Marrow-Washing Body-Refining Pill

Looking back now...

The Flying Sword Xu Ming had launched before his death had inflicted no real damage on the Corpse Buddha. It had gone off target and missed its vital points, and its freezing power was merely an additional effect. For the Corpse Buddha, such a little ice could be shattered in an instant.

Monk reckoned that if the Corpse Buddha exerted its full strength, it would break free of the ice within two breaths at most. Seen in that light, Zhang Xuan had timed his attack with exquisite precision!

A moment earlier, before the Flying Sword froze the Corpse Buddha, it could have killed Zhang Xuan in the flick of a finger, just as it had killed Xu Ming with a single blow.

A moment later, once the Corpse Buddha broke free, Zhang Xuan would have been doomed!

Of course, Monk had also wondered whether Zhang Xuan was concealing his strength. Aside from his astonishingly powerful "Palm Thunder," was he also a martial arts expert? But Monk dismissed the thought as soon as it arose.

He had practiced martial arts since childhood, and thirty years of experience made it easy for him to tell that Zhang Xuan had no martial foundation. Judging by his breathing rate, his stride, and the length of his breaths, Zhang Xuan was certainly no martial artist.

Besides, if Zhang Xuan possessed a movement technique that let him cover a hundred meters in three breaths, he could have destroyed the Buddha head with the speed of thunder that left no time to cover one's ears and escaped the ruined temple at his leisure. Why would he have needed to flee in such a sorry state?

But if Zhang Xuan knew no martial arts...

Then none of this made sense!

Although "Palm Thunder" was immensely powerful, and Innate Supreme Unity Divine Thunder inherently suppressed evil creatures, combat was not a storybook tale. Justice did not necessarily triumph over evil. An offensive technique alone, without martial cultivation or other Daoist arts to support it, would make this Thunder Method far less effective.

With Zhang Xuan's ordinary human speed, getting close to the Corpse Buddha and blasting its lifebound Buddha Treasure at point-blank range with Palm Thunder was nothing short of an Arabian Nights fantasy!

Monk pondered for a long time, yet still could not find a reasonable explanation. But there was one thing he knew for certain—the young Daoist before him was unfathomable!

Naturally, Monk could not understand. In truth, Zhang Xuan had already formed a preliminary plan before escaping the Mountain God Temple. He had set his sights on the Corpse Buddha's lifebound Buddha Treasure from the very beginning.

However, inside the Mountain God Temple, within the Corpse Buddha's [Remnant God Ghost Domain], even surviving was difficult, let alone stealing the Buddha Treasure.

Through his "Nether Candle Mystic Eyes," Zhang Xuan discovered that Meng Changxi was a Copper Skin Realm martial artist and had a dagger concealed on him. He guessed that Meng Changxi was most likely an accomplice of the two grave robbers previously inside the Black Coffin.

The Buddha Treasure was the Headless Corpse Buddha's lifebound treasure, and it would naturally never allow anyone else to lay a finger on it. But Meng Changxi was different. Parasitized by the Two-Faced Buddha Head, he already bore the Corpse Buddha's mark and was a spare vessel it had prepared for itself. Of everyone in the Mountain God Temple, he alone could touch the Buddha Treasure without drawing the Corpse Buddha's attention.

Thus, Zhang Xuan chose to stake everything on a gamble. He openly revealed the Buddha Treasure's wondrous properties to stir Meng Changxi's greed, hoping to use him to carry it out of the Mountain God Temple.

What followed unfolded just as Zhang Xuan had expected...

He and Monk fled the Mountain God Temple for their lives. Meng Changxi pretended to help them destroy the shrine, but in reality allowed the Corpse Buddha to pursue them, then seized the chance to escape with the Buddha Treasure.

According to Zhang Xuan's prediction, the Corpse Buddha would continue hunting him and Monk through Meng Changxi, whom it had parasitized. As for whether Meng Changxi would carry the Buddha Treasure with him, Zhang Xuan had no certainty.

The only thing Zhang Xuan had not foreseen was Xu Ming barging into their path!

