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Three days passed in the blink of an eye.

The morning light of the third day pierced the last wisp of night fog enveloping the Nanyin Buddha Country and the Spirit Mountain Sacred Realm.

This vast territory, now an Earthly Buddha Country, completely erupted with activity.

It was a deep and almost fanatical jubilation born of faith.

From the outermost villages to the secondary capitals guarding Spirit Mountain, the bronze bells of countless temples were struck at the exact same moment.

The magnificent and solemn chimes spread like overlapping ripples, gathering into a torrent of sound powerful enough to shake mountains and rivers.

The Buddhist Shrines before every household were polished until they shone like new. The incense that burned day and night now blazed with particular vigor, its curling smoke rising straight into the air as if to connect Heaven and Earth.

In streets and alleys, in fields and mountains, countless devotees dressed in plain clothes or ochre-yellow robes—men and women, old and young—all faced Spirit Mountain. They prostrated themselves fully, kowtowing with piety and chanting praises to the World Honored One.

Their Wish Power, purer and more concentrated than ever before, transformed into faint golden streams of light, invisible to the naked eye but undeniably real. Like a hundred rivers flowing to the sea, it converged from all directions upon the towering golden mountain.

The entire Nanyin Buddha Country was immersed in a solemn and dignified, yet irrepressibly jubilant, atmosphere.

The Spirit Mountain Sacred Realm itself was a scene of unparalleled magnificence.

The boundless Buddha Light enveloping the mountain was no longer gentle and pervasive as it usually was. Instead, it burned with a brilliant intensity, as if countless suns were concentrated there, dyeing the Celestial Vault an eternal, glazed gold.

Auspicious clouds churned, displaying the wondrous colors of the Seven Treasures. Layer upon layer, they held up innumerable, faintly visible phantoms of celestial maidens, flying apsaras, and Vajra Warriors.

They held flower baskets, treasured vases, and musical instruments, scattering a rain of "Measles" and "Dharma rain" condensed from pure Wish Power across the sky.

Profound, otherworldly music, the likes of which could not be found in the mortal realm, echoed in the air, resonating directly with one’s Divine Soul.

The hundreds of "Celestial Tier" golden stairways leading to the Little Leiyin Temple on the mountain peak were all fully connected and open today.

Each stairway was a hundred zhang wide, paved with the Seven Treasures, such as glazed tile, white jade, agate, and tridacna.

The surfaces of the steps were as smooth as mirrors, reflecting the celestial phenomena and the figures of those ascending.

On both sides of the stairways, a colossal Dharma Guardian Statue stood every hundred steps. They were Furious Vajras, compassionate Bodhisattvas, or majestic Wisdom Kings, all glowing with resplendent Treasure Light and exuding a powerful aura of protection and purification.

At this moment, the Celestial Tiers were teeming with figures.

They were all Buddhist Cultivator Arhats, clad in kasayas and monastic robes of various colors, each with a Light Appearance—large or small, solid or hazy—floating behind their head!

They came from the various branches of Overseas Buddhist Cultivators, with a few Ancient Sect Inheritors and local talents like "Fa Hai" among them.

Their numbers were close to five hundred.

These Arhats, normally scattered throughout the Sacred Land, now all held the crucial [Lingshan Dharma Seal], their expressions solemn as they ascended with steady steps.

They followed the Seven Treasures Ladder, which seemed to lead to the heavens, climbing step by step toward the place above the sea of clouds where the golden light was most intense—the Little Leiyin Temple.

The auras of several hundred Foundation Establishment Masters converged as they climbed together. Their energies intertwined, resonated, and rose, forming an immense force field powerful enough to alter celestial phenomena and shake the very Earth Veins!

From the midpoint of the Spirit Mountain Sacred Land upwards, the Buddha Light and auspicious clouds, already incredibly dense, began to evolve on their own!

Endless Sanskrit characters emerged from the void, converging into long rivers of golden scripture that flowed slowly across the sky, each character radiating brilliant light;

Golden lotuses, udumbara flowers, and sala flowers bloomed from thin air, their petals unfurling and releasing an exotic fragrance;

Phantoms of Celestial Dragons coiled and cried out in the sea of clouds, the divine Jaling Pingjia birds chirped clearly as they flapped their wings, and the guardian figures of the Eight Divisions flickered in and out of sight...

