Chapter Twenty-Nine: The Fourth Level of the Borra Zen Sutra

Zhang Xiao sat cross-legged in the secluded stone chamber, his brows furrowed in deep contemplation. The leader of the Ten Thousand Demons Sect, Myriad Demons Master, had summoned him to face three trials in three days, and Zhang Xiao knew those trials would be anything but easy. At his current Foundation Establishment stage, passing those three trials would be exceedingly difficult—almost impossible. There were many ways to quickly increase his strength, but three days was far too short.

After much deliberation, Zhang Xiao sighed and flipped his palm, revealing a pill the size of a baby’s fist. It emitted a crimson aura—this was the Blood Fiend Golden Pill, refined from the essence of the Blood Bat Demon. Truth be told, this pill was even more precious than top-tier materials. If circumstances allowed, Zhang Xiao would never want to waste it, but now he had no other choice.

He summoned Ironclad Corpse Number One, performed the Corpse Armor Technique, and fused himself with the corpse. Looking at the Blood Fiend Golden Pill in his palm, Zhang Xiao shook his head and sighed once more. Yet, he pushed his palm forward, opened his mouth wide, and swallowed the pill in one gulp. His only hope was to use the Blood Fiend Golden Pill to forcibly upgrade Ironclad Corpse to Copperclad Corpse. If he succeeded, his strength would soar, even allowing him to contend with Core Formation experts. Of course, this method carried great risk.

Though his Ironclad Corpse was a millennium-old corpse, saturated with powerful yin energy, and his own spiritual energy was robust, whether he could refine the Blood Fiend Golden Pill was uncertain. As soon as the pill entered his body, waves of blood fiend energy erupted, beginning to damage the surrounding meridians. Fortunately, it was the corpse’s body, not a living one; were it a human, simply swallowing the pill would lead to instant death from the influx of blood fiend energy.

Ironclad Corpse felt no pain, but Zhang Xiao dared not delay. He quickly mobilized his spiritual energy to refine the blood fiend, simultaneously using the corpse’s yin energy to wrap around the pill, as if creating a pill furnace, gradually assimilating the Blood Fiend Golden Pill. The goal was to harmonize the pill’s energy with the corpse’s yin energy so that Ironclad Corpse could directly advance to Copperclad Corpse.

Naturally, this was easier said than done. Waves of blood fiend energy surged from the pill, battering the surrounding yin energy. Though Zhang Xiao continuously refined these surges, his spiritual energy gradually dwindled. Compared to the spiritual energy of a Core Formation cultivator, his Foundation stage energy was far inferior in both quality and quantity.

The blood fiend energy repeatedly struck the yin energy, nearly breaking through several times. Zhang Xiao could only concentrate all the corpse’s yin energy in the dantian, forming seas of darkness to repeatedly wash over the Blood Fiend Golden Pill, hoping to cleanse it thoroughly. As time passed, Zhang Xiao’s mood worsened. The corpse’s yin energy began to take on a faint red hue—unexpectedly, the blood fiend energy was so tenacious that it not only resisted assimilation, but was assimilating the yin energy instead. If nothing changed soon, the entire Ironclad Corpse would be consumed by the blood fiend, a loss far greater than simply losing a corpse.

He shared a strong spiritual bond with Ironclad Corpse; if it was destroyed, he could recover with some effort, but if it was assimilated by the pill, his own fate would be grim. Resolute, Zhang Xiao poured all his spiritual energy into the corpse’s body, but it was depleted in an instant. Just as despair threatened to overwhelm him, another stream of pale golden energy surged into the corpse—unlike his own lively spiritual energy, this was vast and dignified. It was Buddhist energy!

Zhang Xiao was stunned, recalling that after reaching the third level of the Prajna Zen Sutra, a golden energy had quietly appeared within him. Besides using it for Divine Foot Technique, he had never been able to mobilize it otherwise. Now, as this energy entered the corpse, it was as if oil had been poured onto a raging fire. Both the corpse’s yin energy and the blood fiend energy erupted, attacking the golden Buddhist energy relentlessly.

Zhang Xiao had never anticipated such a scenario, but things had already spiraled beyond his control. Determined not to let the blood fiend invade his spiritual sea, he steeled himself: “If worst comes to worst, I’ll destroy the corpse, but I must not let the blood fiend reach my spiritual sea.” With this thought, Zhang Xiao guided the Buddhist energy fully into the corpse’s body. Instantly, a three-way battle ensued—though the Buddhist energy was weak, neither the yin nor the blood fiend could shake it. It stood firm, like a boulder amidst stormy seas, unmoved by any force.

