Chapter 362: Four-Armed Sky-Holding Wonderful Technique Boundless

In the direction of the main hall, the Seated Mingwang statue, shining like gilded gold, gradually rose from the Buddha platform amidst continuous cracking sounds.

Dust, mixed with stone powder and incense ash, constantly fell from its body, and its form grew taller and taller, nearly touching the glazed lamps above the main hall.

Perhaps Zhao Long's act of returning the Mingwang power startled the Buddhist Seated Mingwang, whose whereabouts were unknown, causing an avatar of the Mingwang to finally descend into the Mingwang effigy.

Thud… Thud… Thud… Thud…

With heavy footsteps, the Mingwang effigy moved towards the hall entrance, slowly bending to step over the threshold.

The kasaya, which had originally been part of the rigid statue, now gradually became soft, like a real, enormous garment. The more it moved, the less the Mingwang avatar resembled a clay sculpture, instead becoming more like a golden-bodied ancient Buddha.

At this moment, this ancient Buddha stood over two *zhang* tall. Although still much smaller than Lu Shanjun's demonic body, it was undoubtedly a colossus. More importantly, a halo of Buddhist light shone behind it, surrounded by Buddhist chants and scriptures, presenting an aura of solemn dignity and vast Buddhist power.

Lu Shanjun steadied himself, glancing out of the corner of his eye to see Zhao Long still ignoring everything and dispelling the Mingwang power from his body. He sneered at the approaching ancient Buddha.

"A Buddhist Mingwang avatar?"

The golden-bodied ancient Buddha stepped over the courtyard wall and stood in the plaza, its gaze sweeping over Zhao Long before settling on Lu Shanjun.

"Goodness gracious, understand my profound Buddhist Dharma, cultivate boundless meditation!"

The ancient Buddha slowly pressed its palms together. The next moment, without any further words, its right palm suddenly struck. The giant golden palm gathered the power of mountain suppression, and in Lu Shanjun's eyes, it was as if a great mountain was pressing down, creating a feeling of inescapable doom.

"Roar----"

Lu Shanjun roared fiercely, demonic flames flaring up from his body as if an endless fire had ignited, covering half of the temple plaza. His sharp claws were entwined with dark wind and boundless demonic energy.

A massive claw-light, swirling with fierce winds, met the attack.

Rumble…

A thunderclap sounded on the level ground. The Mingwang avatar took a step back, while Lu Shanjun's four limbs clawed the ground as he slid continuously backward, gouging deep furrows into Daming Temple's plaza along his path.

The ancient Buddha's true words (mantras) exploded forth.

"Om… Ma… Ni… Pad… Me… Hum…"

With each word, endless golden light flashed, and waves of light rippled outwards, sweeping over the entire Daming Temple and several peaks of Xiaoliang Mountain. Simultaneously, with each mantra, giant golden palms, seemingly ignoring spatial distance, struck down upon Lu Shanjun.

After six strikes, Lu Shanjun's massive demonic body was sent flying backward, away from the mountain where Daming Temple was located. With a rumble, it crashed heavily onto the mountainside several hundred *zhang* away.

Trees broke and rocks crumbled on the mountainside; the resulting thunderous sound was deafening, and the surroundings were filled with rolling dust and smoke.

'Just a Mingwang avatar, and it's this powerful?'

Lu Shanjun was greatly shocked. Those few blows had already caused him some injury; he felt a dull ache in his bones. With his current cultivation, minor issues wouldn't affect him at all, at most a momentary pain that wouldn't linger. So he was sure that a continuous head-on confrontation would be tricky.

But this ancient Buddha was not as effortlessly calm as it appeared. At least there were already several claw marks on the kasaya over its chest, revealing the golden skin underneath. And this skin was not completely intact; although the broken surface layer was shallow, it revealed the clay dust of the statue beneath.

This made Lu Shanjun realize that although this golden-bodied ancient Buddha now looked like a person, it was not the true Mingwang itself; it was still fundamentally a clay sculpture that could be shattered.

The demonic energy on the mountainside grew stronger, endless demonic flames once again painted half the sky, forming a phantom image of a strange beast, as if an immensely huge demonic beast was crouching over the opposite peaks.

"Seated Mingwang Buddha, Zhao Long and I already made an agreement. Today, there is a cause and effect between us; this matter has nothing to do with Buddhist Dharma. Furthermore, when imparting the Mingwang power to him, did the eminent monks of Daming Temple ask for Zhao Long's consent? And you, Seated Mingwang Buddha, have you asked for his own consent?"

Lu Shanjun's roaring cries echoed throughout Xiaoliang Mountain. The rumbling echoes led distant woodcutters in the mountains to believe a thunderstorm was approaching.

