Chapter 418
Chapter 418
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Translator: Ace
Chapter: 418
Chapter Title: Returning to the Primal Saint Sect
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Overseas, waves surged and rolled like a thousand mountains.
"It's finally over."
With the shattering of Guang Ming's clone, the Earthly Buddha Kingdom dimmed. Only then did Hong Ju and Xiang Ye in the distance let out a sigh of relief, feeling a great weight lift from their shoulders.
After all, the pressure from Guang Ming had been overwhelming. It wasn't just because of his status as a disciple of the Pure Land World Venerable—his own strength was terrifyingly formidable. In the current world, there was probably only one person who could surpass him. Thus, even though he had shown no interest in them, they still felt as though thorns pricked their backs.
Hong Ju, in particular, exhaled a long breath of turbid air.
Xiang Ye was one thing—he had long since refined a blessed land. Though he hadn't yet extracted its golden essence, he at least had the confidence to put up a fight against Guang Ming.
But he was different.
His entire life force was tethered to the golden essence of great fortune, irrevocably fixed. He possessed no golden essence himself, nor could he refine any blessed land.
Thus, among those at the peak of Foundation Establishment, he was a blank slate. Relying on profound spell techniques, he might barely edge out Tian Qiu by a hair, but only by a hair. If he had been the one clashing with Guang Ming just now, he would likely already be gravely wounded, forced to flee in disgrace.
"Let's go. We'll pay a visit to that Fellow Daoist Lu."
Xiang Ye took a deep breath, shedding any remnant air of superiority. Just as he moved to approach, a massive roar like surging waters suddenly echoed through heaven and earth.
Boom!
The sound originated from Lu Yang, seated squarely in the midst of the heavens, his entire body enveloped by the myriad radiant lights conjured by the Xuan Du Blessed Land.
'He's injured too?'
Xiang Ye felt a flicker of surprise and uncertainty, pondering inwardly.
'No, getting injured would be the norm against that Buddha's son. Even if it was just a clone, to slay it unscathed would require someone like Perfected Being Demon-Quelling.'
This guess wasn't entirely accurate. Lu Yang truly wasn't injured—not due to overwhelming strength, but because he had cleverly used the Separation and Union Jade Scepter obtained from the Dragon Palace Treasury to receive Guang Ming's attack. Now, he was working to neutralize the Buddhist light and mana sealed within the scepter.
'The Buddha's son... still has some real skill.'
Seated in the lotus position, Lu Yang held his hands in a lotus-捧 gesture as torrents of mana surged into the Separation and Union Jade Scepter. Yet it proved as futile as a cup of water on a burning cart.
Vaguely, he seemed to glimpse a colossal palm.
The palm print was plump and full, its five fingers perfectly rounded, exuding a jade-like aura of "completeness." In his daze, Lu Yang could even hear chants of sutras emanating from it.
At this sight, Lu Yang narrowed his eyes.
'If this palm had landed squarely on me earlier, I wouldn't have died but would be half-crippled at best. The outcome wouldn't have been a total victory, but mutual defeat.'
With this thought, Lu Yang's eyes brightened.
'Once I refine this palm, I can store it in the Separation and Union Jade Scepter and unleash it against enemies when the time comes.'
Repay the enemy with their own methods!
This was one of the wondrous uses of the Separation and Union Jade Scepter. Otherwise, as a mere life-substituting treasure, it wouldn't qualify for storage in the Dragon Palace Treasury.
Lu Yang was still mulling this over.
Suddenly, his brows twitched slightly. Two beams of escaping light descended from afar, landing at a respectful distance without approaching too closely. They bowed toward him.
"Xiang Ye of the Primal Saint Sect."
"Hong Ju of the Primal Saint Sect."
"We've come to pay respects to Fellow Daoist!"
The two saluted in unison. Behind Lu Yang, Suo Huan watched with a complicated expression. All of them were overseas cultivators from beyond the heavens, yet the difference in treatment was vast.
He had lingered overseas for centuries, routinely dismissed as a "scattered cultivator from beyond the heavens," never once addressed as "Fellow Daoist." The four great powers treated him like discarded rags. Yet Lu Yang had just arrived—not even a full day—and already, Perfected Beings from the Primal Saint Sect were calling on him as "Fellow Daoist."
