Spirit Vessel

Chaotic energy waves ravaged the ruins while unknown Buddhist sounds echoed unceasingly like an eternal melody.

The great battle left the shrine in an even worse state, on the verge of collapsing at any moment.

Master Zhi Zang stood with his face hidden, shrouded by faint Buddhist energy and looking quite mysterious.

Of course, no one would dare to underestimate him now after he easily took care of two battle corpses.

"Monk, do you know who you're protecting?" A clear voice came from the shadows - clearly a woman.

"Everyone deserves protection." The monk calmly said.

"We'll see if you're strong enough to do so!" A snort came from deeper in the ruins.

This was a heretical lord with a majestic aura unleashing a massive seal resembling Five-finger Mountain.

He was naturally powerful for still daring to attack after seeing the monk's power.

"Rumble!" The palm contained the power of the five elements and the weight of the sky.

Master Zhi Zang placed his palms together and started chanting. He then spat out golden runes that turned into a scripture to stop the incoming attack.

Next, he opened his eyes wide and shot out two golden beams. The black veil on his hat couldn't stop the beams.

They rushed out like heaven-slaying swords. One could hear a scream from the shadows. One heretical lord has just been taken down.

"Amitabha…" The monk read a scripture meant to cross someone over to the other side.

The tenth lord of Senluo and Violetsea Monarch decided to attack at the same time. They were Paramount Giants at the ninth level. Their techniques came over like two tsunamis filling up the area.

Anyone below the Giant realm got down on their knees. Even the Giants started trembling with cold sweats everywhere.

The monk wasn't pressured at all and continued chanting, eventually conjuring a massive Buddha made out of light towering at one hundred meters.

"Buzz." This avatar unleashed two sonorous palm strikes that sounded like two loud bells.

The two combatants were forced to retreat while catching on fire. They were overwhelmed with fear because this monk injured them so easily.

"Boom!" Two Buddhist characters with a diameter of thirty meters descended from the sky with a destructive force.

The two ran for their lives since those two words could leave lasting damages, if not outright kill them.

"Bang!" The two characters still brushed by them, leaving them with heavy injuries and a pool of blood on the ground.

The two of them ran out of the ruins without looking back. Other cultivators naturally did the same.

They would certainly spread the news of the love thief having an extremely powerful and potentially perverted monk as an ally, one capable of defeating ninth-level cultivators.

The result today betrayed everyone's expectations. Seven masters fought and lost against Yi Zhenfeng, nearly half lost their life. Next, a monstrous monk came out of nowhere and aided him.

Yi Zhenfeng's name would definitely resound across Jin afterward.

"Amazing, your cultivation is infinitely close to the Nirvana realm, only one step away." Feiyun has turned back into Yi Zhenfeng, looking handsome and devilish while clapping his hands.

Ye Siwan stood next to him, almost like a guard with the fiery sword in her hand. She looked on guard against this monk.

"I'm no big deal compared to you, Benefactor, subduing this noble lady despite being seriously injured. Now that's amazing." The monk wittily said.

Feiyun noticed the grimace on Ye Siwan's face and changed the topic: "If I'm not mistaken, your lifespan is running out? You are here to find the Heavenly Kingdom in order to break through to the Nirvana realm?"

In theory, one wouldn't be able to reach 1,000 years of age without becoming an Enlightened Being.

However, there are plenty of longevity medicines that can prolong life. Monk Zhi Zang has clearly used some of them to live longer than this. Alas, he didn't have much left and medicines have become ineffective. He needed to reach the next level.

Ultimately, all types of cultivation were a competition against heaven and worldly orders.

The monk pondered for a bit before nodding and answered in a sad tone: "I have two more years."

Feiyun opened his paper fan and started fanning himself while smiling: "You're definitely closer than anyone to Nirvana but this last step has a distance of ten million miles. You will never be able to reach it without the right opportunity."

"Not just ten million miles. Only those who have reached this step would know how difficult it is, akin to the distance between heaven and earth. The closer one is to Nirvana, the more they find out about this. So many top geniuses in history only needed one hundred years to reach peak ninth-level Heaven's Mandate. However, they would be stuck here until their death. Sigh, the path towards the grand dao only grows harder, it is beyond your imagination…"

"Why not give it one last shot?" Feiyun said.

"What do you mean?" The monk's eyes narrowed.

Feiyun continued playing with his fan while walking towards the direction of the grand shrine. He smirked and said: "Let's go to the great hall, I'm very interested in the kingdom you're searching for."

The four girls followed right behind him. They made it to the entrance of the hall before directly entering.

The monk hesitated for a long time before following along. If these youths weren't afraid, why should he? He didn't have that much longer to live anyway.

"The great hall has many dangers within, one wrong step and it's over." The monk caught up.

Feiyun knew that the guy would come along and put on a serious expression: "I'm more confident with you're here."

The monk put down his black hat to reveal a bald head. He wore a string with eighteen beads glowing with pure Buddhist affinity.

"You cultivate Golden Silkworm?" He asked with skepticism in his eyes.

"Yep."

"You're actually that Divine King of Jin?" The monk asked again.

"Sure, for the time being."

"The scripture is on you right now?" The monk's eyes became hot as he halted. No one could stay calm after hearing about this scripture.

Feiyun also stopped and nodded with a smile.

The two of them have been using mental transmission so the other girls couldn't listen at all. They only thought that the two were being weird.

"The scripture is the thing leading me here, meaning that its providence is protecting me or I wouldn't have the balls to come here." Feiyun added.

The monk calmed down and became slightly hopeful. If the scripture was leading him, then maybe the kingdom would actually be inside this hall. He would have a great chance of reaching Nirvana after getting there.

The monk was a wily and calculating one, not a pure Buddhist cultivator. He suddenly smiled and placed his palms together to bow towards Feng Feiyun, actually speaking out loud this time: "The great hall has some evil left behind from the ancient age, so be careful, everyone. Try your best to walk behind me. We'll be fine as long as we don't alarm the strongest evil Buddhist soul."

The great hall was actually a broken world, completely dark and of unknown size. They have entered an independent and special dimension with plumes of Buddhist lights and ghastly flames.

The place seemed to be full of illusions - broken golden pillars, platforms covered in dust, old praying mats, cracked wooden fish, and many others.

They floated in the air and had a faint glow. Who knows how long they have been here?

Someone suddenly screamed in the back - Liu Ruixin. She stepped on a skeleton and broke through several bones.

It had a fist-sized hole on the skull as if someone had crushed it to take the brain out.

The group stopped and the monk quietly whispered: "This is the corpse of a Giant that came here several thousand years ago, killed by the evil Buddhist souls."

"Are they part of the Three Evils?" Feiyun asked.

"A type of specter but far stronger than ordinary ones." The monk nodded.

"A friend gave me this bottle, I wonder if it will be useful against these souls." Feiyun contemplated and took out a bottle from his spatial stone.