How the Buddha Seeks Mortals

The evening drum of Pufa Temple had long since sounded, and most of the incense-offering visitors had departed. The branches of the thousand-year-old pine trees outside the temple stretched into the mid-air like coiled dragons. The moonlight poured down, making the ancient temple seem even more serene.

The night sky was deep and vast, the Milky Way brilliant. Wang Xuan walked towards An City, the starry sky overhead. He felt a little uncertain in his heart; had he provoked another one?

He grumbled inwardly, finding it truly bizarre! Once anything related to mysterious factors was involved, unexplainable, unnatural phenomena would occur.

He was nervous, unsure what unpredictable events would unfold tonight. He really didn't want to be bothered anymore.

At this point, he felt a profound realization: everything in this world was a balance. When you felt you were about to gain something, you were undoubtedly paying a price.

He had actively absorbed mysterious factors, believing he was excavating buried myths and forging a brilliant path in the realm of Old Arts. But wasn't he also approaching danger? Perhaps this was a deep pit, with sweet-smelling bait placed ahead for latecomers. It might even have been intentionally set by ancient people.

By now, Wang Xuan absolutely dared not underestimate those ancient people. Since they had once been brilliant, they must have possessed extraordinary and terrifying capabilities. He was now seriously doubting the truth behind Ascension.

"I hope I can get through tonight safely!"

Wang Xuan had left early in the morning, only to return under the stars. He ate a simple meal by the roadside and didn't get home until past nine in the evening.

After washing up, he visualized a golden sun, blazing with radiant flames, burning away all the clouds and mist, illuminating a clear and bright world. Golden light rained down everywhere, sacred and peaceful.

"Demons, begone!"

Wang Xuan took a deep breath and lay down on his bed. It wasn't long before he fell into a deep sleep. This was the benefit of practicing the Old Arts; he never suffered from insomnia.

Indeed, his worries had come true. Even after circulating the Root Method before sleep and visualizing a brilliant golden sun to dispel the dark mist, something still happened.

Right beside him, an old monk sat on the edge of his bed. His body was blackened, as if about to fester, and blood flowed from his eyes as he looked at him.

Wang Xuan's hair stood on end. With a whoosh, he threw off the covers, startling himself awake and sitting up. The sensation was too real; he seemed to have smelled a faint, rotten odor just now.

Was this an unwelcome visitor? He turned on the light, drank a glass of water, and then silently circulated his Root Method. Tonight would definitely not be peaceful.

Moreover, he felt something was off about this old monk. He wasn't peaceful or radiating Buddhist light, nor did he display a sacred Dharma form.

On the contrary, the old monk was black all over, appearing somewhat decayed, a stark contrast to the brilliant lightning the female Daoist practitioner had casually summoned from the river of stars.

However, one aspect was the same: both had bleeding eyes, as if they had experienced some extremely tragic event and refused to rest even in death.

"This pit is quite deep. I've fallen in inexplicably, and the situation is not good!" Wang Xuan rarely became this serious; his mood was incredibly heavy.

He increasingly felt that the truth of Ascension was likely many times more complex than his guess at Pufa Temple. Even a preliminary glimpse had made him feel terrified.

Earlier, he had been incredibly confident because he was the only one in the world who could enter the Inner Scenery Realm on his own, without the guidance of a patriarch. In this era, he could still establish himself in the ethereal flow of time.

But now, he was somewhat horrified. His performance was indeed astonishing, his achievements extraordinary, but this might not be a good thing. He seemed to be inadvertently, slowly unveiling a heavy and mysterious curtain pressed down by the ages, and doing so might be drawing danger closer.

These past few days, he had been pondering how to find strange items similar to Ascension Stones to enhance his strength.

At that time, he still believed that if some residual spiritual energy from ancient people appeared, even if accompanied by some abnormal phenomena, it wouldn't be a big deal.

But now, his heart was pounding with anxiety. His earlier thoughts had been too optimistic.

