Mars Opportunity

When Ye Fan was about to leave the Big Dipper and return to Earth, the golden giant crocodile formed by the Crocodile Ancestor had once pursued him with a Buddhist forbidden artifact from an ancient golden temple.

That ancient golden temple forbidden artifact had blocked several attacks from a fragment of the Beginningless Killing Array. It was a priceless treasure, though its exact grade was unknown.

When Li Xiaoman pursued Ye Fan in the Desolate Forbidden Land, she had even carried a Quasi-Emperor Forbidden Artifact.

Li Xiaoman had found the two powerful forbidden artifacts from the Great Leiyin Temple. Unfortunately, the Crocodile Ancestor's Divine Fetus had discovered her opportunity and taken control of her.

At the end of the ruins, Jiang Yun and the other two found an ancient temple. It was not large; if such a small temple appeared on Earth, people would at most consider it a ruined wilderness shrine.

Yet, standing intact at the end of the Martian ruins, it displayed its extraordinary nature.

Beside it stood a vigorous ancient Bodhi Tree. Even six or seven people might not have been able to encircle its trunk. It was the remains of a Bodhi Immortal Tree, an Immortal Elixir.

Jiang Yun did not understand why Shakyamuni had not taken it away. Previously, Jiang Yun had not given this Immortal Elixir much thought.

After all, it was too large. But now that he had Source Space... If the Bodhi Seed did not wish to move, it would still be left to his little cousin Ye Fan.

He was determined to take the Bodhi Tree's remains. Even if the Bodhi Tree had undergone nirvana and turned into a seed, its remains surely could not be compared to ordinary Little Medicine Kings or precious herbs.

Jiang Yun pulled Ye Fan and Pang Bo directly into the Great Leiyin Temple first.

The other students also discovered the temple. Seeing the three of them enter, they hurried after them.

The ancient temple was very small, consisting of only a single Buddhist hall. It was empty, with almost nothing inside. Perhaps because no one had entered for far too long, the floor was covered in a thick layer of dust.

Jiang Yun knew that most of the Buddhist artifacts were hidden beneath the dust. What Ye Fan and their classmates could find after entering depended somewhat on what Buddhism called karmic affinity.

But Jiang Yun was not planning to discuss karmic affinity with them. Ye Fan's classmates would likely enter soon, so he intended to make that affinity a little more abundant.

After entering the ancient temple, Ye Fan headed straight for the ancient bronze lamp before the stone Buddha, while Pang Bo began searching.

Jiang Yun directly waded through the dust on the temple floor as though trudging through water. Source Space continuously opened, storing away the dust and the Buddhist artifacts beneath it, while he scattered the dust back out from Source Space.

The ancient temple was immediately filled with swirling dust and murky haze. Jiang Yun held his breath, and in no time at all, he had made a circuit around the temple.

He even found a complete string of prayer beads atop the stone Buddha's head. Six beads were threaded together by a transparent cord, each bearing a blurry humanoid image.

Looking at the various Buddhist artifacts in Source Space, he was overjoyed. Among the pile, he spotted a Bronze Buddha Statue and an ancient-looking Stone Temple Forbidden Artifact.

Both were fairly well preserved. The Bronze Buddha Statue was the Quasi-Emperor Forbidden Artifact, while Jiang Yun, who had yet to cultivate, had no idea what grade the Stone Temple Forbidden Artifact was.

Ye Fan and Pang Bo were both coughing repeatedly, their eyes nearly unable to open. Ye Fan's classmates stood at the doorway, not daring to enter.

Only Liu Yunzhi gritted his teeth and rushed inside with two others.

Seeing that his goal had been achieved and that everyone had arrived, Jiang Yun left behind the complete string of prayer beads and those two forbidden artifacts.

He threw all the other Buddhist artifacts back onto the ancient temple floor and covered them with dust.

Jiang Yun covered his nose and rushed out with Ye Fan and Pang Bo, all three looking dusty and disheveled.

Jiang Yun took a deep breath and said to everyone,

"There was simply too much dust on the temple floor. The moment we moved too much, all the dust floated up."

How many among the crowd believed him was another matter entirely.

Jiang Yun called that moving too much?

Even if they summoned more than a dozen members of some emo dance crew to dance inside, they might not have achieved this effect!

"Cough, cough. What were you three doing in there? Why is there so much dust? I can't even open my eyes."

Liu Yunzhi and the other two discovered that they could not see anything inside. Dust was everywhere, and they too ran out looking dusty and disheveled.

"You three weren't planning to keep all the treasures inside for yourselves, were you?"

A woman who had rushed inside with Liu Yunzhi pointed at the three of them, her tone sharp and cutting, her manner aggressive.

"Look at the three of us. Aside from me taking an ancient lamp, did my cousin or Pang Bo get anything? Don't use your own way of thinking to slander others."

Ye Fan stared at the woman and spoke coldly.

"Exactly. We got nothing except dust in our noses, mouths, and all over our bodies."

Pang Bo gave Jiang Yun a resentful look.

Without Jiang Yun's interference, the dust inside the Great Leiyin Temple quickly settled.

As they spoke, they could already vaguely see some things. Seeing that Pang Bo and Jiang Yun truly had empty hands, just as Ye Fan had said, the others said nothing more and entered the temple together to search for treasures.

Unwilling to leave empty-handed, Pang Bo followed them back in.

Only Ye Fan and Jiang Yun remained outside, looking at one another. In tacit understanding, they headed toward the ancient Bodhi Tree.

"Cousin, what did you find inside? Did you hear anything? Do you know anything about this mysterious, fantastical world?"

After arriving on Mars, Ye Fan suddenly realized that his cousin, whom he had once known so well, had become somewhat mysterious.