While Xu Ming announced his identity and fought Monk, Zhang Xuan's heart burned with anxiety. He guessed that the Corpse Buddha following them must be hiding somewhere, preparing to deliver a fatal blow. Their heads were nourishment for its evolution, sacrificial offerings. It would certainly pursue them.

If they waited for the Corpse Buddha to strike, with it and Xu Ming attacking from front and rear, neither he nor Monk would have any chance of survival.

Thus, while Monk temporarily kept Xu Ming occupied, Zhang Xuan decisively entered the [Inner Landscape] and asked his final question of the day:

"How can I seize the Two-Faced Buddha Head from the Corpse Buddha and successfully escape Xu Ming's pursuit?"

Riches and honor were won amid danger. He intended not only to escape this perilous place safely, but also to seize the Corpse Buddha's lifebound Buddha Treasure—the "Two-Faced Buddha Head"!

Even if an ordinary person obtained the Buddha Treasure, they would be unable to use it. In all likelihood, they would end up like Meng Changxi, contaminated by the karmic obstruction within it, parasitized by the Corpse Buddha, and reduced to something neither human nor ghost.

But after seeing through it with his "Nether Candle Mystic Eyes," Zhang Xuan had read its information—the "Five Thunder Righteous Art" could eradicate the karmic obstruction contained in the Buddha Treasure, preventing the Corpse Buddha from parasitizing him!

The Two-Faced Buddha Head had many uses, but what Zhang Xuan valued most was that it was the main ingredient for making a "Marrow-Washing Body-Refining Pill." He had to obtain a "Marrow-Washing Body-Refining Pill" no matter what. Otherwise, twenty-eight days later, the only fate awaiting him was death as his body burst apart.

Of course, aside from that reason, Zhang Xuan was also deeply interested in becoming a cultivator.

Before leaving the Celestial Master's Mansion, he had followed the advice given by the "Celestial Master's Ordination" and made off with the "Divine Path—Collected Daoist Arts Volume." It contained thirty-five other mystical arts like "Innate Supreme Unity Divine Thunder," but to Zhang Xuan as he was now, they were utterly useless.

Activating such arts required either the spiritual power a cultivator cultivated and stored within their body, as when Xu Ming activated the Azure Phoenix Jade Pendant, or, as in Zhang Xuan's case, forcibly powering them purely with the vital essence contained in the human body.

All his vital essence was only enough to activate Palm Thunder once. Forcing it twice, as he had now, had already damaged his vitality. He reckoned it would be difficult to replenish without ten days or half a month of recuperation.

Even the cleverest cook could not make a meal without rice. The greatest problem facing Zhang Xuan now was breaking free of his mortal flesh and stepping onto the path of cultivation!

During their idle conversation the previous night, Zhang Xuan had learned from Monk that although cultivators existed in this world, most were controlled by the great clans of legend, such as the Four Great Ancient Cultivation Houses, or by the Demon Suppression Bureau.

The resources needed to nurture a single cultivator were immense, a staggering sum ordinary people would not even dare imagine. Even a major national organization like the Demon Suppression Bureau, backed by an entire country, had barely more than a thousand cultivators in its ranks.

That alone showed how precious cultivators were.

I must become a cultivator!

With that desire in mind, Zhang Xuan had resolutely asked his final question. Afterward, his nerves remained taut. He was terrified that the Celestial Master's Ordination would be unable to provide an answer...

After all, the question he had posed truly demanded the impossible—his opponent was a terrifyingly powerful Ninth-Rank Netherworld Ghost King, while he was merely an ordinary person without the slightest cultivation.

Through the [Nether Candle Mystic Eyes], that Headless Corpse Buddha radiated a dense black glow from head to toe. In other words, judging by its threat level, crushing him would be as easy as crushing an ant.

Their strength was utterly unequal, especially with an exceptionally powerful Hundred-Man Commander of the Demon Suppression Bureau blocking the road ahead. Asking the "Celestial Master's Ordination" to produce a viable plan under such circumstances was nothing short of an Arabian Nights fantasy.

The situation before him was almost certainly a death trap with its outcome already decided.

Yet the "Celestial Master's Ordination" did not disappoint Zhang Xuan.

Just three breaths later, the Blood Moon hanging high in the sky of the [Inner Landscape] gave him the perfect answer...