Chapter 2605: The Strongest of Each Era Forge the Path
The sailing speed of Xumi Temple increased, as if riding the wind and breaking waves.
Zhang Ruochen set aside his various thoughts, untied the *Sixth Patriarch’s Zen Illustration* wrapped around him, and examined it closely.
In the painting, a benevolent-looking monk sat beneath a bodhi tree, a faint smile on his face, his lips slightly parted as if expounding some worldly Buddhist truth. His monk’s robe hung open, and his feet were bare. He did not appear particularly solemn, but rather resembled a Maitreya.
Every line in the painting aligned with the spatial veins, and contained countless spatial inscriptions.
Earlier, the sacred blood that had flowed from Zhang Ruochen’s eyes and ears had stained the Buddhist illustration, but now the bloodstains had vanished, merging with the painting.
It was precisely the touch of blood that had caused the scroll to erupt with Buddhist light, condensing into the likeness of the Sixth Patriarch.
“Could it be like the *Cosmic Divine Wood Map*? Does this painting also contain an inner world? Could the Sixth Patriarch truly not be dead, but reside within this painting?”
Zhang Ruochen mobilized his spiritual power and injected it to investigate.
His spiritual power could not enter the painting.
He then tried using sacred qi to activate it, but still could not open the inner space or a spatial gate. Finally, he had to give up.
The Buddhist light and sound emanating from the scroll gradually dissipated.
“The Sixth Patriarch has long since fallen, transforming into eighty-four thousand relics. He cannot still be alive. However, this scroll is extraordinary—it must be the work of a holy monk. The Buddhist light phantom it manifested could unleash the Sixth Patriarch’s Buddhist essence and might, scaring even a deity of Ghost Lord’s level.”
Without that Buddhist essence and might, Ghost Lord and the Undying Blood Clan deities would not have been so terrified.
Zhang Ruochen thought for a moment, then actively cut his wrist and dripped some blood onto the scroll.
“Whoosh!”
The lines on the scroll brightened again, radiating brilliant Buddhist light.
The Buddhist light once more condensed into the form of the Sixth Patriarch.
At the same time, faint Buddhist sounds entered Zhang Ruochen’s ears. Only he could hear them; the outside world was utterly silent.
Zhang Ruochen stroked his chin, a peculiar light flickering in his eyes. He murmured to himself, “In the future, perhaps I can use this scroll to scare off deities who want to kill me. It’s not a bad trump card to have.”
He put away the *Sixth Patriarch’s Zen Illustration*.
Zhang Ruochen carried the remains of Xumi Saint Monk from the pit back to the main hall.
Though just a skeleton, it was heavier than a planet. Even with Zhang Ruochen’s cultivation, carrying it was extremely strenuous.
Afterward, Zhang Ruochen spread out the *Sixth Patriarch’s Zen Illustration* again, dripped blood onto it, and sat cross-legged beside it, carefully contemplating the Buddhist sounds entering his ears.
Whether it was the Sixth Patriarch or Xumi Saint Monk, both were at the “Buddha” level.
From ancient times to the present, spanning countless billions of years, including the Instant Buddha Xumi Saint Monk, only seven Buddhas had ever been born. Any one of them was inevitably an invincible existence of their era, and even a Heavenly Venerable might not be able to suppress them.
Thus, the Buddhist sounds in the scroll—whether the Sixth Patriarch’s voice or Xumi Saint Monk’s—were worth comprehending.
…
…
In Xumi Temple, there were no days or nights; looking up, there was no sun or moon.
Time flowed on, and who knew how many years passed.
Zhang Ruochen did not know what era he had returned to, until he heard a thunderous “boom,” and space-time shook violently once more.
“What’s happening? Has another great battle broken out, affecting the River of Time? Returning to the past is truly no easy task.”
Startled awake, Zhang Ruochen immediately walked out of the main hall.
He looked ahead. On the River of Time, a majestic divine temple erupted with powerful time power, tearing a rift in the river.
The temple stood on the other side of the rift; Zhang Ruochen could only see a corner of it.
To give an example, Xumi Temple was like a smuggler’s boat. Zhang Ruochen could only stay inside the boat, unable to see the outside scenery or know where he had arrived.
Now, someone on the shore had discovered the boat and torn a hole in its hull.
Through this hole, the person on shore saw Zhang Ruochen inside the boat.
And Zhang Ruochen, through this hole, saw the scene outside the boat.
What Zhang Ruochen saw through this hole was a corner of this era—only that temple, and only a part of it.
“To be able to detect Xumi Temple on the River of Time, it must be the Time Divine Temple. The hall master currently presiding over the Time Divine Temple must also be an incredibly terrifying powerhouse.”
Even the Time Divine Temple seemed only able to open a rift on the River of Time, blocking Xumi Temple from continuing forward.
From the temple surged countless densely packed time imprint light points, condensing into a bright divine hand of time. It passed through the rift, reached out over the River of Time, and probed toward Xumi Temple.
Just a divine hand of time imprint light points contained overwhelming might. Fortunately, Zhang Ruochen immediately wrapped himself in the *Sixth Patriarch’s Zen Illustration*, barely withstanding it; otherwise, he would have been crushed.
The divine hand collided with the time and space esoterica enveloping Xumi Temple, causing the entire temple to shake incessantly, with cracks spreading across the ground in some places.
Zhang Ruochen watched the divine hand pressing down relentlessly and smiled bitterly to himself: “Holy Monk, oh Holy Monk, you are known as the Future Buddha and have reached the realm of a Buddha, but you do not understand the past. A supreme expert who cultivates the Way of Time has sensed me on the River of Time. Today, I fear I am doomed.”
Yet Zhang Ruochen’s heart held little fear; it was unusually calm, filled more with regret.
