Buddhist Disciple Jijue

Young Master Yuchuan was utterly respectful, bowing and standing in attendance without making a single movement. Jieputi looked down, glanced at him, and said, "You are trembling." Young Master Yuchuan replied, "Terrified by the Buddha's might, I cannot help but tremble." Jieputi said, "You have a flattering tongue. Back then, your ancestor came here and met me. His surname was Bai, named Xianwu. He transcribed the seals of the Buddhas here and showed great understanding of them. A man of exceptional brilliance and extraordinary talent, he claimed that given time, he could help me break the seal. I thought he was merely boasting back then, never imagining that he truly could unravel the seals of the Buddhas. This Bai Xianwu will surely become a paragon of his era." Young Master Yuchuan said, "My ancestor has already become an Imperial Monarch of the Immortal Realm." Jieputi dismissed it with a shake of his head. "An Imperial Monarch of the Immortal Realm is too small. He could take another step forward and become a Supreme. He merely lacks the opportunity. By releasing me this time, he intends to create that opportunity. However, wanting to use me requires paying a tremendous price. What price has he offered?" Young Master Yuchuan said, "My ancestor has already commanded all major sacred grounds and sects of the Taishi Great World to evacuate this world. From now on, the Buddha Ancestor will be the sovereign of the Taishi Great World." Jieputi nodded slightly. "Saves me the trouble of wiping them out myself. Your ancestor is quite tactful and quite generous to give up an entire great world." Young Master Yuchuan said, "My ancestor has another matter he would like to request the Buddha Ancestor's help with. He has a nemesis named Xu Ying..." "Xu Ying?" Jieputi said. "This is not called helping; this is called revenge. Xu Ying plotted against me, so I will seek revenge against him myself." He raised a hand and made a grasping motion, and the Great Thunderclap Temple located halfway up the mountain slowly rose into the air, floating toward this place. Jieputi said, "The Imperial Monarch needs me, and I need him just as well. I will take proper care of this matter concerning Xu Ying." Young Master Yuchuan rejoiced inwardly. Jieputi entered and took up residence in the Great Thunderclap Temple, sweeping away all the Buddha statues. Suddenly sensing something, he sneered, "You still wish to return?" Behind this ancient Buddha, an immensely gigantic Primordial Spirit suddenly materialized, wrapped in chains, treading upon karmic fire. That Primordial Spirit was as tall as Mount Sumeru; raising its hand, it slashed down thunderously toward Mount Sumeru. He barked, "Sever!" Cold sweat poured down Young Master Yuchuan's forehead. It seemed as though that supreme Primordial Spirit was about to cleave Mount Sumeru apart and reduce the Great Thunderclap Temple to fine dust, yet that palm struck as if into empty space, creating not the slightest disturbance. His soul still unsettled, Young Master Yuchuan heard Jieputi mutter to himself, "Buddhas, you traveled far from this world, yet you still tied a thread of karma to the Great Thunderclap Temple. Could it be that you intend to follow this karma and return to this world?" Hearing this, Young Master Yuchuan hastily asked, "Buddha Ancestor, is this the reason why the Great Thunderclap Temple was haunted?" Jieputi said, "Most likely. However, I have severed this thread of karma. Even a Great Luo Immortal could not find their way back here." Suspicious and uncertain, Young Master Yuchuan asked, "Buddha Ancestor, you said the Buddhas intended to follow the karma to return here. Could it be that the Buddhas have not entered nirvana? Could they still be alive?" Jieputi hesitated for a moment, then shook his head. "Now that the karma is severed, even if the Buddhas are all still alive, they can never return." Within the geomagnetic torrent, Xu Ying followed the flow and finally arrived at Yingzhou. Just as he was about to set foot on the soil of Yingzhou, darkness suddenly struck. When he opened his eyes again, he seemed once more to be amidst dark spacetime, and that young monk had appeared once again! Xu Ying's spirits rose greatly, and he laughed aloud. "Fellow Daoist of the Great Thunderclap Temple, I have finished refining the Buddha Ancestor's prayer beads! Today, I can rescue you!" However, the young monk in the darkness could not hear his words. Though seemingly close in the darkness, they were in fact vastly distant. The young monk seemed frozen in spacetime, completely motionless. Suddenly, the young monk's figure plummeted backward at high speed, seemingly about to fall back into the depths of the darkness! Xu Ying also sensed that something had gone wrong—it was as if a thread on him had snapped, bringing his karmic affinity with this young monk to an abrupt end! *Some inexplicable power is interfering with my karma with the Great Thunderclap Temple! But am I someone you can interfere with so easily?