Translator: Sparrow Translations  Editor: Sparrow Translations

The mana materialized as fire that was hidden within the Heavenly Apocalyptic Blaze was actually the Vairocana Pristine Cleansing Fire formed from Buddhist sources of power. This was a Buddhist flame that was pure and without a single trace of blemish and its flames were completely transparent. Even though it was not listed amongst the Seven Legendary Primordial Fires, its essence was possibly superior to the Acalanatha Inferno.

Typically, the toughest challenge to one who wished to a.s.similate and control the Heavenly Apocalyptic Blaze was the fact that the process required personal mana exertion. However, if you used personal mana to a.s.similate the flames they were all bound to be consumed by the Heavenly Apocalyptic Blaze.

The refining process would be unsuccessful and the channeled mana would become a source of fuel for the fire and cause it to grow even bigger and stronger. The greater the flames, the harder it would be to refine and a.s.similate it in the end and this would land the cultivator in a vicious cycle. This was the reason why there were so few cultivators who could actually wield and control the Heavenly Apocalyptic Blaze over the course of history.

On the other hand, the Vairocana Pristine Cleansing Fire was not as ferocious and mighty by nature. Instead, it had a unique characteristic – it possessed a self-stabilizing factor and was unmoving till the end. There was a sense of the Buddhist veracity and truth-seeking as well as eternal volition and carefreeness, thus it was hard to be a.s.similated and refined as well.

While the Heavenly Apocalyptic Blaze consumed everything under the sky to fuel its own strength, everything would have an exception and the Vairocana Pristine Cleansing Fire was one of the only things that existed that the Heavenly Apocalyptic Blaze could not swallow or consume.

The Vairocana Pristine Cleansing Fire’s destructive force paled in comparison to the Heavenly Apocalyptic Blaze. However, the latter simply could not do anything about it.

The reason why Hu Yanyan could tame and control the Heavenly Apocalyptic Blaze was because she managed to obtain the Vairocana Pristine Cleansing Fire.

Still, there was another mystery that remained. The Vairocana Pristine Cleansing Fire originated from the Vairocana Sutra and the Vairocana Sutra had been lost for many years. So who mastered and controlled this fire – and why did he or she gift it to Hu Yanyan?

If it was somebody else, that person would probably not have seen any further clues or nuances about the issue. However, Lin Feng had the complete text of the Vairocana Sutra with him – bar the outline, the backbone – so if he was willing to he could have produced and a.s.similated the Vairocana Pristine Cleansing Fire himself. Therefore, he was extremely sure that there was something amiss with the Vairocana Pristine Cleansing Fire that came from Hu Yanyan.

It was a version from another party’s improvisation or edit.

There was a trace of demon race cultivation mantras, but when it integrated with the Buddhist mana there was not rejection whatsoever.

To achieve an outcome like this, two conditions had to be met. Firstly, the person doing the improvisation had to be at an extremely high level of mastery. Secondly, this person had to be extremely adept with the mantras of demonic cultivation as well as with the Buddhist mantras, dharmas and whatnot.

The nature of both sources of cultivation mantras were considered pinnacles of the era and were in line with world order and nature’s laws.

Still, no matter how one looked at it, for someone to conceal things like that with such meticulousness he or she pr

obably had an ulterior motive of some sort.

If Lin Feng had not borrowed the power from the Fences of the Heavens technique to scrutinize and investigate the specimen and instead just kept the Heavenly Apocalyptic Blaze like that, he would probably have fallen for the trick as well.

Lin Feng could not help but grow suspicious about Hu Yanyan. His guess was that Hu Yanyan was probably in the dark about what was going on, but the fact that she was ‘picked up’ by Tun Tun and s.h.i.+ Tianhao could entirely be part of a devious plan of a secondary party.

When Tun Tun showed up at the Spiritual Conference of Huanghai, those who wanted it would have no trouble investigating her backgrounds and whatnot. The feud and grudges held between the Dark Aqua Xuanming and the Heavenly Fox Tribe was also no secret.

When the Nine-Tailed Heavenly Fox Grand Sage implored Lin Feng to keep Hu Yanyan on the mountain, Lin Feng already felt like there was something fishy going on. But before he scrutinized and probed the Heavenly Apocalyptic Blaze carefully, the fact that the Vairocana Pristine Cleansing Fire was hidden within was hard to detect. Lin Feng had not explored to the bottom of the issue, so he let it pa.s.s back then and just went with the flow.

