Inside the cave, Wu Yu sat in a lotus position. His face was contorted in evident pain.
The golden light enveloping his body grew more and more intense. If he had not been in a cave, the light would already have drawn the attention of many others.
In the space between the golden light, tens of golden characters could be seen tearing apart his flesh.
Within the rows of golden characters, the vague image of a Buddha could be made out.
Following the increasing pace of Wu Yu's chanting, the golden characters within his body proliferated even more quickly. His expression also became even more tortured.
"The pain of the flesh is nothing but a fabrication of the mind.
"Look past its ephemerality. The future is bright."
At times, it was almost more than he could bear, and he had to tell himself this.
He had been thrust on the path of immortality from his mortal life. After taking his revenge, he faced the world with but one wish in his heart - to become immortal.
"The lifespan of 100 years, to a true mortal, is as insignificant as an ant.
"Plankton are born in the morning and die with the night. How laughable. But to the truly ageless immortals, the lifespan of a mortal must seem equally foolish.
"I will become an immortal, and live forever."
Perhaps this was the wish of his bloodline.
Or perhaps it was his own wish.
In order to become immortal, what were pains of the corporeal world? With the Inner Vajra Buddha in Wu Yu, he was unafraid.
"Subhuti. What do you think? Has the Tathagata obtained Supreme Enlightenment? Does the Tathagata expound the Dharma? Subhuti replied. As I understand the meaning of the Buddha's teaching, there is no fixed Dharma called Supreme Enlightenment.... And there is also no fixed Dharma......"
The words were difficult to verbalize. They were archaic and complex. Wu Yu could not comprehend them, he could only chant faithfully.
As time slipped away, the 1,000 words of the second tier neared its conclusion.
On the 1,000th word, just as Wu Yu finished the last word, the Inner Vajra Buddha was concluded. The remaining 8,000 words were untouched. Evidently, Wu Yu could not attain the third tier of the Invincible Vajra Body at his present state. And even if he did, it would not be useful.
The last word, done!
Weng!
Towards the end, his chanting was so fast that there were still more than 100 characters hovering on his body by the time he was finished. They shredded him like wild beasts!
Wu Yu gritted his teeth. He knew that as long as he could endure it, he would succeed.
"Cultivating dao and becoming immortal sure isn't easy...."
Under the savage onslaught of the golden characters, he could not help but smile. Even this would not erode his resolve.
"After reading it the first time, the Inner Vajra Buddha should be about done!"
Wu Yu could feel that each part of his body was being rebuilt again.
It was a thorough transformation that elevated his physical body greatly to another level. It was a flying leap and a metamorphosis. Although intangible, from the silhouette of the golden characters, he could feel the presence of a golden Buddha one zhang tall within him. That was the Vajra Buddha that guarded within his body.
The prodigious power of Vajra, forever unbreakable!
Bang!
Finally, with the last character disappearing into Wu Yu's body, the unbearable transformation process was finally over. But Wu Yu also deeply knew that the one-zhang-tall Inner Vajra Buddha had truly taken shape. It was complete and flawless.
He lowered his head to look at his own skin. He could vaguely make out the silhouette of a huge sitting Buddha each time he used his strength. It was awe-inspiring. Although its palms were put together, you could see the terrifying mystical Vajra power it contained.
"I just don't understand what sort of existence this 'Buddha' actually is...."
This notion flitted through his head. But he was still young. Having attained the Buddhist Gate of Enlightenment, he was naturally eager to find out the new extent of his abilities!
No matter whether the defenses within or the great power without, he had improved to a different level, far surpassing the deadliness of the spiritual power that Wu Yu now had.
Kacha!
Wu Yu pulled out a piece of iron, which he crumbled into dust.
"My corporeal strength has virtually doubled. I must have about 20,000 warhorses worth of strength."
This level was something that not even Feng Xueya's physical strength could compete with. Martial cultivators prized spiritual power and dao technique levels more. Generally, no one continued to hone their physical ability once they graduated from the Body Refining Realm.
"Within me, I actually have the Inner Vajra Buddha sitting guard. I can not only directly process many Spirit Concentration Pills, but also need not fear my body exploding and dying!"
This was a major implication of the advancement in his Invincible Vajra Body.
The processing of Spirit Concentration Pills was closely related to the strength of one's veins, flesh and blood, and bones. Without a tenacious body, or superhuman spiritual power, it was difficult to use Spirit Concentration Pills in great quantities.
Since a long time had passed, Wu Yu calmed himself. This time, he pulled out four Spirit Concentration Pills and took them all at once, stimulating his Heaven's Gate Meridian.
