21: Corpse Buddha Descends

The blood of Dragon Severing Gorge had not yet dissipated in the wind, and the scorched earth of the Law Enforcement Hall still silently accused the tyranny of the Heavenly Thunder.

Mo Juren stepped on the ruins, which had been plowed by thunder and fire, and were covered in rubble and debris. A faint crunching sound emanated from under his feet, as if he were treading on the bones of the Seven Mysteries Sect's past.

The hem of his grey robe brushed against charred charcoal and twisted metal fragments, becoming stained with deeper grime.

The air was filled with a pungent smell of charring, a faint hint of blood, and a deeper, more profound lingering scent of death and destruction.

His cold gaze, like a precise probe, swept across the desolate land.

His authority had been established, and the sequence had made its initial display of power, crushing the Sect Leader's minions.

But this was far from enough.

The Seven Mysteries Sect was like a wounded behemoth; temporary deterrence would only provoke a more frantic counterattack.

Sect Leader Li Feiyu, that old monster rumored to have long since reached Foundation Establishment, would certainly not let the matter rest.

Mo Juren needed stronger power, a more despair-inducing trump card!

The magic bottle seemed to perceive its master's intention, transmitting a piece of information through the mental link.

It was like a lighthouse in the darkness, illuminating the path forward—create Sequence 005 · Corpse Buddha!

Protecting the body with Buddha's light to counter Corpse Poison; this was very likely the key to resisting the backlash of the Demonic Silver Hand, and even to dealing with insidious evil entities that might be encountered in the future!

But creating a Corpse Buddha required a core material—a Cultivator's corpse containing powerful spiritual power or resentment!

And it was best if it had recently died, with the body uncorrupted and spiritual power not yet dispersed!

The ruins of the Law Enforcement Hall, this place that had just been cleansed by thunder and buried many elites of the Seven Kill Hall, wasn't it the best 'Materials' repository?

Mo Juren's footsteps stopped in a corner half-covered by a large fallen rock.

This was once a side hall of the Law Enforcement Hall; after the rampage of thunder and fire, only broken walls and ruins remained.

A massive beam, half-melted by the thunder and fire, was obliquely inserted into the pile of rubble, pressing down on a relatively 'complete' corpse below.

The corpse wore a dark red, gold-trimmed robe, indicative of a high-ranking Law Enforcement Hall official. Although its chest was caved in and its limbs twisted by the fallen rock, its head was largely intact.

A square face, distorted and rigid from intense pain and fear, still vaguely revealed the person's former prestige.

It was none other than Sun Qian, the Deputy Elder in charge of criminal law, second only to the Hall Master in the Law Enforcement Hall! A Peak Qi Refining Fifth Layer Cultivator!

In the thunderous storm like a heavenly punishment last night, he failed to escape the main hall in time, was severely injured by the collapsing beam, and finally breathed his last in despair.

The residual spiritual power within him had not completely dissipated. The fear of the Heavenly Thunder before his death, his deep-seated resentment towards Mo Juren, his unwillingness to accept the collapse of his own authority... all these negative emotions were like invisible brands, deeply entwined around the corpse, exuding intense unwillingness and malevolence!

Perfect Materials! Sufficient cultivation! Deep resentment! Recently deceased and uncorrupted!

“It's you,” Mo Juren's cold voice was like a judgment on the corpse.

He extended his Thunder Corpse Claw, his five fingers, wreathed in silver-grey electric arcs, hooked like claws. Ignoring the scorching heat of the half-melted beam, he violently grabbed its edge!

Sizzle!

Electric arcs jumped, and the hot metal emitted a piercing sound.

Mo Juren let out a low growl, and his Qi Refining Third Layer Thunder Spiritual Power instantly erupted!

Rumble!

The heavy, half-melted beam was forcibly lifted and flung away, crashing into the distant ruins, kicking up a large cloud of dust!

Sun Qian's corpse was fully exposed.

A twisted posture, a caved-in chest, and a distorted face solidified with fear and malevolence.

