Chapter 369: Buddha's Relic and Harvest
[Golden Wood Flying Boat: Crafted from the trunk of a spiritual Bodhi tree, a mid-grade flying magical artifact.]
[When fully activated, this magical artifact can fly at extreme speeds but offers only average defensive power.]
[The original owner of the magical artifact has perished, and the divine soul imprint has been erased; it is available for a new master.]
...
"Flying artifact."
After the grey robed old monk died, the golden small boat shrank to the size of a palm.
When Lu Qing probed the small boat's information with his Superpower, a smile appeared on his face.
In fact, he had been eyeing this magical artifact with great envy when he saw the grey robed old monk soaring through the sky.
Flying artifacts are always rare treasures.
Though not as precious as spatial artifacts, they are still quite uncommon.
He possessed the Leaving Fire Tripod and the Qiankun Qi Bag, two great spiritual artifacts, as well as the Five Elements Gourd, his lifebound magical treasure.
These treasures were well-rounded in both attack and defense, naturally possessing the ability to fly.
However, the grades of both the spiritual artifacts and the Five Elements Gourd were too high; even if Lu Qing exerted all his strength, he could only unleash a minuscule part of their potential power.
To control their flight would require an enormous amount of spiritual power, and even if he drained himself completely, he wouldn't get very far.
But the golden small boat was different; its grade was not too high, it belonged to the category of magical artifacts, just perfect for Lu Qing to use at the moment.
"Young Master, do you wish to refine this boat?"
At this moment, the shadowy figure of "Yan" appeared beside Lu Qing.
"That's right, this boat is a flying artifact. Both you and the Qiankun Qi Bag are of too high a grade for me to maneuver for flight at the moment.
Although the boat is merely a magical artifact, it is exactly what I need right now."
Lu Qing explained.
"Yan" nodded.
Indeed, controlling a spiritual artifact for flight is challenging and requires a vast amount of spiritual power.
Of course, the speed of a spiritual artifact's escape far exceeds that of a conventional flying magical artifact.
Crossing a hundred miles in an instant is an easy feat, and at full power, crossing large states in a single breath is quite normal.
Unfortunately, all of this was still far beyond Lu Qing's reach.
Controlling the flight of a spiritual artifact is not something a Qi Refining Realm cultivator could do, and not even possible for a Foundation Establishment stage cultivator.
Concentrating, Lu Qing began to use his heart and spirit to perform the sacrificial refining and take ownership of the golden small boat.
With the death of the grey robed old monk, the golden small boat had become an ownerless object. As the magical artifact had no artifact spirit, Lu Qing easily imprinted his divine soul mark in the core of the boat's restriction, completely refining it.
As soon as the refinement was successful, Lu Qing felt a connection with the golden small boat through his heart and spirit.
At his will, with just a slight impetus, the boat could enlarge and break away, flying into the sky.
However, he did not do so. Given the unclear situation outside, and the trace of an aura that could herald danger for him, which he had sensed before, he didn't know if it was still present.
Going out now could lead to a collision, so it would be better to test it slowly later on.
After putting away the golden small boat, Lu Qing took out from the Qiankun Qi Bag a clump of golden light, a pale golden bead, and a golden shuttle.
This time, by killing the grey robed old monk and the Suspended Mountain elders like Xuan Yi, he had obtained four treasures in total.
There might have been treasures on the other elders' bodies, but he had no time to collect them at that moment.
Lu Qing examined the remaining three treasures.
That clump of golden light was not merely a glow but a soft, silk-like substance, emitting a golden radiance.
It was also quite hefty, quite a weight in hand.
As Lu Qing unfurled it, he realized it was a golden monk's robe, thin as a cicada's wing and made of unknown material.
He then turned his attention to the pale golden bead, which felt warm and smooth like jade but was made of a material that was neither gold nor jade, quite peculiar.
As for the golden shuttle, it appeared to be crafted from a kind of bone that had undergone jadeization.
Lu Qing began to use his Superpower to probe the items.
Firstly, he probed the thin, golden monk's robe.
[The Vajra Robe: A top-grade Buddhist magical artifact.]
[Woven from the silk of the Vajra Silkworm, infused with Buddhist restrictions; it is well-rounded in offense and defense and possesses extraordinary power.]
[Buddhist Treasure, it must be activated with Buddhist skills to unleash its greatest potential.]
...
Lu Qing turned his gaze toward the bead and the golden shuttle.
