Since awakening in this era, Yuangeng had actually received a great deal of Faith Thought Power from across the universe.
As a supreme being at the utmost limit of the Human Dao, his combat strength was simply too overwhelming. He had not done much, but whether it was emerging from the Primordial Ancient Mine on Big Dipper and fighting the supreme being named Emperor Jun to the death, preaching the Dao on Ziwei, or bringing his oppressive might down upon Feixian Ancient Star, all these deeds had amply demonstrated his tremendous power.
The weak admired the strong. With feelings of worship, longing, fear, and more, living beings naturally began to place their faith in Yuangeng.
The sources of that faith were varied and complex: Big Dipper, Ziwei, Flying Immortal, and Qilin Ancestral Star all contributed... even many tribes on the Cosmic Frontier had witnessed the aftershocks of Yuangeng's battles, regarded him as some terrifying natural phenomenon, and erected statues and shrines to worship him blindly.
For a Human Dao supreme being of Yuangeng's stature, this amount of Faith Thought Power was far too little, like a cup of water thrown onto a blazing cartload of firewood. Forget breaking through realms or comprehending immortality-it could barely even assist his cultivation.
Yet even this amount of Faith Thought Power was something Yuangeng had never possessed in the Immortal Ancient Era.
After all, the Immortal Ancient Era he had lived in was an age when True Immortals rose together. The cultivation world had flourished beyond measure then. Even Immortal Kings occasionally manifested their divinity, and there were many sacrificial spirits who stood within the Immortal Dao Domain. Although Yuangeng, an Extreme Dao supreme being, had been famous on his own continent, he had not been powerful enough to inspire faith in many living beings.
By contrast, in the present universe, the supreme realm was unquestionably a level worthy of worship by all living beings. Every time a being at this level acted, it would bring them vast amounts of Faith Thought Power.
Yuangeng had never encountered so much Faith Thought Power before. He tried to harness it with the ancient scriptures of the Immortal Monk King's lineage and the Ancestral Sacrificial Spirit's lineage, performing certain arts created specifically for Faith Thought Power.
Standing amid boundless Faith Thought Power, Yuangeng recalled the scriptures he had once studied, obtained from an old monk of Immortal Ancient. His hands continuously formed seals, some like fingers holding a flower, others like tranquil meditation, constantly guiding the rhythm of the Faith Thought Power.
"Mind Mirror!"
At one point, Yuangeng uttered these Dao sounds. His voice was not loud, yet it shook every strand of Faith Thought Power gathering from Ziwei. Many strands laden with attachments such as greed, anger, and delusion shattered and reformed, becoming pure, gentle thought power that merged into the illusory, milky-white ocean.
This technique not only made Yuangeng's ocean of thought power much purer, but also sent a shudder through many cultivators and mortals on Ziwei Ancient Star. It was as though some long-standing knot in their hearts had been broken, and even their eyes grew considerably clearer.
"Truly worthy of that king's art!"
Seeing this, Yuangeng smiled faintly. What he had just performed was indeed an art of the Immortal Monk King's lineage, learned long ago from an ancient monk of the Immortal Dao. It severed worldly roots and swept away inner demons, dispersing all attachments within Faith Thought Power.
As the Immortal King who had traveled farthest along the path of Faith Thought Power in the Immortal Ancient Era, the Immortal Monk King's understanding of this Dao was extraordinarily profound. It was said that even the Ancestral Sacrificial Spirit had discussed the Dao and explored thought power with him when creating the Sacrificial Spirit Method.
"Bodhi Sea!"
Yuangeng formed seals again, extending his thoughts deep into the ocean of thought power around him. He recited ancient, long-buried words of the Immortal Ancient Script, and golden light transcending the universe burst from his Primordial Spirit.
At that moment, almost every member of the Human Race on Ziwei Ancient Star felt their heart tremble. Whether mortals or cultivators, they all felt a cool, gentle rain of nectar descend into their hearts. That rain seemed to carry some miraculous power, nourishing their souls.
It was a wondrous rhythm. Though it had no physical substance, the mortals could clearly feel their fatigue and toil being washed away, while minor ailments in their bodies naturally vanished.
