Chapter 739: Vajra King of the Mantra Treasury

Chapter 739: Vajra King of the Mantra Treasury

It was clear that due to the proactive intervention of the Skygale of Tianxu, the Great Sovereign of the Sect of the Enlightened, who had returned from a premature reincarnation, had not yet regained His peak strength.

This was precisely why He was being extra cautious.

If He were at His peak Ninth Rank, He would not have feared Song Chi. However, with His current strength still at the Eighth Rank, and the Skygale of Tianxu's mirror warship posing a significant threat, He was wary and unwilling to tangle with Song Chi any further.

Even as a mighty Ninth-Rank Sovereign, He did not wish to relive the previous experience, no matter how slight the possibility.

The countless years of suffering were known only to Him.

In fact, the Great Sovereign of the Sect of the Enlightened was indeed decisive. With a tremor in the void, the Divine Footstep ability activated once more.

However, Song Chi was clearly well-prepared. He had long recognized the Divine Footstep, one of the supreme abilities of the Sect of the Enlightened, and would not have failed to prepare a countermeasure.

Buzz! Buzz! Buzz!

A sudden tremor echoed from the depths of the sky. The Eighth-Rank Great Sovereign, who had vanished a moment ago, reappeared in the void, looking disheveled. Above His head, a layer of void that was almost invisible to the naked eye was now showing intense ripples.

Facing the impact of an Eighth-Rank Great Sovereign, one who had almost gathered the entire essence will of a Seventh-Level Floating Continent, the Level 80 Frost Void Prison clearly seemed inadequate.

However, Song Chi had never placed his hopes on this. As the Frost Void Prison briefly restrained the Great Sovereign, the component replicating the Time Chessboard on the mirror warship activated.

Vast temporal power descended, enveloping not only the Eighth-Rank Great Sovereign but also the mirror warship itself.

In the next second, both felt the world turn upside down. When they righted themselves, they found themselves in a secluded, enclosed space.

Under the power of the "Time·Chessboard" characteristic, the Eighth-Rank Great Sovereign's formidable combat strength was significantly weakened, ultimately dropping to the Eighth Rank, a full rank lower.

All these changes occurred in an instant.

The instigator, Song Chi, was well-prepared. Without waiting for the Great Sovereign of the Sect of the Enlightened to recover from His shock, the Market of All Heavens Projection, which had been pulled into the enclosed space along with the mirror warship, struck with a resounding force.

The Purple Mist Seal, carrying boundless power, swept across the high-dimensional space like a deep, inexorable pressure. The Eighth-Rank Great Sovereign had no way to evade.

With the power of a Half-Step Ninth Rank, the blood-colored Buddhist light surrounding the Eighth-Rank Great Sovereign was easily torn apart, like a thin sheet of paper.

In the end, the Purple Mist Energy collided with the Great Sovereign's physical body, leaving deep, bone-revealing wounds on His dark form.

- Dragon Blood Demon Lock Chain · "Dragon Blood Demon Lock"
- Dragon Whale Roaring Sea
- Blood Spear · "Mark of the God of Hunt's Weakness"
- Limitless Immortal Quantum Star Annihilator · "Infinite Immortal Quantum Sword Light"

The activation of several ultimate attack methods in quick succession showed that Song Chi did not intend to give His opponent any chance to catch a breath.

The Great Sovereign ultimately came from a Sovereign Civilization and was likely a Ninth-Rank Sovereign in some unknown age. Such a being could have any number of hidden cards. Without decisively obliterating Him, endless trouble would surely follow.

Song Chi was well aware of this.

Before the Eighth-Rank Great Sovereign could recover from the devastating attack of the Market of All Heavens Projection, a second wave of attacks followed.

"Om"!

An ancient Buddhist chant echoed, and a brilliant Buddhist light enveloped the Eighth-Rank Great Sovereign. Under the blessing of His Sixth-Rank Demon Buddha Golden Body, the light instantly coalesced into a majestic Buddha avatar.

Om

Ma

Ni

Ba

Mi

Om

The moment the Buddha avatar formed, an infinite chorus of Buddhist mantras crossed the vast void, resounding throughout the enclosed space.

