1115: Chapter 328: Husband_5 1115: Chapter 328: Husband_5 Among the green mountains, the Little Novice Monk cocked his head, carefully cradling a massive bump on his forehead, and stared at Su He without blinking, his eyes filled with wonder.
“Master, master.
If he’s not a demon, how can a person turn into a Peacock?”
The old monk, kind-faced and with the gentle gaze of an elderly man, said with a smile, “The world is so vast, what are a few odd occurrences in the grand scheme of things?”
The Little Novice Monk opened his mouth, feeling somewhat that the old master was hoodwinking him, but he dared not argue back, for arguing would give him a headache!
All he could do was gaze straight at Su He, “Old master, what is the second stage in the Purification Ground?
I haven’t even been in there.”
Only those with steady hearts and exceptional talent could enter the second stage.
He was scared of pain and couldn’t even pass the first trial.
The old monk chuckled, “The Purification Ground is like the Refining Device, and since it’s a Refining Device, one must endure burning and hammering to strip away the dross!”
The Little Novice Monk blinked, the words didn’t sound negative but still felt off to him, and he asked quietly, “Does it mean a variety of pains?”
There was burning and hammering, like facing a punitive ordeal!
The old monk just smiled silently.
Su He stepped into the second stage, walking in with ease, feeling nothing out of the ordinary.
There were no torrential downpours, no flashes of lightning or peals of thunder – just an ordinary desert.
But as he walked, faint sounds started to emerge by his ears.
It was as if the ringing of forging and hammering mingled with the murmurs of chanting.
The two sounds intertwined, difficult to distinguish.
The more he tried not to listen, the louder they became.
Su He held his breath and concentrated, banishing the noises from his mind, but suddenly there was a crisp sound.
Ding!
As if a heavy hammer had struck a sword blank mid-forgery.
The sound came directly from within his heart.
Suddenly, flames billowed under his feet – a pain far different from the previous rainwater surged through him.
It was as though a red-hot branding iron intended to leave its mark upon his body.
Su He’s eyes narrowed, and without allowing the scorching heat to reach Ji Feixue, he shifted his form and already displayed his Turtle Body lying on the ground.
With a light movement of his Snake body, Ji Feixue was safely placed upon the Turtle Shell.
The Yellow Autumn Temple had the Tai Zu Turtle Shell, and knowing his own true form, revealing it here should have posed no risks.
Underneath him, the water waves churned.
The waves beneath Su He weren’t composed of Divine Skills or True Yuan.
They had been present since his first hibernation, before he had even gathered True Yuan to Cross the Heavenly Catastrophe.
The water waves hissed as they met the sand.
With the appearance of this heat wave, it rose to an extreme intensity instantly.
Su He’s claws pressed downward, causing the waves to roll back and flow towards his back, forming a cluster that enveloped Ji Feixue within.
Su He then stood on all fours, moving forward.
The scent of flesh charring rose from his footsteps.
Su He’s body shook slightly, but after a brief pause, he continued advancing.
With the previous long-lasting rain’s suction, although the form of pain had changed, he was able to adapt to it quickly.
It was merely a transition from being eroded by hydrochloric acid, skin flayed and bones scraped, to being thrown into a cremation furnace.
The pain began to be bearable for Su He, but that incessant hammering sound was excruciating.
It was indeed forging!
He himself was that piece of iron, with each hammer blow striking right at his heart, inexplicably conjuring the figure of a person in his mind.
Atop a lotus platform, a female Bodhisattva in white, one hand holding a purification bottle, the other posed as if holding a flower.
With each strike, the appearance of a Bodhisattva was hammered deep into Su He’s heart.
The imprint of the Buddha’s Son from Gujing Pavilion uncontrollably revealed itself on Su He’s forehead, and the dense chant sounded like a continuous buzz echoing in the depths of his heart.
Su He gasped for breath, advancing step by step.
The more he walked, the stronger the burnt smell grew beneath him, clearly unscorched yet feeling as though half his body was roasted.
