Chapter 1762: Buddhist Head (II)

The many figures behind him fully manifested as he chanted. The figure on the left sat cross-legged in lotus position with a halo around its head, while the figure on the right bore three radiant blossoms above its crown and a fleshy topknot shaped like a lotus.

Guangchan forced his mouth open, tearing both corners cleanly back toward his ears. The upper half of his face folded backward, revealing two rows of white teeth.

The white cicada leaped forth, baring sharp fangs in its gaping mouth as it wailed, "Father! Do you truly mean to kill your son?!"

The cry was like a thunderclap shattering the heavens, making the [Huai River Map] shudder violently and lose its luster. Had it been an ordinary spirit artifact, it would have collapsed then and there, especially with its master, Sima Yuanli, too preoccupied to spare it any attention. But the [Huai River Map] was no ordinary treasure, and with Li Ximing lending his strength as well, it somehow managed to hold on. But it was now teetering on the verge of collapse.

Li Ximing had borne the brunt of the wail. His face turned ashen, and dizziness overwhelmed him. All he heard was an earth-shaking explosion beside his ears, and he barely made out countless streams of golden light surging up from the ground through his blurred vision, lifting all the surrounding wonders skyward!

When the gold and white faded from his vision, Guangchan had already vanished. However, a gigantic golden head was slowly rising in his place!

The face rose into the clouds, its nose rising like a mountain peak, while its cavernous nostrils exhaled multicolored vapors. Its lips were pressed tightly together in pain, while every wrinkle was as deep as a ravine. Within its two eyes stood two palaces, with countless monks coming and going as though they lived inside a pair of crystal orbs, kneeling in devout worship.

There was only a blood-soaked neck beneath the head, with no torso whatsoever, as though it had been bitten clean off by some sharp-fanged beast. The golden body of this Maha Guangchan was nothing more than a head!

Li Ximing was deeply startled, He has been fighting me with that youthful incarnation all this time. Only now has he revealed his golden body!

Strictly speaking, Guangchan's golden body was not especially large. Yet unlike those of other Maha, his golden body consisted of nothing but a single head, making its sheer size and horror far more overwhelming than theirs. As those two cavernous, palace-like eyes turned toward them, the entire island fell deathly silent, overcome by despair.

But Guangchan did not hesitate in the slightest. With his golden body manifested, the [Huai River Map]'s suppression was now barely clawing at him. This was the perfect moment to catch Li Ximing off guard!

"Hahahaha!"

Thunderous laughter rolled across the heavens. The enormous mouth instantly opened to its fullest extent, its pitch-black depths swallowing every trace of color. Rows of gleaming white teeth, sharp as blades, came snapping down.

Li Ximing's golden eyes took everything in clearly as the head loomed over him. Inside that head's mouth was still a white cicada with crimson eyes!

The white cicada no longer looked anything like the small and delicate creature it once had been. It was now as enormous as a mountain, with several limbs eerily disappearing into the darkness. Its compound eyes were covered in tens of thousands of human eyes, all staring fixedly at Li Ximing at once, while its mouthparts opened and closed incessantly, dripping with saliva.

A chill shot straight through Li Ximing's mind, and he cursed inwardly, Just what the hell is this Guangchan?!

At this point, he knew all the more clearly that he could not release the [Huai River Map] or move the [Heaven-Venerating Gate]. The moment Guangchan reestablished his connection with the great void, he would inevitably receive an endless stream of energy from the Buddhist land. Bracing himself to receive the charge of the golden body, Li Ximing brought his hands together.

In an instant, all the light of Radiant Fire gathered together, while the Bright Yang heavenly light contracted into waves of vermilion Radiant Fire that scattered like smoke.

[Flame-Stepping Movement]!

The explosive crash of snapping jaws echoed across the sky. Guangchan's eyes suddenly blazed, and two surging beams of white light erupted from them, forcing Li Ximing out of concealment in midair. Those lips opened viciously once again, but this time the mouth was completely empty, with no trace of the white cicada.

Only a piercing shriek rang out, "Awooo!"