At the Pantheon Market, Song Chi, standing atop the sky, felt a momentary daze. Despite the separation by the mirror warship, the Market of All Heavens Projection, and the endless dark void, the ancient Buddhist chant still had some effect on him.

However, his current concern was not this.

The standing of the Pantheon Market was such that even if he was affected to some extent, as long as he remained within the Market of All Heavens, the chant could not truly control him.

What was most important now was the identity of the Buddha avatar summoned by the Eighth-Rank Great Sovereign.

Not only did it ignore the Half-Step Ninth Rank barrier of the Market of All Heavens Projection, but it also crossed the dark void of the Star Sea to influence his true form in the Pantheon Market.

Clearly, this was not normal.

As his thoughts raced, the Skybrain quickly provided a wealth of information.

From this information, Song Chi finally determined the identity of the other party.

That Buddha... perhaps it would be more accurate to call Him a Patriarch Buddha. In the Star Sea civilization of the Sect of the Enlightened, Seventh-Rank and above could be self-proclaimed as Buddhas, but only after reaching the Tenth Rank Mythic could one be called a Patriarch Buddha.

The projection summoned by the Eighth-Rank Enlightened was most likely a Tenth-Rank Ancestor Buddha from the Enlightened civilization—the Vajra King of the Mantra Treasury.

Reaching this conclusion, Song Chi's heart sank.

He was no longer a novice. He had a considerable understanding of the various Sovereign Civilizations of the Star Sea.

The Vajra King of the Mantra Treasury, an Ancestor Buddha of the Enlightened's Demon Buddha lineage, had attained the rank of Ancestor Buddha over 500,000 years ago. He was a renowned and feared figure in the vast Star Sea, known for his ruthless and merciless nature.

As a Demon Buddha who believed in absolute freedom, the Vajra King of the Mantra Treasury had accumulated countless sins, destroying innumerable Star Sea civilizations with his hands.

...

"Since that's the case..."

A cold glint flashed in Song Chi's eyes.

In the space of the Time Chessboard, the attacks from the previous round were all rendered null by the Vajra King of the Mantra Treasury's projection. The mirror warship's engines roared to life.

The Antimatter Evolution Engine, Flame Roar Engine, Primordial Copper Horn, and Sovereign Ivory Horn were activated in quick succession.

Suddenly, the mirror warship transformed into a fleeting shadow, hurtling forward with boundless power toward the Eighth-Rank Enlightened.

Above the Eighth-Rank Enlightened, the Vajra King of the Mantra Treasury's projection threw a string of bone prayer beads, which quickly transformed into a bone cage, attempting to suppress the Skygale of Tianxu mirror warship.

However, this was the space of the colored upper-level Time Chessboard, and the Vajra King of the Mantra Treasury himself was a projection spanning tens of billions of light-years. In contrast, the mirror warship, now bolstered by the Market of All Heavens Projection, was just a step away from the Ninth Rank. With the two icy horns striking full force, the illusory bone prayer beads shattered.

Despite the significant reduction in speed, the mirror warship still carried a terrifying amount of power as it continued to charge straight toward the Eighth-Rank Enlightened.

Song Chi knew that the territory of the Enlightened civilization, where the Vajra King of the Mantra Treasury resided, was over tens of trillions of light-years away. Without the Eighth-Rank Enlightened as a medium, the projection would be like a rootless weed, dissipating soon.

But it was clear that this wasn't just known to Song Chi.

After the bone prayer beads were shattered, the majestic Vajra King of the Mantra Treasury's projection seemed to sense Song Chi's provocation. The sky was filled with the light of Buddha, and a massive hand emerged from the Buddha's projection, pushing forward with overwhelming force.

As the Buddha's hand swept through, the power of the Great Dao followed, and the omnipresent linguistic laws could only serve as a backdrop.

Staring at the profound power swirling around the Buddha's hand, Song Chi felt a sense of familiarity.

'World Power!'

He quickly made the connection. The energy swirling around the Buddha's hand was very similar to what he had recently observed in the Tri-Corpse Hyperstate Mecha.

