Chapter 4105: Precious Pearl Earthly Bodhisattva
The Heavenly Dragon set sail from the Heavenly Desolate Ferry, entering a broad tributary of the Santu River, speeding away swiftly.
Before long, the Life-and-Death Boundary Star vanished from the sight of the assembled cultivators.
For many, the remainder of their lives would be spent forever at the other end of the starry sky, with the possibility of returning to the Hell Realm being extremely slim.
From the Life-and-Death Boundary Star to the Heavenly Dragon's destination, the "Ten Thousand Streams Realm," would take three months. By then, they would enter the heartland of the Heavenly Desolate, far from the Hell Realm, truly reaching the borderlands of the civilization at the center of the universe.
Three months, for cultivators in seclusion, was but a snap of the fingers.
For cultivators who did not wish to cultivate, there would be no boredom aboard the Heavenly Dragon.
The Heavenly Dragon was remodeled from the skeleton of a divine dragon, the largest existing divine ship of the Meng Clan for traveling to and from the Hell Realm. It stretched five hundred miles long, like a mountain range shrouded in divine light.
Aboard the divine ship were built twenty-seven sacred mountains, twelve clusters of palace complexes, several lakes, with divine trees as canopies and hundreds of flowers like mats. The attendants and sacred army guards alone numbered three hundred thousand.
The Heavenly Dragon was the divine ship of the Meng Clan's First Master, rarely deployed even in a thousand years.
Zhang Ruochen stood on the Cloud Mist Sacred Mountain at the ship's stern, gazing at the gray deathly energy clouds over the Santu River and the brightly lit palace complex below, countless sorrowful thoughts surfacing in his heart.
Fan Chen sat on the cliff edge nearby, not drinking, his hands resting on his legs, listening to the laughter and joy drifting up from the palace complex below, along with the erratic sounds of a zither.
Zhang Ruochen muttered to himself, "Hidden aboard this ship are quite a few formidable figures. How strong are you really? Can you handle them?"
Fan Chen gently shook his head, saying, "My cultivation level fluctuates, very unstable. Actually, you don't need to worry. As long as we are restrained enough and don't meddle in anything, we won't have to fear them."
Zhang Ruochen said, "We're already in the game. Do you think you can stay out of it?"
"The body is a bodhi tree, the mind like a bright mirror stand. I am the Great Unbound, what worries can trouble my heart? Daoist, you have too many attachments, living too tiredly. How about we drink to our hearts' content tonight? Drunk, we won't have to think about anything."
Fan Chen took the wine pouch from his waist and shook it at Zhang Ruochen.
"Ding ding!"
A crisp and peculiar sound came from afar.
At the same time, a breeze carried an intoxicatingly alluring fragrance of a woman.
Zhang Ruochen and Fan Chen turned to look.
A Buddhist cultivator, holding a silver-white tin staff, emerged from the night, walking straight toward them.
This Buddhist cultivator wore a monk's robe that was tight at the waist and wide at the sleeves, a rather unique style. It was a wrapped garment, pieced together from rectangular cloth strips of various colors.
At her slender, hand-span waist hung a fist-sized precious pearl, glowing faintly like a lantern.
As for her lower body, the robe had a high slit. As she walked, her jade-like legs lifted the monk's robe, revealing even the creamy, plump curve of her upper thighs, extremely alluring.
Yet, she wore a hooded hat, covered in "swastika" mark imprints, completely obscuring her face.
"Amitabha! Well said: I am the Great Unbound, what worries can trouble my heart? I, Precious Pearl, am also a cultivator of Buddhism. May I make friends with the two of you?"
As she spoke, she had already arrived before Zhang Ruochen and Fan Chen. The light from the precious pearl at her waist illuminated her long, jade-like legs exposed outside the monk's robe, making them appear even whiter and more delicate.
Her skin was too white, indistinguishable from immortal crystal and divine jade.
Because of cultivation, many women could nurture flawless white skin.
But the skin of this female Buddhist cultivator was unnaturally white.
Just the part exposed was fatally attractive. It was likely that any man in the world would be unable to resist pouncing to kiss and lick her.
Other women relied on their faces and figures for attraction; she only needed an inch of skin to possess it.
This was definitely cultivated deliberately.