A scent mixed with blood, charring, and a faint odor of decay permeated the air.

“Ant King,” Mo Juren's cold command was issued through the Soul link.

Rumble!

The Red Copper Ant King's figure, like a small fortress, crushed the obstructing rubble and appeared behind Mo Juren.

Its molten-like compound eyes swept over the corpse on the ground, transmitting back an indifference towards 'Materials'.

“Take him, and return to the Stone Crevice.”

The Ant King let out a low roar. Its giant mandibles, like a battering ram, descended with extreme precision, avoiding the relatively intact head of the corpse. Like a huge pair of pincers, it clamped onto the tattered robe and some flesh around Sun Qian's waist, easily lifting the entire corpse.

Viscous dark red blood and fragmented internal organs dripped from the edges of the mandibles, leaving shocking traces on the scorched ruins.

Mo Juren no longer looked at the ruins, turning and walking towards the depths of Shen Shou Valley.

The Ant King carried Sun Qian's corpse as if it were an insignificant prey, its heavy footsteps leaving deep, bloody imprints on the silent ruins of the Law Enforcement Hall.

Inside the Stone Crevice, it was still cold and damp.

The air was now filled with a strong smell of blood and the unique scent of decay from the corpse.

Sun Qian's twisted corpse was casually discarded by the Ant King on the cold rocky ground in the center of the Stone Crevice, like a pile of discarded rotten meat.

Mo Juren stood beside the corpse, his eyes cold and unmoving.

He slowly pulled out the silent, pitch-black magic bottle from his embrace.

The bottle's body was as deep as an abyss, and the silver-purple thunder patterns flowing on it shimmered with a faint, almost expectant glow in the dim light.

Create Corpse Buddha! Buddha's light protects the body, countering all Corpse Poison! This was the key to resisting the backlash of the Demonic Silver Hand, and even to dealing with insidious evil entities that might be encountered in the future!

But a Buddha should be pure, solemn, and compassionate, saving all sentient beings.

Based on a resentful corpse, guided by the evil power of the magic bottle, what kind of 'Buddha' would be born?

Mo Juren no longer hesitated.

He cut his fingertip, and dark red, foul blood containing Corpse Poison and Thunder Spiritual Power gushed out.

This time, he did not drop the blood directly into the bottle's mouth. Instead, he pressed his bleeding fingertip firmly onto the center of Sun Qian's forehead, which was distorted by fear and stained with foul blood!

“With your malevolence as fuel! With your broken body as the furnace!”

“magic bottle! Refine it for me!”

As Mo Juren's cold, curse-like growl ended, his other hand slammed the mouth of the pitch-black magic bottle down onto Sun Qian's glabella!

The bottle's mouth pressed tightly against the bleeding finger and the cold forehead!

Buzz—!!!

The silent magic bottle's body suddenly vibrated violently!

The silver-purple thunder patterns flowing on it instantly erupted with an unprecedented, blinding deep purple light!

The light was not grand, but filled with distortion, chaos, and a terrifying will of forceful plunder, transformation, and reshaping!

The bottle's mouth seemed to transform into a black hole that devoured everything! It erupted with terrifying suction!

Hiss, hiss, hiss—!!!

A grating sound erupted from within Sun Qian's corpse!

It was as if countless invisible tentacles were frantically extracting the remaining spiritual power, undissipated resentment, and fragmented Soul from the corpse!

The corpse shriveled at a visible speed!

The skin lost its last luster, becoming grey and wrinkled!

Muscles atrophied and collapsed, tightly wrapping around the bones!

Even more bizarrely, the solidified blood and filth on the corpse's surface seemed to be purified and stripped away by an invisible force, transforming into wisps of dark red smoke that were greedily devoured by the magic bottle!

At the same time, the magic bottle itself was undergoing terrifying changes!

Inside the bottle's body, that viscous, extremely ominous, blood-colored demonic liquid, like solidified plasma—the creation blood exclusive to combat-oriented sequences—was frantically spinning, boiling, and proliferating!

