Fahui's Wait

Fahui intends for me to memorize as many secret mantras as possible before sending me out of the city.

This happens to coincide perfectly with my own thoughts.

Zhu Yuanzhang sat before the incense table, lit the lamp oil, and opened the scripture before him.

Fixed Light Demon-Subduing Secret Mantra.

It was different from the [Fixed Light Demon-Subduing Divine Mantra] rewarded by the system.

So-called secret mantras are concise incantations summarized by high-ranking Buddhist monks through generations of trial and error, utilizing their own supreme enlightenment and connection to Buddhist principles to strike directly at the essence of the scriptures.

By practicing a technique known as [Mind-Settling Zen], high-ranking monks enhance their spiritual vision, allowing them to perceive the true form of the Buddha's dharma body. By cross-referencing this with the scriptures circulating in the world, they eventually distill these "Buddhist Secret Mantras."

Clearly, the Great Wisdom Zen Technique is a form of [Mind-Settling Zen].

Zhu Yuanzhang rubbed his throbbing temples slightly and closed the Fixed Light Demon-Subduing Secret Mantra, having read less than a third of it.

There were still several volumes of notes left by high monks of Tongtai Temple who had passed away.

Zhu Yuanzhang roughly understood why the monk Fahui had chosen him.

Seduced by the fame, wealth, and status offered by the successive rulers of the Southern Dynasties, few monks at Tongtai Temple still practiced [Mind-Settling Zen], which offered little in the way of supernatural powers and came at a high cost.

By the time of Emperor Wu of Liang's reign, there were no monks left in the temple who chose to become [Scripture-Treatise Monks] to continue researching the eight great secret mantras passed down through Tongtai Temple for a thousand years.

People took the secret mantra heritage of Tongtai Temple for granted, using it as they pleased.

This was, of course, feasible when Tongtai Temple was at its peak.

However, once the temple gates fell into ruin, a severe problem arose.

The heritage of Tongtai Temple was highly likely to be usurped by others.

Monks who did not practice [Mind-Settling Zen] could recite the secret mantras, but they could not truly understand them.

Because their "spiritual vision" was insufficient.

As long as the ancient scriptures inside the Pagoda were burned, Tongtai Temple would be dead in all but name.

How tragic and lamentable!

"Hou Jing crossed the river on the twentieth of October and, with the assistance of Xiao Zhengde, breached the Zhuque Passage on the twenty-fifth."

Zhu Yuanzhang closed his eyes, silently circulating the Great Wisdom Zen Technique to restore his energy while thinking to himself.

"This means that after the monks of Tongtai Temple send me out, I will have at least one week to find a way to leave."

"No..."

The mission objective given by the system is [Leave Taicheng before the first day of the eleventh lunar month].

Taicheng is the Jiankang Palace.

It is located inside the city of Jinling.

If I stay in Tongtai Temple the whole time, would that count as another way to clear the mission?

But thinking of the atrocities committed by Hou Jing's Xianbei and miscellaneous barbarian troops within Jinling, Zhu Yuanzhang frowned deeply.

"I'm afraid that won't work. Once Hou Jing enters Jinling, the magnificent Tongtai Temple will likely be the first target he plunders."

"For now, I must take things one step at a time."

Zhu Yuanzhang sighed, picked up his lantern, and walked toward the upper levels of the Pagoda.

The eight great secret mantras of Tongtai Temple.

Considering that I am still being pursued by the Incense Army in reality, my need for skill books that can rapidly increase my strength is quite urgent.

"Even though the first level of the Great Wisdom Zen Technique is nearly perfected, my 'capacity' is still insufficient to contain all eight secret mantras."

Zhu Yuanzhang looked at the table holding the Sangqiwo Jataka Secret Mantra, the Buddha-Spoken Soapberry Secret Mantra, and the Fixed Light Demon-Subduing Secret Mantra, thinking to himself.

"But having these three scriptures is already enough."

"If I were to bring too many secret mantras into reality, I fear I would be driven mad by the massive influx of knowledge in an instant, causing my body to explode."

It had been ten days since Fahui sent Zhu Yuanzhang into the Pagoda.

