Chapter 37 Unable to Overcome the Tribulation of Love, Falling into the Lotus Sea
The souls that regained their memories in Chen Liucheng wailed incessantly, rising into the sky and tearing apart the sea of time.
Everything around them began to collapse.
The spiritual energy within Lian Zhuo's body surged in inch by inch amidst the stench of blood. Unable to bear it any longer, he tilted his head back, and blood-red spiderwebs continued to grow in his eyes.
Because he was restraining himself, his knuckles turned white as he pinched her head. Just as he was about to turn his head to the side, Huali forcefully pressed the back of his head against her neck.
Lian Zhuo's breathing stopped.
He could clearly sense the blood pulsating in Huali's throat like a bewitching spell, carrying with it the unique fragrance of pear blossoms that permeated the air.
He once sat in meditation before the Buddha for a whole night, just to uproot the towering tree of his spiritual altar, so that he would never again have any delusions.
Cut off! Cut off delusional thoughts!
Lian Zhuo bit her lower lip with the last of her reason, but then she heard a girl's weak and confused urging, "Lian Zhuo? Can you hear me? Hurry up and drink it, it's such a waste if it spills out!"
I truly feel sorry for Huali.
She estimated that she had wasted more than 800 milliliters of blood that night due to injuries and vomiting blood.
If circumstances allowed, she would have liked to use a bottle to catch the poison; it would be hygienic, environmentally friendly, and most importantly, "keeping the profits within the family."
As Huali tilted her head, her black hair brushed against Lianzhuo's trembling hand, and the sweet, fishy smell instantly transformed into countless threads that tightened around her lungs.
Unfortunately, the culprit who had disturbed the Buddhist disciple's mind continued its incessant chatter, "Are you out of energy? Should I feed you? It's not impossible..."
With a sigh, Lian Zhuo closed her eyes resignedly and extended her tongue to wipe away the drop of blood seeping from the girl's fair neck.
*
Tuowu carried Wen Jin and flew swiftly over the ruins of Chenliu City.
After dodging the spiritual energy attacking from behind once again, he turned his toes and leaped to the ground. He turned to look at Wen Tingyun in the sky and said dejectedly, "My lord, I can't shake him off."
Wen Jin's face was grim, and he didn't want to look at the ominous things on it even once. "Leave Chenliu City and head to Lingwu Mountain."
Wen Tingyun twirled the fan in his palm, and a spiritual energy array formed a sundial centered on him. The spiritual energy scattered and rushed towards Tuowu, instantly creating a cage on the ground.
"Trying to run away?" Wen Tingyun glanced at his crippled legs and smiled warmly. "Sure, but you'll have to leave your limbs behind, with interest."
*
After the stinging pain subsided, Huali noticed that Lianzhuo's breathing was gradually stabilizing, and she quickly tilted her head: "Lianzhuo?"
The girl's hesitant soft call was like a Buddhist bell in a dream, suddenly waking the Buddhist disciple who was deeply immersed in the dream.
Lian Zhuo's fingers seemed to have been burned, and he lost his strength. His Adam's apple bobbed awkwardly, and his tongue still tasted the sweet, metallic taste of blood.
If the mind remains still, the person will not act rashly; if there is no movement, there will be no harm.
If the mind is agitated, one will act rashly, injuring one's body and causing pain to one's bones, thus experiencing all kinds of suffering in the world.
A flash of pain crossed Lian Zhuo's eyes. His delusions were so intense that he dared not look directly into Hua Li's eyes. He turned to look at Chen Liucheng.
With the disappearance of the Sea of Time, the true appearance of Chenliu City is revealed.
A once-shining pearl in the vast desert has long lost its luster, becoming dilapidated and littered with corpses. In the howling desert winds, the unwilling cries of countless souls echo.
The soul, having died too many times, was already twisted. The soaring resentment above its head transformed into a huge vortex, the wind cutting like a knife, each sound a lament of blood.
“It was Songran.” Huali murmured to herself, “Songran ultimately changed the formation and preserved the last souls of these people.”
“These souls have been tainted by demonic energy and lost consciousness; they are likely to be completely annihilated.” The Buddha’s eyes grew heavy, and sorrow flowed in his pupils. His butterfly-like eyelashes trembled slightly before he stood up from the ruins.
"Amitabha."
The chanting dispelled distracting thoughts, but the little finger that was forming the mudra still twitched and spasmed.
As each Sanskrit phrase was uttered, a warm, radiant light emanated from the Buddhist disciple, growing ever brighter as his spiritual cultivation progressed.
Ao Bai, who had been pretending to have his eyes covered from the very beginning, was surprised. How come he couldn't sense Lian Zhuo's cultivation level?
Such powerful purifying force... is rarely seen in the world...
Just as they were about to uncover the truth, Hua Li suddenly roared, "Ao Bai, how many life points do I have left? Will I die if I run out of Cheng Meng Wan Wu?"
Ao Bai's thoughts were instantly pulled away.
