Chapter 1429: The Strange Stone Statue in the Buddhist Hall

Qin Sang worked fast, harvesting the several most valuable spiritual herbs and sealing them in jade boxes. Among them was the Spirit Cup Flower he prized most, along with a spiritual herb that would help Tan Hao break through.

Dong! A bell tolled without warning, its sound melodious, ringing out across the whole of Pure Sea Sect.

Qin Sang stopped and tilted his head to listen. There was a strange cadence to it. With the Jade Buddha guarding his primordial spirit, he felt nothing out of the ordinary, so he glanced sideways at Tan Hao.

Tan Hao's eyes had half closed, his expression settling into calm. The agitation he'd shown moments ago, on hearing that Qin Sang meant to contest an astra against a great cultivator, had eased considerably.

Qin Sang clicked his tongue in wonder and listened intently, but he couldn't locate the bell's source.

"Is it an astra, or something else?" he asked, curious.

A treasure capable of clarifying the mind would benefit any immortal cultivator's practice. It would be excellent if he could carry it off. Even if he had no use for it himself, he could bring it back to Qingyang Temple.

Tan Hao shook his head and said with some regret, "The sound of the morning bell and evening drum doesn't come from an astra, or I wouldn't have needed to stay here all this while. It seems to come from some strange barrier, though Senior never said whether it was a method of Pure Sea Sect or part of the original devil-suppressing seal."

"The world of immortal cultivation really does hold every wonder imaginable." Qin Sang marveled at how much he had learned.

He put away the spiritual herb Tan Hao needed, tossed him the jade box, and straightened up, surveying the pitted, hollowed-out herb garden. "That's about enough. They've already started breaking the barriers. We should get ready too."

As he spoke, a black figure flashed into the garden. Tan Hao startled at the Spiritual Infant Talisman Puppet, and seeing it stand obediently at Qin Sang's back, he gained a fuller appreciation of the man's strength.

"Such a shame..." Tan Hao glanced at the spiritual herbs left behind. They were worth no small sum either, and in his eyes some of them qualified as rare.

Qin Sang smiled. "You have to give up something to gain something. Only a mix of true and false will fool their eyes. Wait here for my signal. When the moment comes, break the herb garden's barrier and expose the spiritual herbs hidden within the mist. Then activate your Misty Rain Pot and conjure illusions of these particular herbs, mixed in among the real ones."

He handed Tan Hao a jade slip and told him to study it closely, committing every detail to memory so the illusions would pass for genuine.

Tan Hao had been tutored by the Ghost Mother and understood Buddhist barriers. With adequate preparation, he could sow chaos in the herb garden.

The Misty Rain Pot was a high-grade astra. It had once belonged to a Spiritual Infant cultivator of Boundless Sea who provoked the Ghost Mother and was killed for it, after which she tossed the pot to Tan Hao as an afterthought. His time following the Ghost Mother had brought him many gains.

The treasure followed the Dao of illusory transformation. Mist billowed from its spout, and the illusions it produced verged on real. With it in hand, Qin Sang was spared a great deal of trouble.

Tan Hao nodded and produced the Misty Rain Pot. Outwardly it was a stone pot, smaller than a palm, its surface carved with drifting banks of dark clouds. Water vapor gathered perpetually at the spout, rippling faintly.

"It may be a high-grade astra, but my cultivation is too weak. I'm afraid they'll see through it at a glance," Tan Hao said, full of worry.

"The purple flowing fire in the void will interfere with their sight and their judgment. Besides, I only need them distracted for a single breath. That's enough time for me to do a great deal," Qin Sang reassured him.

His plan was to use the strange phenomena in the herb garden to draw the Chaotic Devil Elder's attention, then seize the treasure amid the confusion and slip away through the secret passage. How to shake off the Chaotic Devil Elder and the other pursuers afterward still needed thought.

Tan Hao drew a deep breath and said gravely, "Be careful, Brother Qin."

