The Lamp Before the Buddha, the Jade Void of Kunlun, the Golden Bell

Chang'an Town, Wei Family Residence.

When Yuan Tiandao regained consciousness, he was still holding the High Heaven Token in his hand, but he still couldn't see anything in front of him.

Sure enough, only when he was in that Dao Palace and had an audience with the [Celestial Venerable] could his sealed eyes regain their sight.

"Old Yuan, you're finally awake!"

Wei Busǐ's expression was solemn:

"That so-called Celestial Venerable of the Gaotian Association is very likely from the old world, and may have been revered as the [Dao Ancestor] in the old world!"

Yuan Tiandao was stunned for a moment, then looked at Wei Busǐ strangely:

How do you know about this?

Now it was Wei Busǐ's turn to be stunned:

"Have you met that Celestial Venerable?"

Yuan Tiandao nodded silently, then suddenly gasped in shock and blurted out:

"Did you use the Dream Dragon Slaying Method to see that 'Central Extreme'?"

He already had a guess at this point: the central point obtained through divination using a corner of Heavenly Book...

It could very well be the master of the Nine Netherworlds, that majestic Imperial Shadow!

Wei Busǐ shook his head vigorously.

"I didn't go, I didn't go!"

Still shaken, he recounted everything he had seen and heard when he went to behead Zhang Fusheng.

Yuan Tiandao listened quietly.

After recounting everything, Wei Busǐ let out a long breath:

"Behind Zhang Fusheng stands the World-Honored One, the one who personally shot the Merciful Divine Arrow. But according to him, he has no ill intentions towards us."

"Even to say."

A look of confusion appeared on Wei Busǐ's face:

"Behind him is the Celestial Venerable of the Gaotian Association, and a Central Extreme Cult Master. According to him, the Central Extreme Cult Master seems to have a past relationship with the Emperor?"

After hearing this, a look of relief flashed across Yuan Tiandao's face, and he murmured:

"Fortunately, he let you go; fortunately, you didn't go looking for [the Central Extreme Cult Master] first."

Wei Busǐ sensed something was wrong and frowned, asking:

"I believe about 70% of what Zhang Fusheng said. Old Yuan, what about your place?"

Yuan Tiandao's eyes were empty; he held the High Heaven Token and leaned on an iron cane.

You can believe everything Zhang Fusheng says. As for me, I have indeed been to the Above High Heaven.

He recounted without reservation what he had seen and heard Above High Heaven, including those mysterious figures.

That unfathomable Celestial Venerable, along with the magnificent Imperial Palace Imperial Shadow.

Wei Busǐ listened to everything in a daze.

For a long time.

He asked softly:

"And this Zhang Fusheng?"

Yuan Tiandao remained silent for a moment before speaking:

"In a couple of days, you and I will go to find him ourselves—no, we should go to pay him a visit."

"On the day the Imperial Mausoleum is opened, he will surely receive a share of the spoils."

Wei Busǐ paused for a moment, then softly reminded him:

"But as far as I know, this Zhang Fusheng is actually your younger brother's grand-disciple."

Yuan Tiandao pursed his lips, sighed softly, and abruptly changed the subject:

"I wonder why the Wu Family was among the three families appointed by the Emperor to guard the tomb. Wasn't it said that their ancestor had usurped the throne during a prosperous era?"

After pausing for a moment, he continued:

"The opening of the Imperial Mausoleum is drawing ever closer, and it will no longer be hidden; it can now be divined."

Wei Busǐ nodded slightly:

"What I'm worried about is your younger brother. Although he also wants to open the Imperial Mausoleum, his methods are too extreme, and he seems to have truly developed a sense of belonging to the Spirit Mountain System."

Yuan Tiandao simply waved his hand, seemingly unwilling to dwell on the matter further.

A divine realm.

Five Villages Temple.

The Taiyi Chapter operates, allowing one to grasp cause and effect, and thus also to uphold this true [Heaven and Earth Chessboard].

"What a wonderful feeling."

Zhang Fusheng whispered, the Heaven and Earth Chessboard was frighteningly heavy—not because some immortal barrier was placed upon it.

It's simply heavy.

With his current cultivation level, ten Cave Heaven rotated, golden lamps shone brightly in his eyes, and divine sense accumulated over four thousand three hundred years surged forth.

Yet, he could only barely lift the chessboard.

You need to know.

Even a piece of land stretching over a hundred miles can now be lifted by Zhang Fusheng!

"No wonder Miss Mingyue said that all ten Cave Heaven must be opened simultaneously."

Zhang Fusheng smiled wryly, quietly sensing this Heaven and Earth Chessboard.

The Heaven and Earth Chessboard is actually still in [Different Dimension].

But relying on his Flesh and Blood Divine Body, and his ability to Touch the Void,

He can directly touch this thing within his own divine realm—but he cannot truly pull it into his own divine realm.

Therefore, it is naturally impossible to anchor oneself to extraordinary scenes based on them.

