Chapter 1207: Chapter 455: Ancient Emperor Reborn! The Truth from a Thousand Years Ago! (Part 2)

"Wanqi Kai?"

"Why is he here?"

Chen Mo looked more closely and finally sensed something wrong; the moves this person was using were completely different from before.

He had originally been a pure Martial Cultivator, yet now, every gesture carried radiant Buddha light, and in his hand he clutched a broken string of Buddha Beads!

Chen Mo and Sikong Zuiyue exchanged a glance and instantly realized something.

"Hui Neng!"

...

...

Boom—

Violent Gang Qi surged around Jiang Zhiyun, the Autumn Water Longsword in her hand giving off a resonant clang, as she slashed at Hui Neng like a falling shooting star.

Buddha light guarded Hui Neng’s body as he tanked the bombardment of Gang Qi head-on, his expression somewhat ugly. Gritting his teeth, he said, "Jiang Zhiyun, will you never stop?! This poor monk already said it was a misunderstanding—why must you pursue so relentlessly?!"

Jiang Zhiyun’s eyes were icy, like cold stars. Her voice sank. "Since you know who I am, you should also know Martial Saint Mountain’s style of doing things. We always repay kindness and revenge alike. You dared kill disciples of my sect, so leave your life behind!"

"..."

Blue veins throbbed on Hui Neng’s forehead.

It was, in a way, a coincidence. After repeatedly missing out on the Mystic Fire Treasure Mirror and the Xuanhuang Pearl, he had no time to make further preparations and could only come to the ancient battlefield first to search for his remaining body.

Halfway there he stumbled upon a group of cultivators fighting over a fortuitous encounter; focusing his gaze, he discovered that it was actually one of the Array Hubs—the Profound Ming Jade!

This Yin Yang Reversal Array was constructed from the four phases of earth, fire, wind, and water. As long as he could obtain a wondrous item of one of these attributes, his chances of escaping safely would increase drastically!

Overjoyed, Hui Neng immediately made a move and "enlightened" everyone there.

However, one of the young Martial Cultivators was exceedingly troublesome. Hui Neng didn’t want to waste his last four Buddha Beads, and ended up dragged out for quite some time.

But the Realm gap was right there; in the end he still struck the man gravely wounded. Just as he was about to finish him off completely, Jiang Zhiyun suddenly arrived, and seeing the scene, her eyes almost split with rage. She drew her treasured sword to fight Hui Neng to the death.

Knowing this woman was hard to deal with, Hui Neng didn’t dare get entangled. He turned and ran.

Jiang Zhiyun led her sect disciples in hot pursuit, hacking and slashing all the way here.

"You clearly look like a Martial Cultivator, yet you’re using Wuwan Temple’s Buddhist Law—everything about you reeks of strangeness..." Jiang Zhiyun narrowed her eyes, sizing him up. "Who exactly are you?"

"This poor monk..."

Hui Neng had just opened his mouth when he suddenly sensed something, whipped his head around, and saw several figures flying rapidly toward them.

When he saw the face of the one in the lead, his pupils shrank to needlepoints!

"Chen Mo!!"

Swish—

Chen Mo’s figure was like lightning; in an instant he appeared in front of Hui Neng.

Jiang Zhiyun also froze for a moment when she saw him, and asked in confusion, "Chen, how did you find your way here? And these people are..."

"It’s a long story; I’ll explain slowly later. Dealing with this guy comes first." Chen Mo locked his gaze on Hui Neng, cold intent surging in his eyes. "What a coincidence, meeting you again. Should I call you Wanqi Kai, or call you Hui Neng?"

When enemies meet, their eyes burn red.

Thinking of his previous experiences, Hui Neng’s heart seethed with rage.

If not for this bastard, how could he have fallen to such a state?!

Despite grinding his teeth in hatred, he still kept his reason. Out of the corner of his eye he saw that his escape route had already been cut off by Zhu Huai and Sikong Zuiyue; facing four Heavenly Human Realm experts at once, even using all his Buddha Beads would be useless.

As things stood, there was no other choice; he could only take that final step...

"This guy’s methods are bizarre and he’s extremely cunning. Even destroying his fleshly body is useless; his true body should be hidden inside those Buddha Beads." Chen Mo shouted, "Everyone, don’t hold back—be sure to cut him down here!"

The Grandmasters didn’t hesitate in the slightest, immediately channeling their Dao Power. Their powerful auras made the air almost congeal.

Yet at this moment, Hui Neng’s expression instead grew calm. He raised his eyes to look at Chen Mo, the corner of his mouth hooking into a mocking smile. "Amitabha Buddha. You think this poor monk has lived all these years for nothing? How could I possibly have no preparations at all?"

A bad premonition rose in Chen Mo’s heart. He immediately drew the Dragon Marrow Sword and poured surging True Yuan into it.

"Do it!"

