In the Western Region, a vast plume of dust rose over the lonely, desolate desert.
The slanting remnants of the setting sun gradually faded as well.
An ordinary monk in plain robes walked slowly through the desert alone with a camel, leaving behind a long trail of footprints.
Yet those footprints were swiftly buried by windblown sand, leaving no trace to be seen.
Suddenly, the void in the distance rippled, and a richly dressed monk in a kasaya stepped out.
He walked upon the empty air as though it were level ground, his eyes gleaming like those of a Buddha-hawk. He clearly possessed the bearing of an enlightened monk from a great temple.
Yet before the ordinary monk, he immediately bowed deeply.
"Ancestor Yuanming, Gu Meng Ancestor has asked for the one hundred and eighty-third time whether your ascetic cultivation has ended."
"Is that Ye Family boy about to hold his ceremony? Time truly flies!" Upon hearing this, the old monk's eyes flashed with a sigh over the passage of time. Then he smiled, his gaze full of gratification for the younger generation.
"Yes. Gu Meng Ancestor is somewhat worried that great chaos may erupt during this ceremony, so he has invited you back to discuss it."
The Divine Lord Yuanming before him was precisely Golden Light Temple's other Spirit Transformation cultivator.
He cultivated the Reincarnated Buddha Method, the temple's supreme scripture. Every three hundred years, he would become like a reincarnated Buddha, transforming into a mortal and seeking the trials of ascetic cultivation to attain the true Dharma of Buddha.
Having remained out of the world for so many years, many people had already forgotten Divine Lord Yuanming.
Even he himself no longer remembered how many Spirit Transformation and Nascent Soul Assemblies he had missed.
Of course, that did