The ancient Buddha's halo shone brightly. Its gaze skimmed past the demonic flame phantoms on various peaks, swept towards the distant mountainside, and directly fixed on the demon's true body.

Of those six palms, only the first two felt resistance; the latter four all struck demonic flames and fierce winds. This demon's control over wind had reached an extraordinary level, and it displayed various other supernatural abilities.

Moreover, with a tiger's body, a human face, and long sideburns, it possessed an air of majesty, though not a deity. It seemed intelligent yet exuded immense arrogance. The sweeping of its tail created phantoms, suggesting signs of multiple tails developing.

It was already an unprecedented strange beast. If it could indeed cultivate multiple tails, it would likely become a peerless great demon in the future. Lingering was not advisable; it needed to be suppressed with swift and decisive action.

"Buddhist Dharma is boundless, Buddhist Dharma is immeasurable…"

Vast Buddhist chants rose as the ancient Buddha closed its eyes. Haloes of Buddhist light in the sky converged downwards, while the golden light on the ancient Buddha's body grew increasingly intense. Patches of colorful light appeared in the sky, dyeing the clouds above into a myriad of colors. And layers of clouds transformed accordingly, forming the image of Mingwang.

"Mind of emptiness, Seated Mingwang, Dharma manifestation summoned. Not recalling any Dharma is called 'Dhyana'. Knowing the mind is empty is called 'seeing Buddha'…"

These Buddhist chants did not sound slowly, bit by bit. Instead, it was as if multiple Buddhist chants of the same sound resonated, an endless stream of Buddhist scriptures in a short period.

The colorful clouds continuously transformed amidst the Buddhist chants, and at the same time, slowly descended. Finally, as they converged and approached Daming Temple, they turned golden, surprisingly converging towards the golden body of the ancient Buddha.

The original Mingwang avatar suddenly grew taller and larger again, while the Buddha body at this moment slowly sat down cross-legged. At the same instant, the Buddhist light intensified greatly.

Lu Shanjun felt his pressure greatly increase, sensing that the aura of the Mingwang avatar before him continuously rose. If just now it felt like a formidable and tricky opponent, now there was a sense of being somewhat out of reach and unmanageable.

'This Seated Mingwang wants to kill me!?'

As this thought arose, the Seated Mingwang opened its eyes and roared:

"You demonic creature, in the future you will surely bring disaster upon the world and cause immense suffering. You cannot be allowed to live! I shall deliver you. Suppress…!"

As the word "Suppress" left its mouth, the ancient Buddha didn't move at all, yet Lu Shanjun suddenly felt immense pressure on all four limbs, a feeling of being completely overwhelmed.

But after his demonic body trembled, he was not directly pressed to the ground as the ancient Buddha wished. A golden phantom of a great mountain appeared above him; it only made his demonic body tremble but could not press it down.

Lu Shanjun gathered strength in all his muscles and bones, stretched his body, and raised his head.

"Just a Mingwang avatar, and you think your Buddhist Dharma is truly boundless?"

With an angry roar, Lu Shanjun's demonic body erupted, and he violently braced against the mountain pressure overhead and leaped away.

The ancient Buddha spoke again: "Mountain!"

As the sound of "Mountain" fell, the mountain phantom instantly seemed to materialize. Overwhelming pressure poured down, shattering the demonic flame phantoms on several peaks. With a rumble, Lu Shanjun was heavily forced back down in mid-air.

Although the ancient Buddha appeared at ease, in reality, it had already employed the strongest means this avatar could use. Once all four mantras of "Suppress Mountain, Subdue Demon" had been uttered, the Mingwang power of this avatar would be exhausted. But although this strange demonic beast was strong, the Seated Mingwang was confident it could suppress it, at least heavily injure it and pin it beneath Xiaoliang Mountain, after which the monks of Daming Temple could kill it.

"Roar… Roar…"

Lu Shanjun was furious. The most unbearable thing was having his demonic power suppressed just as he was about to unleash it. He couldn't use his full strength at all. Continuing like this would be too frustrating.

Just as he was about to fight to the death, two yellow streams of light, glittering with dust-like radiance, flashed past Lu Shanjun.

Two Golden Armored Warriors manifested. Their forms rose from the ground and continuously expanded, significantly larger than the regular form of the Golden Armored Warriors Jiyuan had previously used. The moment their forms instantaneously expanded to three *zhang* tall, the two warriors raised their arms, propping up the sky.

Bang! Boom!

With two successive loud bangs, the warriors' four hands supported the mountain phantom in the sky.

Rumble, rumble, rumble…

The entire Xiaoliang Mountain trembled. The Golden Armored Warriors' arms and legs were bent under the pressure, but within the next few breaths, their yellow turbans fluttered. And with Lu Shanjun also mustering his strength to stand up again, the Golden Armored Warriors also slowly straightened their legs and extended their arms.