* At this thought, Xu Ying grasped the Buddha Ancestor's prayer beads with one hand and unleashed them without hesitation. "Fellow Daoist of the Great Thunderclap Temple, if no one will deliver you, I will deliver you!" Clatter! Driven by his power, the string of prayer beads instantly expanded to an immense scale. Each bead drifted forward like a colossal planet, extending into the dark spacetime! The prayer beads drifted forward, soon reaching Xu Ying's limit, but there remained a considerable distance to the young monk. The young monk was still falling, and the gap continued to widen! Xu Ying roared, and all five Immortal Realm cave-heavens opened behind him. The Five Sacred Immortal Mountains, Water-Fire Huntian Cauldron, Twelve-Storyed Mansions, and other supreme treasures transformed into five realms, suspended behind him! Xu Ying's Primordial Spirit emerged, laying out three thousand Heavenly Dao runes to form a Heavenly Dao domain. Blessed by the power of the Heavenly Dao, he shifted his stance, opening the realm of the five immortals and merging it with the domain! His physical body, reforged with the breath of creation, displayed its extraordinary nature at this moment, accommodating even greater vital qi and divine consciousness to drive the prayer beads to the absolute extreme! From within the beads even came the chanting of the Buddha Ancestor and the faint voices of the Buddhas. Shaking violently, the string of beads continued to enlarge and extend, hurtling toward the young monk! As the young monk was plummeting, he was suddenly captured like a speck of dust by the giant, star-like prayer bead, crashing onto its surface. Filled with shock and bewilderment, the sounds of the Buddhas chanting rang in his ears, and suddenly the world began to spin. Looking outward, he could see only pitch darkness, but he could feel himself shuttling rapidly through spacetime alongside this colossal bead! *Could it be the Buddha Ancestor's blessing?* Just as this thought arose, light suddenly broke before his eyes. In the next moment, the prayer beads carried him out of the dark spacetime! One hundred and eight prayer beads, like gigantic stars, abruptly emerged from the darkness, drifting in the void between the Yellow Court other shore and Yingzhou. The string of beads swayed back and forth, its length beyond measure. The young monk was struck with unspeakable shock. Straining his vision to look outward, he vaguely made out a youth floating in the air beside a magnificent Immortal Realm continent, holding the other end of the prayer beads in his hand! The youth gave a sudden forceful tug, and the young monk saw the star-like bead beneath him rapidly shrink. Xu Ying hauled back the prayer beads with force. The beads, which had just been as massive as stars, flew back to his side, reverting to their original size in an instant. With a clattering spin and shake, the young monk fell from between the beads and landed, returning to ordinary human proportions. He was a fair-skinned monk with clear, handsome features, dressed in black monastic robes. Losing the support of Xu Ying's magic power, the prayer beads clattered down, appearing just like ordinary beads without the slightest peculiarity. The monk hastily bowed. "This humble monk is Jijue. Many thanks to Senior for the rescue." Xu Ying smiled. "We look about the same age, so why call me senior? I am Xu Ying; you can call me Ah Ying. Jijue, where did you come from? Why did you tell me to stay away from the other shore?" Buddhist Disciple Jijue said, "I come from Mount Sumeru, and I am a disciple of the Buddha Ancestor. The Buddhas went deep into the other shore to prevent a great catastrophe. Before departing, the Buddha Ancestor instructed me that I must warn the people of the world to flee the other shore." Xu Ying asked, "What is in the other shore? Why flee it? And what place is the other shore that the Buddha Ancestor spoke of? Is it here?" Buddhist Disciple Jijue looked utterly bewildered. Xu Ying pressed on, "While there, did you see the Dao Ancestor? What about the Void Emperor? What about Taiyi Saving from Suffering Heavenly Venerable? Who else did you see? Did the Buddha Ancestor ever tell you the truth behind the fall of the ancient era? Why did they go searching for the other shore?" Buddhist Disciple Jijue said timidly, "Benefactor Ah Ying, I only just arrived..." "Why haven't the Buddha Ancestor and the others returned? Could it be they cannot find their way back?" Xu Ying continued asking of his own accord. "Then why were you able to return? How did you jump into the dark spacetime? And what is the dark spacetime? Why were you frozen in it? Why couldn't the others return? If you could return, it should be even easier for the likes of the Dao Ancestor and Buddha Ancestor to return, so why don't they? And why can't their Heaven and Earth Primordial Spirits sense them? Just where is the other shore?" Buddhist Disciple Jijue stared at him with wide eyes. Xu Ying's eyes shone brightly, staring back at him with an eager, expectant gaze. Disciple