If he triggered mysterious events multiple times and several unknown beings appeared around him – Daoist practitioners, immortal maidens, old monks, etc. – the scene would be far from the harmonious gathering he imagined, where they could play mahjong.

"I haven't even entered the Inner Scenery Realm this time, and an old monk with bleeding eyes has followed me. Does this mean that as long as one discovers mysterious factors in the present world and absorbs them, unpredictable events will occur?"

Wang Xuan felt he had lost out significantly this time. Last time, at the very least, he had entered the Inner Scenery Realm with the help of the female Daoist practitioner's residual spiritual energy, and his strength had greatly improved.

This time, the old monk had given him nothing and had followed him home, his body emitting a rotten odor as he sat by the bed watching him.

After some visualization, Wang Xuan fell asleep again.

As expected, the old monk came again, his skin dark, his eyes dripping blood, sitting motionlessly by the bed watching him. He said nothing, but it was enough to cause a chill.

Wang Xuan didn't wake up. The scene he visualized manifested, and another him, holding a dark golden staff, directly smashed towards the old monk's head as he sat by the bed. It was not gentle at all; it was quite fierce.

He had made up his mind. Since this residual spiritual energy couldn't interfere with the present world and couldn't harm his spirit, and it was clearly hostile, he saw no need to be polite. He would act directly.

Otherwise, if he encountered more of these in the future and had to treat them like honored guests, he would be exhausted to death.

With a bang, the old monk exploded. Before he dissipated, he seemed deeply surprised, and a look of astonishment flashed in his dead gray eyes.

"If you need something, speak properly. Don't put on that kind of attitude!" the Wang Xuan holding the dark golden staff berated. His core self remained asleep and did not awaken.

A moment later, the old monk reappeared. This time, he wasn't sitting by the bed. Although his eyes were still bleeding and his body was black and decaying, he was more considerate, standing further away with his palms pressed together.

Instantly, a hazy Buddhist light shone down, revealing extremely blurred scenes: Arhats meditating, Bodhi trees swaying, emitting chanting.

In his sleep, Wang Xuan's subconscious stirred violently. He saw those blurry, almost dissipated scenes. He wasn't immediately awakened but was instead drawn in. Had there truly been Bodhisattvas in the past?

Within those scenes, stone pagodas lay scattered, ancient temples crumbled, Bodhisattvas ascended, Golden Body Arhats rose, and Bodhi trees uprooted themselves. In the light rain of the Buddha's radiance, those sacred images entered the deep void.

What did this mean? Wang Xuan wondered. Was the old monk showing him these scenes, seeking his help?

Soon, the old monk seemed unable to sustain himself. The originally blurry scenes shattered and ceased to exist, unable to manifest further.

The old monk's own form began to waver, his almost decayed body becoming somewhat indistinct.

At this moment, from his unstable state, Wang Xuan noticed a detail he had previously overlooked with surprise. As the old monk dimmed and was about to disappear, it was as if a heavy curtain covered his decaying body.

Then, Wang Xuan woke up because his subconscious was stirring violently. He sat up from his slumber.

"There's something strange here. The old monk seems to have come from the darkness, manifesting himself from a distance, exerting all his strength to achieve this. However, the female Daoist practitioner always stood close to me, and I didn't notice the details that should have been there. Perhaps they are actually in a very distant realm. In that case, the female Daoist practitioner is extremely powerful, far surpassing the old monk."

After some visualization, Wang Xuan fell asleep again. He had decided to "have a good chat" with the old monk that night, to remain calm and communicate slowly.

The old monk reappeared, still emerging from the darkness, his figure blurred. In his demonstration, it was as if he stepped out of a stone wall, breaking the iron chains binding him.

Although Wang Xuan's subconscious did not awaken, it was once again shaking violently. Could the old monk have been trapped in a stone wall, and only released when Wang Xuan absorbed his mysterious factor at night?

Then, another Wang Xuan appeared, a vision he had previously visualized, still holding a large staff. He said, "Since you seek a favor, why not show some sincerity? When mortals seek Buddha, they offer incense. What should Buddha do when seeking mortals? Years ago, a female Daoist practitioner entered my dreams and taught me the method for ascending to the immortal ranks."

