Blade - Unbound

Chapter 28: Great Luo Dharma Body

Shaaaa, shaaa, shaaa.

Before dawn had even broken, there was already movement in the fields. Li Yan swung his sickle in smooth arcs, his left hand gathering, while his right hand making a sweeping motion as large swathes of wheat fell neatly. They were laid out behind him to be bundled later.

Only when the eastern sky began to pale did he finally straighten, stretching before glancing around.

The distant fields were just as busy. It was harvest time at the Li Clan’s Fort.

There was a timing to harvesting wheat. At nine-tenths ripe, harvest them all; When they are ripe, you lose a tenth.

One couldn’t wait until it was completely mature to start harvesting. Even the time of day mattered, early morning and dusk were best, when the stalks were tough and less likely to snap, and the grains less likely to fall. After a year of hard labor, even a little loss was painful.

It had been four or five days since his return. Each night he practiced spirit visualization, and though he had yet to succeed, he had made considerable progress. With the harvest underway, he could train and work at the same time.

An ordinary laborer could harvest about one mu of wheat per day. But Li Yan was a martial artist! His foundations were solid and his sickle technique had been honed. He could cut a full one and a half mu daily. Their few mu of land would be done in just days.

Cutting, threshing, drying, storing, every day was work from dawn to dusk. Even for a martial artist, it left the body sore and exhausted. Yet, Li Yan enjoyed it. His unstable divine ability had made his emotions erratic, but after a day of labor, his mind would be clear, making it easier to enter a meditative state.

Days passed. The golden waves of wheat disappeared, replaced by bare yellow earth and stubbled stalks. When the wind blew, dust rose into the air.

Under the setting sun, the Guanzhong Plains looked vast and solemn. Though the beauty of the wheat fields was gone, the villagers were full of smiles.

Scholars might think golden fields meant a good harvest, but only farmers knew the truth. Hail, rain, and wind were each a calamity. Only when every grain was safely stored could it be called a good year.

On the very night after the harvest ended, Li Yan finally made a breakthrough.

***

In the stillness of night, he sat cross-legged on his bed. His mind was empty, his breathing faint, and all his awareness focused between his brows. In the darkness, a glowing human figure floated quietly.

This was the deity he had visualized. Following the method in Scripture of the Profound Darkness of the Western Mystery, he visualized his organs, then his entire body, gathering that faint spark of spiritual light into his brow before stabilizing it.

Success meant the visualization would not dissipate. Even upon waking, a single thought would bring it forth again. The method was gradual. As one’s cultivation deepened, the form of the visualized deity would become clearer.

Other practitioners had ancestral figures or deities as templates, but Li Yan was different. He used the statue within his dantian. It was always there, resonating with him. He only needed to focus, unlike others who struggled to gather scattered thoughts.

That was also why he made such quick progress. At the moment of success, the glowing figure at his brow suddenly resonated with the statue, plunging downward and enveloping it. The sudden change caught him off guard. Before he could react, the statue transformed again.

Combined with the light of visualization, its once blurred face twisted and reshaped until it became identical to his own. At the same time, a flood of information surged into his mind.

Shock filled his eyes, then joy. Previously, his understanding of the statue had been vague. Now, with successful visualization, it was fully refined.

The statue was called the Great Luo Dharma Body. Beyond transferring damage and substituting death, it could also guard the spirit. The deity he visualized had merged with it.

It brought two benefits. First, it stabilized his visualization, like constructing a spiritual temple. Now, even without rituals, it would not easily dissipate. Second, like his physical body, it could take damage. If attacked by soul-targeting spells, the damage could be transferred to the Dharma Body instead.

Of course, the temple still needed to be built. The Dharma Body could absorb damage, but not increase his cultivation. More importantly, it could be upgraded by devouring Heavenly Treasures. And with enough of them, he could reignite his life flame through a ritual.

He would gain another life!

Li Yan smiled.

So this Dharma Body required refinement through visualization. freeweɓnøvel.com

With a thought, his visualized deity returned to his brow. Now, even if he grew distracted, it would not disperse. Suppressing his excitement, he followed the scripture’s techniques, regulating his breathing.

Soon, his divine ability began to change. Previously, his sense of smell had been unstable, sometimes faint, sometimes explosive, leaving him dizzy afterward. Now, it faded until it became no different from an ordinary person.

He did not panic. His left thumb pressed the second joint of his finger. It formed a yang hand seal, representing the Sun. As he breathed in, his divine ability activated. Scents flooded in, growing stronger with his will.

Then, his thumb pressed the fourth joint of his finger, creating a yin seal, representing the Moon. The ability was sealed instantly.

According to the text, divine abilities came from the six yang roots, not the physical body. Using them consumed mental and spiritual energy. After stabilizing his spirit and mastering the yin and yang seals, he could control them freely. frёeweɓηovel.coɱ

With the ability sealed, he would no longer attract sinister entities.

The shadow over him finally lifted.

***

Thunk!

A stone suddenly landed in the courtyard. In the silent night, it was unmistakable.

Someone’s here!

Li Yan’s eyes sharpened. He flipped off the bed, grabbed his blade, and slipped outside.

Thunk!

Another stone came. He narrowed his eyes, laying a hand on the hilt of his Guanshan blade. It was a probing signal, something only jianghu folk understood. If a fellow practitioner responded with the proper code, the intruder would leave. Otherwise, they would enter freely.

He was about to call out, but paused. Forming a hand seal, he inhaled deeply. Every scent within dozens of zhang around him became clear.

Sha Lifei?!

Surprised, Li Yan glanced toward his grandfather and ensured he was still asleep before sprinting forward, scaling the wall in a swift motion and flipping over.

Sure enough, Sha Lifei stood outside. He looked miserable. His clothes were torn and covered in dust as he hid in the shadows.

“What happened?” Li Yan asked quietly.

Sha Lifei scratched his head and sighed in a bitter tone, “Let’s talk outside the village. Daoist Wang is here too; he’s at the ruined temple in the hills. And can you bring some food and water? I haven’t eaten all day!”

***

Behind Li Clan’s Fort lay a mountain shrine. Such shrines were common. Herb collectors, hunters, and travelers would offer incense for protection. In the past, when old soldiers still lived there, the shrine was well-maintained. Now, it was abandoned with its roof partially collapsed.

Inside, a fire crackled. Sha Lifei and Wang Daoxuan were wolfing down dry cakes, devouring them like starving ghosts.

“Bandits raided the village?” Li Yan asked, surprised.

No wonder the rest of the workers had returned several days ago, but these two hadn’t. He had simply assumed the funeral wasn’t done. Instead, it had been bandits.

“Exactly!” Sha Lifei said between bites. “The night after the workers left, bandits attacked. Luckily, we were out buying a coffin, or we would have been trapped!”

Li Yan frowned. “The Lu Manor had plenty of guards. Were there that many bandits?”

Sha Lifei swallowed hard and cursed. “There were too many to count, at least three or four hundred bandits came. I even saw that bandit leader we met before. The Qilu Bandits joined up with some bandits from the Guanzhong Plains. They slaughtered everyone in Gushui village! They’re ruthless!”

“Qilu bandits...” Li Yan’s gaze deepened.

There was no way things were as simple as it seemed.