Instantly, the pressure on Lu Shanjun's body sharply decreased, and his entire body's demonic energy burst forth. More importantly, a strong sense of excitement surged in his heart.

Even though it was his first time seeing the Yellow Turban Warriors, how could Lu Shanjun, who had heard Hu Yun mention such iconic divine generals many times, not recognize them?

'The Golden Armored Warriors are guardian generals created by Master's spell; Master is nearby!'

In Daming Temple's plaza, the Seated Mingwang's eyes gleamed with intense light. It stared intently at Lu Shanjun and the two massive Golden Armored Warriors beside him in the distance. Then its gaze slightly lifted, seeing a person in white robes standing on clouds, meeting its gaze.

Without any words, a few breaths later, the ancient Buddha's chants resumed.

"Subdue!"

The Buddhist light flared, and the giant mountain transformed from illusion to reality, pressing down on Lu Shanjun and the two Golden Armored Warriors. The mountain ridge there continuously cracked, and the entire peak was sinking and even collapsing.

"Demon!"

As the last mantra word fell, the Buddhist light mountain manifested with colors of mountains and rivers, as if turning from illusion to reality.

But at the same instant—

Clang!

A sharp, resonant sword hum briefly drowned out all scriptures and rumbling. A dazzling silver light, in a fleeting instant, overshadowed all demonic flames and Buddhist light.

The Azure Vine Sword struck with nearly full power. The sword light instantly sliced through the mountain peak, top to bottom.

Crack, crack…

The demon-suppressing mountain was torn open with a thin crack from bottom to top, and it continuously widened. The endless Buddhist light flowing into it had also been severed.

A yellow light flashed on the two Golden Armored Warriors.

"Hah!" "Hah!"

With a rough roar, they each pushed away their half of the great mountain. Then their right arms blurred and disappeared, reappearing with their fists touching the base of the mountain.

The demon-suppressing mountain had already had its essence severed by the immortal sword; now it was shattered by a single blow from the two warriors.

Whoosh… Whoosh…

Endless residual Buddhist light transformed into a shockwave, sweeping the surroundings with fierce winds. Trees in the mountain swayed, and sand and stones flew. All the monks on Daming Temple's side crouched down, turned their backs, or covered their faces to shield themselves from the raging wind and sand.

The ancient Buddha's palms also sprung open the moment the mountain peak was shattered, and its body also tilted slightly.

Jiyuan descended, stepping on clouds, and stood in Daming Temple's plaza, looking at the colossal Mingwang avatar from less than ten *zhang* away. Observing with his dharma eye, the clay sculpture forming this ancient Buddha could no longer hold.

After all, he had just waited for the Mingwang avatar to pour all its Buddhist Dharma into that great mountain; destroying it was better than directly attacking the ancient Buddha.

"Esteemed Mingwang, perhaps you should not involve yourself in this matter?"

The ancient Buddha looked at the seemingly diminutive Mr. White Robes before it. Appearing like a mortal, but beneath the surface, it could see the divine peculiarity of dust self-purifying upon approach, and breath becoming clear as it passed.

"You are also a true practitioner of profound Dao. This kind of demon treads upon my Buddhist temple, intending to devour my monks. It is one thing for you not to help us, but why do you assist him?"

Jiyuan shook his head and said, "You have your thoughts, and I have my reasons. Even Monk Jue Ming has his own choice. Lu Shanjun indeed had a slight offense, and I shall apologize to the Mingwang on his behalf. However, I still say, Mingwang, please do not intervene in this matter."

Jiyuan paused, then continued, "Mingwang is a supreme attainment in Buddhism. The rights and wrongs of today's events, you must also be clear about them. There is no need for me to say more. Buddhist Dharma is boundless, Buddhist Dharma is immeasurable, but this avatar of the Mingwang, after all, cannot bear this immeasurable Dharma. Let the avatar disperse."

The ancient Buddha was silent for a moment. Then it pressed its palms together again, bowing its head towards Jiyuan while performing a Buddhist salute. "Your profound Dharma is immeasurable. Since you are here, I trust you will ensure the safety of Daming Temple's monks."

Only then did Jiyuan smile, cupping his hands and bowing in return to the Seated Mingwang. "Rest assured, Mingwang. Even if I were not here, the monks of Daming Temple would be safe."

The ancient Buddha glanced at the demon with a tiger's body and a human face, whose expression revealed surprise. So this demon had already been enlightened.

"Excellent…"

The vast sound faded, and the ancient Buddha avatar of the Seated Mingwang could no longer sustain itself. It began to lose its luster from the bottom up, transforming back into a clay sculpture, and then started to crumble upwards, bit by bit.