Chapter 209: Chapter 164: The Final Attempt

"Donor Rabbit, are you sure that only Buddhist Sect tokens can break the Skull Tower?"

Outside the Corpse Bone Forest, Prajna was speaking while lifting a nearby water barrel, slowly and fiercely washing his entire body. As the cold water hit his taut muscles, it steamed like cooling down heated steel.

They had just tried to attack the Corpse Bone Forest again, and the result, naturally, was failure. Even though they managed to damage the Skull Tower almost to the point of destruction, it stubbornly stood atop the Lotus Platform. Whenever Rabbit Heroine and Prajna exited the storm state, the damage per second plummeted, and the Lotus Platform rapidly restored it to its original form.

Their regular damage simply couldn’t keep up with the repair speed of the Lotus Platform.

If the first retreat from the Corpse Bone Forest was filled with hope, then the second time only left them with deep powerlessness, like a monkey practicing swimming in vain trying to grab the moon from the lake, only to realize upon getting closer it was a mere illusion... so many years of persistence seemed like a futile effort.

"Prajna, how can anything be certain with this kind of situation?" Before Rabbit Heroine could speak, Pharmacist’s Wish immediately retorted, "It’s just a guess. My sister is kindly helping to think of how to resolve the situation, what more guarantees do you want? Would you like us to guarantee that you can inherit Si Wuxie’s legacy of Foundation Establishment Fourth Transition right after you clear the front hall?"

Pharmacist’s Wish stood protectively in front of Rabbit Heroine like a mother hen shielding her chick, fearlessly pushing back against Prajna’s somewhat impatient questioning despite having witnessed Prajna’s almost supernatural bravery in the Corpse Bone Forest.

It seemed that when she said she took Rabbit Heroine as her own sister, it wasn’t just another way of saying ’Sister, I like you,’ but rather ’From now on, you are the most important person to me.’

But I created a smurf account just for bantering, confrontation, and causing trouble, and you counter so brilliantly, who’s going to make up for my missing gaming experience?

Yan Qing sighed and controlled Rabbit Heroine to walk in front of Pharmacist’s Wish.

"Believe what you wish, but let me make it clear, next time this heroine enters the Corpse Bone Forest, she’ll swap to Buddhist Sect weapons." Rabbit Heroine tossed the Seven-Star Sword into storage and switched to Seven Steps to Enlightenment, her face cold and aloof, "I’m not interested in wasting time with you all."

"We’ve already paid to hire you for assistance," Prajna said.

"So where do we draw the line? How many times do you need us to assist you? Five times? Ten times?" Rabbit Heroine said, "How many times before you give up?"

"Prajna, it’s time to face reality."

Backing her up was Blood Phase, who sat by a withered tree absorbing Spiritual Jade, his face dark but his tone very calm, "Regardless of whether this foolish girl is correct, our method is certainly wrong, trying more times won’t make a difference."

"Relying solely on explosive damage can’t destroy the Skull Tower," Pharmacist’s Wish also slowed her tone. If the three Great Guardians merely tended to believe, she fully believed in Rabbit Heroine’s judgment, "Just like relying solely on insults won’t kill someone; if the method is wrong, no amount of effort will matter."

Prajna’s expression was conflicted, "But the key to resolving might not necessarily be a Buddhist Sect token; we can—"

"Do what? Waste a few more years collecting various tokens for slow testing?" Blood Phase retorted bluntly, "Do you or I have that much time? Once age catches up and Qi Blood declines, even if Si Wuxie’s legacy is inherited, how many chances will we have for Foundation Establishment at that point when we’re old and feeble?"

"Not to mention the workaround token might trigger something similar to the Lotus Platform; what will you do then, continue seeking other methods? Actually, when you tested that the Zen Staff caused a change in the Skull Tower years ago, I vaguely felt the Buddhist Sect token was the key. But at that time, it was impossible even to destroy the Skull Tower; the risk of strengthening the Lotus Platform was too great, so I suppressed the thought."

