Chapter 236: Transfer of Consciousness

The 236th Chapter: Consciousness Transport

The Buddha's realm knows no rain, only the great moon.

This is a temple, crumbling from an age no one can count, its walls of bluish-black stone choked by wild vines, twisted and grotesque trees stretching their bare branches skyward, blotting out the sun and moon.

Roots sprawl across the ground like a spider's web, encasing the shattered Buddha's head. Within the torn form, rusted mechanical constructs emerge, and bald rats with crimson eyes scurry through the decay.

A plaque lies buried among the rubble, its faint characters spelling "Dazhao."

The fallen Dazhao Temple—this is the chosen resting place of Yuan Mingfei for Long Tu.

"To desecrate your mother's teachings, Yuan Mingfei, you shall be reborn only in the beast realm!"

Long Tu lifts his gaze to the round moon above, his voice heavy with an unspoken dread.

"The beast realm? Are you trying to transfer my consciousness into livestock? Wow, I'm so scared!"

From the moon comes Yuan Mingfei's mocking, coquettish voice: "Then do I still have a chance?"

"Release the Buddha's realm, help me slay Li Jun, and I will allow you to re-link the Buddhist scriptures to Dazhao Temple!"

"To continue serving as a tool for propagating human seeds to those living Buddhas?"

"That is your supreme glory!"

Long Tu's righteous words have barely left his lips when the pale white moon above suddenly turns crimson.

"Hahahahahaha."

Yuan Mingfei's laughter carries bone-deep hatred and uncontrollable frenzy.

"How touching your mercy is, you beasts who have lost their humanity—I'll never forgive you, even if I descend into hell!"

Clang!

A black figure plummets from the blood-red moonlight, its face shadowed but eyes bright as stars, the Xiu Chun blade flashing with a thunderous gleam as it slashes toward Long Tu's form!

Li Jun has finally entered this Buddhist realm!

Beforehand, though he had disabled the impermanence register's anti-hypnosis function and relaxed his mental defenses, the subconscious and innate resistance in his flesh still forced Yuan Mingfei to exert all her might to pull his consciousness into her realm.

Even the time taken to enter was a fraction slower than Long Tu, who had been forcibly dragged in.

The blade's wind howled, tearing ridges and ripples across Long Tu's face.

His crimson robes billowed as two silver hand axes slid into his grasp.

The axes bore the engravings of two dancing, ferocious skulls—the very image of one of the protector deities in the esoteric Buddhist tradition, the Lord of the Corpse Forest.

Clang!

The cold gleam clashed against the overlapping axes, the immense force sending the monk flying.

Li Jun, just landed, planted his right foot firmly, his movements unhesitating as he launched forward like a cannonball, colliding once more.

Blade met axe in defense, the clashing sounds of their weapons echoing endlessly.

Long Tu felt as if he were a lone boat in a raging storm, his vision filled with relentless blade strikes, his hands numb from the assault.

The martial arts sequence, already unmatched among the twelve sequences, was further compounded by Yuan Mingfei's realm—hypnosis, interference, weakening, suppression everywhere, unrelenting.

In an instant, Long Tu found himself in peril, his silver axes nearly cleaved by the Xiu Chun blade's onslaught, severing his form.

Click!

The silver axes finally could not withstand the blade's tidal force, splitting with a piercing metallic snap.

The Xiu Chun blade, flung open by the impact, saw Li Jun not retract it but instead kick forward, slamming into Long Tu's chest.

Bang!

The flying figure crashed into a tree trunk, tearing roots as leaves and smoke billowed, embedding itself into the massive severed Buddha head.

"How is this bald donkey so hard to kill?"

From the moon came the woman's puzzled murmur.

By her knowledge of Dazhao Temple, these fanatical Buddhist adherents, though mentally twisted, were never fools.

Moreover, before her defection, she had heard of Long Tu's name—a prodigy among young monks, with exceptional faith and genes.

Such a person, even under her realm's suppression, should not have fallen so far.

