By a secret forest, Zong Shou waved his hand casually, pointing left and right into the void. It was an act of sheer will, yet wherever his fingertips brushed, things would either vanish in an instant or suddenly explode.

“This power of Vows, it truly is usable!” Zong Shou only had a superficial understanding of the divine, but having battled those Daoist Guardian Deities in the Cloud Realm more than a dozen times, his knowledge of how to wield divine power was profound. Now, gathering the power of Will within the Azure Spirit Realm to unleash this Black and White Dharma Manifestation Divine Ability, while not entirely effortless, faced no significant obstacle.

“However, there is still a layer between us. The so-called power of Will ultimately stems from the genuine heart of others.

Without the relics of Buddhism, my application of it is ultimately not as potent as that of true gods and Buddhas—” It wasn’t a matter of absolute might, but the expenditure was immense. For the same divine ability, his consumption of the power of Will exceeded that of the gods and Buddhas by a staggering seventy percent!

Still, his life was saved. As long as he could harness the power of this so-called ‘Boundless Beginning and End Buddha,’ and provided there were still over three hundred million Buddhist followers in this realm, and no Saint Realm experts intervened, then Zong Shou would be safe.

Seven days had passed since he awoke. His body remained paralyzed, utterly immobile, only able to sit in the wooden wheelchair.

His fingers could move, entirely due to the exertion of controlling the power of Will. Unfortunately, he wasn't proficient yet.

Commanding it with his soul sense was manageable, but once applied within his physical body, all sorts of complications arose. The movements of his hands were exceedingly stiff at this moment.

And his entire frame, every limb and bone, felt as if it were being subjected to slow torture by a thousand blades. Even the dense power of Will here couldn't entirely suppress the Marrow-Burning Blood Spirit Art.

It was still mutating, continuously advancing its stage, draining his vital essence of life. The process had merely slowed, nowhere near as ferocious as its initial eruption.

At this moment, Zong Shou was truly experiencing pain intertwined with joy. As his thought moved, a white flame ignited in his palm.

Then, as several bolts of electric light of differing hues were channeled into it, the fire instantly turned a deep black. “—The might of this Thunderous Splendor Thousand Radiance is now ten times greater than before.” All of Zong Shou's other powers were distributed to suppress the turmoil within his body.

But the power within his bloodline, that alone, could be used. The Marrow-Burning Blood Spirit Art, though a calamity, would, upon its completion, cause his physique to experience explosive growth, and his divine abilities to increase tremendously.

But the most crucial aspect was that as the bloodline developed, memories flooded in from the bloodline imprint: There were divine abilities, and there were expositions on the Four Great Daos of Water, Fire, Thunder, and Illusion. With nearly every major flare-up of this Marrow-Burning technique, Zong Shou’s mastery of spiritual techniques always saw some advancement.

The Four True Talisman Spirit Locks within his body were already approaching perfection, which in turn benefited the related Talisman Locks within his Star Dao Seed. “This time, I will at least sacrifice two centuries of lifespan.

But I must thank the one who cast the Marrow-Burning Blood Spirit Art. How can I ever repay this favor of fulfillment—” The latent divine memories within the bloodline were different from the classic scriptures and texts of the world.

The latter enshrined the concepts of the Great Dao within written characters. The former, however, transmitted intent directly.

Many supreme techniques and crucial cultivation insights in the world could only be ‘understood implicitly’ rather than spoken aloud. Even if recorded using the ancient source script, they still required personal comprehension and realization.

Bloodline memories were different; they could be grasped immediately, requiring only later organization and memory reinforcement. What these two centuries of lifespan bought was an achievement Zong Shou would likely have required a millennium to decipher on his own.

This was undoubtedly a shortcut; compared to that gain, the price he paid was negligible. While suppressing the bloodline mutation, Zong Shou was also utilizing the abundant power of Will here for body refinement.

It was a pity he couldn't use the Iron Sand Secret Art; the process was much slower. “I only need ten more days to face the Tribulation.

If not for solidifying my physical foundation, I could even do it now. However, concealing it from Lu Wushuang is proving exceptionally difficult.” With the Cosmic Chronicle in hand, every single day was equivalent to a full ten days.

And if he didn't mind the expenditure, he could even accelerate time by half a year within a single day— His foundation right now grew more formidable with every passing day, increasing at a speed beyond human imagination. Observing the Black and White Twin Voids and the Marrow-Burning Blood Spirit had already benefited him immensely.

Now, after all his efforts, it was time to reap the harvest. The only headache was how to safely cross the Tribulation.

Once he stepped into the Immortal Rank, he should be able to truly suppress the Marrow-Burning Blood Spirit Art. At that point, he would no longer need to fear Lu Wushuang and would possess the qualification to fight him head-on.

“Forget it! What will be, will be.

If I truly cannot evade it, I will simply have a thrilling battle with him during the Tribulation. Such situations were not uncommon when I was in the Cloud Realm—” Spirit Realm cultivators, regardless of the world they inhabited, were recognized as Immortals.

However, they were merely False Immortals. Only by forming a Golden Core, or condensing a True Form of the Primordial Spirit and a Dharma Aspect, could one be considered a true Immortal Cultivator!

Thinking of this, Zong Shou dismissed the distracting thoughts. Using the divine ability of Will, he propelled the wooden wheel beneath him forward, then looked down with interest.

After his conversation with Jing Yin that day, he learned this place was not a temple, but a convent. The reason it was built deep within the old mountains was to escape the coercion of the ‘Fire Demons and Evil Spirits.’ Since he awoke that day, Zong Shou had been moved to this solitary cliff at the rear of the mountain.

According to Jing Yin, the convent was entirely populated by women. As a man, even one incapacitated, it was inconvenient for him to reside within.

This suited his intentions perfectly; minimizing contact reduced the possibility of Lu Wushuang discovering him. It was late in the evening.

Where he looked, wisps of cooking smoke curled upwards. Most of the nuns were returning from their outside labors, their faces etched with fatigue.

Besides them, many Buddhist devotees had traveled from thousands of miles away. However, the people of the convent dared not host them; the main gate remained tightly shut.

From his observation, this convent, named Water Moon Nunnery, did not accept offerings of incense and donations from believers. The three thousand nuns within were entirely self-sufficient.

Many of them also possessed formidable martial prowess. Naturally, there was not a single one above the Spirit Realm.

The devotees made no demands, simply worshipping silently outside the gate, often staying for half the day before departing. Watching this scene, Zong Shou appeared tranquil.

This was not the first time he had seen it; the scene had been identical for several days since he regained consciousness. He had long since grown accustomed to it, feeling no curiosity whatsoever.

In this realm, he was merely seeking refuge to pass the Tribulation; it was best to avoid entanglements. Once he left, after repaying Jing Yin and her master, he would have no lingering ties to the Azure Spirit Realm.

“You are here again—” Jing Yin’s voice, clear as water flowing through an empty valley, sounded again from behind him.