Chapter Thirty-Two: The Earth Pearl

He let out a cold laugh at the sight. Though he was wary of the bronze ancient sword in the other man’s hands, he paid little heed to ordinary magical treasures. After cultivating the first transformation of the Sevenfold Mystic Heaven Art, his body had become extraordinarily tough; even without invoking his indestructible form, he could still withstand magical artifacts head-on. In particular, after merging the Scarlet Blood Black Tortoise Armor with his flesh and blood, his defenses had become absurdly formidable.

Zhang Xiao did not retreat. Instead, he advanced. The Five-Color Cloud Banner blocked the sword qi hacked out by Fang Ding, while in his other hand he thrust out the Crystal Subduing Demon Staff, sending layers upon layers of lotus blossoms surging forward to crush Fang Ding. Such a domineering and overpowering style of attack immediately forced Fang Ding into a difficult defense.

Meanwhile, facing the magical swords and artifacts hurled by Tian Feng and the others, Zhang Xiao did not even look up. Holy light burst from his palm, and a sacred seal appeared at its center. He struck out with one palm.

Amid the chanting of Buddhist hymns and the resonant tolling of sutras, the wind and clouds around them changed color. The moment Zhang Xiao’s palm landed, Tian Feng and the others’ treasures were battered so fiercely that the spiritual essence within them was nearly dispersed, almost shattering their artifacts outright.

Even so, Tian Feng and the others’ expressions changed drastically. They hurriedly retrieved their treasures and took a look, only to find several cracks spiderwebbed across the surfaces. Clearly, they were no longer fit for use. The sight nearly made them spit blood.

They were nothing like Zhang Xiao, who was wealthy and well supplied with treasures. Mount Shu had never been skilled at refining artifacts, so naturally their magical weapons could not compare with those of the Mao Mountain sect, and they themselves could not refine anything truly fine.

Thus, every treasure they possessed was precious to them. Now, however, Zhang Xiao had smashed them into this state with a single palm. How could they not burn with rage?

At that thought, Tian Feng and the others rejoined the fray. Though their treasures had been damaged, they still had a few ordinary magical artifacts left. This time, they no longer dared meet Zhang Xiao head-on, and instead changed tactics to harassment and ambush.

After missing several times, a sharp glint flashed in Zhang Xiao’s eyes. His avatar was already on the verge of breaking through the sixth level of the Brahma Meditation Sutra, and he had not wanted to summon it. But since Tian Feng and the others were courting death, he would show them no mercy.

A golden flash erupted at the center of his brow, and a figure shot out from between his eyebrows. Everyone’s faces changed; they had not expected Zhang Xiao to possess such a divine ability.

The avatar sat cross-legged in midair, holding a jade bell in both hands. Its fingers flickered rapidly over the surface, and a vast Buddhist melody, formed from waves of sacred sound, rang out from the Heaven Tone Bell. The music appeared gentle and without force, but in truth it stirred the very air around them, pressing down upon Tian Feng and the others like a collapsing sky.

No matter how they struggled, confronted by the increasingly thick and rigid air around them, they lost their ability to resist in the blink of an eye.

At that moment, the avatar raised the Heaven Tone Bell and smashed it down. Tian Feng and the others were instantly reduced to a pulp.

Seeing the avatar’s strength increase so dramatically, Zhang Xiao was naturally delighted. On the other side, however, Fang Ding’s face turned bitter.

He had long heard of Zhang Xiao’s extraordinary power and had not believed it before. Now that he saw it for himself, he realized the truth: this man’s abilities were indeed astonishing. Faced with the Crystal Subduing Demon Staff in Zhang Xiao’s hand, Fang Ding’s bronze ancient sword was undoubtedly sharp beyond compare, but it had no room to display its edge. No matter how fiercely he swung, the sword light he unleashed could never break through Zhang Xiao’s Five-Color Cloud Banner.