The same held true for cultivators. As the illusory rain fell, their cultivation did not advance, but they felt their senses sharpen, and both their bodies and Primordial Spirits became considerably clearer.
In a daze, they seemed to see three enormous deities rise from the distant earth. Those towering deities looked exactly like the Human Emperors and Heavenly Venerable they worshipped each year.
"We reverently beseech the Human Emperor to manifest his divinity!"
"May our Human Race prosper forever!"
"The emperors of the Human Race are immortal!"
For a time, mortals, kings, and sages alike-countless people-bowed toward the heavens, loudly chanting the Human Emperors' titles.
"Such immortal might from a supreme being!"
Deep within the Lunar Essence Divine Church, beside Yuangeng, even the church leader Si Yanning had a look of yearning in her eyes. Just now, this female Quasi-Emperor had also seen the images of the three emperors manifest in her heart. Though her convictions were far firmer than those of ordinary cultivators, even her state of mind seemed to have changed somewhat.
Whoosh!
But Yuangeng did not answer the cries of the ancient star's countless believers. He suddenly opened his eyes, carefully savoring everything that had just happened, and exhaled.
"So this is what Faith Thought Power is like."
Naturally, the Human Emperors' manifestation had been his doing. This, too, was an ancient art of the Immortal Monk King's lineage, used to strengthen faith and give back to the believers.
It was truly an exquisite art. Simply connecting with the believers on a single inhabited star had given him many insights.
For a moment, Yuangeng even considered devoting himself to the great Dao of all living beings' thought power in this lifetime, following the example of the Immortal Monk King and walking an entirely different path to immortality.
He had traveled for hundreds of thousands of years, visiting countless places in the Primordial Ancient Realm, the Immortal Domain, and the Burial Domain. He had also seen many monastic methods. Faith Thought Power had countless uses: not only could it help people attain longevity, but if the thought power of an entire realm were gathered, even creating an immortal would not be difficult.
But he extinguished that notion in an instant.
Faith Thought Power was ultimately something external. During Immortal Ancient, he had once heard his own sacrificial spirit preach that if an ordinary cultivator's path to immortality was like climbing a lofty peak, then the path of the Immortal Monk King's lineage was like being lifted by all living beings. It seemed easy, but one actually had to bear their karma, which required immense perseverance.
Yuangeng did not believe that was his path.
Ding!
Deep within his brow, the Immortal Bell swayed gently and rang with a pleasing chime. It cleared Yuangeng's Primordial Spirit while also gradually calming the fervent people of Ziwei Ancient Star.
"Gather the thoughts of all living beings!"
Then he uttered a heavenly sound and performed a great art. An illusory willow appeared behind him, seemingly rooted in the deepest reaches of the river of time. Millions of willow branches drifted down, each seemingly connected to a universe, carrying the sounds of countless trillions of living beings worshipping.
Yuangeng acted, resonating with the willow and gathering boundless Faith Thought Power in his hand. It formed a disc like a bright moon, gentle and sacred.
As the disc forged from Faith Thought Power took shape, all the thought power became like young swallows returning to their nest, transforming into drops of divine dew that sank into the disc.
Naturally, this was not an art of the Immortal Monk King's lineage, but the Sacrificial Spirit Great Dao passed down by the Ancestral Sacrificial Spirit. This path differed from the Immortal Monk King's. To sacrificial spirits, Faith Thought Power was merely a tool for cultivation and could not dictate their Dao.
"I still have to follow the venerable Ancestral Sacrificial Spirit's path. All living beings are like a mire-once you sink into it, you cannot escape."
Only after a long while did Yuangeng cease, holding the disc formed from Faith Thought Power in his hand.
Whoosh!
Just as he was about to turn and leave, a sudden sound of something cleaving through the air came from the sky. Yuangeng looked up and saw a brilliant golden radiance streaking in from beyond the heavens. Its golden light was dazzling but not harsh, and accompanied by lingering Buddhist chants, it descended before him.
Beside him, Si Yanning found this somewhat unbelievable. This was no ordinary place, but the innermost hall of the Lunar Essence Divine Church. Even though the Human Emperor's Formation Patterns had never been activated, several layers of Quasi-Emperor formations still guarded it. Yet this golden light had completely ignored them and rushed straight inside.