Unfortunately, she had encountered Zhang Ruochen and Fan Chen—one with an unshakable will, the other with a flawless state of mind.
After staring at her for a while, their expressions turned peculiar.
Both could tell that her cultivation was terrifyingly profound.
Fan Chen spoke very directly, "You are a Buddhist cultivator? Buddhist cultivators show this much skin?"
The female Buddhist cultivator, called Precious Pearl, was not at all angry. She smiled, "The master can drink wine and eat meat in great freedom. Why can't I be free in my attire? These are all human nature; one should be true and sincere. Why hide it?"
"This..."
Fan Chen was momentarily speechless.
Zhang Ruochen criticized him, "See how narrow-minded you are? You claim to be a high monk, yet you can't see through this. Boundless Heavenly Venerable! I, the Daoist Shengsi, wonder where the master comes from and how she also boarded the Heavenly Dragon?"
Precious Pearl gently pressed down, planting the tin staff firmly into the ground, saying, "Both of you are rare individuals with profound states of mind that I've encountered. How about we drink and chat freely? I am also very curious about the two of you."
Just as Zhang Ruochen and Fan Chen were unsure how to respond, Precious Pearl grabbed the wine pouch from Fan Chen's hand and moved to take it.
Fan Chen didn't let go.
But she still took it.
Precious Pearl sat down on Fan Chen's left, her extremely long, beautiful legs naturally draping over the cliff rock. She pushed back the swastika hooded hat, revealing a young, stunningly beautiful face. She had long, black hair, willow-leaf-like eyebrows, eyes untainted by dust, ruby-like lips, and an extremely spiritual temperament.
She possessed both the ethereal beauty of one transcending the mundane world and a carefree, unrestrained ease.
If looking at an inch of her skin made one want to kiss her, then seeing her face would make one want to hold her in their arms, indulge to their heart's content, and refuse to share her with anyone.
Compared to Compassionate Voyage Venerable, she was a complete opposite.
Compassionate Voyage Venerable's beauty inspired no thoughts of defilement, but her personality was too restrained.
Zhang Ruochen had seen many stunning women, but Precious Pearl still made his eyes light up. Her beauty was not inferior to Moon God or Wu Yue.
Unscrewing the cap of the wine pouch, she thought for a moment, then first handed it to Zhang Ruochen, saying, "Would the Daoist like to go first?"
"Maybe... he goes first?"
Zhang Ruochen pointed at Fan Chen.
Fan Chen quickly waved his hand, saying, "This humble monk doesn't really like drinking that much."
"Hehe!"
Precious Pearl smiled radiantly, not bothering to think about whether Fan Chen had drunk from the pouch, and directly took a sip.
"This... no, no..."
Fan Chen tried to stop her, but it was too late.
A beautiful woman drinking was a pleasing sight. Precious Pearl was elegant but not pretentious.
Some wine spilled from the corner of her mouth, trickling down her slender, jade-like neck, wetting her collar.
"Next, who goes first?"
After taking a sip, Precious Pearl looked intoxicated, offering the pouch to Zhang Ruochen and Fan Chen.
"Amitabha!"
Fan Chen closed his eyes, no longer able to face his own wine pouch. How could he dare to take it?
He had never seen such a bold and unrestrained female Buddhist cultivator.
At that moment, Fan Chen finally realized his cultivation was still insufficient. He could face death calmly, but still feared female allure.
Precious Pearl laughed like silver bells, "The little monk has already been scared out of his wits! Daoist, what about you?"
She raised her flower-and-moon-like head, her eyes slightly narrowed, in a provocative posture, looking at Zhang Ruochen, who stood upright two steps away.
Men who could see an inch of her skin without going mad were already extremely rare.
But this monk and Daoist were too extraordinary. Even after seeing her face, they maintained their composure, naturally stirring her competitive spirit.
"Drinking, this Daoist has never feared anyone. But his wine is too ordinary; how could it intoxicate?"
Zhang Ruochen casually took a bronze wine flask from the space within his sleeve, put it to his lips, and took a long drink, then said, "This Daoist's wine is the real deal. Let's each drink our own!"
"Since it's fine wine, why doesn't the Daoist know how to share?"
As Precious Pearl's words fell, the bronze wine flask somehow ended up in her hand.
