The Proof That I Am a Buddha

Wu Daoqi went back, thoroughly satisfied.

The monk Boming stared, dumbfounded.

Zhou Ning stood there with his palms pressed together and murmured to himself:

"Karmic affinity is wondrous beyond words."

"Suffering and calamity, I deliver others from them."

Shi Shuiyue was a disciple of the Vast Waves Sect and had long heard of the Buddha sons' wondrous powers. A Purple Mansion cultivator in her sect had obtained a fortuitous opportunity from Little Western Heaven years ago.

Curious, she walked up to the Buddha son, who was shimmering with Buddha light. The light was so dazzling that she could not look straight at him.

She thought of the dangers lurking all along this journey and decided she might as well seek a blessing of good fortune.

So she gritted her teeth and took out a Spirit Stone. Facing the Buddha son's sacred visage, she said, "Merciful Buddha son, I ask only to obtain treasures safely and return with a full haul."

Zhou Ning guided the Buddha light. "Granted."

"So cool and refreshing! This Buddha light is extraordinarily well suited to the Ren Water Dao Path I cultivate. As expected of a Buddha son!" Shi Shuiyue was astonished.

People were often lost and bewildered, and with this unknown cave abode opening, they gradually began coming forward to seek karmic affinity.

And so, standing in one spot without moving, Zhou Ning actually collected twenty or thirty Spirit Stones here and there.

Even He Zhuoran wanted to become a Buddha on the spot!

The monk Boming was going mad with jealousy. They had both come from Little Western Heaven, so why should Zhou Ning be able to earn Spirit Stones?

Was he the only one above worldly concerns?!

Boming took the initiative. The pupil surpassed the master, and he ran off to beg for alms.

Putting on airs, he said, "Ami-"

A burly man in golden armor shouted angrily, "Ami my ass! Get lost!"

Boming had been sprayed in the face with spittle. Furious, he shouted at Zhou Ning, "Which family's Buddha son are you? Why haven't I seen you before?"

People in the same trade were natural enemies. Zhou Ning had been conducting his business honestly, yet he had actually earned someone's resentment.

He slowly turned half his face toward Boming and said compassionately, "Benefactor, you are attached to appearances."

"Brother Zhuoran, quick, put some strength into it," Zhou Ning reminded him.

As he spoke, he took a light step forward. Golden light spread outward, withering the vegetation along its path into ash as it reached Boming's feet.

Boming was fierce and ruthless by nature. He immediately tore off his consort's head and smashed it against the ground. Blood and brains burst out, turning into dark red Blood Qi.

The flowers and grass on the ground bloomed rapidly, blocking the incoming golden light.

The Blood Qi and golden light stood locked against each other, neither able to gain the upper hand.

He Zhuoran sent a voice transmission, his voice anxious. "Brother Zhou, this monk is difficult to deal with!"

His Vast Righteous Qi Instruction could not push it back!

Boming laughed wildly and demanded again, "A true Buddha makes a hundred flowers bloom, yet you snuff out life. Just which family's Buddha son are you?"

Zhou Ning knew perfectly well that, since he had borrowed the Buddhist sect's prestige and accepted Spirit Stones, cause and effect had now come calling. He had to uphold that dignity, or the people around him probably would not believe him.

If he were exposed, he would be in serious trouble!

"Brother Zhuoran, use all your strength!"

Having given his instructions, Zhou Ning's brows sharpened. "I am a Vajra Arhat Buddha son! How dare a trifling evil fire run wild before me!"

With that, he flung his kasaya aside and leaped into the air. "Prajna Bama Kong!"

He took out the supreme-grade Flame Explosion Talisman he had seized and slapped it down fiercely.

A crimson streak of fire shot straight at Boming.

Boming took out a skull bowl and raised it to block. An enormous image of the bowl appeared, with hearts, eyes, and tongues writhing inside it.

The instant the fire touched the bowl's rim, it exploded into lotus flames, kicking up a mighty wave of fire.

Unexpectedly, the wave was forced back into the bowl and wrapped in Yin Qi. The hearts, eyes, and tongues twisted and tore at the flames madly, devouring them.

A Flame Explosion Talisman worth a whole Spirit Stone had been blocked with ease.

Back at Cuiwei Lake, if a Qi Refining Ninth Layer cultivator were hit by that talisman without a fine defensive Law Artifact, he would probably suffer serious damage to his vitality!

Zhou Ning was shaken. This monk is exceedingly strange!

Moreover, Boming did not cultivate the Qi Refining Dao, so Zhou Ning could not tell what realm he was in at all.

Fortunately, the golden light He Zhuoran had transformed into had seized the chance to bite into him.

This time Boming could not withstand it. His left arm and the headless woman were annihilated together, reduced to ash.

Almost half his body was gone. His slimming had been quite a success.

Shocked and furious, Boming shrieked, "It really is annihilating Buddha light?"

"Well done, Brother Zhuoran!" Zhou Ning rejoiced inwardly.

He shouted, "You still dare hold out? Watch me reveal your true form!"

With that, he continued pulling out talismans.

The assembled cultivators stared in bewilderment. How had two Buddhist cultivators started fighting among themselves?

From the look of things, however, the Buddha son's Law Power was clearly superior. He had used two different methods by himself, which was truly extraordinary.

