Shen Lian’s fire could burn down plants, crack rocks as tough as steel, and boil the endless flowing river water dry. However, it could not cause any damage to the bodies of the Vajra Jiedi.

　　There were also born from flesh but it happened to be that they were tough, close to being indestructible.

　　Shen Lian could deeply feel that the sixteen Vajra Jiedis were that way because of the abnormalities of their body structure, and each of them had an unspeakable Dao rhythm, which was the ‘Vajra’. As the saying goes, ‘Those that could not be destroyed was the ultimate resistance, and those that could not be replaced was the ultimate Dao.’

　　This was the ultimate ‘Dao’ of the gold element, it was also the ‘Dao’ of the mortal world derived from forging through brambles and thorns. Unfortunately, the master of these Vajra Jiedis did not have a profound understanding of the essence of this strength. He only had its power but not its technique and its usage.

　　It was as if someone owning a modern thermal weapon but they still used it for a hand-to-hand combat which they only benefited slightly from the solid material.

　　In Shen Lian’s eyes, this so-called Vajra Exorcism Formation was riddled with loopholes.

　　In the Golden Wheel King’s eyes, the flames that were thrown out by Shen Lian gradually extinguished under the might of the Vajra Jiedis. The space where Shen Lian could evade and hide was getting smaller and smaller. However, as long as he did not let go, he could crush this Daoist from the east into dust.

　　There was a cool smile hanging at the corners of his lips. If this Daoist was that stubborn, he would nail him to death. His soul would forever be silenced within the yellow dirt, just like the previous scholar, there would be no chance of starting over again.

　　The pleasant sensation of unleashing the power made him felt like he was the center of the universe. By just one thought, these Vajra Jiedis could help him crush every obstacle and he could look at all the beings disdainfully from the corner of his eyes.

　　However, Shen Lian felt that these Vajra Jiedis were more like a laughing stock, clumsy and laughable. He strolled in midair as he leisurely said, “What is Vajra? Those that cannot be truncated, that is why it is called Vajra; its Dao cannot be assessed, its Dharma also cannot be assessed, this is what it meant as Vajra.”

　　All of the flames extinguished at the same time. Each of Shen Lian’s step was like walking on a lotus flower. However, as he was reciting, his hand shot out and ripped through a Vajra Jiedi’s heart effortlessly. Countless golden dust sprinkled out, forming a tadpole-like rune.

　　Shen Lian did not stop. He took another step and did the same thing. He crushed another Vajra Jiedi’s heart.

　　Within a moment’s notice, he had undoubtedly ripped through each of the sixteen Vajra Jiedi’s heart. The air was filled with runes made of golden dust. It finally converged, forming a nine-level staircase. Shen Lian got on top of it in midair and as his feet landed on the staircase, he was staring at the Golden Wheel King on an equal level.

　　There was disbelief in the Golden Wheel King’s eyes. During the moment when all of the Vajra’s bodies perished, his entire body suddenly shot up and then, came crashing down. Suddenly, a pair of bloody eyes shot out a ray of light towards Shen Lian.

　　It was mysterious and fearful. It was a secretive power that came from the darkest corner of the universe. It had the similar speed of a traveling light and it pierced through the palm of Shen Lian’s right hand.

　　The eyes then slowly shut. At the split moment when his right hand was pierced through by this mysterious power, he stepped to a side and a five-colored sword gleam embedded into it before the eyes were shut entirely. It was as though two different worlds were linked up and it caused a vortex in the void with numerous lightning beginning to spark.

　　By the time Fang Yanying made it, she only saw a bald udumbara with a charred body. There were no leaves neither were their fruits. Her uncle-master was under the tree with his arms clasped behind his back. His facial expression was a little unnatural as he said, “Do not come over.”

　　Fang Yanying asked, “Uncle-master, what happened to you?”

　　And then, she saw her uncle-master suddenly extending his hand and a blurred shadow flitted before her very eyes. It was only by a thin line before it could spread to her. There was a neat, deep trench on the floor.

　　In actual fact, she was not clear that if it had not been for the udumbara, the entire imperial city of the Jinji Country would become a dead city from that turbulence caused by the chaos just now.

　　Shen Lian’s left hand vehemently held his right hand. There was a hole in the middle of his right hand, his once jade-like translucent skin had become pitch black.

　　His left hand generated golden threads continuously, one circle after another that wrapping around his right hand. The pitch black vital force slowly sunk and accumulated onto his palm. It made Shen Lian’s right hand turned ink black. It was as though black ink would drip out from it and it seemed very distorted and scary.

　　Shen Lian finally opened his mouth and spoke, “Sometimes, I am too complacent.”

　　When the Golden Wheel King’s body died, Shen Lian was prepared for the malicious Qi that exploded from it. Only, he did not think that there was a mighty presence in the deepest corners of the universe that befell a mysterious power to this world, at the moment when the malicious Qi of the Golden Wheel King was backfiring.

　　The bloody eyes were the manifestation of that presence. The mysterious force that was shot at Shen Lian was beyond Shen Lian’s expectations. Its speed was as quick as light and there was no way to block it.

　　If he had hesitated even the slightest and waited for those eyes to close, there would be a second incoming attack. It would be even more devastating than the first attack.

　　With the aid of some fine clues, he knew that the demonic god where the Golden Wheel King offered his sacrifices to was very formidable, but he absolutely did not expect that through the endless far distance, the power that was unleashed could still harm him.

　　He was careless. This carelessness was the result of arrogance and complacent festered from the recent smooth sailing.

　　When virtue improves by a foot, the devil improves by ten. Complacent and arrogance does not have an obvious border. This experience truly gave him a whooping lesson, it was like cold water being poured on him.

　　The pain of his flesh and the spur on his mind and soul caused his vital force to float in an ethereal manner and it headed towards a real and heavy transformation. It even automatically brought out a bit of malice.

　　Shen Lian knew that he was subduing the counterattack of that malicious force, but he was well aware that his clear mind was infected by this malicious Qi which could not be wiped off. In fact, every time he detected the position of that malicious Qi, it would immediately disappear. There was no way to ponder about it and it was hard to deal with.

　　Fang Yanying carefully said, “Uncle-master, your complexion does not look right.” Even when her uncle-master was crinkling his brows, the corners of his lips could not help but hang a devilish smile. She saw it and her heart was chilled by it, it was close to emitting cold air.

　　Back then, her uncle-master would not have that look. Her instinct told her that something scary had happened to her uncle-master.

　　Shen Lian sighed, “Even you could sense that something is wrong. It seems that this trouble is not a small one.”

　　Fang Yanying immediately replied, “If there is anything that I could help with uncle-master, just tell me.”

　　Shen Lian lightly replied, “I have already thought of three methods that could resolve my current situation.”

　　Fang Yanying let out a sigh of relief. It was already good that there was one way to solve it, let alone when there were three.

　　She said, “Uncle-master, how about we deal with it immediately.”

　　Shen Lian replied, “However, two of the ideas are not possible to even execute. We can only use the third idea and that is to follow the original plan and go up the Great Snow Mountain and enter the Dipamkara Temple.”

　　The first idea was that Shen Lian would actually go find Lu Jiuyuan but it was simply impossible to do so. This was because Lu Jiuyuan simply could not be found. He had already gone to the deepest corners of the galaxy.

　　The second idea was to cultivate Yanxu’s Free Form Incarnation and he could even have greater success with it. This could allow him to refine this malicious force. Naturally, this idea was just a blabber.

　　They were only left with the third method, the least promising method. It was to light up his Lamp of the Mind ¹ , and by using his own force to get rid of this malicious spirit.