The recording ended just after that unknown monster impersonated Ji Liuli and sent out the distress signal; the residual information adrift in the temporal turbulence went no further.
Standing before the floor-to-ceiling window, Wei Yuan focused his thoughts, attempting to piece together all the information he had observed, even as he channeled the power of the Pure Land of Ultimate Bliss to slowly temper his current vessel and boost his strength.
Wei Yuan had originally entered the Reflection Returning to Guixu Formation to retrace his own memories, but by now he naturally knew that something must have gone awry somewhere, causing him to abruptly plunge into this world.
Fortunately, thanks to the existence of the heavenly demon, Wei Yuan had glimpsed the true world ahead of time. Moreover, the heavenly demon's presence had inflicted an irreparable error upon this realm, creating a loophole that allowed Wei Yuan to seize the opportunity to activate the Pupils of the Six Realms, see through a sliver of the illusion, and borrow a wisp of power from the Pure Land of Ultimate Bliss within his true body.
Wei Yuan now knew he was trapped here. This realm was a fishing ground, and the body he currently occupied was the bait. Pitfalls lurked everywhere throughout this world—he merely did not know whether they were laid specifically for him or meant for someone else.
Furthermore, this realm bore an uncanny resemblance to the otherworldly realm fragment he had once experienced; many details of the scenery were downright identical. Yet that earlier world fragment had already been personally refined and destroyed by Wei Yuan's own hands—how could part of it appear here again?
And the history manifested here deviated somewhat from that of the otherworldly realm fragment. So which history was the true one? Was it the one here, the one from the fragment, or were they both correct?
Deep within Wei Yuan's body, a speck of Buddhist halo drifted in a slow circuit. Though its pace was sluggish in the extreme, its purity was consummate. The radiance it shed could penetrate flesh and bone, illuminating an area the size of a palm. Wherever it passed, his flesh and sinew transformed accordingly, tiny lotus patterns blossoming even within the microscopic cells of his physique.
Borrowing the power of the Pure Land of Ultimate Bliss with his sole opportunity was a thoroughly considered choice. At this juncture, Wei Yuan's six great grotto-heavens each possessed unique strengths. The Sun and Moon went without saying—the core of the Great Sun was the Heavenly Pillar vitality, bizarre and impossible to rein in, while the Moon was an ancient full moon, unique across all realms.
The Yellow Springs, the immortal sword, and the Thick Earth each had their own emphasis and limitless potential; drawing even a sliver of power from any of them would have greatly aided in breaking through this predicament. Yet, through the Pupils of the Six Realms, Wei Yuan had discovered that this current body was bait—meaning it likely bore a profound karmic tie to him.
Buddhism placed the greatest weight on karma and was far more versed in the dao of karma than even the Palace of Grand Beginning; Buddhist power was also far better suited to levering karmic threads. Thus, Wei Yuan had chosen the power of the Pure Land of Ultimate Bliss without hesitation.
Wei Yuan returned to the desk. An eye faintly parted above his head, but his dharmic power was too feeble at present; the eye opened only a sliver before vanishing.
Yet even an incomplete form of the Pupils of the Six Realms, opened for merely an instant, was enough to see through the current illusion.
In the vision of the Pupils of the Six Realms, most of the illusory world remained unchanged, but the area around the desk was occupied by a pitch-black vortex slowly rotating. On the wall, another, smaller black vortex spun.
These two black vortexes were traps prepared specifically for Wei Yuan once again. The vortex on the wall was positioned precisely where Ji Liuli had placed the old photograph moments ago; had Wei Yuan witnessed the residual images in time or learned of the safe's existence through other means, he would have walked straight into the snare.
Just then, Wei Yuan's heart stirred. Relying on the karmic intuition granted by the Pure Land's power, he faintly sensed that something lay atop the distant snow mountains, urging him to go and see for himself.
Wei Yuan had no idea what was on the snow mountains, only knowing it might be tied to him. It was an intuition born of the Pure Land's power, capable of perceiving matters bound to him by heavy karma.
Wei Yuan leapt out the window. Relying on the newly gained wind-treading ability forged from refining his body, he sprinted straight through the air toward the snow mountains.
At this moment, Wei Yuan was not flying, but sprinting across the void. Wherever his feet touched, patches of frost materialized abruptly, only melting away and blooming into air-drawn lotuses after he had surged far ahead, before slowly dispersing. Covering dozens of zhang in a single stride, he tore toward the snow mountains at a pace far faster than that of most top-tier espers.
A wisp of Pure Land power had enhanced Wei Yuan's physical vessel to the level of the Dharma Idol stage. In terms of sheer toughness and physical performance metrics, he stood firmly among the strongest espers of this otherworldly realm, falling just a fraction short of Ji Liuli from that time. By now, his bodily functions could be pushed no further; the Heavenly Dao of this native realm seemed to impose a hard ceiling, and any further improvement would require altering his body's microscopic structure.
As Wei Yuan charged forward, several monsters suddenly lunged from the flanks without warning! Yet before ever relying on firearms, Wei Yuan's close-quarters combat and dharmic dueling had been at the pinnacle; he was hardly someone with a mere passing familiarity with martial arts.