"You can truly afford to risk everything," smiled Lin Feng. "Are you afraid of sacrificing your partner and your battling abilities?"

Lin Feng extended a palm and made a slas.h.i.+ng gesture in the air. The Fences of the Heavens began to work its magic again and directly separated the Vairocana Pristine Cleansing Fire from the Heavenly Apocalyptic Blaze.

"Now, let me see who’s behind all this."

A silhouette of an individual drifted into sight within the transparent flames.

It was one of a middle-aged monk with a robe wrapped around his body. Buddhist light flickered around his body and he had an air of dignity. However, the Buddhist light conspicuously exhibited traces of demonic energy.

Lin Feng raised his eyebrows. "Oh? It’s a demon tribe that studies the arts of Buddha?"

The mana of both parties finally came into direct contact. The middle-aged monk turned to meet Lin Feng’s gaze calmly and said, "The leader of the Celestial of Wonders… You are indeed worthy of your reputation. It is my lucky and pleasure, do pardon me for my lack of proper greeting and introduction."

Lin Feng stared at him and said slowly, "Over four thousand years ago, the Vairocana Sutra was announced as lost from the Great Thunderclap Temple. But you… You have mastered it. Is it because the Vairocana Sutra ended up in the Barren Expanses all those years ago, or is it because you have cultivated and studied under the Great Thunderclap Temple?"

The monk placed his hands together and replied, "We shall have a more detailed conversation the next time we meet."

As he said those words, his shadow gradually dissipated from vision. The flames of the Vairocana Pristine Cleansing Fire began to grow weaker and weaker and seemed like it was going to be extinguished in a moment.

Lin Feng muttered plainly, "It’s too late for you to leave now."

The power of the barrier from the Fences of the Heavens suddenly transformed into a gigantic formless hand and directly pinched the Vairocana Pristine Cleansing Fire in its entirety and forcefully cut off the path of retreat.

The middle-aged monk said nothing more. He was originally seated down with his legs crossed, and he suddenly stood up and punched out towards Lin Feng at a distance.

As the punch came out, a concept of power akin to a divine dictators.h.i.+p was exhibited and shook the heavens. It was the power of the Vairocana Sutra – the mantra with the greatest power of the Five Dhyani Buddhas Sutra.

It was the abhijna with the greatest battle prowess and was simultaneously the outline of the Vairocana Sutra – the Vairocana Zen Palm Fist Print!

It was like the Vairocana himself had descended upon the humble earth and began to dictate his whims upon the world as well as establish his domination over all beings!

It was the strongest abhijna of the human world of cultivation in the Divine Lands!

The punch that was unleashed had a world-shattering ferocity and the moment of explosiveness almost repelled Lin Feng’s Heavens Arrest technique.

Lin Feng’s eyes sparkled as he exclaimed, "Fantastic form!"

A dense and yellow-colored human form appeared within the barrier powers of the Fences of the Heavens spell. Seals appeared on both hands of this human form as the divine strength of these seals crashed down and instantly locked down the middle-aged monk.

The Vairocana Zen First may be powerful, but this was only a single concentrated strand of the middle-aged monk’s mana that came from his consciousness and no abhijnas or whatsoever were involved. He was faced with Lin Feng’s magical seal that had the force of the nine heavens, and could only sit there as he was locked down by Lin Feng.

The Vairocana Pristine Cleansing Fire had completely extinguished itself by now. However, it was not because the opposing party had successfully escaped, but rather due to the fact that he was completely imprisoned by Lin Feng.

The middle-aged monk still wore a calm expression and his consciousness had disappeared into nothingness. His last thoughts were still flickering as they read, "Leader of the Celestial Sect of Wonders… We… Shall… Meet… Very soon…"

Over on a patch of barren lands in the Barren Expanses of the demon world, a monk clad in grey clothes was casually strolling along.

He looked extremely young, like a youth that was only a few years older than ten. He was handsome and his features were attractive; the only ailing element was that his clothing was a little tattered and unkempt and he wore nothing on his feet as they stepped on the rough surface of the ground.

The young monk stopped in his tracks and raised his head towards the sky. Five flashes of light flickered in the sky and five other monks stepped out from within the radiance. Four of them were placed according to the directions of the compa.s.s – North, South, East and West respectively while the last person was in the center of everyone and right above the young monk’s head.

The four monks placed according to the compa.s.s were all enveloped by divine Buddhist light. The monk in the East was a skinny monk with a calm and collected look. He was so skinny that his skin seemed to grow a shade darker as a result and his skin was plastered to his bones.

