Stranger Danger

Ye Qing let out a sigh and proceeded to spit out a dozen mouthfuls of blood. Blood donation had never been this easy and exhausting. If he wasn’t as vigorous as he was, he would’ve reached his limit in a couple mouthfuls at most.

Finally, the familiar blood red text appeared:

“The Boundless Mara Buddha is a Soulstealer-class Strange Artifact. It is created from the remains of the enlightened monk and Trueman-stage warrior of Thousand Buddhas Temple, Jing Hui, the power of the Mara Buddha, and the Moko Boundless Chains. To put it simply, the body is the foundation, the Mara Buddha’s power is the core, and the Moko Boundless Chains are the complement. Together, they form the Mara Boundless Buddha.”

“The Mara Boundless Buddha contains both Buddhist and demonic powers. In its sealed state, it is a Hatred-class Strange Artifact. It possesses the power of a Buddha as it is created from the remains of an enlightened monk and a Buddhist artifact. It can be used to steady one’s mind, calm one’s spirit, and protect one’s soul. It can also be used to suppress and exorcise many evils.”

“In its unsealed state, the Boundless Mara Buddha is a Soulstealer-class Strange Artifact that can unleash the power of the Mara Buddha. The Boundless Mara Qi can be used to corrupt body and soul and manifest a demonic domain.”

“However, the wielder of the Boundless Mara Buddha may be corrupted and turned into a mindless puppet by its Boundless Mara Qi if their willpower is weak.”

The blood text ended here.

“A Soulstealer-class Strange Artifact? I can hardly believe it! Hahaha! Hahahaha!”

Ye Qing tried really hard to suppress his mad cackle, but in the end he just couldn’t help himself. Finally, he had something that would allow him to give Wang Luori the middle finger and taunt, “Come at me, bitch!”

Generally speaking, a Soulstealer-class Strange Artifact was as potent as a Spirit Purifier. In fact, it was usually stronger because the ingredients and conditions necessary to create such a Strange Artifact was far more stringent than it was to create a Spirit Purifier. Take the Boundless Mara Buddha for example, it had been created from the remains of a Trueman. Trueman was the cultivation level above Spirit Master, and it required combining one’s Yin God, astral qi, and physical body into one to form the Yang God. Trueman warriors were also known as Grandmasters.

This was why even the most ordinary Strange Artifact was usually greater than its warrior counterpart. In fact, they could often threaten a warrior at a higher cultivation level. Therefore, in terms of potency alone, a Soulstealer-class strange Artifact absolutely could threaten a late-stage Spirit Purifier and even a Half-Step Spirit Master. If it was sentient, then it could even threaten a Spirit Master—assuming that it could unleash its full power, of course. In fact, most warriors could never unleash the full potential of their Strange Artifact due to its various restrictions and side effects.

Even so, Ye Qing definitely possessed the right to stand against Wang Luori now. At the very least, the Half-Step Spirit Master could no longer threaten his life just by glaring daggers at him like the last time.

According to the Annon Sutra, the Boundless Mara Buddha could be used in two ways. In its sealed state, it was a support-type Strange Artifact that could be used to protect his mind, spirit and soul. It would safeguard him against the tricks and ambushes of say, an illusion-type Stranger.

In its unsealed state, the Boundless Mara Buddha would transform into an offensive-type Strange Artifact that supposedly possessed incredible potency. While the description didn’t really do a good job at explaining how he should use it or how powerful it was compared to your conventional Spirit Purifier, he could always test it out after he went back to his residence.

As for the risk of using the Boundless Mara Buddhas in its unsealed state, Ye Qing decided to overlook it for now. To worry about it now was like fussing over the watermelon seeds inside a juicy watermelon. For now, the benefits seemed to outweigh the risks.

“Hoooh, hehehe…”

After that, Ye Qing put away the Annon Sutra and admired his new toy. From time to time, he would even let out a silly laugh. He just couldn’t have enough of it. He would do this for the next six hours to come.

He hadn’t gone insane, of course. He was waiting to see if danger would show up.

He hadn’t forgotten what Jing Hui said earlier. The monk had transformed into a Strange Artifact only because he was corrupted and refined by a person who called himself “Mara Buddha”, and Ye Qing had just stolen the fruit he spent much time and effort to cultivate.

It wouldn’t be surprising if Mara Buddha had left behind some sort of alarm to alert him just in case something had gone awry. What if Mara Buddha came over to take a look, found Ye Qing with his Strange Artifact, said, “I am fated with this item”, and slaughtered his ass to reclaim it?

After all, Mara Buddha was the man who built a temple of corpses to refine the remains of a Trueman into a Strange Artifact. There was no way a guy like this would be weak, and this time he no longer had Wang Yang to act as his meat shield.

This was why Ye Qing had chosen to hide himself instead of cultivating his astral qi immediately. It would be most awkward if Mara Buddha showed up and stumbled upon him in the middle of his cultivation.

If Mara Buddha did show up, he would find no one and think that the thief had already escaped with his Strange Artifact. If Mara Buddha did not show up, then even better.

In this world, it was always better to be safe than sorry.

……

Far, far away, a young man cultivating at the edge of a cliff slowly opened his eyes. The dark light circulating in his pupils took the shape of a Buddha, but it was an evil-looking Buddha filled with demonic power. It painted a stark contrast with the gentle and merciful smile on his face.

“Huh! Someone took the item I kept in the Thousand Buddhas Temple.”