It greedily absorbed everything plundered from the corpse—spiritual power, resentment, fragmented Soul!

Its color became deeper and more viscous, emitting a strange fluctuation that mixed Buddhist sandalwood, bloody malevolence, and the destructive aura of thunder!

This tragic and forbidden refining process lasted for about the time it takes an incense stick to burn.

The magic bottle's vibrations and the blinding purple light finally gradually subsided.

The terrifying suction at the bottle's mouth disappeared.

Mo Juren slowly removed the magic bottle.

In the center of the Stone Crevice, Sun Qian's corpse... had vanished!

In its place was a figure seated cross-legged.

He wore a tattered, yet unusually clean, dark gold kasaya.

The kasaya's material was neither cloth nor silk, shimmering with a restrained metallic luster. Its surface faintly displayed extremely subtle, naturally formed dark purple thunder patterns, originating from the same source as the magic bottle's thunder patterns.

The body beneath the kasaya was neither a mummified corpse nor a flesh-and-blood body, but a peculiar texture like cast bronze, yet also like carved jade. Its muscle lines were smooth and contained explosive power, and its skin presented a warm, ancient bronze luster.

His face still vaguely showed Sun Qian's outline, but all fear, malevolence, and distortion had vanished, replaced by a strange tranquility.

It was not compassion, nor serenity, but a profound stillness, like an ancient well of ten thousand years, completely undisturbed.

His eyes were tightly closed, eyelids lowered, like an old monk in meditation.

There were no tonsure scars on his head, but it was smooth as a mirror, faintly flowing with a warm, jade-like luster.

Most striking was the area behind his cross-legged figure!

A circle of extremely faint, yet incredibly pure and condensed, pale golden Buddha's light, like the rising sun, quietly floated!

The Buddha's light was not scorching, but carried an indescribable majesty and power of purification!

Wherever the light reached, the cold, damp, and bloody aura that originally permeated the Stone Crevice seemed to be dispelled and purified by an invisible force. Even the faint odor of decay emanating from the Demonic Silver Hand seemed to be suppressed!

[Sequence 005 · Corpse Buddha]! Born!

However, beneath this solemn and serene facade, Mo Juren, through the Soul link, clearly 'perceived' that in the core depths of this Corpse Buddha, the forcibly transformed remnants of Sun Qian's resentment and fragmented Soul, like malevolent spirits suppressed in boundless Hell by Buddha's light, were emitting silent roars and curses filled with extreme pain!

This Buddha's Light is both protection and shackles! It is purification, and even more, eternal torment!

The price! How could the creation of the magic bottle be without a price?!

A cold, emotionless voice, yet with a strangely solemn rhythm, echoed directly in Mo Yuan's Soul, like the morning bell of an ancient temple:

"Buddha's Light protects the body, eradicating all evil."

"However, Karmic Obstruction still clings, and malevolent Qi has not dissipated."

"To wield this body, one must… purify departed Souls."

"Only by purifying Karma can one achieve freedom."

【Price】: Must purify departed Souls!

This Corpse Buddha needs to continuously purify departed Souls and absorb the dissipating Soul Power to maintain the eternal Buddha's Light, suppressing the endless resentment and malevolence forcibly transformed by the Buddha's Light within its body!

Otherwise, if the Buddha's Light dissipates, it will suffer a backlash and instantly transform into an even more terrifying Demonic entity!

Mo Yuan's gaze coldly swept over the Corpse Buddha's serene face, landing on its cross-legged knees.

There, a string of prayer beads made from nine grayish-white bone beads lay.

The bone beads were neither gold nor jade, with a hint of deathly chill amidst their warmth. Within each bone bead, a faint, dark purple Thunder Pattern, like a spark, subtly flowed.

This was the Corpse Buddha's natal Magical Artifact, the medium for purifying departed Souls, and also the shackles suppressing the evil Karma within its body!

"Corpse Buddha…" Mo Yuan's voice carried a hint of scrutiny and command, "Prove your worth."