Seeing its astonishing power, Zhang Xiao resisted the blood fiend and yin energy while cultivating the Prajna Zen Sutra. He had perfected the third level but could not yet enter the fourth; now, the Buddhist energy, holding its ground against two foes, gave him a faint sense of the fourth level’s threshold.

“Namo Siti Siti Su Siti Hum Sava Vejin Nan.” A cryptic, ancient chant spilled from Zhang Xiao’s lips, its meaning roughly: “In great wrath, terrifying destruction, unshakable, firm in all directions, like a mountain, fearless and unmoving!” His chanting grew louder, drawing the world’s spiritual energy in a frenzy toward him. Outside the Maoshan Branch in G State, dark clouds suddenly shrouded the skies above.

“Chief, look—the sky’s turning dark. Is something about to happen again?” Tang Chuan, gazing at the increasingly gloomy sky, asked Zhang Hu nearby.

Zhang Hu, supported by others, looked up with an unreadable expression. After his tribulations in prison, his temperament had matured greatly, and he was now much more composed. Just as he mused about a possible change in the heavens, a disciple hurried over. “Chief, ten miles out there are no clouds, and these seem to be shrinking toward us.”

Zhang Hu and Tang Chuan’s faces changed; both thought of an enemy attack. “Activate the defensive formation!” Zhang Hu commanded. The disciples quickly began preparations. Soon, spiritual energy surged, and a shield enveloped the branch. But before they could relax, thunder exploded in the sky, lightning cleaving through the heavens.

A shattering sound echoed; the newly formed barrier was destroyed by the thunder, and the disciples controlling the formation were injured and collapsed, unable to move. Zhang Hu stared at the sky, shaken. “This is Heaven’s wrath.”

Lightning, like celestial dragons, prowled the sky. Zhang Hu quickly ordered, “Notify all disciples—evacuate the branch temporarily!” Tang Chuan relayed the command. Thunder rumbled as the lightning, tired of the sky, crashed down with Heaven’s fury, striking the forbidden ground in the rear courtyard.

Zhang Hu’s expression changed drastically—the forbidden ground was where Zhang Xiao was in seclusion, now struck by lightning. He hastily led his men toward the site, but had barely taken a few steps when another bolt struck Zhang Xiao’s chamber, blasting a huge hole into the stone room. More lightning poured down like rain, hammering Zhang Xiao’s secluded chamber. Zhang Hu and the others were at a loss—they wished to help, but the area had become a hell of lightning, with bolts turning into electric serpents, writhing around. No ordinary disciple, not even someone like Zhang Hu, could survive venturing in.

Meanwhile, Zhang Xiao sat in the stone chamber, having already stored Ironclad Corpse in his bone ring. The chamber was filled with lightning; Zhang Xiao was seated amidst a sea of thunder. Yet, astonishingly, no matter how fierce the lightning, it could not harm a single hair on him. Threads of pale gold radiated from his body, growing ever brighter, making him appear like a golden Buddha seated in the midst of the storm.

Thunder roared, venting Heaven’s fury. A streak of purple lightning, bearing supreme Heavenly power, struck Zhang Xiao, engulfing him in a sea of purple electricity. The chamber was instantly shattered; nothing within a hundred meters remained intact. Though Zhang Hu and the others were spared the direct blast, the brilliance of the lightning forced them to shield their eyes.

Zhang Xiao opened his eyes, utterly unperturbed by the lightning coiling around him. His gaze was unwavering and resolute. The Buddhist energy within him surged endlessly, forming a golden wheel behind his head—though it bore no Buddha’s image.

“Mi!” he intoned, and the surrounding lightning abruptly converged, forming a silver sphere the size of an egg. If the ethereal Daoist and others were present, they would be shocked, for Zhang Xiao’s utterance had invoked the legendary Law of Words—a secret art from ancient times, where a single word could stir the very rules of Heaven and Earth.

With a wave, Zhang Xiao collected the silver sphere into his bone ring. The sky, as if spent of its rage, began to clear, and the clouds dispersed around him. The golden aura and Buddhist wheel dissolved into his body. Checking his attributes, he found his level had reached forty-five, with all three major stats surpassing four hundred.

Such power! Through disaster, he had not only upgraded Ironclad Corpse to Copperclad Corpse, but also comprehended the fourth level of the Prajna Zen Sutra, attaining the Diamond Unmoving Body. Though still at the Foundation Establishment stage, his mastery of the Sutra now rivaled that of Core Formation cultivators. Now, even against a Core Formation expert, he was confident he could fight.