Chapter 327 : Sealing the Enclosure
After hearing Tan Xin's explanation, Jiang Mo and the others looked at the monks with much more complex expressions.
Despite their feelings, they maintained their rationality. Yun Qingyue was the first to identify a discrepancy: "According to what you've said, the temple should be safe during daylight. Then why, when we left yesterday, were the people in the quarters still fine, but when we returned before nightfall, not only were the people gone, but there wasn't even a trace of their existence? If it wasn't these monks who acted, where did those people go?"
This was something Tan Xin truly didn't know. All of yesterday, he had followed these monks, attending morning and evening services with them, accompanying them to the dried-up well for containment duties. As for the quarters, he hadn't returned there at all, so naturally had no idea what had happened.
The young monk wouldn't lie, and so he pressed his palms together and answered: "I don't know either."
This remained an unsolved mystery. Seeing that Tan Xin had no answers, Jiang Mo and the others turned their attention to the only being in the temple who might still be lucid enough to explain—the Abbot. Yesterday when they had returned, the monks at the door didn't remember them, but the Abbot likely did. As the only spirit in the temple that could still maintain clarity, he should understand everything that happened here.
However, the Abbot had already joined the chanting assembly and begun suppressing the black mist seeping from the dry well, appearing completely occupied and uninterested in addressing their concerns. Yet if he hadn't intended to engage with them, why bring them here at all?
Jiang Mo and her companions were thoroughly confused, but seeing the Abbot engrossed in chanting, they didn't want to disturb him. Finally, they redirected their attention back to Tan Xin.
"Never mind, we can discuss those demonic cultivators later. Tan Xin, what are your plans now?" Jiang Mo asked, glancing at the well surrounded by layers of Buddha-light: "I mean, how do you intend to use the Seven Treasures Glass Heart? Have you decided?"
As she spoke, Jiang Mo hadn't really considered the implications. She simply assumed the Seven Treasures Glass Heart was like other precious magical instruments—though using it up might be regrettable, opportunity and fate were difficult to weigh in terms of gain and loss. Additionally, since Tan Xin was a Buddhist cultivator who valued karma and spiritual cultivation, bringing out the Seven Treasures Glass Heart for containment might be a good thing for him, given the immense merit it would generate.
But Yun Qingyue knew more, having carefully observed when Tan Xin had previously used the Seven Treasures Glass Heart. She frowned with hesitation: "After so many years, have you fully refined the Seven Treasures Glass Heart?"
The natural first reaction of any cultivator upon obtaining a treasure is to refine it for personal use.
Tan Xin was no exception. When he first obtained the Seven Treasures Glass Heart, he didn't know many of the details and hadn't thought much about it, so he began refining it immediately. Subsequently, his cultivation advanced rapidly—now he even surpassed Yun Qingyue with her Ice Soul Condensation Pearl, almost rivaling Jiang Mo. But because of this, he had become entangled in karma; everything he had received, he would have to repay!
Fortunately, the Buddhist disciple had a commendable temperament. Hearing this, he actually smiled, touching the area over his heart: "Senior Sister Yun is correct. After eighty years, the Seven Treasures Glass Heart has already merged with my body."
Jiang Mo was momentarily stunned by these words, quickly realizing that the young monk meant the Seven Treasures Glass Heart had become one with his heart. If they needed to use the Seven Treasures Glass Heart to seal the containment, they would have to cut out his heart... Jiang Mo's breath caught, shocked as she looked at Tan Xin who could still smile. Just imagining the heart-extraction scene made her entire tiger self feel unwell.
She took a deep breath, secretly tugging at Yun Qingyue's sleeve to ask: "Senior Sister, can a cultivator live without a heart?"
Of course not! The previous night, far too many cultivators had died from having their hearts torn out.
Yun Qingyue didn't answer directly, but her gaze toward Jiang Mo clearly provided the answer. For other cultivators, physical death wasn't necessarily the end—they could still use their Nascent Souls and Spirit Divisions to seize another body. But the young monk was a Buddhist cultivator; how could he possibly do such a thing?!
Having shared dangers together, Jiang Mo quickly understood all this, and her gaze toward Tan Xin grew increasingly complex—she looked at him like a martyr about to face death, neither wanting to watch him die nor knowing how to dissuade him. She opened her mouth several times but didn't know what to say, only able to continue regarding him with this complicated expression.
Tan Xin remained open-minded; seeing her reaction, he smiled: "Friend, don't be concerned. When I refined the Seven Treasures Glass Heart years ago, I have no regrets even now. It expended much of its Buddhist power in containing the seal; after being nurtured within me for eighty years, it should be even more effective for containment."
Well, it seemed he had used himself as a charging device!