The Corpse Buddha's tightly closed eyes did not open, and its serene face, like an ancient well, showed no change.

It merely slowly raised its right hand, that palm, cast like ancient bronze, with its palm facing upwards and fingers naturally spread.

Buzz—!

The faint golden Buddha's Light behind it suddenly brightened for an instant!

The soft yet majestic light instantly enveloped its entire palm!

Within the light, a pure, vast aura filled with the power of purification permeated!

Hiss—!!!

Like a hot branding iron pressed onto ice!

Mo Yuan's Thunder Corpse Claw, which was entwined with silver-gray electric arcs, inscribed with purple Thunder Patterns, and constantly exuded a dense aura of Corpse Poison and deathly stillness, when it approached the Corpse Buddha's Buddha's Light-shrouded hand by about three feet, the gray-black Corpse Poison airflow entwined around it let out terrified "hissing" screams as if it had encountered its natural enemy!

It became thin, dim, and disintegrated at a speed visible to the naked eye!

Even the deep silver-gray metallic luster of the Thunder Corpse Claw itself, under the illumination of the Buddha's Light, seemed to be plated with a faint gold, conveying a slight burning sensation of being purified!

The excruciating pain of the bone-eroding Corpse Poison backlash from the Demonic Silver Hand, which had constantly plagued his left arm, rapidly receded like a tide under the embrace of this Buddha's Light!

It was replaced by an unprecedented sense of ease and relief!

It counters Corpse Poison! The Buddha's Light protecting the body truly lives up to its reputation!

A sharp glint flashed in Mo Yuan's eyes!

This Corpse Buddha will be the strongest shield against the backlash of the Demonic Silver Hand and even all evil ghosts in the future!

However, just as Mo Yuan was verifying the Corpse Buddha's abilities, a very subtle… craving was transmitted from the Corpse Buddha's serene Soul fluctuations, like an ancient well!

Like a thirsty desert traveler smelling moisture!

The target… pointed directly to the corner of the Stone Crevice!

Mo Yuan followed the Corpse Buddha's invisible spiritual perception and looked over—

In the corner, amidst a pile of debris deliberately covered by broken stones, a stiff, broken figure was partially exposed.

That was Zhang Tie's Puppet!

The Zhang Tie Human Puppet, personally crafted by Mo Juren, infused with parts of Zhang Tie's essence blood and Soul fragments, its runes now dim, on the verge of complete disintegration!

The Corpse Buddha's "purify departed Souls" price… was activated by this Puppet containing a remnant Soul!

The Corpse Buddha's cross-legged body trembled ever so slightly.

Beneath its closed eyelids, it seemed as if an undercurrent was surging.

Among the string of grayish-white bone beads on its knee, the dark purple Thunder Pattern within one of the bone beads suddenly lit up, emitting a cold and greedy suction force!

The target was precisely that wisp of Zhang Tie's weak remnant Soul, on the verge of dissipating within the Puppet's body!

"No…" An extremely faint Soul fragment fluctuation, filled with pain and confusion, emanated from deep within the Puppet, like the last flicker of a candle in the wind.

At the entrance of the Stone Crevice, within the shadowy gap covered by vines.

A pair of eyes, calm as a deep pool, peered through the gaps in the vines, staring intently at everything happening inside the Stone Crevice!

It was Han Li!

He had returned here at some unknown time, lurking silently like the most patient hunter.

There was no expression on his ordinary face, only his eyes, which were now locked onto the broken Puppet in the corner, and… that extremely faint, yet familiar fluctuation emanating from deep within the Puppet, which made his Soul tremble!

Zhang Tie!

That was Zhang Tie's lingering aura!

Han Li's heart felt as if it had been fiercely clutched by an invisible hand!

Mo Juren (Mo Yuan) not only killed Zhang Tie but also refined him into a Puppet?!

The cold anger and deep-seated killing intent brought by this realization gnawed at his nerves like a venomous snake!