However, divine Buddhist light shot in all directions above the head of this scrawny monk. The light integrated and transformed into a giant ancient statue of the Buddha in the Eastern sky, whose body was pure golden and exuded blue light.

This ancient Buddha sat on a pedestal that was lifted by eight elephants, and held both the Vajra Pestle and the Bell – it was the exact form of the Acalanatha Tathagata.

The monk on the Western side was relatively older. The wrinkles and crevices on his face were yellow as two strands of sideburns drooped low by his sides. Even this physical body seemed to be slightly dwarfish.

Divine Buddhist light projected from the top of his head as well and formed another giant Buddha statue that filled the Western sky. Its body was a similar golden color, but the radiance that it exuded was red rather than blue.

The Buddha statue sat atop a lotus and full moon wheel, and the holy throne was supported by eight peac.o.c.ks. It held a lotus flower in its right hand and a bell in its left – it was the statue of the Forever-Bright Tathagata.

The other monks in the Northern and Southern regions were both youthful-looking. One had a faint smile on his face while the other was expressionless. Their heads also projected divine Buddhist light and formed two different Buddha statues as the light rays congregated together.

The Buddha statue in the Southern sky was also sitting atop a lotus flower. There were eight horses that help up the throne and the full moon wheel. Its right hand possessed a set of Cintamani Beads while its left hand held up a bell – it was the Ratnasambhava of the Five Dhyani Buddhas.

The form that resulted from the congregation of divine Buddhist light was of the Amoghasiddhi. The Buddha statue held a pair of Vajras in its right hand and a bell in its left. Its throne was supported by horned Sangsang birds.

The four Dhyani Buddas surrounded the center. At the center of everything as a middle-aged monk – the same one that just crossed paths with Lin Feng.

He had an air of supremacy and dignity and his entire body was enveloped in divine Buddhist light as well. However, of the five of them only his head was not projecting rays of Buddhist light that congregated into one of the Five Dhyani Buddhas.

The handsome young monk stood upright upon the barren lands and raised his head towards the five other monks. "Give and take, it looks like."

The monk at the center of everyone said, "The leader of the Celestial Sect of Wonders is indeed impressive and is very worthy of his reputation. He not only discovered the Vairocana Pristine Cleansing Fire, he also sealed it away and I could not withdraw my power from it. He can possibly obtain the Vairocana Zen Palm Fist Print from this."

"Even though there are but three different forms, they ultimately ended up in his possession."

The grey-cloaked monk smiled plainly and replied, "The fact that there are three forms of the fist prints is not a big deal. The Vairocana Sutra is but a remnant and is incomplete anyway, that’s why you have yet to materialize the physical body of the Vairocana."

"If the Celestial Sect of Wonders can help complete the sutra then it will be of immense benefit to us. I can’t say no to that."

He raised his head towards the youthful monk in the Southern side. "How about your side?"

The youthful monk in the Southern sky laughed as he said, "Everything is within control. Even though there are some things that were not within our calculations – such as the fact that the leader of the Celestial Sect of Wonders returned the Parasol Tree Wood Essence. Anyhow, his most senior disciple Xiao Yan is headed towards the Parasol Tree Forest with the two other phoenixes. Maybe they are going there to obtain the Phoenix tribe’s Pure Yang Primordial Fire?"

The grey-cloaked monk shook his head lightly and said, "Something else may have happened."

The middle-aged monk in the center glanced towards the youthful monk in the South who materialized the Ratnasambhava and frowned. "How could you pick someone like this to cooperate with? You may have just jeopardized the entire operation without any measure of progress. Ignorant about the truths of the world – if I were you, I will just destroy him on the spot."

The youthful monk chuckled and replied, "Humility is nothing, arrogance is also nothing – nothing is nothing, so why care?"

The scrawny monk in the Eastern sky suddenly opened his mouth. "You have violated the anger commandment."

The middle-aged monk in the center said quietly, "My cultivation is indeed imperfect."

"Stop this discussion. We still have things to do." The grey-cloaked young monk laughed as he tapped his forehead. The five monks descended from the sky and the congregations of Buddhist light was absorbed back into their bodies – however, it was their physical bodies that gradually dissipated into light shadows.

Five shadows walked towards the grey-cloaked young monk and integrated with the latter as one.

In the end, the young monk was the only one left on the barren lands. The Buddha statues in the skies disappeared, and it felt as if the other five monks never appeared at all.

"Time is running short." The young grey-robed monk smiled faintly as he continued forward and sauntered along the barren lands.