Chapter 928: Entering the World for Cultivation
In the meditation hall, it was extremely quiet, the atmosphere somewhat strange.
After a long while, Kong Lanyou withdrew the faint smile from her face and asked softly, "I remember you have a fiancée. It should be her, right?"
"That is my private matter."
Zhang Ruochen was not embarrassed; he appeared quite composed.
Kong Lanyou nodded and said, "Since you don't want to talk about it, then I won't ask. I only have one final question. If you truly are that person from eight hundred years ago, now that you have come to the Central Domain, why haven't you gone to pay respects at Aunt's tomb?"
Hearing this, Zhang Ruochen felt a slight pang of pain in his heart, and his fingers involuntarily tightened a bit.
Zhang Ruochen had long wanted to go to the Imperial Mausoleum to pay respects to his mother, the Empress, but it had been delayed because of the matter of the Nether King Sword Tomb.
Kong Lanyou slowly stood up. Her slender figure was extremely perfect, and her long white hair, beautiful like a waterfall of lard, swayed gently.
"You can continue to conceal it; I won't force you. But I must tell you, I am going to Aunt's tomb to sweep it and will wait there for three months. If you are him, yet do not come within three months... Even if he is still alive, I will consider him dead."
As the last word fell, Kong Lanyou's figure completely vanished from the meditation hall.
Zhang Ruochen understood very well that Kong Lanyou was forcing him, and she was using his deceased mother, the Empress, to do so, making it impossible for him not to yield.
"She really is quite domineering."
Zhang Ruochen's brows were tightly furrowed, and he closed his eyes. Finally, a hint of a smile appeared at the corner of his mouth.
He definitely had to go to his mother's tomb. Since he couldn't avoid it, he could only face it openly.
After breakfast, Zhang Ruochen met with Master Indra and discussed some matters concerning the Golden Dragon. Upon hearing that the Golden Dragon's final dragon soul had dissipated, Master Indra also let out a continuous sigh.
The two walked along the small stone path in the meditation courtyard, and before they knew it, they arrived below the Buddha Emperor's stone statue.
Master Indra pressed his palms together, his appearance solemn and dignified, and respectfully bowed to the Buddha Emperor's stone statue. "Benefactor Zhang, this humble monk actually has a favor to ask."
Zhang Ruochen slightly bowed and also saluted the Buddha Emperor's stone statue. "I, too, have a favor to ask."
Master Indra smiled faintly. "This humble monk has nothing left to fear in this world, except for the word 'karma.' Since we each have a matter, it can just offset that karma."
Zhang Ruochen said, "Master, please speak your mind."
Master Indra said, "In the battle at the Nether King Sword Tomb, this humble monk joined forces with the Bright Hall Holy Ancestor to repel the Azure Heaven Blood Emperor. However, we also interfered in worldly affairs and exposed the location of Sikong Meditation Courtyard."
"From now on, whether it is this humble monk or Sikong Meditation Courtyard, we will surely be drawn into the conflicts of this chaotic age, with no more opportunity for quiet cultivation."
"This humble monk has taken on three disciples in total. Aside from the third disciple, who is still young, the other two have already achieved some accomplishments. Since the chaotic age has arrived, they too should go out and gain some experience."
"If they were to leave the meditation courtyard alone to train, this humble monk would still be somewhat worried. If Benefactor Zhang could take them along, it would relieve this humble monk of some concerns."
Zhang Ruochen was slightly surprised. "Master wants me to take Grand Minister of Works and Second Minister of Works out to train?"
Master Indra nodded. "Seclusion is a form of cultivation, and entering the world is also a form of cultivation. Only the rolling red dust can temper their Buddhist hearts, allowing them to reach a higher level."
Second Minister of Works was still manageable—honest, dull, and of a gentle disposition—but Grand Minister of Works was definitely not a monk who would stay put.
To be honest, Zhang Ruochen really didn't want to help with this.
Zhang Ruochen thought for a moment and said, "I can agree to Master's request and take them into the world. But I also ask Master to grant one of my requests."
"Please speak."
Zhang Ruochen took out the Skyward Sword and held it in his hands. "Ten thousand years ago, humanity combined all its strength to defeat the Nether King and seal him in the fifteenth layer of the Nether Prison. To open the fifteenth layer, six keys are needed, each key being a sacred sword."
"Now, five of those sacred swords have been taken by the Azure Heaven Blood Emperor, leaving only this last Skyward Sword in my possession."
"Although the Azure Heaven Blood Emperor has retreated, he will surely return. Next, countless experts of the Undying Blood Clan will come looking for me to seize the Skyward Sword."
"With my current cultivation, I truly lack the confidence to protect the Skyward Sword. So, I wish to temporarily entrust the Skyward Sword to Master and retrieve it on the day I become a Saint."
Given Master Indra's status and experience, he must also know the secrets of the Nether King and the six sacred swords, so Zhang Ruochen did not hide anything and told him everything.
"Amitabha."
Master Indra glanced at the Skyward Sword and let out a long sigh. "This humble monk knew that once he interfered in worldly affairs, he would be drawn into the storm. But I didn't expect the trouble to come so quickly."
Master Indra naturally understood the immense significance of this sacred sword. It could be said that the Skyward Sword was now the hottest item in the entire Kunlun Realm.
Anyone who took it would invite endless slaughter.
"Oh well, perhaps it was already fated the moment you stepped into Sikong Meditation Courtyard."
