The Bodhi Mother Tree

The sun rises in the west!

The Buddha intervened.

The moment the Great Sun Tathagata rose, Xu Qi'an felt a sudden sense of alarm. If the premonition of danger was an alarm bell, then the bell was now ringing loudly and urgently, with a hint of "exasperation".

He was urged to flee for his life.

This was the most "intense" sense of crisis Xu Qi'an had ever experienced since entering the extraordinary realm.

Every cell in his body was screaming, urging him to flee; staying meant certain death.

But Xu Qi'an didn't run; instead, he rushed towards the mountaintop for a distance, like a moth drawn to a flame.

During this process, he roared hoarsely:

"Escape!"

The Dharma of the Great Sun Tathagata!

The foremost of the nine Dharma forms, possessing power surpassing all others.

Even without Xu Qi'an's reminder, the moment the image of the Great Sun Tathagata appeared, every extraordinary expert felt an impending doom.

The Nine-Tailed Celestial Fox decisively retracted its tail. Originally, it wanted to drag its nominal elder brother Asura back, but it found that Gara Tree and Asura were sitting cross-legged at the same time. One summoned the image of Acala, and the other had a dazzling halo representing the fruit of killing thieves appear behind his head, and they entered a state of meditation.

Those in the Buddhist School community have ways to "avoid" the destructive power of the Great Sun Tathagata's Dharma form. In a flash of thought, the silver-haired enchantress transformed into a white shadow and swept away into the distance, heading towards Sun Xuanji and the others.

Zhao Shou, Li Miaozhen, and Daoist Jinlian quickly rushed towards Sun Xuanji.

While fleeing for her life, Li Miaozhen casually threw the pagoda towards the direction of Aranya.

Sun Xuanji stepped forward, and the teleportation array expanded, enveloping the group of extraordinary experts.

Only Shenshu, upon seeing the form of Vairocana Buddha, not only did not run away or show any fear, but instead went into a frenzy, as if he had been stimulated in some way.

His navel split open, transforming into a gaping maw, and he abruptly turned, roaring towards the blazing sun atop the mountain:

"Buddha!!"

The next moment, the intense light of the Great Sun Tathagata's image enveloped everyone, including Xu Qi'an, Shen Shu, and the Buddhist School bodhisattvas.

Ten miles away from Aranta, the Clear Light Array appeared out of thin air, followed by several charred figures within it.

These charred figures fell to the ground in unison, resembling charred corpses. No matter how fast the teleportation technique was, it couldn't outrun light.

They were briefly illuminated by the image of Vairocana Buddha.

Only the silver-haired enchantress managed to remain conscious and did not faint.

But she no longer has silver hair; her whole body is charred black, her tail is bald, her fox ears are bald, and her beautiful silver hair is gone. Her body is covered with black and red burn marks.

The nine-tailed celestial fox barely managed to support itself, its throat bobbing as it spat out a porcelain bottle.

Law Artifact on her body, including her Storage Bag, had been burned to ashes, except for the porcelain bottle preserved inside her abdomen, which remained intact.

The nine-tailed celestial fox pulled out the cork, tilted the bottle, poured out a few pills to restore its strength, and swallowed them.

After sitting cross-legged for more than ten seconds, she finally began to regain her strength.

Only then did the Nine-Tailed Celestial Fox have the energy to investigate its allies, to see who was alive and who was dead.

The charred figure holding a carving knife is Zhao Shou. His scholar's hat is covered with a layer of black ash, as if he had just been rescued from a fire.

Zhao Shou was on the verge of death, his life force barely pulsating.

The person of average height was clearly Sun Xuanji. Although his white robes had been burned to charcoal, the ordinary demeanor of this second disciple of the Imperial Censor was as inconspicuous as a chicken among cranes.

So you can tell at a glance.

The golden lotus and blue lotus of the Earth Sect are easy to distinguish, as the difference in their physical forms between male and female is enormous.

The Nine-Tailed Celestial Fox walked up to Sun Xuanji first, rummaged through his body, took out a tattered storage Law Artifact, and gently tore it apart.

With a "crashing" sound, piles of magical Law Artifact and elixirs fell to the ground.

She first took several different healing medicines herself, then walked over to Li Miaozhen, pinched a pill between her fingertips, pried open her lips, and fed her one.

A moment later, Li Miaozhen woke up and let out a soft moan. With her powerful Primordial Spirit, she quickly took control of her physical condition. Her body was covered in burns, her internal organs were damaged, and a powerful force was continuously eroding her life force.