His palms came together.
The surging medicinal power gushed out like lava. It roiled within him like a stampede of wild horses.
After having just been attacked by thousands of golden characters from the inside, this stampede of wild horses was just another day in Wu Yu's life. He used his spiritual power to support him, relying on the protection of the Inner Vajra Buddha to withstand the violent effects of the medicinal power. He guided it to his Heaven's Gate Meridian on his wrists.
Weng, weng, weng!
The medicinal power aggressively reacted but could not escape Wu Yu's control.
"The Inner Vajra Buddha is too awesome. The potency of four Spirit Concentration Pills is completely unable to shake it. I can refine even more!"
A pity that there were not many left.
After about half a day, Wu Yu had already refined the power from these four Spirit Concentration Pills. All were accumulated within his Heaven's Gate Meridian. He used the Great Way of Immortality Art to fashion his third spiritual source until it was incomparably stable. Wu Yu had truly entered the third tier of the Qi Condensation Realm. With three spiritual sources, his spiritual power was dramatically increased!
This time around, with another round of physical and spiritual power gain, he had improved by leaps and bounds.
"If I meet Lan Shuiyue or Ni Hongyi again, I won't have to hide!"
With a roar, Wu Yu stood up from the ground.
The Inner Vajra Buddha and the three spiritual sources within him bolstered his majesty. He looked even more threatening, his will terrifying.
"I have waited very long for this day!"
Wu Yu picked up the Demon Subduing Staff, turned into a bolt of golden light, and vanished from the cave.
The Valley of Immortal Fate was still covered in grey mist, making it difficult to get his bearings. Wu Yu could only move randomly. From the dark subterranean area, he came back to the surface.
"This time, I won't be afraid of the fox demon. I just have to be careful of the Black Bear Spirit that injured Senior Sister."
Wu Yu found a direction and began to advance.
"Immortal roots must be hidden in some tricky places.
"That's right. I heard Ni Hongyi say that the three demons each know the location of one immortal root."
Recalling this, Wu Yu inadvertently thought of the fox demon.
"Now that I'm not afraid of her, I might be able to use her to find an immortal root."
Finding the fox demon was definitely easier than finding an immortal root.
He had been walking about the Valley of Immortal Fate for about four hours. He reached a foreign area. He had not met anybody on his travels either. They had probably already been eliminated.
"It's been a few days already. I hope there are still immortal roots remaining."
Just at this time, Wu Yu heard shouts in the distance. The sound of fighting.
Where there were fights, there was competition. And they might be competing for immortal roots.
Without a word, Wu Yu headed in that direction.
As he neared, he realized that the commotion was even bigger than he had imagined. It should be a group battle. He could vaguely make out the roar of a beast! Any beasts here were definitely demons.
Besides, they might have already transformed to their true forms.
Whoosh!
Wu Yu shot forth like a golden arrow, piercing the mist.
"I'm near...."
He could smell the dense demonic aura.
"Not the fox demon."
If it was the fox demon, the stench would not be this pungent.
And there was no river here either, so it was probably not the shark demon.
Whoosh!
As he neared, Wu Yu slowed his pace. Within the grey fog, he saw light flashing up ahead. It had to be some disciple using dao techniques. It looked quite powerful.
However, what was most eye-catching was a huge black bear.
The black bear was evidently a demon. It was four zhang tall - a fearsomely huge beast. Most terrifying was that he could employ demon techniques. With six demon essence cores, his demon essence was deep and plentiful, far surpassing all the disciples present.
"It's really the strongest Black Bear Spirit."
Surrounding the Black Bear Spirit, about seven or eight disciples were attacking it. Many were at the fifth tier of the Qi Condensation Realm, which was why the Black Bear Spirit did not hold the upper hand in this fight. Instead, it was being suppressed quite heavily.
On a closer look, Wu Yu realized that Lan Shuiyue, Ni Hongyi, and the green and blue-clothed disciples were all present. Lan Shuiyue did not help; she simply watched the battle from the edge.
A few days had passed, and she seemed to have completely forgotten the matter. Brandishing her Clearwater Twin Swords, she occasionally cut at the Black Bear Spirit.
"Defeat him, then make him bring us to the immortal root. Then we will let our individual abilities speak for themselves." Lan Shuiyue was evidently still the leader, commanding from outside the battle.
Wu Yu was hesitating, unsure if he should help.
1. T/N: Wu Yu is chanting the Diamond Sutra, which details the conversation between Buddha and one of his elders, Subhuti. A translation of the meaning is provided here instead.