The Lamp Goes Out, Sand Grains Fly
Whoosh!
As the Black Dragon passed through, ripples immediately spread across the golden giant's body, with various aftershocks emanating from it. Qiu Yan noticed these Core Talisman within his body spun rapidly, and his Incense Faith surged forth, gathering in his eyes, ears, mouth, nose, and tongue, covering his body. Finally, he firmly resolved to focus his will!
Faded away!
The boundless darkness dissipated, and Qiu Yan returned to the Five Marshes Forest. Not far away was Fenglin Stockade, and ahead stood the golden giant.
One of the giant's hands was frozen solid, but its other hand was stretched out and flicked with its finger!
Snap!
The wind ripped through the air, creating a violent tornado that twisted and writhed in the air before hurtling towards Qiu Yan. Within it lay an omnipresent yet nonexistent realm of existence!
As the gust of wind approached, Qiu Yan squinted. He turned the Divine Spirit Talisman, and the central Divine Script representing the Kitchen God vibrated, Law Script Kitchen God mysterious information!
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Flames soared into the sky. These flames, directly originating from the gods, were not as bright as before, but were more concentrated. They collided with the tornado, causing the wind to rise and the fire to intensify, instantly becoming violent and spreading rapidly, charging towards the golden giant. Even the air currents and gales were tamed and refined by the flames! They were faintly forming a pill!
The golden giant sat motionless, flicked his finger again, and the "water" dissipated, instantly darkening the heavens and earth. The Milky Way fell from the sky like a ribbon of stars, about to extinguish the flames!
The sound of rushing water was incessant!
Faced with this situation, Qiu Yan remained calm, raised his hand, and an Azure Dragon flew from his hand. It merged with the Black Dragon in the air, one black and one green, swirling upwards. The Black Dragon coiled around the Milky Way, and ice crystals condensed. The Azure Dragon tumbled in the air, gathering Spiritual Qi, as if it were about to summon clouds and rain, even the Milky Way was deformed by its pull!
In this entanglement and pulling, the water of the Milky Way immediately stopped, making it difficult to endanger the flames, but the pressure was enormous and could not be sustained.
At this moment, the golden giant flicked his finger again, sending "Earth" slamming into the ground. The ground immediately undulated like the sea, rumbling and booming. Rock spikes burst forth from the soil, jagged and interlocking, rapidly extending one after another, threatening to pierce through the flames!
Qiu Yan snorted coldly, staring at the immense pressure. He reached out and formed a hand seal, causing the Core Talisman within his Divine Body to rotate again. The Soul Split runes representing Nine Spirits Mountain trembled, and the edge runes released Law Script Divine Ability!
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Behind Fenglin Stockade, the entire Nine Spirits Mountain Range trembled, then suddenly rose from the ground, leaped into the air, and then fell back down!
Boom!
The mountain range leaped with tremendous force. When it landed again, the entire ground trembled, the earth's crust shifted, and it released destructive power, which was drawn by the Divine Office of Nine Spirits Mountain and converged towards the golden giant!
Click! Click! Click!
The rock spikes that had burst from the ground shattered and fell to the ground. The area around the golden giant was instantly empty, and the flames that Qiu Yan had unleashed to subdue the tornado rushed straight in, crashing into the golden giant and piercing through its body!
Ripples spread across the giant's body once more, causing its massive form to sway, but its expression remained unchanged. It slowly raised its hand and flicked out the "fire" in front of it!
The fire immediately spread, growing into a raging inferno, even engulfing Qiu Yan's Kitchen God's Flame and sweeping in Eight Directions. If it were to fall, it would immediately set the entire forest ablaze!
"This giant is far too powerful! Its every move is enough to overturn the heavens and the earth! Moreover, its strength is unfathomable! If it weren't for the limitations of that monk himself, I probably wouldn't be able to match it at all! Since that's the case, then we can only sever its foundation and force that descending consciousness to leave!"
Qiu Yan's gaze sharpened, and the Great Snow River God script within the talisman trembled, with the edge Law Script bursting forth with brilliance!
Whoosh!
The Great Snow River, flowing over the mountains, surged forth, its waters leaping and splitting into jets of water that meandered and twisted, resembling water dragons soaring into the sky. Then, it dispersed in the air, merging with the Azure Dragon Earth Origin Core Pill, fusing Spiritual Qi, and transforming into clouds and mist!
The next moment, a torrential downpour began!
The fire was extinguished by the torrential rain, and its intensity gradually decreased.
For a moment, the two dragons darted through the sky, causing Nine Spirits Mountain to tremble and the Great Snow River to churn, imprisoning all the water in the sky, the fire in the forest, the thorns in the ground, and the wind in the air, creating a stalemate that could not be eliminated, at most only holding them off for a moment!
However, this was exactly the opportunity Qiu Yan needed!
His Divine Body flickered, and he charged towards the golden giant!
The golden giant suddenly opened its mouth and uttered a single syllable—
Om!
As soon as this sound was uttered, a radiant light burst forth from the top of the giant's head, and a Red Sun rose behind it, radiating boundless majesty. Countless beams of light, like sharp swords, solidified and rushed toward Qiu Yan!
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! The air itself was sliced apart; wherever its majesty passed, all things vanished!
Qiu Yan did not slow down to dodge. He separated his hands, his palms turning red and radiating heat. Then, his body changed shape, twisting and turning, his Divine Body constantly transforming like flowing water, shuttling between the gaps of the oppressive swords, and his hands occasionally slapping out!
With a single palm strike, heat condensed the oppressive swords into ceramic.
Zzzzz! Zzzzz!