His left hand in his sleeve had already gripped a bone-piercing nail coated with potent poison!

A cold killing intent permeated as if substantial!

However, just as his killing intent was about to erupt—

In the center of the Stone Crevice, the cross-legged Corpse Buddha moved!

It did not rise, but its right hand, shrouded in faint golden Buddha's Light, slowly, with a strange solemn rhythm, gently swept towards the direction of Zhang Tie's Puppet in the corner…

There was no sound of wind, no burst of spiritual power.

Only a circle of extremely soft, pure, faint golden Buddha's Light ripples, as if capable of cleansing all defilement and suffering in the world, spread out like water waves, instantly enveloping the broken Puppet!

Buzz—!

Time seemed to freeze at that moment.

Deep within the Puppet, that wisp of Zhang Tie's Soul fragment fluctuation, filled with pain, confusion, resentment, and endless unwillingness, upon contact with the faint golden Buddha's Light…

Like ice and snow thrown into the warm sun, it silently… melted away.

All the pain, all the resentment, all the unwillingness… were purified, soothed, and… purified in that pure Buddha's Light!

The remnant Soul transformed into tiny, pure white specks of light, like the last fireflies of a summer night, slowly drifting out from the broken Puppet's shell, carrying a lightness and tranquility of liberation, slowly ascending within the faint golden Buddha's Light ripples, and finally… completely dissipating into the cold air of the Stone Crevice.

The two points of faint red light, representing the power of the runes, which were the last struggles in the Puppet's eye sockets, completely… extinguished, like a dying lamp that had run out of oil.

The entire Puppet, as if losing its last support, completely fell apart with a crash, turning into a pile of lifeless rotten wood and metal parts.

The purification… was complete.

Within the bone bead prayer string on the Corpse Buddha's knee, the dark purple Thunder Pattern inside the lit bone bead subtly flowed, seeming to become a little more solid.

The serene aura emanating from the Corpse Buddha also seemed to stabilize by a fraction.

The price was temporarily satisfied.

In the vine-covered shadow at the entrance of the Stone Crevice.

Han Li's fingers, clutching the bone-piercing nail, remained stiff in his sleeve.

He stared intently at the completely disintegrated Puppet remains, now utterly lifeless, at the last pure specks of light dissipating in the air… and at the Corpse Buddha, sitting cross-legged in the faint Buddha's Light, its face serene and unmoving.

Deep within those eyes, calm as a deep pool, an unprecedented storm surged!

Astonishment! Disbelief!

The cold anger was replaced by a deeper, more complex emotion!

He clearly "perceived" that at the moment the faint golden Buddha's Light enveloped the Puppet, a cold Heart Demon's malevolence, which had coiled deep within his Soul like a parasitic worm due to Zhang Tie's death, and which he himself had not fully noticed… as if gently brushed by the lingering Buddha's Light…

Silently… dissipated.

An unprecedented sense of ease at the Soul level, accompanied by a faint feeling of melancholy, like an old friend departing, quietly permeated.

Zhang Tie… was truly… liberated.

Han Li slowly, very slowly, released his fingers from the bone-piercing nail.

He deeply, deeply gazed at the cross-legged Corpse Buddha in the center of the Stone Crevice, and then at Mo Yuan, whose back was to him, his gray-robed figure as straight as a spear.

The cold killing intent in his eyes receded like a tide, replaced by a deeper, more ineffable sense of inquiry and… a barely perceptible complexity.

He no longer lingered, his figure, like flowing water merging into shadow, silently vanished beyond the vine-covered entrance, leaving no trace.

Inside the Stone Crevice, Mo Yuan slowly turned around, his cold gaze sweeping over the pile of Puppet remains that had completely turned into dead objects, finally landing on the Corpse Buddha, sitting cross-legged in the faint Buddha's Light, serene as an ancient Buddha.

A cold arc slowly formed at the corner of his mouth.

The Corpse Buddha has descended, purifying departed Souls.

Han Li… did you see that?

This, is the power of the Mo Sect!