Chapter Forty-Nine: The Buddha's Body?

At this moment, my body could no longer move an inch; a violent shudder coursed through me. Instantly, the countless currents of sinister, chilling energy that surrounded me surged tenfold, wrapping me in their frigid embrace. Waves of bone-deep coldness swept over me, as though I had fallen into the icy abyss of a mountain.

“Master, the sinister aura from this old crone is too powerful. I can barely withstand it!” The Bloodslaughter Array Diagram, which had been shielding me, now sounded feeble and faint; clearly, it had stopped devouring the surrounding evil energy.

“Xiaodong, go!” Just as my vision began to blur, Xiyue’s voice rang out. Her hand, white as flawless jade, seized mine and pulled me with sudden force, freeing me from the vortex of malice.

“Oh? You can wield the essence of the moon, and this young one carries a protective treasure. How interesting. It seems today I’ll not only acquire a perfect new body but also a remarkable treasure of yin and yang.” The old woman’s voice was bone-chilling, cold to the core.

As I staggered back, Zhao Wen stepped forward. “Xiaodong, this old ghost is formidable. You two should leave—I can hold her off!”

Standing beside me, Xiyue spoke. “You can’t stop her. The spiritual tortoise armor on you is damaged; it won’t last. This old woman was a corpse-burier centuries ago who gained her strength through rare fortune. She’s far from as simple as she appears.”

“Xiaodong, none of you interfere. Wait until I force out her final attack—then we’ll strike together!” As Xiyue stepped forward, I grabbed her cold hand.

“Be careful!” I uttered only those two words.

She nodded, then turned and strode step by step toward the old woman ahead.

At that moment, I hated myself deeply—why was I so weak, so powerless to protect the woman I loved? I admitted it: I had fallen for Xiyue.

Zhao Wen, standing at my side, spoke softly: “Let her go, Xiaodong. Only Xiyue is a match for this corpse-burying crone. We’re mere mortals, dabbling in yin-yang arts—she is beyond us!”

I nodded, watching Xiyue approach the old woman, worry gnawing at my heart.

“Your body can harness the moon’s essence, and that treasure at your brow—if I’m not mistaken, it must be the Tear of the Boundless Sea, the supreme relic of the Xiyue Dynasty. They say a great secret lies within it. Fortune indeed smiles on me today.” As the old woman spoke, she took a step forward. Though her frail figure seemed weak, the space around her trembled as she advanced, and endless sinister energy surged toward her body.

Xiyue stood unflinching before the onslaught, the moonlight swirling around her casting an ethereal beauty. As a colossal hand of malice reached for her, she stepped forward and struck out with her palm. Instantly, the very air shuddered. With a thunderous crash, the sinister energies were swept away like chaff by the wind.

“Hell’s Reversal—Corpse of Malice!” In the split second as her attack shattered the evil aura, the old woman conjured a dreadful barrier with a wave of her hand. Standing behind it, she summoned a vortex of evil greater than before, which began to condense into a figure—a towering puppet, its body swirling with shadow.

Xiyue advanced, each step making the very air quiver. The barrier of malice could not halt her; she moved as if through an empty field. As her body touched the barrier, it shattered with a crash.

The puppet of malice swung a massive fist at Xiyue’s head.

She snorted coldly, lifting her gaze to meet its attack. Instantly, a piercing light shone from her brow—the Tear of the Boundless Sea.

From that legendary treasure, a beam of light shot forth, slicing through countless layers of space. It pierced the monstrous puppet, unraveling it in a heartbeat. A wild wind of malice swept up soil and debris.

“I didn’t expect that you would…” the old woman began.

“Die!” Xiyue spat the word, icy and sharp. At that moment, I raised the Sword of All Life, gripping its battered hilt, preparing to activate the great array within it, ready to devour the host of wraiths before us.

“Buddha’s radiance shines upon the myriad realms, the golden body brings blessings to all!” The old woman began to chant. Instantly, the seething evil around her vanished, replaced by a holy light—her body gleaming like crystal.

“Damn, Master, that’s a Buddha-body!” the Bloodslaughter Diagram gasped.

“A Buddha-body?” My heart jolted. I knew a little of these from my studies—the legendary bodies of ancient Buddhas, incorrupt for millennia after they passed from the world.

To truly merge with such a vessel, one must fuse their soul with the corpse of a Buddha. But this was perilous, for such a vessel could not be borne by an ordinary soul, and even if one survived, they might never adapt.

Thus, some with malicious intent would seize such corpses, refining them into slaves or forging them into powerful artifacts.

“With the protection of an ancient Buddha-body, do you really think a pale little moonlit corpse like you can destroy me?” the old woman sneered.

But Xiyue was unmoved. Her slender, pale hand swept down toward the old woman without hesitation…