Chapter 141
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Chapter 141: Puhua Transforms Into a Rainbow
"Amitābha!" Puhua shook his head helplessly and spoke lightly, "This time, Benefactor has indeed won. I concede."
Fang Lie smiled faintly, signaling the Blood God Puppet to halt. He stared at Puhua. "You seem to have more words."
"Yes." Puhua straightened. "This ambush was my scheme. As you said—sown causes reap consequences. I’ll bear my own punishment. But my junior brothers merely obeyed orders. Spare them, and I’ll end myself. All my treasures are yours."
"Tsk." Fang Lie scoffed. "These accomplices are pitiful vermin. Their lives matter little. But tell me—why offer my own spoils of war as bargaining chips? Do you take me for a fool?"
"Ah…" Puhua sighed bitterly. "My error. Still, they’re blameless. Show mercy—accumulate virtue."
"Hypocrites!" Fang Lie spat. "Preaching virtue while slaughtering innocents like me. How do bald devils grow such thick skin?"
Puhua flushed crimson, speechless.
"Enough." Fang Lie’s voice turned icy. "Your ‘righteous’ stench sickens me. I’ll purge every last one."
"Why?!" Puhua cried. "We’ve no feud!"
"Odd…" Fang Lie frowned. "Seeing your disciples stirs murderous urges. This hatred feels… innate. Strange—I’m not bloodthirsty. Why does facing bald devils provoke me? Some buried prejudice?"
"You—" Puhua nearly choked.
Old Bird’s voice interrupted: "They’re karma-bound. After your great vow was acknowledged, you became Heaven’s justice incarnate. Now you sense karma’s taint—it breeds revulsion. The urge to cleanse them… is instinctive."
"What’s karma?"
"Evildoers bear karma. Petty crimes bring little. But killing innocents traps victims’ lingering souls as karma—eternal unless purified. Simply put: karma marks the wicked."
"Huh?" Fang Lie blinked. "Aren’t these monks chanting vegetarians? How’d they kill?"
"Hmph!" Old Bird snorted. "Great Thunder Sound Temple’s inheritance favors brute force. Their wide-area attacks often slaughter mortals. ‘Demon-slaying missions’ let disciples rack up kills. The weakest here has ten lives. Puhua? Over a hundred."
Fang Lie’s gaze sharpened. "Puhua! Your death’s certain. Answer truthfully—I’ll make it swift."
"What question?"
"How many innocents have you slaughtered?"
"How… how do you know?" Puhua paled.
"Your stinking karma reeks."
"You see karma?!" Puhua gaped. "Even Thunder Tribulation Immortals can’t! A mere Qi Sea cultivator—"
"Enough!" Fang Lie snapped. "Is your karma real?"
Puhua hesitated, then sighed. "Once… battling demons, my stray spell erased a village. I chanted sutras afterward. Surely that sufficed?"
"Hah!" Fang Lie barked. "Hundreds—parents, children, brothers, sisters—gone. Think verses absolve you? Naive fool!"
"It was accidental!" Puhua protested. "I protected more common families!"
"Liar." Fang Lie smirked. "You craved sect rewards. Mortals? Insects beneath notice."
Puhua hung his head. After moments, he rasped: "True… My shame stains Great Thunder Sound Temple."
"Amitābha. Good, good…" Puhua chanted, settling cross-legged.
Avalokiteshvara Bodhisattva
Practicing profound Prajñāpāramitā…
Seeing the five aggregates as empty,
transcending all suffering and hardship…
Śāriputra:
Form does not differ from emptiness, emptiness does not differ from form.
Form is emptiness, emptiness is form.
Sensation, perception, volition, and consciousness follow likewise…
As the chanting resonated, Puhua’s face gradually took on a sacred, transcendent smile until his entire body transformed into rainbow light, vanishing completely from the mortal realm. Only a crystalline Śāriputra relic, his Sumeru Bags, and three treasures remained.
"That scoundrel actually committed suicide to atone."
Clearly aware he couldn’t escape Fang Lie’s pursuit, the young monk had chosen self-destruction over being slain by his enemy.
Watching the fading rainbow figure, Fang Lie remarked with grudging respect, "This bald devil had real substance. Achieving rainbow-body transformation – even many accomplished high monks never reach that stage!"
"Puhua was barely twenty," Old Bird said worriedly. "Possessing such Buddhist attainment at his age marks him as genius material. The Great Thunder Sound Temple might not produce another such disciple in centuries. Killing their prized talent will make you their sworn enemy once we leave!"
"What’s to fear?" Fang Lie sneered. "By the three sects’ Agreement governing Secret Realm contests, my actions here bear no consequences. If Great Thunder Sound Temple retaliates publicly, they’ll be violating their own pact. Privately, this bald devil attacked me first – my retaliation was justified. Besides, he killed himself. What’s that to do with me?"
"Suicide? More like coerced self-destruction!" Old Bird retorted. "Without your pressure, why would a promising young genius choose such humiliation?"
"Who cares?" Fang Lie laughed, seizing Puhua’s treasures and the discarded Roaring Sky Cannon. "This trade favors me! He destroyed my third-tier treasure but left me a Fourth-Rank upgrade. Profit!"
The youth vanished into mountain mists, reappearing in a hidden cave to inventory his spoils. As Great Thunder Sound Temple’s favored disciple, Puhua’s possessions promised rich rewards.
First came the vajra mace – three feet long, tapered ends flanking a thick midsection adorned with secret-language crystals, seven-colored glaze, vow pearls, and other Buddhist seven treasures. Its Buddha gold construction felt impossibly heavy.
Old Bird explained to the uncultured youth: "This top-grade fourth-rank Seven Treasures Vajra Mace releases dazzling radiance with each attack, striking with mountain-crushing force. Its sole flaw is sluggishness against agile foes, but direct hits rival top Fourth-Rank treasures. Common third-tier treasures shatter instantly."
"Perfect! Just what I needed for decisive strikes." Fang Lie pocketed it before producing a golden bowl. "And this?"
"Demon-Subduing Golden Bowl – top Fourth-Rank treasure." Old Bird revealed. "Beyond defense, it can imprison enemies. None below Nascent Soul True Immortal can escape its confinement."
Examining the eight-inch bowl with shifting swastika shadows inside, Fang Lie frowned. "But how do I throw people in?"
"Fool!" Old Bird chided. "If sealing required mere gestures, you’d be trapped already! For a Fourth-Rank item, this containment divine skill is formidable enough. Puhua wouldn’t have died if it were simpler!"
"Satisfied enough!" Fang Lie grinned. "Now I’ll capture whoever annoys me and bombard them properly!"
He set the bowl aside, examining Puhua’s Sumeru Bags. Unlike Mo Sect’s black city-marked pouches, Great Thunder Sound Temple’s golden versions bore bell symbols.
