At dawn, Pufa Temple bathed in brilliant morning glow. From afar, it looked majestic and grand, inspiring awe.
Set against the slowly rising sun, the entire temple complex seemed to flow with golden radiance, draped in a gentle glow—sacred and solemn, drawing reverence from all who saw it.
Wang Xuan grew solemn as well. Whether or not he held any faith, he did not wish to act too casually in such a place, especially since he had come today in search of the strange Ascension Stone.
It was still early, yet there were already some worshippers coming to burn incense. The temple's incense offerings had flourished year-round; this was one of Buddhism's sacred sites.
Dong!
The great bell within Pufa Temple rang out, deep and lingering, its sound carrying dozens of miles. Even in An City, it could be faintly heard.
In the early morning, accompanied by the rising sun, the bell's distant resonance held a special mood, as though it could cleanse all the troubles of the world, calm one's heart, and free one from worldly dust.
Standing in the distance and gazing at the temple amid the morning glow, Wang Xuan could not help nodding solemnly. Buddhism had endured through every dynasty without decline; indeed, there was reason for it.
The bell, the incense smoke curling upward, the tiles gleaming in the morning glow—this solemn, sacred, majestic atmosphere alone was enough to bring peace to one's heart.
"A Thousand-Year Ancient Temple, worthy of its name!" He was utterly serious. He had come today to seek the legacy left behind by ancient worthies, and his heart was filled with devotion, hoping to see some strange artifact left behind by a great master.
It was still early, so Wang Xuan was in no hurry to enter. Instead, he circled the entire temple once. It truly occupied no small area, displaying grandeur everywhere.
Outside the temple stood many ancient trees, from thousand-year-old pines to ginkgo trees centuries old, everything one could want. A few wisps of white mist still curled around them in the morning; when touched by sunlight, they shimmered with faint, variegated colors, making them seem even more extraordinary.
"There are Mysterious Factors!" As Wang Xuan walked outside the temple and passed those ancient trees, he immediately sensed a different kind of aura.
Ripples rose in his heart, and anticipation filled him. This ancient temple, steeped in history, had many legends associated with eminent monks.
Over the past thousand years, it was said that two Flesh Body Bodhisattvas alone had appeared here, both preserved to this day. That was truly no easy feat.
A Flesh Body Bodhisattva was an eminent monk who cultivated with rigor, kept his heart pure, and fully unleashed his potential, leaving behind an incorruptible physical body. Some died facing a wall, others sitting within jars, their indestructible physical forms remaining for later generations to behold.
Wang Xuan had entered the Inner Scenery Realm and had given some thought to the remains of such eminent monks. He wanted to see them with his own eyes, or sense them from up close, and verify things one by one.
Moreover, there were even more eminent monks in Pufa Temple who had left behind sarira. Whether they were genuine sarira or merely stones explainable by science, they were all worth approaching and investigating.
In Wang Xuan's view, if genuine sarira existed, they had to resemble Ascension Stones, containing Mysterious Matter that great masters had brought out from the Inner Scenery Realm.
After circling the temple once, Wang Xuan felt that this trip would definitely not be in vain. He had already sensed something inexplicable among the groves of ancient trees outside. What would he find within? He looked forward to it greatly.
As the sun rose, more and more people entered the temple, though it was not crowded. Wang Xuan walked in slowly and took a look at the Large Bronze Furnace in the courtyard. The incense within seemed never to have gone out, and the ash was so thick it was nearly filling the furnace.
He bared his teeth. The two eminent monks Old Chen had hired last time had probably taken incense ash from this very furnace, mixed it into water, and sprinkled it over him.
He walked over and offered an incense stick, merely to show his sincerity.
Generally speaking, temple layouts were similar. They began with the Mountain Gate Hall, followed by the Hall of Heavenly Kings, then the Great Hero Hall, then the Bodhisattva Hall, with Dharma halls and scripture repositories farther behind.
"Not simple. Is this restraint and humility?" Wang Xuan frowned, because after entering, he found it even harder to sense the aura of Mysterious Factors.
He looked up. The Great Hero Hall was towering, its interior adorned with carved beams and painted rafters, resplendent in gold and jade, truly imposing. Within stood the radiant Three-Life Buddha.
Yet it was exceedingly strange. In such an important Buddhist site, he still could not sense any Mysterious Factors, making him knit his brows in confusion.
Wang Xuan could only sigh at the profundity of Buddhist methods. Some secrets were likely beyond an outsider like him to comprehend. He could only search step by step. He was in no hurry, moving onward as he explored Pufa Temple.
Yet after visiting every Buddhist hall and searching everywhere, he had not sensed even a trace of Mysterious Factors. What was going on?
Wang Xuan was somewhat doubtful. Could this place truly conceal another world within? Could it prevent Mysterious Matter from leaking out? If so, Buddhist methods were rather astonishing.