Master Indra took the hilt of the Skyward Sword and tucked it into his sleeve. "It seems Sikong Meditation Courtyard can no longer be stayed in. If Benefactor Zhang wishes to retrieve the Skyward Sword, you can come to the Western Buddha Realm's Brahma Path to find this humble monk."
Master Indra took out a green wooden Buddhist bead and placed it in Zhang Ruochen's palm. "This Buddhist bead possesses some wondrous power that can conceal the aura on your body. It can evade the Ministry of War's Octagonal Sacred Eye and also block the deductions of the Undying Blood Clan's spiritual saints. When you come to Brahma Path, you can use this bead as a token to see this humble monk."
With this bead, it would indeed save Zhang Ruochen a lot of trouble.
Afterwards, Master Indra called Grand Minister of Works and Second Minister of Works over and instructed them to obey Zhang Ruochen's orders once they entered the world, along with other such words.
After giving his instructions, Master Indra took Little Minister of Works and left first, embarking on the journey to the Western Region.
Leaving his master's side for the first time, Second Minister of Works was quite sorrowful, tears streaming down his face as he knelt outside the meditation courtyard, unable to stand up for a long time.
In contrast, Grand Minister of Works was extremely excited. He immediately returned to the meditation courtyard to pack various luggage, filling ten large sacks without finishing.
Zhang Ruochen was quite curious and asked, "What are you packing?"
Grand Minister of Works gave a mysterious smile and opened one of the sealed sacks. Inside were two blood-red skeletons.
The two skeletons were as if carved from rubies, crystal clear and translucent, with circles of holy light floating on the surface of the bones.
"Holy Bones," Zhang Ruochen said.
Grand Minister of Works said, "Right! Yesterday, that Bright Hall Holy Ancestor killed two saints of the Undying Blood Clan, leaving behind two holy bones. I once heard a pilgrim who stayed at the meditation courtyard mention that holy bones are priceless treasures that can fetch a sky-high price on the black market. So, last night, I went into the Blood Lake and fished out the two holy bones."
Then, Grand Minister of Works opened several other sacks to show Zhang Ruochen. Some sacks contained various True Martial Treasures and sacred artifacts that Grand Minister of Works had picked up, while others were filled with spiritual medicines and spiritual fruits.
In short, every item could be sold for a considerable price.
Zhang Ruochen picked up a six-zhang-long cyan bone spike. The spike had nineteen segments, and its surface was densely covered with dragon patterns.
This was the sacred artifact of Kong Yi Blood General, the Azure Dragon Spike.
"Such powerful dragon qi."
Holding the bone spike in his hand, a low dragon roar entered Zhang Ruochen's ears.
A powerful dragon soul should be sealed within the bone spike, likely having reached the saint level.
To successfully cultivate the tenth palm of the Dragon-Elephant Prajna Palm, Zhang Ruochen needed to refine a dragon soul and an elephant soul. Now that a dragon soul was right before him, he naturally didn't want to let it go.
Since Grand Minister of Works planned to sell the Azure Dragon Spike anyway, Zhang Ruochen might as well buy it first.
"Name your price. This Azure Dragon Spike is very important to me; I want to buy it," Zhang Ruochen said.
Grand Minister of Works immediately showed a displeased expression. "Benefactor Zhang, saying this makes it seem like we're strangers. If you fancy something, just take it. Of course... don't take too much."
Zhang Ruochen smiled faintly, looked at the ten large sacks on the ground, thought for a moment, took out a space bracelet, and handed it to Grand Minister of Works. "I have a space treasure that might be useful to you."
Then, Zhang Ruochen explained how to use the space bracelet to Grand Minister of Works.
"I was just worried about having too much to carry, but I didn't expect Benefactor Zhang to have such a miraculous treasure. Amitabha! Thank you! Thank you!"
Grand Minister of Works was overjoyed at the wonder of the space bracelet and immediately dug up more than a dozen large sacks from a corner of the meditation courtyard. Each sack was filled with heavenly materials and earthly treasures.
After packing everything, Zhang Ruochen, Grand Minister of Works, and Second Minister of Works finally set out on their journey of worldly training.
Originally, Zhang Ruochen had planned to go to the Nether King Sword Tomb to find Ling Feiyu's whereabouts and also check on the current situation of the Zhenyu Ancient Clan.
After careful thought, Zhang Ruochen shook his head.
Although the Azure Heaven Blood Emperor had retreated, there were surely still some experts of the Undying Blood Clan hiding in the outskirts of the Nether King Sword Tomb.
Those Undying Blood Clan members did not know that Zhang Ruochen had already entrusted the Skyward Sword to Master Indra, and they would still try every means to find his whereabouts.
If Zhang Ruochen went to the Zhenyu Ancient Clan, it would undoubtedly expose his location.
Since that was the case, it was better to disappear without a trace, making it impossible for the Ministry of War and the Undying Blood Clan to find him.
"Benefactor Zhang, where are we going?" Second Minister of Works asked.
Leaving his master's side for the first time to train in the world, Second Minister of Works looked somewhat lost.
Zhang Ruochen said, "To the Black Market."
Hearing this, Grand Minister of Works' eyes lit up, and he silently felt grateful to Zhang Ruochen. "Benefactor Zhang is truly a considerate benefactor!"
He thought Zhang Ruochen had set the first stop of their worldly training at the Black Market because of him. In reality, Zhang Ruochen had his own purposes for going to the Black Market. (To be continued.)