History's Number 1 Founder
chapter-892

The Golden Cicada Master was an immemorial great demon and was already at the Vipralopa Stage. The extent of his powers was extolled as boundless and all-powerful, but what made Lin Feng relatively more concerned was his natural abhijna, the Golden Cicada Shell Escape Technique. It was a truly irritating spell.

It was especially so because the Golden Cicada Master was adept in Buddhist mantras and studied the Bright Space Samsara Technique. Using that with the Golden Cicada Shell Escape Technique led to a combination that was even more difficult to deal with.

From Lin Feng’s perspective, this bastard was a cicada but he was more like a cockroach.

This person’s mastery was indeed formidable. When Lin Feng was still in the first-level immortal soul stage, the mana trace that he had imprinted on Zhou Yuncong’s soul was forcefully removed by the Golden Cicada Master. The Golden Cicada Master still underestimated Lin Feng in the end, however, as the mana trace that was a removed from Zhou Yuncong’s soul was discreetly transferred onto a magic treasure in his possession.

"This treasure doesn’t belong to the Nine Infants Grand Sage – the original owner is that old cicada. I can still find him using this treasure as a lead."

Lin Feng extended his mana as he continued to contemplate and instantly sealed off the Great Jingyun Swamp so that the Nine Infants Grand Sage had no way of escaping.

He reached out with his hands and effortlessly grabbed the small World of Consciousness in his hands. He left the Nine Infants Grand Sage to Wang Lin, Shi Tianhao and the others.

The ferocity of this great demon was not to be underestimated. When he realized he was backed into a corner, his body started to transform as the void twisted out of proportion along with his body. His body seemed no larger than it was, but in reality, it was far more colossal than before – without twisting space, even the entire Great Jingyun Swamp would have been unable to contain him.

Seven of the nine snake heads opened their bloody mouths. However, instead of spitting out Yin Fire and Yin Water, they started to flicker with the radiance of the stars. Strange glyphs and runes glimmered within each head, with a brilliance that resembled the stars in the heavens.

Wang Lin exchanged a look with Shi Tianhao and muttered, "Oh? This demon has cultivated seven stars?"

In the path of demonic cultivation, once the demon reached the undying demon soul stage, it would have never-ending life and a powerful demonic soul.

If the demon was able to form the Original True Spirit, also known as the second-level undying demon soul stage, it would be able to use the Original True Spirit as a foundation to cultivate and assimilate the stars in the heavens above. The demon could direct the power of the stars into its body and its strength would continually increase.

Once the first star had been completely assimilated, the demon grand sage would attempt to channel the other stars in the sky and integrate the assimilated star with its undying demon soul. Successful integration would allow the great demon to form the Syncretic Star Soul and he would ascend into the third-level undying demon soul stage.

With the Syncretic Star Soul after the first star, third-level undying demon soul stage demons would be able to start assimilating more and more stars.

These demons would experience increased strength and power with every star they assimilated.

There were clear distinctions between the qualities of strength of different stars. Therefore, it did not necessarily follow that a large volume of assimilated stars meant the demon would be undefeatable; one had to pay attention to the type of stars assimilated.

The seven stars cultivated by the Nine Infants Grand Sage were similar in quality and characteristics. In this case, the combination of the seven stars produced an optimal effect and greatly boosted his demonic powers.

From the looks of it, if he were able to cultivate nine stars with every head as a respective host, his demonic powers would ascend to another level and he could possibly have the ability to attempt the tribulations.

The Nine Infants Grand Sage recognized Lin Feng at once and naturally did not hold back at all. His first move was a somewhat all-in-or-nothing stance as he channeled all seven stars that he had assimilated – vast energies disturbed and stirred up space-time.

"Third Senior, help me direct the formation," Shi Tianhao muttered under his breath as he stepped forward to meet the great demon. Wang Lin nodded his head calmly as he glared at the Nine Infants Grand Sage with cold eyes.

His two disciples were responsible for toying round with the Nine Infants Grand Sage while Lin Feng’s attention shifted to the small world of consciousness that he had just retrieved.

There was a gargantuan magic formation hidden within the tiny world. This magic formation appeared sinister as it rolled with flickering Buddhist light and even emanated some wood fragrance. Buddhist chants could be heard from within as well, but the formation patterns permeated with demonic energies.