The pain rivaling the first phase washed over him in waves.
Su He clenched his dragon teeth, staggering forward.
More than halfway through his Tao cultivation, the image of the Bodhisattva in his mind began to solidify.
Just then, a cold voice overpowered the sound of metalworking, reaching Su He’s ears.
“Do not proceed further.”
Su He paused, his eyes shining with incredulous light as he abruptly turned his head, to find that within the water ball on his back, Ji Feixue had already opened her eyes.
She parted the water and rose, propping herself up with the Turtle Shell, gazing at him blankly.
Su He was startled for a moment, then overjoyed; his form spun around, reverting to his human body, and in one swoop, he embraced her, twirling twice.
Ji Feixue bore an aura of cold frost, as if she had just emerged from a land of frost and snow.
When Su He hugged her, a trace of panic flashed in her eyes, but she did not struggle.
Only after Su He set her down did she extend a finger, her True Yuan gathering at its tip, ready to explode.
At that moment, an aged voice descended from Green Mountain.
“Fairy, please wait,” said the old monk.
“If you break the Purification Ground, the Buddha’s melody here will be severed, and the poor monk will no longer have a means to draw out the Divergent Buddhist Power from within you.
Friend Su He will have suffered a disaster for nothing!”
In the Purification Ground, one must not use True Yuan, for using it would naturally result in failure.
Ji Feixue did not speak, only reaching out her Tianyi to grasp Su He’s hand.
A sheen of water flickered across her hand, seemingly rewinding time.
The pain Su He had previously endured appeared on her hand, tracing lines upon lines.
All the lines detailed a variety of sensations.
Pain!
All the lines conveyed the intense suffering Su He had experienced.
Touching those lines, Ji Feixue’s voice grew even colder, “Thank you, Master, but I do not wish to enter the Buddhist order.”
The old monk let out a helpless, bitter smile.
“Fairy jests.
The Purification Ground will only leave traces of Buddha’s melody on the two of you, not transform you by force like the Buddha World.
It will merely make it easier for both of you to practice the Buddhist Law, not to force the Fairy to join the order.”
Ji Feixue’s lips curved slightly as she shook her head gently.
One need not join the Buddhist order, but the influence would draw one closer to it.
She was naturally aloof, and without Su He’s chatter by her side, even without Buddha’s resonance, entering the Buddhist order wasn’t out of the question.
During this time, Su He had become her only companion.
Yet Su He had come to this era merely for treasure hunting, and he would have to leave afterward.
She would face 730,000 years of solitary existence.
Without Su He by her side, and with Buddha’s melody within, who could say she wouldn’t join the Buddhist order?
Moreover, with Buddha’s melody to assist, the chances of successfully drawing out the Divergent Buddhist Power within her would not exceed fifty percent.
Should it fail, the prospect of dealing with it would be exceedingly difficult.
Ji Feixue touched the marks on Su He’s hand, her gaze towards Green Mountain, her lips curling into a faint smile, “Sorry, I have a husband.
I cannot join the Buddhist order.”
As she spoke, the True Yuan in her hand dispersed, transforming into a myriad of fresh flowers that fell upon the Desert.
The relentless hammering sounds in Su He’s mind suddenly ceased, as did the burning sensation on his body that instantly receded.
Su He stood astonished, shocked by her words and even more alarmed by Ji Feixue’s actions.
“Wife, you… I…”
Ji Feixue gave him a faint smile; in an instant, flowers bloomed.
“Thank you,” Ji Feixue said, lowering her head.
“I have found a way to eradicate the Buddhist force.”
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8500 words.
I’ll need to take a leave tomorrow (11th); I considered dividing it into two chapters, one for today and one for tomorrow, so I wouldn’t need to request leave as it would be just right according to the number of words per chapter.
But since I’ve already finished writing, I felt uneasy holding it back, so I didn’t divide it and just published it…
Requesting a leave for the 11th.