Chapter 156 : Dharma Body Prototype

Chapter 156: Dharma Body Prototype

Xu Lingling’s tongue unconsciously brushed across her rouge-stained lips, her breathing slightly quickened.

Strange. She clearly had someone she liked in her heart, yet the more she looked, the more she felt that Pavilion Master Su Miao was beautiful.

Thinking this, she turned to glance at her close friend, only to find Xu Ziqing’s earlobes flushed, her eyes burning hot, her gaze tightly fixed on Pavilion Master Su Miao.

Clearly, even female cultivators could not resist the enchanting melody played by a second-tier high-grade musician.

Su Miao’s divine sense imperceptibly swept across the first-floor Listening Pavilion and the second-floor private rooms.

Within the entire Cloudsound Pavilion, there were only two Qi Refining cultivators who were completely unaffected by the Strings of Sentiment.

One was the grandson of True Monarch Jing Yuan, born with noble status.

Fang Yuchen closed his eyes, his right hand gently tapping on the jade table, as if enjoying the subtlety of the music.

The other was a Qi Refining cultivator from a declining household.

Chen Beiwu’s expression was calm, his gaze clear, sitting quietly upon a meditation cushion.

Su Miao, stirred by the thrill of a worthy hunt, no longer acted carelessly. She spread open her right palm and grew serious.

“Ying.”

The Thousand-Voiced Illusion Fox leapt into Su Miao’s palm.

“Companion Beast Transformation!” With a thought, Su Miao urged her spiritual power, and the Thousand-Voiced Illusion Fox upon her palm blossomed with radiance.

Under Chen Beiwu’s astonished gaze, the Thousand-Voiced Illusion Fox’s forepaws embraced the moon, its body curling inwards, its spine transforming into towering peaks, its fox ears into the head of a harp, its claws into crown-like pegs, and its fur into strings.

In the next instant, Su Miao’s aura surged. In her hand appeared a guqin about three feet six inches long, jade-like in luster, with a white fox’s head peeking at its tip, producing crisp, melodious notes.

The true Cleansing Spirit Melody began!

Chen Beiwu had originally intended to bide his time, gradually dissolving the disguise of the Phantom Concealment Pendant, fully revealing his hidden cultivation.

But as the pure, crystalline music like a flowing spring entered his mind, washing his soul, his eyelids grew heavy, his gaze turned hazy, as though his spirit had left his body, wandering beyond the heavens.

Yet within him, the two great Spirit Seeds in his dantian and qi sea radiated with unprecedented brilliance.

Sensing something amiss, the Spirit Beast Pouch at Chen Beiwu’s waist trembled lightly. A golden glow flashed out from within—his fiercely protective Gold Egg.

“Gulu!”

Seeing Chen Beiwu slipping into enlightenment, Gold Egg, without a word, squatted loyally at his side, its vigilant gaze scanning the surroundings, wholly ignoring the Cleansing Spirit Melody echoing in the Cloudsound Pavilion.

Soon, the melody ended.

The jade harp in Su Miao’s hands transformed back into the Thousand-Voiced Illusion Fox. She raised her head and looked toward the second-floor rooms.

Inside the room.

Xu Lingling and Xu Ziqing opened their eyes simultaneously, smiles upon their lips, clearly having gained much.

“How does it feel?” Xu Lingling asked curiously.

Pavilion Master Su Miao’s Cleansing Spirit Melody was indeed extraordinary.

With just one song, not only had her spiritual power refined by thirty percent, but even the strength of her divine sense had soared by nearly fifty percent. She felt as though she could step into the peak of Qi Refining at any moment.

Unfortunately, this feeling was merely the temporary illusion granted by the augmentation of a second-tier high-grade musician’s melody. It could not last.

Unless she could achieve enlightenment and break through, fully solidifying the enhancement of the Cleansing Spirit Melody.

Sensing the surging aura erupting from Room One next door, Xu Ziqing’s smile faded, replaced with a bitter grin. “The gap is too great. My aptitude truly cannot compare with a true prodigy.”

“Roar!”

The next moment, an excited dragon’s roar resounded. Riding his Armored Earth Dragon, Fang Yuchen leapt down from his private room, his sharp momentum unveiled without restraint, startling the many second-generation cultivators within the Cloudsound Pavilion.

