Chapter 1209: Chapter 456: The Princess Hero Arrives! An Old Acquaintance Returns! (Part 2)

"Did this poor monk allow you to leave?"

No Desire Buddha looked indifferently at everyone, his voice carrying a chill, "The secret of reincarnation is not to be transmitted outward. Since you’ve seen my Dharma Body, I can only send you to reincarnate."

Whoosh—

A piercing sound cut through the air, and a streak of light approached from afar.

Chen Mo looked up, and his heart sank.

He saw that it was a lotus platform, with each petal inscribed with Sanskrit, and the words "Du E" at the front — it was the magic boat of Wuwan Temple!

On the lotus platform, six monks sat cross-legged.

They faced the sky with five hearts, hands clasped, lips moving as they chanted scriptures.

"Thus have I heard: At one time, the World-honored One dwelt in the Heaven of Absolute Stillness, telling Vajra Treasury Bodhisattva..."

"Seeing form is seeing heart."

As soon as these words were spoken, the petals turned like blades, gouging out a pair of eyes from one of them, blood flowing from the corners like a stream.

Yet he seemed to feel no pain, even showing a look of sweet satisfaction.

And the two eyeballs, wrapped in Buddha’s light, were absorbed into the hollow sockets of No Desire Buddha.

"Hearing sound is hearing nature."

Another person’s ears were cut off, attached to the sides of a skull.

"Smelling fragrance is smelling emptiness."

"Tasting flavor is tasting silence."

"Touching dust is touching truth."

"One thought of wisdom brings forth prajna."

With each chant, noses, tongues, and even the flesh and blood were rapidly stripped away, filling the skeleton bit by bit.

The six monks remained motionless, their voices uniformly blending together, causing the air to tremble slightly:

"The eye root illuminates the world, the ear root perceives the wondrous sound, the nose root scents purity, the tongue root spins wide and long, the body root is a vajra tray, the mind root is the seed of extinguishment..."

"Six resplendencies break calamities and return to truth."

As the last syllable fell, they had been entirely stripped to white bones, the heart within their chest cavity slowly stopped beating, completely silent.

"Take action!"

The crowd realized something was amiss and hastily activated their Divine Skills, launching towards that figure.

Yet it was all in vain. Upon reaching the Buddha’s light, all Divine Skills dissipated completely, incapable of causing any harm, helplessly watching as No Desire Buddha’s form gradually took shape.

After three moments, he was already reborn anew.

Lips red, teeth white, refined and handsome, looking just like a youth, yet those golden eyes shone with the wisdom of ages.

Delicate skin like an infant’s, smooth and flawless, radiating a blue-white glass-like brilliance, a prajna flame wheel floating behind his head, seven colors endlessly shifting, a golden swastika faintly flashing on his chest.

Solemn, sacred, filled with compassion.

At the first glance of this young man, an unstoppable thought emerged in everyone’s mind simultaneously—

If there was a Buddha in the world, this must be what it looked like.

"Unfortunately, the loss of Buddha Heart was severe, leading to a deficiency in the six roots, not reaching the state of fullness."

"But it’s enough to handle the current situation."

No Desire Buddha murmured to himself.

Everyone wanted to strike again, but they heard his calm voice: "Lay down your butcher knife."

Clang—

The Dragon Marrow Sword fell from Chen Mo’s hand to the ground.

The killing intent in his heart suddenly vanished, leaving him standing frozen in place.

The others were the same, knowing something was wrong, yet unable to muster even a thought of resistance.

This method was very similar to the technique used by Shi Yun during the Heavenly Element Martial Examination, but it surpassed it by countless levels.

Step, step, step—

No Desire Buddha approached slowly.

A coarse, patched vestment robe appeared out of nowhere, draping over him.

He arrived in front of Chen Mo, his elongated eyes examining closely, even leaning in to sniff, a hint of realization passing across his face, "So, it’s a Heavenly Demon from beyond this realm, hence not bound by this world’s rules... Hmm, the scent of Dragon Blood within, no wonder you can use Thunder Talisman, it seems you’ve also inherited from that Evil Dragon?"

Chen Mo’s heart felt gripped by an invisible hand.

He hadn’t expected that his carefully hidden secret would be seen through in an instant!

Facing those pure eyes, he felt completely exposed, with nowhere to hide!

"Besides that, I also caught the scent of Origin on you. It seems you have quite a few secrets hidden... No matter, once I extract your soul, everything will be revealed."

No Desire Buddha pointed his right index finger towards Chen Mo’s forehead.

Chen Mo wanted to dodge, but his body wouldn’t obey, and he could only watch as the finger pierced his forehead.

Swish—

In the next moment, a fierce golden light flashed by.

No Desire Buddha’s hand was severed at the root, the cut smooth as a mirror, with not a drop of blood flowing.

