# Chapter 938: Chasing the Buddha
Golden specks of light swirled around his fingertips, like golden butterflies dancing gracefully before soaring into the sky.
Ye Fan was startled. The fist-sized relic was shrinking, becoming a rain of light that scattered in all directions. The scene was magnificent, holy, solemn, and dignified.
Dao dissolution—he first thought of these two words, but then felt it wasn't that. Long ago in the Western Desert, that ancient Buddha had already completely passed into nirvana.
"Could it be... there really is reincarnation?" Ye Fan suddenly became excited, his heart surging with emotion as he stood up abruptly.
These past few days, his mind had been in a daze, wandering aimlessly, barely knowing where he was. His parents' figures constantly filled his thoughts, and he was immersed in grief, unable to extricate himself.
Reincarnation, resurrection... these thoughts lingered in his mind. The reason he had thought of the relic and the ancient coffin that should have been buried in the nine heavens was also because of this.
Buddhism emphasizes the afterlife and speaks of reincarnation. And the nine-layered coffin from the mythological era was used to bury gods and was also a product of immortality.
These past few days, Ye Fan had been mentally disoriented. Subconsciously, he had taken out these two items, seeking immortality and searching for methods of reincarnation, only to see his parents again.
This was an unconscious action, but it suddenly jolted him awake. Otherwise, he might have remained in a stupor for who knows how many more days.
The ancient coffin buried in the nine heavens showed no change, still plain and unadorned. But the relic was slowly dissolving, like a snowball melting.
Ye Fan's essence, energy, and spirit rose to their peak. He stared without blinking, a cluster of divine flames leaping and dancing at his brow, like a deity!
He used his heart to sense the relic, examining its changes. Even if he didn't believe in reincarnation inwardly, he still hoped for a miracle. His deep eyes were fixed and unblinking.
The relic seemed to be undergoing dao dissolution, continuously becoming light-like, spreading outward as golden ripples. The colors were beautiful, as if displaying immortal arts. Golden specks connected into a single expanse.
"Wow, Uncle, are you performing magic?" A little boy ran over in the park, blinking his eyes as he looked at the relic turning into specks of light in Ye Fan's hand.
"So pretty! Uncle, teach me how you did that. It's amazing and beautiful." This little boy wasn't shy at all and begged Ye Fan to teach him.
"It's much better than that 'witness the miracle' thing that appears every year at the Spring Festival Gala. I'm tired of seeing that," several young people nearby also said, coming over to join the excitement.
"Hey, your brow is glowing too. Is that phosphorus? Doesn't it burn?" A young man was very curious and reached out to touch the cluster of divine flames at Ye Fan's brow.
"Ouch! That hurts like hell!" Before his hand even touched it, it felt as painful as being pricked by needles. He quickly pulled his hand back while still at a distance and exclaimed, "Brother, you really have perseverance. Doesn't it hurt? Sigh, nothing in life is easy."
Ye Fan ignored them, not caring about shocking the world. He stared at the light spilling from the relic, watching it fly westward, then stood up and chased after it.
His speed was incredibly fast, disappearing like a gust of wind, startling the cute little boy so much that he fell on his bottom, and leaving the young men and women dumbfounded.
The relic emitted light, converging into streams that flowed toward where the sun set. It was very mysterious. Ye Fan moved like wind and lightning, leaving the city in an instant.
These specks of light were like golden butterflies, not flying very fast, dancing gracefully as if alive. Ye Fan could easily catch up and had time to observe.
"There's no divine sense fluctuation, it's not a primordial spirit, and there's no imprint of life. It's just pure energy." He frowned slightly.
Ye Fan was very focused. He extended his divine sense, using his cultivation, to observe each speck of light, trying to understand its origin and what it really was.
But he was disappointed. This thing had nothing to do with reincarnation. There was no life imprint, only pure energy, nothing else.
"No wonder even the ancient Buddha himself said, 'Believe and it exists, doubt and it doesn't.' With his level of cultivation, he surely knew that after death, everything is ultimately empty."
The only thing Ye Fan couldn't understand was why the old monk who had dissolved into dao insisted that he bring his relic back to Earth. What was the meaning? Because he had already noticed that every so often, some specks of light would dim, either dissipating or merging into mountains, rocks, grass, and trees. Occasionally, some light particles would be absorbed by fortunate people.
"Perhaps, before his nirvana, he saw a second similar flower. Even knowing it wasn't himself, he still wanted to draw close."
Ye Fan was disappointed, but he still chased after it, wanting to see the final result. The speed of these light specks wasn't fast for him. Several days later, he arrived in the western region.
Ahead, the altitude grew higher and higher. The sky looked as if it had been washed clean, an incomparably deep blue, crystal clear like sapphire. Occasionally, white clouds drifted by, spotless and pure. It felt like a Buddha was about to descend to the world.
He was very puzzled and inquired carefully. Some people said that the Land of Ultimate Bliss had opened, and they could sense Buddhist power. Others said that in the Saha World, a Buddha had awakened. Still others said that the Buddhist gate had opened, manifesting its teachings in the world.
Ye Fan shook his head and turned away. Although he was still grieving and his heart was gloomy, he had somewhat emerged from his inner world. He knew there were still things waiting for him to do.
He traveled through vast uninhabited areas and saw some dilapidated ancient temples, long reduced to ruins. Unexpectedly, he sensed very strong fluctuations in these places.
"Something's not right!"
Ye Fan suddenly felt that when he was grieving like an ordinary person, he was unaware and unfeeling. But when he slightly sobered up and carefully sensed, this land had something unusual—it actually pressed down on him, making it hard to breathe, targeting cultivators!
He couldn't help but look up at the sky and mutter to himself, "Is it Mount Meru or Mount Kunlun? I'll have to investigate thoroughly someday."
But then, thinking that even with his cultivation reaching this level, he couldn't protect his parents, he became disheartened again. What use was it even if he could discover secret lands?
The immortal path was rugged. Whether severing the dao or attaining the dao, one had to give up too much. But in the end, one couldn't even protect one's loved ones. It all seemed meaningless.
Ye Fan turned back. As he was about to leave the Tibetan region, passing a stone mountain, he saw another ruined ancient temple. Suddenly, he felt something was watching him.
He turned and walked toward the ancient temple ruins, staring at a stone Buddha, step by step approaching it. He found it somewhat unbelievable—in this age of the decline of the dharma, he had encountered a creature with "cultivation."
"Swoosh"
From behind the stone Buddha, a purple light shot up and disappeared into the stone mountain.
Ye Fan looked up, climbed the hundred-meter-high stone mountain in one step, and stared at a bowl-sized stone cave. There, a small stone Buddha about a palm's height was half-blocking the cave entrance.