Chapter 3957: The Greatest Secret in the Universe
A Fuya had already obtained nearly thirty percent of the Arrow Dao Profound Meaning held by the Elf Clan of Paradise Realm and Qing Yunque, the Grand Steward of the Qingtian Tribe.
If she could add the Profound Meaning of the other two Arrow Dao Principal Gods, she would grasp over fifty percent and thus dominate the Arrow Dao.
The Arrow Dao governs offensive combat.
Aside from the Light Profound Meaning, the Arrow Dao Profound Meaning was the power A Fuya most desired to enhance her combat strength.
The other two Arrow Dao Principal Gods were the Clan Leader of the Winged Clan in Pangu Realm and the Seven Arrows God Venerable of Yuan Realm, both located in the Eastern Universe.
The gods of the Heavenly Court held deep prejudices against ancient powerhouses, with the Eastern Universe being the most extreme.
Thus, for A Fuya to obtain the Arrow Dao Profound Meaning through peaceful means would be extremely difficult.
The gods of the Eastern Universe absolutely did not want to see another ancient powerhouse full of uncertainties rise. They would do everything possible to restrict her power.
If A Fuya wanted to go to the Eastern Universe and forcibly seize the Arrow Dao Profound Meaning, she would first have to pass the test of Panyuan Ancient God.
For her, tasks with great risk and difficulty were much easier for Zhang Ruochen to accomplish.
The blood-soaked earth was silent, surrounded by darkness.
Zhang Ruochen's two strands of jet-black temple hair swayed gently in the breeze. "I can vouch for you and ask Xuanyuan Lian, Zhao Gongming, or the Truth Temple Lord to negotiate with the gods of Pangu Realm and Yuan Realm. The Arrow Dao Profound Meaning won't be hard to obtain. But vouching for you comes with risks."
A Fuya gazed at the boundless blood-soaked earth. "I can forge a divine army for you that surpasses the Snow Domain Star Sea Divine Army."
Chan Bing remained expressionless, not believing that the Snow Domain Star Sea Divine Army under her command could be surpassed.
If they could obtain the ancient corpses in this blood-soaked earth, even if the Snow Domain Star Sea Divine Army couldn't fully recover to its former glory, it would be close.
Zhang Ruochen said, "The divine army the First Queen mentioned—I've already thoroughly analyzed its secrets since you started refining it nine hundred years ago. So, that can no longer be your bargaining chip. Besides, didn't I exchange it for the 'Undying Curse'?"
A Fuya said, "What does Imperial Dust want? Speak plainly."
Zhang Ruochen said, "I want your memories."
Zhang Ruochen continued, "The memories of an Ancestor, an Ancestor's understanding of all kinds of ancient and modern secrets—that is the most precious thing. If you keep hiding everything, I actually wouldn't dare vouch for you."
A Fuya said, "I've only recalled very few fragments of consciousness! What Imperial Dust wants to know, I may not be able to answer."
Zhang Ruochen believed this.
Zhang Ruochen said, "I want to know the most important thing."
Chan Bing found it hard to understand what Zhang Ruochen truly wanted to know. Did he want to know the path to becoming an Ancestor?
But, setting aside the fact that A Fuya was only a remnant soul returning and couldn't possibly have a complete Ancestor-level enlightenment from her past life, even if she did, explaining it wouldn't mean much.
Everyone's cultivation path was different, and the Ancestor path was also completely different.
Chan Bing had absorbed Luo Tuoluo's Ancestor corpse, divine source, and remnant soul, giving her a vague outline of the Ancestor path, so she deeply understood this principle.
A Fuya thought for a moment and asked, "Do you believe in the existence of Immortals?"
In the past, Zhang Ruochen could have firmly answered, "No."
But after experiencing so many bizarre events—ancient powerhouses returning as remnant souls, great cultivators like Di, Lady Shiji, and the Chaos Ancient Demon Gods surviving to this era through special means, seeing Emperor Yitian who had lived nine lives, reading the Second Confucian Ancestor's messages, and even fighting against the dark anomalies suspected to be "Immortals"—standing at a higher vantage point allowed him to see countless truths invisible when he was weaker.
Zhang Ruochen nodded. "I think they exist."
A Fuya added, "Then do you believe in the existence of those exceptionally talented Ancestors from ancient and modern times?"
At these words, Chan Bing and Zhang Ruochen's eyes both locked onto her, their heartbeats quickening.
A Fuya said, "This is the greatest paradox and the greatest secret in the universe!"
"If Immortals exist, how could they allow Ancestors to be born? If you were an Immortal, able to do whatever you please, holding the power of life and death over all beings in heaven and earth, would you allow a power that threatens you to emerge?"
Chan Bing felt a suffocating pressure in her heart. "I'm afraid that if a cultivator in the universe reaches the Heavenly Venerable level, or Half-Ancestor, they would be closely watched by the Immortals."
A Fuya said, "But throughout history, many Ancestors have indeed been born, leaving behind scriptures, divine artifacts, legends, and inheritances. Isn't that a paradox?"
Zhang Ruochen said, "What is the First Queen trying to tell us?"