The young man closed his eyes and counted with his fingers, but he quickly frowned and muttered, “Strange. Who is it? Not only did they wipe out the strand of mind I imbued on the item, I couldn’t calculate their exact location with my Southern Dipper Calculation. Are they that strong, or do they possess a powerful artifact that could conceal their fate from scrutiny?”

The young man spent a moment longer trying to identify the thief to no avail. He didn’t take the failure to heart though. In fact, he smiled a little and whispered, “It’s okay. You may keep my item for a while longer. All things in the world are bound together by fate. I will find you one day.”

“Senior brother! Senior brother!”

It was at this moment an anxious voice interrupted his train of thoughts. A young disciple was rushing up the cliff and calling out to him.

When the young man turned around, the demonic Buddha in his pupils vanished like it was never there. He watched the young disciple with warm eyes and asked, “What’s wrong? Take your time.”

The young disciple felt his anxiety subsiding a little when he heard the young man’s gentle voice. He took two breaths to calm himself further before saying, “The Hill Lord is looking for you, senior brother.”

“Master wants to see me? Did he say why?”

The disciple looked a little pale as he shook his head. “The Hill Lord didn’t say, but… he looked incredibly angry. He had already killed a handful of servants and maids. You should be careful when you meet him later, senior brother. You wouldn’t want to provoke his ire right now.”

The young man smiled. “Thank you for the warning. I will be careful. By the way, please take this Yellow Dragon Pill. It will aid you when you attempt to enter the Astral Refinement stage.”

“The Yellow Dragon Pill? I can’t possibly accept that! It’s too valuable!”

“It’s okay. The sooner you enter the Astral Refinement stage, the better you’ll be able to serve the sect. Please don’t turn down my gift, junior brother.”

“O… Okay. Thanks, senior brother. I swear I won’t betray your expectations.”

“Cultivate well. I’ll be taking my leave now.”

……

Ye Qing waited for almost nine hours before he was finally certain that Mara Buddha would not be visiting the place. It was only then he crawled out of his hiding spot and returned to the Thousand Buddhas Temple. After finding a suitable spot and taking a seat, he took out the Star Lotus and swallowed it in one gulp.

The Star Lotus melted as soon as it made contact with his tongue and filled his mouth with a sweet, fragrant scent. Before Ye Qing could enjoy its taste, a calm, gentle energy seeped out of the liquid and flowed straight into his dantian.

The energy was neither turbulent nor immense. It was like a calm stream or a wispy cloud that entered his dantian before he knew it. It wrapped around the isolated Burning Wind and true qi inside his dantian and fused them seamlessly.

This was the power of the Star Lotus. It could blend astral qi and true qi into one instantly.

While the Star Lotus was still in effect, Ye Qing hurriedly channeled the “Nirvana Sutra of Burning Wind” and pulled in a copious amount of Burning Wind. It quickly merged into one with his true qi and became indistinguishable from one another.

Every time Ye Qing ran out of true qi, he would absorb a silver dragon-serpent rune and replenish it immediately. He made sure to maintain the speed at which he was refining the Burning Wind, and the speed at which it was merging with his true qi at the same level.

Over time, a terrifying molten hurricane had taken form around Ye Qing. It was so hot that the stone and soil on the ground were melted into molten lava.

Ye Qing was sitting dead center in this pool of lava, but he wasn’t moving at all. In fact, his aura kept growing stronger, and his body and even his hair slowly turned dark red in color. Wisps of dark red flames were pouring out of his pores, giving him the appearance of a molten mold or a fire spirit.

An incense stick later, when Ye Qing felt that his body had accumulated the maximum amount of astral qi it could accumulate, he immediately took out the Blood Jade Lotus.

Ye Qing didn’t swallow the Blood Jade Lotus in one gulp like the Star Lotus because one, it was too big, and two, it would be wasteful to consume it this way. Instead, he tore off one petal and swallowed it slowly. After it entered his stomach, it transformed into a ball of red energy that spread to every corner of his body.

He could feel the Blood Jade Lotus’ power seeping into his dantian and spreading out like many layers of invisible web. Then, it began filtering out all of the impurities and filth inside his astral qi.

Ye Qing was surprised to see the dark red astral qi turning as black as the night. He thought that this was its true color at its purest, but he was wrong. More time passed, and his astral qi gradually shedded its black color. This would continue until his astral qi had become completely transparent and seemingly non-existent.

There was no denying the sheer power contained within this “nothingness”, however.

It was then Ye Qing had a revelation: wind was invisible and formless in the first place. That was why the Burning Wind’s purest form was invisible and formless as well.

“PHew…”

Ye Qing opened his mouth and spat out an invisible wisp of Burning Wind. Everything within several meters of him instantly became distorted with heat, and an entire patch of Burning Wind blowing in from the opening was blown apart with ease.

“So this is the Burning Wind’s true power!” Ye Qing exclaimed happily. But it was too soon to be happy just yet. The power of the Star Lotus and the Blood Jade Lotus hadn’t faded yet, and there were still more work to be done. He immediately threw himself into his cultivation once more.

Every time the Blood Jade Lotus filtered out a large amount of impurities, the volume of astral qi inside his dantian would decrease. As a result, he could absorb more Burning Wind from his surroundings and blend them with his true qi all over again. Once he had reached his limit, he would consume another petal and remove all of the impurities.

Time passed little by little. The winds of the Thousand Buddhas Temple were as noisy as ever, and yet this moment felt surprisingly peaceful.

White Horse Academy only wished they could say the same.