Do you have any clothes?

The Nine-Tailed Celestial Fox asked.

Their clothes were burned to tattered pieces, offering no cover whatsoever. Of course, given the current charred state of the two females, there was no possibility of any exposure.

Li Miaozhen nodded, rummaged in her bosom, found the fragment of the Earth Book, took out two dresses, tossed one to the Nine-Tailed Celestial Fox, and put the other on herself.

Before long, with the help of the two, Zhao Shou and the others finally woke up.

Master Jinlian sat cross-legged, digesting the medicinal effects, and spoke in a deep voice:

"Hurry up and treat your injuries, then head back to check on the situation."

He then sighed:

"Just as I thought."

Their first plan was to gather everyone's strength to surround and kill the Gara tree, while also testing the one in Aranya.

In fact, no one believed they could successfully kill the Garuda tree.

As expected, at the last moment, the Buddha intervened.

Li Miaozhen recalled the scene just now, still feeling lingering fear:

"This is the power of a top-tier product."

She nearly died after being illuminated by the Buddha's light for only a moment. If they hadn't discussed how to deal with the Buddha's appearance, she probably would have died under the Buddha's light.

Upon hearing this, Sun Xuanji and the others were still shaken.

They knew that if the Buddha were to intervene, it would be a devastating blow.

Knowing something is one thing, actually seeing a top-quality product being sold is quite another.

Only today did they realize that the distance between the superb and the extraordinary is the distance between a person and an ant.

Zhao Shou was the most seriously injured, having been struck by the backlash of Law Technique and severely wounded by the Dharma Image of the Great Sun Tathagata. He was now powerless to fight any longer.

But Zhao Shou still actively participated in the discussion, saying:

"Did you notice that the Bodhisattvas from Buddhist School, including Asura, didn't run away, but instead remained seated in meditation?"

Li Miaozhen and others also noticed this phenomenon, but could not provide an answer.

The Nine-Tailed Celestial Fox snorted:

"Under the Buddha's all-encompassing light, all things will turn to ashes, only the Buddha-nature will endure forever."

Zhao Shou understood, "So, those who cultivate Buddhism can survive within the Great Sun Reincarnation Dharma Form?"

He seemed to have grasped the flaw in the cycle of the great sun.

The nine-tailed celestial fox seemed to see through his thoughts and said calmly:

"That makes sense. However, if the Buddha doesn't want you to live, even if you cultivate to the level of a first-grade Bodhisattva, you might not be able to survive in the Great Sun Reincarnation Dharma Form. It all depends on the Buddha's will."

Master Jinlian squinted and said:

"Does this mean that the Great Sun Reincarnation Dharma Form just now was not mixed with the Buddha's will, but was just the Dharma Form instinctively emitting power? Otherwise, there would be no reason why Asura could have survived."

"This also shows that the Buddha's condition was not very good."

After saying that, everyone looked at Aranya and silently accelerated their absorption of the medicine.

Attacking Aranya, which has a top-tier general in charge, was expected to be difficult.

When the Great Sun Reincarnation Dharma Form appears, even gods and ghosts flee in terror.

The advantage that had been painstakingly gained was completely destroyed by the Buddha's attack.

However, the Buddha's intervention precisely confirmed their previous suspicions.

Far from Aranta, on a plain, beside a winding stream, the Rain Master Nalan Tianlu sat cross-legged by the river, his body shimmering with blood-red light.

He was also charred black, with large areas of his skin carbonized, and was currently using the Sorcerer System's "Blood Spirit Spell" to heal his wounds.

"I failed to kill the Garuda Tree, thus failing the Great Wizard's trust."

Salun Agu's advice to him was to be opportunistic.

On the surface, they would help the Buddhist School kill Xu Qi'an, but if the Gara tree, shrouded in bloodshed, were in danger of losing its life, they would send it on its way.

In any case, the Witch God Cult will profit.

"I was already extremely far from Aranda, but I was still severely injured by the Great Sun Reincarnation Dharma Form. The power that the Buddha can unleash seems to be higher than that of the Witch God."

"Those guys from Zhao Shou's gang, they really escaped fast. It's a pity I'm seriously injured and can't sneak over to reap the benefits."

"Xu Qi'an is now in a precarious situation, making this the perfect opportunity to kill him. But we don't know what other tricks they have up their sleeves."

