Seven-Tiered Stupa

*As expected, the restrictions inside the hall were also affected by the seal and aren't so sturdy...* The thought flashed through Qin Sang's mind, filling him with quiet relief. Were it not for that, he would have been forced to change his plans once again. *Whoosh!* Enveloped in demonic fire, the pearl remained as pure and tranquil as a droplet of water, showing not the slightest anomaly as it allowed the flames to sweep it away. Yet the moment the pearl left the altar table, a demonic hand condensed from fiendish light came howling forth, bearing an icy gale as it clawed fiercely toward the demonic fire encasing the treasure. The Red Phoenix Evil trailed slightly behind, only a split second away. Within the secret passage, Qin Sang remained calm and composed. His fingers blurred into a wheel as he rapidly formed an incantation gesture. At the same time, his other hand pressed firmly against the restriction. With a sharp crack, a corner of the hidden door shattered along the seam. Qin Sang then hurled the Nascent Soul talisman puppet in his hand straight into the Buddhist hall. Inside the hall. The demonic hand was on the verge of seizing the pure pearl. As the restriction gave way, another surge of demonic fire erupted with a roar, sweeping forward like a tidal wave to form a wall of flames that crashed against the demonic hand. *Boom!* The hall abruptly darkened. Both the Buddha and the stone statue shook violently. Countless black flames burst outward, laden with an aura of destruction. As for the demonic hand, it suffered equally severe damage, blasted back into formless fiendish light that twisted erratically before collapsing. Watching this unfold, Primordial Lady Yuyi was secretly alarmed. *Just who is this person? What kind of spiritual fire is that? Even if Old Man Hunmo struck in haste, the power behind his blow was still astonishing.* Even as the thoughts crossed her mind, her movements did not falter. She was about to urge the Red Phoenix Evil forward to breach the fiery barrier. Right at that moment, the shockwave from the collision between demonic fire and demonic hand swept out. The skeletal remains on the floor had long rotted and were instantly blasted into dust. Several magic treasures went clattering through the air. On the altar table, the lingzhi ruyi, now stripped of its protective restriction, was also knocked off by the aftershocks. Most astonishing of all was the Buddhist shrine. Struck by the shockwave, the shrine cracked with a sharp snap and split open on the spot, while the Guanyin inside shattered into countless porcelain fragments, destroyed just like that. This sight left all three of them thoroughly baffled. The shrine occupied a position clearly far more prominent than the pure pearl and the lingzhi ruyi, yet it was so fragile. Could it have been merely an ordinary offering? Did its importance stem from some other reason? *Incomprehensible!* As the reason occurred to them, all three shared the exact same thought. Whatever the ancient past had been like, the present cultivation world had never seen Buddhas or Daoist Lords manifest in the world. Having clawed their way to their current stature step by step, they had only ever believed in themselves and could never fathom the devotion of Buddhist disciples. *I just hope the pearl isn't superficial too.* Even as Qin Sang felt glad he had not chosen the shrine, a trace of worry crept in. But matters had come to this point, and he could only trust his own judgment. The anomaly with the shrine had caused a brief distraction, but it did not halt their fight over the treasures. Yet at that very moment. Amid the scattered shards of the shrine, a sudden speck of seven-colored radiance burst forth, reflecting in their eyes. Amid countless fragments, the seven-colored light coalesced into a thumb-sized point of brilliance, revealing its true form: a miniature stupa, translucent and crystalline as glazed glass! A seven-tiered stupa, radiant and dazzling with shifting hues, utterly impossible to look away from. "That is..." A supreme treasure had been hidden within the shrine! The discovery set all three of their hearts racing. *Whoosh!