Shen Luo supported his forehead with one hand and slowly looked toward the stone wall ahead.
The entire mountain wall opposite him was shrouded in a hazy cloud of dust. The mural of "the flourishing of all things" that he had seen moments ago had already shattered and collapsed.
As the dust gradually settled, an entirely new mural appeared on the stone wall. It depicted an armored ape standing thirty meters tall.
The ape sat cross-legged, its hands pressed together before its chest. Over its armor, it wore a kasaya, while an ornate long staff lay across its legs, looking remarkably similar to the Zhenhai Refined Iron Rod.
Seeing this, how could Shen Luo fail to recognize the figure carved into the mural? It was naturally the Great Sage... no, Victorious Fighting Buddha Sun Wukong.
The Victorious Fighting Buddha in the mural had lowered brows and tranquil features. He was vastly different from the unruly Great Sage Equal to Heaven of legend, and instead looked every bit like a venerable Buddha or Bodhisattva.
Shen Luo rose to his feet, pressed his palms together before his chest, and bowed respectfully toward the stone carving from afar.
At that moment, it was as though a thunderclap had suddenly exploded beside his ear, accompanied by a deafening rumble!
Immediately afterward, a solemn, majestic voice echoed through his Consciousness Sea: "The way of all things lies in the ultimate transformations; the methods of all things unfold in endless derivation. They share the same origin but bear different names, and thus are called the profound. Profound and yet more profound—the gateway to all mysteries..."
The instant that voice rang out, it felt as though a great bell had been struck within Shen Luo's heart, as though some shackle had been unlocked. In the unseen depths,