Immortal and Martial Dual Cultivation
chapter-1660

With a Buddha-like heart, I am a Buddha.

This was the principle of using the mundane as a cauldron to temper a Buddha-like heart.

With this understanding, many things cleared up. Xiao Chen’s clogged-up thoughts became like a dredged river, gushing ferociously.

The mantra of the Mahāmāyā Abstinence Violation Saber Technique’s Breaking the Mundane filled Xiao Chen’s mind, bringing with it a feeling of enlightenment.

Inside the captain’s quarters, Xiao Chen unfurled the painting and seriously observed it once more.

Soon, under the watch of the massacre Buddha image, the monk brandished his Buddhist monk’s knife.

The saber light shot everywhere. The originally cold, emotionless, chilly saber light turned somewhat warm. Various scenes of the mundane world slowly unfurled in the saber light filling the air like a painting.

“Break!”

When that saber light reached perfection, everything, all the scenes of the mundane world, came to an abrupt stop.

That huge massacre Buddha image gave off a golden light, suddenly coming to life.

A purple-gold Buddhist monk’s knife appeared in the Buddha image’s hand as it ferociously thrust the knife forward.

The thirty-kilometer-long saber light layered over the knife in the monk’s hand. It seemed to come out of the painting and pierce Xiao Chen, who was observing.

Before it was over, this saber severed the mundane, ending it.

That monk sat cross-legged, hovering in the air.

A Buddhist swastika appeared on his forehead, spinning continuously.

Earlier, the lingering thoughts of the mundane world, which had previously been severed, reappeared. Worry, concern, grief, joy, parting, happiness, sadness, and sorrow, they all appeared in the world.

Slowly, a flame lit on the monk’s body, and the entire world started burning.

As this flame blazed, the Buddhist swastika on the monk’s forehead brightened, radiating golden light and Buddhist Might. Accompanying those was a tyrannical aura that resembled the Buddhist Martial Techniques.

Use the mundane as a cauldron to temper my Buddha-like heart!

Xiao Chen rejoiced in his heart as he quickly put away the painting and started cultivating again.

All that Xiao Chen saw earlier were things that he had never seen before. This was the principle of Breaking the Mundane: Break the abstinence and purification. Use the mundane as a cauldron to temper my Buddha-like heart!

With a Buddha-like heart, breaking or not breaking did not matter.

With this thought, Xiao Chen stopped dwelling on his past. He let himself go, chopping off the obsession in his heart without worries.

Suddenly, scenes of Xiao Chen’s experiences appeared in the captain’s quarters.

Xiao Chen’s fresh face when he was in Mohe City. The peaceful times with Liu Ruyue in Qingyun Peak. The Kunlun Realm’s Demonic Calamity…

All sorts of scenes of the mundane world appeared. Within the same generation, nearly no one could match Xiao Chen’s experiences.

Break!

When the scenes of the mundane world increased to the point where there could not be any more, Xiao Chen shouted in his heart. Everything vanished. Then, like a crack of thunder, all the confusion scattered in an explosion.

After a while, everything reappeared and turned into flames, blazing fiercely.

Xiao Chen’s entire body bathed in flames, feeling a warmth. Buddhist chanting rang out beside his ear as the various mysterious phenomena around his body approximated those of the monk in the painting.

All he lacked was the swastika on his forehead.

This was because Xiao Chen’s tempering had not produced a Buddha-like heart yet. After all, he was not an experienced monk; it would still take him some time to develop a Buddha-like heart.

------

In the blink of an eye, one month passed.

Only seven days remained before the Black Cutlass would reach the Black Cave Mountain, one of the three blessed lands.

The journey had been smooth and peaceful without many setbacks. The crew of the ship slowly relaxed.

For the past month, Xiao Chen had mostly stayed in the captain’s quarters in closed-door cultivation.

A faint Buddhist swastika finally appeared on Xiao Chen’s forehead. It was not bright or dazzling with golden light.

However, he completely grasped the principle of the Breaking the Mundane Saber Technique, accomplishing what Elder Tang thought impossible.

Without Xiao Chen grasping the principle, Breaking the Mundane would only have shape without form. He would not be able to release its true might.

He would be just like that Skeleton Dragon Star Venerate, who could bring out only twenty percent of the Saber Technique’s might even when going all out. Despite being a Star Venerate, that was all the Skeleton Dragon Star Venerate could accomplish.

However, Xiao Chen now—at the half-step Primal Core Realm—could easily bring out twenty percent of this move’s might.

This was the difference between grasping the principle and not.

More importantly, only by grasping the principle could one have a thorough understanding of the move and reverse-engineer it to comprehend the one move of the Gautama Divine Palm that the Hidden Spirit Temple grasped.

Xiao Chen dismissed the technique with satisfaction, revealing a smile on his face. However, before he could finish his smile, he turned grave.

The black lotus mark pulsated, and Xiao Chen felt a burning sensation. The string holding the Buddhist pendant broke with a ‘buzz.’

The Buddhist pendant quickly floated in front of Xiao Chen’s chest, showing small cracks in it.

Xiao Chen’s face immediately sank. He reached out and grabbed the Buddhist pendant. Then, with a few flashes, he arrived on deck.