In a mountain stream on the edge of Aranda, a pagoda floats in mid-air. At the top of the pagoda sits a slightly plump Buddha statue holding a jade bottle, radiating golden light. Within the golden light is a roasted bear.

Under the healing power of the Pharmacist Buddha, the roasted bear gradually shed its dead skin, grew tender red flesh, and transformed into a bald, iron-eating beast.

Immediately afterwards, DouDou opened her eyes and woke up.

The bear king looked around at himself, tore off a piece of slightly charred meat, brought it to his nose, sniffed it, and muttered:

"It smells so good, I can't resist eating it."

That's Xu Qi'an's voice.

The pagoda that Li Miaozhen threw out housed a wisp of Xu Qi'an's divine consciousness.

Her purpose in throwing out the Floating Pagoda was both to save the Bear King's life and to send Xu Qi'an's divine sense over so that she could use the power of the Heart Gu to control the Bear King and go to the Zen Forest to investigate.

This was Xu Qi'an's second plan.

The Nine-Tailed Celestial Fox threw the Bear King, whose combat strength was second to last, at Aranya, as a prelude to her second plan.

Xu Qi'an's true form remained behind to restrain the First-Rank Bodhisattva, while he secretly manipulated the Bear King with the Heart Gu to investigate the situation in the sealed land, using a feint to his advantage.

"Fortunately, there's the Pagoda, otherwise the Bear King would probably be sleeping in Aranya forever, his body intertwined with the mountain," Xu Qi'an whispered.

"Senior Pagoda Spirit, whether Bodhisattva Faji is in the Zen Forest will soon be revealed."

The pagoda vibrated with a "humming" sound, seemingly extremely excited, and the old monk of the pagoda spirit's voice, slightly trembling, reached Xu Qi'an's ears:

"This humble monk has waited for this day for over three hundred years. Thank you for granting my wish, benefactor."

This was something Xu Qi'an had promised it.

In order to persuade the Futu Pagoda to abandon its rules and deal with Buddhist School, Xu Qi'an promised to find the Bodhisattva Faji for it.

A promise is as good as gold.

I'm curious myself!

Xu Qi'an waved his hand, propped himself up, and strode his heavy bear body up quickly, heading towards the Chanlin Peak on the west side.

The Zen monastery is not located on the main peak of Alanda, but on a high peak to the south, a place rarely visited by people and devoid of birds.

The summit was covered in snow, and the air was crisp and cold. Xu Qi'an quickly reached the top and saw an ancient temple.

The ancient temple's outer walls stretch endlessly, their red paint peeling away, and the main gate has long since decayed, indicating that no one has visited it for countless years.

According to Asura, Zen monasteries are the final resting place of eminent monks after their passing, and also the place where the Buddha secluded himself in meditation.

Five hundred years ago, when the Buddha announced his retreat, the Zen monastery became a forbidden place in Aranya, and apart from a few bodhisattvas, no one else was allowed to come here.

If it weren't for the Arhat Du'e's secret visit, the Buddha's secret of breaking free from the seal might never have been discovered.

Of course, the same applies to the cries for help that resembled those of the Bodhisattva Faji.

Passing through the courtyard gate and trudging through the snow, Xu Qi'an headed deeper into the Zen forest. Along the way were rows of tomb towers, each about two people high, weathered and marked by the passage of time.

Bodhi trees are planted beside the tomb tower.

According to Asura, the Bodhi trees in the Zen monastery are all descendants of the original mother tree.

Following the bluestone path "submerged" in mud, Xu Qi'an continued deeper into the area. After a short while, an ancient tree appeared ahead, not very tall, but with branches and leaves extending for dozens of feet, its trunk gnarled and twisted, with vines hanging down from it.

The ground beneath the tree was covered with withered, yellow leaves, layer upon layer, exuding a faint, musty smell.

Bodhi Mother Tree!

Xu Qi'an's eyes flashed and landed on the pile of rubble next to the mother tree.

Xu Qi'an felt a chill run down his spine as the seal of the Confucian Sage had indeed been broken.

Asura has already mentioned this, but seeing it with one's own eyes is another matter entirely.

He approached the Bodhi tree, carrying a pagoda-shaped ornament on his head. The thick, umbrella-like branches blocked out the light, giving rise to an inexplicable sense of gloom.

Just then, a faint cry for help reached my ears:

"Help me, help me!"

P. S.: Typos will be corrected later.