Wandering Swordsman |

Worse still, the impact of this palm strike was like a spark splashing into a sea of ​​oil—

The Buddhist power transformed from the relic within his body suddenly went berserk! Golden light surged like an angry dragon soaring into the sky, rampaging through his meridians and fiercely clashing with the Heavenly Demon True Qi, turning his dantian into a chaotic battlefield. Shen Mo felt his internal organs shift, his blood and qi flowing backward, and even breathing was excruciatingly painful.

"I can't... fight anymore..." He gritted his teeth, forcibly suppressing his surging inner energy, a resolute glint in his eyes.

If one were to forcefully unleash the Heavenly Demon Qi to counterattack at this moment, it would likely trigger a backlash from the Buddha's power, resulting in the destruction of one's meridians at best, and the immediate explosion of one's body at worst! Although Jianzhen had exhausted his internal energy, he was in no better shape himself!

Escape! We must escape immediately!

Despite the excruciating pain, Shen Mo used the force of the cliff's rebound to leap into the depths of the dense forest like a hawk with broken feathers.

He took each step with extreme lightness, yet with ghostly speed. In a few leaps, he disappeared into the vast night, leaving only a trail of mottled bloodstains, which seemed to weep and lament under the moonlight.

Jianzhen staggered a few steps after him, but his legs gave way and he knelt on one knee, panting heavily.

His eyes were bloodshot as he stared intently in the direction Shen Mo had disappeared, his fingernails digging deep into the soil until his knuckles turned white from the effort. He wanted to chase after him, but his body was completely empty; he had no strength left even to lift his hand.

"ah--!!!"

He roared to the sky, his voice like tearing silk, startling the forest birds into flight and rustling the pine branches. He slammed his fist into the ground, sending shards of stone flying and blood streaming down the back of his hand, but he was completely oblivious.

"Nameless scoundrel!" he gritted his teeth, his voice hoarse as sandpaper grinding against bone. "No matter where you hide, no matter your name... I swear on my life—I will find you! I'll skin you alive, tear out your tendons, and rip your heart out!"

The night wind howled, whipping up the tattered corners of his clothes, as if even the air itself trembled with his anger.

Shen Mo had already disappeared into the depths of darkness, with only the deafening roar of the battle between the relic's aura and the demonic energy within his body echoing in his ears and following him like a shadow.

Shen Mo ran wildly for dozens of miles in the night until his lungs felt like they were on fire, and every movement of his broken left shoulder brought excruciating pain.

He endured his injuries and found a dilapidated mountain god temple—the temple was crumbling, the statues were broken, and cobwebs covered the ground. Only a sliver of cold moonlight shone through a hole in the roof, falling on the dusty prayer mat.

He stumbled in, slid down against the cold stone wall, and gasped for breath.

Cold sweat soaked through his clothes, mingling with bloodstains to form a dark red, dripping down his fingertips and blooming like withered plum blossoms in the dust.

His eyes were tightly closed, his face was ashen, and the veins on his forehead were bulging. Two forces within his body were still clashing wildly—the power of the Buddha Relic was like the scorching sun burning his bones, while the true energy of the Heavenly Demon was like a cold tide corroding his veins. The two stirred up a raging storm in his meridians, as if they wanted to tear his flesh and blood apart inch by inch, reshape it, and then grind it into dust.

"I must...suppress it!" Shen Mo gritted his teeth, closed his eyes, and circulated the "Heart-Cleansing Technique," attempting to harmonize the turbulent flow within his body using orthodox methods.

But as soon as the Buddha's power was drawn in, it was like a wild horse that had broken free of its reins, and it charged forward with the momentum, almost breaking through the Ren and Du meridians! He groaned, and his throat tasted sweet again.

He altered the "Tiger-Breaking Heart Method" to suppress the conflict between Buddhism and demons with his powerful internal energy.

However, the moment he unleashed his inner energy, it immediately triggered a backlash from the demonic energy, causing black energy to seep out from his seven orifices, nearly causing him to suffer a qi deviation.

He tried the Heavenly Gang Sword Technique, the Turtle Breathing Technique, the Iron Shirt Technique, and so on... one martial art after another was used, but none of them could suppress the catastrophe of the struggle between Buddha and demon.

