Chapter 509: Chapter 237 "Jin’an, Don’t Breathe...
The Cloud Sea raged with angry waves, Purple Lightning and Green Frost sped across.
The Spiritual Energy between heaven and earth suddenly began to tremble, then swept in all directions without warning, like a spark dropping into the forest, instantly forming a towering wave of fire, causing the platforms suspended above Jiuhua Mountain to suddenly collapse.
Surrounding cultivators on the spectator stands were like small boats in a violent storm, uncontrollably flying far away.
The void trembled, then a Jiangshan Map seemed to appear and disappear between heaven and earth, as if suppressing this violent Spiritual Power.
In the silent void, it seemed as if Sword Qi thunder exploded.
On the Fire Phoenix Boat, Pei Wanyu watched this scene without any expression.
A plate floated in front of her, flickering with Spiritual Power.
’Two snakes surrounding a grave signifies impending doom, the wondrous use of the void is the divine mechanism.’
This was the omen Shangguan Qizheng spoke after Pei Wanyu asked about Xiao Yinruo’s safety in the Qinglian Secret Realm.
As the Qingmiao Palace Master, Xiao Yinruo had formidable strength, and the only omen Shangguan Qizheng could give was this one sentence.
Pei Wanyu could understand the meaning of this omen, yet it lacked a definitive result.
Two snakes surrounding a grave, advancing leads to death, retreating also leads to death, it was evident that Yinruo was trapped in a deadlock.
"The wondrous use of the void..."
Pei Wanyu lightly drummed her fingers on the plate before her. In the Art of Divination, the void is the most unique entity.
Encountering the void, good fortune isn’t truly good, and misfortune isn’t truly bad, it is unaffected, unimpeded, somewhat transcending the Three Realms, and not within the Five Elements.
Thus, the deadlock Yinruo faces isn’t completely devoid of a thread of hope; it depends on how it’s used.
Pei Wanyu’s eyelids drooped slightly: "The wondrous use of the void, becoming one with the void, entering the emptiness gate, thus being unbound by the heaven and earth’s plate, unaffected by things, unburdened by personal emotions..."
But while the theory holds, how many can truly achieve it?
She knew that Xiao Yinruo also understood some Divination skills, because the Forget Love Taoist Skill was a sect of the Taoist Sect from tens of thousands of years ago, thus Yinruo knew some of it.
However, understanding is one thing, mastery is another.
The Art of Divination competes for fate against the Heavenly Dao; in the entire world, only someone like Shangguan Qizheng has the capability to calculate certain things.
Xiao Yinruo perhaps knew she was in a deadlock, but she certainly had no idea how to break it.
’Unbound by the heaven and earth’s plate...’
Pei Wanyu pondered, if Yinruo could take that small step to achieve ’Divine Concealment’ and ’enter the emptiness gate’, the issues she faced might be resolved effortlessly.
But how difficult is that step?
Yinruo hadn’t managed to take that step for so many years, how could she possibly manage now when faced with a desperate situation?
How could it be that easy?
But if Yinruo couldn’t cross that threshold, how could she wondrously use the ’void’?
Pei Wanyu gently rubbed her sleeve and, after glancing at the still rippling void, a question arose in her heart: is Jin’an by Yinruo’s side now?
He should be, after all, Bao Huo Buddha and Bao Yue Buddha have also entered, so Jin’an would certainly first seek out Yinruo.
Then in the Dragon Clan Altar, if Jin’an stayed safe, could Yinruo also find a ray of hope?
"Old fellow." Around Shangguan Qizheng, the ’Zhiwei Zhizhang’ Daoist Skill circulated: "Would you not inquire further about the true purpose of Sumeru Mountain?"
"Why do you say that?" Zheng Dongliu asked.
Shangguan Qizheng looked at the Heavenly Mechanism Plate in his hand: "It’s hard to say."
He stroked his beard, looking at the half-faded Jiangshan Map: "Let’s wait."
······
In the Qinglian Secret Realm, Bao Huo Buddha and Bao Yue Buddha looked at the ten-thousand-zhang sword light rising in the distance, their expressions froze, then they exchanged a smile, their expression playful.
"He really went there."
"Marvelous."
"Let it begin."
Twelve-petaled green lotuses gradually bloomed among one another.
A hundred kilometers outside Buddha Burial Valley, the rising sword light was vibrant, so dazzling that the cultivators present couldn’t open their eyes.
Fan Zhouxing was surrounded by Buddha Light, watching serenely as the mountain ranges of Buddha Burial Valley snaked along, myriad sword lights reflected in his pupils. His hands under his kasaya clenched slightly, the light seeping through his right fingers brimmed with Vast Righteous Qi.
He closed his eyes, the Buddha Beads above his head had been stained a bloody shade, like clouds yet not clouds.
"What are you trying to achieve?" Not far away, Fang Xiuqi clutched his wounded abdomen, his face pale as he asked in a low voice.
Fan Zhouxing didn’t respond, merely sat cross-legged on the ground. The Buddha Beads hovering above responded to the Buddhist Seal formed by his hands, revealing one missing bead among the circle of beads.
He ignored Fang Xiuqi, merely chanting the Buddhist Sutra silently.
As the chief of East Slope Confucian Academy, having long debated scriptures with the Buddhist Sect, Fang Xiuqi recognized the Buddhist Sutra that Fan Zhouxing was reciting.
The Great Sun Sutra.
His expression froze. Wasn’t Fan Zhouxing a direct disciple of the Great Infinite Buddha? Why was he reciting Emperor Shitian’s Sutra?
Moreover... why was it recited with such power?
Fang Xiuqi turned to look at those cultivators he could no longer identify, those capable of Spiritual Power use, as they stood immobile in their original positions.
He still couldn’t understand who these cultivators were, yet among the thousand cultivators who entered, only bare bones remained... except for the guards of the Wandao Sect.
Why spare the Wandao Sect?
And why spare him?
Fang Xiuqi glanced down at his own abdomen, and smiled wryly.
Though he wasn’t killed, his hard-earned Vast Righteous Seal was gone, his entire cultivation abolished—how was that different from being killed?
He pondered, only to then see the Buddha Light in his vision intensify. He looked up to see a Buddha Dharma Golden Body taking form behind Fan Zhouxing.
Surprise flickered in Fang Xiuqi’s eyes. Fan Zhouxing hadn’t even reached the Tribulation Crossing Realm, how could he possibly condense a Dharma Golden Body?
Moreover, this Golden Body...
didn’t quite resemble the Buddhist practices Fan Zhouxing cultivated.