Chapter 2769: Arhat White Pearl
"Arhat White Pearl!"
All cultivators of the Yama Clan were shocked, crowding around.
Yan Wushen said, "Legend has it that the Arhat White Pearl is the only relic left behind by the White Monk, the sole disciple of the Third Patriarch, after he entered nirvana and passed away. Instead of forming a relic, he formed a white pearl, making it a supreme treasure of Buddhism."
Countless eyes stared at Hai Shui's chest.
Blood Butcher felt deep regret in his heart. If he had known earlier that the little nun carried such an extraordinary item, he would have taken it and hidden it away long ago. Now, with Zhang Ruochen and Yan Wushen both present, how could he possibly get his hands on it?
A flash of inspiration struck Blood Butcher, and he stepped forward, saying, "Everyone, remember this: this little nun's cultivation is formidable. It was I, the Emperor, who captured her."
"So, you want the Arhat White Pearl?" Yan Ting glared at him coldly.
Blood Butcher glanced at her dismissively, "What virtue or ability do I possess to deserve such a treasure? But my senior brother is a mortal world myth, the strongest here. He can claim it."
Immediately after, Blood Butcher sent a voice transmission to Zhang Ruochen: "Senior brother, the Arhat White Pearl is worth more than a Supreme Sacred Artifact. I'm giving it to you, so can we call our debts even?"
He waited a long time but received no response from Zhang Ruochen.
Blood Butcher's heart was heavy with sorrow. He felt like he was once again making a wedding dress for someone else. When would he ever pay off his debts?
The cultivators of the Yama Clan looked toward Yan Wushen, waiting for his stance.
The Arhat White Pearl was right before them—a treasure that even a Great God would covet. Were they really going to let it go so easily?
Zhang Ruochen stared into Hai Shui's eyes, "Why did you dare to tell me that the Arhat White Pearl is on you?"
"As I said earlier, because Benefactor Zhang Ruochen's heart leans toward the light and harbors kindness."
"So, you think I won't take the Arhat White Pearl?"
Hai Shui did not continue speaking, only calmly meeting Zhang Ruochen's gaze.
Blood Butcher walked up beside Zhang Ruochen and whispered, "Senior brother, why waste words with her? You're not falling for her, are you? Even if you are, it's fine—we can take both her wealth and her beauty."
Naturally, Hai Shui and the Yama Clan cultivators heard this.
A look of disdain appeared in Yan Ting's eyes.
Zhang Ruochen ignored Blood Butcher, "I still have a few questions. You are a disciple of the Western Buddha Realm. How did you come to the Abyss of Darkness? Why did you enter the Abyss of Darkness? What is this place? And how did you find it?"
Hai Shui's voice was soft and beautiful, like a clear spring over stones, "Benefactor Zhang Ruochen, could you first untie the sacred rope binding me?"
Zhang Ruochen waved his sleeve, sending a surge of sacred energy toward her. The golden rope binding her loosened and fell to the ground.
Hai Shui still had the Yama Clan secret technique seal applied by Yan Ting, so there was no need to worry about her escaping.
Hai Shui rubbed her arms, then untied the thin bodhi string around her neck. A white pearl the size of a pigeon egg emerged from her Buddhist robe, warm and glowing with a soft, radiant light.
All cultivators' gazes converged on this legendary Arhat White Pearl.
"Let me see what's so miraculous about this so-called Buddhist treasure." Blood Butcher turned into a blur, darting past Hai Shui and snatching the Arhat White Pearl.
But in an instant, Blood Butcher let out a pained cry.
"Slap!"
The Arhat White Pearl fell to the ground.
Drops of blood stained the white pearl.
Blood Butcher clutched his pierced palm. An excruciating pain surged through him, and an incredibly pure Buddhist energy continuously assaulted his physical body.
How bizarre!
He had only held it in his hand, and the white pearl had pierced right through his palm.
Seeing this terrifying sight, the older Unbound Realm Great Saints of the Yama Clan turned cold all over and stepped back in unison.
Hai Shui walked over and picked up the Arhat White Pearl. The blood slid off the pearl on its own, unable to stain it.
She said, "The Arhat White Pearl is a supreme treasure of Buddhism. Any cultivator from the Hell Realm—whether beings like the Undying Blood Clan and Rakshasa Clan, or undead like ghosts, bones, and corpses—will die upon contact. The Great Butcher War God Emperor is powerful, so only his palm was pierced."
Hai Shui offered the Arhat White Pearl to Zhang Ruochen, "Hai Shui presents this white pearl to Benefactor Zhang Ruochen."
Zhang Ruochen did not take it, "Why give it to me?"
"Because Hai Shui knows that today, I am doomed to die and cannot keep the white pearl. Since that's the case, it's better to give it to Benefactor Zhang Ruochen. With your connection to Buddhism, you should not let this pearl be tarnished," Hai Shui said.
Zhang Ruochen glanced at the Arhat White Pearl, then reached out and took it.
The white pearl's radiance suddenly flared, emitting a scorching heat, but unlike with Blood Butcher, his palm was not pierced.
For some unknown reason, the heat of the Arhat White Pearl quickly subsided, turning cool instead.
"How is this possible? Zhang Ruochen also has the bloodline of the Undying Blood Clan. Why can he withstand the power of the Arhat White Pearl?" Yan Ting was baffled.
A flicker of unusual emotion passed through Hai Shui's eyes.
Zhang Ruochen said, "Since I've accepted your Arhat White Pearl, how can I stand by and watch you be killed? Your life is under my protection for now. Does anyone object?"
Yan Wushen shook his head and laughed, "This little nun is quite strange, full of unknowns. Brother Zhang Ruochen, I have no objection to you protecting her life. But beware of a honey trap."
