Chapter 1472: Horse Tathagata (First Update)
"Mahaha!"
Within Qin Mu's layered dreams, countless tiny versions of Qin Mu gathered together. Some wore solemn expressions, some exuded wild auras, some were dressed in animal-skin shorts and jackets with scruffy beards like savages, while others resembled gentle and refined scholars. Some were barefoot, carrying blades like butchers, and others carried themselves like lofty experts.
There were also monk Qin Mus who came running over, like enlightened Buddhas, their bodies radiating brilliant Buddha light.
These tiny figures from his dreams assembled together, surrounding Qin Mu's primordial spirit within the dreamscape.
Qin Mu's primordial spirit was vast, his body piercing through layer after layer of dreams, like a Mount Sumeru spanning countless worlds.
The many tiny Qin Mus spoke one after another, freely expressing their views, racking their brains to analyze the principles behind the Mirage Palace Primordial Sage's divine abilities, and how to avoid being assimilated by the Mirage Palace Primordial Sage's thoughts.
For the first few days, all was peaceful. But on the third day, a tiny figure was passionately explaining how he would break the Primordial Sage's spells. Just as he reached the climax, the language of his "Mahaha Mahaha" suddenly shifted.
"The mandate of Heaven is called nature; following nature is called the Way; cultivating the Way is called teaching..."
He instantly became a deviant among the many tiny figures, and the swarm of tiny Qin Mus rushed him, beating him to death on the spot.
However, not long after, another tiny Qin Mu was assimilated, becoming a scripture-chanting figure. Even when killed, new tiny Qin Mus continued to fall.
"Mahaha!"
"Guji!"
Within the dreams, countless tiny Qin Mus fell into chaos. At that moment, a Buddha Qin Mu stood up, forming the Unmoving Seal. With a resounding *clang* like a great bell, the sound rang through the entire scene, calming those chaotic little figures and stabilizing their minds.
Beneath the Buddha Qin Mu's feet, a golden spring surged forth, and from the spring, a lotus rose, lifting him up. Sacred and solemn, countless tiny Qin Mus turned their gazes toward him.
"Ma! Ha!"
The Buddha Qin Mu formed seals, slowly sitting down, chanting a Buddhist sutra that outsiders could not understand. Yet those panicked tiny Qin Mus seemed to comprehend it, sitting cross-legged on the ground one after another, joining the Buddha Qin Mu in chanting.
Within Qin Mu's layered dreams, a truly spectacular scene unfolded. Tens of thousands, millions of Qin Mus, a vast sea of them, sat on the boundless plains like a forest of monks, all chanting the same Buddhist sutra in unison. The sound grew louder and louder, more and more unified!
That sound was like a torrent of conviction, sweeping through all the dreams. Vast, far-reaching, though incomprehensible, it was extraordinarily stirring!
His dreams became like Buddha lands, Buddha realms, with Buddha light expanding from each dream, boundless in radiance, the Buddha's voice majestic, calming the soul.
Granny Si, Mute, Blind, and the others saw this scene and couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief. Lame, after several days of recuperation, was also much better than before, and seeing this, he too relaxed.
Granny Si put down her divine bow, muttering softly, "The Great Thunderclap Monastery's Buddhist teachings are a study of the mind. It's not about faith, but conviction—a tempering of the soul. Perhaps it can deal with that Mirage Palace Primordial Sage."
Lame's face was still somewhat sallow, and he said, "Mu'er has strengthened his conviction, achieved a heart like vajra, and subdued the heart-monkey. There should be no one in the world who can disturb his mind."
They waited quietly. On the tenth day, suddenly, a discordant note appeared within the torrent of Buddha's voice in Qin Mu's dreams!
Granny Si and the others' eyelids twitched as they saw thousands upon thousands of Qin Mus, like great Buddhas, seated in the various heavens surrounding Qin Mu's primordial spirit. That voice came from the lowest of those heavens.
"...Centrality is the great foundation of the world; harmony is the universal path of the world..."
This voice disrupted the Buddhist teachings. The interference wasn't strong, but it spread like a plague, gradually infecting the other tiny Qin Mus.
