Chapter 127: The Artifact Spirit Qudeng
Mo Lin looked at Jingyue, who had tilted his head and died before him. Though he had dealt with a powerful enemy, his expression was not pleasant.
“White Horse Temple......”
So far, he had already encountered several monks from White Horse Temple—Wuzhen, Jingchen, Jingyue—and had killed them one by one.
But in the end, he still did not even know what exactly this White Horse Temple was.
According to Jingyue’s words, it seemed they always had a way of knowing who killed Jingchen and Jingyue.
In other words, perhaps that White Horse Temple, which stood in the Western Regions, would send more people after him?
He had already slain Jingyue, an opponent of such strength—then what kind of figures would come for him next?
Mid Earth Rank? High Earth Rank?
Or......Heaven Rank?
Since Jingyue had promised to let him join White Horse Temple, and that in a few decades he would have hope of touching the threshold of Heaven Rank, that meant White Horse Temple must indeed have a Heaven Rank existence, right?
Mo Lin shook his head, throwing away such unnecessary worries.
Being inexplicably targeted by such a colossal entity like White Horse Temple was naturally unpleasant, but since things had come to this, he could only accept it. No matter what, Jingyue had already been slain by him.
Heaven Rank was not some existence one could see on every street corner.
Surely they would not run rampant across the Great Qian Dynasty over some trivial reason, right?
Would the Dynasty even allow that?
As long as he kept himself quiet and did not recklessly run to the Western Regions, there should not be any major trouble.
In any case, Mo Lin did not regret killing Jingyue. Rather, even if given another choice, he would still kill him without hesitation.
A man like Jingyue might not have been much in direct battle, but if he hid in the shadows to strike, he was truly impossible to guard against.
That soul technique of his, slipping people into dreams without them noticing, was far too dangerous.
This time, Jingyue had been arrogant—he had come to challenge him head-on while still in his peak condition.
But imagine if Jingyue had found him, yet not revealed himself. If he had hidden in the dark, waiting until Mo Lin joined the beast siege mentioned by the Mountain Lord, when he was locked in fierce combat with humans, perhaps even severely injured—then made his move. What would the outcome have been?
Even if he could not kill Mo Lin instantly, at the very least escape would have been far easier than now. He would not have lost his life in a failed ambush.
Therefore, even just for the sake of smoother future actions, Mo Lin had to kill him today, to remove this hidden danger.
Mo Lin decisively devoured Jingyue’s corpse and began refining it within his body.
“Hm? What is this?”
After swallowing Jingyue, Mo Lin found that from Jingyue’s robe, a delicate little pagoda had fallen out.
Mo Lin tried to coil it up with his tail, but was suddenly scalded.
“Chh—hot!”
He then curiously examined the little pagoda that had dropped from Jingyue’s pocket.
“This is......a Buddha Pagoda?”
The pagoda, which had fallen after Jingyue’s death, was inexplicably glowing bright red, with wisps of hazy mist coiling all around it.
Looking at it, Mo Lin suddenly felt a strange sense of familiarity.
“Why does this pagoda give me such a familiar feeling? It’s just like, just like—ah!”
Mo Lin pulled out the Soul-Respecting Banner and compared the two.
“As I thought! No wonder it felt familiar—this carries the same aura as the Soul-Respecting Banner!”
Indeed, to his senses, the aura radiating from this Buddha Pagoda was strikingly similar to that of the Soul-Respecting Banner.
At once, Mo Lin had some idea of its use.
“It seems......this should also be an artifact related to souls, right?”
Judging from their uses, Wuzhen’s Golden Circlet had been clearly meant for restriction. Dong Li’s Profound Light Cannon and Soaring-Hong Crossbow were killing weapons.
But the Soul-Respecting Banner was neither for restriction nor slaughter, only for collecting souls, separating spirits, and refining them.
Within it, Mo Lin had even stored the Thousand-Soul Resentment Fire—something he had painstakingly gathered by slaughtering a bandit stronghold and a village.
The aura this pagoda gave off was obviously unlike the Golden Circlet or the Soaring-Hong Crossbow, but far closer to the Soul-Respecting Banner. Which meant, it too should be an artifact for the path of souls.
Only, in terms of rank, this pagoda was clearly far superior.
After all, the Soul-Respecting Banner was but a Profound Rank artifact, while the pagoda was of Earth Rank.
Having figured this out, Mo Lin shook his head helplessly.
Truthfully, he would not have minded taking the pagoda for himself. But the problem was, this pagoda resisted him even more strongly than the Golden Circlet had.
Why?
Was it because this pagoda was a soul-related artifact, so it repelled him—a Anaconda demon—even more than the circlet did?
This left Mo Lin helpless, but also stoked his anger.
Your master was already digested in my stomach, and yet you, a mere little pagoda, still act like some virtuous, unyielding maiden?
I already have the Soul-Respecting Banner. Who says I must use you?
With this thought, Mo Lin waved the Soul-Respecting Banner, sending countless wailing souls flying toward the pagoda.
In his ears, the souls kept crashing into the pagoda, producing crisp ding-dang sounds.
At first, the pagoda remained aloof, even shaking slightly, as if mocking Mo Lin’s arrogance—daring to use a Profound Rank artifact to strike at an Earth Rank one.
But with Mo Lin deliberately suppressing the pagoda and lending strength to the banner, the pagoda’s Buddha-light gradually dimmed.
The pagoda seemed a little surprised.
It had not expected that, with Mo Lin’s support, this mere Profound Rank banner could truly defy its superior rank.
This made the pagoda anxious.
If Mo Lin continued like this, even if it would not be shattered by the banner, it might still be half-crippled, losing its power of resistance, and then be swallowed whole.
As Jingyue’s artifact, it naturally knew Jingyue’s experiences with soul techniques, and it also knew this creature before it was one who dared to devour even human souls—let alone a mere artifact.
And so, after another barrage of ding-dang, bang-bang strikes, the pagoda suddenly shook violently.
“Stop, stop! Don’t hit me anymore!”
Hearing this unfamiliar voice suddenly ring out, Mo Lin immediately stopped in curiosity. He looked around, and finally locked his gaze onto the pagoda, his eyes filled with suspicion.
Under his gaze, a drifting soul emerged from the pagoda—it was a tiny little monk.
But at this moment, this little monk’s appearance was far from dignified—his nose was bruised, his face swollen, as he looked pitifully at Mo Lin and the banner coiled around his tail.
“Please stop, stop! If you keep hitting me, I’ll really break apart......”
Mo Lin stared in astonishment at the miniature monk.
What was this thing?
The bruised and battered little monk seemed to recognize Mo Lin’s doubt. At once, he raised his nose proudly.
“Hmph, I believe you’ve figured it out already, haven’t you?”
“That’s right—I am the true body of this Buddha Pagoda’s artifact spirit—Qudeng!”