She held the flask with both hands, raised it to eye level, and gently brought her lips close, almost touching the spout. She cast a lingering, affectionate glance at Zhang Ruochen before slowly pressing her lips to it.
Her movements and gaze were filled with "desire."
For a moment, Zhang Ruochen felt as if she were not holding the flask's spout, but something else, a vivid and subtle sensation.
Fan Chen, peeking from the side, immediately closed his eyes, his lips seemingly trembling, or perhaps he was just rapidly reciting sutras.
Zhang Ruochen was much more carefree than Fan Chen, unperturbed by "desire," and said, "This Daoist has never met a woman like you, Master. You wear desire on your face, yet you are not off-putting."
"Not off-putting means you like it, right?"
Precious Pearl lightly wiped the corner of her mouth and handed the bronze flask back to Zhang Ruochen.
"Looking at people, there are two ways: either look down on them or look up to them. Those ignored as passersby naturally don't count. I look at you, Master, in a third way: neither light nor heavy, neither disgust nor joy."
Zhang Ruochen took the flask, without joy or disdain, and drank without restraint.
"The Daoist's cultivation is higher than this little monk's, far exceeding my initial expectations. This half-god peak cultivation is too low, not suitable for hiding one's identity. What kind of divine being is the Daoist, really?" Precious Pearl asked, her gaze earnest and sincere.
Zhang Ruochen smiled without speaking.
Precious Pearl took a sip from Fan Chen's wine pouch and said, "If you won't speak, and I won't speak, how can we make friends? Fine, I'll go first. I was invited by the Meng Clan's First Master to visit the Heavenly Desolate, to help the Meng Clan's Third Master resolve a curse."
Zhang Ruochen said, "This Daoist is attached to the Twenty-Eighth Master's faction, going to the Heavenly Desolate to avoid the turmoil."
Precious Pearl stared at Zhang Ruochen, saying, "False, too false! How can someone with your state of mind be so false? Your words are false, your appearance is false, your identity is false. I, however, am entirely true."
Before Zhang Ruochen could respond,
She suddenly smiled, "But it's someone as false as you, someone I should hate the most—why can't I hate you? Shengsi, right? I'll remember that!"
Precious Pearl put down the wine pouch, re-donned her swastika hooded hat, stood up, and looked at Meng Twenty-Eight flying over from afar. Not in a hurry to leave, she patted Fan Chen's bald head and said, "You are still very genuine. Don't let him lead you astray!"
Meng Twenty-Eight lightly landed on the mountaintop, immediately bowing his head, staring at the ground, and said, "Greetings, Precious Pearl Earthly Bodhisattva. The First Master has set a banquet at Cloud Terrace Palace and invites you to attend. Sandalwood Earthly Bodhisattva and Precious Seal Earthly Bodhisattva have already arrived! The First Master said there are important guests from the Western Buddha Realm he wishes to introduce to you."
"Understood!"
Precious Pearl lifted her tin staff, and the "ding ding" sound rang out as she walked past Meng Twenty-Eight.
A fragrance wafted over, and catching a glimpse of the jade-like leg under the monk's robe, Meng Twenty-Eight shuddered, immediately closing his eyes, not daring to look again.
Too terrifying.
Only after the fragrance faded did Meng Twenty-Eight open his eyes, still shaken.
"They've long gone. Why be so shy? Twenty-Eighth Master is a great god; a great god must have the bearing of a great god. What beauties haven't you seen? What storms and waves haven't you weathered?" Fan Chen said.
"It's not shyness, it's fear."
Meng Twenty-Eight frankly admitted his inner fear.
Fan Chen said, "What's there to fear? This master is beautiful, has a good personality, and even drank with us. Twenty-Eighth Master is exaggerating!"
Meng Twenty-Eight didn't believe Fan Chen at all, saying, "Do you really not know who she is?"
"Does who she is matter?" Fan Chen asked.
A monk and Daoist who could survive Precious Pearl Earthly Bodhisattva were definitely not ordinary cultivators.
Meng Twenty-Eight re-evaluated the two before him, saying, "It's normal that you don't know her. She cultivates year-round in the Earthly Desolate, rarely visiting the Heavenly Court Universe and Hell Realm. She is one of the five great Earthly Bodhisattvas of the Earthly Desolate, with unfathomable cultivation. Even the First Master must treat her with respect."