"Prajna, we people of the Demon Dao have always gone against time, against public favor. If faced with opportunity, we hesitate, what’s the point? You might as well roll back to a temple and become a bald monk."

The front of Corpse Bone Forest fell silent, leaving only Blood Phase’s slightly hoarse voice echoing. No one expected Blood Phase’s reaction to be so intensely decisive, and truth be told, Yan Qing himself wasn’t sure. If a Buddhist Sect token couldn’t resolve the situation but further reinforced the Skull Tower, that possibility certainly existed, which is why he couldn’t and wouldn’t vouch for it.

Yet Blood Phase’s confidence was exceedingly high; maybe it’s because this inherited Secret Realm had consumed too much of their hearts and efforts, and therefore, Prajna couldn’t tolerate any risk, while Blood Phase couldn’t tolerate stagnation.

Betting might result in a complete loss, but not betting guarantees no win. The righteous path might not need to bet, as they have sects and families, but what does the Demon Dao have?

They only have a single life, a life without kin, without home, without nation.

"That indelible gold light from the Skull Tower," Beiyou slowly said, "I believe it’s Si Wuxie’s hint."

Even without considering Rabbit Heroine and Pharmacist’s Wish, just the opinions of Beiyou and Blood Phase were enough to shift the situation. Prajna sighed deeply, took away the rare long staff, and replaced it with a Nine-Ringed Sounding Staff glowing with gold. The Zen Staff was solemn and dignified, its shaft intricately patterned, and when the staff landed heavily, the entire woodland was awakened by the nine-ringed sound, even Yan Qing outside the screen felt a sense of peace.

"I was caught up in appearances," Prajna recited a Buddhist incantation, his eyes cleared of hesitation, "Let us follow Donor Rabbit’s words, and use Buddhist Sect’s thunder to cleanse the foul air."

Yan Qing expected them to accept this plan sooner or later, but didn’t anticipate it would be so quick, changing their minds just after two attempts when he thought they’d hesitate for several days. Yan Qing underestimated them, assuming his local insights were limited to health bars, but they weren’t foolish. The lock-blood behavior of the Skull Tower was so blatant it couldn’t be concealed.

Upon reaching the demarcation line of the front hall again, Prajna said, "Either way, tonight is the final attempt."

"Or it might be the last try," Beiyou said softly.

Pharmacist’s Wish and Yan Qing almost saw through this guy, who enjoys mentioning the least appropriate subjects.

"I hope we can achieve our desires," Prajna said, "Only Donor Rabbit and I have Buddhist Sect tokens, so this time the rest of you needn’t approach to attack; just focus on dealing with the demons."

Perhaps they should formulate a more cautious strategy, like calling in several Third Transition helpers to distract the demons. After all, this time the main attackers are only Rabbit Heroine and Prajna, while others are auxiliaries where the demands aren’t so high... But at this point, everyone abandoned caution, only wanting to bet it all and await destiny to reveal the answer.

"Three, two, one!"

At the command, the five stepped into the front hall again, following the plan. Everything went smoothly; Rabbit Heroine had successfully led the demons to the front of the Skull Tower, wielding Seven Steps to Enlightenment during the storm period, piercing countless holes into the Skull Tower!

Speaking of which, Seven Steps to Enlightenment, renowned for killing monks, is considered a Buddhist weapon?

However, Prajna made a mistake—for unknown reasons, whether due to accumulated fatigue from the previous times or inner anxiety, he failed to trigger the storm successfully, only managed to evade attacks from zombie demons normally! It was clear he was surprised too; one failure was no big deal, but if even his highly concentrated first dodge failed, triggering a storm afterwards would be challenging.

At this critical juncture, Pharmacist’s Wish suddenly shouted loudly, the Soul-Breaking Spear coming straight on, a perfect middle shot aimed at Prajna, fast and steady!