Immortal and Martial Dual Cultivation

Chapter 1298: Buddhist Sect Remnant Soul

A scene of the Immortal Epoch appeared in Xiao Chen's mind. This Buddha overestimated his own strength and tried to barge into the Sky Dome Residence, acting impudently. In the end, the Sky Dome Immortal Lord casually used a Magic Skill and sealed over ten kilometers with ice, trapping this Buddha here until today.

Perhaps Xiao Chen's initial thoughts were wrong, and the hard ice was not a result of that mysterious fire seed but a Magic Skill of the Sky Dome Immortal Lord.

It arose by fate and was destroyed by fate. This was probably the truth.

After the destruction of an epoch, after several million years, the might of the Magic Skill had declined considerably. Furthermore, the Udumbara Flower seed sprouted, weakening the might of the Magic Skill even further, which allowed Xiao Chen to destroy the entire Magic Skill.

"It looks like after your death, an invisible force prevented the lake water from descending. I believe you must have been a major character of the Buddhist Sect from back then. Sorry for this offense. This junior will be borrowing the flame seed and the Udumbara Flower seed."

Xiao Chen extended his hand and beckoned, collecting the flame seed into the Immortal Spirit Ring.

"Boom!"

The instant the flame seed left the Buddha's palm, the one-kilometer-tall Buddha statue suddenly shattered and collapsed. The Buddhist prayer beads, his kasaya, sandals, and all crumbled.

Amid the pieces, a pearl flickered with light as it hovered in the air.

"A Buddhist śarīra!" This startled Xiao Chen. A śarīra was a holy relic that only a high-ranked monk would leave behind.

[TL Note: A śarīra is a relic left behind after the cremation of a spiritual Buddhist monk. Normally pearl- or bead-shaped, they are said to embody the spiritual knowledge, teachings, realizations or living essence of spiritual masters. They are taken as evidence of the master's enlightenment and spiritual purity and are believed to ward off evil and invite blessings.]

There was a flickering human image behind the pearl, a miniature version of the Buddha. However, it looked much more lively and not as dull as the statue. Its eyes even gleamed with intelligence.

There were rings of Buddhist halo lights behind the figure, making it look dignified and solemn, transcendent and holy.

"Many thanks, Benefactor, for granting me freedom, freeing me from the sea of bitterness." The figure of light spoke, clearly not completely dead yet.

Xiao Chen stepped back. His expression turned cautious, and he immediately spread out his Saber Domain.

The Buddha figure of light smiled faintly and said with an amiable tone, "Benefactor, there is no need to be nervous. I am just a remnant spirit. I will soon return to the cycle of reincarnation. The Buddhists pay particular attention to fate. I have been trapped here for an unknown period of time. Being freed by you is fate.

"Unfortunately, you are not from the Buddhist sect. Otherwise, you could learn the Magic Skills and Immortal Arts in my śarīra."

Xiao Chen could tell that this Buddha before him was different from Zhuang Zhenghe and the Kṣitigarbha Bodhisattva that he met before; this Buddha was not an evil Buddha.

Dropping his wariness, he said calmly, "Senior is being too polite. This was just by chance. I am already satisfied with obtaining the flame seed and the Udumbara. However, the Immortal Dao no longer exists, and the cycle of reincarnation is broken. There has been no way to be reincarnated since long ago."

The Buddha shook his head and said, "Even though the epoch is over, the Heavenly Dao still exists; the cycle of reincarnation still exists as well. You cannot feel it, but I can. Although I cannot pass on my legacy to you, I can give you a Magic Skill."

"Whoosh!"

A beam of light came out of the śarīra and entered Xiao Chen's sea of consciousness. Instantly, a lot of complicated information appeared in his mind. This was a Magic Skill known as Dharmic World.

"This is Dharmic World. There are similar Magic Skills in the Daoist sects as well. Giving you this does not count as breaking the rules of my Buddhist sect. Buddhists pay particular attention to fate and believe in karma. I see a connection to the Buddhist sect on you. Perhaps we might be able to meet again in the future."

Xiao Chen sensed that the Dharmic World Magic Skill was a bona fide Major Magic Skill. Joy bloomed in his heart. He quickly gave thanks and asked, "Might Senior tell me your dharma name?"

