Above the sea and beneath the sky.
Gulls cried again and again.
Brilliant sunlight poured down in great swathes, facing the almost invisible phantom of a great Buddha far off on the other side.
Kongchanzi sat casually cross-legged on Elephant Forty-Nine's back, occasionally looking up at the great Buddha phantom in the distant sky. Through it, he could faintly see Venerable Xinyuan's physical body at its core. The membrane eye in its chest had almost completely healed.
Opposite Xinyuan's physical body, another body with a young man's appearance also sat cross-legged with its eyes closed.
Yet it showed no sign of movement.
He could not help frowning as he deftly lifted Elephant Forty-Nine's canopy-like ear beneath him and nagged:
"Just look at how unreliable the original body is. Venerable Xinyuan's physical body is about to disappear completely, and he still hasn't shown up. Lucky you followed me. If you'd followed him, you probably wouldn't even be coming back now... how many times have I told you? I haven't finished talking yet. Why are you in such a hurry to fold your ear back!"
Elephant Forty-Nine's eyes held the numbness of one with nothing left to live for.
Compared to when he had been at Wang Ba's side, his appearance had changed considerably.
His hide had originally been black and rough as withered wood, his muscles powerful, with dark purple flames growing around his four feet.
One glance had been enough to mark him as a peerless demonic elephant of fearsome might.
Now, however, Elephant Forty-Nine was white and smooth all over, his figure plump and rounded.
A sapphire-blue, jewel-tasseled blanket covered his back. Gold foil covered him from the crown of his head to the tip of his trunk, as well as his tusks, and seven-colored gemstones studded his ears.