Journey to Thunderclap Temple

As her words fell, Guanshiyin raised a hand, signaling Bai Suzhen to keep silent.

The willow branch in the pure vase swayed gently, its mouth aimed at the empty air beside Broken Bridge.

Guanshiyin spoke neither hurriedly nor slowly, neither angrily nor imposing, "Fellow Daoist has been here for quite some time. Why not show yourself?"

Bai Suzhen froze and followed Guanshiyin's gaze, yet saw nothing there.

But anyone Guanshiyin addressed as "Fellow Daoist" was certainly no common mortal.

Her heart suddenly leaped into her throat, and a thought flashed through her mind: Has Immortal Senior come?

Suddenly, the misty rain seemed to pause.

Ripples like those on water surfaced in the void.

At the center of those ripples, a figure clad in green slowly emerged.

Yang Xuan wore a green Daoist robe, his long hair bound with a wooden hairpin. His features were refined, his expression calm.

At the sight, Guanshiyin was somewhat perplexed.

With her cultivation, anyone who appeared before her would have their roots, cultivation, and origins laid bare to her.

Yet she could not see through Yang Xuan. Where exactly had he come from?

Yang Xuan stood by Broken Bridge, fewer than ten paces from Bai Suzhen, composedly blending into heaven and earth.

"This humble Daoist is Mystic Willow."

Yang Xuan spoke softly, yet his voice rang clearly in the ears of Guanshiyin and Bai Suzhen. "Bai Suzhen is this humble Daoist's registered disciple."

Guanshiyin nodded faintly, without asking pointless questions such as why she had never heard of him before.

At their level, truth and falsehood could be seen at a glance.

The traces of Bai Suzhen's cultivation method, the foundation of her cultivation, even the karmic ties around her, were all closely intertwined with the man before them.

If he said she was his disciple, then she was his disciple.

"This nun is Guanshiyin," Guanshiyin said. "Where does Fellow Daoist come from?"

"Guanshiyin Bodhisattva may calculate it for yourself."

Guanshiyin nodded slightly, forming hand seals and chanting an incantation. "This nun has indeed discerned a little of Fellow Daoist's origins."

Yang Xuan raised a brow. "Oh?"

"An acquired spirit root, transformed from an ageless willow."

Guanshiyin said, "Three thousand eight hundred years old."

"Yes, and no."

Yang Xuan neither denied nor admitted it.

It was good that she could not see his true origins.

That showed how profound his divine ability was, allowing him to fit perfectly into this world.

"This nun has never seen anyone who cultivated to Fellow Daoist's level."

There was genuine admiration in Guanshiyin's voice. "Fellow Daoist's Dao seems unlike that of ordinary spirit roots."

"How is it different?"

"Fellow Daoist walks the path of transcendence."

Yang Xuan fell silent for a moment, then nodded slightly. "Guanshiyin Bodhisattva truly has eyes like torches."

His Dao cultivation still could not match those great powers who had cultivated for tens of millions of years, or rather, his accumulated foundation was insufficient.

"There may be one matter this nun wishes to discuss with Fellow Daoist."

Guanshiyin spoke slowly. The willow branch in the pure vase swayed gently, and fine ripples spread across the water within.

"Please speak."

"This nun will no longer concern herself with Bai Suzhen's karma on this journey. However, since Fellow Daoist has manifested your true form here, why not accompany this nun to the Buddhist sect?"

Yang Xuan frowned slightly. "What does Fellow Daoist mean?"

"Come with this nun to Thunderclap Temple and meet the Buddha."

Bai Suzhen's heart sank sharply.

Thunderclap Temple. The Buddha.

Though her cultivation was not high, she knew what those two names meant.

"Senior..."

Bai Suzhen wanted to speak, only to find that no sound would come out.

Yang Xuan raised a hand, signaling Bai Suzhen not to speak.

"Meet the Buddha?"

Yang Xuan asked, "Which Buddha does Fellow Daoist wish this humble Daoist to meet?"

Guanshiyin smiled faintly. "Naturally, this nun's teacher—Amitabha."

Yang Xuan rapidly calculated inwardly.

Amitabha was one of the supreme beings of the Buddhist sect. His other name was Daoist Jieyin.

Though this world did not possess the same lofty status as the Primordial World, Yang Xuan feared that the other party might be an incarnation of Daoist Jieyin, like the bodies he sent walking through various worlds.

His divine ability could deceive an Earth Immortal-level Guanshiyin without issue, but if he truly met the Buddha and his real origins were exposed—not a willow of this world, but an innate spirit root of the Primordial World...

Yang Xuan weighed the matter swiftly in his heart.

After a moment, he made his decision.

"Very well."

Yang Xuan nodded. "This humble Daoist is willing to accompany Fellow Daoist."

