain suddenly materialized, bearing down upon him to crush him utterly!
Such a shocking change made him gasp in fright. The condensed Divine Sense of his own refined Gang Qi instantly transformed into a mountain of gold and iron, shimmering brilliantly like forged cast iron, radiating an unbreakable, indestructible, eternal aura!
But this Mount Sumeru, stretching endlessly with an unknown expanse, crushed straight down. The Iron Mountain formed by Yun Xi’s Divine Sense shattered upon first contact, exploding with roaring thunderclaps. His entire body shook violently!
Without moving his feet or raising his hands, the monk had already trapped Yun Xi in peril!
Within the Sea of Consciousness, Mount Sumeru grew infinitely tall, seeming to fill the entire heavens and earth. Atop the mountain peak, a stupa appeared hazily, bathed in Buddha Light. Golden radiance shimmered. Countless chants and sutra recitations emanated from it, faint at first, then booming and resounding like heavenly thunder and Buddhist incantations. It seemed intent on expelling every last shred of memory contained within every filament of Yun Xi’s Divine Sense.
The indestructible, eternally silent essence of his Eternal True Qi was squeezed out bit by bit. Bathed in the golden light, it vanished without a trace!
Yun Xi trembled violently all over. Thin streams of blood seeped from his mouth, nose, eyes, and ears!
Earlier, the monk’s conversion of the Taoist priest had taken only an instant. Now, attempting to assimilate Yun Xi, he encountered resistance and struggle. Clearly, Yun Xi’s Dao Heart was far more tenacious than that priest’s!
“For me to bow and join the Buddhist Sect? Only if rivers flow backwards and sun and moon share the sky!”
Yun Xi hardened his resolve. He stopped focusing on the battle within his Divine Sense. He knew his opponent’s mental power was overwhelmingly strong; he couldn’t win, and defeat was inevitable. Better to make a decisive sacrifice, like a man cutting off his own limb, a lizard shedding its tail!
“Plain Light Flying Needles, Zhenqi reversed flow, explode, explode, explode!”
The dozen or so needles trapped in the colored light suddenly began vibrating violently. Their silvery light instantly blazed brightly, actually piercing through the colored light!
The monk remained unperturbed, expression unruffled, merely intensifying his mental power. The colored light swirled and wrapped around the needles again!
Now, unlike the swamp-like mire it was initially, the colored light transformed into distinct threads and filaments, perfectly clear and sharp, winding directly onto the flying needles!
The white light on the needles abruptly contracted, condensing entirely within them, revealing the needles’ true form: exquisitely crafted, seemingly carved from fine white jade, flawlessly transparent!
The silvery glow vanished, then instantly expanded. Boom! Boom! Boom! Continuous explosions! Fierce shockwaves raged like violent, savage serpents, wreaking havoc across the sky!
Pushed to the brink, Yun Xi had detonated his flying needles!
It was a desperate measure. If he hadn’t exploded the needles, he feared he would have ended up like that Taoist priest – brainwashed and forced to bow under this monk as his master!
This set of flying needles consisted of thirteen needles in total. They were forged from Profound Crystal Gold Jade tempered by the Earth Fiend fire. Painstakingly tempered and nurtured with his vital energy and Zhenqi over a long period, the power contained within each was immense!
Magical Artifacts are made from incredibly tough materials; the Primordial Qi they can hold far exceeds what a human body can contain. In terms of sheer power, these thirteen needles contained almost the equivalent of ten Yun Xis!
Now, this immense energy detonated all at once, exploding outwards like raging tidal waves. Even someone as powerful as the monk dared not face it head-on. The moment his Divine Sense grip loosened, Yun Xi pulled free!
Yun Xi’s clothes were still neat and intact, but his facial muscles contorted, and blood seeped faintly from his eyes, ears, nose, and mouth!
All his injuries were within his Divine Sense!
“Master’s Magical Power is formidable. I admit defeat!”
Yun Xi spat the words out one by one through clenched teeth, clearly furious at the monk.
Forced to blow up his Magical Artifact, nearly having his Divine Sense purified and falling to the same fate as that Taoist – even a clay statue has its temper!
Besides, while Yun Xi was often playful and sarcastic, it actually revealed a proud character who looked down on most things!
Suffering such a huge loss now, how could it not enrage him?
Yet intertwined with this anger was a thread of fear!
To invisibly purify another’s memories, making them willingly become one’s disciple… what immense supernatural power was this!
“Amitabha Buddha!”
The monk merely chanted a single Buddha invocation, his face etched with sorrow. He silently left the Kylin Seal arena.
Perfectly composed, utterly unharmed!
Leaving the Kylin Seal arena, Yun Xi took two long, deep breaths. The cool, fresh air entering his lungs, the spirit Qi circulating through his body, gradually calmed him.
“Be careful. That monk is extremely bizarre!”
Yun Xi relayed his experience back to Mu Yuan.
The internal struggle within the Divine Sense was imperceptible to the spectators.
All Mu Yuan and the others saw was Yun Xi firing his needles, which became trapped in the colored light. Then he trembled uncontrollably, blood seeped from his mouth and nose, followed by the needles exploding, the monk retreating, and Yun Xi admitting defeat.
As for the vast, towering Mount Sumeru? Even if a Primordial Spirit expert was present, they couldn’t have detected it without projecting their Divine Sense into Yun Xi’s Sea of Consciousness.
Only the involved party understood the depth of the illusion; all spectators were kept in the dark.
“So unbelievable!”
Mu Yuan also inhaled sharply. Clearly, this monk’s technique relied purely on overpowering others with sheer cultivation level and insight.
Cultivation was cultivation, relying solely on oneself. All Magical Artifacts, Flying Swords, even the Divine Abilities manifested externally – they were just external aids. Utterly useless in such a contest!
“This won’t be easy to deal with!”
Mu Yuan had never encountered such an opponent before. Even formidable figures like the Five Yin Patriarch and the Monster Saint had relied on Zhenqi and Divine Abilities; he hadn’t yet faced pure cultivation-level suppression.
Moreover, Yun Xi had lost his Magical Artifact and was now utterly broke. As the saying goes, he had tried to gain an advantage but ended up worse off. This was a major loss!