Qianmo’s feather got smoother. It seemed happy and no longer looked sickly. It opened up its wings and flew into the snow. It flapped its wings in the snow and seemed to be enjoying itself.
Shen Lian envied the bird. It was so carefree and found a home at Shen Lian’s.
Shen Lian wanted to live his days lazily, without a care in the world. However, he could not do it now. Whether it was the danger faced by him or to look for Ruoxi, he needed to enter into the state of Huandan in order to have the strength to deal with it.
Shen Lian knew that the person in bloody clothes would return sooner or later. He looked at Shen Lian as though Shen Lian was his toy, and that was when Shen Lian knew that the person took interest in certain qualities exhibited by Shen Lian.
As the mountain was sealed off by the snow, no one should be visiting the Temple of Killings. However, someone came.
The path into the mountain was not an easy path to travel on, but the visitor still came.
Shen Lian looked at the person and noticed that he was walking barefoot in this bitter cold weather, where the ground was covered with ice and snow. He was clothed in a thin monk outfit and was bald. His bald head reflected the light better than the snow on the ground did. Naturally, he was an ascetic monk engaging in ascetic practices.
In this world, there were those who had the determination and willpower to suffer through a bitter life. Through ascetic practices, they trained their willpower to the state that it was indestructible like Jingang.
These people were strong.
The ascetic monk engaging in ascetic practices in front of Shen Lian did not have Mana, and Shen Lian knew without a doubt that he could not fly. However, as he walked on his own two feet, he exhibited the tenacity of a mountain.
When the ascetic monk saw Shen Lian, he spaced out. “You are Shen Lian?” Perhaps it was because Shen Lian was an overly delicate-looking teenager, which made the ascetic monk doubted himself.
“Yes I’m, may I ask who are you and why are you looking for me?” Shen Lian queried.
The ascetic monk was young and seemed to have a strong life force. His brows were covered slightly by the snow from when Qianmo was playing in the snow and seemed slightly fair. Though, it still could not cover his young features.
Shen Lian felt the force flowing in his body. It was neither Mana nor inner Qi, but it was strong and not hidden.
“My religious name is “Hong Zhen”, and Master Hui Ke sent me to bring you a message,” the ascetic monk spoke politely after hearing Shen Lian’s reply.
Shen Lian glanced at the ascetic monk Hong Zhen. The young monk had thick brows and looked honest. Even though he was dressed in thin clothing and walked barefoot in the bitter cold, he did not seem bothered at all. It would seem like he was used to living in harsh environments. Shen Lian guessed it right away. “Are you a disciple of Master Hui Ke?” Shen Lian asked.
“Not really, I used to be a workman in the Jingang Temple. Master Hui Ke came to the temple to talk to the abbot, and the abbot sent me to serve Master Hui Ke. When Master Hui Ke was leaving the Jingang Temple, he requested for the abbot to allow for me to leave with him. The abbot agreed to it too. From then onwards, I have been following Master Hui Ke,” Hong Zhen replied after he nodded.
Shen Lian could tell that he held Hui Ke in high regards. Indeed, the monk had left a great impression on Shen Lian. It was no wonder that he was the Xingzou of Ming Wang Temple. However, Shen Lian heard the name, Jingang Temple and could not help but to ponder on it.
Jingang Temple was a temple situated in the snowy mountains of Bei Huang. It came from a long history, and the monks preferred ascetic practices. Allegedly, they were all cultivating a secret technique called the “King Kong Strength”. At the pinnacle of cultivation, their body would be indestructible and unaffected by any sort of attacks. Their body would also be preserved in this world, which was why this state was called the “Jingang Body”.
No one had been able to attain the “Jingang Body” for a thousand years. The Jingang Temple was walking on a downward slope. This was the tragedy faced by the schools of cultivation besides the four main Daoist sects. Even if a few prodigies appeared amidst them, but there was no guarantee that there would be successors after the previous immortal Zhenren had left or after they faced trials.
In the past ten thousand years, there would always be a new immortal Zhenren in Qing Xuan every few hundred years. This meant that even if a sect was weakening, but so long as they still had one or two pillars of support, they would be able to survive through the difficult times.
This characteristic of Daoist sect was unrivaled by other schools of cultivation.
Even though Hong Zhen claimed to be a workman from the Jingang Temple, but for Hui Ke, the Xingzou of Ming Wang Temple to take notice of him, he would definitely have his own strengths as well. Shen Lian noticed how he was honest and his eyes were clear. Though, the strange force within him hinted at something odd about him.
“So that’s what it is. May I know what the message is?” Shen Lian replied with a smile.
“On the fifteenth of January, Master Hui Ke is going to have a debate with Baoyue the Venerable at Jinguang Temple. He is inviting people to strengthen his momentum. After passing on the message to you, I am going to invite Daoist Baishi who loiters around the market at Baolin Kingdom,” Hong Zhen replied.
Shen Lian knew that there were plenty of branches in Buddhism, and all of them had different interpretations and understanding of Buddhism. Hence, they would debate in public in order to test their own strength, and also propagate their understanding. After all, a debate between two people would always be more interesting than listening to a single person. Moreover, it would inspire one to ponder deeply as well.