"This is..."
Yuangeng reached out and lifted the golden ball of light. At that moment, the brilliant golden radiance faded, and the grand chanting of the monks vanished as well. Only a dull-colored seed settled securely in his hand.
The seed was the size of a walnut, without flickering light, gathered splendor, or swirling rosy radiance. Its color was dull and ordinary, its brilliance concealed beneath dust, utterly unremarkable.
Yet through Yuangeng's Dharma eyes, this seed was extraordinary. Obscure patterns traced its surface, and where they intersected, they resembled a Buddha with palms pressed together, gazing forward with a face full of compassion.
The Bodhi Seed!
Yuangeng instantly recognized the seed's true nature. It was the seed of the Bodhi Tree, one of this world's many Immortal Medicines!
"Of course. By manifesting that lineage's arts and stirring the great Dao, I actually drew it here."
After a little thought, Yuangeng murmured to himself.
He had heard the name Bodhi Sacred Tree back in the Immortal Ancient Era. It was an ancient immortal tree born alongside the Immortal Monk King, representing his lineage's supreme inheritance and meditative essence, and held immense significance.
In the Shrouding the Heavens era, its most famous keeper was the founder of Buddhism and its first Extreme Dao cultivator-Amitabha the Great Emperor. That emperor had attained the Dao during Desolate Antiquity and was suspected to be the Immortal Monk King's reincarnation.
In other words, during the Primordial Era in which Yuangeng now lived, no cultivator of the "monk" or "Buddha" path had yet reached the Extreme Dao Domain in this epoch. Yuangeng was the first to manifest "monastic" arts at this level, so it was hardly strange that the Ancient Bodhi Tree's seed had resonated with them and sought him out of its own accord.
During the Immortal Ancient Era, the Immortal Monk King's lineage had enjoyed incomparable glory. They possessed vast territories in the Primordial Ancient Realm, with countless trillions of followers, including monks, Buddhas, and bodhisattvas. Spreading faith, preaching the Dao, and practicing asceticism, they had been one of the major powers in the Primordial Ancient Realm.
At that time, the Immortal Monk King's sacred grounds were called Mount Sumeru, an unrivaled holy land of the Ancient Monk Lineage. Known as the fourth-highest peak in the world, it carried that lineage's convictions through boundless ages, enduring for ten thousand generations.
The most famous immortal plant on Mount Sumeru then was the Immortal Bodhi Tree, a supreme medicine of longevity, said to be one of the greatest immortal plants of all time. Legend held that sitting beneath it could allow one to attain the Dao in a single morning and comprehend every source of existence in the world.
Yuangeng had never seen the Immortal Bodhi Tree at its greatest flourishing, but he had met many monastic cultivators. Some of those old monks had already been immortals for countless years, yet when they mentioned the Immortal Bodhi Tree, they still could not hide the reverence and yearning in their eyes.
"That tree survived until now, but the great changes in heaven and earth diminished it into an Immortal Medicine."
He lifted the round, plump Bodhi Seed and examined it carefully. Recalling the Immortal Bodhi Tree's glorious past, he was not surprised. After all, the Immortal Divine Medicines of the Shrouding the Heavens era were all extraordinarily exalted in essence. If the Immortal Bodhi Tree or the Ancient Peach Tree truly returned to life one day, even Yuangeng, a man from Immortal Ancient, would be a junior among juniors before them.
"Supreme One, is this an Immortal Medicine?"
Beside him, Si Yanning was also watching the seed. She had naturally guessed that this seed from beyond the heavens was extraordinary, but had not expected it to be the seed of an Immortal Divine Medicine, something rare throughout the universe that only Ancient Emperors and supreme beings could obtain.
"The Bodhi Tree, a very special Immortal Medicine connected to an exceptionally powerful Dao lineage from ancient times. I need to go take a look."
Yuangeng grasped the Immortal Bodhi Tree's seed, took a step, and vanished directly from Ziwei Ancient Star.
He was delighted. He had merely intended to casually manifest a few faith arts, never expecting such an unexpected reward. He had a premonition that, as he walked the path of faith in the future, the Ancient Bodhi Tree would be of tremendous help to him.
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