"Don't worry. I won't gamble with my own life. I'll only make my move when I'm certain of it. If it can't be done, we'll simply split these spiritual herbs and leave." Qin Sang smiled easily and turned toward the secret passage, the Spiritual Infant Talisman Puppet close behind.

Tan Hao gripped the Misty Rain Pot in one hand and a spirit talisman in the other, every nerve taut.

Once inside the passage, Qin Sang swept toward the branch leading to the golden roof. Before long his figure paused slightly, and he stared ahead with a grave expression.

The familiar interwoven crimson and gold radiance filled the entire tunnel.

He called up the layout of Pure Sea Sect in his mind. The passage curved around the mountain pass on its way to the golden roof, which meant he now stood at the very edge of that pass. The walls of the tunnel were part of the seal itself.

Seen up close, the seal looked nothing like the swastika seal viewed from outside. The walls glared a brilliant crimson, the crimson flame qi within them seeming ready to bulge free at any moment, while across their surface the sealing power took visible form.

He could clearly see that the seal had two layers. The outermost consisted of countless minute swastikas flowing across the stone, a Buddhist barrier.

The inner layer was a kind of barrier Qin Sang had never encountered, mysterious and intricate. He fixed his eyes on it for a while and tried to comprehend it, only for his head to swim.

"This must be the work of an ancient powerhouse." Qin Sang sighed faintly and stopped wasting his mental energy on it.

Just then he noticed what looked like fissures running between the segments of the inner seal, and realized most of the Buddhist barrier's power went toward suppressing those spots. Recalling what Tan Hao had said about the devilish monster's awakening, Qin Sang nodded slightly, having pieced together roughly what had happened all those years ago.

He studied the seal on the walls, thought for a moment, and continued forward.

Soon he reached the end of the passage. Ahead stood a stone door, shut fast, Buddhist light coursing across its surface. The entire grand hall beneath the golden roof was locked down by barriers, and their power was formidable. The secret passage was no exception.

He couldn't see into the hall, but from Tan Hao's description he already held a complete picture of it and knew exactly where those several astras lay.

He first recalled what Tan Hao had told him about the patterns governing the hall's barriers, then raised a hand and touched the stone door lightly. After that he made no movement at all.

***

Before the grand hall beneath the golden roof, the Chaotic Devil Elder and Feathered Robe Primordial Lady alighted on a floor paved with golden brick.

The hall was resplendent in gold and jade, with seven doors in all. Three stood ajar, though there was no entering through them. The entire structure lay beneath a layer of golden Buddha light, a barrier in itself.

Through the gaps in the doors, they could make out the scene within.

It was a Buddhist hall. Enshrined at the rear stood a golden Buddha, magnificent and weighty. Being no followers of the Buddhist path, neither of them could tell which of the legendary Buddhas it depicted. Two standing bhikkhu attendants flanked the statue.[1]

Strangely, another figure stood beside the Buddha as well. He stood with his hands clasped behind his back, straight brows and starlit eyes, dressed in a long robe whose sleeves seemed to flutter, mounted on a square block of stone at a height equal to the Buddha's own. Judging by his placement, his standing appeared to be the Buddha's equal.

Taking in these venerated figures, the Feathered Robe Primordial Lady's eyes filled with confusion.

It's too strange. Buddhist rules are stringent, yet Pure Sea Sect has enshrined someone outside the Buddhist path within its main hall. Could he have been a layperson?

She studied the figure closely. Even as a mere stone statue, the man carried an extraordinary bearing, plainly no ordinary person. She ran through every notable figure of the North Sea's three realms, every legend passed down through the generations, and could match him to none of them.

Lost in thought, the Feathered Robe Primordial Lady failed to notice the sharp glint that flashed through the Chaotic Devil Elder's clouded eyes!

1. A bhikkhu is an ordained male in Buddhist monasticism. ☜