A glimmer of teal-gold suddenly shone through the tribulation clouds in the sky!
Hidden within this strike of tribulation lightning was an endless barrage of sharp blades! It was similar to Wei Yuan's Golden Light Water Blade Art, yet fundamentally many times higher in caliber.
This was the Golden Astral Tribulation Lightning, a variety of dharma idol tribulation that ranked among the most formidable. Wei Yuan was alarmed. Just as he was about to head over and see what he could do, his surroundings shifted abruptly. In an instant, he was relocated out over the sea, a full thousand zhang away from the great array.
Next, the yin-yang twin qi emerged, weaving a cage of black and white around him. This cage was not meant to restrain Wei Yuan's movement, but to isolate his aura and karmic luck.
Maiden Yin-Yang then appeared beside Wei Yuan, sending him a thought: *You cannot approach.*
*Why?* Wei Yuan found it both utterly baffling and unbelievable. This was clearly his own mindscape world, yet he had been shifted away without warning.
The second strike of heavenly thunder fell. Holding the Great Bright Demon-Subduing Sword, Zhang Sheng slashed upward in counterattack. The quality of this sword far surpassed that of the original Great Bright Demon-Subduing Sword, but it was still merely at the Mortal Tier. When the sword light flashed out, it neutralized only one percent of the tribulation lightning's might. Fortunately, most of the heavenly tribulation was absorbed by the remnant soul of the Nether Shaman beside her.
The remaining Golden Astral Divine Thunder still spanned a hundred zhang, crashing down upon Zhang Sheng like a cataract. Countless invisible golden blades sheared at her soul body, leaving her covered in wounds in the blink of an eye.
Watching this, Wei Yuan dug his fingernails so deep into his palms they almost pierced the flesh, yet he was powerless to intervene. A heavenly tribulation was a trial of life and death that every cultivator had to face; countless cultivators feared it so deeply that they only dared take that step toward a dharma idol when they were on the brink of death.
When the Golden Astral Tribulation Lightning subsided, Zhang Sheng was already collapsed on the ground, drawing feeble, shallow breaths.
Yet she struggled to her feet as another immortal sword took shape. Blazing and radiant like a crimson sun, it was none other than the Immortal Sword · False Sun. However, the one in Zhang Sheng's hand was vastly stronger than the original False Sun, already possessing ten percent of the Dao rhyme of Immortal Sword Great Sun.
The Yin-Yang Melting Pot Great Array turned slowly, repairing Zhang Sheng's nascent soul. Her gaze remained clear and bright, but while the third strike of heavenly tribulation was still brewing, she swiftly used her immortal sword to write characters within the formation:
"Wei Yuan, my disciple:
"If you see these words, your master has likely perished in this heavenly tribulation. Yet this is solely due to my lack of preparation; the path itself has been proven sound. As the ancients said, to hear the Dao in the morning and die in the evening is enough. I leave with no regrets. Now, as I stand on the verge of falling beneath the heavenly tribulation, I record this path here so that you may draw upon it in the future..."
Wei Yuan could see everything clearly from afar and grew frantic with worry. However, Maiden Yin-Yang's warning and the mutation of the second strike made him vaguely realize that it was best if he did not approach.
Zhang Sheng had only written this final testament out of helplessness. The second strike had already been terrifying, with many more to come; if their power continued to escalate at this rate, she would never survive this lightning tribulation under any circumstances—not even if she were in Sky Azure Hall.
Her testament was only half-written when the third tribulation bolt finished gathering.
To everyone's surprise, the intensity of this third bolt dropped by several tiers, differing little from the very first strike. In this round, Zhang Sheng unleashed both immortal swords, each reducing the heavenly thunder's power by one percent, and passed through it with ease.
Next came the fourth and fifth tribulation strikes, their strength roughly equivalent to the first.
Three more immortal swords appeared around Zhang Sheng—Thunder Silk, Black Silk, and White Silk—each able to block one percent of the heavenly tribulation's power.
Sure enough, as long as Wei Yuan kept his distance, the heavenly tribulation behaved normally. Looking at the tribulation clouds in the sky, which were still sluggishly gathering the sixth bolt, Wei Yuan decided to withdraw from the Smoke and Fire of the Mortal World to deal with the aftermath outside, where a mountain of matters awaited him.
In this battle, another three hundred and fifty thousand Shamans had been killed, while Qingming suffered one hundred and seventy thousand casualties, the vast majority being common mortals.
The Shamans suffered their heaviest losses when they were pursued following the collapse of their morale, and when Wei Yuan carpeted the ground with missiles. The pursuit alone accounted for a hundred thousand casualties.
