CHAPTER 177: CHAPTER 148 PRAYING MANTIS

Watching the headless Buddha Body come to life and make the Zen Lotus Handprint, Wu Huo unconsciously took half a step back, his expression extremely grim.

Resurrection of the dead? No, absolutely impossible.

Li Ang also retreated several steps, gazing at the benevolent-looking headless Buddha Body. Throughout history, countless brilliant cultivators had tried to break through the limits of lifespan to live longer. Whether it was ingesting elixirs, practicing special Cultivation Techniques, or hiding in a Cave Heaven Blessed Land to absorb Spiritual Energy all day, they all eventually failed to escape the Heavenly Person Five Decays, their bodies gradually aging, eventually turning to dust. Even those who walked the Demon Path, plundering the vitality of living beings for their own use, could not overcome this.

No matter what this reanimated Buddha Body is, it cannot be Shixing Monk himself.

Li Ang felt a little more settled. He saw the headless Buddha Body finish the Lotus Handprint and extend its index finger, pointing diagonally towards the ground.

"Follow its guidance."

Ya Jiu first released his Telekinesis to levitate the headless Buddha Body. He then cast a Soundproofing Technique around them and unhitched a Mountain Rat Claw from his belt—identical to the one Li Ang possessed. Using the claw, he melted the earth, forming a downward-sloping tunnel just tall enough for a single person.

Ya Jiu took the lead into the tunnel, activating several talismans in succession along the way: Water Avoidance Talismans to stop mud and water from dripping, Suspended Air Charms to ensure there was enough air, Path-finding Talismans to detect if any massive rocks blocked the path ahead, and so on.

Li Ang followed behind Ya Jiu, carrying his medicine box and pinching his left wrist with his right hand to time their journey by his pulse rate.

After ten minutes, the three of them had descended approximately four hundred meters, reaching the first underground Dark River. They followed the river system downward for another hundred meters. Finding no way forward, they once again used the Mountain Rat Claw to continue their descent.

The headless Buddha Body’s hand gestures slowly changed the angle of its pointing finger as they progressed.

This time, they walked for about twenty minutes. Just as the air in the tunnel became unbearably stale, the headless Buddha Body finally raised its arm completely, pointing straight ahead.

Ya Jiu slowly exhaled a breath of turbid air and used the Mountain Rat Claw to dig through the earth in front of them.

BOOM.

As the liquefied earth surged forward and spread out, a breeze carrying a faint, decaying scent blew towards them.

Ya Jiu threw out four talismans, which slowly ignited, illuminating the surroundings.

Li Ang narrowed his eyes. Before them lay a vast platform, split in two by a river. The ground in the center was paved with neat stone bricks, while the surrounding terrain gradually rose, tier by tier.

The entire cavern had nine layers, each displaying lifelike, ash-gray stone Buddha statues. These Buddha statues were variously seated or standing, their expressions joyful or sorrowful. Their color and material were similar to that of the headless Buddha Body, and all of them faced the center of the platform. There, on a small river island, stood a pedestal bearing half a gray Buddha statue—a figure seated, with only its lower body remaining.

The fractured surface perfectly matched the piece Ya Jiu held.

Li Ang frowned, clearly feeling the Mo Si inside him stir restlessly. The same sensation he had experienced in Victory Square, when the Mo Si was drawn to the green-black stone statue, surged through him again.

Ya Jiu squinted, noticing Li Ang’s frown, and casually explained, "This is the Pure Thought Sect’s Floating Buddha Tower. The Pure Thought Sect was also a Former Sui Sect, once the foremost power within Zen Buddhism, often preaching sutras for Emperor Sui. Legend has it that Shixing Monk is the reincarnation of a certain past sage from the Pure Thought Sect."

Li Ang, having read materials from the Academic Palace, knew of the Pure Thought Sect’s position in Former Sui history. He asked, "Is he part of the Pure Thought Sect?"

"Yes and no," Ya Jiu habitually replied. "The Pure Thought Sect was jointly annihilated by several sects during the Late Sui. Shixing Monk most likely stumbled upon some of the sect’s scriptures by chance. While cultivating these ancient techniques, he eventually found this Floating Buddha Tower, which housed the relics and Buddha’s shed skins of the Pure Thought Sect’s monks."

A Floating Buddha Tower, also known as a Square Tomb or Round Tomb, is a structure for enshrining relics, scriptures, or ritual implements.

"Oh," Li Ang nodded. "So, you used Shixing Monk’s body to guide you here to collect the treasures?"

"Treasures?" Before Ya Jiu could answer, Wu Huo, standing beside them, sneered. "The Pure Thought Sect’s monks were all killed during the Late Sui, and their entire surface-level sect structures were razed. These are just the physical bodies of monks who achieved Nirvana; what treasures could possibly be here? The real treasure, on the other hand, is Shixing Monk himself. He is the only person in this world who knows the secrets of the Pure Thought Sect."

"You intend to revive him?" Li Ang glanced at the half-stone statue on the platform before them and suddenly had a thought. The area around the broken Buddha statue was all river. The statue must have decayed over the long years, eroded by the elements, broken apart, and fallen into the Dark River. By some coincidence, it was fished out by Ghost Market Fishermen and eventually sold to Ya Jiu and his associates.

"Revive? No, no, no, that’s against all reason. Firstly, no one can achieve true immortality, not even the Haotian Sect Leader or the Academic Palace Master." Wu Huo shook his head, drawing out his words. "Secondly, the statue is still missing its most crucial part—the head. Besides, we have friends present..."

As his words fell, Wu Huo stomped on the ground. His figure shot out like a bolt of lightning, his palm striking a dark area. From the shadows, he dragged out a short figure cloaked in a black robe, one that had been perfectly camouflaged by the darkness.

