One Pound Meat, One More Attribute Point

From a distance, it looked like bundles of pale fences, sealing the towering figure of Solban within.

Deprived of freedom, unable to move.

The barbarian king, renowned across the Skull Plain, remained calm.

But within his dark, deep pupils, a touch of sorrow lingered, impossible to dispel.

Around the great hall, eighteen monks from the Heavenly Deceit Realm, draped in red robes, formed an incomplete circle around Solban. They held Dorje bells and magic wands, wore necklaces made of forehead bones, and their waists were adorned with magic drums made from the skulls and skins of high monks.

They chanted and danced.

Shaking the Dorje bells in their hands and striking the magic drum on their waists simultaneously, a rhythmic sound echoed.

As these monks from Heavenly Deceit chanted in unison, the lamps around Solban suddenly lit up.

Large amounts of smoke filled the entire hall like a reverse waterfall.

Amidst the growing distant beat of drums,

Solban’s originally bright, deep pupils gradually blurred, becoming somewhat vacant, even dribbles of clear saliva hung from his mouth, falling onto his broad chest engraved with golden Sanskrit.

Bang!

In the darkness, suddenly, a sequence of footsteps was heard.

Though soft, in the orderly beat, it was especially noticeable.

Especially to Solban, who, under the chanting of many Heavenly Deceit monks, was already becoming delirious. Yet upon hearing this familiar sound, he sharply lifted his head. His broad face carried hints of confusion, pain, bewilderment, and more.

The figure approaching from the darkness was slender.

His body was bent, emitting a decayed scent, and his deep-set eyes were dark blue.

In one hand, he held a golden magic wand, using it as a cane to support his body.

In his other hand, he carried a skull bowl made from a monk’s head, containing a thin layer of butter.

This gaunt elder was the current head of the Hundred Buddha Temple.

The venerable sage, Shelifuduo.

It was Shelifuduo who had prophesied that a child of the dragon would descend upon the world.

Thereafter, he sent people to search and brought the young barbarian king Solban back to the temple. Over the decades that followed, he diligently taught him. The two were master and disciple, as well as father and son. Yet now, they faced betrayal, as a prohibition implanted in Solban at a young age was activated.

After briefly losing consciousness,

Upon waking, this was the scene before him.

As their gazes met, Solban’s eyes were filled with sorrow, "Master, what did I do wrong?"

The Venerable Sage remained silent, and in that silence, the surrounding Heavenly Deceit Zen Masters sat down again. White smoke emanated from their smooth foreheads, their faces turned dark red, and even with the restriction’s aid to suppress Solban, their exhaustion was severe.

Several of the younger monks were even trembling slightly at this time, exhausted to the point of nearly collapsing to the ground.

Yet, despite this,

They forced themselves to make no noise, fearful of disturbing the master and disciple at the center of the hall.

"Child..." after a long silence, the Venerable Sage sighed softly, "You did nothing wrong."

"It’s the world that is mistaken."

"As the Mythical Battlefield approaches, the unrest in Eternal Heaven deepens, the situation grows increasingly perilous," the Venerable Sage said calmly, "only you have the merit to bring the ancient Buddha from the other end of the sea of suffering. For the sake of the Esoteric Sect’s legacy, this sacrifice is necessary."

"So, when you slaughtered my family and took me from my tribe, you already knew the Mythical Battlefield would be opened, didn’t you?" Solban’s smile was bitter.

The Venerable Sage bowed his head deeply.

For some reason,

After decades of companionship, he now found it difficult to look directly into his disciple’s eyes.

"Do not blame me, as a ruler, one must let go of everything and make sacrifices," the Venerable Sage rotated his Buddha beads, softly chanting a few scriptures. When he looked up again, a vast radiance shone in his eyes, showing no trace of his previous emotions.

The revered Grand Wisdom stepped before Solban.

He extended his hand to touch the butter in the Skull Bowl, gently stirred it, and then suspended his finger in the air.

Before making contact, Grand Wisdom’s emaciated fingers paused slightly, and he whispered in reassurance, as if to convince himself, "Relax, it will be over soon."