Having repelled the Shamans twice in succession, and particularly with that scene where Wei Yuan challenged the enemy before their lines and not a single Shaman dared fight, Qingming's morale was ignited in an instant.
Originally, Li Zhi's Zhenshan Army had experienced some unrest; out of fifty thousand elite troops, ten thousand were dead or wounded, and some had begun clamoring to turn back. But after seeing Wei Yuan's valor, their voices quieted down. Furthermore, Li Zhi distributed rewards promptly and provided generous pensions for the fallen, finally steadying the troops' hearts.
At this moment, Wei Yuan's renown was at its zenith, unmatched by anyone. Capitalizing on this prestige, Wei Yuan mobilized the civilian population once more, then conferred with Feng Chutang for half a day.
In the blink of an eye, dusk arrived. Feng Chutang's body was wrapped in black mists of karmic debt. Cocooned in a fur robe, he lay back in a chair and said weakly, "The Dao of karmic luck should work like that, but there are far too many variables; no one can exhaust every possibility. Whether to do this or not is up to you."
Wei Yuan's expression was grave. He hesitated and said, "I will consider it further."
"Wait," Feng Chutang called after him. "If Hongye continues to refuse your challenge and simply waits for you outside the Shattered Lands, you won't really have any good options."
Wei Yuan nodded and left in silence.
Afterward, he visited the temporary residence of the two monks. At this moment, the little monk lay quietly in bed, a white bandage wrapped over his eyes. The Peacock Buddha Mother was chanting sutras beside him. As the chanting echoed, an air of serene benevolence filled the room, gradually dissolving the thick karmic debt thread by thread.
Seeing Wei Yuan arrive, the Peacock Buddha Mother rose to welcome him and led him inside.
Approaching the little monk's bedside, Wei Yuan noticed blood seeping through the bandage. He sighed inwardly and asked, "Is the young master's injury serious? Does it still hurt?"
Hearing Wei Yuan's words, the little monk huffed, turned his head toward the wall, and ignored him.
The Peacock Buddha Mother said, "The physical body is merely a mortal husk, to be discarded upon achieving a dharma idol. Pain, too, is nothing more than a delusion of the mind; if one's original nature is pure, one naturally does not fear pain. My martial nephew only needs three days of quiet rest to recover, but if he is to fight a major battle again, it will likely take seven days."
Wei Yuan asked again, "With so much karmic debt, is it truly not a problem?"
The Peacock Buddha Mother answered, "How could it not be a problem? However, our Buddhist lineage is most adept at handling karmic debt. As someone endowed with Buddha-nature, Patron Wei should know this better than anyone."
Wei Yuan had intended to stay a while longer, but the Peacock Buddha Mother switched into proselytizing mode, endlessly extolling the wonders of joining the Great Precious Flower Pure Land. In particular, he spoke of a divine ability belonging to the Great Joy King Buddha that no other Buddha possessed: Body-Mind Communion.
Specifically, Body-Mind Communion meant that when joy arose in the body, joy arose in the heart. Regardless of whether a woman or a man had been willing or fond beforehand, once they cultivated Joyful Chan with the King Buddha, they would become whole-heartedly enamored with the King Buddha.
Wei Yuan was thoroughly astonished. He had never imagined such an overbearing divine ability existed. In a storybook, this would be more than enough to make one the overarching villain throughout the entire tale.
Wei Yuan looked at the Peacock Buddha Mother suspiciously, unable to understand how the Great Precious Flower Pure Land—which supposedly enjoyed an excellent reputation and glowing acclaim—could harbor a dharma idol like the Great Joy King Buddha. What was more, this dharma idol seemed to hold an exalted status, spoken of by the Peacock Buddha Mother as though it could rival even the Great Sun Tathagata.
Guessing Wei Yuan's thoughts, the Peacock Buddha Mother said, "It is not as Patron imagines. How it truly is, Patron will know once you come see the Pure Land for yourself."
Vigilance instantly flared within Wei Yuan, and he tactfully declined at once.
Yet before departing, Wei Yuan still expressed his sincere gratitude. On the battlefield, the two monks were veritable pillars of strength, and the impact they had made far exceeded the mere tally of enemies they had slain.
After leaving, Wei Yuan visited the cultivators of the Palace of Grand Beginning one by one. There had simply been too many Shaman Great Shamans in this battle; even Sun Yu and Yu Zhizhuo, who did not specialize in combat, had taken the field to fight and returned gravely injured. Xu Henshui was injured most severely. Fortunately, he carried life-saving elixir pills on his person and had swallowed one before the battle, safeguarding his nascent soul and sea of consciousness and leaving no lasting harm.
Chapter 504