Ye Qingyun, however, did not see the phantom Buddha behind him.
When he saw Song Xiaotian kneeling on the ground with his palms pressed together and a devout expression, he assumed Song Xiaotian believed in Buddhism.
Since he believes in Buddhism, this will be easy.
Watch me reform this father and son.
Ye Qingyun felt thoroughly reassured.
"Song Xiaotian, Song Chenglong, you father and son have committed all manner of evil and accumulated many bitter fruits. Those bitter fruits will eventually bring retribution upon you."
Ye Qingyun tried his best to put on a look of Buddhist serenity.
He imagined how eminent Buddhist monks looked and tried his best to imitate them.
Perhaps for this reason, the phantom Buddha behind Ye Qingyun grew increasingly solid.
Even the phantom Buddha's appearance began to resemble Ye Qingyun somewhat.
This left the Song Clan father and son even more dumbfounded.
"He is actually a Buddhist master!"
The father and son were utterly astounded.
Buddhist monks were deeply mysterious figures.
Although Buddhism existed within the Heavenly Martial Dynasty, it had never amounted to much.
It was said that in the Western Realm beyond the Southern Wilderness, Buddhism flourished.
There was even a Buddha kingdom where everyone believed in monks and Buddhas, and Buddhists held incomparably revered positions.
The Song Clan father and son had never expected Ye Qingyun to be a Buddhist too.
And judging by appearances, he was certainly an unfathomable figure even among Buddhists.
For a moment, the father and son were filled with endless regret.
Had they known he was so formidable, they would never have provoked him.
"Master, we father and son haven't... haven't done that many bad things."
Song Xiaotian spoke rather evasively.
Ye Qingyun shook his head.
"The Buddha is everywhere. Everything you have and have not done is seen by the Buddha. Nothing can escape the Buddha's eyes."
Before he finished speaking, the phantom Buddha behind Ye Qingyun suddenly released light from its eyes, shining directly upon the Song Clan father and son.
The Song Clan father and son trembled all over.
Under the gaze of the Buddha's eyes, the father and son felt as though their minds and souls were being purified.
Everything they had done in the past appeared before their eyes.
The evil deeds they had committed were especially clear, every single one of them.
The father and son turned deathly pale.
Only now did they truly realize how many wicked things they had done in the past.
Both were deeply ashamed and lowered their heads.
Ye Qingyun, meanwhile, wore a strange expression.
Where did this golden light come from? How bizarre!
He turned his head to look but could see nothing unusual at all.
Everyone else could see the phantom Buddha, but Ye Qingyun alone could not.
"Master, we father and son know we were wrong!"
"We know we were wrong! We truly do!"
The father and son kowtowed repeatedly to Ye Qingyun.
Ye Qingyun nodded in satisfaction.
"Although you father and son have committed all manner of evil, our Buddha is merciful. Everyone has a chance to be forgiven."
"From today onward, you must do more good deeds and harbor kind thoughts. You will surely be able to eliminate the bitter fruits of your past deeds."
Upon hearing this, the Song Clan father and son
immediately grew excited.
As long as they could eliminate those bitter fruits, they were willing to do anything.
Let alone merely doing good deeds.
Doing good deeds?
Wasn't that far too easy?
"We will remember!"
Song Xiaotian said.
"I haven't finished yet."
Ye Qingyun continued, "Most importantly, you must recite Buddhist scriptures every day."
"Buddhist scriptures?"
Both father and son looked bewildered.
"Master, we don't know any Buddhist scriptures."
Song Xiaotian said.
"No matter. This humble monk... I will teach you a Buddhist scripture now. Remember to recite it three times each day, once in the morning, once at noon, and once in the evening."
The father and son were overjoyed.
"Thank you, Master!"
Ye Qingyun gave a hum of acknowledgment, then began reciting the scripture.
"This Buddhist scripture is called the Prajnaparamita Heart Sutra."
The father and son immediately took up paper and brushes, their expressions serious, looking exactly like students preparing to take notes in class.
"Ahem."
"Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva, while practicing the profound perfection of wisdom, clearly saw that all five aggregates were empty and transcended all suffering and distress."
"Shariputra, form is not different from emptiness, and emptiness is not different from form. Form is emptiness, and emptiness is form. The same holds true for feeling, perception, mental formations, and consciousness."
"Shariputra, all phenomena bear the mark of emptiness: neither arising nor ceasing, neither defiled nor pure, neither increasing nor decreasing."
"Therefore, in emptiness there is no form, no feeling, perception, mental formations, or consciousness..."
"Gate gate, paragate, parasamgate, bodhi svaha."
Just like that, Ye Qingyun recited the entire Prajnaparamita Heart Sutra from memory, fluently and smoothly.
When he finished reciting the Heart Sutra,
the phantom Buddha behind Ye Qingyun shone brighter than ever before.
A dazzling ray of Buddhist light shot straight beyond the highest heavens.
Boom!!!
At that moment,
everyone within a thousand li could see that golden spectacle simply by looking up.
For a time, forces throughout the Heavenly Martial Dynasty were stirred.
"This is Buddhist light!"
"This Buddhist light is so rich and pure. Could an eminent monk have attained sudden enlightenment?"
"It might even be a reincarnated Buddha!"
"Hurry and see what is happening!"
For a time, many people headed toward the source of the Buddhist light.
At this moment,
in the Western Realm, far from the Heavenly Martial Dynasty,
this was a paradise for Buddhists.
Among outsiders, it was also called the Western Pure Land of Ultimate Bliss.
A temple bustling with worshippers gleamed with flowing light, people coming and going.
Within a meditation chamber in the temple's rear courtyard,
an old monk who had remained in meditation for seven times seven, forty-nine years, abruptly opened his eyes.
"Hmm? Buddhist Qi is soaring into the heavens in the south?"
The old monk flashed outside, his bright, piercing eyes looking southward.
Vaguely, he seemed to see the golden Buddha behind Ye Qingyun.
"Grandmaster!"
The old monk's appearance alerted many eminent monks within the temple, and they hurried over.
"Quick! Send someone to the Heavenly Martial Dynasty in the Southern Wilderness. Our Buddhist Holy Son has appeared there!"
"What? The Buddhist Holy Son?"
The monks were aghast.
The Buddhist Holy Son was someone the Buddhists of their Western Realm had searched painstakingly for over many years without success.
Even in the Bodhi Buddha Kingdom, only three possible Buddhist Holy Sons had appeared, and none had yet been fully confirmed.
Yet now, the old monk said that the Buddhist Holy Son had been born in the Southern Wilderness, outside the Western Realm?
How was that possible?
Still, none of the monks dared doubt the old monk's words.
For this old monk was the most senior monk in the Western Chan Temple, as well as one of the foremost figures in all of the Western Realm's Buddhist community.
His words were the ultimate truth of Buddhism, not to be doubted by anyone.
At once, the Western Chan Temple dispatched monks straight to the Southern Wilderness.
Not only the Western Chan Temple, but many Buddhist factions in the Western Realm also sent their own Buddhist disciples rushing to the Southern Wilderness.
All to investigate the secret of that ray of Buddhist light.
Meanwhile, Ye Qingyun, the one responsible for it all, had absolutely no idea how great a stir his recitation of the Heart Sutra had caused in the distant Western Realm.
"Have you remembered it?"
The Song Clan father and son were already completely dazed.
They were immersed in the Heart Sutra Ye Qingyun had just recited, though they still did not quite understand the principles it contained.
Yet merely hearing it once made them feel as though they had already attained complete enlightenment.
Their lives had undergone a tremendous change from that moment onward.
"Master, I have attained enlightenment!"
The father and son cried out in unison.