(Thanks to Heaven Will Daoist, Daoist_Brother_91, and Gaurave_Parihar_7759 for the gift.)
——
‘Why do I feel this Innate Dao Source Physique is even better than my Paragon Soul?’ thought Wang Wei as he felt like Xiao Tiandi was one of these protagonists that could cheat life. They use reckless techniques that should kill them, but miraculously, they have another miraculous technique to negate the negative effect.
‘Doesn’t matter. Let’s see if I can get some secret techniques from him,’ he thought.
“What about Shu Ruolan; how powerful she is?”
“All I can say is her Emperor Bone has a disgusting ability,” replied Monk Wuzhi, with determination in his eyes not to say anything else.
Wang Wei instantly could tell the monk was not happy with him leading the entire conversation; this was his way of wrestling power. So, Wang Wei did not ask for any more information.
He theorized that besides Xiao Tiandi and Shi Ruolan, the other upper-seeded players were not on par with Zhang Yucheng and the monk. They were only classified in that spot because of some political intrigue that Gu Xuan was playing.
And since they were only for their mission, they did not care about their rankings.
“Benefactor, are you going to help me or not?”
“Do you really need my help?”
“What do you mean?”
“From what I know, Feng Heng, no, Shi Fuyu is an expert at hiding.”
Wang Wei once read Feng Heng’s Fate Line and knew some information about him and his past as the monk, Shi Fuyu. And from the Sleeper’s information, he knew of a monk that lived during the Incense Era.
The Sleepers noticed him since he was the last survivor of Buddhism in the Myriad Emperor World. Of course, it did not help that the monk was sloppy in his early days when he tried to convert some talented individuals to Buddhism.
Although the Sleepers lost track of him after a certain period, it was still recorded that this monk was an expert at hiding. It even evaded the search of a few Pseudo-Eternal Emperors from the Taiyi Profound Gate.
“Do you think he can escape from our masters’ eyes?” asked Monk Wuzhi in response. And Wang Wei had to agree with the latter. These two’s masters were one of the reasons he did not want to be so noticeable in their competition.
What if their masters’ Will descended and used their bodies during their confrontation? He will be directly under these people’s eyes, which makes him uncomfortable.
“One last question: what will happen to Feng Heng’s status in the Taiyi Profound Gate?”
Monk Wuzhi pondered for a moment before saying: “In the best-case scenario, he will remain where he is from. If not, it will not affect the overall plan.”
Wang Wei squinted his eyes as he could analyze much information from those two sentences. Feng Heng had very likely already converted many upper-echelons of the Taiyi Profound Gate into his neo-Buddhism sect–including some Immortal-level powerhouses.
Secondly, Zhang Yucheng’s master has not had access to the Myriad Emperor World for quite some time now. Otherwise, he would have long alerted the Taiyi Profound Gate and not let the situation reach such a late stage.
Wang Wei took out a talisman he had made that contained his full strength. After seeing and sensing the power inside, Monk Wuzhi’s eyes lit up. He knew he could defeat Zhang Yucheng with that power.
“I will help you, but I have one condition.”
“What is it?”
“I want to study your Nine Nirvana Heart.”
“Impossible
“Don’t overreact, monk. Plus, it’s not like it’s going to hurt you.”
“I refuse.”
“Fine. But you’re on your own. Once Feng Heng dies, I will take on his cause to pay my karma.”
“You!” said the monk before calming down. Then, he looked at Wang Wei with a sneer.
“You don’t seem to have a grasp of the situation. Any Heavenly Chosen from the Myriad Emperor World is on a watchlist to determine whether to immediately execute them after they ascend.
“The entire Eternal Ascension World has been blocked, preventing anything or anyone from entering and leaving.
“As for you, you are an anomaly. All the things you have achieved make you a glowing light in a dimly lit room. And your light has not been extinguished in advance because of my master.
“If one day she decides to no longer protect you, Empress Wu will barely be able to save you from the other Paragons in her current state. And if my master does not stop Supreme Unity, your only fate is destruction.
“You will leave your life only in despair.”
“Is that supposed to scare me?” Wang Wei calmly asked back. “What you consider despair, for me, is at best an inconvenience and, worse, a problem I have to think a little longer to solve.”
As he said these words, his body instinctively released a terrifying pressure that made Monk Wuzhi’s heart shake.