Jijue's face gradually flushed red. Xu Ying had asked more questions in one breath than he had encountered in his entire life, leaving him at a loss for how to answer. He stammered, "I... I have only seen the Buddha Ancestor and the Buddhas. I haven't seen anyone else..." Suddenly, he stepped across to shield Xu Ying, roaring, "Boundless Golden Body!" Clang—! Buddha light blazed around his body, instantly glowing bright gold and turning immensely solid. Countless Sanskrit runes swirled around him, forming the shape of a massive bell. An Immortal King corpse lunged out from Yingzhou, clawing toward Xu Ying. This corpse king had intended to launch a sneak attack, only to be detected by Buddhist Disciple Jijue. The corpse king's talons clawed savagely against the bell wall of Sanskrit runes, tearing through the great bell, and struck Buddhist Disciple Jijue's body in the next instant. Yet Jijue remained completely unmoved, his skin without the slightest injury! Seeing this, Xu Ying was startled inwardly. *Such a powerful physical body?* When the Returning Dao Jade Platter activated, part of the Great Daos of the immortal corpses in the Corpse Ghost Immortal Domain had been restored, significantly boosting their strength. Though the corpse king still fell short of its power in life, its might was close to that of an Immortal King. Moreover, the corpse king's physical body was the body of an Immortal King. For this claw strike to fail even to scratch Buddhist Disciple Jijue's golden body showed just how formidable his Boundless Golden Body was! *His Boundless Golden Body is even stronger than an Immortal King's physique! I'm afraid only by opening the Mud Pill Palace Immortal Realm cave-heaven, seizing the Immortal Realm's spiritual qi and power to refine immortal medicine, and combining it with the Crimson Palace's heart power immortal medicine to cultivate up to around the eighth heaven of the cave-heaven could my physical body rival his Boundless Golden Body!* Xu Ying marveled with immense envy, thinking to himself. "Deliverance!" Buddhist Disciple Jijue shouted loudly. A ten-thousand-zhang Primordial Spirit abruptly manifested behind him, holding a treasure vase. Brilliant Buddha light shone forth, blazing onto the corpse king. The corpse king shrieked in agony as swollen blisters erupted across its entire body. Its flesh melted away, emitting foul, nauseating dark smoke, and in an instant, it dissolved into a puddle of pus! Xu Ying was taken aback. This Immortal King corpse had been refined into pus by Buddhist Disciple Jijue in just two moves! Such strength was simply too overbearing! *Still, this divine power is called Deliverance, yet it melts an Immortal King corpse straight into pus. Hmm...* Suddenly, Buddhist Disciple Jijue soared into the air. Spotting yet another Immortal King corpse charging their way, he swung the hem of his black monastic robe back and shouted, "Illumination!" Xu Ying looked over and saw orb after orb of Buddha light, each the size of a bushel basket, as dense as raindrops. Surging forward by the hundreds, tens of thousands of Buddha light orbs erupted in an instant, bombarding and blasting the corpse king's Dao domain completely to bits! Swoosh, swoosh, swoosh, swoosh... Countless more orbs of Buddha light flew forward, pounding onto the corpse king and blowing it into pulverized debris in the next moment. When the smoke and dust cleared, Xu Ying focused his gaze, only to see the corpse king reduced to a single pair of feet standing there. Vigilantly scanning his surroundings, Buddhist Disciple Jijue suddenly darted and flashed like a phantom. In the next breath, he arrived dozens of li away, bringing his palm down to clamp onto the crown of another corpse king's head, shouting, "Conversion!" Xu Ying stepped onto Yingzhou and rushed over, only to see green smoke rising from the corpse king's crown. Its lifetime of obsessions was refined away completely in an instant. Its body went limp and collapsed to the ground, thoroughly dead. "Compassionate is our Buddha," Buddhist Disciple Jijue murmured, looking around. "This place resembles an immortal realm, yet its corpse qi is so heavy. This humble monk senses faint corpse qi filling the world, rampant with obsessions. I originally thought the other shore was perilous, but who knew this mortal world was not a whit behind? No wonder the Buddha Ancestor had me learn dragon-subduing and tiger-taming techniques! ALL! FOUR! ELEMENTS! ARE! EMPTY!" He blasted a palm from afar. Xu Ying immediately saw a corpse king leading a host of corpse immortals in the distance just poke their heads out, only to burst into pieces and perish! "Sadhu, sadhu." Xu Ying was utterly stunned. "This monk Jijue is a bit... a bit violent." Holding one palm vertically before his chest, Buddhist Disciple Jijue vigilantly surveyed his surroundings and said, "I shall lead the way for the world, purging the corpse qi and demonic miasma of this mortal realm..." "Halt! Watch me deliver you! Pure Land of Ultimate Bliss, on your way you go!"