Then, a mocking voice rang out: "A bitter old cucumber painted green, pretending to be fresh, eh? An old bald scoundrel who’s lived too long and thinks he’s something?"

Chen Mo’s expression suddenly froze, a trace of astonishment glinting in his eyes.

"That voice is..."

"Hmm?"

No Desire Buddha turned his head.

The black fog that had been enveloping Sikong Zuiyue quietly dissipated, revealing a tall and slender figure standing proudly.

Brilliant golden armor covered every inch of the body, with edges engraved with flowing flame patterns, and each shoulder guard cast with nine plumes. The fine scale armor gathered at the waist, forming a pleated phoenix tail, and a reddish cloak fluttered behind.

Long, raven-black hair was tied atop the head with a silk ribbon casually.

The entire person exuded a powerful aura, like a blazing sun burning fiercely.

"Chu, Chu Yanli?!"

Chen Mo couldn’t believe it. The woman who had traveled with him all along, never willing to show her face, turned out to be the Princess?!

Wait, that’s not right.

The name clearly written on the Creation Gold Contract is ’Sikong Zuiyue’...

Black fog swirled around Chu Yanli, and Sikong Zuiyue’s dissatisfied voice rang out: "I told you to act earlier, but you dragged it out until now. Her physical body has fully restored, and her strength has surged. How are we supposed to fight now?"

"What do you know? From the moment the Buddhist Beads entered the Secret Realm, everything was already set in stone and couldn’t be stopped. Better to reserve our strength and act at the end." Chu Yanli shook her head, "Besides, this bald donkey is not the real threat. The true danger is..."

She paused, hesitating to continue.

Sikong Zuiyue said, "I don’t care, we agreed. I help you get in here, and you help me obtain an imperial body, no backing out now."

Chu Yanli rolled her eyes, "Enough with the nonsense, anyone hearing you would think you have necrophilia."

"..."

Chen Mo finally understood.

So that "black fog" itself was Sikong Zuiyue, and she and Chu Yanli were never apart from the start!

But why did the Princess sneak into the Secret Realm and hide so deeply, what is her purpose?

"Hah, this gets more interesting."

No Desire Buddha’s severed hand had already regrown, and he raised his eyes to look at Chu Yanli, raising his eyebrows, "I sense a familiar scent on you; your last name should be Chu, right?"

Chu Yanli didn’t answer, crossing her arms and sneered, "No wonder Wuwan Temple has been so active these years, expanding its followers. It turns out you’re secretly seeking the Six-Rooted Buddha’s child for your resurrection plan?"

"As the Ultimate Venerable of the Buddhist Path, you still cling to life, and yet you call yourself No Desire. You’re entirely Greed, Ambition, and Obsession!"

Facing ridicule, No Desire Buddha didn’t show anger, instead speaking calmly: "Such is the heart of the benefactor filled with Greed and Ambition, hence seeing all as such; it’s your obsession with life and death that makes you doubt the fear of death among beings. These six are fated to be part of me, allowing transcendence from reincarnation."

"In this way, my act of passing is a true benevolence."

"Truly speaking, what I covet is ’liberation of all beings,’ abhor is ’boundless sea of bitterness,’ and am infatuated with ’hell not empty’."

"..."

Looking at No Desire Buddha’s compassionate posture, Chu Yanli’s eyebrows twitched furiously.

She knew these bald monks were adept at sophistry, she wouldn’t win in verbal sparring. Suppressing her anger, she asked, "So when you entered the Capital City back then, aiming to seize Dragon Qi, it was all for this day?" 𝗳𝐫𝚎𝗲𝚠𝚎𝗯𝕟𝐨𝘃𝚎𝗹.𝗰𝗼𝗺

No Desire Buddha sighed, "If I tell you that taking Dragon Qi was to save people, would you believe me?"

"I don’t believe you." Chu Yanli replied decisively.

"Then I have nothing more to say."

With a wave of his hand, a giant golden hand appeared out of nowhere above, forming a Buddha seal, "All those who’ve seen me must die, even if you are descendants of old acquaintances, you won’t be an exception. Rest assured, I shall recite the Rebirth Mantra to relieve you and help you escape the sea of misery sooner."

Boom—

The Buddha seal, like a mountain, pressed down on Chu Yanli.

Chu Yanli remained unchanged, eyes burning like fire, with a hint of excitement, "Usually, I worry about using Dragon Qi excessively, fearing it might drain the nation’s fortune. I dare not exert full power, but here, isolated from Jiu Zhou, I can finally unleash."

"A thousand-year old Buddha, is it?"

"I want to see if you can liberate yourself."

A long sword appeared out of thin air, falling into Chu Yanli’s hand.

It instantly burst with dazzling golden light, accompanied by a resounding dragon roar, striking towards the giant hand!