To avoid disrupting the melody, they had all kept their Companion Beasts in their Spirit Beast Pouches.

Yet now, someone was brazenly riding a contracted beast, releasing their aura during Pavilion Master Su Miao’s performance!

“Is this guy seeking death?” someone who did not recognize Fang Yuchen muttered.

“What terrifying oppression… is that a Foundation Establishment cultivator striking out?” one cultivator exclaimed at Fang Yuchen’s aura.

“No, not right! This is the pressure of a Qi Refining cultivator surpassing the limits!” Guan Anyong’s pupils shrank as he blurted out.

In his eyes, a Foundation Establishment cultivator was nothing compared to a nineteen-year-old who had exceeded the limits of Qi Refining.

It was no exaggeration to say that such a genius would rank among the foremost in the prefecture, and securing admission into the Thirteen Immortal Sects was practically assured.

“Do I now have the qualifications to take you as my Dao companion?”

Amidst countless gazes, Fang Yuchen sat upon the Armored Earth Dragon, looking down loftily at Su Miao. It was as if their cultivation had reversed—he the late-stage Foundation Establishment cultivator, while she was but a common Qi Refining cultivator.

“Not enough.” Su Miao shook her head, her tone playful.

At these words, Fang Yuchen’s brows furrowed. “You would go back on your word?”

“Go back on what? This Cleansing Spirit Banquet has more than one cultivator achieving enlightenment.” Su Miao’s gaze passed through Fang Yuchen, landing on Chen Beiwu behind him.

At her words, the hearts of all present skipped a beat. They instinctively followed her gaze, even the arrogant Fang Yuchen.

On the Listening Pavilion sat a handsome cultivator with sword-like brows and starry eyes, his gaze vacant. On his shoulder crouched a rare Golden Scale Fish—few cultivators would even dare to contract such a beast.

“Gulu.”

Sensing the stares, especially Fang Yuchen’s, Gold Egg instinctively shrank its head, then gathered its courage and stood before Chen Beiwu, its eyes saying: whoever dared approach, it would fight them.

“Who is this? Does anyone know him?” one cultivator muttered.

All shook their heads.

Though they did not recognize Chen Beiwu, they knew anyone who could enter enlightenment through the Cleansing Spirit Melody was no one they could provoke.

“It’s Beiwu!” Xu Lingling’s pupils shrank as her figure flickered, appearing instantly beside Chen Beiwu. Xu Ziqing followed right after.

Though Gold Egg had seen Xu Lingling and Xu Ziqing a few times, it still dared not trust them, blowing bubbles in warning.

Seeing this, Xu Lingling and Xu Ziqing exchanged a glance. They did not approach further, but instead stood guard at Chen Beiwu’s side to ensure his enlightenment was undisturbed.

“This fellow certainly has no lack of peach blossom luck.” Su Miao’s eyes glimmered with amusement as she gazed at Chen Beiwu.

“Interesting.” Fang Yuchen’s expression softened.

He did not know Chen Beiwu, but he knew Xu Lingling.

In others’ eyes, he was the grandson of True Monarch Jing Yuan, of lofty standing.

And that was indeed the truth. Otherwise, he would never have dared openly propose to take Su Miao as his Dao companion.

Yet Xu Lingling’s background and status were no weaker than his own.

“Hu!”

Chen Beiwu exhaled a turbid breath and slowly opened his eyes.

“Crash!”

In that instant, every cultivator present heard the deafening roar of waves crashing, as though they stood at the edge of a boundless abyss, facing towering tsunamis about to drown the heavens and earth.

Some of the second-generation cultivators with weaker wills staggered back several steps, sealing off their divine sense and perception, instinctively retreating from the endless, terrifying sea of fury.

Yet those with firm wills and higher cultivation sensed something amiss, their gazes fixed tightly on Chen Beiwu’s eyes.

Unnoticed, a tender green sprout phantom had emerged within his pupils—brimming with vitality, yet also bearing the world-piercing momentum of a towering divine tree.

“Water and Wood as the foundation, ruling over all laws… This is the prototype Dharma Body of the All Laws Converge, Heaven Book of the Divine Tree!”

Fang Yuchen’s breath caught, his gaze toward Chen Beiwu softening, his former arrogance gone.