After the system rewards were issued, the spell reward, the Art of Moving Mountains, appeared directly in Ao Tu’s mind, instantly mastered and fully integrated.
Ao Tu formed hand seals and chanted the incantation, and a small mountain was lifted by his magic. However, this spell could only move smaller mountains and rivers; famed great mountains like Mount Tai and Mount Hua could not be moved.
Still, that was already quite good. It was an extremely practical spell.
As for the rewards of the Six-Turn Golden Pill and the True Dragon’s Dragon Pearl, they were issued directly into Ao Tu’s hands.
The Six-Turn Golden Pill shone with brilliant gold, bright and dazzling, its pill-clouds full and rich, auspicious qi streaming in thousands of rays.
If a mortal ate it, they would ascend to immortality on the spot and become ageless and undying. Ao Tu was at the Xuan Immortal cultivation level, so the effect would not be as obvious as it was for a mortal, but after eating it, his cultivation would still advance greatly, sparing him who knew how many years of painstaking effort. It was truly a rare immortal pill.
Without hesitation, Ao Tu swallowed the Six-Turn Golden Pill in one gulp and refined it in his belly. His cultivation rose rapidly, breaking through directly from the early stage of Xuan Immortal to the middle stage. The medicinal power had not even been fully refined yet; if it were completely refined, it would likely help him break through to the late stage of Xuan Immortal.
Ao Tu then looked at the True Dragon’s Dragon Pearl.
It was a bright golden dragon pearl. Judging from its aura, it had been left behind by a true dragon at the Golden Immortal level. Laws flowed within the pearl, and inside it was the embryonic form of a small world, containing boundless magical power.
The more Ao Tu looked at it, the more he liked it. With this Golden Immortal-level dragon pearl, if he ate it, it could help him break through to the Golden Immortal realm sooner; if he did not eat it, he could use it as a magic treasure. When facing an enemy, he could strike it out, equivalent to an attack at the Golden Immortal level. The benefits were truly immense.
Ao Tu swallowed the dragon pearl, storing it within his belly, then flew in the direction of Gao Village.
It was time for him to prepare his next arrangement.
As for how to obstruct Tang Seng and his disciples at Gao Village, Ao Tu had already thought of a method. Counting the twelve days of progress he had gained earlier at Guanyin Chan Monastery, he was very confident that this time he could reach thirty days of progress and obtain the reward for intercepting them for one month.
However, while Ao Tu was flying toward Gao Village, more than a dozen figures suddenly appeared ahead of him.
Those dozen or so figures were all extremely ugly in appearance. They had red skin, flames rising from their heads, bodies two zhang tall, and wings growing from their backs. One eye grew on the crown of the head, the other on the chin; one nostril faced the sky, the other pointed toward the ground; one ear was in front, the other behind. They had human bodies and beast heads, with ox heads and horse faces. All of them flew through the air, steel forks in hand. They were none other than the foremost fighting force among the Eight Classes of Buddhism: yakshas.
“Ao Tu, because you delayed the hour for striking the bell and fled privately to the lower realm, we have come by the command of Venerable Ananda to capture you!”
As those yakshas spoke, they charged at Ao Tu.
Seeing this, Ao Tu had no idea what Ananda was plotting. It had clearly been Ananda who told him to descend to the lower realm and obstruct Tang Seng’s pilgrimage, so why was he now sending yakshas to capture him?
However, these few yakshas had low cultivation. Only the leader was a Heavenly Immortal, while the rest were Earth Immortals, and two had only just transformed. To Ao Tu, they could be destroyed with a flip of his hand.
Ao Tu transformed into his original form, becoming a four-clawed yellow dragon. He opened his enormous mouth and spat out a sheet of golden radiance. Sharp qi filled the sky, striking those yakshas. Blood immediately scattered through the air, and yaksha corpses were torn apart piece by piece, falling from the sky.
Ao Tu possessed the bloodline of a golden dragon within his body, but because the bloodline was impure, he manifested as a yellow dragon. He was born with a breath of sharp metal qi; when spat out, it slaughtered all things. If it struck a person, both body and spirit would be destroyed, leaving scarcely a whole corpse behind.
After the radiance passed, only the leading Heavenly Immortal-level yaksha remained alive among the dozen or so yakshas. Covered in blood and with a weakened aura, he fled backward in panic, crying:
“Demon dragon, if you act so viciously, the Buddha will not spare you!”