The saying goes that a woman three years older can ascend to immortality with three thousand beauties. While Wang Xuan dared not speak so carelessly, he was inspired. He could prompt the old monk and ask for benefits.

At this moment, Little Wang was truly fearless, ready to bribe Buddha!

The old monk stared blankly, then silently demonstrated a boxing technique. Had he actually given him a benefit?!

Wang Xuan's subconscious could naturally see and quickly memorize it. This seemed like... the Great Vajra Fist? And it was just a few moves, repeated over and over.

The old monk was quite diligent, clearly demonstrating how to exert force, how various parts of the body, including the internal organs, should vibrate.

The Great Vajra Fist was indeed a secret, profound technique. Back at Great Black Mountain, the man in black, Sun Chengkun, had used it. Even when Wang Xuan had mastered the Golden Body Art, he couldn't withstand it; his finger was almost shattered, and his fingernail was torn off by the terrifying force.

The old monk's demonstration was incomplete. He was trying to stretch his body, but his strength failed him. He could only demonstrate up to this point. As he swung his fists for the later moves, he began to disintegrate himself.

Wang Xuan woke up again, sat up in bed, and spoke directly, "If you can continue to show me that boxing technique, appear in my dream. If not, do not disturb my sleep. I will carefully consider your issue after I wake up tomorrow."

He recalled the boxing technique. It seemed somewhat different from the Great Vajra Fist used by the man in black. After pondering for a while, he felt it was extraordinary and quite profound.

Finally, Wang Xuan entered his dream, but the old monk did not reappear.

It wasn't until early morning that Wang Xuan woke up. He carefully recalled his dream experience and began to slowly practice those fist seals. He felt that imitating the external postures was easy, but the internal vibrations and force generation were extremely difficult!

"No rush, take it slow. Today, I still need to go to Pufa Temple to resolve the old monk's issue."

Wang Xuan felt that the scenes in his dream – the Bodhisattva departing, the ancient temple collapsing, the thousand-year-old Bodhi tree uprooting – might be related to some historical events in reality. As long as he understood the inside story, the old monk's riddle could be solved, and this mysterious event could be thoroughly dealt with.

Early in the morning, Wang Xuan arrived at Pufa Temple again.

Suddenly, he heard a familiar voice. How could it sound like Old Chen? Was it an illusion? His old colleague had clearly fled to New Star after being startled. Wang Xuan had spoken with Qing Mu a couple of days ago and hadn't heard that Old Chen was returning. Moreover, Qing Mu had said that Old Chen would be staying there for a while longer.

"No, it's definitely Old Chen!" Wang Xuan believed he wouldn't mishear; his perception was incredibly sharp now.

To confirm, he quickly rushed towards a courtyard and indeed found Old Chen.

In Wang Xuan's view, Old Chen was radiating an ominous aura, especially with the unsolvable female Daoist practitioner by his side. Wang Xuan turned and left, not wanting to be implicated by Old Chen again.

However, as he turned, Old Chen also saw him and actually... ran faster than him!

What was going on? This was clearly not right! Wang Xuan was deeply surprised. Why did Old Chen run away upon seeing him? Shouldn't he have come over to complain and ask him to get rid of that "celestial being"?

Wang Xuan immediately realized that Old Chen, who loved fishing, was up to something. He was hiding something from him. Fortunately, his reaction was super fast. He turned around and went to chase Old Chen.

"Old Chen, I saw you, stop!"

The morning sun shone brightly, and many people were already in the temple to offer incense. Under the public gaze, Old Chen didn't want to attract attention. He suddenly stopped and calmly walked back.

"What a coincidence, meeting you here." Wang Xuan greeted him.

"We meet very close by." Although Old Chen had dark circles under his eyes, he remained remarkably composed and responded leisurely.

"Fate is truly wondrous." An old monk passing by glanced at them with surprise and interjected before leaving.