269: Chapter 269 Continue the Exploration

After the Buddhist scripture chants were spoken from his mouth, they did not dissipate; instead, they rotated around his body, condensing into a phantom of a Buddha above his head.

The Buddha phantom lowered its eyes, formed hand seals with its hands, draped in a dark golden cassock, and sat cross-legged on a golden lotus platform.

Its arms loosened from the hand seals, expanding to both sides with its palms facing outward.

"Boom!!!"

At the instant the Buddha phantom spread its arms,

a layer of golden Buddhist domain expanded outward from the monk's soles.

Wherever the Buddhist domain passed, the scorch marks on the ground were covered in gold, the edges of the cracks were refilled, the original scorching heat in the air receded, and a layer of gentle halo replaced the previous restlessness.

The golden Buddhist domain continued to expand. When it contacted the edge of the Colorless Profound Light, it did not collide directly; instead, it slowly embedded into it, squeezing the coverage range of the black light back within half a zhang.

"Hmm?"

Wu Li slightly narrowed his eyes.

Under the continuous expansion of the Buddhist domain, the Colorless Profound Light maintained its original coverage range, and the two formed a continuously moving boundary line on the contact surface.

"A bit interesting."

Wu Li sneered.

"Benefactor, you act against the will of my Buddha. If you stop now, you can still avoid... suffering... the torment of Avici."

At this moment, the monk had reached his limit.

"Boom hum hum~"

"Is that so."

Wu Li let out a cold sneer and increased the release of his Demon Power.

The golden Buddhist domain was slowly compressing the edge of the black light, and the black boundary line was retreating inch by inch, like a layer of tide being continuously pushed, slowly returning to its initial position.

"Namo he luo da na, duo luo ye ye, na mo a li ye, po lu jie di, shuo bo luo ye..."

The monk's lips were still continuously opening and closing, and the arms of the Buddha phantom were also slowly adjusting their angles as the Buddhist domain expanded, shifting the outward-facing direction of the palms from directly ahead to both sides.

Wu Li stood in place, his Blood Pupil glowing slightly.

Wu Li watched the still-expanding Buddha phantom, the light in his Blood Pupil shifting from faint to solid.

He no longer maintained the Colorless Profound Light. His right claw clenched into a fist in front of him, and the black light retracted inward at that instant, like a curtain whose support was pulled away, receding inch by inch to reveal the golden light of the Buddha.

"Still refusing to give up."

Wu Li's voice was not loud, spreading out within the Buddha's light.

Then, Wu Li's right claw loosened, his five fingers spread open, and the Demon Power in his palm no longer spread outward, instead surging entirely into the Blood Pupil between his brows.

"Hum hum hum~"

The Blood Pupil lit up at that instant, all its power concentrated on that single point.

"Die!"

"Boom!"

When the bloody light passed through the edge of the Buddhist domain, it encountered no resistance, directly piercing through the Buddha phantom and sinking into the monk's chest, emerging from his back, dragging a slender line of light in the air before dissipating.

"Amitabha..."

"It seems the timing for my Buddha has still not arrived..."

The monk's folded hands stopped, and he took a deep look at Wu Li and Bai Chi.

After the final syllable fell, his lips maintained a half-open state, and then he began to shatter from the head down. The lotus platform began to disintegrate from the edges, golden fragments scattering into the air, peeling off layer by layer until the entire phantom completely dissipated, and the monk also died completely along with it.

"It's finally over."

Behind them,

Bai Chi looked at Wu Li and said with lingering fear.

Regarding this,

Wu Li's expression was slightly grave. Right after he killed the monk, he could clearly sense that in the dark, he seemed to have become tainted with some indescribable and unclear matters.

"Disgusting thing."

Wu Li said in a low voice, then looked at Bai Chi.

"Is there still any sense of an Opportunity here?"

Hearing this, Bai Chi closed its eyes and sensed slightly for a moment.

Afterwards, when it opened its eyes, its gaze fell deeper within, and it turned its head to look at Wu Li.

"Answering Old Ancestor, there is, but it is already very faint. It should be the last place."

Hearing this, Wu Li nodded. "Let's go take a look."

Bai Chi didn't speak again, turning around and walking toward that area.

Wu Li followed behind it, the two leaving one after the other.

...

After the two left, behind a protruding rock at the back of the slope, Lin Fan and Chief Clerk Gu Qing poked their heads out one after the other.

Lin Fan's gaze still lingered in the direction where Wu Li and Bai Chi disappeared. Until those two figures were completely blocked by the ridge ahead, he turned his head back and lowered his voice to speak, "Big Brother Gu Qing, that great demon is so ferocious."

Chief Clerk Gu Qing nodded, his gaze still resting on the overturned open space. "It's a good thing we didn't rush forward rashly."

Lin Fan glanced again in the direction where Wu Li disappeared, hesitated for a moment, and still spoke.

"Big Brother Gu Qing, you heard it just now too, it seems... there is still an Opportunity."

"Do you think we should..."

His words were not finished, but the expression on his face had already filled in the second half for him.

Chief Clerk Gu Qing did not answer immediately. From his eyes, it could be seen that Chief Clerk Gu Qing's original intention was to refuse, but just as he was about to speak, for some unknown reason, his expression suddenly paused, and his eyes turned dull for a brief moment.

When he spoke afterward, his voice was a bit lower than before.

"Then let's carefully follow them and take a look."

Lin Fan was stunned for a moment, as if not expecting him to agree, but quickly nodded and replied in a low voice, "Alright."

The two figures walked out from behind the rock, lowered their postures, and followed closely along the shadows at the edge of the slope in the direction where Wu Li and Bai Chi had disappeared.

...

Over here,

Wu Li and Bai Chi passed through the narrow valley, walking up a weed-covered slope for about the time it takes to brew a cup of tea.

The terrain ahead gradually opened up, and a low-lying valley appeared in their field of vision.

In the center of the valley grew a huge ancient tree with a thick trunk that required several people to embrace.

Its bark was dark golden, covered on the surface with a layer of fine patterns, as if it had been repeatedly carved by something. The tree crown spread in all directions with dense branches and leaves, and the edges of the leaves shimmered with an extremely faint golden luster.

The root system extending from the base of the ancient tree was embedded in the soil, with several thicker roots exposed on the surface, bending in different directions.

Three fruits hung on the branches below the tree crown, similar in size to a fist, covered on the surface with a layer of extremely faint golden halo that slowly flowed across the fruit's surface, as if rising and falling layer by layer with the fruit's breathing rhythm.

Wu Li's gaze fell on those three fruits, his Blood Pupil glowing slightly, the light passing through the layer of golden halo on the fruit skin and stopping inside the fruit.

He watched for a moment, the light of his Blood Pupil gradually retracting, and moved his gaze away from the fruits without explaining.

"Be careful. If the situation is not right, immediately leave with me."

Bai Chi nodded. "I understand, Old Ancestor."

It lowered its posture and walked toward the ancient tree, stepping lightly.

It stopped a few steps in front of the ancient tree, looked up at the position of the three fruits, and then reached out toward the nearest fruit.

Wu Li stood in place, his gaze still resting on those three fruits.

And right at this moment,

Wu Li slightly turned sideways, his gaze passing over Bai Chi's shoulder and landing on a shrub-obscured area behind them.