Reality and Illusion: Penetrating the Original Essence

Seeing this, Xiang Xuanyin and Xu Mengyao immediately took action, charging towards the Buddhist cultivators to kill them.

In an instant, Xiang Xuanyin transformed into a massive nine-headed Xiangliu. Its enormous serpentine body coiled in the sky, blotting out the last remaining daylight above the Dalun Ming Temple.

Nine pairs of eyes opened simultaneously. Dark golden vertical pupils lit up the night sky, like eighteen ghostly lanterns suspended in the heavens.

Nine distinct powers spewed from the mouths of the nine heads, intertwining above the temple to form an overwhelming web of destruction.

Poisonous mist, profound water, raging fire, astral winds, lightning, frost, corrosion, mental shock, and Yin evil—nine world-destroying divine abilities descended all at once.

The moment Xu Mengyao stood firm, thousands of ice needles materialized out of thin air, launching an indiscriminate attack on all the temple's Buddhist cultivators below, piercing through their bodies.

The monks who attempted to form defensive arrays had their protective golden light, flesh, and bones pierced by the ice needles. One needle was lethal; ten thousand needles pierced their hearts.

Screams, cries, and pleas for mercy echoed in every corner of the Dalun Ming Temple.

Meanwhile, Gu Changyuan single-handedly suppressed all the patriarchs and elders of the temple. He stood in place, his expression indifferent, effortlessly shattering the golden light barriers they had condensed.

He did not even need to use any cultivation techniques or secret arts. Relying solely on condensed pure spiritual energy, he easily suppressed everyone. Every casual movement carried an aura that crushed everything in its path.

A flash of resolve passed through Abbot Huiming's eyes.

He abruptly bit the tip of his tongue and spat a mouthful of blood onto the golden light barrier in front of him. The barrier's brightness instantly multiplied.

The other patriarchs and elders quickly followed suit. Dozens of streams of blood merged into the barrier simultaneously, causing the golden light to flare brilliantly.

"Benefactor, acting in such a manner, are you not afraid of retaliation from our Dalun Ming Temple in the Upper Realm in the future?"

Abbot Huiming's voice was no longer peaceful or composed; it carried a tone of unwillingness.

Gu Changyuan did not even look at him.

His gaze fell upon the massive sword that was plummeting down, the corners of his mouth curling up slightly.

"It is nothing more than an insignificant faction in the Immortal Realm. If I ascend to the Upper Realm in the future, I will naturally uproot it completely."

Abbot Huiming's pupils violently contracted.

He realized that from the very beginning, this person had never taken the Dalun Ming Temple seriously, nor did he care about the temple's main branch in the Upper Realm.

Gu Changyuan gently pressed down with his right hand.

The speed of the massive sword's descent abruptly accelerated.

The moment the sword's energy touched the temple roof, tiles shattered and pillars snapped. The entire Buddhist hall began to collapse from the roof down.

In Abbot Huiming's eyes, resolve twisted into madness.

"Rise!"

His voice was old and hoarse, yet it exploded like a thunderclap above the Dalun Ming Temple.

The golden light on all the Buddhist cultivators lit up at the exact same moment. The light surged from their bodies, condensing into countless tiny golden motes in the air.

Countless golden threads extended from those motes, linking them together and weaving a massive golden net of light that covered the entire temple.

The golden motes moved rapidly across the sky above the temple, converging toward Abbot Huiming.

Abbot Huiming pressed his palms together, his eyes shut tight, his lips moving rapidly as he chanted an ancient incantation.

A wisp of white breath escaped from his slightly parted lips, transforming into countless white threads that connected the golden motes to his body.

"Six-Zhang Golden Body: Ten Thousand Buddhas Paying Homage!"

"Dong—"

A clear and resonant bell toll echoed through heaven and earth.

Golden light surged from the temple's foundations, from the crevices of the mountain gates, from the tiles of the halls, and from the roots of every ancient tree.

The light gathered together, condensing into a colossal golden Buddha figure in the sky above the Dalun Ming Temple.

The Buddha stood a hundred zhang tall, with a compassionate face and ears that reached its shoulders. One hand was held vertically in front of its chest, while the other supported a golden lotus.

Every inch of the Buddha was carved with dense runes. These runes flowed across the surface of the Buddha, constantly being born, extinguished, flowing, and reincarnating.

The moment the Buddha appeared, the laws of the Heavenly Dao above the Dalun Ming Temple began to tremble violently.

Gu Changyuan's spatial lockdown was struck by the golden light radiating from the Buddha, causing fine cracks to appear.

The aura of the Buddha faintly broke through the restrictions of this world's laws, climbing from the peak of the Half-Immortal realm, crossing that invisible boundary, and reaching the Human Immortal realm.

In the Jiuxiao Realm, a lower realm where the Heavenly Dao suppressed any existence exceeding the Tribulation Transcendence realm, this Buddha had actually achieved an aura at the Human Immortal level.

The golden body's gaze fell upon Gu Changyuan.

Its voice was no longer that old, hoarse tone, but a deep, resonant sound that seemed to echo from beyond the Nine Heavens:

"Benefactor, the sea of bitterness has no bounds; turn back to find the shore."

The pressure contained within that voice was enough to force any cultivator below the Half-Immortal realm directly to their knees.

Xiang Xuanyin's Nine-headed Xiangliu phantom appeared a head shorter in front of this golden body.

Xu Mengyao's drifting snow actually began to melt within the Buddhist light emitted by the golden body.

The moment the golden Buddha appeared, Xiang Xuanyin and Xu Mengyao retreated almost instinctively.

It was not out of fear, but caution.

The aura radiating from the golden Buddha had already exceeded the scope of what they could handle.

The two retreated behind Gu Changyuan, standing to his left and right, their eyes locked intently on the golden Buddha.

To think there was actually a secret art capable of breaking through the limits of the Heavenly Dao's laws.

This Dalun Ming Temple truly had some profound foundations.

But Gu Changyuan stood there, completely unmoving.

He looked at the massive golden Buddha, his expression remaining largely unchanged.

"It is nothing more than a hollow shell gilded in gold and jade. Even if it broke through the restrictions of the laws, it is just bloated with empty power."

The path of Buddhist cultivation focused on the power of faith.

Incense, willpower, and the devout hearts of believers—these things gathered into a unique power that existed outside the conventional constraints of the Heavenly Dao's laws.

The Dalun Ming Temple had stood for thousands of years, accumulating an unimaginably massive amount of faith power.

Furthermore, there was also a Dalun Ming Temple in the Upper Realm.

The upper and lower realms communicated, their faith connected.

The incense of the lower realm could be offered upwards, and the Buddhist light of the upper realm could shine downwards.

This cross-realm connection allowed the temple's secret arts to borrow power from the Upper Realm at critical moments, briefly breaking through the Heavenly Dao's restrictions of the Jiuxiao Realm.

Gu Changyuan slowly raised his left hand.

His fingers traced profoundly mysterious trajectories in the void, leaving behind glowing spiritual patterns wherever his fingertips passed.

Then, he spoke.

"Truth and Illusion: Piercing the True Form."

His voice was neither loud nor soft, yet it seemed to reign above the Nine Heavens, overpowering the bell toll and all the clamor emanating from the golden Buddha.

"Ding—!!!"

A crisp ringing sound rang out.

A giant transparent disk emerged behind the golden Buddha, perfectly covering its back.

The disk quickly took shape, and then suddenly flipped upside down.

All the runes upon it began to operate in reverse, and the golden light turned into a profound black the moment it flipped.