Yellow Skinned Taoist Master

Chapter 177: Master's Yin God

The Crosser of Torments had pondered over many possibilities.

He had even considered the possibility that Chen Huangpi was perhaps not the reincarnation of the Present Buddha Lord.

But rather some other Buddha.

Yet no matter how he imagined it, he could never have imagined the true body of this Buddha would actually look like this...

A pitch-black, incredibly massive Buddha Head.

The Buddha's visage (appearance) was not solemn and dignified; oppositely, it revealed an incomparable, boundless evil intent.

At the neck of this Buddha Head, it had been cleanly severed, with black fresh blood ceaselessly dripping and dripping downwards.

The Buddha possesses the Smile of Plucking a Flower (拈花一笑).

Not only did this Buddha Head not smile, instead it was incomparably sinister, brutal, and utterly malevolent.

Like an evil ghost or demonic monster.And beneath this pitch-black Buddha Head, was a headless, incredibly massive, incredibly stalwart black shadow.

That black shadow stretched out its pair of arms, grabbing tightly onto that Buddha Head, desperately and violently yanking and tugging it downwards, as if wanting to forcefully press it onto its own body, treating the Buddha Head as its own head.

"Bodhisattva, is the Present Buddha Lord of this appearance!?"

The Crosser of Torments diametrically asked the Bodhisattva at the bottom of his heart.

The Arhats of the West Region Buddha Kingdom each possessed all sorts of bizarre and weirdly-shaped appearances.

Bodhisattvas were the same.

But Buddha statues were different; every single one possessed a solemn and dignified treasured appearance.

Because the Buddhas before the Heaven and Earth Mutation exactly looked like that.

But now, the Crosser of Torments beheld a different, entirely unalike Buddha.

The instant he saw this Buddha, the image of the Buddha that had surfaced within his heart over the long, enduring years of chanting sutras and worshipping Buddha experienced a thorough, earth-shattering impact.

He even felt this Chen Huangpi was fundamentally not some Divine Embryo at all.

The Bodhisattva must have certainly made a mistake.

How could a Buddha look like this?

The upper and lower bodies fundamentally didn't even match! The Buddha Head was ghastly and brimming with evil intent, while the body was merely a shadow. Looking at it, it was exactly as if two entirely different, damnable ghostly things had been forcefully stitched and spliced together.

And moreover, hadn't even been stitched together well...

The illusory figure of a Bodhisattva sitting properly upon a lotus platform surfaced within the Crosser of Torments' heart.

That Bodhisattva grew two faces.

The face on the left was male, its expression brutal and fierce; the face on the right was female, its expression utterly feminine and sinister.

Male left, female right; Yin and Yang combined into a single entity.

This Bodhisattva was titled the Great Bodhisattva Xianmo; it had already existed for over four thousand years.

But this Great Bodhisattva Xianmo had also never seen the Present Buddha Lord. Because at the time of the Heaven and Earth Mutation, the Present Buddha Lord had already disappeared within the Hundred Thousand Mountains. This was separated by over ten thousand years from the era in which it resided.

At this moment, the Great Bodhisattva Xianmo gazed through the Crosser of Torments' body, staring at the Divine Embryo's true body reflected at the bottom of the Skin-Flesh Boat, its expression similarly incredibly complex and complicated.

It wished to give the Crosser of Torments a response.

Yet didn't know how it ought to speak.

For a time, it was actually thoroughly, utterly choked speechless.

Whereas upon this Skin-Flesh Boat.

Chen Huangpi was entirely unaware of the complex thoughts of the Crosser of Torments and the Great Bodhisattva Xianmo.

Oppositely, he felt utterly and exceptionally pleasantly surprised.

"Huang Er, A Gui, did you see that!?"

"Saw it..."

"Contract Master, what the hell is this damnable thing..."

The Brass Oil Lamp and the Life-reaping Ghost were dumbfounded and flabbergasted.

That Buddha Head was unequivocally the head of the Heretic Buddha.

This damnable thing had long since been ground to dust and its bones scattered to the wind by the Three Guanzhus, refined into a Sarira and tossed to Chen Huangpi. Right now, it was still hidden upon his body.

While that massive shadow beneath the Heretic Buddha's head.

Naturally, it was the shadow of the Headless Yama concealed within Chen Huangpi's own shadow.

But now, these two damnable ghostly things actually, at some unknown point in time, wanted to fuse and combine together!

