Summoning (3000+ words)

Within Three Realms Mountain.

Aaron, clad in moon-white monk's robes and holding an alms bowl, stood steadily atop a massive azure boulder.

Outside the mountain...

Vast streams of data poured down like the Milky Way falling from the Ninth Heaven, cascading like a waterfall.

"The dream of the Three Realms is like a bubble and a shadow; two lives are but motes of dust... If one cannot see through this trial, then the moment they enter this place, they will turn into a stream of information and vanish, won't they? Or rather... be deleted as data?"

As though speaking to himself, Aaron looked toward a certain spot.

A handsome scholar in a blue robe styled after Great Liang literati drifted into view. "Young man... I have been waiting for you for a long time."

Everything about him was profoundly deceptive; players would absolutely take him for an NPC handing out quests.

But Aaron had long known this man's true nature. A swastika imprint flickered in his eyes.

The next moment.

Xu Fu's outer appearance instantly vanished from Aaron's sight.

The Buddha possesses the eye of wisdom, which sees no self, no person, no sentient being, no lifespan.

In Aaron's eyes, this man shed his skin. In a blur, he became an old man, then a child little more than skin and bones...

Men and women, old and young, the myriad faces of living beings—all were contained within him...

The only thing that never changed was the craving for life on their faces!

Seeing Xu Fu reminded Aaron of the Buddhist Lord's memories from the simulator—the scenes of ruined lives he had witnessed while walking the lands of Great Liang!

"Master... save me!"

"Chan Master Fahuan..."

"World-Honored One, have mercy! Save us from suffering..."

All manner of pleas still echoed by