But Zhang Fusheng could clearly feel the texture on the chessboard, and by using the Taiyi Chapter, he could perceive the vast and boundless threads of cause and effect within it!

Just how many things are intertwined with this chessboard through cause and effect?

Zhang Fusheng was so shocked that he was speechless.

If we say,

Looking down upon Chongyang City from a high vantage point, the threads of cause and effect are densely intertwined, like a child kicking a ball, or a wild cat leaping across the water.

All of these can potentially generate causal threads.

The cause and effect of the entire Double Ninth Festival can be likened to a single hair.

Then compare a 'cause-and-effect ox' to a drop of seawater.

The cause and effect contained in that Heaven and Earth Chessboard.

That is, the entire universe.

It was merely a fleeting perception of a corner of the chessboard.

The sheer volume of information nearly overwhelmed Zhang Fusheng's almost Celestial Person sanity!

He coughed up brilliant blood, his body rapidly cracked, and he almost couldn't support the chessboard.

"How exactly can we use the Heaven and Earth Chessboard to directly reach Kunlun Jade Void?"

Blood kept spilling from Zhang Fusheng's mouth.

The sensation he had just experienced was so intense that every cell in his body seemed to disintegrate under the onslaught of a massive amount of information!

He is also dissociating.

Zhang Fusheng dropped the chessboard, Contract Book transformed into Heaven and Earth Golden Bridge. He staggered back to the Eight Sceneries Palace.

It could no longer maintain its human form; most of its body tissues had dissipated and disintegrated into nothingness. From a distance, it looked like a luminous, blurry mass of flesh and blood!

Until he plopped down on the prayer mat.

This unstoppable disintegration finally came to a slow end.

"That's terrifying!"

Zhang Fusheng gasped for breath, having nearly died just now, dying in his own divine realm!

What level of treasure is this Heaven and Earth Chessboard?

With so many causes and effects attached to it, wouldn't placing a chess piece on it affect all those causes and effects at once?

What will happen then?

He couldn't imagine it.

"Yuxu."

Zhang Fusheng pondered, his body had returned to normal, and the four stove fires began to burn steadily again.

Or should we give up for now?

The thought popped into his mind: exploring the Heaven and Earth Chessboard was too dangerous, but Kunlun Jade Void was right in front of him!

Asking Zhang Fusheng to give up is something he's unlikely to do.

"Continue!"

Zhang Fusheng hardened his heart and tried every means to strengthen himself. He took out the wisp of candlelight that his grandmaster Yuan Feidao had given him.

The candlelight emanates from the heavenly seat of Maitreya Buddha Ancestor, and at a glance, it contains an infinite sense of purity.

After a brief thought,

Zhang Fusheng did not combine this wisp of pure candlelight with the Heaven and Earth Furnace Fire he had lit himself—it was too dangerous.

This thing seems to be of an incredibly high level; he suspects it originated from the blue lamp in front of Buddha Ancestor.

And merge with the Great Sun Golden Lamp in your eyes?

It's also very dangerous. If things go wrong, it could ignite his entire body, and he wouldn't even have a chance to knock on the Gate of the Past to make amends.

"You're the only one left."

Zhang Fusheng manipulated that wisp of pure candlelight, slowly, gently merging it with the semi-materialized sun behind his head.

An unexpected success.

Almost instantly, they merged into one another.

Zhang Fusheng suddenly felt a sense of disorientation, World-Honored Tathagata, a true Buddha Ancestor, appeared before his eyes!

But then...

Then the Buddha Ancestor appeared 'small'.

More accurately, it is no longer so vast or boundless, and it no longer occupies all of one's vision—position.

When sitting upright on the futon, one feels an unbearable sense of superiority.

"Compassion, compassion."

The illusory image of Buddha Ancestor that I vaguely saw seemed to open its eyes, gaze at me, and then bow.

"Fellow Daoist Taiqing, how have you been?"

An incredibly clear and realistic voice rang in my ears.

Zhang Fusheng's hair stood on end, and the hazy, unreal image before his eyes vanished.

Looking around blankly again, I was startled to realize that the large halo behind my head had been imbued with a sense of great tranquility.

He even had the delusion that he was truly the Buddha.

Zhang Fusheng closed his eyes, clasped his hands together, and quietly sensed.

For a long time.

He immediately understood and murmured:

"That wisp of candlelight did indeed come from the lamp before the Buddha, but it was not from Maitreya Buddha Ancestor, but rather..."

"Shakyamuni Tathagata"

"It is the blue lamp in front of Shakyamuni Tathagata Buddha Ancestor."

A great deal of confusion welled up in Zhang Fusheng's heart.

Why is the flame in the blue lamp Shakyamuni Tathagata drawn from the Maitreya Heavenly Position?

He didn't understand.

After studying it for a long time, I still can't figure out what changes occurred to the Great Sun Wheel after it was integrated with the light of the lamps and candles before the Buddha.

Zhang Fusheng simply walked out of the Eight Sceneries Palace, basking in the halo of light without trying to conceal himself.

