Chapter 39: Sunlight Illuminates the Yang Spirit's Aerial Refining

The old monk's white eyebrows twitched; he immediately knew what flaw the other was referring to. In his early days of learning, he once overslept and missed the Buddha's lecture—a lecture that happened to be about the Thousand-Hand Buddha technique.

Buddhism values karmic connections, and the old monk missed this opportunity. Unable to consult the Buddha directly about the essence of the Thousand-Hand Buddha, he could only learn it from his fellow disciples. Consequently, it was not the Buddha's true transmission.

Indeed, his Thousand-Hand Buddha harbored an undetectable flaw. The old monk himself had discovered it and tried to fix it, but the more he tried to mend it, the more defects appeared, and the problem only worsened.

To solve a problem, one must first find its root cause. The Thousand-Hand Buddha technique is extremely complex, requiring coordination of the eyes, ears, nose, tongue, body, and mind, among other aspects. Its variations are countless. Any small flaw could not be caused by a single reason; it was likely caused by several, or even a dozen, seemingly unrelated factors.

The old monk had been searching for the cause of the flaw since his youth, but he had yet to find it. Since there was a flaw in his Thousand-Hand Buddha, as his disciple, Mingxin's Thousand-Hand Buddha naturally also exhibited the same flaw.

This flaw was extremely subtle; it would only become apparent when attacked at incredibly high speed. This subtle flaw was a slight weakening of vital energy when the arm was raised to an inch below the throat.

When facing a rapid enemy attack, due to the weak vital energy, the arm's raising speed would be slightly delayed. This slight delay would create a fleeting vulnerability at the throat. The old monk's cultivation was too high; few could exploit this subtle flaw in him. But Mingxin was different.

In terms of profound cultivation, Qin Mu surpassed Mingxin. And Qin Mu, using his hand as a blade, was incredibly fast. In just a few moments, he had struck Mingxin's throat a hundred times consecutively!

By the sixty-eighth strike, the golden bell barrier on Mingxin's body had already shattered once. Although Mingxin re-gathered his vital energy and the golden bell reappeared, Qin Mu's "blade" had already cut into Mingxin's throat!

Blood flowed continuously from Mingxin's throat, soon staining his pure white monastic robe blood red.

The old monk sighed and said, "Foolish child, your Thousand-Hand Buddha can't block his blade. Can't you switch techniques?"

Mingxin suddenly realized. He had been too focused on merely blocking Qin Mu's strikes, forgetting that solely defending would only lead to a passive, beaten state. While his Golden Bell could temporarily block Qin Mu's blade, it gave him an opportunity to defeat his opponent.

Qin Mu's ferocity had intimidated him, causing him to forget his own strengths!

He suddenly changed his technique, clenching his hand into a fist and shaking it in mid-air. His fist shone like the golden light of the great sun, dazzling beyond compare!

Sun-Illuminated Soul Refinement in the Air!

At this moment, Buddhist chants emanated from his hand seal. The chants were melodious and far-reaching, accompanied by palm thunder. A thunderous roar, powerful enough to refine and destroy souls!

His Sun-Illuminated Soul Refinement in the Air differed in power from Qin Mu's version; its power surpassed Qin Mu's by several times!

Qin Mu was struck by this technique. He instantly felt disoriented, his three souls stirred, and his seven spiritual forms were all startled.

With rapid movements, Qin Mu raised his fingers and performed a series of dazzling finger techniques, tapping his glabella, coccyx, navel, crown, Adam's apple, solar plexus, perineum, and lung chambers, locking down his three souls and seven spiritual forms!

Celestial Devil Creation Technique!

The Celestial Devil Creation Technique that Granny Si had taught him was originally a demonic art for fixing souls and vital essences. Yet at this moment, he used it to seal his own soul, preventing Mingxin's technique from refining it!

"Samoyed!"

A rapid demonic chant rang out. Qin Mu smiled, holding a flower pose. His palm vibrated, and the Celestial Devil Freedom Seal shot forth. Mingxin's soul was unsettled, almost pulled from his body. Yet at this moment, Qin Mu changed his technique, switching from a demonic art to a Buddhist one: Sun-Illuminated Soul Refinement in the Air!

Mingxin's Sun-Illuminated Soul Refinement in the Air used the fist as the great sun, with thunderous sounds scattering souls and golden light refining them. In contrast, Qin Mu's Sun-Illuminated Soul Refinement in the Air also used the fist as the great sun, but scorching Vermillion Bird vital energy made the fist burn; the fiery light was primordial fire, astonishingly intense, capable of melting steel.

Qin Mu spread his five fingers from his fist. The air in his palm instantly exploded. A massive shockwave surged forward, blasting the opponent's soul into disarray.

