A moment later.
A monk emerged from the Great Void.
He had only half an inch of cropped hair on his head and wore a yellow-green monk's robe. Behind him followed a Dharma guardian deity.
This guardian deity had a green face and fangs, wore scale armor, commanded flowing water, grasped a black python, and was draped in moonlight. He seemed faintly to be the transformation of that demonic creature from before.
"World-Honored One above, many thanks to the benefactor for delivering this Dharma guardian deity to me!"
The monk pressed his palms together and smiled as he bowed. "This humble monk comes from Great Treasury Temple. My Dharma name is Shoucangxuan—"
"Great Treasury Temple? It actually isn't the Temple of All Living Beings Without Form. Could I have guessed wrong?"
Fang Wuchen only felt something beneath his belly about to burst out of his body.
Yet Monk Shoucangxuan merely smiled faintly, and a wondrous power descended.
That lump of flesh and blood seemed to vanish in an instant—or rather—it had been "stored away."
Fang Wuchen immediately let out a long breath. To a Purple Mansion True Person, the physical body was merely a stinking sack of skin.
So long as this grave danger did not cause trouble, no matter how severely his fleshly body was injured, it was only a minor matter.
He flipped over and climbed to his feet, wiped his face, and the wounds on his body rapidly healed. He bowed. "I am Wuchenzi. Many thanks for saving me, Master—"
"It is nothing. You delivered a Dharma guardian deity to this humble monk; this is a Buddhist affinity. And by worldly reckoning, benefactor, you and I share an even deeper affinity."
Shoucangxuan smiled with utmost kindness, yet Fang Wuchen's hair stood on end.
Even as a Purple