Xuanzang raised a hand, stopping Wukong as he was about to rush forward.
"I am unharmed."
With that, he lowered his head to look at the Bitter Bamboo Ruler before him.
The mouthful of black-and-gold blood had landed squarely on its purple-gold body.
Hum-
The Bitter Bamboo Ruler immediately gave a low hum.
Xuanzang's face was slightly pale.
A trace of black-and-gold blood still lingered at the corner of his mouth.
Yet his eyes were even clearer than before.
Like a living thing, the blood spread little by little along the patterns of the bamboo nodes, slowly burrowing into the purple-gold bamboo.
Wherever those threads of blood passed, the originally gentle, pure purple-gold Dao aura dimmed for a fleeting moment.
That was the Earth Vein Baleful Qi Xuanzang had forcibly taken into his flesh back at Wuzhuang Temple.
All this time.
Although the Unimpeded Luminous Buddha Wheel had remained at Xuanzang's Spiritual Terrace, suppressing it.
And Manjushri Bodhisattva had also helped suppress it once.
The stuff was too heavy, and still wore away at Xuanzang's soul day and night.
Now.
The Bitter Bamboo Ruler actually drew out a portion of that baleful qi on its own, taking it into its bamboo body.
Sharing Xuanzang's burden.
The black-and-gold blood seeped into the bamboo nodes bit by bit.
The ruler's humming grew ever softer with it.
A faint warmth stirred between Xuanzang's brows.
An extraordinarily subtle connection formed between him and the Bitter Bamboo Ruler.
At the same time.
The Blood-Red Mole between Xuanzang's brows also faded considerably.
It no longer looked as uncanny as before.
The Bitter Bamboo Ruler absorbed the entire mouthful of black-and-gold blood.
Its purple-gold luster brightened again.
It was even warmer and more subdued than before.
Only a hair-thin dark-gold line had appeared on the bamboo