Secrets Within the Heart Sutra

Maha Hall, like Bodhi Temple, was one of the Nine Outer Sects. It gathered the power of faith to condense Divine Law Bodies and had long cooperated with the Nine Abyss Dynasty.

With Bodhi Temple cooperating with the Nine Abyss Dynasty, Maha Hall's influence within the Nine Abyss Dynasty was bound to suffer severe suppression, and the power of faith it harvested would also be greatly diminished.

The Maha Hall elder had come to visit Bodhi Temple precisely for the power of faith within the Nine Abyss Dynasty. Bodhi Temple's Abbot Kong Ming refused to yield an inch, and the two sides ultimately parted on bad terms.

You knew that Maha Hall would soon erupt into numerous conflicts with the Three Buddhist Dao Sects led by Bodhi Temple. When the time came, Bodhi Temple would issue many missions to strengthen the disciples under its banner.

Then, under the pretext of carrying out a mission, you could head to the East Sea to search for Ji Xinyu.

A month later, the opportunity came. At the External Affairs Hall, you accepted a mission to the East Sea to purchase Ink Flood Dragon Blood and once again boarded a Flying Boat bound for the East Sea.

Three days and three nights later, you arrived at Green Wave Island, which lay under the jurisdiction of Nine Heavens Palace.

"Is this a Love Simulator, or a Love Brain Simulator?"

Jiang Chuan looked through the room's window at the distant town and let out a soft sigh.

Love might be precious, but life was worth more.

Now, the Three Buddhist Dao Sects had already begun clashing with Maha Hall.

Under normal circumstances, he would never have chosen to leave the sect at such a dangerous time.

Yet now, he had boarded a Flying Boat bound for the East Sea and come to Green Wave Island.

"I'm absolutely not love-brained. It's all this lousy simulator's fault!"

Jiang Chuan silently took a set of black clothes from his Storage Bag and removed the bright yellow monk's robes he was wearing.

You stepped onto Green Wave Island and arrived at Nine Heavens Palace's outpost. Once again claiming to be Ji Xinyu's friend, you inquired about her whereabouts.

You then learned that Ji Xinyu had gone to Lingxu City to find an elder there and have a Treasure Artifact Flying Sword refined.

Refining a Treasure Artifact Flying Sword could take as little as several months or as long as several years. You knew there was a high chance you would not see Ji Xinyu on this trip, but you still clung to a sliver of hope and remained on Green Wave Island to wait.

Using the excuse that Ink Flood Dragon Blood was difficult to collect, you lingered on Green Wave Island for two months.

Over those two months, with the pills Song Yanlin had given you, you broke through to the Second Realm, Sixth Layer. After waiting in vain for Ji Xinyu, you took a Flying Boat back to Bodhi Temple.

Upon learning of your safe return, Elder Jingyun came personally and ordered that you were not to leave for a year.

The struggle between the Three Buddhist Dao Sects and Maha Hall grew ever more intense. Though you dearly wished to leave Bodhi Temple, Elder Jingyun's order left you no choice but to remain there and cultivate diligently.

Half a year later, you successfully broke through to the Second Realm, Ninth Layer. You then used the three thousand Spirit Stones you had accumulated from completing missions to purchase a Hundred Herbs Soul Nurturing Pill from the Pill Room.

After taking the Hundred Herbs Soul Nurturing Pill, you successfully broke through to Third Realm: Soul Refining. Your soul transformed into a Yin Spirit, and you also condensed Divine Sense.

With Divine Sense, you could perform all manner of feats ordinary mortals found inconceivable, such as retrieving objects from afar and controlling objects to fly.

You felt the time was ripe and took out the "Ruyi Heart Sutra" once more.

"Su Wanwan, you demoness, you'd better not have truly fallen in love with me and be testing me. Otherwise, I'll beat you so badly even your mother won't recognize you!"

Jiang Chuan stared at the "Ruyi Heart Sutra" on the table as invisible Divine Sense surged forth from the sea of consciousness between his brows.

Rustle!

The "Ruyi Heart Sutra" began turning its pages without wind.

