In everyone's eyes, the eminent monk Putuo, who had all but attained enlightenment, suddenly looked like a drowning man, clutching his own throat, his aged face flushed crimson as he struggled to breathe.
They could not see the black sea in the sky. All they saw was a once-supreme great power inexplicably falling into desperate straits.
Jiang Chen stepped through the void and arrived before him in a single stride, his pitch-black eyes like two oceanic abysses that devoured all things.
His large hand reached out and pressed down on the bald head bearing eight ordination scars.
Putuo did not react. Pain showed on his face as he recited the Pure Heart Sutra. He, too, knew he had fallen into a trap and was doing everything he could to purge his inner demon, but he could not manage it in so short a time.
"Bald ass, the Buddha said all beings are without form. The form of life is the form of death, and the form of death also contains the form of life. Are you so eager to escape your inner demon because you wish to live?"
"Have you become attached to form?"
Jiang Chen murmured, and Putuo's face, which had nearly brightened as he broke free, darkened again.
Splat!
His hand tightened, crushing an ancient great power outright.
Brilliant golden light burst from the flesh and blood filling the air. Buddhist chants shook the void as a massive Buddha appeared between heaven and earth, its features bearing some resemblance to Putuo.
"Benefactor, your sins of slaughter are grave. Beware of falling into qi deviation!"
At the last moment, Putuo had finally broken free and used Golden Cicada Escapes Its Shell to evade the fatal blow.
Now transformed into a great Buddha, he spoke, and Dao and principle intertwined,