[Vajra Relics: Formed from the Shariputra left behind by a Golden Core Realm Buddhist Practitioner after passing into nirvana.]
[It contains a strand of the imposing power of a Golden Core Realm Buddhist Practitioner. When activated with Buddhist Secret Techniques, it can summon the Buddha Dharma.]
[Only Buddhist Practitioners above the Golden Core Realm can condense Shariputra.]
...
[Buddha Bone Golden Shuttle: Crafted from the bones left after a Golden Core Realm Buddhist Practitioner enters nirvana.]
[It holds a strand of the imposing power of a Golden Core Realm Buddhist Practitioner. When activated with Buddhist Secret Techniques, it can unleash the Buddha's Evil Power with extraordinary killing force.]
[A Buddhist attacking magical treasure that requires Buddha Power to be activated to unleash its strongest power.]
...
After reading the information on the three treasures, Lu Qing felt somewhat disappointed.
The Vajra Robe, Shariputra, and Golden Shuttle were all fine treasures, even higher in grade compared to the golden small boat.
However, unlike the golden small boat, these artifacts were infused with powerful Buddhist restrictions, requiring mastery of Buddhist Skills and activation with Buddha Power to unleash their greatest potential.
To him, they seemed somewhat akin to chicken ribs.
Therefore, after examining the information, Lu Qing stored them into his Qiankun Qi Bag, planning to see if they could be of use later on.
Having checked the information on the treasures, Lu Qing began to reflect on today's battle.
His fight against Xuan Yi and others went well; with his current strength, hardly anyone in the Innate Realm was his match.
Moreover, as he had taken them by surprise, sweeping them away with ease was expected.
The key lay in his fight against the Grey Robed Old Monk, from which Lu Qing gained a great deal.
As a Perfect Foundation Establishment Cultivator, even having self-inflicted a wound with a cut, the Grey Robed Old Monk remained the toughest opponent Lu Qing had encountered.
His attacking techniques were also incredibly powerful.
Whether it was the Golden Shuttle's treasure light or the Buddha Dharma.
Each move, leveraging the power of magical treasures and artifacts, was impressively mighty.
And standing high above on a flying artifact like the golden small boat only added to his advantage.
Lu Qing figured that other Innate Realm Martial Artists, even if they had reached Perfect Innate Realm, would struggle to last even one round against the Grey Robed Old Monk unless they were facing him.
Even Lu Qing himself had to use numerous trump cards, and with careful planning, forced the opponent into close quarters to successfully strike the killing blow.
It showed just how formidable a Foundation Establishment Expert could be.
"However, this battle also gave me a chance to test the approximate limits of my current strength," Lu Qing looked at his palm and pondered in silence.
In his battle with the Grey Robed Old Monk, he used many tactics.
Saber Technique, Arrow Technique, boxing, Domain, Earth Vein Primordial Magnetism, Body Cultivation Power, and so on.
It could be said that aside from his two trump cards, the Spiritual Artifact and Divine Skills, he had fought with nearly all his might.
Thus, he had a rough idea of where his strength lay.
Without using his two Innate Divine Abilities, his own strength should be comparable to that of an average Perfect Foundation Establishment.
Of course, even so, Lu Qing still wouldn't underestimate any Foundation Establishment Cultivator.
The strength between Cultivators was never static.
Even at the same realm, aspects like Cultivation Techniques, magical treasures, and mindfulness could greatly influence a Cultivator's strength.
Take the Grey Robed Old Monk, for example; without those Buddhist Magical Treasures, his strength as a Magic Cultivation practitioner wouldn't be much stronger than an ordinary Innate Realm Martial Artist in front of Lu Qing—it would be easy to annihilate him.
Yet, once he had the right magical treasures and used them properly, not even Lu Qing could defeat him without resorting to various methods.
This makes it clear how much a good magical treasure can enhance a Cultivator's strength.
Lu Qing had no wish to one day fail because of underestimating an opponent's powerful magical treasure.
So even though he had killed a Perfect Foundation Establishment enemy this time, he still wouldn't underestimate other Foundation Establishment Cultivators.
After sorting out the gains from this battle, Lu Qing collected his thoughts and began to enter a state of Cultivation to prepare for the next ambush.
Having made the journey to West State, he had no intentions of returning so soon.
Suspended Mountain aimed to unify West State and establish a Buddhist faith; he couldn't just watch them succeed.
He planned to personally crush Suspended Mountain's ambitions to dust!