To ordinary eyes, the scripture remained unchanged. But beneath Jiang Chuan's Divine Sense, every scene transformed.

As the pages turned, one pitch-black character after another rose into the air from the "Ruyi Heart Sutra." They intertwined and shifted in midair, taking on a new form.

When the "Ruyi Heart Sutra" turned to its final page, a pitch-black scroll appeared before Jiang Chuan's eyes.

A monk clad in a scarlet kasaya sat cross-legged within a black universe.

The monk was handsome and carried an air of compassion for all under heaven. At a glance, one could tell he was an eminent monk who had attained the Dao.

Yet his black eyes were incomparably grim and sinister, as though they contained two Avici Hells, within which countless vicious ghosts struggled and wailed.

The instant Jiang Chuan met the monk's gaze, his mind shook involuntarily.

"Just a single glance is this terrifying! Who is this man?"

The next moment, the monk's body abruptly dispersed, transforming into a colossal beast entirely azure in color, with eight horns growing from its head, crescent-moon claws, and a long trailing tail.

A powerful, soul-shaking aura spread from the beast. Jiang Chuan felt that if it opened its mouth, it could swallow stars and devour moons, reducing all things and all living beings to dust.

"This is..."

Jiang Chuan looked carefully and discovered that every azure scale upon the giant beast was inscribed with several ancient characters.

"Void Devouring Scripture"

After reading the entire scripture, Jiang Chuan sighed with emotion. "What a demonic scripture! It evolves a Dark Universe and devours everything, tangible and intangible!"

"Even the Star Nirvana Sutra that Senior Brother Jing Hui cultivates in the future is weaker by more than a level compared to it."

"I just wonder whether the Void Devouring Scripture can rival Bodhi Temple's supreme scripture, the Future Star Sutra?"

Looking at the "Ruyi Heart Sutra" on the table, Jiang Chuan stroked his chin.

"Why would such a demonic Dao scripture appear on the second floor of the Scripture Repository? And where did that demoness Su Wanwan learn the secret of the Ruyi Heart Sutra?"

Jiang Chuan shook his head and cast away the thoughts in his heart.

"Once I catch that demoness Su Wanwan, under my wicked might, she'll definitely tell me everything honestly."

"If she won't talk, I'll let her experience the top ten cruelest tortures of the fantasy universe I read about before I transmigrated! Heh heh heh!"

As Jiang Chuan's thoughts turned, he looked toward the enormous beast with eight horns growing from its head and began to visualize it.

The Third Realm: Soul Refining, as its name implied, was the cultivation of the soul.

The best method for cultivating the soul was visualization.

Every scripture had a different visualization image. The Void Devouring Scripture, for instance, used the eight-horned colossal beast.

The visualization image of the Star Nirvana Sutra, meanwhile, was a Buddha enveloped in black-and-white flames.

In order to reach the Fourth Realm as soon as possible, break through Sandalwood Forest, renounce monkhood, and descend the mountain, you began cultivating the demonic-path technique, the Void Devouring Scripture.

After learning that you had broken through to the Third Realm, Elder Jingyun brought you into the Warrior Monk Institute, where you visualized the Arhat Capturing Demon Diagram left behind by Bodhi Temple's twenty-fifth-generation Abbot.

The Arhat Capturing Demon Diagram differed vastly from the visualization image of the Void Devouring Scripture. On the surface, you visualized the Arhat Capturing Demon Diagram, but in truth, you continued visualizing the eight-horned colossal beast.

You traded all the spiritual items Song Yanlin had left behind for three Hundred Herbs Soul Nurturing Pills.

Three months later, with the help of the Hundred Herbs Soul Nurturing Pills, you successfully broke through to the Third Realm, Fifth Layer. Afterward, Elder Jingyun summoned you to the Warrior Monk Institute once more.

"Jingyang, go down the mountain."

The moment Elder Jingyun's words fell, Jiang Chuan's heart leaped into his throat.

Have they discovered that I'm cultivating a demonic art? Otherwise, why would Elder Jingyun tell me to leave the mountain at a time like this?