After all, this was no longer ancient times, but a new era where technological civilization shone brilliantly. A temple capable of inheriting such secret arts might not be inferior to Buddhism's ancestral seat.
"I really don't believe in such nonsense. I refuse to believe I can't find even one clue!"
Wang Xuan persisted relentlessly. He went through every place in the entire temple that visitors were allowed to enter, yet he found nothing at all—not even the slightest trace.
He was a little dumbfounded. Could something have gone wrong with his senses? Had some secret power suppressed them within this Thousand-Year Ancient Temple?
Yet that was not the case. As he carefully sensed himself, his spirit was incomparably vigorous. Even from a great distance, he could hear birds chirping in the dense forest outside the temple.
For that reason, he specially ran back out to the grove with the thousand-year-old trees. There, he indeed caught traces of thin Mysterious Matter once more.
"A Thousand-Year Ancient Temple, a sacred Buddhist site—it truly inspires awe!" Wang Xuan sighed as he reentered the temple.
This time, using his agile and nimble movements, he entered several areas closed to the public. He even ventured deep into the site of the Buddhist pagodas, where the bones and sarira of eminent monks from successive generations were stored after their passing, generally buried beneath the underground palaces below the pagodas.
He still found nothing in this area, sensing no response whatsoever.
Wang Xuan's head was beginning to ache. In this era, could Pufa Temple still be unfathomably deep?
Later, he even went so far as to pry up two floor tiles, wanting to see whether there was another world beneath the ground. The result was still disappointing.
"Something is strange. Something had problems!" Wang Xuan pondered distractedly, wandering aimlessly through the temple.
All that day, he searched carefully until the heavens filled with stars before leaving, because he truly could not find anything within the temple.
Wang Xuan was unwilling to give up. He continued wandering outside the temple, wanting to observe it beneath the night sky. He planned to find high ground and look down over the Thousand-Year Ancient Temple, hoping to discover some clue.
As he walked outside, he sensed something unusual. Reaching a high place, he discovered that thin Mysterious Factors seemed to be faintly leaking from a distant pool, and he sensed them.
His mind shook. From such a distance, he could catch Mysterious Matter, which was enough to show that place was unusual. Perhaps it would yield a major discovery.
Once he drew near, he confirmed that the place was indeed rather special. The pool lay right beside a rock wall, and the Mysterious Factors were seeping from within that wall. Its mysterious signs were far greater than those of the Thousand-Year Ancient Temple.
Wang Xuan investigated the area carefully, but felt somewhat disappointed. He found no Ascension Stone. The Mysterious Factors were evenly distributed across the rock wall and were not concentrated enough.
He soon understood what had happened. In ancient times, eminent monks had often remained here in seclusion for years, meditating before the wall, and the Mysterious Matter they left behind had seeped into the stone.
Unfortunately, there was not enough of it to form a strange artifact like an Ascension Stone.
Wang Xuan leaped up, shot onto the rock wall, and reached the top. Finding a suitable place for meditation, he sat cross-legged, believing that ancient eminent monks had likely once sat in this very spot.
Then he closed his eyes and silently circulated the Root Method of the Pre-Qin Daoist practitioners, attempting to encounter a stroke of fortune here.
His senses became extraordinarily sharp. He noticed the evenly distributed Mysterious Factors within the rock wall stirring and gathering toward him.
But unfortunately, just as he had initially judged, the concentration of Mysterious Factors here was insufficient and had not formed any strange artifact.
Still, he did not stop. He remained seated cross-legged, circulating the Root Method and drawing in this rare substance. After all, it was immensely beneficial for nourishing both body and spirit.
In the present world, such things were difficult to find.
Don't know how long passed before the Mysterious Matter within the rock wall grew thin, becoming almost impossible to detect. Wang Xuan slowly ejected a breath of foul air and prepared to rise.
Yet a chill ran through him. He felt that something beside him was amiss. As he absorbed the Mysterious Matter, it seemed he had also taken in something beyond imagination.
In an instant, he rose to his feet, a bad premonition surging in his heart.
"Don't tell me that not long after sending off one celestial immortal, I've been hit again and drawn in a great Buddha?!" Wang Xuan's hair stood on end. His senses were sharper now than last time; after all, his strength had improved, and his spiritual power had grown ever more vigorous.
If something happened again this time, he felt he needed to reconsider the truth of Ascension to Immortality. Perhaps ascension had another explanation, another possibility.
"They back then... may not necessarily have failed. Could they have a chance to appear again?!" An extraordinarily shocking speculation arose in Wang Xuan's heart. The deeper he pursued it, the more shaken he became. He felt that this world contained secrets beyond ordinary imagination—if true, they would shatter heaven and earth.
Unease filled him. He quickly left the place and rushed toward An City. He wanted to first confirm whether another old senior had truly appeared beside him—whether Immortals and Buddhas were at his side!
Thanks to Dafeng Chui Ah Chuichui Bu Wan, thank you for the alliance leader's support.
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