"Be careful, something's off."

A voice of unease reached Li Jun's ears, but he ignored it, his forward momentum unyielding as he charged into the dispersing smoke.

Clang!

A thunderous explosion echoed through the temple ruins, followed by a red figure suddenly erupting from the smoke, exposed under the blood-red moon.

The tattered monk's robes, torn flesh, and gleaming mechanical body.

At this moment, a buzzing sound emanated from Long Tu's form.

Was this the mechanical heart's voice?

Suddenly, this Buddhist realm world fell into chaos, shadows twisting, light flickering.

Scattered Buddha remnants across the ground stirred as one, their faces turning toward the blade-wielding warrior, chanting eerie Buddhist hymns.

"Consciousness transport, dual-body technique. This is not Long Tu—it is his protector deity!"

From the blood moon came Yuan Mingfei's panicked cry.

Thud!

Cao Cang's figure flew backward, somersaulting midair before landing, only to stumble backward uncontrollably, finally shedding the overwhelming force and halting his retreat.

His right hand gripping the iron staff trembled, blood dripping through his fingers.

"What's wrong with you, Cao Cang? You're both protector deities—why is he so much stronger?"

From behind came Ma Wang Ye's teasing: "Need Ma Ye to help you out?"

"No need. Just watch their true forms."

Cao Cang's voice was icy: "This minor skirmish is enough to warm up my mechanical body."

"Still so stubborn, bleeding and still warming up?"

Hum.

The ultrasonic wave from the mechanical heart erupted from Cao Cang's chest.

Sharp canines tore through his lip skin, flipping outward. Coarse golden fur burst through his pores, covering his body.

His form hunched, the iron staff resting on his shoulder.

In a blink, his human shape had transformed into that of an ape.

"Ma Ye, I've killed so many military sequences, but I still can't figure out how their mechanical heart overclocking works. Is it transformation? Or summoning a deity?"

Ma Wang Ye scratched his helmet, muttering: "No way, this is so unscientific!"

The crowd below remained clueless as the battle raged anew on the field.

"Again!"

Cao Cang's lips curled into a defiant smile, his figure surged forward again, his speed incomparable to the time when the mechanical heart was overclocked.

"Die!"

Cao Cang roared with a trembling voice, his two mechanical arms unleashed a terrifying force, the iron rod sweeping forward curved into an arc, the blast of air instantly drowning out the storm.

Bang!

The fierce iron rod seemed to hit an invisible barrier and stopped abruptly.

Watching this eerie scene, Cao Cang's eyes trembled ceaselessly, exclaiming aloud, "You are not a Dharmapala?!"

Diamond Transformation, Earthly Buddha Country, Dharmapala—these are the unique abilities of the Buddhist-Daoist sequence.

Among them, the Dharmapala is an essential protective measure for activating the Earthly Buddha Country.

After all, once the Earthly Buddha Country is activated, whether the builder or the connector, their consciousness will fall into an illusion, like the three people standing rigid in the rain—Long Tu, Yuan Mingfei, and Li Jun.

At this moment, their bodies are mere unconscious shells, unable to protect themselves against danger, relying solely on the Dharmapala's protection.

Cao Cang, being Yuan Mingfei's Dharmapala, naturally understood them well.

The Dharmapalas vary in composition—some are purely flesh, others mechanized, and some a combination of both; their structure is not fixed.

Some are unconscious puppets who only know how to fight, while others, like him, are autonomous beings with thoughts, and their behavior patterns are not uniform.

The only commonality is that Dharmapalas excel only in close combat and absolutely do not possess such overwhelming Buddha thoughts, i.e., spiritual power.

If a Dharmapala possesses Buddha thoughts, there is a possibility of corruption and betrayal.

Boom!

The red-robed monk remained motionless, the stick-wielding ape retreating several feet.

Cao Cang, looking at the iron rod in his hand split into two, shouted fiercely, "The situation has changed, Ma Ye, help!"

Kang!