Chapter 1645: Chapter 1268:
Facing Shakyamuni’s questioning, the Divine Doctor, flustered and panicked, had his mind spinning at high speed as he searched for flaws and loopholes in the matter. Yet no matter how he pondered, he still could not figure out how Wu Ming had escaped the control of the Blood God Pill—unless... unless Wu Ming was not actually a descendant of Shakyamuni’s bloodline. But such a treasonous answer, the moment it left his mouth, would likely cost him his life.
"Hmph!"
Fortunately, Shakyamuni only gave a cold snort, seemingly unwilling to pursue this question further. Or perhaps he too had already connected the crucial dots within. Turning his back, he said coldly, "Were it not that your Medical Skill attainments are truly rare and hard to come by, for today’s mistake alone, this god would have you..."
Before he could finish, Shakyamuni’s expression suddenly changed. A mouthful of blood surged up and spilled out as he let out a muffled groan of pain, and beneath the mask, his face began to coil with a faint cyan-black poisonous miasma.
"The Wall Poison has erupted again? Lord, this lowly one already warned you—within a single day, you can only use the Mahayana Unlimited Power once at most."
The Divine Doctor’s expression shifted slightly as he spoke, but his hands did not slow. He swiftly moved to needle Shakyamuni, easing and suppressing the Wall Poison, then set about Healing his bones and injuries, secretly shocked at the terrifying enemy who had so heavily wounded this god-like man.
After a long while.
Shakyamuni’s breathing steadied. He waved the Divine Doctor away, then sat alone upon the Divine Throne in the middle of the mountain cave. Reaching up, he removed the Mystic Ice Mask from his face, revealing a slightly aged, square-jawed visage.
Thick brows and large eyes, gaze like an eagle’s. Only now, with the mask off and no one else present, did the taut muscles of his face relax. He raised a hand to stroke his beard, a pensive look in his eyes as he secretly mulled over the many details of today’s battle.
At this moment, proud as he was, he had no choice but to admit that even though he had already sufficiently overestimated Jiang Dali, he had still underestimated this mountain bandit leader who repeatedly wrought miracles.
"Not only was this boy able to break through to Returning to Truth, 8th Realm, in such a short time, he has actually Cultivated the War God Chronicles to the Divine Tail Realm. The talent he has displayed in Cultivation already far surpasses all geniuses that have ever appeared in the Martial World of the vassal states. Only one person can compare to him..."
Thinking of that one person, the muscles on Shakyamuni’s face twitched faintly, as though he had recalled scenes of past events too painful to look back on.
"Wu Wudi!"
Back then, he had for a long time Fallen into the Demon Path, becoming the Heavenly Pool Blood Demon who struck terror into the Martial World. Yet because of Cultivating Devil Skill, he lost his reason, until he encountered Wu Wudi of the Wu Family. After a bout of combat, he was brutally beaten, and that savage beating completely woke him from his Devilish State.
That experience, though regarded by him as a humiliation of the highest order, nonetheless left him with Power surpassing his former self once he broke free of the demonic path. Up to now, with Wu Wudi having vanished from the Martial World for many years, his confidence had already surpassed what it once was.
He could not defeat Wu Wudi—no matter.
As long as he outlived the other, he would still be the one who laughed last.
But now, he had actually met another Jiang Dali whose natural talent rivaled Wu Wudi’s. This caused a warning omen to arise in his heart.
"The reason Wu Wudi was able to, within a mere twenty-some years, Cultivate such Sky-reaching Power, was because the Wu Family once chose the wrong side in the Hundred Countries War and was cursed. For several hundred years, generation after generation of the Wu clan was stripped of Martial Arts talent by the curse. Only when the curse finally wore off did misfortune reach its limit and turn to fortune. The Wu clan’s Qi Fortune amassed over hundreds of years exploded all at once, leading to the birth of Wu Wudi, who inherited the clan’s Qi Fortune and thus possessed a Martial Arts talent of staggering proportions.
But this Jiang Dali—what virtue, what ability does he have to actually be comparable to Wu Wudi? Could it be that he too has some special origin that I do not know about?"
As Shakyamuni pondered, his gaze suddenly steadied, turning vicious and utterly ruthless.