Ao Tu did not care in the slightest. In the past, he had devoted himself wholeheartedly to striking the bell and worshiping the Buddha, but had the Buddha spared him?
Just as he was about to pursue and kill him, a beam of glazed light suddenly descended from the sky, shining upon the fleeing yaksha and freezing him in place.
Ao Tu immediately found this scene extremely familiar. Back when he had been striking the bell, he had been fixed in place just like this, causing him to miss the appointed hour.
Sure enough, Ananda’s figure soon appeared in the air, surrounded by Buddha-light, standing upon a golden lotus, holding a glazed alms bowl in his hand. That glazed light was being released from the bowl.
Seeing this, Ao Tu quietly held the dragon pearl in his mouth and looked at Ananda warily.
Ananda said, “What are you waiting for? Why have you not acted?”
Ao Tu said, “What do you mean?”
Ananda said, “You little dragon, you truly are stupid. This venerable one has come by the Buddha’s decree to subdue you. If there are not a few more casualties in the process, how can this venerable one’s hardship and merit be displayed? This venerable one is unwilling to be tainted by the karma of killing. Hurry and act. Do not delay any longer.”
Hearing this, Ao Tu could not help but shake his head inwardly for the yaksha race. He added another beam of radiance, killing the immobilized yaksha.
Only then did Ananda withdraw his treasure. He looked at Ao Tu and praised him:
“Not bad, not bad. This venerable one heard that you laid a scheme and framed others, adding the ordeal of imprisonment to the scripture pilgrim. This matter was handled very well!”
Ananda took out a golden flower from his robes and said, “Consider this your reward. Since you have some ability, add a few more ordeals. The more, the better.”
Golden flowers were relatively common treasures in Buddhism. After consuming one, it could raise one’s cultivation somewhat, and its effect was even a bit better than ordinary pills.
But Ao Tu was puzzled.
Logically speaking, within the great calamity, heavenly secrets were obscured, and even saints could not perceive the full picture. How had Ananda found out so quickly that he had been the one behind it?
While he was still puzzled, he saw Ananda reveal the reason himself.
Ananda said, “You did well this time, but you were not meticulous enough. After Guangzhi and Guangmou arrived in the underworld, they appealed their grievances and filed a complaint against me, causing a great deal of trouble. Next time, devour their living souls directly so they cannot cause trouble. Otherwise, if the matter is exposed, I will not protect you!”
Only then did Ao Tu understand where the problem lay.
So it had been Guangzhi and Guangmou’s souls filing a complaint against Ananda in the underworld.
Those two really had been ignorant and fearless.
Ao Tu said, “May I ask, Venerable One, how were Guangzhi and Guangmou dealt with?”
Ananda said, “No need to worry. In order to compensate them, this venerable one brought their souls out of the underworld and cast them into Lingshan’s Eight Classes Transformation Pool. They became two guardian yakshas, and from then on would forever enjoy bliss at Lingshan. Naturally, the two of them were deeply grateful and voluntarily withdrew their complaint.”
The moment Ao Tu heard “yakshas,” he immediately had a bad premonition.
Sure enough, Ananda continued:
“Unfortunately, their strength was lacking and their fortune shallow. Just now, they were regrettably struck by your golden light until their souls scattered and their spirits dispersed. What a pity.”
Hearing this, Ao Tu felt a chill down his back. His understanding of Buddhism’s ruthlessness rose another level.
After Ananda left, Ao Tu quickly hurried toward the Gao Village region.
After this incident, his desire for strength became even more urgent. If he lacked sufficient strength, what difference was there between him and that yaksha?
【Ding. Entered mission area.】
【Current Side Mission: Exorcism at Gao Village】
【Mission Requirement: Obstruct the scripture pilgrim within the Gao Village region. Rewards will be settled according to the duration of obstruction.】
【Mission Rewards: Three days / Three-Turn Golden Pill; seven days / True Dragon Essence Blood; half a month / Purple-Patterned Immortal Peach; one month / Acquired Spirit Treasure · Five Fires Divine Flame Fan; one season / Divine Ability · Five-Colored Divine Light; half a year / Ancestral Dragon Essence Blood; one year / Innate Spirit Treasure · Soul-Scattering Gourd; three years / Innate Spirit Treasure · Hetu Luoshu; twelve years / Chaos Bell; sixty years...】
【Current Progress: Twelve days】