During the battle with the bottomless abyss's Eight-Armed Demon God, the Tri-Corpse Hyperstate Mecha, formed by three human emperors and their flagships, had also displayed this kind of power. At that time, the mecha giant carried two small worlds on its shoulders and a large world above its head, using the power of these three worlds to temporarily unleash mythic-level strength.

Now, in the massive hand pushing down from above, Song Chi detected a significant amount of World Power.

His mind raced, and the information he had just scanned from the Skybrain resurfaced.

"It's the 'Buddhist Realm in the Palm'!"

Song Chi instantly had his answer. The only Enlightened technique capable of harnessing the power of an entire world was this one.

Whether it was correct or not, he had no choice but to face it head-on.

Two more components were activated.

Replica of the Realm Counterbalance Instrument: "Counterbalance Field"

Replica of the Time Chessboard: "Time Chessboard"

If the Realm Counterbalance Instrument were a black component, Song Chi might have had more confidence. However, it was just a golden component, and facing a mythic-level Ancestor Buddha's projection, he had to activate his backup plan as well.

The "Buddhist Realm in the Palm" technique was indeed formidable, but the time field condensed by the colored upper-level component was no less powerful.

Moreover, Song Chi's commands never ceased. Following the activation of these two components, several more were activated within the mirror warship.

Neutron Star Core Armor: "High-Energy Particle Storm"

Wings of Angelic Sovereignty: "True Spirit Protection of the Angelic Sovereign"

...

The "Buddhist Realm in the Palm" was one of the strongest techniques of the dominant Enlightened. When wielded by a mythic-level Ancestor Buddha's projection, the initial impact of the Counterbalance Field barely made a ripple, only weakening the world barrier of the Buddhist Realm in the Palm slightly.

Then came the multicolored field created by the "Time Chessboard", which caused a more significant impact, and fine cracks began to appear on the world barrier of the Buddhist Realm.

Next, the High-Energy Particle Storm continuously erupted from the mirror warship, further eroding the world barrier of the Buddhist Realm, though it still did not shatter it.

At this moment, a purple fog finger extended from the Market of All Heavens Projection, becoming the key to breaking the deadlock.

The purple fog finger struck the world barrier of the Buddhist Realm, already riddled with cracks. The "Buddhist Realm in the Palm" could no longer hold, and the entire world shattered with a resounding boom.

For a moment, a vast amount of Buddhist wish power erupted, but fortunately, the outer layer of the Skygale of Tianxu was still protected by the projection of the Market of All Heavens and the illusory presence of the Angelic Sovereign. This close-range self-destruction of the miniature world ultimately caused little damage to the mirror warship.

With the Buddhist Realm in the Palm no longer an obstacle, the Skygale of Tianxu mirror warship had no barriers left between it and the Eighth-Rank Enlightened.

The Eighth-Rank Enlightened attempted to dodge, but Song Chi had already anticipated this move.

A subtle light shot out from the mirror warship. By the time the Eighth-Rank Enlightened was ready to use the Divine Footstep, the light had already struck its body.

Just as it tried to channel its inner Buddhist energy, it realized that the energy within its body was in turmoil and completely out of control.

At this point, the Eighth-Rank Enlightened had no time to activate any other abilities. The rapidly approaching mirror warship collided fiercely with its chest.

The two sharp ram horns pierced deep into its flesh, carrying boundless momentum, and the Eighth-Rank Enlightened let out a blood-curdling scream as blood spewed out uncontrollably.

"This is not enough!"

Neutron Star Core Armor · "Neutron Star Fission"!

Purple Dawn Divine Thunder Cannon · "Ninefold Purple Dawn Apocalyptic Lightning"!

Bodhimanda Samadhi Seal · "Meditation Seal: Inner Time Speed"!

Three components activated simultaneously, and the mirror warship quickly transformed into a miniature neutron star. The terrifying heat it emitted at one moment directly melted a massive wound into the Eighth-Rank Enlightened. At the deepest point of the wound, the yin and yang blood and bones were faintly visible.