The short figure still tried to resist, clasping its palms together and focusing its thought, causing the longsword at its waist to fly out on its own, slashing towards Wu Huo.

However, behind Wu Huo, a phantasmal image of the Nine-headed Ghost Car burned fiercely, its terrifying Fierce Appearance materializing clearly. The nine heads of the Nine-headed Ghost Car stared in unison, striking terror into their opponent. The captive’s body went rigid, completely losing control of the Flying Sword.

Wu Huo firmly grasped the figure’s neck, casually tore off its mask, glanced at a tattoo on the side of its cheek, and sneered as he increased the strength in his hand.

"Stop."

On the other side of the cavern, a young man’s voice rang out.

A group of people clad in black robes and wearing ghost masks strode forward, stopping a hundred meters in front of Wu Huo.

"You followed us here, didn’t you?" Wu Huo slightly loosened his grip on the black-robed man’s neck and said casually, "I knew it. An indestructible, undecaying, and incorruptible Buddha Body—such an extraordinary item would inevitably attract the attention and investigation of interested parties. And with so much of the Buddha statue missing, it’s certain that some citizens of the Ghost Market sold the other parts to different buyers. As another buyer, you knew the Buddha Body held value but didn’t know how to use it, so you resorted to covert observation and tracking. That’s why, in the Ghost Market, I deliberately bought some food—to let you follow our scent. You tailed us, hoping to obtain the complete Buddha Body and discover its purpose. And my goal was equally straightforward: to kill all of you and then take your piece of the Buddha Body."

The mantis stalks the cicada, but the cicada is also plotting against the mantis.

Wu Huo, who appeared brutish but was actually quite meticulous, wore an indifferent expression, as if he had already sealed their fate.

One of the black-robed people couldn’t help but harshly scold, "Do you know who we are? The person beside me is the Young Master of the Demon Sect’s Pure World Bright Flame..."

"I smelled it long ago. You call yourselves the Demon Sect, claiming to be the survivors and inheritors of over a hundred Demon Path Sects from the Former Sui. In reality, you’re just a pathetic bunch huddling together for warmth." Wu Huo applied a bit more force, crushing the neck of the black-robed man he held. He casually released the corpse and stepped toward the so-called Demon Sect Young Master.

CRACK. CRACK.

Wu Huo twisted his neck, a grim smile playing on his lips. "How do you want to die?"

"..." Li Ang frowned, glancing at the situation, and whispered to Ya Jiu, "Aren’t you going to help?"

"Let him have his fun for a while. Let’s first place Shixing Monk’s Buddha’s shed skin on the pedestal," Ya Jiu replied, equally unconcerned about the pursuers. After repeated crackdowns during the eras of Yu Chu and the Holy Empress, the Demon Sect in the Yu Country suffered devastating blows. Only a few stragglers remained, a far cry from recovering their former arrogance and tyranny of the Pre-Sui Period. They were more like a loose alliance of disheartened practitioners of Demonic Skills. Any minor faction within it could cook up its own Saint Child or Holy Daughter. Such titles held little actual weight.

And indeed, just as Ya Jiu said, Wu Huo fully unleashed the Fierce Appearance of the Nine-headed Ghost Car on his back. His figure swelled to twice its size; a casual slap from him could dispel magical effects, and a mere twist of his hand could mangle a Flying Sword into scrap metal.

The group claiming to be from the Demon Sect’s Pure World Bright Flame struggled desperately against Wu Huo, their exquisite coordination barely allowing them to hold on. Their Young Master, protected by his guards, clenched his teeth. He held a Mutated Object shaped like a longevity lock, hesitating.

"Young Master, activate the Pure World Bright Flame!" urged a Demon Sect elder. The elder’s hair and beard bristled as he crossed his arms to block a punch from Wu Huo. His face flushed an involuntary red, and beads of blood seeped from the skin of his arms.

A resolute expression finally appeared on the Pure World Bright Flame Young Master’s face, and he was just about to crush the longevity lock, when the head of that very same Demon Sect elder suddenly exploded, splattering Wu Huo with a gruesome mess of red and white.

"What..." Not only were the members of the Demon Sect incredulous, but Wu Huo himself was also stunned. He hadn’t been the one to make the elder’s head explode.

Then who was it?

BANG! BANG! BANG!

A series of dull thuds echoed out as several Demon Sect members were slammed against the walls or ground by an immense and brutal force, bursting like crushed fruit. This included the Demon Sect Young Master, who was also seized by an invisible force and lifted into the air. His fingers frantically tapped at the longevity lock, but he couldn’t break free from the restraint to activate it.

CREAK. CREAK.

Accompanied by the grating creak of wooden wheels, a group of figures emerged into the firelight. There were Kou Mansion guards, Kou Huai’an himself, and the ancient elder seated in the wheelchair Kou Huai’an was pushing.

Kou Wukui.

This former Telekinesis Master of the Candle Cloud Realm was indeed in terrible condition, just as Ya Jiu had speculated. His face was pallid and deeply wrinkled, his eyelids drooped, and his eyes were dull and vacant, as if he were completely oblivious to his surroundings. On the back of each of his ten fingers, three Golden Needles were inserted, making him appear like a critically ill patient requiring long-term acupuncture just to remain active.

Yet, his power was undeniably present.

Kou Huai’an gently pinched one of the Golden Needles on the back of his father Kou Wukui’s finger and flicked it forward slightly.

BANG!

An immense surge of Telekinesis erupted from Kou Wukui’s decrepit body. The overwhelming force slammed into Wu Huo’s chest, sending him flying backward to embed him deep within the wall.

"We meet again, you three." Kou Huai’an, who was manipulating his father like a toy to release telekinetic power, looked up and smiled faintly at Ya Jiu and Li Ang.