Wherever the divine body passed, ceramics fell like rain. The palm of the divine body rubbed against them, causing sparks to fly continuously. These sparks were then drawn by the Divine Sense and slowly gathered, condensing into a raging fire on Qiu Yan's body!
At that moment, the golden giant spun around, transforming into a beam of golden light, and disappeared into the last round mass in front of it.
Knowledge!
Immediately afterwards, that "consciousness" expanded rapidly, revealing the landscape of heaven and earth, and also the presence of living beings.
The Three Realms are all mind-only; all phenomena are only consciousness-only!
It contained an artistic conception of assimilating external things. It looked as if it was about to engulf the rushing Divine Spirit Body. At this moment, the layer of flames covering Qiu Yan's body suddenly contracted into his body, reaching the Divine Power Space, condensing the Core Talisman, and gathering it into the Humanistic Fire Seed at the very center!
As soon as the Fire Seed ignited, the flames reappeared, accompanied by bustling sounds and worldly entanglements, yet still retaining a trace of refinement and protection.
Human Path Kitchen Flame!
Once these flames appeared, they immediately became uncontrollable, erupting from all parts of the Divine Spirit Body and colliding with the consciousness of the Three Realms!
Suddenly, the metaphysical and the physical clashed and stalemated in mid-air!
However, it is clear that the Three Realms Consciousness originating from the golden giant is even more unpredictable. There are faint signs that it is assimilating the Human Path Kitchen Flame, and the Human Path Kitchen Flame obviously cannot last long.
"We're locked in a stalemate, unable to attend to anything else—that's the moment!"
Faced with this situation, Qiu Yan showed no panic or hesitation. He turned and rushed to the side, arriving in front of a bronze oil lamp in the blink of an eye. Without pausing, he grabbed the lamp and extinguished the flame!
The lights went out.
Suddenly, the world fell silent, as if time itself had frozen at that moment.
What followed was a series of dramatic changes: first, the fiery tornado dissipated, then the silvery ribbon of light vanished, followed by the rock spikes returning to the earth, and finally, the flames in the forest quickly went out.
In an instant, the entire dense forest fell into darkness and silence. Only the Fenglin Stockade still had lights on, but it was just as quiet that you could hear a pin drop.
The torches that once lit up the area around the village had all gone out. The Marshfolk, still holding their torches, remained kneeling and bowing, but their bodies were devoid of any life.
A night breeze blew, making a rustling sound.
The Marshfolk vanished with the wind, their bodies turning into sand and dust, as if weathered away. The sand drifted in the wind for a while before disappearing without a trace.
"The power possessed by the golden giant is simply beyond imagination, far exceeding the level of Fourth Grade god. Even Third Grade god might not have such abilities. If it hadn't come through a borrowed body, limited by the summoner's aptitude and the will of all living beings, it would be difficult to unleash its true power. The outcome of this battle is truly unpredictable."
Looking at the scattered Marshfolk, Qiu Yan sighed.
"However, the golden giant can absorb the thoughts of all living beings. If we do not discover the root of its will in this Continent, there will still be little chance of a turnaround. When the dragon pierced its body and the giant swayed illusoryly, I already had a guess. Later, after probing in various ways, the giant stirred up waves, but the lamps around it remained stable. In the previous battle, I activated the full power of my Divine Spirit Body, but I could only hold it against it. If I hadn't extinguished the lamps in time, the consequences would have been dire!"
Suddenly, a grain of sand drifted by, emitting strange ripples. Qiu Yan thought for a moment, then reached out and caught it. Instantly, a strange sensation surged through his mind. He vaguely sensed a vast world appearing and disappearing, filled with beauty, free from defilement, Transcendence the world.
This feeling lasted only a moment and then vanished in an instant, but it left an impression on Qiu Yan's mind.
"Hmm? These Marshfolk are dying, but they reveal something mysterious. Observing the scene there, they also have a heart for the benefit of the world. It is not an evil or demonic method. How did they create such a scene?"
With doubts in his heart, Qiu Yan's eyes flickered, and his gaze fell on a withered figure not far away.
Beside the figure was a withered lotus flower.
"Borrowing such immense power must come at a terrible price, but if every monk could wield such power after sacrificing their life, wouldn't that be far too defying the heavens..."
The battle with the golden giant was brief but extremely dangerous. The Divine Spirit Body had exhausted all his strength, using the power of his talismans to their fullest extent, except for the power of his followers. Because he was close to the Nine Spirits Great Snow, he could mobilize resources nearby and take advantage of his home ground. He still fought fiercely until the lights were extinguished and the chaos subsided. Thinking back on it now, he couldn't help but feel lingering fear. If another monk had used the same trick, the situation would have inevitably taken a sharp turn for the worse.
"Was that golden giant truly the Buddha? If any monk could perform this technique, then just three or five people could sweep through the Five Marshes and establish a foothold, but..."
As he pondered, Qiu Yan grew increasingly puzzled. In his previous life, he had a favorable impression of Buddhism. Compared to many monotheistic religions, Buddhism was respected because it encouraged people to do good. However, in this world, things seemed to have changed, and the contrast was quite significant. But Qiu Yan also understood that one cannot judge people and things based on only one aspect. This was true in his previous life, and it is true in this life as well.
According to his plan, this land of Five Marshes will also be a key place in the future. If Buddhism becomes powerful, it is likely to cause conflict. Judging from the current situation, he may not be a match for Buddhism.
"The most urgent task is to figure out the reality and structure of Marshland Buddhism, and whether everyone can summon that golden giant. If so, then I don't need to think twice and can just withdraw."
Just as Qiu Yan was pondering, a burst of laughter suddenly rang out, elusive and with a soft, penetrating quality, accompanied by a single sentence—
"It hasn't been long since we last met, and you've already gained such power. I underestimated you back then..."
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