This was a feeling that Xiao Chen never had before. It was not that he had not been pursued by the Black Lotus Church in the past. However, the reaction had never been this intense.

What kind of enemy was this strong?

A strong sense of danger bloomed in Xiao Chen’s heart as he stood on the deck and looked to the front.

Xiao Chen’s expression turned heavy. It seemed that the Black Lotus Church had already figured out his destination long ago and set up an ambush there.

Perhaps the Black Lotus Church had laid traps in advance around the few places that one had to pass to reach the blessed lands.

Damn, who leaked information about me?

Or was I not cautious enough and exposed some clues?

Why had the Black Lotus Church’s people chased Xiao Chen all the way to the Grave Sea, even waiting for him here? Originally, he thought that he had already completely shaken them off in Purple Sun City.

“Brat, why is your expression so ridiculously unsightly? It is not like you took a wrong path in cultivation. Your aura seems to be getting increasingly stable. Once you advance to the Primal Core Realm, I wonder how your strength will erupt?”

The Iron Hand Yama, who had recovered his strength, had not left the ship yet, remaining aboard.

When Xiao Chen saw the Iron Hand Yama, his expression warmed slightly. However, the worry on his face did not fade away.

“Telling you or not, what does it matter?” Xiao Chen replied before turning around and heading for the control room.

Seeing Xiao Chen rush away so quickly, the Iron Hand Yama took another gulp of wine and smiled. “Even if this fellow did not say it, this old man can also guess it. With that unsightly face, I can be sure that his enemies found him and are approaching.”

The Iron Hand Yama looked in the direction Xiao Chen had looked towards earlier. Then, his expression turned slightly strange. After that, he shook the wine bottle in his hand; he was out of wine. He contemplated as he stared at the empty bottle.

Xiao Chen gathered everyone in the control room. Then, he looked at Xiao Suo with a complicated expression.

“Captain, don’t look at me like that. I feel strange.” Xiao Suo felt that something was wrong, so he said, “Captain, just speak if you have something to say.”

Xiao Chen smiled and said, “It’s fine. Remember what I once told you?”

“Which one?”

Xiao Chen looked straight at him and said seriously, “I said long ago that this ship would return to your hands someday. I cannot walk too far down the path of being a pirate.”

When Xiao Suo heard that, he felt an itch in his heart, feeling somewhat excited and nervous at the same time. “You are leaving.”

“Yes. There are seven more days before we reach the blessed lands. If everything goes according to plan, I should meet a senior there. Then, I will cultivate there for some time before heading for my true destination.” Xiao Chen’s expression appeared relaxed; no one could tell what he was thinking.

On hearing this news, Luo Nan and Fei`er gaped in shock. This was too surprising.

They had no warning of this at all.

“Captain, you never mentioned this before. This is too sudden,” Luo Nan protested, feeling confused.

Xiao Chen smiled and said, “This is not that sudden. I thought very long about this while I was in closed-door cultivation.”

Fei`er’s eyes turned red with reluctance. “However, Big Brother Xiao Chen, Fei`er cannot bear to part with you.”

“That’s right, Captain. None of us can bear to part with you. Let us wait for you. Give us a time. No, no need for a time, just your word. We are all willing to wait for you.”

All of the crew on the ship found Xiao Chen’s sudden departure somewhat hard to accept; they could not bear for him to leave.

Xiao Chen’s heart felt warm as he held back the gratitude in his heart. He smiled and said, “I also cannot bear to part with you. However, there is no banquet that never ends. Everyone has their own destiny. Furthermore, while this starry sea is very vast, it is not impossible for us to meet again.”

He paused here and looked at Elder Tang, who had remained silent all the while and showed a suspicious expression.

Then, he stretched out his hand and tapped Elder Tang’s forehead.

“Crack!”

The red restriction in the depths of Elder Tang’s soul, which had extremely worried and troubled him, vanished.

Elder Tang felt released of a heavy burden. He looked at Xiao Chen, wanting to say something. However, Xiao Chen’s glare stopped him.

“This period has been hard on Elder Tang.”

Xiao Chen smiled and performed a cupped-fist salute. “Everyone, we will meet again in the future.”

The black lotus mark on Xiao Chen’s chest burned hotter. He suppressed the reluctance in his heart and left hastily in a few flashes.

“Captain!”

The others quickly gave chase, all the way to the deck. By then, they could only see Xiao Chen’s figure rushing off.

Xiao Suo looked at the Captain Token, which Xiao Chen had handed to him, in his hand. He felt that all this was too sudden. He muttered, “Why do I feel like something is wrong?”

Luo Nan, Fei`er, and the others continued looking into the distance, full of reluctance as they watched Xiao Chen’s dwindling figure.

The Iron Hand Yama shook the wine bottle, feeling bored. However, not a single drop of Thousand Year Flame came out.

“How unfortunate! I will not be able to drink such nice wine again in the future.”

After that, the Iron Hand Yama looked at the people at the side and said helplessly, “You group of fools. Could none of you tell that he is running because he does not want to implicate you all?”

“What?!”

Everyone felt startled, staring at the Iron Hand Yama in disbelief.