Jiang Yun seemed to know something about everything they encountered. Ye Fan had a bellyful of questions but did not know how to ask them.

"I came into contact with some important people through business. I heard them talk about the cultivation world. It's very mysterious. I don't know much either, but I suspect there's some unknown danger here. Something may be sealed beneath the Great Leiyin Temple."

Jiang Yun chatted with Ye Fan as they walked, arriving beneath the ancient Bodhi Tree.

With the Great Leiyin Temple beside it, how could the Bodhi Tree growing alongside it be an ordinary tree? Shakyamuni had attained enlightenment beneath a Bodhi Tree.

The dried ancient tree before them was as vigorous as a coiling dragon. Even six or seven people could not encircle it, and its main trunk was hollow.

Only one dead branch drooping two or three meters above the ground still bore six green leaves, glittering and translucent like green agate.

Jiang Yun did not understand why no one in the original story had thought to come and take a look.

Now that everyone was drawn to the ancient artifacts inside the temple, it was convenient for Ye Fan and Jiang Yun to act.

Ye Fan quickly made a discovery. He squatted down and began digging into the dirt around the tree roots, where he found a walnut-sized Bodhi Seed.

Just as he was about to stand, he discovered that the ancient Bodhi Tree had vanished. Only ash filled the air overhead, fluttering down in great clouds.

"What happened here?"

Ye Fan stood and looked curiously at Jiang Yun. Just now, all his attention had been drawn to the walnut-sized Bodhi Seed.

The Bodhi Seed from the Innate Buddha Diagram made him feel that it was anything but ordinary. He vaguely felt that it was even more important than the bronze lamp that had always accompanied the stone Buddha!

"When you were digging beneath the tree, a breeze passed by, and this Bodhi Tree turned into ash and scattered away. What were you doing just now? I was focused on the Bodhi Tree's six leaves and was just about to pluck them, but in the blink of an eye, there was nothing left."

Jiang Yun also looked at Ye Fan with a face full of surprise.

Ye Fan did not suspect anything. The Bodhi Seed he had just obtained was exceptionally extraordinary.

Perhaps the instant he dug out the Bodhi Seed, the Bodhi Tree had completed its mission.

"Nothing. I was just curious about the ashes on the ground. They seemed to have been transformed from the Bodhi Tree's leaves, so I studied them a little. This fantasy world is still too mysterious. Who would have thought Mars would have a Great Leiyin Temple and Heavenly Palace Ruins? Or perhaps it could even be the Spirit Mountain Ruins?"

Ye Fan explained awkwardly, trying to change the subject.

"Then let's leave first. Otherwise, once they come out, we won't be able to explain this clearly."

Jiang Yun knew from Ye Fan's expression that he had probably obtained the Bodhi Seed. He gave Ye Fan a meaningful glance without exposing him, then turned and left with him.

After all, he had also used Source Space to store away the Bodhi Tree's remains.

Ye Fan and Jiang Yun quickly left the area, then entered the temple together again.

Their classmates had almost finished searching. Jiang Yun pretended to be lucky and pulled a broken Vajra Pestle, snapped halfway through, out of a patch of dust.

Besides the Vajra Pestle, several others found damaged incense burners, Buddhist rulers, bronze bells, wooden fish drums, jade ruyi scepters, and many other ancient artifacts.

Zhou Yi even found an intact alms bowl. Jiang Yun had not discovered it earlier, so it counted as a fish that had slipped through the net.

Though these damaged Buddhist artifacts were incomplete, each appeared exceptionally mystical.

However, compared to the bronze lamp in Ye Fan's hand, they fell short by a considerable margin. It was one of only two complete Buddhist artifacts visible to everyone.

The ancient lamp, unstained by dust, burned eternally without extinguishing. Anyone could see that it was extraordinary.

Pang Bo was the most depressed. More than a dozen people had found ancient objects one after another. He had been among the first to enter the temple, yet he had still found nothing at all.

Jiang Yun guessed that it might be related to Pang Bo carrying demon clan blood in his body. Perhaps some unseen force had prevented him from finding anything.

Or perhaps he was simply unlucky.

The Great Leiyin Temple was not large. Every place had been searched, and there was nothing else, so everyone retreated outside together.

Jiang Yun pulled Pang Bo quietly aside and whispered to him. Pang Bo's eyes immediately lit up.

While everyone wondered in surprise why the ancient Bodhi Tree had disappeared, Pang Bo stacked several large stones beneath the temple, then removed the Bronze Plaque inscribed with "Great Leiyin Temple."

The instant Pang Bo left the temple, the entire ancient temple began to shake. The stone Buddha inside suddenly cracked, producing a series of "crack, crack" sounds.

Then, the Buddhist six-character mantra rang out: "Om, ma, ni, ba, mi, hum..."

The majestic Buddhist chant echoed through the heavens, shaking the sky. The entire world seemed to tremble!

Everyone else stood frozen in place, too shocked to speak.

At the same time, every artifact the group had found in the Buddhist hall, whether intact or damaged, emitted a soft radiance. Brilliant light shone forth, leaving everyone deeply shaken.

But in the end, with a thunderous boom, the stone Buddha inside the ancient temple shattered and turned to ash.

"Puff!"

Soon after, the Great Leiyin Temple also turned to powder in a light breeze.

"Everyone, run! Something demonic may be sealed beneath the Great Leiyin Temple, and it may be about to break free!"

Jiang Yun shouted, waking everyone from their shock. Then he tugged Ye Fan and Pang Bo along and sprinted toward the Five-Colored Altar at full speed.

If he got them running sooner, a few more people might survive.