"No matter what origin he has, such a figure must be eradicated as early as possible, to cut off all future trouble! Even if I am gravely injured now, I should strike while the iron is hot and pursue the victory. They will never expect that I could return so soon.
Moreover, that Undying’s bloodline is also unusual. If I can Devour it, my old injuries from the past will swiftly recover."
Having reached this decision, he rose without hesitation, glanced at his heavily injured arms, and was about to once more enter the Mental State of the Seven No Absolute Realm, so that his Body could be reassembled and quickly recover. Yet just as he began to employ his unique mental method, his Spirit was abruptly jolted, breaking his concentration.
He tried several times in a row, and the old, ever-composed face that had seemed so assured of victory gradually could not be maintained. His eyes rolled slightly, his expression full of doubt and alarm, his complexion exceedingly ugly.
"This is bad... my Mental State of the Seven No Absolute Realm has actually collapsed..."
This shock was no trivial matter.
It completely disrupted all of his plans.
The Seven No Absolute Realm, this secret technique, could transform his Body into a Primordial Spirit state from Essence Qi in the span of an instant. Even if shattered into dust-like particles, he could rapidly reconstitute himself. It was his proudest secret technique, one that could even rival the "Sacred Heart Formula."
And the essence of this secret technique was to use powerful Spiritual Power as the core, guiding the spirit, Essence Qi, and vitality to shatter and then recombine.
One could say that so long as his Mental State did not waver, his physical State would remain unchanged. No matter how severe the injuries, he could turn his Body into a state of Essence Qi, shatter and reassemble, completely surpassing traditional Martial Arts methods such as shifting acupoints and moving positions. Even Martial Arts like the "Heavenly Silkworm Demon Technique" could not compare.
The general principle of this Martial Arts technique was akin to a special state in idealism: "If the heart does not move, then all things do not move. I too do not move."
But now, his heart had already moved.
He had already guessed the reason for this stir in his heart. Most likely, during the previous battle, he had been forced into the Seven No Absolute Realm several times in succession by Jiang Dali, and his Spirit had been shaken with fear and awe by the other’s astounding talent, producing a subtle shift in his Heart Realm. He could no longer enter the State of the Seven No Absolute Realm to guide his spirit, Essence Qi, and Three Flowers to shatter and recombine.
A similar kind of unexpected situation had actually happened once several hundred years ago. Back then, only because he had encountered the Divine Beast Azure Dragon and almost died under the Dragon Claw, he cursed in agitation after being gravely injured, and just that one curse caused his technique to collapse, making it impossible for him to use the Seven No Absolute Realm again for a very long time.
And now...
"This is troublesome!"
...
On the other side, high in the sky, the Demon Dragon was tearing through clouds and fog as it sped along.
Although Jiang Dali and the others were all more or less wounded, their mood at this moment was extremely good, for on this trip they had successfully rescued Wu Ming—this alone meant a huge success.
Yet when they thought of the godlike Martial Arts Shakyamuni had displayed in the earlier clash, everyone could not help but feel heavy-hearted.
"A tree that lives a thousand years becomes a spirit; a man that lives a thousand years becomes a monster."
Zhang Sanfeng sat beside Jiang Dali, his white beard fluttering as he said, "Since this Shakyamuni has relied on Phoenix Blood to live for over a thousand years, with his millennium of experience and Martial Arts accumulation, it’s not strange that he could create some godlike Martial Arts. The key now is how to find a way to defeat him."
Yin Zhong said solemnly, "Though this man is powerful, he has not yet reached the point of being invincible. Otherwise, with his bizarre Martial Arts, even if he was injured by Wu Ming in the end, he wouldn’t have had to flee the battlefield. It should be that this kind of Martial Arts that allows his Body to reorganize also has a limit it can bear, and he was already close to that limit, with no confidence in taking on all of us together. So once Wu Ming regained his senses, he decisively retreated."
As one of the Undying himself, he was also an existence that was very hard to kill, yet he knew well that "very hard to kill" did not mean "can never truly be killed," so naturally he could also surmise that Shakyamuni was not truly an immortal, indestructible being.