Knowing what kind of creature its host was, the kitten immediately bristled: "No! I said no! Don't even think about it! The host only has nine points of health left, don't rush in..."
"Nine health points, huh? Let's go!"
Amidst Ao Bai's frantic meowing, Hua Li threw out a wood-type card, saying, "Lian Zhuo, I'll help you."
"Blessed by all things! Amen!"
The healing power of the card combined with the pure spiritual energy at this moment, and the shattered light of the card and the Buddha's light recombined, condensing into a giant lotus flower in the sky above Chenliu City.
The lotus shadow enveloped the entire city in an instant, and tens of thousands of vengeful spirits cried out in unison, as the black mist began to dissipate.
Wen Tingyun and Tuowu, who were locked in combat, both paused and looked up at the blue lotus above.
The vitality of wood condenses into emerald-colored raindrops, and the Buddha's light transforms into gilded Buddhist characters; the two intertwine to form a distinct network of light.
Wen Jin looked down and saw countless flowers of rebirth blooming through the ruins.
The shock Huali felt at that moment was beyond words. The plot she had read about in the novel was now unfolding before her eyes in such a vivid and real way, and she was, in fact, a participant in it.
"No wonder protagonists love to be saviors, this feeling..." Huali got goosebumps, and her eyes glistened with tears.
Ao Bai was also in tears. He rushed up to Hua Li and grabbed her hair, yelling, "Aaaaah, are you trying to kill me?! Once you get carried away, you can't stop! Now look what's happened, you're just waiting to die..."
Karin stared blankly at the tiny speck of light floating beside her, ignoring everything. She gently poked it, and the speck of light vanished like a bubble. "What is this?"
The frantic kitten was taken aback: "Huh? How come your health bar is full? The quest... is complete?"
Karin exclaimed in surprise, "Huh? When did this happen?"
Just as the two, one human and one cat, were completely bewildered, the blessing lamp above their heads began to shrink into a bell the size of a palm and flew to Huali's side.
Huali reached out in surprise and saw a purple violet curled up in the lamplight, its buds slowly unfurling tender stamens, upon which were two crystal-clear spiritual pearls that nourished the soul.
"This is Song Ran's scent, and... Rong Niang?"
Ao Bai: "So that's how it is. From beginning to end, Song Ran's most precious treasure has always been the days he could spend with Rong Niang. The host's purifying power sends the wronged souls to the other shore, and they are also collected and nurtured by the Spirit Pearl, waiting for the day they awaken."
This was truly a stroke of luck amidst misfortune. Huali hastily wiped away her tears, clutched the spirit pearl, and ran towards Lianzhuo.
Suddenly, a thunderous roar came from the ground beneath my feet.
The entire ground was split in two, and the scorching magic array in the crack continued to operate.
Karin stopped, bewildered. Wait, there's more? Is this never going to end?
Lian Zhuo looked down and exclaimed, "This is... the Myriad Manifestations Void Array..." He suddenly looked up and reached out to Hua Li, "Hua Li, come here!"
His roar was instantly swallowed up by the deafening roar of the collapsing rock.
As Huali ran for her life, she reached out to grab Lianzhuo's hand; their fingertips were barely a hair's breadth apart.
The next second, Huali's feet suddenly gave way, and her body plummeted uncontrollably. "What's going on! Renzhuo, help me!"
*
At the same time, Tuowu's mountain-like body crashed into the rocks. He struggled to get up again, but Wen Tingyun pressed him into the ruins from a distance.
Wen Tingyun looked at the Myriad Manifestations Void Array surging underground, his eyes showing surprise. "It's actually an ancient spiritual array." He looked at Wen Jin, "It seems you can't escape death today."
Wen Jin glanced at him coldly, a hint of sarcasm flashing across his lips. "That's not necessarily true."
Without giving Wen Tingyun any chance to react, he turned and leaped into the formation.
*
Seeing Huali fall into the formation, Lianzhu jumped down without thinking, but was blocked by the runes of the formation and vomited blood in a panic.
He could only watch helplessly as the rosewood disappeared, and the formation vanished instantly.
"Karashi!!"
The Dao heart cultivated over many years crumbled piece by piece in the sea of consciousness, and the sandalwood bead that Huali's fingertips brushed against turned a strange red, and the lotus pattern between Lianzhuo's eyebrows instantly turned crimson.
A large tree rose from the ground in the mind's eye, and pear blossoms bloomed in profusion throughout the entire sea of consciousness.
Bodhi is not a tree, the bright mirror is not a stand; those who cannot cross the calamity of love will fall into the lotus sea.
Lian Zhuo froze for a few seconds, then suddenly went berserk and dug through the earth with his bare hands. The rock strata cut his fingers, revealing stark white bones, but he ignored it. His left hand formed a seal, and the ground instantly turned into a water mirror.
His blood-stained hand pressed against the water mirror, the blood gu flowing backward along his meridians, "...Hualin...Hualin..."
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