At that moment, the handsome man in the sky looked down and sneered inwardly.

A Buddha son? Heh.

That was the extent of these miscellaneous cultivators' knowledge. How could they compare with the Treasure Sect?

Still, it was not a bad thing. Junior Brother Qinglang's Mountains and Rivers State Diagram was short one main soul, and this He Household cultivator was quite a good fit.

I might as well do him a favor in passing... I'll mark him and leave him for Junior Brother to collect.

He tapped the glazed disc. Its surface turned slightly, and yin-yang light swept out and descended over them.

Zhou Ning's figure immediately stiffened, and his Law Power became sluggish. Even his perfected Buddha light was affected.

The monk Boming clutched his consort's head, his movements exceedingly slow.

"I am Li Chonglou of the Firmament Treasure Sect. If you two continue fighting, do not blame the Two Modes Primal Union Disc in my hand for showing no mercy."

Only after he finished speaking did he withdraw the yin-yang light, and Zhou Ning suddenly felt lighter.

He was secretly alarmed. With that light shining on him, he had nearly lost the ability to resist.

Zhou Ning asked through voice transmission, "Brother Zhuoran, what Law Artifact is that?"

He Zhuoran was evidently very knowledgeable. "It is not a Law Artifact. That is a Spirit Treasure Embryo, refined by a Purple Mansion True Person. Even ordinary Foundation Establishment cultivators do not have one."

"Do you have one?" Zhou Ning asked tentatively.

"My family does have one, but I am only a Qi Refining cultivator. It is not my turn to use it."

He continued, "His is not all that formidable. It is only an embryonic treasure, better suited to breaking restrictions. A true spirit treasure will develop intelligence. A single spirit treasure could kill every cultivator here!"

Zhou Ning pondered this. It seemed that spirit treasures were exclusive to the Purple Mansion Realm.

If he retrieved the Earth Marrow Withered Wood Heart, he wondered whether he could exchange it with True Person Lu for a Spirit Treasure Embryo.

With a Law Artifact like that, the Su Household would have to repay the kindness they owed him.

"Brother Zhou, do not reach for what is beyond your grasp. Foundation Establishment Law Artifacts are enough for us."

"Li Chonglou can use a Spirit Treasure Embryo because he was granted a Divine Ability. Besides, he himself is at the Qi Refining Ninth Layer." He Zhuoran was quite matter-of-fact about it.

He did not rely much on Law Artifacts or spirit treasures. The Vast Righteous Qi Instruction he had mastered was itself a first-rate Secret Method.

He had come to the Withered Wood Grotto-Heaven on the old ancestor's orders to seek the secret technique [One Day, the Withered Wood True Lord Observed the Wind-Contemplating Prelude].

Once he obtained it, the Vast Righteous Qi Instruction would undergo a complete transformation and gain many wondrous powers. Then he could press on in one burst to the Foundation Establishment Realm. How satisfying would that be?

No matter how talented a Qi Refining cultivator was, he could slap them down.

After hearing this, Zhou Ning felt rather despondent. "The grade of a spirit treasure is too high. A Qi Refining cultivator actually cannot use one."

He Zhuoran found Zhou Ning increasingly hard to fathom. This man was a remnant of the Chai Household, yet he did not even know such common knowledge...

Still, he did not probe too deeply. This man's character was not bad, and he was worth associating with.

Above them, Li Chonglou was breaking the formation. The Two Modes Primal Union Disc hovered before him, its black-and-white yin-yang light cast onto the screen of light at the mountain cave's entrance, the two colors intertwining and spinning rapidly.

Yet the formation's protective screen merely rippled and did not budge.

He Zhuoran sighed. "I am afraid it will not be easy to break. The people who came last time were from the Great White Hall, and even they could not open it."

Zhou Ning took the opportunity to ask through voice transmission, "Those Purple Mansion cultivators all have formidable Divine Abilities. Why do they not come in person? Even sending a great Foundation Establishment cultivator would make things much easier, would it not?"

With nothing else to do, He Zhuoran explained, "The Withered Wood True Lord attained the fruition of Precelestial Xun Wood: withered but not dead, still but enduring. Golden Core and Purple Mansion cultivators either look down on it or fear being corroded by its Dao resonance and dare not enter."

"As for Foundation Establishment cultivators, they have already built their Immortal Foundations, and their profundities manifest outwardly, yet they are not strong enough. If they enter, their vitality will be drained to nourish the grotto-heaven..."

"Qi Refining cultivators, on the other hand, are no different from plants. The grotto-heaven pays them no mind, so they can still barely move about."

Understanding dawned on Zhou Ning. "No wonder True Person Lu chose me."

As they spoke, the protective screen at the cave entrance flashed. Its light flickered on and off, and a piercing hum rang out.

The cultivators looked excited. "It is opening! It is opening!"

The next moment, a crisp crack sounded. A fine fissure appeared in the screen, then spread across it, and the film of light burst apart with a boom.

Li Chonglou shouted, "The formation is broken! Enter Dead Wood Ridge quickly!"

In an instant, a hundred figures sped toward the cave entrance, all wearing expressions of anticipation.

Li Chonglou watched the scene, amused. What good will running so fast do?

Once they left the grotto-heaven, would not the Purple Mansion cultivators still get first pick of all the good treasures?