645 Like a Mirage or Illusion

The sky, as though shrouded by a colored glass dome, shed a pale gold radiance. Living Buddha, Shi Shan nestled at the peak of the lotus flower rostrum, gazing down at Lou Cheng conversationally.

Funnily enough, the lips of the Buddha Wisdom King mirage beside him moved ceaselessly, reciting scriptures. The dissonant chanting, like the ones heard by tourists when they passed temples during morning and night classes, made it hard to decipher what was being said.

As the solemn and ethereal chanting reverberated, lotus flowers bloomed, one after the other. They were born in mud, but they remain unsullied. They were sluiced by water, but they remain elegant. Ephemeral existences, detached from worldly affairs.

The surreal vista didn't distract Lou Cheng. Not a ripple formed in the ice lake that had taken shape in his mind.

In the five meter radius around him, which was within his senses, there was no lotus flowers or Bohdi, only a pale, iridescent light that was gentle but ephemeral. But once out of this boundary, it was all holy soil, the land of Buddha.

To think the Living Buddha's psyche can reduce the range and potency of my Frozen Heart of Hostile Detection Move to this extent… Lou Cheng had a grave look on his face. His mind turned rapidly as he assessed his situation.

It has been said that the one who inherits the title of Living Buddha inherits the psyche of their predecessor, similar to how the offspring of a Physical Invulnerability Expert can possess innate supernatural abilities...

The latter can be explained with theories. Like how words and symbols can express the ancestor's messages, the structure of DNA can pass on messages left by antecedents— an implantable memory…

If we think from this angle, then the Living Buddha's legend seems plausible as well. However, the current level of research on psyche was lacking, so there wasn't any solid proof to back up these suppositions. Rumors had it that the military had been trying all sorts of methods to get the Daxing Temple to divulge the secret arts of reincarnation but to no avail...

A living Buddha that went through Abhisheka will be well-endowed with the psyche. When practicing the Buddhism and kungfu of the Womb Realm and Vajra Wing, they learn the ropes quickly, as though they had already mastered it in their past lives, but the knowledge had gone rusty, so they needed some refresher courses...

No wonder seniors surmised that the fundamental criteria of being chosen as a reincarnated child candidate was to be extraordinarily gifted. That's the only way for them to endure the Abhisheka. In every twenty to thirty years, only one child that fits the bill is born. If they couldn't find him in time, they would have to grant the Living Buddha title to a fairly gifted disciple until he masters the secret arts and performs Abhisheka on a reincarnated child. That was why the Living Buddha line had slumps…

Back when China was in turmoil, it was hard to look for reincarnated children, and the largest subsect, Vajrayana, didn't have a genuine Living Buddha that got close to the Forbidden Area for two consecutive generations. That was how the Daxing Temple, seized the opportunity and absorbed them…

Thoughts racing, Lou Cheng materialized the Scorching Red, Faint Purple, Gold, Dazzling White, and Light Blue fireballs in a laid back manner. The fireballs began orbiting around him.

Once the five flames formed, the holy land darkened. The night sky slanted and spilled upon the earth, with titillating stars dressing the pitch-black curtains.

However, it didn't dilute the holy soil, but instead added a dreamy charm instead, making it seem more sacred.

"The Living Buddha lives up to his name…" The host couldn't see these visuals as clearly as Lou Cheng did from the commentator box, but he could faintly discern the vistas that were described in Buddhist scriptures.

The old Taoist who wore a hairpin nodded in agreement.

"Half of the Living Buddha's power lies in his psyche…"

At that moment, the referee standing at the edge of Jiangxin island raised his hands high.

"Begin!" he boomed.

As he spoke, the incantation at Lou Cheng's ears suddenly grew louder and clearer. It put him at ease but quelled his fighting spirit. Controlling his body became a lot harder.

What was more terrifying was how everything seemed to slow down around him, frame by frame, as though he was inside a slow-motion movie scene. It felt like a dream. Sitting on the lotus flower rostrum afar, the golden-bodied Living Buddha suddenly flashed before him. Raising his right hand with a solemn Buddha look, he slapped down.

His glistening palm, with fingers spread apart, shrouded the sky and sealed off all spaces. It isolated the area where Lou Cheng was standing, not giving him any chance of evading.

This made Lou Cheng feel as though he was trapped in an illusion where he entered the world behind the Buddhist scriptures. It felt like those absurd tales were coming to life around him.

If not for the notes on the battles of other Physical Invulnerability Mighty Ones against the Living Buddha (courtesy of the Longhu Club Forum), Lou Cheng would have suspected that his opponent's divine kungfu had distorted time and space, trapping him in an independent dimension.

But, presently, he knew that the numerous incomprehensible effects from the palm strike mainly came from mind suppression and influence.