Wei Yuan bent his frame and channeled power, throwing a punch that transitioned from slow to rapid, its latter half breaking out like lightning to smash squarely into the top of a monster's head! As if frozen in time, the monster stiffened midair, then abruptly shattered into pieces, devoid of all vitality, and plummeted down.
Wei Yuan moved with fluid grace, leaving afterimages in his wake as he shattered the incoming otherworldly void fiends one by one with single blows. Having witnessed Ji Liuli's battle against these extraterrestrial monsters, he had already discerned their weaknesses through his keen comprehension as a top cultivator, mastering Ji Liuli's unique starlight power and infusing it into his own strikes.
Wei Yuan had no need to touch the monsters piece by piece; a single, simple punch was enough to shock all vitality out of each void creature. In the blink of an eye, the powerful void monsters surrounding him were slaughtered clean.
The void creatures seemed to realize that sending more would be futile. They ceased their assault, leaving Wei Yuan unhindered as he entered the snowy peaks. The moment he set foot on the snow mountains, he caught sight of two small figures stumbling in frantic flight along a distant ridge, pursued relentlessly by a horde of monsters that were closing the distance with terrifying speed.
Wei Yuan's heart tugged instinctively toward those two small silhouettes. Just as he moved to intervene, he abruptly froze and snapped backward. A blob of grey mucus silently flashed past the spot where he had just stood. The mucus traveled with unimaginable speed yet made no sound at all, displacing no air in blatant defiance of the laws of physics.
Wei Yuan glanced around, only to see numerous bizarre monsters emerging silently, encircling him on all sides. Not only were these beasts far more formidable than those he had encountered earlier, but their numbers were tens of times greater. Clearly, this was the true ambush laid for him.
Yet Wei Yuan had weathered countless great storms. Knowing full well he was at an absolute disadvantage, he felt not the slightest fear. He burst forward, blasting the monster before him away with a single punch!
Moving like the wind, Wei Yuan sent over a dozen void monsters flying in an instant.
Lurking in the distance, one void creature let out a surprised grunt, visibly taken aback. It seemed not to have expected Wei Yuan to dare strike first. In its estimation, Wei Yuan should have either surrendered, scrambled to flee, or attempted to negotiate terms of capitulation—it had never anticipated that he would plunge straight into battle!
From the perspective of sheer combat power, Wei Yuan was undoubtedly at an utter disadvantage. The power of the Pure Land of Ultimate Bliss was not tailored for slaughter; facing a situation like this, the immortal sword or the Great Sun would have been far more suitable.
Yet the Buddhist power of the Pure Land brought a spark of clarity: the two figures on the distant ridge were of paramount importance. Wei Yuan knew in his bones that he had to save them no matter what.
Hence, even though Wei Yuan possessed boundless prospects and high standing today, long accustomed to commanding from above and strategizing behind the lines, when pushed to a moment like this, he did not hesitate in the least to fight to the death!
For Wei Yuan had seen from afar that the young girl fleeing the monsters was none other than Ji Liuli! She was not merely a residual image in time; half of her form existed in the real world, suspended in a bizarre state that was half in the past and half in the present. Instinct told Wei Yuan that if anything happened to her, the consequences would be dire beyond measure!
Yet this pack of monsters was far stronger. A single blow from Wei Yuan could destroy only a small portion of their bodies, requiring five or six consecutive strikes to eliminate just one.
Tempered by years of bloody battles between life and death, Wei Yuan fought like the most seasoned warrior—or a cold, precise combat machine. Calculating every ounce of his stamina down to the finest detail, he waged a life-and-death struggle against hundreds of monsters.
Far off on the ridge, the girl and the boy mustered every ounce of strength to leap across a natural chasm. The girl immediately seized a heavy stone beside her and slammed it against the edge of the cliff! Striking repeatedly with all her might, she finally triggered a collapse of the already fragile precipice. Vast swathes of rock plummeted away, widening the gap from three or four meters to over ten, though the girl nearly plunged into the crevasse along with the falling rubble.
Fortunately, the boy was quick on his feet. Grabbing hold of the girl, he hauled her back up with every bit of strength he could summon.
By now, the beast pack had caught up to the chasm. Looking across the wide gap, they hesitated. The most muscular among them took several paces back, suddenly sprang forward with explosive power, and leapt toward the far side. But it fell just an inch short; its four claws clawed desperately at the ice wall before it plummeted into the bottomless abyss below.
Now, none of the remaining beasts dared make the attempt, showing signs of dispersing. Breathing a slight sigh of relief, the two looked across the chasm, then examined each other's injuries.
Right at that moment, a patch of golden Buddhist light flared in the air. A little monk stepped forth from the radiance. He had fair skin and vermilion lips, yet his eyes harbored an incongruous depth of vicissitude.
The little monk pressed his palms together and chanted a Buddhist prayer. Across the chasm, a bridge formed of Buddhist light suddenly materialized!
The pack of snow beasts paused in stupor for an instant, then scrambled frantically across the bridge of Buddhist light, engulfing the girl and the boy in the blink of an eye—
Chapter 1102