The old monk's and Old Man Ma's Sun-Illuminated Soul Refinement in the Air differed. Clearly, the old monk's was the orthodox version, while Old Man Ma's had been modified, focusing on power.

It was just that Qin Mu did not possess the Tathagata Mahayana Sutra, so he could not unleash the technique's full power.

Mingxin's spirit had just been shaken by the impact, almost leaving his body. Immediately, he heard a low roar: "Samoyed!"

Qin Mu surprisingly changed his technique again. From palm to seal, smiling in the flower pose, the Celestial Devil Freedom Seal burst forth once more. He switched back and forth between the two hand seals, one Buddhist and one demonic, with complete fluidity and no sense of hesitation. This sight deeply shocked Granny Si, the old monk, and others, leaving them utterly bewildered.

The conflict between Buddhism and demonic arts was inevitable. It would be incredibly difficult to execute a demonic art and then immediately activate a Buddhist one. It should be impossible to switch between them as smoothly as Qin Mu did.

"It's Overlord Body vital energy," the Deaf Man smiled and whispered.

Granny Si heard this and felt a slight tremor in her heart. "The Deaf Man is right," she thought. "Only Overlord Body vital energy, which has no specific attributes, can allow for such seamless switching between Buddhist and demonic arts! Mu'er is indeed an Overlord Body; the Village Chief was not mistaken!"

The old monk suddenly stood up and chanted a Buddhist prayer. Qin Mu's Celestial Devil Freedom Seal immediately lost its power, and an invisible force separated him and Mingxin. Mingxin was about to regroup and continue the fight with Qin Mu, but suddenly his vision blurred, and his body swayed.

His throat had almost been severed by Qin Mu, and he had lost too much blood.

"I lost."

The old monk glanced at Old Man Ma, then beckoned Mingxin over and said, "Brother, I lost this time, but that may not be the case next time. Mingxin, we master and disciple wander the four corners of the world with no fixed abode. Why don't we seek out a good connection nearby and settle in a village?"

Mingxin's throat was still bleeding as he stepped forward. The old monk bandaged his wound and applied medicine, then said meaningfully, "Brother, a monk's staff can be remade if lost, but a head only comes once. If you lose once, you lose everything. And this young patron, you practice demonic arts, you are sinister and malicious, you have already fallen into the demonic path. Be careful not to sink into hell, never to be reborn!" With that, he drifted away with Mingxin, his feet not touching the ground.

Qin Mu jumped off the platform, watching the old monk and his disciple depart into the distance. He saw Old Man Ma's grave expression, clearly worried by the old monk's words. He quickly asked, "Grandpa Ma, Granny Si, if given the chance, will he kill us?"

Granny Si sneered, "Subduing demons and devils is that old bald thief's livelihood. If he gets the chance, our fate won't be any better than Wu Nu's! As for Old Man Ma..." She shook her head.

Old Man Ma had disseminated the Great Thunderclap Monastery's techniques. This was already a major taboo for the Great Thunderclap Monastery!

Qin Mu asked, puzzled, "Then why don't we just kill him to prevent future trouble? Why wait for him to stir up problems?"

Granny Si's eyes lit up, and she praised, "Mu'er is increasingly showing the demeanor of an Overlord Body! Apothecary, Mute, Blind Man, should we just get rid of this old bald thief and little bald thief?"

Although the old monk had already gone far, hearing this, he couldn't help but quicken his pace, and with a whoosh, he leaped into the air. Taking Mingxin with him, he soared away. All thoughts of settling near Crippled Old Village vanished from his mind.

Granny Si and the others didn't pursue them. Instead, they continued with their work. The Deaf Man suddenly sighed with emotion, "The Great Ruins are becoming increasingly useless. All kinds of demons and monsters dare to enter and cause trouble."

The Blind Man nodded, deeply empathetic. "It doesn't give us honest folks any peace. Old Man Ma, constantly hiding like this isn't a solution. One day, if you decide to go to the Great Thunderclap Monastery, us old bones can accompany you."

Old Man Ma felt touched but didn't show it. Instead, he picked up the monk's staff and said, "I fought my way out of the Great Thunderclap Monastery back then, so naturally, I can fight my way back in; I don't need your help. Mu'er, this is what you won. It's yours."

Qin Mu took the monk's staff, but it wasn't as heavy as he expected. This staff had clearly pressed the table leg into the ground, but in his hand, it felt very light, and he wondered, "Is this staff very valuable? Why did Grandpa Ma bet his head on it?"

"Valuable? Not particularly."

Granny Si examined the staff and said with a smile, "You know Dragon-Embellished City, right? This staff, at most, could buy you a Dragon-Embellished City."