There was a rectangular object with four triangular extensions on each side in the center of the magic formation. They resembled four thin wings of a cicada, and they congregated at the tip and formed a pyramid-like structure.

Thick golden mist obscured the wings of the cicada and there was no way one could see what was placed within the four-sided pyramid.

"Eh?" Lin Feng felt his heart skip a beat as he turned towards Shi Tianhao and his epic battle with the Nine Infants Grand Sage. The combined release of the seven stars gave the great demon an advantage, but Lin Feng was not so concerned about that. What caught his attention was the fact that, during the climax of the battle, a figure flickered into vision and teamed up with the Nine Infants Grand Sage against Shi Tianhao.

It was a tall monk-like figure. He looked ancient, had a Vajra-like expression as he held onto a monk staff, and had a row of prayer beads hanging around his neck; what was insidious was the fact that the necklace of ‘prayer beads’ was formed by nine skulls of different races.

Buddhist light shot out from the top of the monk’s head and condensed into a giant Buddha spell body on top of a lotus flower. The lotus flower had a wheel and a throne that was supported by eight horses, and the buddha had Cintamani beads on his right hand and a bell on his left – it was the Ratnasambhava of the Five Dhyani Buddhas.

This was an authentic and representative mantra of the Buddhists – the Ratnasambhava Mantra. The monk was able to form the buddha spell body, and was in the second-level golden form stage. However, its consciousness and movement was perfectly synchronized with the Nine Infants Grand Sage, thus it was clear that it was one of the great demon’s avatars.

This was similar to the five Buddha avatars of the Golden Cicada Master. The Nine Infants Grand Sage was one of his followers, and eventually studied Buddhist mantras as well and ultimately cultivated a buddha avatar for himself.

Higher level monks practicing the Five Tathagata Mantras of the Compass would have delicate differences between each other as their cultivation would have incorporated his or her own understanding of Buddhist teachings and the way of life.

The Nine Infants Grand Sage’s Ratnasambhava Mantra, even though it was not entirely the same as that practiced by the Golden Cicada Master, Lin Feng could tell with a single look that both originated from the same lineage.

In a certain sense, one could say that the Nine Infants Grand Sage was a disciple of the Golden Cicada Master.

"Interesting," Lin Feng chuckled before his attention returned to the four-sided pyramid inside the tiny world before him.

His eyes sparkled as he easily pierced through the barriers erected by the cicada wings and his vision x-rayed into the pyramid.

There was a golden bowl positioned inside the pyramid; Buddhist light and demonic energies coexisted within it.

The cicada wings trembled as a light illusion shimmered into vision above them. It was a grey-cloaked young monk – the Golden Cicada Master!

He was powerless in stopping Lin Feng’s entrance through the cicada wings, but Lin Feng’s actions alerted him nonetheless.

The Golden Cicada Master stared at Lin Feng and smiled faintly, "Master Lin, I have not showed the respect I should have, do forgive me for that. Your grand disciple is safe and healthy, and you can rest easy."

Lin Feng glanced at the Golden Cicada Master and replied, "Save your words for when we actually meet. I will find you very soon."

The Golden Cicada Master said, "May I kindly request that you do not cause too much trouble for the Nine Infants Grand Sage. He is here under my instructions to protect what is mine, and has nothing to do with the issue of your grand-disciple, and neither does he know where I am."

Lin Feng said no more as he waved his hands above the cicada wings and the Golden Cicada Master’s light illusion vanished in an instant. However, Lin Feng did not destroy the cicada wings or damage the magic formation.

He was meticulously observing the golden bowl inside the pyramid. He realized that there seemed to be a golden Nirvana Samsara rotating continuously inside the golden bowl.

There was a human figure inside the Nirvana Samsara, and Lin Feng recognized him immediately – it was the Marquis of Jinghuan, who had been defeated and killed by Xiao Yan inside the Ying Sea!

He had the old look of short hair and an expression of hard-headedness, yet it seemed like he was trying his best to resist the agonizing grind of the golden samsara. However, he was an extraordinary individual after all and it appeared as if he managed to understand the golden samsara’s concept of power and was gradually reducing the direness of his circumstance.