[TL Note: When people become monks, it means that they are cutting off all ties with the world and focusing on gaining enlightenment. They give up on everything in the material world—money, status, family, even their names. Hence, on becoming a monk, the temple would bestow a new monk with a dharma name. These dharma names normally come in two parts, kind of like a family name and a given name. However, in this case, the first part is the name that indicates the generation and then one given name.]

The Buddha smiled amiably and replied, "The dharma name is a name bestowed on me by the Buddhist sect when I converted. I have not used my dharma name in a long time already and have forgotten it. You can address me as the Maheśvara Buddha."

The Maheśvara Buddha?

This name startled Xiao Chen. This person was a true Buddha, stronger than a bodhisattva—something equal to the Immortal Lords of Immortal Cultivators and highly respected. It looked like his earlier guess was wrong.

"I do not have much time left. Let me leave you with two instructions. Although you obtained the Heavenly Snow Divine Flame's flame seed, remember to nourish it properly. Right now, its rank has fallen tremendously. As for that Udumbara Flower seed, whether you manage to obtain it or not will depend on your fate. Don't force it. If you do, you will end up falling into the Demonic Dao."

After that, the Maheśvara Buddha placed his hands together and said, "Amitabha," before turning into countless motes of light and vanishing.

"Whoosh!"

The instant the Buddha image vanished, the lake water above suddenly poured down. Xiao Chen moved very quickly, grabbing hold of the śarīra and soaring up.

Without the ice and the Udumbara Flower, as well as this mysterious Maheśvara Buddha, this place was no longer a forbidden land. Xiao Chen's Movement Technique did not experience any restriction, allowing him to reach the lakeshore in short order.

Looking at the shattered pieces of ice floating in the water, Xiao Chen revealed an expression of great joy. In the trip to this forbidden land, he experienced many setbacks, nearly losing his life a few times. However, in the end, the harvest was astonishingly great.

He obtained not only the mysterious Heavenly Snow Divine Flame's flame seed and the Udumbara Flower seed but also a Magic Skill.

As for the śarīra in his hand, it was supposed to be the item of greatest value since it contained the various Magic Skills of the Maheśvara Buddha and the essence of all his comprehension. However, as Xiao Chen was not of the Buddhist sect, even though he owned it, he could not do anything with it. Otherwise, he would have profited greatly.

"How delightful! This trip has not been in vain," Xiao Chen exclaimed happily. He laughed out loud, feeling very relaxed.

Ao Jiao, who was in the Immortal Spirit Ring, said, Xiao Chen, do you know how to refine this Heavenly Snow Divine Flame?

Xiao Chen smiled, not concerned about it. "I don't know. However, I will know when I return to the Kunlun Realm. Mo Chen will definitely know how to refine something as divine as this. Let's not care about that first. There are still two more treasures in this lake. Let's collect them all."

"What are they?"

"One of them is naturally the dewdrops of the Heavenly Snow Divine Flame. The other is the ice fish that is definitely delectable."

"You are still unwilling to let those ice fish off?"

Xiao Chen laughed and said, "That is natural. One should not leave any regrets in life and give everything a try. It is not logical not to give something so delectable a try."

"I'm ignoring you. I'll go and collect the dewdrops. You can go catch the fish on your own."

"That's fine. Just don't end up drooling later."

The two split up. Xiao Chen gently pushed off the ground and landed on a piece of floating ice. Many ice fish swam around near the surface.

Now, the bottom of the lake was chaotic, reverberating with ferocious shock waves. With the change in environment, these ice fish needed to swim up.

A relaxed smile appeared on Xiao Chen's face as he said softly, "Come out."

"Bang!"

Xiao Chen threw a palm strike, and the surface of the water exploded. Thousands of ice fish instantly came flying out. They opened their mouths and spat the spit-like ice flame at him, covering the sky with it.

He smiled faintly. The land was not like the lake bottom. His Movement Technique would be much more effective and nimble.

He pushed off that piece of floating ice and instantly dodged the many attacks. He moved about as fast as lightning, grabbing the ice fish. His hands appeared illusionary, afterimages layering over each other, so fast that they were dazzling.

"Plop! Plop!" When the thousands of ice fish fell back into the water, Xiao Chen's hands were still empty, having failed to catch anything.