This sort of debates had nothing to do with the state of attainment. Even if a monk who was in charge of sweeping the floor and had zero cultivation could add in a few words during the debate. The enlightened monks would not mind at all if the remark made could help them to understand the true meaning of Rulai better.
On this point, Xuanmen did have their version of the conversation. The venue would usually be somewhere nice and deserted. As the saying goes, “Daoist drifted around the world without a trace, in the unknown place in the depths of clouds”, and a lot of Daoist cultivators saw the mortal secular world as a place filled with suffering and had stayed away from it. Moreover, even if one had helped tens of thousands of people, it would be a joke if one still failed to attain immortality. This was why Buddhism was more influential in the mortal secular world.
However, when the top one percent was concerned, Daoist sects still had an advantage over Buddhism. Even Lu Jiuyuan himself was awe-inspiring enough, and every cultivator in this world looked up to him and held him in the highest regard.
“I see, I will be there,” Shen Lian replied after thinking for a while.
Since his job here was done, Hong Zhen had no reason to stay. He exchanged a few polite greetings with Shen Lian and was ready to leave. Out of a sudden, Shen Lian pressed on his shoulder. Divine power rushed out of him immediately, and the power was charging at Shen Lian. Shen Lian’s Daoist robe welled up and contracted. Hong Zhen immediately took five steps back and stood firmly. The accumulation of snow on the ground was forced aside, and five clear footprints could be seen. The surrounding area cracked.
“I see that you are cultivating the King Kong Strength. How impressive!” Shen Lian smiled.
“It is King Kong Strength indeed. Sorry for my lack of control, for I have destroyed the ground,” Hong Zhen apologized.
Shen Lian sent a wave of yellow current to the ground. The crack in the ground was healed immediately, and Hong Zhen was very amazed.
“The great techniques of Xuan Men were amazing. I still have errands to run and I will excuse myself now. If you still have any instruction for me, you may voice it,” he replied.
“You may leave now, I was just testing you. Sorry if I have offended you,” Shen Lian replied.
Shen Lian shook his head after Hong Zhen left. It would seem that Shen Lian was being unnecessarily suspicious; he was not sure if Hong Zhen had King Kong Strength, but it was massive and did not exhibit any evil characteristics.
As for whether he was telling the truth, it would not be hard to find out. He just had to head down the mountain and ask around.
Hong Zhen descended from the mountain and arrived at a small forest. He did not go into the forest but had gestured a formula. A green light appeared and headed right into the forest. Sounds of the bell were coming out of the forest, and after thirty minutes, a flying ark fell from the sky. No one was navigating the ark. Hong Zhen boarded the flying ark and the flying ark ascended immediately. It was unknown how high the altitude was, but there were gusts of heavenly wind blowing.
There were thick clouds not far away, and the flying ark had sent him there. Hong Zhen stepped on the fluffy clouds and seemed to be relaxing.
“You seem to have mastered The Forbidden Technique of Xiaozhu Clouds. It’s not dangerous for even a mortal like me to step on it,” Hong Zhen looked the same, but he gave off an entirely different aura. He stood on the clouds and his clothes danced in the wind. He seemed very charismatic.
A lot of believers, male or female alike would definitely be moved by the sight of him.
He was speaking to a ball of divine aura. There were hints of blood flowing in the divine aura.
“It does not matter if I have mastered the techniques in the mortal world. Otherwise, I would not be struggling to run away from Ziling Uncle-Master. Too bad that I didn’t get to synchronized Shen Lian with my “Free Form Incarnation”, otherwise I would have been able to peep into the mystery of the Taixu Strategy. At least I would have gained some improvement and would not be struggling to escape from Ziling Uncle-Master.” The voice in the divine aura sounded the same as the person in bloody clothes. He sounded calm even though he was complaining about his predicament.
Hong Zhen knew that the divine aura was merely a small part of spiritual consciousness that came from the person’s main body from a thousand miles away. Even though the spiritual consciousness was still important, but it would not hurt his main body even if the spiritual consciousness was wiped out.
Hong Zhen had never seen his face before. As he had blended into the crowd, he might be any street artist in the market or a young man who succeeded in the Imperial Examination; he could even be an important minister in a huge empire.
Regardless of how many clones he may create with his “Free Form Incarnation”, he would still have an original body. Otherwise, the clones would have individual consciousness and would not be able to distinguish who “I” was.
“For Ziling Zhenren’s Taixu Strategy, the moment she managed to cultivate Primordial Spiritual Body, she had become the top one percent of the world. Besides Lu Jiuyuan, no one could say with certainty that they could take her out. If it is not for the fact that you have not completed your Dao formula yet, Ziling Zhenren wouldn’t be able to do anything to you,” Hong Zhen replied.
“You seem to be better with words in this reincarnation as compared to your previous reincarnation. Shen Lian managed to use Grandmaster Yuan Qing’s meaning of Dharma to eliminate the demonic seeds of my “Free Form Incarnation”. We have no choice but to lure him to the Jinguang Temple and look for a chance to draw out the relic in Jinguang Temple with the meaning of Dharma. With this Buddha relic, you will be able to successfully cultivate your Jingang Body.”
Hong Zhen’s identity was not a lie, and there was no loophole. The difference was, in his earlier preparation, he planned to invite the Shen Lian who had been replaced by the blood-red divine aura.