Li Changzhou took a step forward, leaving the pleasure boat, and lifted his palm up to the sky.
Their palms met silently, one a huge golden Buddha palm, the other the flesh palm of a grown man, disproportioned in size, yet now they were evenly matched, neither gaining the upper hand.
The Dragon Slayer Arhat's face was expressionless, but inside, he was slightly startled.
He had been building up momentum since leaving Lingyin Temple, attacking from above with a downward palm strike, and had not expected that after the other had taken only one step and built up momentum for just that step, he would be stopped in his tracks.
Such a strong physical body.
The Dragon Slayer Arhat withdrew his palm and stepped back, raising his hand to summon the Buddha Bell, which flew from Jingci Temple.
Ten Heavenly Dragons, each exhaling a stream of golden light onto the body of the bell.
Dragon Slayer Arhat swung the Buddha Bell with both hands, whooshing it around in a fierce and domineering arc, smashing it down onto Li Changzhou's head.
"Come!" Li Changzhou's blood boiled, stepping up once more as if a volcano erupted inside his body, his strength inexhaustible and boundless.
His qi-blood suddenly constricted, like a divine bow pulled taut.
Dragon Slayer Arhat's Golden Body felt a sting, as if he was facing tens of thousands of archers pulling their bows on the battlefield.
His eyes were cold, his expression stoic, his arm muscles bulged, and the Buddha Bell in his hands miraculously gained a third more power.
Li Changzhou's qi-blood was like a bowstring, as he shot out his power with his hand.
It was like a punch of Hou Yi's Sun Shooting Fist; just the fist wind alone tore a rift in the sky behind the Dragon Slayer Arhat.
Two hundred kilometers away, on Huangshan, numerous Dao Cultivators watched as a crack suddenly tore through the clouds in the sky.
The rift in the white clouds was exaggerated beyond these people's imaginations!
Dong!!
The Buddha Bell collided with Hou Yi's Sun Shooting Fist, and the fierce strike produced no aftermath.
The Dragon Slayer Arhat stumbled backward, retreating two steps, barely holding onto the dented Buddha Bell, which was almost pierced through.
Strong! Very strong!
Unlike the Daoist Sect, which does not cultivate the physical body, the Buddhist sect believes that the physical body is a vessel, an essential means to cross the sea of suffering; therefore, an Arhat has a three-zhang Golden Body, a Bodhisattva has four, and a Buddha has six!
Within the Arhats, Dragon Slayer Arhat's Golden Body was recognized as strong. Unimaginably, it was being suppressed by Li Changzhou's mere flesh!
Even some Bodhisattvas might not have as strong a physical body as him!
Dragon Slayer Arhat, feeling a surge of heart palpitations, instinctively raised the Buddha Bell, while Li Changzhou, striding forward, launched another punch.
Taken by surprise, Dragon Slayer Arhat stumbled back four steps.
He tossed aside the dented Buddha Bell and bellowed loudly, "Mana, come!"
Heaven-reaching Buddhist mana surged from a well within Jingci Temple.
This was no ordinary well; it was the well from which Jigong would later transport logs.
Who would have thought that an entire well of water, along with the vast water system beneath it, was filled with his Buddhist mana, no wonder logs could be transported from a distance using this well.
Having received the mana, Dragon Slayer Arhat dispensed with his Golden Body, transforming into the ragged Jigong with a tattered kasaya.
Li Changzhou laughed, unimpressed, and stepped forward.
Boom!
With a turn of his mana, his Mystic Qi surged for a thousand miles, like a tidal wave rushing through the sky, fierce and powerful, altering the color of heaven and earth.
The Immortal's presence was majestic, shaking all under heaven.
Dao Cultivators everywhere blanched, as numerous consciousnesses turned their attention to this site.
Li Changzhou's punch to the sky cleared it, making the qi pure.
"A bunch of third-level, second-level mediocre Immortal fish, daring to spy on me," Li Changzhou retracted his fist.
"You're quite bold, kid," Jigong teased with his fan handle, "How about this, I saw you hold back just now, and there's still some goodness in you. Atop Feilai Peak, there's an ancient relic, the Three-Life Stone. I'll cast a spell with it, and if you pass, this Monk will willingly face extinction and cede the place to your Daoist Sect."
"If I can pass, we'll do as you say," Li Changzhou said.
"And if you can't?" Jigong asked curiously.
"Then may the strongest prevail."
"Sly one," Jigong pointed with his fan at Li Changzhou.
Li Changzhou, unfazed, laughed, "I mean what I say. So yes is yes, and no is no. Are you willing? If not, we continue to fight."
"Fight? Hah..." Jigong looked towards the rear of the pleasure boat, "Are those girls going to join in?"