“Maybe it’s because you’ve lived under your master’s protection for so long, idolizing her power. But you seem to forget that some cultivators, some people, would rather die than compromise their beliefs and ideologies.
“But let me remind you. I would rather die than become a pawn in whatever game your master is playing. Believe me when I say I have this level of conviction.”
“Amitabha,” muttered the monk as a golden light shone on his body, seeming to calm him down. Then, he recited his sutra for half a minute.
‘It seems my state of mind is not as calm and peaceful as I thought. I’ve built hidden arrogance deep inside my heart due to my status and background; This is a learning experience for me to become better enlightened.’
Monk Wuzhi closed his eyes as a peaceful aura emanated from his body. A few minutes later, he opened his eyes, full of wisdom. His previously agitated mood was gone, and he appeared more like a wise and enlightened monk; his state of mind was sublimated.
Upon opening his eyes, the monk was now calmer. “Benefactor, I’m sorry for the outburst.”
“No, I’m the one who should apologize. You’re a guest, and I should treat you as such.”
Mon Wuzhi shook his head and did not continue on the issue. “Benefactor, why do you want to study my physique? You have to understand a person’s physique is special to them. If someone else knew it too well, they could cause great harm.”
“I’m aware of this, and I know my request was disrespectful. As you can guess, I wanted to create a longevity technique base on your physique to acquire nine lives after proving the Dao.
“And I promise to share this technique with you, granting you an additional nine lives.”
Wang Wei had this idea the moment he learned about longevity resources. He wanted to use his nine incarnations to each grant him an additional life after proving the Dao. And if he could study Monk Wuzhi’s physique, he would have a higher chance of success.
‘That’s not a bad idea,’ thought Monk Wuzhi. Before today, he had never thought about that since he knew he would have nine lives the moment he proved the Dao. And these nine lives would accompany him to the Paragon Realm.
And if he had an additional nine, even if they were only available in the Emperor Realm, it would help him tremendously.
“I agree with your condition,” said the monk after thinking for a moment. “But, I have a condition of my own.”
“Please.”
“I want the Dao Opening Sect to help in the protection plan.”
“What do you mean?”
“I fear Zhang Yucheng will gather Immortal Tier powerhouses to kill Feng Heng. Regrettably, our Buddhist Sect does not have as much of an influence in the lower dimension. So, it is more difficult to gather immortals on our side.”
“That’s fine. But we can only prevent these immortals from intervening in your battle with Zhang Yucheng. We won’t go out of our way to deal with your enemy for you.”
“That’s fine by me.”
Wang Wei nodded before signing the necessary binding contract. Then, he led the monk to a particular room in his mansion with a formation.
“You should have some powerful time treasure, right?”
The monk’s lips trembled before taking out an hourglass-looking magic artifact. Wang Wei then sent him inside with the formation, gathering information for five hundred years, while an instant passed outside.
In a few seconds, the monk disappeared next to him before reappearing, and the aura on his body seemed stronger than before. Meanwhile, Wang Wei had a talisman in his hand with a bunch of information from scanning the monk’s body and soul.
“Since our transaction is finished, there is nothing left to talk about. It was a pleasure to meet you, Monk Wuzhi,” said Wang Wei before bowing slightly.
The monk looked at him with a deep gaze. He was not stupid, and he could guess some things. His state of mind was sublimated, and in the short 500 years of retreat inside that formation, he discovered he understood deeper about the essence of Buddhism and even had a few bold and new ideas.
All of these changes resulted in his strength increase to the peak of 7-Leaf, close to 8-Leaf, the same as Zhang Yucheng.
“The pleasure was all mine,” replied the monk with a bow before leaving the mansion.
“You’ve taken too great of a risk,” said Wang Wucheng, who suddenly appeared.
“Calculated risks. If the Ancestor did not tell me some information about the upper dimension’s situation, I would have used a less aggressive method.”
“It’s good you have thought things through properly. But, how about getting the sect involved in this battle?”
“There is a high chance that Maitreya is why Supreme Unity has not hunted down our ancestors in limbo. So, we have already picked a side.”
Wang Wucheng sighed out loud; these things were beginning to be above his weight class. So, he left to gather other people to enter this mess.
“Alright, let’s see if there were some actions in the middle of the night,” muttered Wang Wei before activating the Quantum Arrays to spy on people.