A reality that cannot be discerned from fantasy, a lie that cannot be distinguished from the truth— the Bodhi Mantras!

This was a secret art from the Womb Realm wing that could only be truly mastered by a unique Living Buddha who had gone through Abhisheka and possessed a powerful psyche.

At that moment, the audience watching from the distance and through screens witnessed a different image than the one Lou Cheng was seeing. They saw the living Buddha, Shi Shan stepping on an iridescent pale-gold Buddha light as it bloomed like a lotus flower. He closed in on his opponent in one step and raised his right hand. Slowly, and forcefully, he pressed down, as though he wanted to hammer his enemy into the ground, then suppress and seal him.

Against the undodgeable, insurmountable gargantuan golden Buddha's fist, Lou Cheng suddenly gave up on the Enemy Heart Freezing Move. Instead, he chose to visualize the Fighting character that brimmed with fighting spirit and a never-say-die sentiment.

His Qi and blood boiled. The feeling of dismay and sluggishness was swept away at once.

Lou Cheng then arched his back, quickly withdrawing his force as he casted Force Concentration.

This time, he merely grasped the essence of the character and didn't move the stars to complete the Fighting Formula.

Bam! With a burst of his Dan Qi, his fist flew upward, like a missile being fired. He pulled his body straight up, as though he was about to break through the clouds and storm the sky palace!

Even if his palm canopied heaven and earth! Even if he couldn't fight against the Buddha's intent! Even if the road before him was hopeless! Heck, he would blast right through all of those!

Never say never! Battle across heaven and earth!

With this will that filled him inside-out and unstoppable momentum, the golden Buddha palm shrunk rapidly before his eyes. It no longer blocked the skies! He could see where it was coming from! It was merely the attack of a mortal!

Boom!

Lou Cheng's fist rose up like a true dragon, collided with the unsulliable Buddha's fist and scattered the golden glow. It made his opponent's arm recoil and sent him reeling!

At the same time, thoughts racing, he decided to gather the hovering Scorching Red, Faint Purple, Gold, Dazzling White, and Light Blue flames behind him, then throw them out at once! He had to break the Living Buddha's psyche territory with the brute power of the Nine Rotations of Five Flames. Descend Of The Sun.

Just as the thought occurred to him, the clear Shi Shan's figure pulled away, instantly shifting from two meters away to "Mount Meru", then pallankaed on the lotus flower rostrum. The mere meters became an ungodly distance.

Lou Cheng regained his Enemy Heart Freezing Move, but could only detect what was going on within five meters of him. Beyond this range, he couldn't tell whether the Living Buddha before his eyes was real or fake. If he used the Rotations of Five Flames. Descend Of The Sun blindly, he would only be wasting his energy. Huge amounts of energy at that.

Right as the thought occurred, the rapidly revolving Scorching Red, Faint Purple, and other fireballs slowed down and continued orbiting around him, without any unnaturalness.

That was when Lou Cheng recalled the previous encounter and understood something.

Mind-reading?

The Living Buddha had heard his thoughts through mind reading! That's how he foresaw the attack and evaded it!

This ability is like a BUG in a video game!

Daxing Temple's Womb Realm wing's Mind Reading was very hard to master, and often, practitioners often only grasped the basics. Even the Wisdom King, Zhi Hai, was only at the stage of detecting honest emotions through obscure clues. Currently, other than the Living Buddha Shi Shan, only the Abbot of the Daxing Temple and Fa Yuan Divine Monk, who had been in solitary training for ten years had truly mastered it.

In the commentator box, observing the quick contact between Lou Cheng and Shi Shan, seeing the former's poised Five Flames calming down, and the latter pulling a distance of twenty to thirty meters in a second, the host said with great interest.

"The Living Buddha pre-empted the Descent of the Sun?"

Then he answered himself.

"Mind reading is very mysterious!"

"And Lou Cheng's control over his five flames is impressive, as though they are an extension of his body. I have only seen such skills from the Dragon King… He can release them on call, and recall them forcefully and re-balance them. This is no easy feat…"

...

As the host babbled on, the old Taoist with silver-streaked dark hair had wanted to speak a few times, but couldn't find the right time to interject.

Being as polite as he was, he didn't want to interrupt, so he quietly fulfilled his role as background decor.

...

After a brief exchange of moves, Lou Cheng and Living Buddha both had an idea of the other's style, capability, and standard.

At this moment, the Living Buddha no longer tried to get closer. He continued to perch on the lotus flower rostrum at the top of "Mount Meru". He formed a seal with both hands, lips moving as he uttered solemn chants.

"Weng! Ma! Ni! Ba! Mi! Hum!"

"Weng! Ma! Ni! Ba! Mi! Hum!"

The complete six-syllabled Sanskrit mantra!