fifth form

Chapter 3751 Zhunti's Human Skin

The Eight Treasures Merit Pool is guarded by one Buddha, two Tathagatas, four Bodhisattvas, and eight Arhats.

The Buddha's disciple and the Daoist Burning Lamp were once among them, but now it's the turn of other cultivators.

Among these monks were some who were on good terms with the Buddha's disciples, as well as members of the factions of the Buddha's disciples such as Shi Gong.

The Buddha's disciple strode forward and forcefully broke into the Eight Treasures Merit Pool, enduring sixteen blows. He quickly approached the pool and, upon scanning the several-foot-wide area, saw that Master Zhunti was indeed lying inside, while the Seven Treasures Tree and other treasures were placed to the side.

He didn't care about the magical weapons like the blessed pestle and the bamboo of six pure roots; he simply reached out and grabbed at the Seven Treasures Tree.

A heavy feeling entered his hands, and the Buddha's disciple turned his body, intending to rush away from this place.

"Tatakata, have you gone mad?"

A four-armed Buddha, who had been attacking in succession, roared. When his gaze swept over the Master of the Eight Treasures Merit Pool, he couldn't help but feel fear. He knew he was no match for the Buddha's son, but he had no choice but to strike hard against him.

Four more blows came crashing down, but the Buddha saw that the Tathagata's son did not resist at all, holding tightly to the Seven Treasures Tree without letting go, and was completely focused on the Seven Treasures Tree.

"Compassionate King Buddha, Virtuous Chief Buddha, imprison Tadakata!"

"Akshobhya Buddha, the great assembly of bodhisattvas, stop him! He deserves to die! You cannot let him get away with this!"

The Buddha repeatedly shouted, urging the cultivators qualified to attack the Buddha's son to step forward. However, to his disappointment, the crowd did not form a united force, or rather, they were indeed unable to stop the Buddha's son.

As he shouted down to pull more people up, a plume of yellow smoke billowed out and rushed toward the crowd.

After taking just one puff of yellow smoke, the Buddha felt his years of concentration crumble, and his two Dharma arms vanished in an instant.

He pressed his neck tightly, trying to prevent himself from vomiting.

The punishment from the cult leader Zhunti was terrible, but what was even more terrible was the wisp of poisonous smoke that made him feel extremely nauseous.

If he could not quickly expel and replenish his energy, the Buddha felt that he might lose the ability to act normally.

He turned and ran, only to hear the sounds of several cultivators vomiting uncontrollably behind him. He knew that his mission to guard the Eight Treasures Merit Pool had completely failed and that he would inevitably suffer a punishment worse than death.

The Buddha's face darkened. As he ran and rushed away to breathe in the fresh air, he felt extremely uncomfortable from the stench emanating from his mouth, as if his abdomen had become a place teeming with maggots and foul odor.

After spitting out two mouthfuls, he saw that what came out of his mouth was yellow swill, and the stench was indescribable.

"Who would use such a treasure to harm us?"

Although the Buddha was afraid of punishment, he was more concerned about who was behind it.

This is not a treasure that the Western Religion could produce; only forces like the Celestial Court and Kunlun might possess it.

Amidst the billowing yellow smoke, the sounds of bells and curses echoed. The cultivator who released the treasure seemed somewhat uncomfortable, and there were also sounds of spitting.

The voices didn't seem to come from one person, but the only ones who had just entered were indeed the Buddha's disciple and a flying cultivator.

"Our insides have been breached!"

The mere thought of the magic weapon that made Master Zhunti famous being taken away made Buddha feel as if the strongest cultivator of the Western Sect had his teeth pulled out, greatly diminishing its deterrent power.

No one could have imagined that the always honest and upright Buddha would become an inside agent of the Celestial Court and commit such an act of betrayal against the Western Religion.

"Master?"

The Buddha exclaimed, clearly hoping that the Cundi Master would quickly get up and recall the Seven Treasures Tree.

But despite his loud voice, there was no response from the thick smoke.

When another plume of yellow smoke rushed towards him, the Buddha had no choice but to quickly shield himself from the approaching aura. However, this smoke not only stung his nostrils but also his eyes, causing him to tear up uncontrollably. For many years, the Three Realms had not seen such a powerful artifact that could so thoroughly torment cultivators. Although quickly avoiding it would allow one to escape the yellow smoke and render the artifact ineffective, encountering such an artifact while on a defensive mission was akin to encountering a natural enemy.

