Entering the World, Transmitting the Sutras (Part 2)

Mysterious diagrams and cultivation techniques suddenly branded themselves into Luo Bei's mind like a searing mark.

In the Extreme North, upon the grayish yellow frozen soil that stretched to the heavens, stood a snow-covered black mountain. At the peak of a bitter cold summit, a white-walled, yellow-tiled temple perched like a high mountain snow lotus. The black yak wool prayer flags, weathered by a thousand years of bitter frost, were already tattered and torn. Half a stick of incense ago, when the massive waterfall split the entire mountain to reveal the great hall, an old lama—half his body exposed, draped in a red Buddhist robe, wearing a goose-crown yellow velvet hat, his skin purple-black and withered, spinning a golden prayer wheel under the dim light of a butter lamp as he practiced bitter meditation—suddenly jerked his head up. "This is heaven's will." A murmured sigh sent several vultures perched on the temple roof soaring into the sky.

Yuan Tianyi pointed a finger at Luo Bei's brow.

A speck of golden light flashed and vanished into Luo Bei's forehead.

"I have planted the Empty Life Extinguishing Sea Mind Curse within you. If you violate the rules I have set, you will suffer both physical and spiritual annihilation!"

"Once you enter the world, do not act solely for profit and desire, or you will be executed."

"Do not reveal any of Luo Fu's techniques. Before you return to Luo Fu, do not let anyone know you are a disciple of Luo Fu, or you will be executed."

"Cultivating the Eternal Life Sutra of Delusion is a perilous path, with suffering a hundred times greater than the Mahākāla Secret Method. After you enter the world, you may choose not to cultivate it, but you must not speak of it, nor even harbor doubt toward this technique, or you will be executed!"

Inside the mountain's great hall, Luo Bei, still shaken, committed every word to memory.

Though he didn't know if every Luo Fu disciple underwent such trials and was given such rules, Luo Bei could sense that Yuan Tianyi would never harm him, and he also felt the extraordinary nature of the Eternal Life Sutra of Delusion that Yuan Tianyi had imparted to him.

All beings are equal!

Despite the many hardships and tests, from the very first day Yuan Tianyi brought him to Luo Fu, he had never looked down on Luo Bei for his aptitude, nor had he ever treated him with condescension.

"Master, when can I return?" At the peak of the nameless mountain, gazing at the great mountain within Luo Fu that had now resealed itself, Luo Bei asked Yuan Tianyi reluctantly.

"Perhaps ten years, perhaps twenty," Yuan Tianyi replied. "Luo Fu's techniques are unmatched in the world, but reaching the pinnacle is as difficult as ascending to heaven. The Shushan Flying Sword, relying on external tools, is indeed formidable. If you can cultivate sword essence, you will at least be able to protect yourself. The day you cultivate your Natal Sword Essence, you may return to Luo Fu to see me."

"What is Natal Sword Essence?" Luo Bei asked, puzzled.

Yuan Tianyi was silent. Already familiar with his master's nature, Luo Bei suddenly called out, "Master, wait."

"What?" Yuan Tianyi was startled, but found Luo Bei looking around as if searching for something.

"Where's Old Zhao Nan? I want to say goodbye to him." Luo Bei's gaze fell to his coarse linen clothes. Though simple and crude, these were the first clothes anyone in this world had sewn for him stitch by stitch.

A trace of warmth flickered in Yuan Tianyi's eyes. "He has also left the mountain on business and won't return for a while. But when you come back to Luo Fu, you will see him again."

Luo Bei froze. This innocent youth, who had once gotten up in the middle of the night to cover Old Zhao Nan with a blanket, had never imagined that just as he began to feel the warmth of home, he would face such a parting.

"A cultivator must endure true solitude." With a soft sigh, Yuan Tianyi took a step into the void. An invisible, transparent sphere enveloped him and Luo Bei, carrying them through the empty, lonely sky at a breathtaking speed. To Luo Bei, who had grown accustomed to Yuan Tianyi's cultivation and speed, what surprised him was that familiar great mountains appeared in his sight again.

From where he came, to where he returned.

