Jiuxiao, who had been grinning and joking just moments ago, watched Qiong Luo swear upon her soul. The look in his eyes shifted from solemnity to shock, then fury, and finally disappointment.
Ye Tian had never imagined that a Buddhist prodigy like Jiuxiao could possess such a rich range of emotions. In Ye Tian's eyes, anyone who had cultivated Buddhism to such a level should have long seen through the Seven Emotions and Six Desires, and should not have their mood swayed by something like this. Yet today proved otherwise. It gave him far stricter demands for his future path of cultivation. At present, tempering one's heart seemed just as important as increasing one's strength. Yet cultivating the heart was almost impossible to measure in any tangible way; it could even make people feel that heart cultivation had long strayed beyond the scope of Dao cultivation, becoming no different from muddling through life and waiting for death.
Of course, these were only Ye Tian's guesses. The truth was likely far more complicated. Though Qiong Luo was a demon beast clone, her temper blazed like fire. That nature left Jiuxiao suffering bitterly, chanting "Amitabha" without pause.
Only when Qiong Luo's spiritual-energy palm slapped Jiuxiao into the ground did his true fire finally burst forth. He flipped to his feet and raised a hand toward the ebony staff. Spiritual energy surged from his palm, and the ebony staff instantly appeared in his grasp. Spiritual energy exploded within the Square Inch Realm, shoving Qiong Luo sideways before he tossed the ebony staff aside.
One after another, he unleashed the most powerful manifestations among the Thirty-two Body Manifestations. The Ox King Manifestation was mighty and heavy; the Lion King Manifestation was swift beyond compare; the Brahma King Manifestation embodied the Great Dao's utmost simplicity,