In front of the Great Thunder Sound Temple.
A Bodhi Tree had long since withered. Only a few emerald-green leaves remained, still glowing faintly and revealing the tree's extraordinary nature.
When everyone arrived, they fixed their eyes on the four ancient characters on the temple plaque, utterly shaken.
The Great Thunder Sound Temple was actually on Mars.
Their entire worldview had been rocked to its foundations.
Just then, Ye Fan grabbed Pang Bo and charged into the temple.
Seeing this, the others realized that the temple might contain treasures left behind by Sakyamuni. Unwilling to be left behind, they hurried after Ye Fan and Pang Bo into the Great Thunder Sound Temple.
Only Fang Yang stayed where he was. He waited until everyone had gone deep into the temple, then took out the Replica of the Supreme Emperor Sword and approached the Bodhi Tree's trunk.
The sword, sharp enough to slice through iron as if it were mud, sank into the trunk with almost no resistance. Before long, he had cut off a large piece of it.
Unfortunately, the Bodhi Tree was already hollow. Even though he deliberately cut into the inner wood, he remained far from the heart of the tree.
Moreover, the wood had lost its vitality. He had no idea how much of its mystical nature remained, or whether it could serve as a sacred material for forging weapons.
A few minutes later.
With the strength granted by the Tiger-Wolf Pill, Fang Yang had dug out a full two cubic meters of Bodhi Wood and stowed it in his Storage Bracelet.
The Storage Bracelet had very little space, a mere ten cubic meters. Otherwise, he certainly wouldn't have taken only this much wood; he would have stored the entire Bodhi Tree.
After that, he tossed various items into the hollow trunk, including a chainsaw and a ladder, so they wouldn't take up the little space he had.
Fang Yang knew full well that such things were completely useless to cultivators.
He had originally planned to use the chainsaw to cut the trunk and the ladder to pick the Bodhi Leaves, but with the Replica of the Supreme Emperor Sword and the Tiger-Wolf Pill, those items were no longer of any use.
He kept only a few firearms in the Storage Bracelet, just in case. Better safe than sorry.
After all, though the Replica of the Supreme Emperor Sword was powerful, in the hands of a mere mortal like him, it was only a divine weapon sharp enough to cut through iron and sever a hair blown against its edge. He couldn't bring out even a sliver of its true power.
After emerging from the hollow trunk, Fang Yang went to a drooping branch. On it were six leaves, green as jade—the last traces of the Bodhi Tree's vitality.
To nurture the Bodhi Seeds, the Ancient Bodhi Tree had used the essence of its entire body as nourishment, leaving its trunk hollow and its leaves withered.
Fang Yang bent his knees and sprang lightly, leaping three meters into the air to pluck the six Bodhi Leaves.
The Enlightenment Tea Tree and the Bodhi Tree were both undying divine trees that enhanced one's comprehension and helped one reach sudden enlightenment. Their leaves should have similar effects.
Once he came into contact with cultivation techniques, they would prove immensely useful.
Compared with the Bodhi Seeds, which contained Sakyamuni's will, these six Bodhi Leaves were better suited to him.
Fang Yang glanced at the base of the old Bodhi Tree. Though he knew Bodhi Seeds lay buried there, he had no intention of digging them up.
The Stone Workshops in the Holy City held the seeds of the Qilin Immortal Medicine and a remnant humanoid Undying Medicine, both waiting for him to cut them out.
There was no need to incur Cause and Effect with Buddhism over a Bodhi Seed and invite Sakyamuni's divine sense to cling to him.
Next, Fang Yang headed for the Great Thunder Sound Temple, intending to find a Buddhist artifact to protect himself, lest a Divine Crocodile pierce his forehead.
Inside the Great Thunder Sound Temple.
Thick layers of dust buried the ancient temple. So far, only a handful of people had found Buddhist artifacts left behind by the Buddha.
Fang Yang walked inside without drawing much attention. Everyone was searching every corner with single-minded focus, hoping to find a Buddhist artifact.
"The Bodhi Tree?"
Ye Fan approached and asked in a low voice.
He had long felt that the Bodhi Tree was strange. He'd seen what looked like fireflies' glow flowing from the six Bodhi Leaves toward the roots, but he hadn't thought it appropriate to examine them closely in front of everyone.
So he had gone into the ancient temple first to draw the others' attention, planning to return later and search for the treasure beneath the Bodhi Tree.
He hadn't expected Fang Yang to be the last one left outside, lingering there for several minutes. He wondered whether Fang Yang had found the treasure.
"I picked a few Bodhi Leaves."
Fang Yang answered Ye Fan without hiding anything.
Ye Fan considered this, handed the Ancient Bronze Coffin to Pang Bo, then headed outside to search around the Bodhi Tree's roots.
"Hey, want to look together?"
Pang Bo offered generously.
The Bronze Ancient Lamp in his hands burned without ever going out. Searching for Buddhist artifacts in the dim ancient temple with it gave him a considerable advantage.
"Thanks, but there's no need."
Fang Yang politely declined.
"All right. Good luck, then."
Pang Bo shrugged and began searching for Buddhist artifacts by the light of the Bronze Lamp.
With the Bronze Lamp in hand, finding a few Buddhist artifacts would be a piece of cake, wouldn't it?
When he found too many, would he even be able to carry them all?
What a happy problem!
The ancient temple wasn't very large.
Thirty people were searching inside. Nearly half the place had already been combed through, stirring up clouds of dust and filling the air with it.
But they had come all the way to Mars. No one cared whether breathing in so much dust might harm their health.
A Stone Buddha stood inside the ancient temple. Fang Yang walked straight toward it.
If he remembered correctly, there were two Buddhist artifacts near the Stone Buddha.
Sure enough, after feeling around behind the Stone Buddha, he found half of a broken Vajra Pestle.
This kind of implement held special significance in Buddhism. It was also known as a Demon-Subduing Pestle and could subdue inner demons and repel external foes. It was a rare weapon in Buddhism.
"Damn it!"
Two meters away, Liu Yunzhi cursed under his breath.
He had been aiming for the spot behind the Stone Buddha. If Fang Yang hadn't cut in, the Buddhist artifact would certainly have fallen into his hands.
"This guy's Ye Fan's high school classmate. He's not one of us. Maybe I can find a way to take the Vajra Pestle from him."
A dark thought stirred in Liu Yunzhi's mind.
In a place beyond the reach of the law, who would stand up for a stranger he'd only just met?
As for Ye Fan...
Was he supposed to be afraid of him?
Thinking of his old rival, Liu Yunzhi grew even angrier.
After picking up the Vajra Pestle, Fang Yang didn't continue searching for more Buddhist artifacts.
He wasn't greedy. One artifact was enough to protect him and keep the Divine Crocodiles from setting their sights on him.
As he left the ancient temple, Ye Fan happened to be walking toward him. His face betrayed nothing, making it impossible to tell whether he'd found anything.
"Thanks."
Ye Fan said tentatively.
"Don't mention it."
Fang Yang smiled back.
"Aren't you going to stay a little longer?"
At this, Ye Fan understood. He realized the other man had also noticed something unusual at the roots, but for some reason hadn't dug into the soil to investigate.
"Legend has it that eighteen demons were sealed beneath the Great Thunder Sound Temple by Sakyamuni. The Eighteen Levels of Hell spoken of in the Human World came from this very place."
"If we disturb the Buddhist artifacts, who knows whether we might break the seal and let the demons in Hell see daylight again?"
Leaving these words behind, Fang Yang continued toward the Ancient Bronze Coffin without stopping.
Behind him, Ye Fan's expression shifted.
Better to believe it than risk finding out it wasn't true.
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