Read exclusive adventures at empire

Then, without any hesitation, he pressed his butter-coated finger onto the top of Solban’s head.

Hiss!

It was like a red-hot iron touching mist.

The moment the two made contact, a loud noise erupted.

Solban’s eyes suddenly turned white as he lifted his head, his neck veins bulging and throbbing as they spread downwards. It seemed as if a wild beast within his body was violently struggling to break free. An inhuman cry of agony burst forth from his widely opened mouth.

The surrounding Heavenly Deceit Zen Masters were already exhausted.

However, upon witnessing this scene, they tilted their heads back to swallow the prepared secret medicine and began reciting scriptures.

Boundless mana converged, the golden Buddha light rippling. Accompanied by golden petals appearing out of thin air, a grand will transgressed time and space, driving the sky full of golden light before finally merging into Solban’s crown.

The violent trembling of the muscles on Solban’s body subsided slowly as the golden light surged.

Yet his facial features, under the cover of the golden light, gradually became indistinct, changing from his original rugged masculinity to a cold and indifferent ancient Buddha king, looking down upon all beings.

Seeing that Solban was no longer struggling and noticing the apparition that appeared on him,

Grand Wisdom wiped the slight sweat from his forehead and smiled, "It went smoother than I imagined, but it’s a pity..."

He shook his head, and since he had already made a decision, he chose not to dwell on it any longer.

However, he hadn’t even finished speaking,

When suddenly, a change occurred again in Solban before him.

The ancient Buddha apparition enshrouding Solban, seemingly sensing something, suddenly turned ferocious and angry. His eyes oozed blood-red, large patches of black membranes spread from his jaw over his face, his countenance extremely terrifying.

It was as if he was possessed by a fierce ghost, now directly cursing at Grand Wisdom.

Puff!

The supporting magic spell was broken, and backlash ensued.

The eighteen red-robed Zen Masters, already burning the candle at both ends,

Were severely injured by this sudden attack, unable to react at all, with more than half dying instantly. The rest fell into a coma, severely wounded at the core, and even if they could regain consciousness, they faced the possibility of regressive cultivation for the rest of their lives.

For Grand Wisdom, however, this was still a small matter.

Even more terrifying to him was the fact that Solban, who was supposed to be unconscious and used as a sacrifice, suddenly lightly rose from the lotus podium. The blood in his eyes swirled, black mist surged around him, and the tragic scream of an ancient Buddha being forcefully refined and swallowed reverberated faintly.

Pop!

Grand Wisdom’s Skull Bowl dropped to the ground, spilling butter everywhere.

"Heavenly Demon Transformation Technique!" Anger and fear made Grand Wisdom’s emaciated body tremble violently. In the shadow cast by Solban, he involuntarily stepped back.

But remembering the past times they had shared, Grand Wisdom couldn’t help but sternly say, "Do you realize what you are doing? Without the ancient Buddha, how can we face the Mythical Battlefield or contend with the monster Su Heng!"

Looking at his master, who seemed deranged and shattered in spirit, Solban sighed. He suddenly felt as if all the bonds that had restrained him in the past were cut in that instant, released. He felt unprecedented lightness in his body, as if he had wings and was flying in the sky.

"It’s simple!" Solban said with a faint smile, calmly stating, "I just become a Buddha!"

Then, no longer concealing the realm he possessed above Heavenly Deceit, and also due to the Heavenly Demon Transformation Technique, which forcefully refined an ancient Buddha, Solban’s aura continued to grow rapidly. In the blink of an eye, it nearly reached the limit of shedding the mortal coil, and he was only a step away from breaking through to the next realm, the Dharma Aspect.

Boom!

A majestic and grand aura burst forth into the sky.

First, it formed a golden pillar of smoke and then spread outward, further transforming into a tidal wave that enveloped the entire Hundred Buddha Temple. In that moment, countless white pagoda Buddha statues trembled and cracked, as if unable to bear this terrifying power.

And before Solban, Grand Wisdom looked at his own disciple,

And felt him to be more unfamiliar than ever.