Or phrasing it another way, the Shadow of the Headless Yama instinctually wanted to press the Heretic Buddha's head onto its own head, while that Heretic Buddha's head desperately struggled, refusing even unto death. It was as if should the shadow succeed, it would be transformed into merely a constituent part of this Headless Yama.

Chen Huangpi spoke inwardly in his heart: "Huang Er, A Gui, I feel if the Shadow of the Headless Yama succeeds, it will become unimaginably, incomparably powerful. Furthermore, it possesses no consciousness; when that time comes, wouldn't I be invincible beneath the heavens!?"

The Evil Eye could originally control the Shadow of the Headless Yama.

Merely, its power was far too incredibly mighty. Chen Huangpi's state of mind/mental strength was weak and minuscule; the Evil Eye could only control a single one of its arms.

If Chen Huangpi successfully condensed out the Six Yin Gods.

At the very least, he would be able to control half of the Shadow of the Headless Yama.

Before the Heaven and Earth Mutation concluded, if Chen Huangpi truly succeeded, perhaps he genuinely would be invincible beneath the heavens.

The Brass Oil Lamp couldn't hold back from saying: "Chen Huangpi, this Heretic Buddha's head was refined into a Sarira by Guanzhu, yet its true body can still be reflected out. The power this individual possessed while alive must definitely have been powerful to the absolute limits. If it seizes control of the Shadow of the Headless Yama, when that time comes it will absolutely kill you."

The power deployed by the Heretic Buddha's head back then was capable of tracing back time.

It wasn't much inferior compared to Yi Qingzhou.

Yet Chen Huangpi stated: "What's there to be afraid of? Its head was cleanly lopped off by Master, and then it was tossed inside the Old Temple for so many years. It long since lost that mighty power of the past. It cannot possibly contend against the Yama's shadow."

The Yin Emperor and Master were acquainted.

His strength was definitely also at the 'Near-Dao' tier.

Merely, he wasn't as powerful as Master, that was all.

This Yama was an existence within the Underworld Yellow Spring second only to the Yin Emperor; it truly wouldn't necessarily fear this Heretic Buddha's head.

Otherwise, why was the one resisting and rebelling the Heretic Buddha's head?

"Contract Master, that Crosser of Torments next to you seems as if his Buddhist Heart is about to collapse."

Hearing these words.

Only then did Chen Huangpi spare the mind to bother with the Crosser of Torments off to the side.

Only to see this Crosser of Torments' expression alternating indeterminately between overcast and clear; occasionally overjoyed beyond expectations, and occasionally overwhelmed by unbearable collapse, as if he were currently undergoing an intense, agonizing internal struggle.

"Almsgiver Chen, exactly which Buddha are you!?"

This time, the Crosser of Torments changed his manner of address, no longer calling him Divine Embryo, nor using the respectful 'You' (您).

He felt this Divine Embryo before his eyes was incredibly evil and incredibly bizarre.

Didn't seem like a Buddha at all.

If he didn't uncover the truth clearly, he felt his Buddhist Heart would truly thoroughly collapse.

Chen Huangpi stated: "Crosser of Torments, the Buddha is formless/without a set appearance (无相). Whatever the Buddha you behold takes the appearance of, then that is what it looks like."

The words of this Crosser of Torments and that Bodhisattva had long since been clearly heard by the Brass Oil Lamp.

Therefore, for Chen Huangpi to deliberately say such things right now, it oppositely truly carried a tiny bit of the flavor of Buddhist scriptures.

With a pale, ashen face, the Crosser of Torments spoke: "My Buddha is merciful, delivering all sentient beings from suffering. How could He possibly possess such an intensely evil aura, be so utterly terrifying?"

Chen Huangpi asked in retort: "Your Buddha is merciful, but are you!?"

The Crosser of Torments did not answer.

Merely, his face grew even more pale and ashen.

And right now, this Skin-Flesh Boat was already drifting upon the Weak Water River toward the location of the stone stele at the bottom of the lake. Looking left and right, the rest of the monks riding the Skin-Flesh Boats were all separated by quite a vast distance.

And biasly, currently it was the dead of night.

The Crosser of Torments cast his gaze toward his surroundings, only feeling an icy chill permeating his entire body.

Those deeds he had done in the past, entirely due to Chen Huangpi's single retort, all surfaced within his mind.

Within the darkness, it was as if pair after pair of icy, sinister/evil eyes were watching him from the shadows.

That Great Bodhisattva Xianmo similarly possessed this feeling.