Every strike of Zhang Xiao’s staff contained a force of ten thousand catties, making Fang Ding’s resistance increasingly strained. Gradually, the flesh at his tiger’s mouth began to split, and he nearly lost his grip on the ancient sword. Seeing this, Fang Ding began to waver.

He slapped his storage pouch and produced a fire-red bead, flicking it toward Zhang Xiao. With a burst, a cloud of red smoke exploded between them. The smoke was most peculiar.

Even Zhang Xiao’s divine sense, when swept across it, was blocked. At the same time, the avatar struck the Heaven Tone Bell, and a wave of sound like a thunderclap instantly blasted the red smoke apart. By then, however, Fang Ding had already seized the chance to flee.

“Heh. Runs fast,” Zhang Xiao said with a faint smile, making no effort to pursue. The treasure was already in hand, and he had no reason to linger. Retracting the avatar and his artifacts, he transformed into a streak of rainbow light and continued flying south.

Before long, Zhang Xiao came to a stop beneath a mountain. The scenery here was pleasant enough, but regrettably the spiritual energy was too thin; otherwise, it might have been a blessed immortal land. When people said a place was poor in spiritual energy, it could mean either that the terrain was bad, or that no dragon vein ran there. Either way, it mattered little.

He casually chose a stretch of cliff face and used the Crystal Subduing Demon Staff to carve out a cave. After setting up some simple ordinary formations outside, he released the Bronze Armored Corpse to stand guard. Although he knew this was a remote mountain and probably no one would come, he still preferred caution.

Seated cross-legged, Zhang Xiao began to recover the spiritual energy within his body. This battle had consumed a fair amount of his strength, especially against the ancient sword in Fang Ding’s hand. The power of the sword light had exceeded Zhang Xiao’s expectations. Though the Five-Color Cloud Banner could block it, the expenditure was not small.

As for Fang Ding’s ancient sword, Zhang Xiao had become very curious about it. Unfortunately, Fang Ding had escaped this time; otherwise, he would surely have been slain, and Zhang Xiao would have seen whether the sword could be dropped as loot.

He remained in meditation for three full days.

The reason it took so long was, first, that Zhang Xiao wished to properly reflect on the insights gained from the battle and on his own mistakes. Second, the spiritual energy here was indeed too sparse. Only after three days had he restored himself to peak condition.

When he opened his eyes, he had gained new understanding and experience regarding the contest with Fang Ding during the struggle over the treasure. Yet the state of his avatar this time far exceeded Zhang Xiao’s expectations.

Although Zhang Xiao had also cultivated the Brahma Meditation Sutra to the fifth level, he had not done so through painstaking study. Rather, he had relied on the avatar to take a shortcut. As a result, he had not truly comprehended the many subtle uses of the fifth level. In contrast, the avatar’s grasp of the Brahma Meditation Sutra had grown ever deeper.

This made Zhang Xiao both pleased and troubled.

The joy came naturally from the avatar’s formidable strength, which greatly bolstered his own combat power. The concern, however, was that the avatar’s cultivation speed in the Brahma Meditation Sutra was becoming faster and faster. Though the avatar shared the same origin as he did, it had ultimately been formed with the help of the Buddha’s golden wheel. In other words, it would not be an exaggeration to say that the avatar was essentially the spirit of the Buddha’s golden wheel.

That meant the avatar’s growth would be severely limited. It was not apparent now, but once its strength grew high enough in the future, it would be constrained by the Buddha’s golden wheel, and breaking through again would become extremely difficult.

Though Zhang Xiao had identified this flaw, he could not think of a good solution for the moment.

He could only hope that the Scripture Library within the Mystic Heaven Grotto might offer some method. With that thought, he temporarily set the matter aside.

With a flip of his hand, a jade bead shimmering with silver light appeared, supported in his palm by his spiritual energy. He was not yet sure whether this thing might affect him, and did not dare touch it directly.