Xiao Chen's expression turned dispirited. Still unconvinced of this, he said, "I don't believe this. I can deal with even Martial Emperors. How can I not do anything to these insignificant ice fish?"

--

As Xiao Chen both happily and depressedly worked on capturing the ice fish in the distant forbidden land, the reinforcements from the Martial God Palace arrived.

Logically speaking, the Martial God Palace would not react so slowly. However, when Old Yun went to meet the cultivators who came as reinforcement, he immediately understood why.

The ones who came were actually troops from the three Holy Masters' bloodlines. They were all cultivators possessing the White Tiger Martial Spirit, the Vermilion Bird Martial Spirit, and the Black Tortoise Martial Spirit. Each of the clans sent out at least three hundred people, all of them peak Martial Sages, only one step away from becoming a quasi-Emperor.

Furthermore, the three people leading the group were peak half-step Martial Emperors of the Kunlun Realm, all equipped with peak-quality King Grade Secret Treasures, capable of fighting with Martial Emperors without being at a disadvantage.

With the three of them working together, hunting down and killing a First Heaven Martial Emperor would be easy.

These were the top elites of the Three Holy Lands. Their presence showed how serious the three Holy Masters, who controlled the Martial God Palace, considered this matter.

"Yun Fei greets the three lords. Please excuse me for not going out to meet you," Old Yun, who managed the Sky Dome Palace, said with reverence.

The three looked around, their expressions somewhat gloomy and dark. The white-haired old man in the middle, a relative of the White Tiger Holy Master, was called Qin Hu. He demanded coldly, "Yun Fei, are you aware of your offense?"

Yun Fei said in horror, "This old man does not know. Might I know where I erred?"

"How insolent! You were careless and neglected your duty of standing guard. This resulted in the Sky Dome Palace suffering severe losses and the deaths of one thousand Martial Sages. Is this not a great offense?"

This reply startled Old Yun. It was a great accusation. He quickly knelt and said, "This…this is because the opponent was too strong. It was not because I was careless."

"You still dare to argue! On account of your long loyal service to the Martial God Palace, I will give you an opportunity to make up for this."

Old Yun immediately rejoiced. Could there be a chance for me to get out of trouble?

"My lords, please enlighten me."

On the right side, Bai Yu, a relative of the Vermilion Bird Holy Master, said, "I heard that the Azure Dragon King barged into the Sky Dome Palace without an authorization token, giving the Demonic World's Demons an opportunity. This resulted in the Sky Dome Palace suffering heavy losses. Is there such a thing?"

[TL Note: This Bai Yu is different from the Bai Yu from chapter 644; their names use different characters.]

Old Yun's heart sank. They wanted him to frame the Azure Dragon King Xiao Chen.

--

Back at the floating piece of ice, Xiao Chen naturally did not know that a plot against him was currently unfolding.

He was already completely immersed in catching these ice fish. At first, he thought that these ice fish could escape his grasp because of a coincidence and the limitations that the lake bottom placed on his Movement Technique.

However, the situation just proved that he was greatly mistaken. These insignificant ice fish were much more incredible than he thought.

No matter how fast Xiao Chen moved, the instant he came close to a fish, the ice fish would sense it. Then, they would wag their tails and dodge.

The movements appeared simple, but they were very profound. The technique involved was much more exquisite than his Azure Dragon Cloud Soaring Art.

The more Xiao Chen investigated this, the more shocked he was. These fish were probably not ordinary fish.

Of course, the true name of these fish was not ice fish. That was just a name that Xiao Chen casually gave them due to the environment. He had never before seen such crystalline fish that was so tame and filled with Spiritual Energy.

Many of the Profound Beasts of the Sky Dome Immortal Realm possessed the bloodline of Immortal Beasts. These fish before him should not be an exception.

Furthermore, the Immortal Beast bloodline in these fish might be even purer than that of regular Profound Beasts. It would not be an exaggeration to call them Immortal fish.

"If I can understand the Movement Technique of these Immortal fish and make it my own, I can incorporate it into my Thunder Dragon Steps."

The essence of the Thunder Dragon Steps was extremely explosive motion, moving like a crack of lightning. As for these Immortal fish, they were good at dodging at the last second. If he could fuse these two, the Thunder Dragon Steps would be perfect and flawless.

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