Free Web NovelChapter 84: Chapter 72: The Buddha Chain Suppresses the Uncanny Seal, Qi Yang’s Frenzied Rage
’So he really did sense it when I broke his Restriction? But he couldn’t rush back immediately, maybe because he was too far away! Now he’s on his way back. He’s much closer, so he was able to activate his sense right away?’
The thought instantly flashed through Xu Lei’s mind.
He immediately knew what he had to do.
’First, I need to hide my haul!’
With that thought, Xu Lei immediately darted forward.
All the while, he scanned his surroundings, making sure no one was watching.
Then, in a relatively hidden hollow,
He brought two fingers together, and with a surge of Magical Power, a transparent lotus flew out of his Qiankun Cloth Bag.
It was composed of seven transparent, lotus-petal-shaped blades.
This item was called the Lotus Treasure Fragments, a Magical Artifact left behind by Robert Keating.
Just like a Taoist Flying Sword!
Controlling it with Magical Power not only consumed less energy, but it was also more powerful.
Furthermore, the Lotus Treasure Fragments were naturally much harder than bamboo slips.
If Xu Lei were driving a bamboo slip with his Magical Power and encountered a Spirit Monster or another Cultivator who attacked with Sword Control,
the bamboo slip wouldn’t be able to block the attack.
But the Lotus Treasure Fragments would be very difficult to shatter or break.
"WHIZZ! WHIZZ! WHIZZ!"
Five of the Lotus Treasure Fragments flew up.
They spun wildly, their sharp edges cutting into the earth.
Like a frenzied power drill, they instantly bored a deep, fist-sized hole.
He only controlled five of the fragments because he found it strenuous to handle any more.
"WHOOSH!"
Xu Lei then recalled the Lotus Treasure Fragments, holding them in his hand.
After a moment’s thought, he tossed the Lotus Treasure Fragments back into the Qiankun Cloth Bag as well.
He then took out a bracelet from the Qiankun Cloth Bag that he thought might come in handy.
Then he dropped the entire Qiankun Cloth Bag into the hole.
He quickly filled the hole back in.
He covered the spot with dead branches and fallen leaves.
After glancing around a few more times to confirm he had memorized the location,
he turned and bolted.
After running for quite some distance, Xu Lei finally stopped.
He looked down at his arm.
While he had been busy, Xu Lei had felt the Black Seal on his arm continue to give off a burning heat.
Most likely, Qi Yang was continuously trying to sense his location.
Xu Lei considered carving out the piece of flesh on his forearm with a knife.
However, the Black Seal was incredibly bizarre; it seemed to be faintly writhing under his skin.
Xu Lei instantly knew that simply cutting out the flesh wouldn’t be enough to remove it.
"THUD, THUD, THUD!"
Just then, Xu Lei faintly heard footsteps approaching from a distance.
The footsteps were heavy, powerful, and urgent!
Having encountered Human Puppets in his previous life, Xu Lei’s expression shifted.
Even though he couldn’t see them yet, he knew those were definitely the footsteps of Human Puppets!
Footsteps of them moving at high speed, no less.
"JINGLE! JINGLE! JINGLE!"
To say nothing of the occasional sound of a ringing Bell.
That was Qi Yang, using his Bell to command the Human Puppets.
Xu Lei guessed that several large Human Puppets were carrying Qi Yang and charging toward him.
He now knew his earlier guess was correct!
The Black Seal on his arm was definitely one of Qi Yang’s tricks.
And Qi Yang could use it to sense his location.
That’s why Qi Yang, who had been aimless before, had immediately turned around to hunt him down.
Xu Lei had been marked with the Black Seal when he broke the Restriction Qi Yang had left in the cave.
Qi Yang would naturally know that his Restriction had been broken.
Someone must have broken into the cave.
Qi Yang might not know yet that everything inside the cave had been taken,
but he certainly wouldn’t spare the person who broke his Restriction.
’I never thought Qi Yang had a trick like this up his sleeve!’
Xu Lei frowned.
But in truth, as Xu Lei thought back, he realized he didn’t know much about Qi Yang at all.
They may have spent time together in his previous life,
but Qi Yang had been in disguise most of the time.
The only abilities he had ever displayed were his Human Puppets.
’Am I going to lose my second life just like this?’
Xu Lei thought grimly.
The life Xu Lei lost when he was bitten to death by a venomous snake in the forest was his original one.
It didn’t count as one of the lives from the Ten Thousand Lives Book.
So the life in which he lived to be seventy-eight was actually the first of his ten thousand lives.
This was now his second.
If he couldn’t escape Qi Yang today, he was no match for him.
Therefore, Xu Lei would most likely die.
This was why Xu Lei had hidden the Qiankun Bag, not even keeping the Lotus Treasure Fragments on him.
If he was doomed to die, he couldn’t bring his treasures with him. Why let Qi Yang reap the rewards?
As long as he wasn’t carrying anything valuable, even if Qi Yang killed him,
Xu Lei could just choose a place to resurrect.
He would lose a life at most, but the treasures were more than enough to compensate for it.
Of course, not dying was the best-case scenario.
And Xu Lei hadn’t resigned himself to his fate just yet.
"Which Fellow Daoist dares..."
At that moment, from about a kilometer away, Qi Yang’s voice, amplified by Magical Power, boomed, "...trespass in my cave!"
’Let’s see if this life ends here today!’
Xu Lei, of course, didn’t answer Qi Yang. Instead, he looked at the Red Jade Bead Chain in his hand and muttered, "It all comes down to you!"