However, it only sensed a single pair of eyes.

Beneath that pair of eyes, every single deed it had done, extending even unto its every last thought, was like observing the lines on one's palm—manifesting with pinpoint clarity in the utmost detail.

The Great Bodhisattva Xianmo felt fear reaching the absolute limits.

It looked toward its surroundings, looked toward the sky above.

Desiring to uncover exactly where that pair of eyes was located.

Yet ultimately, it harvested absolutely nothing.

As if this pair of eyes fundamentally didn't exist, and was merely an illusion born of its own terror and fear.

And right at this moment.

Pu!

That sinister, evil, and bizarre Buddha body reflected from the bottom of this bottomless Skin-Flesh Boat suddenly vanished.

Chen Huangpi was watching with great enthusiasm. Seeing this scene, he couldn't help but furrow his brows: "Crosser of Torments, why did my Buddha body disappear?"

"Because the Original Appearance (本相) is about to manifest."

The Crosser of Torments' face was deathly pale, his back streaming with cold sweat.

Right now, he had already lost any mind to consider exactly which Buddha this Chen Huangpi before his eyes was.

He genuinely felt terror.

Instinctually feeling as if he couldn't live for much longer.

Karma cycles endlessly, retribution is never errant.

Moreover, the closer he was to this Chen Huangpi, the more intense that feeling of an imminent, massive calamity descending upon his head became.

Chen Huangpi couldn't be bothered to pay attention to this Crosser of Torments.

They had all already signed the Soul-Hooking Manual.

Could these monks possibly still run away?

At this moment, the bottom of that Skin-Flesh Boat once again rippled with glistening light.

Gudu, gudu... (Bubbling sounds)

The water's surface was bubbling.

As if something was about to drill out from inside.

The entire Skin-Flesh Boat rocked and swayed along with the rolling waves.

Chen Huangpi muttered inwardly in his heart: "My Original Appearance hasn't even emerged yet, but has already caused such violent fluctuations. Given this, it is unknown exactly what it has turned into now."

From beginning to end, his Original Appearance had changed many times.

There was another time, exactly when he cultivated the Yin-Yang Harmonization and Spirit Transformation Art.

First Master stated his Original Appearance had changed.

Now, this Skin-Flesh Boat of the Buddhist Cultivator could reflect his Original Appearance.

Chen Huangpi was oppositely incomparably anticipating it.

Gudu, gudu...

The water's surface was still bubbling. Not only the space beneath this boat, but the surface of the entire River of Weak Water became just like boiling water, ceaselessly bubbling non-stop.

And exactly during this precise moment.

An almost imperceptively faint kachaka (cracking) sound rang out.

A fissure cracked open upon the Skin-Flesh Boat.

That Crosser of Torments' face flushed completely crimson as if suffering from a violent backlash, spewing out a mouthful of fresh blood.

"Stop! Quickly stop!!"

The Crosser of Torments immediately formed Buddhist hand seals, desperately and vigorously driving this Skin-Flesh Boat to stop. Yet how could it possibly be stopped!?

The Skin-Flesh Boat was created through the transformation of his skin sack.

If it was destroyed, let alone transforming into a Bodhisattva in the future, he wouldn't even have the opportunity to transform into an Arhat.

The Sea of Bitterness is boundless; lacking a boat, how could one ferry across?

The Great Bodhisattva Xianmo muttered in even deeper, utterly incredulous disbelief: "Even if this is the Present Buddha Lord reincarnated, he still hasn't awakened his past-life wisdom! Why is his Original Appearance so incredibly difficult to manifest!? Could it be he is even more distinguished and noble than the Buddha Lord!?"

In locations even further away, the rest of the monks riding the Skin-Flesh Boats were currently similarly incomparably terrified.

The water's surface surged with violent, turbulent waves.

The Skin-Flesh Boats guarding their bodies were cracking apart.

Kachaka...

Kachaka...

Beneath the bottoms of these successive Skin-Flesh Boats.

That bubbling water surface suddenly calmed down at an unknown point in time.

All the Skin-Flesh Boats stopped rocking.

Then, every single individual beheld Chen Huangpi's Original Appearance at the bottom of their respective boats.

It was a pair of eyes.

A pair of icy, emotionless eyes interwoven with the twin hues of gold and black.

The instant this pair of eyes appeared.

The entire world turned silent and still.

Not a single half speck of sound, and all the more so fundamentally lacking the slightest rustle of wind through the grass.

As if even time had been frozen solid.