A faint smile appeared on Guanshiyin's face.

"Fellow Daoist, please."

Guanshiyin raised her hand, and a golden lotus blossomed once more, its petals paving a road toward the horizon.

She stepped onto the lotus petals first, her white robes fluttering as Buddhist light enveloped her.

Yang Xuan turned to look at Bai Suzhen.

"Senior..." Bai Suzhen's tone was complicated, and she did not know what to say.

"Do not worry."

Yang Xuan nodded and took a step forward, landing upon a golden lotus petal.

The green Daoist robe and white Buddhist robes stood side by side.

The lotus rose, carrying them toward the horizon.

The rain-veiled West Lake gradually shrank beneath them, becoming a painted scroll of ink and wash.

Upon the lotus.

Guanshiyin and Yang Xuan stood facing one another.

Golden Buddhist light enveloped the entire lotus dais, shutting out the wind, rain, and prying eyes beyond.

"Fellow Daoist, there is something this nun does not understand." Guanshiyin suddenly spoke.

"Please speak."

"Fellow Daoist took Bai Suzhen as a disciple, taught her cultivation methods, helped her suppress Fahai, and oppose the Buddhist sect. Are you not afraid the Buddhist sect will hold you accountable?"

"This humble Daoist did not oppose the Buddhist sect."

Yang Xuan said blandly, "This humble Daoist merely helped his disciple settle her karma. If the Buddhist sect holds me accountable for that, then it is not a Buddhist sect that speaks reason."

The lotus passed through the clouds and crossed some invisible barrier.

Yang Xuan sensed the surrounding space changing.

They were leaving this world and entering another dimension.

The world of the Buddhist sect.

The golden light grew ever more brilliant, and the lotus flew ever faster.

A mountain appeared before Yang Xuan.

A mountain entirely golden, radiating boundless Buddhist light.

At its summit stood a majestic palace. Before it lay a pool of seven treasures, filled with water of eight virtues.

They had arrived at Thunderclap Temple.

The lotus descended before Thunderclap Temple.

Guanshiyin stepped down from the lotus dais first, then turned and made a gesture of invitation to Yang Xuan.

"Fellow Daoist, please."

Yang Xuan nodded and calmly stepped down from the lotus dais.

A sacred land of Buddhism, inviolable by all evil.

Anyone harboring ill intent who stepped upon this place would be seared by Buddhist light and reveal their true form.

Unfortunately, Yang Xuan harbored no ill intent.

Buddhist light swept over his body like wind brushing willow branches.

Guanshiyin glanced sideways, a flicker of approval passing through her eyes.

"Fellow Daoist indeed possesses a pure heart."

"A pure heart, free and at ease."

Yang Xuan said it casually.

Guanshiyin gave a soft laugh but did not respond.

The two ascended the white jade stairs step by step. On either side, bodhi trees stirred without wind, faint Sanskrit characters flowing across their leaves.

"Every blade of grass and every tree at Thunderclap Temple possesses Buddha-nature," Guanshiyin explained. "What Fellow Daoist sees are traces left behind when the Buddha expounded the scriptures."

"Wonderful."

Yang Xuan praised sincerely.

At the end of the stairs stood Thunderclap Temple's main gate.

The gate stood thirty feet high, cast entirely from golden bronze and set with the seven treasures—gold, silver, lapis lazuli, crystal, giant clam shell, red pearl, and agate.

Above the gate hung a plaque bearing three large characters: Thunderclap Temple.

Yang Xuan looked at those three characters and immediately heard waves of Sanskrit chanting resound in his mind, as though countless monks were reciting scriptures at once.

"Fellow Daoist, be careful."

Guanshiyin warned, "This plaque was inscribed by the Buddha himself and contains supreme Buddhist Dharma. Those with insufficient cultivation will have their minds shaken by a single glance."

Yang Xuan withdrew his gaze, his expression unchanged. "This humble Daoist is unharmed."

Guanshiyin nodded to herself.

To withstand the Buddha's might within that plaque without changing expression, this man's cultivation was at least not beneath her own.

She pushed open the temple gates. Golden light surged out from within, engulfing them both.

Yang Xuan narrowed his eyes and took a moment to adjust before finally seeing the scene beyond the gates.

There were no grand halls as he had imagined, no resplendent golden decorations, no incense burners wreathed in smoke.

The interior of Thunderclap Temple was an open square.

The square was paved with blue-gray stone slabs, moss growing from the cracks, so plain it was nearly austere.

At the far end of the square stood an enormous bodhi tree.

Its canopy blotted out the sky, its roots twisted and intertwined, its trunk so thick that dozens of people would be needed to encircle it.

Beneath the bodhi tree sat a person.