Many figures surfaced in his mind, filling him with immense reluctance and guilt.
“Boom.”
Suddenly, from another direction on the River of Time, space-time shattered.
Behind the rift in space-time appeared a figure of supreme majesty, looking to be in his twenties or thirties, handsome and dashing. Above his head hung twenty-seven layers of heavenly realms. Chaotic rules and chaotic divine light rolled around him like flowing water, and the stars of the heavens revolved around him.
He stood by a stretch of rippling blue waters and pointed a finger across the void.
The finger force was fierce and domineering, trailing a dragon-like tail.
“Whoosh.”
The finger force pierced through space-time, entered the River of Time, and shattered that divine hand of time imprint light points.
On the River of Time, Xumi Temple sailed onward once more.
When Zhang Ruochen saw the twenty-seven layers of heavenly realms above that man’s head, he had already begun to speculate, his heart surging with excitement.
When the finger force flew into the River of Time, and the power of the force resonated with the *Nine Heavens Bright Emperor Scripture*, causing the sacred qi within Zhang Ruochen’s body to vibrate in harmony, he could confirm the man’s identity.
The ancestor of the Zhang Clan, the Heavenly Venerable from ten eons ago, the Immovable Bright King Great Venerable.
“Great Venerable!”
Zhang Ruochen couldn’t help but call out.
So, he had arrived at the era ten eons ago.
In this era, with the Great Venerable protecting him, Zhang Ruochen’s worries vanished entirely.
Space-time restored itself; he ultimately did not hear the Immovable Bright King Great Venerable’s response.
The River of Time was omnipresent, yet not easily sensed by ordinary cultivators. To detect Xumi Temple secretly traveling to the past required profound time mastery, or a cultivation level approaching or surpassing Xumi Saint Monk’s.
Whether it was the one at the Time Divine Temple or the Immovable Bright King Great Venerable, they likely only sensed a slight anomaly in time.
This slight anomaly would manifest as a “heavenly secret” or “omen.”
The one at the Time Divine Temple attacked because they deduced this anomalous time fluctuation bore the attribute of “calamity.”
The Immovable Bright King Great Venerable acted because he deduced the attribute of “fortune.”
In history, when omens appeared, they were judged by fortune or calamity to determine how to intervene.
…
Arriving at another era, Xumi Temple was detected again.
This time, the power of fate shattered space-time, condensing a thousand-zhang-tall Gate of Destiny ahead on the River of Time, blocking Xumi Temple’s advance and attempting to drive Zhang Ruochen back to the future.
“Boom.”
A chess platform burst into the River of Time, radiating brilliant light, dividing the river into half daylight and half night.
The platform emitted dazzling divine light, smashing the Gate of Destiny, once again opening a path forward for Zhang Ruochen.
Zhang Ruochen looked toward the space-time from which the chess platform had flown and saw an old man in Confucian robes beneath a tea tree.
He closely resembled the Second Confucian Ancestor of the Kunlun Realm; Zhang Ruochen had seen his portrait.
Whether the Second Confucian Ancestor could hear him or not, Zhang Ruochen performed a Confucian ritual bow and said, “Thank you, Confucian Ancestor, for aiding me.”
…
Many more eons passed.
The Gate of Destiny appeared for the fourth time, blocking the River of Time.
From within the gate, a skull head burning with ghost fire flew out, crashing toward Xumi Temple, intending to kill Zhang Ruochen inside.
Having been blocked so many times along the way, Zhang Ruochen no longer felt fear. He remained calm and composed, knowing that with his current cultivation, he could not resist anyway.
Either someone from this era would come to save him, opening a path to the past.
Or he would die here.
“Are the powerful ancestors in the history of the Destiny Temple so afraid that I will condense a first-rank sacred intent? I might not even succeed, nor necessarily cultivate to the pinnacle realm, nor necessarily do anything to the Destiny Temple. I just want to return to the Destiny Temple to save my father. Do they have to go this far to exterminate me? Can’t they give me a little hope?” Zhang Ruochen muttered to himself.
“Boom.”
Thirty-six stone tablets, carrying boundless demonic might, shattered space-time and flew into the River of Time.
The thirty-six tablets shattered the ghost fire skull head, then struck the Gate of Destiny ahead, breaking it into specks of light.
The river ahead was cleared, and Xumi Temple continued its voyage.
Zhang Ruochen looked toward the direction the thirty-six tablets had flown and saw a disheveled, handsome man with stubble, walking alone across a yellow desert. He strode briskly, holding a stone blade in his hand, his demonic might surging, exuding masculinity and dominance.
The thirty-six *Heavenly Demon Stone Inscriptions* flew back into his body.
“Thank you, Heavenly Demon Lord.” Zhang Ruochen clasped his hands in salute.
The Heavenly Demon could not hear his voice; he had acted as if casually doing something trivial. Blade in hand, eyes sharp, killing intent like frost, he was heading off to do something great.
As space-time restored itself, the desert and the Heavenly Demon vanished from Zhang Ruochen’s sight.
Zhang Ruochen sighed with emotion. Along this journey, he had seen the Great Venerable, the Confucian Ancestor, the Heavenly Demon, and other legendary figures. Each had dazzled their era, leaving behind legends, yet all had died in the River of Time.
Counting the romantic figures, all had returned to the yellow earth.
Only their heritage remained unextinguished.
Even after countless eons, traces of them still lingered in the world. That, in itself, was remarkable, earning them eternal praise from later cultivators.
Why could he, Zhang Ruochen, witness their splendor from the River of Time?
It was merely an opportunity bought by the Holy Monk’s martyrdom.
Even the Holy Monk himself could not have sailed upstream on the River of Time like this, for he was too powerful, his karmic burden too great. Forcing entry would likely cost him his life.