A Fuya said solemnly, "So, the greatest secret in the universe is that behind every Ancestor recorded in legend, there should be at least one Immortal supporting them. Their appearance has special significance; they are the most important pawns of the Immortals. Including the Great Demon God, Heavenly Demon, Second Confucian Ancestor, and Immovable Bright King Great Venerable—the four Ancestors born in just over ten million years—this itself is highly abnormal! It also shows the particularity of this era!"
...
Western Buddha Realm.
Night rain fell, like dense pearl curtains descending from the sky, striking the tiles with a pattering sound.
Rainwater gathered, flowing down from the eaves' gutters, the puddles growing deeper.
Under the eaves, there was a table and two cushions.
Qishier Pin Lian held a sutra scroll, reading by the flickering lamp on the low table.
Cihang Fairy walked step by step through the rain, the water automatically parting around her head. In the distant darkness, faint shadows of powerful auras could be seen.
"Please, sit!"
Qishier Pin Lian did not lift her eyes from the sutra.
Cihang Fairy was calm and serene, without fear or alarm, and sat on the cushion opposite the low table. "The Buddha has ten precepts, the first being not to kill."
"Can you do it?"
"At least I won't kill indiscriminately."
Qishier Pin Lian finally looked up from the sutra and said, "To me, they are not living beings, not lives, so there is no such thing as killing. Cultivating Buddhism begins with cultivating the mind. Once the mind's barrier is passed, the ten precepts no longer bind."
Cihang Fairy looked at the rainwater dripping from the eaves. "Did the Sixth Patriarch teach you these things?"
"No," said Qishier Pin Lian.
Cihang Fairy said, "To speak such demonic Buddhist reasoning in the Sixth Patriarch's former residence—don't you feel any guilt? Aren't you afraid of tarnishing the Sixth Patriarch's reputation?"
"Your Buddhist path is too narrow. You don't understand the Sixth Patriarch at all. The Sixth Patriarch was innocent and natural, with a Maitreya-like childlike heart, laughing at the ugliness of the world. If he cared about his reputation, he would never have reached the supreme state of a Buddha."
Qishier Pin Lian added, "This state is beyond even Kasyapa Buddha."
"The ancestor of Buddhas lies in their Dharma and state of mind; there is no high or low," said Cihang Fairy.
Qishier Pin Lian said, "Then why did Kasyapa Buddha's state of mind collapse after the 'Self-Bone Contemplation'?"
Cihang Fairy immediately understood why Qishier Pin Lian had come to see her.
"Boom!"
Lightning flashed across the night sky, thunder rumbling.
Not far away, at the Washing Image Pond, the lotus flowers shimmered with radiant light, blending with the rain and mist.
Cihang Fairy said, "You actually know the story of 'Self-Bone Contemplation.'"
Qishier Pin Lian said, "Don't forget, I am also a Buddhist cultivator, a practitioner who once followed the Sixth Patriarch. Legend has it that Kasyapa Buddha spent his life saving the suffering, accumulating boundless merit, believing he had understood the true essence of all things. But he became confused about himself, so he contemplated himself and found that he was nothing but a skeleton."
"After his state of mind collapsed, Kasyapa Buddha chose to separate his three bodies. The 'Reward Body,' representing his merit and knowledge, chose to reincarnate."
"The 'Response Body,' representing his myriad incarnations, he severed himself. Only the incarnation of Vinaayaka escaped with the Land of Bliss."
"As for the 'Dharma Body,' representing the Buddha's true form and the essence of life, it disappeared from all recorded texts. Only the Mani Pearl and the Saha World remained. It is very likely that this became the later Nether Ancestor."
"Buddha transforming into the Nether Ancestor—how ironic."
Qishier Pin Lian showed no respect in her tone when speaking of Kasyapa Buddha.
Cihang Fairy said, "It's all just legend."
"So you can also speak against your true feelings."
Qishier Pin Lian put down the sutra scroll and stood up, gazing at the five-colored clouds above the Washing Image Pond.
Within those clouds was the entrance to the Saha World.
She said, "I have observed you for many years, from your birth. Even from your previous life! I was very clear about your connection to the Saha World, and I initially thought you were the World Spirit of the Saha World."
"It wasn't until Zhang Ruochen gave you Vinaayaka's relic, greatly advancing your cultivation, that I understood you are not a World Spirit at all, but the reincarnation of Kasyapa Buddha's Reward Body."
"Whoosh!"
Qishier Pin Lian shifted her position, appearing before Cihang Fairy, and struck her between the eyebrows with a finger.
Instantly, countless Buddha shadows of various forms flew out from within Cihang Fairy. Her consciousness and soul were knocked out of her body—male, female, human, animal, evil ghost, Shura, Rakshasa... all kinds of beings in the world, as if the Six Paths were manifesting in reincarnation.
A strange light flickered in Qishier Pin Lian's eyes. "Ten thousand paths—you have just reached your ten-thousandth life and have awakened some memories. What a ten-thousand-life Buddha, what a hidden immortal reincarnator in the mortal world. Accumulating ten thousand lifetimes of merit in one body is like an elixir of immortality. Eating a piece of your flesh can extend life by at least ten thousand years."
