Chapter 51: Chapter 51: All Eighty-one Difficulties Must be Complete【Seeking Collection Seeking Recommendation Tickets】_1
The master of Huanghua Temple fell to the ground, scrambling and crawling in an attempt to flee. But the spider spirits surrounded him, forcing him to reveal his true form.
He was a centipede spirit. He quickly begged for mercy, "Junior sisters, junior sisters, spare me! Spare your brother! Please, considering our many years of camaraderie, let your brother go. Spare me this once."
The spider spirits frowned, a hint of hesitation flashing in their eyes. They looked at each other, uncertain of what to do.
Seventh Mother said, "You tried to harm Eldest Brother. You are no longer our senior brother."
The sisters nodded in agreement, their dissatisfaction with the centipede spirit growing. Not long ago, the centipede spirit had tried to kill them.
Seventh Mother said, "If we let him live, Eldest Brother won’t be at ease."
The spider spirits nodded. Then, with a flash of their swords, the centipede spirit screamed and begged for mercy, but his head still tumbled to the ground.
A Golden Core rolled onto the ground, radiating a dazzling light.
They picked it up, overjoyed. After refining it, their strength increased even further. The eldest sister’s cultivation was already close to the peak Golden Immortal realm. With the aid of this Golden Core, she broke through completely. The others also made breakthroughs. Even the weakest, Seventh Mother, reached the mid-stage Golden Immortal realm and was approaching the high stage.
Remember, before meeting Sha Chen, she was only an early-stage Golden Immortal. Moreover, demons find it difficult to advance their cultivation due to scarce resources, limited talent, and meager blessings.
After their breakthroughs, the spider spirits chattered excitedly, wondering what to do next. They had planned to return and report to Sha Chen, but Seventh Mother said they were too ashamed to face him after the incident with the centipede spirit.
"We should quickly gather better resources, then return and apologize to Eldest Brother," she suggested.
The sisters all nodded, deeply agreeing. Then, they scattered.
「The next day.」
The Pleiades Star Official arrived. His expression changed after just one glance at Huanghua Temple. Upon seeing the centipede spirit’s body, he was even more shocked.
With a sigh, he returned to Qianhua Cave.
Bodhisattva Pilanpo was meditating. Seeing her son return, she smiled and asked, "Has that vile creature succeeded?"
The Pleiades Star Official replied, "Reporting to Mother, that vile creature is dead."
Bodhisattva Pilanpo’s expression changed. She hurriedly formed hand seals, then sighed. "He actually died? How did the spider spirits from the Cave of the Silken Web end up fighting him?"
The Pleiades Star Official said, "I’m not sure. Can’t Mother divine it?"
Bodhisattva Pilanpo said, "Their cultivation isn’t weak, and their destinies have strengthened. Besides, that vile centipede spirit set up a formation at Huanghua Temple to conceal things, making it difficult to divine accurately."
The Pleiades Star Official asked, "Mother, what shall we do next?"
Bodhisattva Pilanpo sighed. "With that vile creature dead, our Qianhua Cave might gain nothing from this scripture-pilgrimage.
"This won’t do. Think of something. Qianhua Cave cannot come away empty-handed."
The Pleiades Star Official took his orders and left.
Bodhisattva Pilanpo frowned. "That vile creature was meant to be an obstacle on the path of the scripture-pilgrimage. Now that he’s dead, isn’t one of the eighty-one tribulations missing?
"This is troublesome. However, I can’t concern myself with so much. Let Lingjiu Mountain fret over it."
「On Luo Jia Mountain.」
Muzha, who was feeding goldfish, saw Guanyin return and hastily set aside his things to greet her.
Muzha asked, "Master, what happened? You don’t look well."
Guanyin said, "The centipede spirit is dead."
Muzha was startled. "The centipede spirit from Huanghua Temple?"
Guanyin nodded. "That’s him."