According to Robert Keating, this item was called the Evil-Subduing Buddha Chain and possessed the power to suppress and ward off evil.
When Xu Lei had buried the Qiankun Cloth Bag earlier, he had specifically taken this out.
However, refining this item was no easy task.
Inside each of the soybean-sized Red Jade beads on the bracelet
was a series of inscribed Runes that formed a miniature Talisman Array.
Each Red Jade bead had to be individually refined.
"Just one more!"
Xu Lei’s Magical Power surged, flowing over the bracelet.
He had been refining it the entire time he was running.
Now, he was finally about to finish.
"HUMMM!"
Finally, in the nick of time, Xu Lei refined the last Red Jade bead.
He could now control the Red Jade Bracelet at will.
He immediately put on the Red Jade Bracelet!
"It’s working!"
A look of delighted surprise appeared on Xu Lei’s face!
As he channeled his Magical Power, energy from the Red Jade Bracelet seeped into his entire arm.
It immediately suppressed the Black Seal, causing it to dim.
At the same time, Xu Lei immediately began to move.
He sprinted to a hidden hollow in a different direction.
Sure enough, the torrential thudding of the Human Puppets’ footsteps ceased.
Qi Yang had slowed down.
’Looks like I won’t have to die here today!’
Xu Lei breathed a sigh of relief. ’My second life isn’t over so soon!’
Of course, Xu Lei’s brow quickly furrowed again.
He noticed the Black Seal on his forearm was still struggling, trying to flare up again.
’Even the Evil-Subduing Buddha Chain can’t get rid of it.’
Xu Lei frowned. ’Does that mean I have to constantly channel Magical Power to maintain the bracelet?’
Afterward,
unable to find Xu Lei or sense the Black Seal, Qi Yang could only depart in frustration.
He immediately charged back toward Robert Keating’s cave.
Just as Qi Yang was about to reach the cave entrance, Xu Lei tried cutting off the Magical Power supply to the Red Jade Bracelet again.
He wanted to see what would happen.
"HUMMM!"
Unexpectedly, the Black Seal flared back to life.
His forearm began to burn once more.
And just like that, Qi Yang turned around and came charging back on his Human Puppets.
Of course, Xu Lei once again used his Magical Power to drive the Buddha Chain and suppress the Black Seal.
Soon after, an exasperated Qi Yang turned back toward the cave yet again.
’Regardless, this proves that as long as the Buddha Chain is suppressing it, Qi Yang’s Black Seal can’t kill me for the time being.’
Xu Lei returned to the spot where he had buried the Qiankun Cloth Bag.
He dug the Qiankun Cloth Bag back out.
Since the immediate danger of being found by Qi Yang had passed,
he could naturally keep the Qiankun Cloth Bag with him.
Besides, Xu Lei needed to begin his Cultivation immediately!
Breaking Qi Yang’s Restriction, refining the Restriction on Robert’s cave, and refining the Lotus Treasure Fragments,
plus using the Lotus Treasure Fragments to dig the hole, refining the Evil-Subduing Buddha Chain, and channeling power through it,
had consumed more than half of his Magical Power.
Now, upon Introspection, he saw that the Magical Power in his Lower Dantian had shrunk from the size of a peanut back to the size of a soybean!
If this kept up, his Magical Power would run out, and Qi Yang would find him eventually.
But he had the Spirit Gathering Array he’d acquired earlier.
All his spent energy could be replenished.
A few minutes later,
Xu Lei found a relatively secluded cave.
He brought out the Command Banners for the Spirit Gathering Array.
As he separated the Command Banners and inserted them into the ground at various points,
Spiritual Qi far denser than what had been in Robert’s cave began to gather.
Just as Xu Lei was about to begin his Cultivation, he heard a sound coming from the direction of the cave.
An utterly crazed and furious roar, followed by a stream of curses, echoed from the distance!
It was Qi Yang!
He had returned to the cave only to find it completely empty!
He had guarded that place for decades, only for someone to swoop in and take everything!
He was naturally so enraged his eyes had turned completely bloodshot.
「A month later.」
Xu Lei had left the Great Xing Mountain Range and had traveled extensively.
He returned to Anqing to retrieve the fortune he had buried in his past life, along with Wei Qingning’s Jade Pendant.
At the same time, he inquired about Hui Ming’s whereabouts, only to discover that Hui Ming had left Anchan Temple long ago.
He then spent several more days before finally learning that Hui Ming was now at Tianming Temple.
Thus, on this day, nine-year-old Xu Lei arrived at Tianming Temple, located a bit farther north.
He sought out Hui Ming, of course, because he wanted to become a monk under him and practice Cultivation.
He also wanted to ask him if there was a way to remove the Black Seal on his arm.
Constantly suppressing it wasn’t a long-term solution. It continuously drained his Magical Power, and ultimately, it only treated the symptom, not the root cause.
If he didn’t resolve it,
if he ever ran into trouble and exhausted his Magical Power, he wouldn’t be able to supply the Evil-Subduing Buddha Chain.
And it probably wouldn’t be long before a furious Qi Yang came to kill him.
"Amitabha Buddha."
At that moment, Xu Lei spoke to a young Monk, "This humble monk, Hui Chi, is a disciple of the Divine Monk Wu Tan.
By my master’s order, I have come to request an audience with Zen Master Hui Ming!
I must trouble you to announce my presence to Zen Master Hui Ming."