Each move was like a stone thrown into the sea, failing to create even the slightest ripple, instead exacerbating the turmoil within his body. Blood seeped from his forehead, his ears rang, and his consciousness oscillated between lucidity and drowsiness.

"Why... can't even these techniques suppress it?" he thought in horror. "The power of this relic is so domineering... is it really going to make me explode and die?"

Just as he was on the verge of despair, he suddenly remembered that when he fought the black flame figure in his inner world, only the *Formless Scripture* and the *Heavenly Void True Qi* could contend with that ancient being. Perhaps… using them could suppress the aura of this relic?

Without further hesitation, he mustered his last bit of clarity and slowly began to circulate the mental techniques of the "Formless Sutra".

In an instant—

A sudden change has occurred!

The originally raging power of the Buddha Relic suddenly subsided, as if it had encountered its nemesis, and its golden light abruptly receded, no longer rampaging. The demonic energy was also regained Shen Mo's control. The two forces remained in confrontation, but no longer tore through the meridians as before. Instead, they were temporarily separated by the Formless Sutra, like a raging sea and a blazing sun separated by an invisible barrier.

Shen Mo let out a long sigh of relief, cold sweat pouring down his face, as if he had crawled back from the brink of death.

"It's the 'Formless Sutra'... It can actually suppress the power of the relics!" He was overjoyed, but his joy quickly turned to solemnity.

He carefully sensed it and discovered that although the "Formless Sutra" could temporarily suppress it, it could not completely integrate or refine the power of the Buddha Relic.

"This 'Formless Sutra' is ultimately just 'suppression,' not 'resolution.'" Shen Mo opened his eyes, the moonlight reflecting in them, but there was no sign of relief.

......

Three days passed quietly, like a mountain stream.

Inside the dilapidated temple, Shen Mo sat cross-legged, his figure like an ancient pine tree rooted in the stone ground.

The broken bone in my left shoulder has been fixed with a splint using traditional mountain methods. Although it still aches slightly, my blood and qi are gradually recovering, and my internal energy is also barely stabilizing. I will definitely be fully recovered in less than ten days.

The moonlight still poured down through the hole in the roof, like a silver veil covering his body, illuminating his thin yet resolute face.

However, he felt no peace at all.

For three days, he repeatedly tried to guide the power of the Buddha Relic with the "Formless Sutra," but he was still unable to refine it. The Buddha's light was like a blazing sun hanging over his dantian, intense but not warming; instead, it became a burden.

"Since the 'Formless Sutra' can only suppress... then let's try another path!" Shen Mo's eyes narrowed, a resolute glint in them.

He took a deep breath, closed his eyes and concentrated, and suddenly activated the demonic energy within his body!

"boom--!"

A black tide surged forth from the depths of his meridians, sweeping across his entire body like a chilling current from the depths of hell, with faint, inky patterns appearing at the edges of his seven orifices. He used his will as a whip, driving the demonic energy like a thousand horses, rushing straight towards his dantian, intending to completely devour that ball of Buddhist light!

In an instant, the powers of Buddha and demon clashed once again!

The golden light and the black tide collided fiercely, like a chaotic battle at the beginning of time. The demonic energy coiled around the Buddha's light like a giant python, compressing it layer by layer, actually forcing the power of the relic into a corner, its light gradually weakening and almost going out.

Shen Mo was overjoyed: "The Heavenly Demon Qi is indeed powerful, it's a success!"

But at that moment, a sudden change occurred—

Although the suppressed Buddhist power succumbed to the demonic energy, it was lifeless, like stagnant water. The demonic energy not only failed to absorb its power, but also consumed a great deal of energy due to the forced suppression. The black tide showed signs of weakness, like a raging fire burning ice, the fire not increasing but decreasing.

"How could this be..." Shen Mo suddenly opened his eyes, his pupils shrinking slightly.

He clearly sensed that the demonic energy had not increased; on the contrary, it had weakened by a third. The power of the Buddha Relic was like a clear spring, pure and flawless, not to be defiled by evil spirits; while the energy of the Heavenly Demon was like a raging flame, domineering and violent, yet unable to "digest" this pure and righteous power. The two were mutually antagonistic, and forcibly fusing them would only result in mutual destruction.