Muzha was even more shocked. "That’s impossible! He’s part of the eighty-one tribulations, and he even devoured the second incarnation of Jin Chanzi, gaining immense karmic fortune. How could he possibly die?"
What he actually wanted to say was that many factions within Buddhism had their eyes on the centipede spirit, more than could be counted on two hands. Many within Buddhism coveted the centipede spirit, hoping to recruit him to bolster their own power. But Bodhisattva Pilanpo had already staked her claim first. With her protection, and before he was even involved in the merits of the scripture-pilgrimage, how could he possibly have died!?
Guanyin recounted the events, though she hadn’t foreseen the connection between the spider spirits and Sha Chen. However, she suspected the spider spirits and Sha Chen had some connection.
"The spider spirits must have reached some agreement with Sha Chen, or else he instigated them to kill the centipede spirit," she said. Her eyes filled with disdain. "Creatures born from moisture and eggs are truly faithless and ungrateful."
Muzha asked, "Master, what do we do next?"
Guanyin replied, "We’ll discuss this later. We need to find a replacement for the centipede spirit. The eighty-one tribulations must be complete; this is destiny.
"Right now, I’m worried about Jin Chi of the Guanyin Zen Temple. He’s been burning incense and praying, claiming the Black Bear Demon from Black Wind Cave has fled and that his devotion to our Buddha has waned."
Muzha slapped his forehead. "Wasn’t he exceptionally devout to our Buddha? Why the sudden change?"
Guanyin said, "I had intended to grant him the fruit of a Mountain Guardian Deity position once he gained merit from the scripture-pilgrimage. But he fled. This is contempt for our Buddha." She glanced at Muzha. "Find him. Use the old trick again."
Muzha nodded and left to carry out the command.
The so-called "old trick" was simply to bully the Black Bear Demon as before, instilling in him fear and awe of Buddhism, thereby making him eager to join.
Guanyin’s gaze was profound. She murmured, "The great scripture-pilgrimage was long destined. But ever since Sha Chen started acting strangely, everything has changed.
"Sha Chen is the source of all this. If things are to remain unchanged, then he must be the one to change now."
Guanyin pursed her lips, her eyes flickering. The thought of personally seeking out Sha Chen stirred within her. However, she still planned to send others to test him first. If Sha Chen didn’t suffer some hardship, her visit would be fruitless.
「Flowing Sand River.」
Sha Chen was refining the Gluttonous Essence Blood. He frantically absorbed the Divine Power from the God Source Stone mine, using it to help refine the mine and strengthen himself.
A month later, the Essence Blood was completely refined.
Sha Chen’s physical body had become incredibly powerful. The devouring force radiating from him was world-shaking. The God Source Stone mine was petrifying more quickly, its Divine Power being consumed at an accelerated rate. Compared to his previous devouring speed, it had increased nearly tenfold.
Sha Chen, however, opened his eyes, a hint of regret flashing within them.
He murmured to himself, "My devouring speed has increased tenfold, but my innate talent and potential haven’t improved. My ability to convert Divine Power into cultivation isn’t keeping pace.
"At this rate, devouring too much will still lead to waste. Even if I use half for cultivation and half for my physical body, there’s still an excess."
Sha Chen’s body was like a machine. The material poured in was Divine Power. No matter how quickly it was supplied, the machine’s efficiency remained constant; it wouldn’t produce more. However, Divine Power doesn’t wait. If he didn’t refine it, it would dissipate.
Wasting it needlessly was anathema to Sha Chen.
To avoid waste, Sha Chen had to either reduce the input—that is, slow his devouring speed—or strengthen the machine itself, meaning increase his potential. This was the best way to maintain high-efficiency production—in other words, the best method to efficiently raise his cultivation.
However, Sha Chen longed day and night to enhance his potential and increase his talent, but alas, he had no means to do so.
Suddenly, his gaze fell upon the flat peach tree in the field. The peaches looked almost ripe!