* The Nascent Soul talisman puppet flashed out from behind the stone statue, lunging straight for the seven-tiered stupa! The moment Qin Sang caught sight of the seven-tiered stupa, he decisively shifted his objective. As long as he could claim the stupa, he was willing to abandon every other treasure. In the blink of an eye. The talisman puppet closed the distance toward the stupa with blistering speed. Just then, Old Man Hunmo's voice transmission sounded by Primordial Lady Yuyi's ear. Hearing his terms, her expression shifted slightly, and without hesitation, she drove the Red Phoenix Evil to envelop the puppet. Silvery, bell-like laughter chimed around the puppet as the soul spirits morphed into graceful women, dancing seductively amid the Red Phoenix Evil, exuding allure designed to ignite the fires of passion. Yet this was far from the Red Phoenix Evil's deadliest aspect. Refined by Primordial Lady Yuyi from harvested aphrodisiac evil miasma, it unleashed a colorless, odorless lust poison the moment it was activated, stirring the deepest desires within an opponent's heart—a venom nearly impossible to guard against. Even Nascent Soul cultivators could succumb to it. *Poof!* In his urgency, true essence surged from Old Man Hunmo's palm. He thrust his black bamboo staff forward with force, and in total silence, a peculiar ripple manifested within the hall as the fiendish light underwent an eerie transformation. The light deepened, pulling inward to condense once more, and swept toward the seven-tiered stupa. Yet in the next instant. A sudden development erupted. A silver-white filament of lightning shot from behind the stone statue, striking silently against the fiendish light just as it was about to reach the stupa, far too swift for either of them to intercept. *Snap!* The fiendish light stiffened, nearly unable to hold its form, on the verge of collapsing on the spot. It was none other than the Heavenly Eye Butterfly's Heavenly Eye Divine Light! This divine ability held the power to shatter dharmic arts and could produce miraculous effects in battle, though finding the right moment to deploy it was notoriously difficult. Catching the fiendish light at the critical juncture between taking shape and fully forming, its might was finally laid bare. At the same time, Primordial Lady Yuyi's startled cry rang out before the hall: "He isn't human!" Old Man Hunmo had been occupied with unraveling the Buddhist restriction while simultaneously trying to stop Qin Sang from seizing the treasure, leaving him unable to spare the focus to use his ocular techniques. During the battle before the Thousand Buddha Wall, when Qin Sang unleashed his demonic fire and the Nascent Soul talisman puppet, the chaotic energies there had masked his actions, preventing Hunmo from seeing it clearly with his own eyes. With the situation so pressing, and because Qin Sang had deduced part of the Red Phoenix Evil's nature and deliberately disguised his puppet, neither of them had realized in time that the figure was no living being, but a puppet! And a puppet naturally feared no lust poison! *Bang!* A fist smashed straight through the Red Phoenix Evil with unyielding force. The graceful dancers let out shrill wails and vanished into ash. *Boom!* The doors and windows before the Golden Peak Hall suddenly blew apart. The Buddhist light dimmed abruptly, and fragments flew from the light barrier of the restriction. Two figures shattered the barrier and appeared before the main hall doors, four furious eyes piercing through the swirling black embers to glare behind the stone statue. Right beneath their gazes, that very fist reached out and scooped up the seven-tiered stupa. The talisman puppet moved through the Red Phoenix Evil as though walking through an empty field, slipping away unhindered and dodging the Hunmo Token. Carrying the pure pearl, the Nine Nether Demonic Fire was also recalled by Qin Sang, sweeping up the vajra pestle on its way back. As for the remaining treasures, Qin Sang grew no greedier. Lingering any longer would likely leave him trapped and cut off by his foes. At this moment. Old Man Hunmo and Primordial Lady Yuyi had not even set foot inside the hall; none of their methods could arrive in time. The clash had lasted only a breath. Yet the hall's two most precious treasures had both been seized by Qin Sang. And from beginning to end, all Hunmo and Yuyi had seen was a rigid puppet—they had not even caught a glimpse of their adversary's true face! "Die!" Old Man Hunmo roared in towering fury, his murderous intent surging to the heavens. The terrifying aura of a great cultivator was laid bare in all its fury, causing the Buddha and the stone statue in the hall to shudder violently. Phantom afterimages of Old Man Hunmo flickered into existence across the hall, darting toward the hidden door with shocking speed. Inside the secret passage. Qin Sang had no time to inspect the functions of the three treasures. Stashing them all into his Qianjun Ring, he felt Hunmo closing in rapidly and shivered inwardly. The thunder wings on his back flapped vigorously, and he shot deep into the passage.