Moment.

The Buddha Light ten thousand miles.

The Death Qi flowing across the divine realm was instantly suppressed, giving rise to a divine realm resembling the Netherworld.

It's actually showing signs of transforming into a Buddhist Pure Land!

Zhang Fusheng was startled and quickly concealed the large halo behind his head.

"Damn it."

He muttered something, walked into Five Villages Temple, and once again raised the Heaven and Earth Chessboard.

A great, pure light halo rose again from behind his head.

Thoughts slowly and cautiously made their way onto the chessboard.

The instant of contact.

Zhang Fusheng felt as if he had been struck by lightning, but this time, a pure light shone brightly from the halo behind his head.

It even briefly shielded him from the terrifying information flow brought about by endless cause and effect!

Zhang Fusheng coughed up blood, his thoughts flowing through his hands, using the power of Touch the Void to roam among the infinite causes and effects on the chessboard.

Just then.

It seems as if Heaven and Earth are telling a story, or as if the chessboard is whispering its secrets.

He naturally understood how to use the chessboard to find [Kunlun Jade Void].

It's also very 'simple'.

"Kunlun Jade Void, the abode of the Primordial Heavenly Venerate."

"The Primordial Heavenly Venerate, the Cause of All Fruits, the beginning of everything."

Messages from the Heaven and Earth Chessboard flashed through my mind.

"Therefore, Kunlun Jade Void transcends 'cause and effect,' just like the Eight Sceneries Palace, which reigns supreme over everything."

"But there is one exception."

"Heaven and Earth Chessboard"

Zhang Fusheng fell silent. Within the boundless causal relationships on the Heaven and Earth Chessboard, there was one causal link connected to Kunlun Jade Void.

This was personally bestowed by the Primordial Heavenly Venerate Venerable, allowing Zhen Yuanzi to travel to Kunlun Jade Void at any time.

So.

All I need to do is find that one causal link from Kunlun Jade Void within this infinite network of cause and effect.

Hehe.

Zhang Fusheng was about to give up, but suddenly stopped.

He closed his eyes and murmured in a low voice:

"Since I embarked on the path of spiritual practice, I have always encountered various coincidences, as if I were being pushed along by a great torrent."

I'll only try once.

Zhang Fusheng opened his eyes and murmured calmly:

"I will only attempt to trigger one cause and effect; if it succeeds, great; if it fails, I will not try again."

"Let me see if this is all just a coincidence, or destiny?"

The words were spoken.

A thought pierces a thread of cause and effect on the Heaven and Earth Chessboard.

It failed.

It is not the cause and effect of Kunlun Jade Void.

Zhang Fusheng's face fell:

"Try again!"

Another failure.

"Third time's the charm, this is the last time!"

It failed again.

His face fell, but he felt a sense of relief—he was afraid that the arrow might truly pierce the soul, striking the cause and effect of Kunlun Jade Void from among countless threads of cause and effect.

The implications of that are terrifying—it means that everything about oneself might be under the watchful eye of some being.

Every action we take may be 'preordained'.

That's good, that's good.

Zhang Fusheng indeed had no intention of trying anymore; the number of causes and effects on the Heaven and Earth Chessboard had already exceeded the limit of numbers.

If the specific quantities were written on a piece of paper, the size of that paper would probably be much larger than the universe.

In this situation, how do we trace the threads of cause and effect one by one to find the cause and effect of Kunlun Jade Void?

Forget it!

Before the thought left him, Zhang Fusheng decided to give it one last try.

Still a failure.

Try again.

Um.

It was a success.

A seemingly ordinary thread of cause and effect was enveloped by his thoughts and picked up by his fingers.

Zhang Fusheng stood frozen in place, the clear, bright halo behind his head flickering uncertainly.

"Really?"

He murmured to himself, his eyes reflecting a dark hue, and, employing the Taiyi Chapter, followed this thread of cause and effect, gazed into the distance—

Then.

He saw an indescribable sacred mountain.

He saw an unimaginable Dao Palace.

A large golden bell hangs in front of the Dao Palace, and above the gate is a plaque that reads "Jade Void".

The main gate of the Dao Palace was open, but inside was just a small, quiet room.

A quiet room that Zhang Fusheng had seen countless times.

In the quiet room, there was a small table, three cups of tea, and three futons.

On the table were a small sword, a small pagoda, and a jade ruyi.

The quiet room inside the Gate of the Present the Eight Sceneries Palace is now simultaneously appearing inside the Jade Void Palace.

Zhang Fusheng was stunned and lost in thought.

He didn't know how to get there through cause and effect; it was far beyond his current capabilities.

But he clearly saw it.

Outside the Jade Void Palace, outside the quiet room,

The golden bell in front of the palace gate is engraved with densely packed characters.

The Primordial Scripture.

It contains the Taiyi Chapter, as well as all other chapters of the complete Primordial Ancient Scripture.

It was right in front of me.

It allows itself to read, memorize, and cultivate.