Yuan Tianyi had brought Luo Bei back to the Mass Grave Hill in Bashu, only a hundred li from the Shushan mountain gate that Kongtong and Miro had mentioned.

The mountains remained the same, but the graves on this mass grave hill had multiplied beyond count, and Luo Bei could no longer tell where he had first met Kongtong. Though the red sun still hung high and crows circled, the entire mass grave hill was filled with an indescribable air of sorrow.

"Ten li south of here is a mountain town. There's a sect called the Purple Micro Daoist Temple. You don't need to do anything—just go to that town, and the people of the Purple Micro Daoist Temple will take you as a disciple. Luo Fu never follows conventions; if others want to take you as a disciple, just accept." Yuan Tianyi, unconcerned with Luo Bei's feelings about revisiting this place, spoke coldly and calmly, just as he had on the first day he brought Luo Bei to the nameless mountain. "Bandits are rampant across the land now. If anyone asks, say you're a local villager who was attacked by bandits and wandered here. No matter what happens in the future, just remember the rules I gave you, and you'll gradually come to understand what Natal Sword Essence is."

So the cultivation sect that ordinary people envied, the so-called immortal cave that could only be encountered by chance, was only ten li away. Knowing this now, Luo Bei felt no joy. Even without seeing Luo Fu's heaven-and-earth-like scripture hall, having lived with Yuan Tianyi for so long, Luo Bei already knew that a sect that hadn't even noticed or dared to investigate the battle here couldn't be top-tier.

But Yuan Tianyi added one more instruction. "From today on, forget as much of your memories of Luo Fu as you can. The more you remember, the greater the danger. Aside from the scriptures I've taught you, it's best if you're like the day I first met you."

Like that day—ignorant, knowing nothing of the world beyond filling his stomach?

Luo Bei etched every word Yuan Tianyi said into his memory, knowing that every word and sentence from his master had a purpose. But as he gazed deeply at his master in white robes, Luo Bei couldn't help wondering—could he ever forget?

Luo Bei suddenly knelt and kowtowed nine times heavily to Yuan Tianyi.

That day, fearing ghosts and gods, he had also kowtowed nine times. Now, no longer fearing them, he knew that the path of cultivation was fraught with peril, and he might never return to Luo Fu. These nine kowtows were because Yuan Tianyi was his respected master, and because Yuan Tianyi had given him the chance to control his own destiny.

After kowtowing nine times, Luo Bei stood up and walked toward the mountain town to the south that Yuan Tianyi had pointed to.

Yuan Tianyi stood still. Luo Bei walked farther and farther away, frequently looking back reluctantly, until his figure finally disappeared from sight.

Luo Bei trusted Yuan Tianyi completely, knowing only that every Luo Fu disciple had to undergo external trials. In his simple heart, he even imagined that the mysterious techniques and scriptures not originally from Luo Fu were all obtained by past patriarchs during their own trials like his.

He never imagined that Yuan Tianyi had sent him away from Luo Fu because Luo Fu was about to face an unprecedented calamity!

And the Eternal Life Sutra of Delusion that Yuan Tianyi had imparted to him was Luo Fu's most powerful and most difficult divine technique to cultivate!

Even with Yuan Tianyi's nature and aptitude, achieving such accomplishments, the previous sect master of Luo Fu had not dared to teach him the Eternal Life Sutra of Delusion, only passing down the Empty Life Extinguishing Sea Glazed Art, which was beneath it.

From this, it was clear that although Yuan Tianyi had never spoken a word of praise to Luo Bei, in his heart, he valued this originally mediocre disciple and even took some pride in him.

But the future was vague and unpredictable. Even with Yuan Tianyi's cultivation and divine powers, he could only see the shifting fortunes of the world, not the future itself.

The more powerful a technique, the more perilous its cultivation. And not to mention the mundane world of red dust, even this cultivation realm that surpassed ordinary beings was nothing but a dye vat that confused the original mind.

Who knew what would become of Luo Bei—now pure-hearted, kind, tenacious, and judging neither good nor evil by birth or appearance—after this parting?