“…Jiang Xiaoyu, your Black Cloud Fort lineage really is like a lingering evil spirit!”
The Great Bright Buddha sneered as he said this, and in an instant, its health bar turned into a menacing blood red.
The air inside the hall also became filled with murderous intent in a flash, entering directly into battle mode.
Li Muyang, shocked by the sudden turn of events in front of him, was utterly astonished.
Things were going so well in the conversation, how did it suddenly turn sour like that!
But though shocked, Li Muyang, as a top-level player, reacted very quickly.
The instant the Great Bright Buddha’s health bar turned red, he instinctively ordered the Pingyao Princess to rush in front of him.
At the same time, Li Muyang raised his brilliantly glowing seven-colored Liu Li Staff, unleashing a skill towards the Great Bright Buddha in front of him.
Only then did a quest prompt pop up in Li Muyang’s field of vision.
[Palace Terror: Escape this place before the Great Bright Buddha seals off the palace!]
A giant arrow appeared in front of Li Muyang, pointing him in the direction of escape.
Li Muyang turned around and ran without hesitation.
While the Pingyao Princess fought a rear-guard battle, Li Muyang was dragging the driver Ding Liang and the clay pot containing Grandpa Wumu, fleeing outwards.
In his field of vision, a pale purple barrier gradually rose in the sky outside the palace.
Indeed, as Miao Fengjun had warned, the Great Bright Buddha was sealing off the palace, attempting to trap Li Muyang and his companions inside.
Previously, to avoid drawing attention, this barrier had not materialized, and its spread was extremely slow.
Now that Miao Fengjun had exposed its secret, the Great Bright Buddha no longer hid it, and the purple barrier quickly spread across the sky. At this rate, it would seal off the entire palace in less than ten minutes.
Li Muyang, dragging the driver Ding Liang, was fleeing outwards, but before he could escape the palace, a pained grunt sounded from behind.
Immediately after came the shrill, piercing screams of venomous snakes.
The Pingyao Princess, who stayed behind to cover the retreat, was struck like a torn sack and flew forward, crashing heavily onto the escape path in front of Li Muyang.
Seeing this scene left Li Muyang utterly dumbfounded.
He had been distractedly controlling the Pingyao Princess, clearly seeing how she was instantly killed by the Great Bright Buddha’s two moves.
A giant monster’s head unexpectedly stretched out from behind the Buddha seated on the shrine, catching Li Muyang off guard.
With one strike, the monster’s head sent the Pingyao Princess flying.
As the situation grew more perilous, Li Muyang turned back and swung his seven-colored Liu Li Staff, attempting to struggle.
But his level and combat power were too low, and even with the Immortal Artifact’s boost, he couldn’t withstand the Great Bright Buddha’s attacks.
Even without the monster appearing from behind the Great Bright Buddha, merely the casual wave of a branch in the Buddha’s hand caused Li Muyang to be shaken by the Buddhist Light, forcing him to retreat repeatedly.
The Buddha, seated in the center of the palace, had now completely torn off its friendly mask, coldly sneering.
“Who would have thought that after ten thousand years, you Black Cloud Fort rats are still causing trouble.”
“Jiang Xiaoyu, Miao Fengjun, meeting you is a pleasant surprise. Since you’ve come to my dojo, stay as my guests!”
The Great Bright Buddha waved the branch, and countless petals emerged from the void, drifting through the air.
The dense fragrance of the flowers spread throughout the palace, and smelling this fragrance, Li Muyang felt his power waning.
A new DEBUFF also appeared in his field of vision – [Petal Fall], [Cultivation -10%].
The bewildered Grandpa Wumu in the clay pot exclaimed in fear.
“That’s not the Great Bright Buddha! The Great Bright Buddha has been parasitized! The monster at the back is the real entity!”
“I think I’ve seen that thing before!”
Grandpa Wumu yelled out loud: “Jie Zijiu, you better run for your f*cking life! If you’re slow, we’re all…”
Boom!
The sky full of petals turned into a torrential rain, and in an instant, Li Muyang and the two others were riddled with holes.
[You have died, game over]
…
The failure CG that popped up in the field of view gave Li Muyang quite a headache.
“The difficulty is this high right off the bat?”
To escape from the hands of a True Immortal-level being?
He loaded the game again and returned to the moment he entered the palace.
It was still the same plot dialogue, Miao Fengjun’s voice echoed a warning from the seven-colored Liu Li Staff, and the health bar of the Great Illuminator Buddha instantly turned red.
Then, there was another frantic chase of escaping.
This time, Li Muyang changed his plan, joining forces with Princess Pingyao, fighting and retreating together.
With the combined power of him and Princess Pingyao, they did indeed manage to hold on a little longer.
When the rain of petals turned into a downpour, Li Muyang, prepared in advance, blocked the relentless assault of petal rain.
But he only managed to block the second wave.
As more and more petals filled the sky, they eventually nearly filled his entire view.
Li Muyang and his companions were heavily surrounded by petals, with absolutely no route for retreat.
In the end, faced with the endless petal rain, Li Muyang inevitably was shot into a porcupine.
[You have died, game over]
…
As the failure screen popped up once again, Li Muyang was somewhat speechless.
“Is there any way to survive this?”
Princess Pingyao, at LV99, is only a hair’s breadth away from True Immortal status.
But this slim distance is like heaven and earth apart!
Facing the strange and powerful Great Illuminator Buddha, they were virtually powerless to fight back.
After dying explosively seven times, Li Muyang temporarily gave up reloading the game and calmed down to think of strategies.
“This Great Illuminator Buddha is indeed not its true self anymore.”
As Li Muyang recalled the scenes from the game, the Great Illuminator Buddha, while a golden-bodied Buddha, was clearly parasitized by some monster.
That monster usually hid behind the Great Illuminator Buddha, seizing and possessing the Buddha’s body, taking over everything of the Great Illuminator Buddha.
This image of a Buddha being parasitized by a monster seemed familiar to Li Muyang.
Previously when encountering Earth Spirit Buddha Ancestor in the Outworld Ark, there was also a monster that had parasitized the Earth Spirit Buddha Ancestor.
But the monster inside the Earth Spirit Buddha Ancestor had its consciousness suppressed, with the Earth Spirit Buddha Ancestor still in control.
However, the monster in the Ancient Resentment Well had already taken a dominant position, and it seemed like the true consciousness of the Great Illuminator Buddha had already disappeared.
“What exactly is this kind of monster? Why have two Buddhas I’ve encountered consecutively been parasitized and possessed by similar monsters?”
Li Muyang frowned, puzzled: “Could it be a backlash from the Buddhist protectors?”
Buddhist faith likes to recruit powerful demons as mounts or disciples, and though these demonic creatures may be inspired by the Buddhist Law, their inherent brutality and malevolence are hard to eliminate.
With the advent of cataclysms, it’s possible that the former protectors of Buddhism might take the opportunity to cause chaos.
But for two Buddhas in a row to be parasitized by monsters… this can’t be a coincidence.
“Miao Fengjun must know something, but this old demon never warned me before, he must be harboring ulterior motives.”
Li Muyang huffed, finally confronting the darkness within the Ancient Resentment Well.
Compared to this eerie Great Illuminator Buddha, the pursuit by the Puppet Masters from Black Feather Pavilion felt trivial.
Li Muyang got up and walked out of the cabin, found the Third Miss, and asked, “Where are we now?”