Granny Si and the others' expressions grew increasingly grim as a second tiny Qin Mu was assimilated, soon chanting the Mirage Palace Primordial Sage's scriptures. Then came a third, a fourth...
Eventually, hundreds of tiny Qin Mus were assimilated. The speed of infection increased dramatically, spreading toward the center, with more and more tiny Qin Mus falling, layer after layer of dreams becoming polluted!
Granny Si's face was grave. She picked up the divine bow she had discarded and gripped it tightly.
Lame stared at her hand, then his gaze fell on the divine bow in her grasp. His expression suddenly darkened. "Granny, what are you planning to do?"
"None of your business!" Granny Si said coldly, still staring intently at Qin Mu's dreams.
Lame grew restless, pacing back and forth. Suddenly, he moved, lunging to snatch the longbow from Granny Si's hand!
Granny Si was already on guard. She raised her other palm, and with a series of booming thunderclaps, the geomagnetic primordial force within her palm erupted. Layer after layer of geomagnetic great divine abilities pressed down on Lame like mountains descending one after another, crushing him to the ground, his speed completely nullified!
"Lame, you were severely injured earlier and don't know the full story!"
Granny Si said angrily, drawing the divine bow, still staring at the tiny Qin Mus being assimilated in the dreams. Yet the drawn bow was aimed directly at Qin Mu's primordial spirit at the center of the dream heavens.
"I don't know!"
Lame pushed against the ground with all four limbs, struggling to stand, but with another series of booming crashes, he was pressed down again.
Lame's eyes became bloodshot, turning crimson. He struggled fiercely, his voice hoarse: "Si Youyou, you wretched woman! I don't know what reason you have to shoot Mu'er! But I know this: Mu'er was found by you, but every time, it was you who sent him away! Every time, you found raising him too troublesome, and every time, I stole him back!"
Unable to break free from the geomagnetic great divine ability, he suddenly roared: "Mu'er was raised by me! Primordial Spirit Exchanges the Sun!"
His body remained still, but his primordial spirit left his body. With a *shua*, it broke through the geomagnetic great divine ability, arriving beside Granny Si in an instant, reaching for the divine bow.
Granny Si withdrew the bow, turned, and with a flick of her skirt, the geomagnetic divine light transformed into countless stars. The stellar force between the stars formed countless chains, weaving back and forth, creating a vast net!
Lame's primordial spirit charged into the vast net but wasn't caught. Instead, it sped through the starry sky, furious: "If it weren't for me, Mu'er would have been given away by you long ago! If you want to kill him, kill me first!"
His primordial spirit suddenly expanded, becoming immensely majestic. He shifted stars and exchanged constellations, disrupting Granny Si's divine abilities. The art of thievery was displayed in him to its fullest!
"Lame, don't be reckless!"
Blind flew forward, his divine abilities erupting, perfectly combining with Granny Si's abilities!
Blind used the stars and constellations formed by Granny Si's geomagnetic divine light to set up various formations, trapping Lame tightly. His formation mastery was the best in Yancheng, and even Yan Yunxi, the formation master of the Kaicheng era, admired him.
Lame was enraged, pushing his primordial spirit's speed to the limit, shouting fiercely: "I've been through the Piziang Hall, do you think I'm afraid of a blind man like you?!"
Blind was also furious. He leaped into the starry sky, personally taking control of the formation, raising the Dragon Tuo Divine Spear, and roared: "Seals are dead, formations are alive! Do you think you can escape from this formation?!"
The two clashed, fighting fiercely, their figures darting through the starry sky.
Meanwhile, Mute watched Qin Mu's dreams. In that short time, almost all of Qin Mu's dreams had been polluted, leaving only the last Buddha Qin Mu unassimilated.
That Buddha Qin Mu chanted Buddhist sutras, struggling with all his might against the billions of assimilated tiny Qin Mus, but his chanting was intermittent.
"If we don't act now, it will be too late." Mute sighed, looking at Granny Si.
Granny Si gritted her teeth, drawing the divine bow, ready to shoot Qin Mu's primordial spirit. At that moment, suddenly, Buddha light blazed outside the Great Black Mountain, and the sound of Buddhist chanting grew loud. Granny Si turned to look, and saw a middle-aged great Buddha walking forward amidst layers of Buddha light.
"Master Horse..."