Chapter 1040: Having Buddha in One's Heart

Lu Yang let out a sharp breath, completely at a loss as to whether his Second Senior Brother was praising his handsome looks or mocking his ugliness.

“During the Lunar New Year’s Eve, I noticed you had arrived in the Western Heaven City and wanted to look for you, but I didn’t expect you, little junior brother, to be so quick on your feet. In the blink of an eye, you had vanished.”

“I thought you had left the Western Heaven City long ago, but it turns out you were right here in the Western Heaven Temple.”

Ye Zijin was filled with astonishment upon seeing Lu Yang; for someone at the mid-stage of the Soul Formation realm to hide in the Western Heaven Temple for so long without being detected by anyone was a marvel.

“I just had good luck, using the Qingfeng Sword as a cover,” Lu Yang replied with an embarrassed smile. The Western Heaven Temple was home to many in the Body Integration realm, and it would have been nearly impossible to remain hidden until now on his own merits alone.

“The Qingfeng Sword? The very immortal sword that Master shamelessly begged the Eldest Senior Sister for, only to be completely rejected?”

“Yes. By the way, Second Senior Brother, I heard you have been in the Buddhist Kingdom all this time. Why haven't you ever returned?”

“It’s not that I didn’t want to, but I accidentally offended someone, so Eldest Senior Sister suggested I come to the Buddhist Kingdom to temper myself and, at the same time, look for clues regarding the Immortal of Time.”

Lu Yang was thoroughly stunned. “Who could you possibly have offended that even Eldest Senior Sister couldn’t protect you?”

“Eldest Senior Sister.”

“...”

Second Senior Brother, you were basically exiled, weren’t you?

Lu Yang well remembered when he was young and ignorant, rashly inquiring about Eldest Senior Sister's age, only to be banished to the borders to fight demon beasts in order to condense his Invincible Pill.

“Clues regarding the Immortal of Time?”

“Eldest Senior Sister discovered that every New Year, the Nian beast flies in from the west, travels around the world, and ends its journey in the west. Furthermore, legends say the Nian beast is an immortal beast raised by the Immortal of Time, so Eldest Senior Sister suspected that the Buddhist Kingdom holds clues left behind by them.”

Lu Yang’s expression turned peculiar. This was truly a coincidence; his own arrival in the Western Heaven City was also related to the Nian beast, though he had no idea where the beast had flown off to after dropping him here.

“I must say, coming to the Buddhist Kingdom has really broadened my horizons. Their methods of cultivation are entirely different from our Great Xia.”

“The Buddhist Kingdom mainly consists of Buddhist cultivators, and what they value most is the Cultivation Method of the Grand Vow.”

“Generally, upon reaching the Nascent Soul stage, Buddhist cultivators will make a grand vow to propagate the Buddhist teachings. As for what the specific grand vow is, that varies from person to person. The more vital the vow is to the Buddhist teachings, the more power of incense and devotion they will receive.”

“The simplest and most common grand vow is to forge a golden body for the Buddha. This is why you always run into monks begging for alms; they do it all to use the accumulated wealth to forge a golden body for the Buddha, thereby fulfilling their grand vow.”

Regarding the Cultivation Method of the Grand Vow, Lu Yang had learned a bit from Master Duanchen of the Kaihuang Temple, but it was nowhere near as detailed as what his Second Senior Brother was explaining.

“I see that the temples in the Buddhist Kingdom are utterly foul, and the monks have not mastered their cultivation. The elders of the Western Heaven Temple are even worse; they strike out after barely exchanging a few words with me, violating the precept of anger.”

“Therefore, I made a grand vow, hoping that through my influence, I can help the elders of the Western Heaven Temple rid themselves of arrogance, impatience, and anger, elevating their state of mind so that they remain emotionally stable whenever they see me.”

“I reckon that once I fulfill this grand vow, the power of incense and devotion I receive will be enough to push me into the Tribulation Transmutation stage, though I’m not entirely sure which phase of it I will reach.”

Monks like Master Duanchen, who vowed for the prosperity of the Kaihuang Temple's incense, had precedents to follow, allowing him to reach the Void Refining stage upon completion. Ye Zijin’s grand vow had no precedent, so he could only give a rough estimate.

Lu Yang thought to himself, *Senior Brother, isn't this grand vow of yours a bit too grand? Can it even be achieved?*

“Wait a moment, Senior Brother. You are not a monk, yet you can also use the Cultivation Method of the Grand Vow?”