"Do you need more than one of us to deal with you?" Li Changzhou asked.
"One is enough, but if they make a move, other Arhat Bodhisattvas can also intervene. Forget it, let's give it a try," Jigong picked up his fan and gave Flypeak a whisk.
Three strands of clear, lucid Qi rose from Flypeak, erupting from the ground.
"The Three-Life Stone can reveal a person's past, present, and future visage. The causes of the past life, the effects of the current life, the cycles of destiny, and the arising and ceasing of karmic connections are all deeply engraved on the Three-Life Stone."
The three strands of Qi formed interlocking rings, expanding and contracting, rising and falling, each action and reaction continuously changing.
Li Changzhou concentrated his gaze and could only barely make out a stone-like object within the Qi, smooth and flawless, capable of reflecting a person.
"Benefactor, can you overcome this challenge within yourself?" Jigong shook his fan and asked.
Yang Qinglan, Li Qianxia, and those standing guard around Turquoise Pool all watched the Three-Life Stone with curiosity.
Bai Suzhen and Xiao Qing also stared without blinking.
"How does one pass this challenge?" Li Changzhou asked.
"After one glance at the Three-Life Stone, the myriad events of your past life return to your mind; the present life unwilling to leave, the future life continues to tempt you. If, after looking, you are still you, then naturally, you have passed," Jigong said, drinking from his gourd.
Li Changzhou frowned slightly.
"Changzhou, forget it," Yang Qinglan slowly flew to his side, "Just take him down directly, there's no need to waste time on the Three-Life Stone."
"But think carefully," Jigong removed his gourd from his waist and took a drink, "if you act, this monk won't just surrender without a fight."
"Can any of us pass the Three-Life Stone?" Li Qianxia also flew over.
"It must be him." Jigong pointed at Li Changzhou with his fan and took another drink, "In the Buddhist path of cultivation, no demon, no Buddha, it's the same principle in Daoist practice: you must overcome this demon before you can become that Buddha."
"Makes sense," Li Changzhou laughed. He turned to Yang Qinglan and Li Qianxia and said, "If anything unexpected happens, act immediately."
Seeing his determination, Yang Qinglan nodded.
"Brother, be careful," Li Qianxia said, "but I have confidence in you!"
Li Changzhou flicked her forehead and walked towards the surging Three-Life Stone.
As everyone held their breath, Turquoise Pool stood up on the pleasure boat, standing tall and elegant at the bow.
The swirling Qi of the Three-Life Stone formed a pathway, from which footsteps could be heard.
"What's coming now is your past life," Jigong remarked as he drank.
Within that Qi, images emerged—
Li Changzhou at seven or eight years old practicing with a spear; at eleven or twelve, he and Li Biwei played hide and seek under the grapevine;
At fifteen he studied abroad; at twenty, dressed in a suit, leaning against a classic car, he was a tall and dashing gentleman capable of enchanting circles of ladies and misses.
He walked into the courtyard, where Li Biwei, dressed in a bright yellow cheongsam with a string of prayer beads across her chest, looked at him with affection, a mix of reproach and joy in her expression.
At this point, the gaze between the two who had been apart for five years was unlike that of siblings.
"This person..." Li Qianxia saw some of the images from afar, "is actually my brother's past life?"
Yang Qinglan and Turquoise Pool were also astonished; they couldn't help but wonder—were their identities throughout history replacements for others, or truly their former selves?
If it was their former selves, could it be that they were divine beings who had forsaken their pasts, constantly reincarnating just to start afresh in the game of value through the ages?
Or perhaps, this so-called Three-Life Stone was nothing more than an illusion, sensing Li Changzhou's memories, thus fabricating a seemingly logical past life?
With doubts piling up, it seemed the only way to truly understand would be to take possession of the Three-Life Stone.
"It seems your past life has no effect on you."
Jigong's voice brought everyone back to reality, and indeed, the past life images in the Qi whirlwind had all but disappeared, turning into ephemeral smoke, failing to emerge.
As someone with a younger sister, how could he identify with the lifestyle of Li Erye.
Li Changzhou felt repulsed just watching, but putting aside Li Qianxia, Miss Li Biwei did have a rather nice figure.
"Next is the present life."
"I'm right here so how can there be another present life?" Li Changzhou asked.
"The so-called present life is you at the moment of your impending death when your life has reached its end," Jigong explained.
"Impending death?!" Li Qianxia exclaimed.
"You need to be careful," Jigong warned Li Changzhou, "the moment you feel even the slightest curiosity about this lifetime of yours, the memories of the present life will enter your body. You will become the future you, and whether that future you is still you depends entirely on yourself."
The Qi whirlwind around the Three-Life Stone slowly turned, the heavy atmosphere pressing down on everyone.