Passing on the Light of Buddha's Wisdom: Enchanting Wu Song and Developing an Emergency Headband! (Continued)

It was precisely because of this that he could weigh just how formidable Sima Chengzhen's attainments in [Sitting in Forgetfulness] and [Quiet Emptiness] truly were.

What stirred him even more was Sima Chengzhen's air of an idle cloud and wild crane—untouched by karma, tranquil and inclined toward emptiness.

It was remarkably similar to the path walked by his master, Yun Zhongzi.

Having cultivated the art of quiet emptiness to its utmost limit, he had no desire to wade into the muddy waters of the mortal world.

Amid the perilous and unfathomable Tiantai Mountain, this gave Lei Zhenzi a rare sense of familiarity, as though he had run into half a senior relative of his own clan.

He folded his wings, stepped forward, and gave a solemn bow to the ground.

"Senior, though this junior cannot attain your great Dao of 'Sitting in Forgetfulness,' my heart yearns for it.

"May I boldly ask:

"True Person Bai Yuchan was the Thunder Patriarch of the Southern School, an unprecedented genius of the Divine Firmament lineage. How did he fall into the demonic state he was in just now?

"And Tongbai Palace, the ancestral sacred ground of the Taoist Gate's Southern School—what has it become now?"

That question struck right at the joints.

Nezha and Zhang Shun also moved closer, all ears.

For the first time, Sima Chengzhen's ever-detached face darkened. He sighed.

"Those evil things came from beneath the sea."

"Beneath the sea?" Zhang Shun's heart gave a violent jolt.

Sima Chengzhen said slowly, "This Daoist has lived in seclusion on Tiantai Mountain for several centuries.

"I had long ceased to concern myself with worldly affairs or entangle myself in karma, merely cultivating quietly within Jade Firmament Grotto-Heaven to avoid disaster.

"But half a month ago, worms began boring out of the ground..."