Finally, the "Ninefold Purple Dawn Apocalyptic Lightning" erupted directly under the enhancement of the Bodhimanda Samadhi Seal, without any time for energy buildup.

The ninefold purple dawn thunder was the final lethal strike.

Already in a hasty reincarnation, its combat power far from its peak, the Eighth-Rank Enlightened ultimately could not resist the final blow and was soon completely extinguished.

Without the Eighth-Rank Enlightened as a medium, the illusory presence of the Vajra King of the Mantra Treasury, which had not suffered much damage throughout, lost its support and began to slowly dissipate.

The heavenly Buddhist chants gradually faded away, and the universal Buddhist light returned to dimness.

In the Pantheon Market, with the interference of the chants gone, the slightly discomforted mind immediately recovered.

The chants had a limited effect on him while he was inside the Market of All Heavens, especially with the protection of the Dragon Whale Hall and the innate strength of the black ember seed, his recovery was naturally quick.

Before leaving the "Time Chessboard" space, Song Chi first retrieved the Eighth-Rank Enlightened's corpse and quickly sent it to the Pantheon Market.

A corpse of an Eighth-Rank Enlightened, to be honest, was extremely attractive to him.

The Eighth-Rank Sovereign's true spirit and Eighth-Rank sovereign blood were just part of it.

Most importantly, it was the unique nature of the Enlightened itself.

In the free market area of the Market of All Heavens, which covered an enormous area, the Eighth-Rank Enlightened's corpse was now placed.

Relying on his authority, Song Chi used the Market of All Heavens' Ninth-Rank power to condense hundreds of thousands of law blades. Using these law blades, he continuously cut through every inch of the Eighth-Rank Enlightened's flesh.

Before long, one of the law blades successfully dug out a black stone emitting a dark light from a certain part of the corpse.

Of course, it was not a real stone, but a relic that the Enlightened's body typically produced after death. The one he had obtained was an Eighth-Rank Enlightened relic.

As a unique resource that the Enlightened could produce, this relic had miraculous effects.

Apart from enhancing the wearer's insight, it could also help refine blood energy and improve the wearer's physical strength.

Even if consumed with a special formula, it could assist in the major breakthrough of the Guidance Technique.

However, this particular Enlightened relic was clearly different. It was currently emitting a perpetual dark light, distinctly different from the relics produced by the ordinary Demon Buddha lineage.

The reason was simple: after being nurtured by the Eighth-Rank Enlightened's flesh for hundreds of thousands of years, this relic had transformed into a special artifact.

Artifact: Demon Buddha Relic

Quality: Black

Convertible: {Demon Buddha Purifying Relic}

Note: A relic from a Ninth-Rank Enlightened, nurtured by Ninth-Rank flesh for hundreds of thousands of years, has transformed into a black artifact.

...

Demon Buddha Purifying Relic (Level 0)

Quality: Black

Trait 1: Captain's Insight Increase by 1%

Trait 2: Blood Energy Concentration in the Warship Increased by 170%

Trait 3: Speed of Understanding Word Laws and Practicing Buddhist Secrets Increased by 170%

Trait 4: Buddhist Light Blessing

Trait 5: Demon Buddha Single Purifying Halo

Trait 6: Demon Buddha Group Purifying Halo

...

- Buddhist Light Blessing: Consumes 200,000 Spiritual Energy points to summon a Buddhist light to protect the warship. The warship's energy shield value temporarily increases by 100% for 30 minutes, with a cooldown of 240 hours.

- Demon Buddha Single Purifying Halo: The warship will gain a purifying halo that automatically purifies all negative effects (including but not limited to dizziness, knockback, external marks, slow, and immobilization) when affected.

Demon Buddha Group Purifying Halo: Consumes 300,000 Spiritual Energy points. Centered on the equipped warship, all negative effects on friendly units within a 10-kilometer radius will be immediately cleared. Cooldown time: 100 years.

After reviewing the attributes, Song Chi felt that the Demon Buddha Purifying Relic was quite decent.

It offered a combination of enhancing perception, strengthening defense, and both single and group purification effects. Although two of the attributes were somewhat redundant, it still made for a good component.