After sealing his nasal cavity and oral cavity, the Buddha also sealed his eyes. He stretched out his four hands and grabbed wildly, but was soon struck in the body by some kind of long-handled weapon.

He stumbled and tumbled to the ground. The futile attack made the Buddha think that it was better to be beaten to death like this. He even didn't care much about whether the world would be destroyed.

"It seems that Zhunti is dead!"

When the surprised voice came, a chill ran through the Buddha's heart.

"What lies on the Eight Treasures Merit Pool is the human skin of Zhunti; his body is already hollow inside!"

"Is this how the Eight Treasures Merit Pool shapes and creates people?"

"Where are the people that Zhunti manifested?"

Whispers could be heard, and even the Buddha's disciple, who had struggled to break free of the encirclement, stopped in his tracks, his body radiating golden light as he rushed towards the Eight Treasures Merit Pool once more.

On the seemingly calm surface of the water, Master Zhunti had his eyes closed, his expression gentle and showing no sign of anything amiss.

However, the body of the Zhunti Sect Leader was blown several steps away by the yellow smoke from the Purple Gold Bell. When things were calm, nothing could be seen, but now the problem was completely obvious.

Zhang Xuezhou's Purple Gold Bell spewed out poisonous smoke, which had a strong stench that made people want to vomit. However, the smoke was not emitted very fast; it was only as fast as a normal gust of wind. The wind was so strong that it could only blow the clothes on one's body, not even enough to move an ordinary person.

However, the poisonous smoke blew the body of the Zhunti Master several steps away.

When Erlang Shen suddenly appeared and blew a breath, everyone saw that the body of the Zhunti Sect Master was blown again, floating in the Eight Treasures Merit Pool as if it were a layer of skin.

"The Master is about to manifest his physical form. Dodoo Agada, you have committed a grave crime by forcibly taking the Master's magic weapon. You must not act rashly now!"

Seeing the Buddha's disciple reach out to grab the skin of the leader of the Zhunti Sect, the cultivators couldn't help but shout in unison.

Failing to protect the treasures of the Cundi Master is a grave sin. If the Buddha's son were to damage the Cundi Master's physical body, they would have no choice but to die to atone for their sins.

Although everyone managed to speak, the consequences of inhaling the toxic fumes released by Zhang Xuezhou, which were downwind, quickly became apparent.

The repeated vomiting sounds also drew a surprised exclamation from Zhang Xuezhou.

His eyes were fixed on the precious spring water.

If the spiritual spring behind the Bifeng Cave is somewhat sinister, with both good and bad effects, requiring cultivators to risk their lives to obtain its opportunities, then the Eight Treasures Merit Pool has been verified by hundreds or even thousands of cultivators. Zhang Xuezhou even used the Eight Treasures Merit Pool for treatment and experienced the wonders of this treasure pool.

This kind of precious pool would never dissolve a physical body; even the poisonous sand that Zhang Xuezhou threw into the spiritual spring didn't have such power.

As he glanced around, he saw the Buddha's disciple approaching with the Seven Treasures Tree, seemingly also wanting to verify the life or death of the Master Zhunti, and even wanting to take advantage of the Master Zhunti's physical problems to subdue him.

With a sturdy left hand, the Buddha grabbed at the skin of the leader of the Zhunti Sect. As the Buddha's son showed an inexplicable emotion, his body suddenly trembled, and his face instantly contorted in extreme pain.

"what's the situation?"

Yang Jian, who had transformed back into human form from the Chongming Bird, exclaimed in surprise. He then saw the Buddha's disciple vigorously swing his hand, slapping and striking, even throwing the skin of the Zhunti Sect Master two zhang away.

The human skin was flung out, and a black scorpion the size of a fist, with its tail tied upside down, appeared on his golden, radiant left hand.

"Could it be that Zhunti has transformed into the physical form of a scorpion demon?"

Yang Jian exclaimed in surprise, and the three-pointed double-edged sword he had used to strike the Buddha quickly struck the scorpion demon who was piercing the Buddha's disciple and was in excruciating pain.

Before the weapon could even strike the scorpion, it tumbled to the ground and transformed into a giant scorpion half the height of a person, fleeing frantically.