"Greetings to you two Fellow Daoists."
Lu Yang did not put on airs and rose to return the salute. He merely glanced in surprise at Xiang Ye, whose appearance and apparent age differed starkly from his memories.
He had aged.
In Lu Yang's recollection, Xiang Ye should have been a young Daoist. But now, he was an elder with kind brows, white hair, and a childlike face.
His vitality was deficient. What had happened?
Seeming to catch the doubt in Lu Yang's eyes, Xiang Ye smiled. "You've caught me at an embarrassing moment, Fellow Daoist. Earlier, I clashed with that one from the Pure Land as well."
"It's merely some lingering aftereffects."
Xiang Ye spoke lightly, but through the Linglong Heart, Lu Yang perceived that his remaining lifespan was likely no more than thirty years—his end drawing near.
The next moment, Xiang Ye cut straight to the point.
"Fellow Daoist, care to let us in on it? Which Perfected Being of our Saint Sect are you the reincarnation of?"
Lu Yang: "."
Whose Saint Sect are you cursing?
"You've misunderstood, Fellow Daoist." Lu Yang smiled faintly. "I am a scattered cultivator from beyond the heavens, with no connection whatsoever to the Saint Sect you mention."
"Really?"
I don't buy it!
Xiang Ye narrowed his eyes, scrutinizing Lu Yang. Lu Yang met his gaze calmly. After a moment of tense silence, Xiang Ye broke it first.
"If Fellow Daoist is unwilling to say, then forget it. But now, you've thoroughly offended that one from the Pure Land. Wandering overseas further would be fraught with peril. Why not visit our Saint Sect as a guest? To be frank, I too was implanted with a Buddhist affinity by that one from the Pure Land."
"Then I shall humbly accept the invitation."
Lu Yang harbored no aversion to Xiang Ye's offer. After all, he had already cleared out the overseas regions, and the Sword Pavilion already hosted one of his clones.
He had no connections in the Dao Court, and the Pure Land was off-limits.
On balance, returning to the Primal Saint Sect offered the best return.
That said.
"Fellow Daoist needn't worry about that one's threat from the Pure Land for the time being." Lu Yang's expression remained steady. "For about a year, he likely won't be able to emerge again."
Pure Land, Victorious Will Generating Brilliance Precious Temple.
Originally named the Dragon-Subduing Temple.
But ever since Buddha's son Guang Ming descended here, the temple had been renamed, its scale expanding daily, its monkish throng vast beyond counting.
Yet at this moment, within the Victorious Will Generating Brilliance Precious Temple, agitation gripped the assembly. Monks gazed in fury, fear, or terror at the towering Buddha statue in the main hall. Its once flawless, seamless Buddha light had abruptly collapsed in one corner, dissipating some of its divinity into the void!
"How could this be? How could this be!"
One monk's chest heaved at the sight, barely containing his dharma body as sweat poured down. Only when a novice under the statue opened his eyes did he steady somewhat.
"Buddha's son!"
The monk nearly roared the words. The panicked crowd of monks quickly calmed, their faces settling into reassurance.
The one slain overseas had been merely a clone.
Now, with the Buddha's son true body awakened and emerged from seclusion, he would strike at once—who could stand in his way?
Under the crowd's expectant gazes, Guang Ming wasted no time. "I will enter seclusion for a year. From this day, all Pure Land cultivators shall seclude with me."
"Ah?"
The monks were stunned.
Just like that? His clone destroyed, and no intent to settle the score?
In that instant, the sharper-minded among them held their breath. Linking it to the change on the Buddha statue, a guess formed in their hearts.
Could it be that the Buddha's son had lost more than just his clone...?
But it was merely a scattered cultivator from beyond the heavens.
How had he accomplished it?
Guang Ming ignored the shifting expressions around him, closing his eyes once more to inwardly inspect himself before sinking into deep contemplation.
'What a method for severing lifespan.'
'My Past Body not only perished but had its lifespan inexplicably stripped clean. It'll take at least a year to recover.'
At this thought, Guang Ming furrowed his brow.
'Still no leads on that immortal spirit. At this rate, gathering the four disciples will be a distant prospect. Now, it seems I must take an alternate path.'
(End of chapter)