Zhang Ruochen turned his gaze back to Hai Shui, "Yan Wushen is right. You are full of strangeness."
"Hai Shui knows what everyone suspects. I can explain everything, but only to Zhang Ruochen alone. I trust only him," Hai Shui said.
If there was a chance to live, no one would choose to die.
Zhang Ruochen raised his Dao Domain, enveloping only himself and Hai Shui.
The hole in Blood Butcher's palm had regrown flesh, but the burn scars never healed. He skirted around Zhang Ruochen's Dao Domain and came to stand beside Yan Wushen and Yan Ting.
He laughed, "What do you think? How is it that my senior brother attracts so much romantic interest? Listen to what that little nun just said—'I trust only him.' Haha, they've only met once, known each other for less than the time it takes to burn an incense stick, and she already trusts him. Is my senior brother really that charming, even making a nun's heart stir with worldly desires?"
Yan Wushen smiled but said nothing.
Yan Ting said coldly, "First she voluntarily offers the Arhat White Pearl, then she wants a private conversation. Her schemes must be deep. You'd better warn your senior brother to stay clear-headed, or he might be used without even realizing it."
...
Inside the Dao Domain.
Hai Shui spoke softly, "Actually, I did not come to the Abyss of Darkness alone."
"Who else?" Zhang Ruochen asked.
"My master," Hai Shui said.
"Yuan Yi Ancient Buddha!" Zhang Ruochen said.
Yuan Yi Ancient Buddha was the senior disciple of the Sixth Patriarch, a top-tier Buddhist cultivator of the Western Buddha Realm, a God Venerable-level existence. Such a figure had come to the Abyss of Darkness?
Hai Shui said, "Every time the strange beasts riot, it is the perfect opportunity to enter the Abyss of Darkness."
Zhang Ruochen quickly calmed down, "Why did Yuan Yi Ancient Buddha come to the Abyss of Darkness?"
"To find the Sixth Patriarch."
Hai Shui continued, "Although the Sixth Patriarch has long since entered nirvana, a God-level existence saw him with their own eyes a hundred thousand years ago. Now that the war between the Heavenly Court and Hell has erupted again, if the Sixth Patriarch can be found, it would be enough to intimidate the gods of the Ten Clans of Hell."
A smile that Hai Shui found hard to understand appeared on Zhang Ruochen's face, "Why does Yuan Yi Ancient Buddha think the Sixth Patriarch is in the Abyss of Darkness?"
"Legend has it that the Sixth Patriarch suffered extremely severe injuries, and only the Udumbara Flower could heal him and extend his life. If the Sixth Patriarch is truly still alive, he would definitely come to the Abyss of Darkness," Hai Shui said.
Zhang Ruochen asked, "The Udumbara Flower appears only once every thirty million years. Finding it is no easy task. Wait—do you mean to say that the Udumbara Flower has already appeared, and it is in the Abyss of Darkness?"
Hai Shui pondered carefully, "My master said that the Udumbara Flower appeared three eons ago, discovered together by the Sixth Patriarch and Yinshuetian."
"Later, Yinshuetian took the seedling of the Udumbara Flower and entered the Abyss of Darkness to find the Mani Pearl, hoping to use its power to quickly mature the Udumbara Flower, thereby extending her own life by three hundred thousand years."
"Yinshuetian! Yinshuetian! Yinshuetian..."
Zhang Ruochen's gaze deepened as he repeated this name, feeling a sense of incomprehension, "How could the Sixth Patriarch allow Yinshuetian to take the Udumbara Flower away? Wouldn't such a Buddhist treasure fall into the hands of the Hell Realm and end up in the Nether Hall?"
"At that time, the Heavenly Court and Hell had not yet gone to war. In fact, the Heavenly Court did not even exist yet."
Hai Shui continued, "In truth, Yinshuetian had a deep connection with Buddhism. After becoming a supreme-level existence in the universe, she even formally joined Buddhism to cultivate the Dharma, addressing the young Sixth Patriarch as junior brother in the master-disciple relationship."
"Yinshuetian joined Buddhism? Who could teach her?"
Zhang Ruochen felt a strong hostility toward the name Yinshuetian and could not treat it with equanimity.
Hai Shui said, "In Buddhism, as long as one's Buddhist knowledge surpasses hers, they can teach her. Yinshuetian cultivated the Buddhist path to elevate her cultivation to a higher level."
"I think she was repenting!"
Zhang Ruochen said this, then added, "So, in her later years, Yinshuetian took the Udumbara Flower into the Abyss of Darkness to find the Mani Pearl, and never returned?"
"These are all things my master said," Hai Shui replied.
Zhang Ruochen looked at the stone temple sealed in ice, "Could this be the cultivation ground Yinshuetian left behind back then?"
"My master speculated the same!"
Hai Shui said, "My master believed that Yinshuetian, fearing she might encounter misfortune deep in the Abyss of Darkness, left some important items in this stone temple."
Zhang Ruochen stared at the two stone doors on the cliff, "Does that mean the Udumbara Flower might be inside the stone temple?"
"That is entirely possible. Moreover, the two lost volumes of the eight Nether Books might also be stored here," Hai Shui said.
Zhang Ruochen asked in confusion, "Why are you so familiar with Yinshuetian?"
"It's not that I am familiar with her; it's my master who is. Because, by lineage, she is my master's senior uncle, and they have met more than once," Hai Shui said.
Zhang Ruochen nodded, "Where did Yuan Yi Ancient Buddha go? Why did he leave you alone on this dark space continent? Did he ever enter the stone temple?"