Earth Pearl: third-rank immortal material. At night, it can gather moonlight and transform it into the essence of heaven and earth. It is a rare treasure of the ancient demon race.

Seeing the attributes in his hand, Zhang Xiao was overjoyed. He had not expected it to be an immortal material. Though he did not know how such materials were ranked, even for him this was the first time he had ever heard of such a treasure.

At that moment, Zi Yan also came running out of the Mystic Heaven talisman. Seeing the Earth Pearl in Zhang Xiao’s hand, her face lit up with delight.

“Master, this is an Earth Pearl. Where did you find it? The old master searched for a hundred years and never found one.”

At her words, Zhang Xiao raised his brows and smiled.

“What did my master want it for? Was it very useful?”

To be honest, Zhang Xiao knew that the Earth Pearl in his hand was an extraordinary treasure, but he had never before come into contact with such an immortal material. He had no idea what it was used for. Since Zi Yan recognized it and even said that Master Xuan Cang had searched for it for a hundred years, she must surely know how it should be used.

At his question, Zi Yan hurriedly answered, “Master, if this Earth Pearl is used to refine an artifact, it can produce an immortal-grade treasure, an existence even more powerful than a supreme treasure. Especially at night, it can draw upon the power of moonlight, and its might is enough to let a person slay enemies above their own level with ease.”

Zhang Xiao was stunned. He had not expected the Earth Pearl to be so powerful. Slaying above one’s level was not a matter of cultivation realm, but of pure strength. From the Soul Nurturing stage all the way to the Great Ascension stage, there were eleven realms in total, and the difference between each realm could not be calculated by ordinary reasoning.

Take Zhang Xiao himself, for example. Though he was now formidable, if he were to kill a Nascent Soul cultivator in the early stage, that would be impossible. At most, he might escape from one. If he met a Nascent Soul cultivator in the middle stage, he might not even be able to flee. He would simply have to wait for death.

He still remembered how, back then, that old monster Karosius had merely placed a hand lightly on his shoulder, and his life and death had instantly fallen into the other man’s grasp. For the other party to erase him completely would have been as easy as moving a finger.

And Karosius had only been a level-ten mage, equivalent in strength to the Tribulation Transcendence stage, still far from the Great Ascension realm. Yet crushing Zhang Xiao would have been as simple as crushing a tiny ant. Had he not obtained Master Xuan Cang’s legacy by chance in the Mystic Heaven Grotto, the consequences would have been unthinkable.

This showed just how enormous the gap between each level of power truly was. That was why Zhang Xiao was so astonished upon hearing Zi Yan’s words. Thinking of this, his gaze toward the Earth Pearl grew hot with fervor.

“Master, the old master did not seek out this Earth Pearl in order to refine an artifact, but to set up a formation.”

“A formation?”

Zhang Xiao was taken aback. After all, formations were external aids; how could they compare to magical treasures that were tied to one’s own strength? Moreover, with the Earth Pearl, one could refine an immortal artifact, a treasure even more terrifying than a supreme treasure. Why would Master Xuan Cang do something so backward and spend such a precious item on a formation?

“Master, do you remember the Starlight God-Slaying Formation? The old master intended to use the Earth Pearl to set it up. If the Earth Pearl could be found, then the Starlight God-Slaying Formation would truly live up to its name as a formation to slay immortals and gods alike.”

The following content is not counted in the word total: This chapter was originally supposed to be posted at two o’clock, but my computer modem broke. So frustrating! I hurriedly took the modem to the telecom office to exchange it, only to find out there that I had to bring the power adapter too. With no other choice, I rode my bicycle home as fast as I could to get the adapter, then rushed back again. At that moment, I truly sighed that if I had the protagonist’s divine footwork, that would be wonderful: one step there, one step home. All right, everyone, this is today’s third update. I hope that, seeing me drenched in sweat, you kind readers might leave a bookmark or a comment or something. Many thanks.