Did this cultivation method have absolutely no restrictions?

“Who says I am not a monk?” Ye Zijin snatched off his wig in one swift motion, revealing a bald head marked with nine ordination scars.

“How do you think I just impersonated Konghang?”

“I am a monk officially registered in the annals of the Buddhist Kingdom.” As he spoke, Ye Zijin put the wig back on, pulled out a forged identity certificate, and produced a whole series of counterfeit goods used to back it up.

The Buddhist Kingdom placed little emphasis on secular laws, so Ye Zijin felt no psychological burden whatsoever when forging documents, doing so with practiced ease.

“Of course, being registered and shaving one's head are merely superficialities. The most important thing is to have the Buddha in your heart.” Ye Zijin chanted a phrase of Amitabha, looking every bit like an accomplished, eminent monk. If he were to step outside to swindle people, he would succeed every single time.

“The Buddha in your heart?”

Within the mental space, the Immortal Immortal was rolling around on the bed clutching a pillow, utterly devoid of any dignified image. Upon hearing Ye Zijin’s words, her interest was instantly piqued.

“This Immortal resides right inside your heart, so little Yang, that makes you the most orthodox Buddhist cultivator of all!”

With the Honored One living in his mental space and teaching him personally day and night, no Buddhist cultivator could possibly be more orthodox than Lu Yang.

“Furthermore, you even learned the Art of Playing Dead from this Immortal, making you this Immortal’s student. Every Buddhist cultivator alive today would have to call you their Grandmaster upon meeting you!”

Seeing that little Yang possessed such a grand status, the Immortal Immortal felt genuinely happy for him.

The corners of Lu Yang’s eyes twitched. The Immortal’s words sounded logically sound, yet he couldn't help but feel that something was profoundly amiss.

“I have been in the Buddhist Kingdom for so many years, and I have discovered a massive secret that they have been hiding all this time,” Ye Zijin said with an air of great mystery.

“What massive secret?”

“You know the Abbot, Master Mingyu, right? The outside world has always believed him to be at the peak of the Tribulation Transmutation stage, but in truth, he possesses the embryonic form of a Dao Fruit—he is a half-immortal!”

“Oh. So, what is the massive secret?”

Ye Zijin’s mind filled with question marks, unable to comprehend why his little junior brother's reaction was so utterly flat. This was a half-immortal, a fact completely unknown to the world.

“Actually, I have also discovered clues that supposedly relate to the Immortal of Time.” Ye Zijin had no choice but to bring up the other matter.

“Where?”

“The Mahavira Hall of the Western Heaven Temple. I suspect there is an immortal treasure left behind by the Immortal of Time hidden there. It’s just a pity that the Mahavira Hall is heavily guarded, and I cannot infiltrate it,” Ye Zijin said with absolute certainty.

“Immortal, is there something wrong with the Mahavira Hall?”

The Immortal Immortal immediately unleashed her immortal consciousness, silently enveloping the Mahavira Hall without triggering any of the grand formations.

“There’s nothing wrong with it, it’s just a bit larger than the one this Immortal built.”

“Are there any other clues?”

“The Sutra Pavilion also has issues. Rumor has it that the first floor of the Sutra Pavilion hides many opportunities, such as the Visualization Map of the Honored One Achieving Enlightenment, and the immortal treasure of the Immortal of Time might be hidden there. Tonight, I secretly sneaked into the Sutra Pavilion to investigate, but before I could find anything, I was discovered by a senior who sweeps the floors!”

Lu Yang had heard the Immortal Immortal describe the Visualization Map of the Honored One Achieving Enlightenment before; it was merely a blur of a Buddha sitting beneath a Bodhi tree, nothing extraordinary, and far less useful than directly visualizing the Immortal Ying Tian. As for the other items, while they could be considered fortunes, they were hardly significant enough to be linked to the Immortal of Time.

Setting aside the first floor of the Sutra Pavilion, even within the entire structure, the Immortal Immortal had detected nothing of true value.

“Is there anything else?”

“There is one last clue. The Western Heaven Temple possesses a secret realm, and Master Mingyu is the only person who knows its location. Every year, he organizes low-level monks at the Qi Condensation stage to enter this specific secret realm. No one knows what lies inside, and the monks who enter lose all their memories afterward. That secret realm is highly likely to contain something left behind by the Immortal of Time.”