In an instant, all the Buddha shadows returned to Cihang Fairy's body.
Qishier Pin Lian had already returned to her original cushion, her mind calm. "Do you know the meaning of your continued existence?"
Cihang Fairy said, "How can someone who cannot even explain the meaning of their own life ask this question of others?"
"I am not here to debate the Dao with you."
Qishier Pin Lian said, "The only meaning of your existence is as a backup for the Nether Ancestor. If one day the Nether Ancestor's path to immortality fails, you will be his retreat. Rather than letting him have you, it's better to let me have you. With your ten thousand lifetimes of merit, knowledge, and enlightenment, I will surely attain the Ancestor Dao and the Buddha Dao."
Cihang Fairy, with her youthful face of seventeen or eighteen, showed extraordinary calm. "I am here, far from your match. If you want to take, then take. But you must understand one thing: if the Nether Ancestor you speak of truly exists, will he allow you to succeed? Are you sure you want to become his enemy now?"
Qishier Pin Lian stared into Cihang Fairy's eyes, then looked into the distant night. "There's no rush for this! First, watch a play with me, shall we? Bring him out!"
In the night rain, Jingxiu, his body aged, wearing shackles, walked out step by step with difficulty.
Beside him stood a Buddhist cultivator in a red robe, his face covered with knife-cut-like wrinkles, his eyes devoid of any Buddhist essence, instead filled with a deep, unfathomable evil.
If Zhang Ruochen were here, he would recognize him as the missing Nether Hall Lord, Wen Zhiren.
"Amitabha!"
Cihang Fairy pressed her palms together. "With your Heavenly Venerable-level cultivation, why target an ordinary Buddhist cultivator of the Western Buddha Realm? He has long cut off worldly ties and taken refuge in Buddhism. He does not deserve this calamity. If your mind stops here, you will never attain the Ancestor Dao in this life."
"I do not need anyone to teach me what to do."
"Kneel!"
Qishier Pin Lian released her imposing aura, directly crushing Jingxiu's legs, forcing him to kneel in the mud.
Cihang Fairy stood up abruptly, her eyes no longer so calm. "If you kill him, Empress Chi Yao will surely sense it, exposing your secret hiding place in the Western Buddha Realm. Who in the world doesn't know that Imperial Dust is searching the entire universe for you?"
Qishier Pin Lian ignored Cihang Fairy and looked at Jingxiu. "I want to take your blood and cast the Blood Burning Curse to curse Chi Yao and her children. But you have one chance to choose. If you submit to me and willingly offer the blood in your body, I will spare you and Chi Yao."
Jingxiu's face was far calmer than Qishier Pin Lian had anticipated. "You are not trying to spare me and Chi Yao, but to keep us alive to threaten Zhang Ruochen. To force him to do things he doesn't want to do, to achieve your goals."
"First, curse his children to death, to deal a heavy blow to his state of mind."
"Then, take this opportunity to force him to release the mysterious sword cultivator, or the dark remnant body in the Second Confucian Ancestor's Ancestor Realm."
Qishier Pin Lian nodded. "Yes, that's right. I know very well that the grudges of the mortal world are not so easily cut off. A father would have to be heartless to what extent to ignore the life and death of his own daughter. I believe you are not that kind of person! You will agree, won't you?"
Jingxiu was silent for a long time, then said, "Actually, to achieve your goal, you don't need to seek my opinion at all. You just want to humiliate me, to satisfy your twisted desire for revenge. You wish that the one kneeling here now was the Immovable Bright King Great Venerable, to humiliate him... Ah... Om... Ma... Ni... Pad... Me... Hum..."
Qishier Pin Lian reached out through the air, extracting Jingxiu's blood and soul, her eyes icy cold to the extreme.
Cihang Fairy wanted to stop her, but her body was suppressed, unable to move.
The Nether Hall Lord standing beside Jingxiu revealed a ferocious and delighted smile.
"Bang!"
At that moment, the door to the Sixth Patriarch's former residence was split open by a single sword strike.
A young man holding a heavy sword walked in, his long hair loose, his figure tall and upright, unconcerned that the rain was soaking his robes. "Let him go! You know very well that even if you kill my mother, kill my two younger sisters, Father will never compromise. You know I'm here. This play you're putting on is for me to see, to force me to return to Kunlun Realm and help you save people, to become an enemy of my father, an enemy of the world."
Qishier Pin Lian withdrew her power but did not return Jingxiu's blood and soul. Instead, she held them in her palm, observing them.
Chi Kunlun, his weathered figure finally emerging from the darkness, came to Jingxiu's side and helped him up. "Grandfather, let me heal your injuries."
Jingxiu closed his eyes and shook his head gently. As Buddha light flowed within his body, his broken legs quickly reconnected.
But due to the massive loss of blood and soul, he was extremely weak, as if he had aged tens of thousands of years.
Qishier Pin Lian said, "Aren't you already one of us? Where is your master? Why hasn't he come?"