The ice inside the cave was extremely tough and filled with Profound Ice Essences. Even a full-force attack from a Giant couldn’t break it.
Formless placed his finger on the ice layer and released a pulsing white light, causing the entire cave to shake as a result.
Alas, a powerful chilling force made him stagger one step backward. The layer remained intact.
Feiyun knew just how strong this monk is. His Buddhist affinity was boundless and could create incredible resonation. He fought against the Death Walker alone, meaning that he was on the same level as a leader from a great sect. Alas, this still wasn’t enough to break the ice layer.
“My turn.” Feiyun took out his weapon essence and turned it into a sword with an extremely sharp tip. He cut the ice and left a finger-deep mark on it without using too much force.
His weapon essence could sever spirit treasures so this effectiveness wasn’t surprising.
The Vajra was three meters deeper into the ice. Feiyun carefully drilled slowly with his essence while Formless protected him from behind, chasing away all the ice essences.
“Boom!” The moment he got one-third of a meter in, a ma.s.sive power from below rushed forward.
The weapon essence trembled violently in his hand, forcing him to tighten his grip. His fingers ruptured from the impact with blood everywhere.
He gritted his teeth and tried again. Now, a Buddhist sound came from the Vajra and blew the two flying for one hundred meters.
The two only suffered minor wounds. Someone weaker would have had their souls exploded.
“We can’t be so reckless doing this. The Vajra has turned evil by that drop of blood, it’s too violent and powerful. It would have escaped long ago if not for the ice and turn into a devil artifact ma.s.sacring everyone.” Formless wiped the blood off his lip. His white robe had mud all over as he stared anxiously at the evil Buddhist affinity deep in the cave.
Chaotic energy ravaged the cave now. Feiyun took out his ring for protection and could sense the might of that Vajra.
That was only thirty percent of its power, the rest was still sealed within the ice.
They couldn’t take a single step forward because of this chaotic energy. Feiyun with his physical const.i.tution and Formless with his amazing cultivation could die by marching forward.
“I believe that this Vajra might be one of the three ancient temples from ten thousand years ago, Heartlost.” Formless’ expression changed.
“Heartlost Temple? I’ve never heard of it before.” Feiyun said.
“A disaster happened on this land ten thousand years ago and virtually all the Buddhist sacred grounds were annihilated. Buddhism used to be the defining cultivation method, a hundred times more prosperous than it currently is now. Three ancient temples existed back then to lead the world. Each had a fifth-ranked spirit treasure of the Buddhist affinity, completely unstoppable. Heartlost Temple was one of them.”
At this moment, even fourth-ranked treasures were rare in Jin, let alone a fifth-ranked one. Its full power could kill several million people in one go, turning a thousand miles radius into scorched earth.
These treasures were a reason why Buddhism ruled this land. Even the heretical sects submitted to them.
“According to old scrolls, the three strongest monks from these temples brought their Buddhist treasures to take on this disaster one final time. Unfortunately, they never returned and the treasures disappeared as well. Now, one of them, Vajra, is right here in this cave.” Formless went on.
It must have been a monstrous existence who did this back then. Even three great monks with fifth-ranked spirit treasure lost. These treasures disappeared along with the Golden Silkworm Scripture.
But where did this monstrous existence go after ending the golden age of Buddhism? Could that one drop of blood on the Vajra belong to the monster? It defeated the three monks but was still wounded in the process.
Ten thousand years have pa.s.sed since - too long to verify and research. These were mere speculations from Feiyun. Maybe the truth was completely different.
It took a long while before the cave calmed down. The two were brave and went to the Vajra’s location again.
The hole made by Feiyun was nowhere to be found, clearly filled up by ice once more.
“Oh? That blood drop is gone now.” Feiyun keenly noticed that the blood has fused into the weapon, leaving behind a conspicuous red dot.
“The Vajra has been fully infected by evil affinity now. It is an evil artifact that will cause a disaster if it ever gets out.” Formless became serious.
Feiyun knew that if it wasn’t for the ice layer, that weapon would fly out and devour his blood right away. He wasn’t strong enough to suppress the weapon at this moment.
The two gave up, unlike their curiosity. They moved deeper into the cave and saw a corpse in the ice a few steps later.
It seemed to be made from gold due to its glow. The bones had three areas that s.h.i.+ne like the stars, almost like three divine jades carved into them. They emitted a pleasant and thick Buddhist aura.
Formless immediately tidied up his robe before getting on his knees for three kowtows. He placed his palms together and chanted for an hour before standing back up.
“This is a senior with three condensed sarira, his cultivation must be immense. I’m sure he is one of the three monks from the ancient temples.” Formless had nothing but reverence towards the corpse. He chanted a crossing scripture to send this senior away.
He might be the master of the Vajra since the two were so close together. His bones remained after ten thousand years - evident of his incredible cultivation.
Feiyun took a careful look and saw two fatal wounds. One to the back of the head that eventually shattered the skull. The other was down at the spine; it got crushed in half.
This corpse was a treasure along with the three sarira so Feiyun wanted to get it out. However, Formless stopped him.
“Buddhist cultivators’ lifelong pursuit is peace. He didn’t have it during his era so let him rest now after death. I plead you to leave him here and I’ll compensate you with another Buddhist treasure.” Formless took out a fist-sized golden bead.
He used it earlier for self-protection. It was full of spirituality, clearly on the same level as any of the three sarira.
Feiyun already had the weapon essence out and ready to go but he couldn’t continue after hearing this. He smiled and said: “Fine, fine, so unlucky. I’ll never go treasure hunting with a monk again. You killed my vibe.”
“Take this Buddhist bead, Brother Feng.” Formless insisted.
“How can I take your treasure when you call me a brother? Plus, I don’t lack treasures either and only wanted the three sarira for Nalan. Oh well, it’s fine, she doesn’t like Buddhist cultivation anyway, forget it.” Feiyun said.
The two moved on and saw two more treasures - a bronze drum the size of a stone grinder and a large bell.
They were also stained with blood that has seeped deep into the core. This evil affinity far exceeded the one in the Vajra earlier. It looked like two devils were sealed inside.
Feiyun’s demonic blood was being affected and started churning, especially the spine on his back. It oozed out squirming dark energy and nearly turned into a black dragon, wanting to tear apart his body to get out.
A deafening blast exploded in his mind and nearly ruptured his eardrums. A nefarious and overwhelming voice from deep within the spine spoke: “I want the sky to have nothing but darkness, I want this land to stain with blood, I want the Buddhists to fall into the evil oblivion…”
1. Does anyone else think Formless is the heretical young lord? His appearance is too big of a coincidence, right?