Lin Feng watched on with amusement. To the best of his knowledge, the Marquis of Jinghuan had connections with many different sects and families; he was the bastard son of Liang Pan, the emperor of the Great Zhou Empire and thus received many privileges and benefits from them; he was discreetly supported by the Radical Faction of the Great Void Sect; he was also collaborating with the Golden Cicada Master in secret.

He even managed to obtain the lineage of the last emperor of the Human Emperors of the Antiquity age – the Emperor of Violence, even though it was incomplete.

During the battle of the Ying Sea, Xiao Yan destroyed the Divine Armor of the Emperor of Violence and blew his physical body and his nascent soul into smithereens – his various avatars followed into the depths as well. The Golden Cicada Master’s avatar, the Ratnasambhava Monk, had intentions to save him but retreated as he was nearly trapped by the Great Zhou Empire himself.

From the looks of it, the Golden Cicada Master had done something to Liang An’s body way before any of that happened, and he probably did so without pure intentions of any kind.

It was likely that the clandestine support provided by the Golden Cicada Master had ulterior motives from the very beginning.

Lin Feng carefully observed the golden samsara and realized that this golden samsara seemed to be taking something out from the remnant soul of the Marquis of Jinghuan.

He extended his consciousness and connected with the golden samsara. Immediately, multiple disconnected and disorganized flashbacks and pictures appeared in his mind.

There was a high-spirited middle-aged man with the demeanor of a ferocious predator that stood tall and magnificent between heaven and earth. There was a kingly aura about this man, and he also exhibited overwhelming qualities of avariciousness and the desire to despoil – he was like the demon love-child of a dragon and a wolf.

This man held a golden bowl in his hands and was using his mana to study it.

The golden bowl flickered with golden light, but in the middle of it all was a region that resembled a black howl.

This region was deathly quiet and tranquil, yet it seemed to embody a frightening existence. Both the middle-aged man and even Lin Feng felt chills run down their spines at the sight of it.

The middle-aged man gazed at the darkness within the rays of golden light. The inscrutable expression in his eyes flowed with fear, curiosity, reverence, desire and greed – an inexhaustible list.

There seemed to be a sparkle of light in the abyss of the darkness, but was obscure and difficult to make out.

However, Lin Feng could feel the self-conscious aura from inside, and it was one of omnipotence and boundless power.

Lin Feng had a revelation. "So it’s like this… But, what’s up with the Marquis of Jinghuan? Could it be the incarnation of the Emperor of Violence? Yet it doesn’t seem like it – it feels more like an outsider watching the Emperor of Violence and that golden bowl…"

During the process of his own reasoning, the thoughts of the Marquis of Jinghuan flowed into Lin Feng’s mind as well. Besides the usual outrageous greed and rapacity, Lin Feng smiled at the thought that this man was still dreaming of taking his revenge on Xiao Yan.

Lin Feng chuckled as he connected his consciousness to Xiao Yan, who was still on top of Mount Yujing. Xiao Yan was a little confused as his own consciousness connected to that of the Marquis of Jinghuan and Xiao Yan’s image immediately glimmered in the Marquis of Jinghuan’s thoughts.

After a moment of shock, Liang An grinned wryly and said, "I bet you didn’t know I am still alive. You can’t kill me! You weren’t able to do it the last time, and the next time we meet, I will definitely send you to hell – and when that happens, all your women and all your treasures will belong to me!"

"Even though I am currently trapped by the Golden Cicada Master, I have already discovered the way out. That’s not all – once I am able to escape, I will be able to draw power from the Golden Cicada Master’s set-up and ascend to the immortal soul stage. I will find the opportunity to seek my vengeance upon the Golden Cicada Master after I execute you. Unless, you spend your entire life under the protection of your master, or you shall be the stepping stone for my rise to power!"

Xiao Yan appeared stunned at his outburst but recovered in an instant before he sputtered a giggle and retrieved two items from his pocket that resembled torn clothes.

The Marquis of Jinghuan’s eyes turned red the moment he saw these two things and he exploded again. "You… you…"

Xiao Yan laughed again mockingly as he held one piece in each hand and waved it in front of the Marquis of Jinghuan – they were the remains of the Divine Armor of the Emperor of Violence.