One after another, these grand, sacred, and unimaginable phenomena of Buddhist Skill unfurled like a scroll, blanketing half of Spirit Mountain and bathing the lands below in a sacred, glorious light!

Within this great torrent of climbers, as vast as a Star Sea and as solemn as a Buddha Country,

Qi Yun—the Fa Hai avatar—was dressed in a deep blue monastic robe, his steps unhurried and his expression calm.

He was not like some of the younger Arhats, who were unable to contain their excitement and kept looking around, nor was he like the more seasoned ones, whose expressions were tense and heavy with worry.

He simply moved forward with detachment, his aura harmonious and restrained, blending perfectly with the pure Buddha’s Rhyme of his surroundings.

The clear Light Appearance behind his head circulated gently, neither dazzling nor dim, perfectly displaying the foundation and bearing expected of an "Ancient Sect Inheritor."

Among these Arhats of varied forms and immense auras, he appeared utterly "unremarkable."

Like a single, ordinary drop of water in a golden ocean, he blended into the vast flow of people and the backdrop of phenomena, attracting no attention at all.

However, only he knew what an astonishing transformation was hidden within this seemingly ordinary [Great Brightness Shizhi Dharma Body].

He had successfully condensed a [Primordial Spirit]. Though it was newly formed, it had already caused an earth-shattering change in the very nature of this Dharma Body.

If measured by the orthodox system of enlightenment in the Profound Yellow Realm, the current Fa Hai avatar—with the depth of his foundation, the purity of his Dao Rhyme, and his high level of life—was already comparable to a Great Master who had gathered the Two Profound States!

But all of this was perfectly concealed by the profundity of his [Primordial True Body] and the inherent restraint of the [Primordial Spirit], revealing not the slightest hint of his true prowess.

Qi Yun ascended slowly, his Heart and Spirit acting like the most precise Compass, calmly sensing everything around him.

Just as he reached a relatively gentle section of the Celestial Tier, flanked by massive Wisdom King Stone Statues, a figure approached and fell into step beside him as naturally as a drop of water merging into a stream.

He matched Qi Yun’s climbing rhythm almost perfectly.

This person was also dressed in an unremarkable grey monastic robe. He had an ordinary face, a placid aura, and a dim, hazy Light Appearance behind his head—the type of person who would be easily overlooked among the Arhats.

But the instant he drew near, a faint ripple disturbed the still waters of Qi Yun’s Heart Lake.

It was an extremely subtle, yet unmistakably familiar, sense of connection.

Qi Yun’s stride didn’t falter in the slightest. He didn’t even deign to glance sideways, keeping his gaze calmly fixed ahead, as if focused only on the steps beneath his feet and the Buddha Light in the distance.

Yet a calm voice, tinged with the sigh of a long-awaited reunion, sounded clearly in his ear:

"After we parted that year, the fires of war were extinguished, and the dynasty fell... To think that today, we would reunite in this place, in such a manner."

The voice paused, seemingly carrying a faint, almost imperceptible trace of complex emotion.

"Fellow Daoist... have you been well all these years?"

An almost imperceptible, faint arc curved up at the corners of Qi Yun’s mouth.

He didn’t turn his head immediately. His gaze remained on the churning Seven Treasures Auspicious Cloud ahead, as if admiring the magnificent phenomenon.

Then, using an equally exquisite voice transmission, he replied. His voice was calm, yet it carried an unconcealed note of mockery:

"Thanks to Your Highness’s blessings, I’ve managed to stay alive, and even made a little progress."

"As for you, Your Highness..."

He paused for a moment, the teasing tone in his voice growing even thicker.

"All these years, you seem to have become... rather gaunt and solitary."

He uttered the word "solitary" lightly, but it was a piercing barb.

Back when they had fought, this Prince of the Eastern Palace had been so full of vigor and ambition.

And now?

The Nanyin Dynasty had collapsed, transformed into an Earthly Buddha Country.

As the crown prince of a fallen dynasty, he had lost his kingdom and his home. His former glory had vanished like smoke, forcing him to hide his name and disguise his identity, concealing himself within this Spirit Mountain Sacred Land, a place bathed in Buddha Light yet fraught with peril at every step.

Comparing his current state to his past, how could it be described as merely "gaunt and solitary"?