The cry shook the earth and mountains without distinguishing friend from foe. Sima Yuanli and Tao Jiexing alike, and even the two Merciful Ones engaged in the siege, all froze at once and lost awareness for a moment.

Li Ximing's eyes, however, remained bright and completely unaffected. He leaped away, though urgency rose sharply in his heart. In the distance, the golden head abruptly shrank by a size. At the same time, the treasure pagoda forcibly broke free of the Manifest Earth that had restrained it for so long, while the terrifying white cicada lunged at Li Ximing from behind, its razor-sharp mouthparts snapping around his waist!

As time dragged on, Guangchan could no longer afford to prolong the battle. He was willing to damage his dharma body if that was what it took to bring Li Ximing down immediately!

At this critical moment, Li Ximing remained completely calm. All the [Light of the Six Directions] flowed into his sleeves, while [Divided Spirit and Variant Body] flickered with light as its connection and resonance were pushed to their absolute limit!

Yet the intense pain he had expected never came. Through his hazy vision, Li Ximing saw purple light descend, and suddenly found himself enveloped in a swirling haze of purple qi.

A faint autumn-yellow hue entered his vision as a woman's soft, melodious voice sounded beside his ear, "How dare you act so brazenly?!"

Li Ximing recognized the voice at once. Turning to the side, he saw the delicate face he expected, beautiful even without makeup. The eyes that had once seemed gentle and frail were now filled with steely resolve as they glared fiercely at Guangchan.

Daoist Master Zhaojing immediately brightened as he said, "Good, you're here."

————

The sky was dim, its colors dull and oppressive.

The rumble of carriage wheels echoed across the heavens, even as dark clouds and mist shrouded all of Jiangbei in inky black. The Daoist Master, dressed in a black robe patterned with white feathers and profound designs, wore an icy expression. The jade gourd in his hand trembled incessantly, while his heart weighed heavily...

After receiving Jinlian's message, Changyun had kept his word and immediately set out to rescue him. His escape spell was not slow in the slightest, yet his thoughts were not on Minghui at all.

Strange....Yang Ruiyi is making quite a show of force.

Daoist Master Changyun, Zhang Yun, was no ordinary figure and had his own understanding of the situation between the north and south. He knew very well that Yang Ruiyi was bound to march north, but he understood the disparity between the two sides even better.

It is true that the Great Song has Profound Holders, but the nation's strength has yet to recover. Those Profound Holders are all merely Foundation Establishment Realm figures. Even with some mystics granted by the Star of Cultivation and Martiality, they still cannot compare to an ordinary Purple Mansion Realm cultivator... So what if you had five or six more of them? You alone are the only combatant capable of deciding the outcome...

It is not that the Great Song cannot fight, but it absolutely cannot come with the intention of seizing territory. It should be focusing on weakening the forces of the north and buying itself more time to recover...

Yet judging by the current situation, Yang Ruiyi had spread his forces out and pushed them toward the Shanji region while advancing deep into enemy territory alone. Changyun truly could not fathom what he was planning, and the thought gave him a headache.

If that's the case, then Moongaze Lake has no major figure guarding it. Wouldn't that leave it in serious trouble?

As he pondered heavily, his expression suddenly changed. He raised a hand slightly and, sure enough, discovered an invisible barrier before him.

Without hesitation, he drew a small sword from his sleeve, affixed a talisman to it, and shouted, "Geng and Dui shift their aspects, changing when the moment comes!" 𝘧𝓇ℯℴ𝓂

Perhaps the barrier had been designed to keep things in rather than out, or perhaps the small sword itself was extraordinary. Either way, it easily sliced open a narrow gap through the pitch-black, murky light, making Daoist Master Changyun's eyelid twitch.

This is bad... Surely there isn't an ambush!

But a chorus of shrill screams immediately erupted beside his ears. Everything before him shattered like crystal, and a splendid, luminous severed hand, hacked so badly that white bone showed through, burst out in one rush and shot wildly into the air!

Two eyes and a mouth grew from the center of the enormous palm, making it look as though it had simply been picked at random from some corpse.

At that moment, it let out a miserable screech, "Save me! Save me! Daoist Master, save me!