"A palm turned downward..."
The Six Elders of the Divine Firmament exchanged glances, clearly knowing nothing of the mountain Lin Mo had described.
Qionghengzi's golden Nascent Soul, however, frowned slightly and asked in a low voice, "Young friend, do you have any evidence for this?"
"I do know the place you mentioned, but this matter is far too important to allow even the slightest mistake!"
Lin Mo's spirits lifted.
He recounted, in full detail, the ten images that had appeared in his mind when he subdued the first Ancient Sword, then said solemnly, "Nine of those ten images correspond to the locations of the nine Ancient Swords, which are also the locations of the Nine-Nine Soul-Devouring Formations."
"Three of those images have now been verified. That enormous mountain shaped like a downward-facing palm should be no exception."
"I see..."
Qionghengzi hesitated for a moment before saying slowly, "Long ago, an elder of our sect journeyed to the Western Regions, visiting its various schools and exchanging insights through sparring. In the end, he created the body refinement cultivation method we use today."
"And the texts left behind by generations of our elders do indeed mention the mountain you described, young friend Lin."
"It is Buddha Hand Peak, the sacred site of Western Esoteric Buddhism!"
Western Esoteric Buddhism?
Lin Mo paused, a hint of bewilderment in his eyes.
The Azure Cloud Sect's records described the Western Regions as a Buddhist pure land, where almost all cultivators belonged to the Buddhist faith, but they made no mention of "Esoteric Buddhism."
Instead, the Buddhists of the Central Continent called their tradition the Chan School. Their cultivation methods bore some resemblance to those of Confucian cultivators, both employing upright, orthodox means.
For example, Confucian cultivators nurtured their own vast, righteous energy, while Chan cultivators accumulated