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Reusing the Seven Treasures Glass Heart to seal the containment would require the young monk to cut out his heart, a fact that shocked everyone present. Even seeing the black mist continuously seeping from the dry well, no one had the heart to urge him to proceed with the containment immediately.
Jiang Mo's imagination ran wild, even considering performing a heart transplant surgery in the cultivation world, though for now, such thoughts remained speculation.
No one pressed the young monk to cut out his heart, but having revealed everything and having appeared here today, Tan Xin clearly had no intention of backing down. He looked at the monks chanting with closed eyes and volunteered: "Demonic energy is leaking from this place. Currently, with these seniors temporarily containing it within the temple, any further delay risks it spreading outward, which would cause another calamity. It's better to proceed immediately..."
Almost as soon as Tan Xin finished speaking, the old Abbot, who had been leading the monks in chanting, opened his eyes. He looked at Tan Xin with compassion, resignation, and a sense of peace in his gaze.
Jiang Mo and the others remained silent, not knowing how to dissuade him, rationally realizing they could only watch helplessly as Tan Xin faced death.
After a while, Zhu Baiyi suddenly said: "It doesn't necessarily mean death. The cultivation world has many spiritual medicines—Phantom Heart Grass, Thousand Mechanism Vine, Cloud Heart Flower—any of these could temporarily preserve your life. As long as you can be kept alive momentarily, we can find ways to repair your heart afterward."
Among those present, Zhu Baiyi held the highest status and possessed the strongest cultivation, so her words carried credibility.
Jiang Mo and Yun Qingyue's eyes brightened momentarily. Both were soft-hearted, and having shared dangers with Tan Xin, naturally hoped he could survive. However, hearing Zhu Baiyi's words, Tan Xin shook his head, smiling: "This humble monk has long known of these methods, and sect elders have even procured such medicines for me. But facing the current situation, how could I only consider my own survival?"
As he spoke, everyone sensed a change in Tan Xin's aura. Suddenly, a brilliant Buddha-light erupted from his body, more dazzling than that of all the Buddhist cultivators present combined—Tan Xin had earlier admitted he couldn't match these Buddhist cultivators, so there was only one possible explanation for the current phenomenon: he was burning his own divine soul.
A Buddhist disciple's divine soul was truly different.
Jiang Mo and the others felt their hearts constrict, knowing intervention was impossible, only able to watch helplessly as he sacrificed himself.
The Buddhist chanting that had filled their ears stopped at some point, and all eyes focused on Tan Xin. Watching his young features become solemn and dignified, seeing the blinding Buddha-light envelop his entire body, Tan Xin in this moment resembled a Buddha incarnate.
Gradually, the radiance around Tan Xin intensified until a brilliant heart emerged from his chest, finally becoming too bright to look at directly.
Everyone had to avert their gaze, feeling waves of reluctance in their hearts. Perhaps because Tan Xin's radiance was so intense, illuminating everything around them, Yun Qingyue glimpsed a black shadow lunging toward Tan Xin.
At this critical moment of sealing containment, Yun Qingyue, who had been standing relatively close to Tan Xin, didn't hesitate and moved forward to intercept. The black shadow indeed struck her with lightning speed, and despite Yun Qingyue's considerable cultivation, she couldn't withstand it and was sent flying backward.
At this moment, everyone's attention was on Tan Xin, and the sneak attack came so unexpectedly that no one reacted in time. Only Jiang Mo, regardless of what she was doing, always kept part of her attention on her senior sister, and thus rushed over immediately.
"Senior Sister!" Jiang Mo called out, simultaneously reaching to grab Yun Qingyue's arm.
However, whoever had attacked Tan Xin possessed incredibly high cultivation, and the force of the collision was unimaginably powerful. Though Jiang Mo managed to grab Yun Qingyue's arm, she couldn't hold her back, instead feeling a tremendous force pulling her forward as well... Yet even so, she didn't let go, because she had already seen that behind Yun Qingyue was the dry well that needed to be sealed!
In that split second, Zhu Baiyi and Qingyu also witnessed this scene and immediately acted. With their cultivation, they should have easily intercepted, but at that very moment, another unexpected event occurred.
The black shadow that had knocked Yun Qingyue flying didn't stop there. It tossed out a small black flag that was already swirling with demonic energy, and upon contact with the demonic energy seeping from the well, it grew rapidly, instantly creating a surge of demonic power. It didn't impede Qingyu and Zhu Baiyi's rescue attempt but instead rushed straight toward Tan Xin and the Seven Treasures Glass Heart, clearly intending to disrupt the containment.
Qingyu and Zhu Baiyi's momentary distraction delayed their techniques by half a beat, and they could only watch helplessly as both Jiang Mo and Yun Qingyue flew toward the well. Then, with a swirl of black demonic energy, the two completely vanished from sight.