Only the crimson moon directly overhead grew increasingly brighter, even brightening to the degree of becoming blindingly piercing to the eye.

Yet the figure belonging to the master of this pair of eyes remained blurry and indistinct.

But looking at it, it was absolutely not a fourteen-year-old youth. Because the figure was tall, straight, and stalwart. Merely, it didn't give off a feeling of heroic spirit surging forth, but rather imbued an utterly indescribable, chilling intent of slaughter and execution (肃杀之意) that words could not express.

This Original Appearance was incomplete.

Chen Huangpi gazed at his own Original Appearance reflected at the bottom of the Skin-Flesh Boat.

He said somewhat disappointedly: "I actually thought this Skin-Flesh Boat was incredibly formidable! Who would have expected it couldn't even reflect my Original Appearance in full; one can only see a pair of eyes! Merely, why doesn't my Original Appearance match my own body!?"

The Brass Oil Lamp said, overcome with melancholy and loss: "Because seventeen thousand four hundred years have passed. One thousand years counting as one year of age; you are actually already seventeen and a half years old. Merely, your physical body grows slowly and hasn't managed to keep up, that is all."

The words had barely fallen.

That Crosser of Torments suddenly let out a miserable shriek: "Chen Huangpi, you are not the reincarnation of the Buddha Lord! Am I right!?"

Chen Huangpi couldn't help but laugh: "How did you know?"

The Crosser of Torments spoke in sheer agony: "Because your Original Appearance contains absolutely no Buddhist intent! Your Original Appearance is dead—no, it's about to come alive, it wants to leverage this opportunity to manifest itself! AAAHHH!!!!"

"Bodhisattva save me!!!"

The Skin-Flesh Boat had already cracked open, but it hadn't stopped manifesting Chen Huangpi's Original Appearance.

Or perhaps phrasing it another way, once this Original Appearance began manifesting.

Whether or not it could be stopped was no longer something the master of the Skin-Flesh Boat had the final say over.

Chen Huangpi's Original Appearance—of which only the pair of gold-black eyes was clear—currently had characters sprouting forth and pouring out from within the eyes like flowers, birds, fish, and insects, ceaselessly spreading and crawling toward the blurry figure covering its entire body.

And right into this exact moment.

That crimson moon suspended overhead actually abruptly cracked open a fissure.

Chen Huangpi raised his head for a look, merely to behold a single turbid, cloudy eye appearing in the sky. That eye peered toward him, containing both doting affection (溺爱) and a sense of having absolutely no other choice (无奈).

This look in the eyes, Chen Huangpi was incredibly familiar with.

In the past, when Master hadn't gone mad yet, he himself had wanted to burn the Pure Immortal Temple to the ground.

Master asked him why he wanted to do this.

He told Master: Huang Er said playing with fire causes bed-wetting (尿床). I don't believe it, I want to try.

Back then, Master watched him with this exact same look in his eyes.

Merely, within the gaze of this crimson moon, there only existed doting affection and helplessness, lacking the subsequent burning exasperation and anger when Master discovered he truly had wet the bed.

After that turbid, cloudy eye opened, the entire surface of the River of Weak Water broke out into a wave of ripples.

Immediately following that, Chen Huangpi's Original Appearance was completely washed away and scattered.

Before Chen Huangpi could even react.

BOOM!

Ten thousand zhang of giant, turbulent waves suddenly detonated within the boundless, limitless river.

As the massive waves slapped against those Skin-Flesh Boats, they immediately smashed them to pieces.

Furthermore, the river's surface shook violently.

A tremendously massive whirlpool surfaced directly from beneath Chen Huangpi.

The Brass Oil Lamp screamed out: "Chen Huangpi! Something is about to emerge! Look quickly! That's the stone stele the Evil Daoist mentioned! There really are characters upon it; look quickly and see exactly what is written on it!"

"Look my ass!"

The Life-reaping Ghost cursed furiously: "The Contract Master doesn't know how to swim! He drank so much water his eyes are rolling into the back of his head!"

Amidst its shouting, the Life-reaping Ghost instantly drilled out from the Soul-Hooking Manual, transforming into its hundred-zhang true skeleton form, and swallowed Chen Huangpi into its stomach in a single gulp.

Yet that whirlpool was far too incredibly massive.

Even though the Life-reaping Ghost had revealed its true body, it was still unable to drag itself out from within.

Instead, it was thoroughly and completely sucked into the world reflected within that Weak Water river.