With that in mind, he immediately upgraded the component to level 90. This time around, he had gained a significant amount of True Spirit Essences, so it was only natural to strengthen what needed to be strengthened.

After reaching the ninth rank, the component's attributes underwent considerable changes:

- Perception boost: 1% → 10%

- Buddhist Light Blessing shield value: 100% (unchanged), but the duration increased from 30 minutes to 120 minutes

- Group Purifying Halo cooldown: 100 years → 10 years, and the effective radius expanded from 10 kilometers to 100 billion kilometers

Overall, Song Chi was quite satisfied.

After returning to the Evil Buddha Continent, Song Chi began leading the clan members stationed there to clear the entire Floating Continent. The remaining threats needed to be dealt with first.

This process took a few months, which was a considerable amount of time, but he was not impatient. After all, this Floating Continent would become the base for producing Flesh Lingzhi of various ranks, which was crucial for any force. It was essential to handle it properly.

Before leaving, Song Chi brought all the clan members back to the Dragon Spine Continent, leaving only a seventh-rank Star Sea Giant Ape to guard the entire continent, along with thousands of mid- and low-rank enslaved creatures.

The shadow of the Vajra King of the Mantra Treasury that had appeared earlier was summoned by an eighth-rank member of the Enlightened Sect in the "Time Chessboard" space. Although the other party was an Ancestral Buddha who had ascended to divinity over 500,000 years ago, even across tens of trillions of light-years, Song Chi was still concerned that they might find some traces of the Evil Buddha Continent.

While the possibility was low, tens of trillions of light-years was a vast distance even for mythic beings.

However, to be on the safe side, it was better to control the Evil Buddha Continent indirectly through enslaved creatures and market passage tokens. This way, even if the other party did find them, it wouldn't put the Song Family in danger.

According to the information, the Evil Buddha Continent was over 8 billion light-years away from the Ember Human Civilization's territory. While this distance was negligible compared to tens of trillions of light-years, it would at least give the Song Family some time to prepare.

With the incorporation of the Octopus Demon Star Cluster, the several Great Emperors of the Ember Flame Civilization were already planning to advance to the tenth rank. If they succeeded, the Ember Human Civilization would gain true mythic combat power. With this confidence, combined with the preparations the Song Family had made, a foreign mythic being would not be able to enter the Ember Flame Civilization's territory so easily.

Now, Song Chi only hoped that the Great Emperors would advance as quickly as possible, taking that crucial step.

This was not just out of concern for his family's safety.

It was not just about gaining a regular mythic combat force.

It was also about the bright future of the Ember Flame Warship system. Taking this step would mean further refining the Ember Flame Warship system, proving that it was a true path to divinity, not just a dead end at the ninth rank, with the mythic path completely cut off.

For over 300,000 years, this had been a thorn in the side of all Ember Captains. The most powerful beings in the Ember Flame Civilization had remained at the ninth rank, unable to take that crucial step. Over the years, how many Ember Captains had lost hope?

A dead end was the greatest despair for all beings, races, and civilizations.

Song Chi had even heard rumors that, over the course of 300,000 years, due to the lack of a definitive solution, the higher-ups of the Ember Human Civilization had secretly implemented a covert civilization branching plan.

He had only heard Bai Mei mention it in passing, so he knew little about it.

The plan seemed to involve sending out multiple batches of civilization seed fleets to different star domains, breaking away from the Ember Flame Warship system and exploring other extraordinary paths.

For example, cultivation.

Or divine ascension through faith.

Or magic.

Including technology.

Many such civilization seed fleets were dispatched, but the results were far from ideal. Over 95% of them quickly lost contact, and only a few managed to survive, but most were barely hanging on.

Not to mention developing to the scale of the Ember Human Civilization, even reaching the level of an ordinary advanced civilization was difficult.

"Hopefully, they will succeed!"

Rubbing his forehead, Song Chi tried to dispel the jumbled thoughts and not dwell on them.

What he needed to do now was use the seventh-rank Flesh Lingzhi he had obtained to quickly enhance his Guidance Technique.

The matters of the ninth and tenth ranks were still too far away for him.

(End of Chapter)

Chapter end