Although there were no windows inside the Pagoda, through a transparent, lotus-shaped skylight made of gold-colored glazed glass at the very top, Zhu Yuanzhang, who had been studying the scriptures here, had witnessed ten sunrises and sunsets.

Too much time had passed.

Yet, no one had come to find him.

"Something is not right..."

Click.

Zhu Yuanzhang closed the manuscript of the Sangqiwo Jataka Secret Mantra, which was secured with a metal clasp.

He stood up and walked toward the first floor of the Pagoda with a grave expression.

The heavy metal door before him looked no different than it had on any other day.

Several tons of refined iron formed an indestructible defense.

Even Zhu Yuanzhang had been unable to do anything about this door before now.

"At that time, Prince Mahasattva entered the bamboo forest and arrived where the tiger was..."

As the mantra was uttered, rolling "Zen intent" instantly condensed within his limbs and bones.

Following the Sangqiwo Jataka Secret Mantra, Zhu Yuanzhang sat cross-legged facing the main gate.

The monk's robe on his body fell away of its own accord, transforming into a variegated tiger.

"The tiger was weak and could not find food. He took a sharp branch, pierced his body to draw blood, and let the tiger lick it; its mouth opened, and it began to devour his flesh."

The tiger lay before Zhu Yuanzhang, appearing lazy.

Zhu Yuanzhang reached out and gently stroked the mane on the tiger's back.

Then, he activated the Mountain-Shrinking Fist; with flesh tearing and bones shattering, Zhu Yuanzhang ripped off his own arm.

"Good tiger... eat, and take me away from here."

The tiger seemed to understand Zhu Yuanzhang's words; it opened its eyes and stared unblinkingly at the bloody wound on the shoulder of the pale-faced Zhu Yuanzhang.

It seemed to be contemplating something.

With just one bite!

Zhu Yuanzhang's arm was swallowed whole into its belly.

"ROAR!!!"

After eating its fill, the tiger stood up and let out the roar of the king of beasts toward the iron door behind it.

Bang! Bang!

The sound of iron chains snapping came from behind the door.

With a creaking sound, the iron door that had prevented Zhu Yuanzhang from leaving slowly opened.

The scene outside the nine-story Pagoda came into view.

But there was no joy of escape on Zhu Yuanzhang's face.

"Just as I thought."

He whispered softly.

Before him were burnt temples, tilted houses, and towering torches illuminating mountains of white bones.

It truly matched the record of Hou Jing after he crossed the Huai Water.

"A thousand miles without smoke, human traces rare, white bones gathered like mounds."

However, this was not the most terrifying thing.

Zhu Yuanzhang saw that a "person" had been standing in front of the nine-story Pagoda the entire time.

This person was bloated and wore a monk's robe adorned with pearls, jade, and gold.

But his face was highly decomposed, making his original appearance unrecognizable.

When the iron door swung open, he turned around.

He asked with a throat that was already rotten and theoretically incapable of producing sound.

"Can Minghe obtain the Eight Divine Mantras?"

Thousands of crimson meridians, like vines, burst out from his body.

They replaced the flesh that was rotting and falling away.

Interlocking like jagged teeth, they formed a massive net.

Covering the sky and earth, they lunged toward Zhu Yuanzhang.

Zhu Yuanzhang did not answer.

He remained silent.

The secret history of clearing the level truly had no shortcuts.

Countless blood-red meridians pierced through Zhu Yuanzhang's chest like sharp swords.

Zhu Yuanzhang's expression was calm.

Clearly, he had long anticipated this outcome.

The system's mission prompt appeared before his eyes once again.

[Leave Taicheng before the first day of the eleventh lunar month]

"Has Minghe obtained the Eight Divine Mantras?"

The monk before him, now transformed into a blood-colored Buddha, asked once again.

Zhu Yuanzhang still did not answer.

What stood before him was not the monk Fahui, but the final obsession left behind after Fahui's death.

The Sangqiwo Jataka Secret Mantra, Dingguang Demon-Subduing True Fire, and Mountain-Shrinking Fist all flared up instinctively, sensing the arrival of danger.

Yet, in the face of the sheer terror before him, such resistance appeared utterly meaningless.

Blood-colored vines surged inward, instantly swallowing everything within the nine-story Pagoda.

[You have died]

Three scarlet characters rose before Zhu Yuanzhang's eyes.