Jiang Dali nodded and said, "Lord Yin is right, but this is precisely the crux of the problem. With that mysterious, unkillable protective body Martial Arts of his, plus his strange movement technique, as long as we cannot completely pin him down, he can retreat at any time. For us to kill him is as hard as ascending to heaven—unless we have some way to restrict his escape, or annihilate him within an extremely short time, leaving him no chance to recover or flee."
As he spoke, his gaze turned toward the Sword Saint and Wu Ming.
Among everyone present, the only ones truly capable of dealing the greatest damage to Shakyamuni in an extremely short time were the Sword Saint, Wu Ming, and himself. Even Master Zhang Sanfeng, limited by his Power Realm, would find it hard to accomplish.
This clash with Shakyamuni, in fact, could only be considered their first bout to get familiar with each other. Jiang Dali had long since laid out a plan; the main purpose of this trip was not to desperately fight Shakyamuni, but first and foremost to take Wu Ming away.
Therefore, under conditions that did not permit it, they absolutely would not engage in a prolonged battle; once they rescued Wu Ming, they would immediately retreat.
This was also why the Sword Saint had not used Sword Twenty-Three from the start, and why he himself had not instantly entered the extreme State of Power Level Mahavira stacked with twelve times the power. Simply because, when they were still unfamiliar with Shakyamuni’s depth of Martial Arts, the timing was not ripe, and they could not rashly use their trump cards.
After this great battle and the familiarity it brought, the timing now could be said to have reached an initial maturity.
Seeing Jiang Dali’s gaze sweep over, a trace of helplessness flashed in Wu Ming’s pair of eyes that had weathered infinite vicissitudes and stood aloof from the world. He slowly shook his head and said, "You must be thinking that while Shakyamuni is wounded, seizing the time to eliminate him is the best strategy. But unfortunately...it still isn’t the optimal timing."
"Why?" Jiang Dali frowned.
The sparse little moustache on Wu Ming’s lip trembled slightly as he spoke. "What was your purpose in saving me?"
Jiang Dali answered without thinking, "You are a Martial Arts Legend, with Returning to Truth 9th Realm strength. Once we rescue you and your injuries heal, if we join forces against Shakyamuni, he will be doomed without a doubt."
Wu Ming neither confirmed nor denied it, and said, "But I fear my injuries are no longer something that can be healed in a short time, because I have already taken the Blood God Pill that Shakyamuni and the Divine Doctor meticulously refined together. Shakyamuni has already told you that he is my ancestor—that is indeed true; the blood of the Wei Family does indeed flow in my body.
By using his own blood as the primer to refine the Blood God Pill, he can achieve the effect of controlling me, forcing me, under bloodline suppression, to obey his commands, and even be unable to strike at him."
Before Jiang Dali could ask, he continued, "The reason I was able to break free of the Blood God Pill’s control in the battle just now was precisely because I maintained the Heavenly Sword Heart State from beginning to end, never letting the Blood God Pill fully control me. Fortunately, the Phoenix Blood in Shakyamuni’s body has completely suppressed his own blood, so the Wei Family bloodline’s controlling power was not as great as he imagined.
However...after I used Sword Blood Floating Life earlier, I let the Blood God Pill’s poison once again invade and press much closer to my heart vessels. Right now, nearly eighty percent of my Power must be used to resist the invasion of the Blood God Pill. Once the medicinal force of the Blood God Pill fully invades my heart vessels, I will completely obey Shakyamuni."
At this, everyone fully understood.
So Wu Ming had only pretended to be controlled and fought them earlier as a bit of playacting; only at the most critical moment did he suddenly seize the timing to heavily injure Shakyamuni and frighten him into retreat.
But that strike was likely also Wu Ming’s last bit of remaining strength. The majority of his current Power was already restricted by the Blood God Pill and could not be used.
"I didn’t expect that the Divine Doctor has already thrown in his lot with Shakyamuni...no wonder he’s so hard to find in the Martial World."
Jiang Dali’s brows knit tightly together. He felt the situation once again sink into a thorny deadlock. He had never imagined that after finally rescuing Wu Ming, Wu Ming would actually be in a crippled-blood State—this made the situation extremely awkward...
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