Southern Jambudvipa, Tang Chang'an.
Guanyin rode the clouds from Five Elements Mountain, heading east as she considered how to guide the scripture seeker back onto the proper path.
She was an important chess piece placed by the Heavenly Dao within the Journey to the West Calamity, responsible for guiding the scripture seeker onto the westward road and ensuring the calamity unfolded according to the Heavenly Dao's script.
Yet when she descended outside Chang'an and gazed toward Great Ci'en Temple in the distance, her steps suddenly halted.
"Hmm?" Guanyin frowned slightly. The willow branch in her Pure Jade Vase swayed gently, as though it had sensed some abnormal aura.
Her divine sense silently extended, passing through Chang'an's streets and alleys before descending upon the scripture platform at Great Ci'en Temple.
There, "Tripitaka" had taken his seat and begun expounding the sutras. From Guanyin's perspective, the Buddhist light around "Tripitaka" was drawn inward, like the waters of a deep pool—seemingly tranquil, yet unfathomably deep.
The moment Guanyin's divine sense drew near, Jiang Liuer seemed to sense it. His eyelids twitched faintly, but he did not open them.
The Buddhist light around him remained peaceful, yet within that peace, Guanyin sensed a faint, almost imperceptible threat.
Why does this scripture seeker feel so strange?
Guanyin was startled. Her cultivation had already reached the early Quasi-Saint realm.
She was considered among the foremost existences in the Earth Immortal Realm, yet she felt threatened by a mere mortal monk? This was far too unusual.
She investigated carefully, but no matter what she did, she could find nothing out of the ordinary.
There was no demonic qi, no fiendish qi, no Heavenly Dao Power on Jiang Liuer's body—only an utterly ordinary mortal vessel.
Yet Guanyin's intuition told her that this "Xuanzang" was anything but simple.
*Could