Everyone moved in response.

Black mist, sword light, Thunder Techniques...all surged toward Hui Neng from every direction!

Hui Neng pressed his thumb down and crushed two Buddha Beads; Buddha light turned into a golden bell that shrouded his body. At the same time, his eyelids drooped as he rapidly chanted a Buddha name.

Boom, boom, boom—

Multicolored radiance crashed against the bell without pause. In just three breaths, it was covered in dense cracks, the Buddha light flickering like a candle in the wind, on the verge of shattering completely!

Hui Neng ignored this, his lips continuing to move as he kept chanting on his own.

The Buddha name grew louder and louder. Vaguely, another voice seemed to merge with his, the two lines of sound gradually overlapping as even the void hummed and trembled.

"We have to kill him quickly!"

The bad feeling in Chen Mo’s heart grew ever stronger. He pushed his True Yuan without reservation and finally extinguished the Buddha light. With a crisp crack, the golden bell shattered with a bang!

The Dragon Marrow Sword’s momentum did not lessen. It swept across Hui Neng’s neck and directly severed his head!

At the same time, his left hand reached for those two Buddha Beads, Great Sun True Flame surging from his palm, ready to refine them in one go!

Yet just as he was about to touch the Buddha Beads, his movements suddenly froze.

Not only him—the others were the same. Their bodies were locked midair, unable to budge. The air grew incomparably heavy, a fierce oppressive force pressing down on their shoulders like a great mountain, trying to crush them alive!

"What’s going on?!"

Chen Mo suddenly noticed that even though Hui Neng had been beheaded, the chanting still echoed on.

Listening closely, it seemed to be coming from underground.

"...If there are any who see or hear, may they all give rise to the Bodhi heart. Exhausting this very life, may we be born together in the Land of Ultimate Bliss."

"Amitabha Buddha."

As the last syllable fell, Hui Neng’s "corpse" began to disintegrate and collapse, scattering like drifting sand in the wind, while those two Buddha Beads fell downward.

The next instant, a withered hand broke through the soil, a pale bony palm tightly clutching the beads!

?!

Under everyone’s gaze, a skeleton crawled out of the scorched earth with difficulty.

Its bones were as lustrous as jade, emitting a faint golden glow. Tiny characters were carved into its ribs, seemingly Sanskrit sutras. Four gemstones—red, white, black, and green—were embedded in its skull. Though there wasn’t a trace of flesh on it, it didn’t appear the least bit eerie; instead, it gave off a solemn, dignified, Buddha-like presence.

The golden skeleton stood upon the scorched ground, shook the dust from its body, and looked around. In its empty eye sockets there actually appeared a hint of age-worn vicissitudes.

"In the flick of a finger, a thousand years; things change, people fade. I didn’t expect that upon standing on this land again, only this poor monk would remain. Pitiful, lamentable."

"However, life and death have yet to completely reverse, and this poor monk’s Dharma Body has not recovered, yet I have been hastily awakened. It seems something has gone awry."

Crack—

The skeleton crushed the Buddha Beads, strands of golden light flowing into its body through its seven apertures.

A moment later, it had already understood the sequence of events.

"That day, forced to the brink, this poor monk split his Buddha heart into forty-eight portions and hid them in the prayer beads, sending them into Jiu Zhou at the final moment before the World Gate was sealed, all for the sake of seeking a single thread of life through countless cycles of reincarnation."

"In the past thousand years, in order to spread the Buddhist Law and ferry all living beings, twelve beads in total were used. Only thus could Wuwan Temple steadily occupy its position as one of the Three Saint Sect."

"Yet in just the last half year, the remaining thirty-six beads have all been used up!"

"Especially that mysterious woman surnamed Yu—her strength was simply inconceivable. Even exhausting all Buddha Power couldn’t save her life."

"I did not expect the shackles of this heaven and earth to be so deep, that there would still be someone who has mastered such pure Origin Power of Returning Ruins, and one that has never before been comprehended. Losing to her is hardly an injustice..."

"But to get back to the point..."

"She is an Ultimate Venerable. This poor monk will not quibble with her. And you—what are you, that you dare block this poor monk’s path?"

The skeleton slowly raised its head. A faint soul-flame blazed in its eye sockets as it stared fixedly at Chen Mo.

A chill ran down Chen Mo’s spine.

Hearing the other’s mutterings, his heart had already sunk to rock bottom!

No wonder Hui Neng had been so troublesome, able to be reborn by possessing others even after his fleshly body was destroyed...

No wonder he was so familiar with this Secret Realm, able to find the ancient battlefield without needing a Magic Artifact to guide him...

So Shi Yun, Hui Neng, and this skeleton before them were all the same person!

The founder of Wuwan Temple, one of the Strongest who had joined forces with the Taoist Lord and the Martial Saint a thousand years ago to fight Zhu Jiuyou—

No Desire Buddha!