Zhang Ruochen showed a thoughtful expression, saying, "The Earthly Desolate's presence is indeed lower than the Heavenly Desolate's."
"That's because, back then, the Earthly Bodhisattva King competed with the Sixth Patriarch and lost by half a move. From then on, Earthly Desolate Buddhist cultivators could no longer set foot in the Heavenly Court Universe and Hell Realm Universe. The Earthly Desolate's strength is far greater than the Heavenly Desolate's. Even Fengdu Dadi, Void Heaven, and the Yama Clan Leader are quite wary of it," Meng Twenty-Eight said.
Fan Chen said, "The Sixth Patriarch is definitely not one to bully the weak. How could he make such a rude request?"
"No, the request wasn't set by the Sixth Patriarch, but by the Earthly Bodhisattva King. It was a wager. If the Sixth Patriarch had lost, the price would have been handing over the Western Buddha Realm to the Earthly Bodhisattva King," Meng Twenty-Eight said.
Fan Chen suddenly understood, thinking to himself, being able to spar with the Sixth Patriarch and lose by only half a move—the Earthly Bodhisattva King was indeed a remarkable existence.
He wondered if he was still alive.
Zhang Ruochen asked, "What exactly is so terrifying about this Precious Pearl Earthly Bodhisattva? Logically, with Twenty-Eighth Master's great god realm cultivation, you shouldn't be unable to even look at her skin. You can't lack that much mental fortitude."
Meng Twenty-Eight's expression turned strange, and he smiled, "How about the two of you first reveal your true identities, and then we continue talking?"
Zhang Ruochen said, "Our identities are known to Compassionate Voyage Venerable and Erjia Heavenly King. Twenty-Eighth Master can ask them."
Fan Chen chimed in, "At the Heavenly Desolate Sacred City, this humble monk was brought into the City Lord's Mansion by Erjia Heavenly King."
"They have a very deep friendship," Zhang Ruochen added.
Meng Twenty-Eight immediately showed respect, guessing that the monk and Daoist before him were helpers invited by Compassionate Voyage Venerable, hidden in the shadows, definitely formidable experts.
He released a corner of his divine realm world, isolating the outside, and said, "Legend has it that Precious Pearl Earthly Bodhisattva loves to hunt men with profound states of mind. Once captured successfully, she loses interest, then takes their brow bone to make coin-sized Buddha plaques. She collects their souls into her precious pearl. She refines their divine sources into Buddhist beads to wear around her neck. As for their entire cultivation, she devours it all."
"The Buddhist robe on her body—each rectangular cloth strip comes from a different man."
Fan Chen recalled Precious Pearl Earthly Bodhisattva's Buddhist robe, beads, and the Buddha plaques forming her belt, and asked, "Why didn't she capture us just now?"
Meng Twenty-Eight said, "Perhaps because it was inconvenient."
"Why inconvenient?" Fan Chen asked.
Meng Twenty-Eight said, "Master may not have understood my meaning. This 'capture' is not that kind of capture. Precious Pearl Earthly Bodhisattva's capture is making those men willingly climb into her bed and spend a night with her. She believes that then the man belongs to her, and she can decide his life or death."
"So, Precious Pearl Earthly Bodhisattva captures a man's will and desire, making them walk into the trap themselves. She doesn't actively harm people!"
Zhang Ruochen and Fan Chen looked at each other.
"Neither of you should speak of this outside," Meng Twenty-Eight said.
Zhang Ruochen said, "No wonder Twenty-Eighth Master was so restrained and fearful just now. It was an act, afraid of being targeted."
"With my mental fortitude, if I were targeted, I'd be dead!"
Meng Twenty-Eight didn't want to continue this topic, saying, "Would the two of you like to attend tonight's grand banquet?"
"Do we qualify?" Zhang Ruochen asked.
"Anyone above the Great Saint realm can attend."
Fan Chen said, "We won't go..."
"How about going to take a look? Master Fan Chen, are you afraid of seeing Precious Pearl Earthly Bodhisattva? Don't worry, in such a setting, she will definitely be very reserved. How could she not give face to the Meng Clan's First Master? Besides, Twenty-Eighth Master just said that Precious Pearl Earthly Bodhisattva doesn't actively harm people. She is, after all, a Buddhist cultivator with profound cultivation," Zhang Ruochen said.
(Chapter End)