It was the difference between the clouds and the mud, a state of utter ruin and humiliation!

Qi Yun’s words, though they sounded like a simple greeting, had precisely struck the most painful and embarrassing nerve of the Crown Prince of Nanyin’s current predicament.

On the Celestial Tiers, the Buddha Light remained brilliant, the phenomena still dazzling. The Arhats climbed in silence, a flowing torrent of gold.

Faced with Qi Yun’s unconcealed mockery of his ruined state, the Crown Prince of Nanyin’s plain, unremarkable face showed not a trace of anger or embarrassment.

His gaze remained fixed ahead, on the brilliant golden light at the top of the stairs that grew ever closer, seeming to pierce the very heavens. His voice was as steady as ever, even carrying a hint of worldly detachment.

"Worldly clouds obscure the eyes, and the dust of the mortal realm obstructs one’s vision."

"Fellow Daoist, what the eye sees and the ear hears is not necessarily the whole truth."

Casually deflecting Qi Yun’s barb, he smoothly changed the subject, cutting straight to the heart of the matter:

"You’ve gone to great risks, Fellow Daoist, changing your identity to infiltrate the ironclad Spirit Mountain Sacred Land. I imagine... that like myself, you’re not here to listen to Buddhist Skills, but for that rumored opportunity—the one even the True Monarchs would tacitly approve of?"

His tone was not a question, but a statement of near certainty.

Qi Yun’s expression didn’t change, and his pace remained steady, as if he were just climbing alongside an ordinary fellow cultivator.

He let out a soft chuckle and replied via voice transmission, his tone tinged with amusement.

"Oh? To hear Your Highness say that, could it be that you’re not lurking here, chanting sutras and praying, in order to achieve a Golden Body, but for some other purpose?"

"Could it be that Your Highness also harbors aspirations for that illusory realm ’Above the True Monarch’?"

He threw the question right back, neither confirming nor denying anything.

Upon hearing this, the Crown Prince of Nanyin’s lips seemed to curve ever so slightly.

He didn’t get caught up in verbal sparring. His voice grew a few shades quieter.

"Since our goals are the same, and the path ahead is a dragon’s den, right under the noses of the True Monarch Bodhisattvas and fraught with unpredictable danger..."

"Fellow Daoist, why don’t we set aside our past grievances for the time being and cooperate?"

"Cooperate?" This time, Qi Yun turned his head, casting a quick glance from the corner of his eye at the ordinary-looking "Grey-clothed Arhat" beside him. His gaze was openly scrutinizing.

"Has Your Highness forgotten? During that tribulation, you nearly caused my Dao Foundation to crumble, almost killing me and erasing my path?"

"If I hadn’t had a few life-saving measures up my sleeve back then, I’m afraid I would have long since turned to dust."

His tone was still even, but the coldness and distance in his words were as palpable as a winter wind.

"Between us, there is an unsettled blood feud and unresolved grievances."

"Here in the Spirit Mountain Sacred Land, I simply do not wish to stir up trouble and attract the attention of the Bodhisattvas. Cooperate?"

"Does Your Highness truly believe we have any foundation for such a ’joint venture’?"

’The danger of that tribulation, the feud from that attempt on his life—how could such things be so easily forgotten?’

’If not for the fact that they were in the heart of Spirit Mountain, where any action could draw the attention of unimaginable beings, with Qi Yun’s current cultivation and temperament, he would have already struck, killing and refining this Crown Prince.’

’Why would he be wasting so much breath on him?’

The Crown Prince of Nanyin seemed to have anticipated the biting killing intent in Qi Yun’s words and his blunt refusal. He fell silent for a moment, as if weighing his options or steeling his resolve.

Then, he spoke again, his transmitted voice soft but carrying an unprecedented solemnity:

"What if I... am willing to swear a Dao Oath?"

A Dao Oath!

It was a great oath sworn upon one’s Dao Foundation.

If the oath were broken, one’s Dao Heart would collapse!

He paused, not giving Qi Yun much time to think, and the Crown Prince of Nanyin’s tone suddenly sharpened.

"Fellow Daoist, just trust my words for now."

"Without my help, relying only on your own plans, you might be able to glimpse a secret or two at this World Honored One’s Zen Assembly..."

"But you will absolutely not be able to touch the greatest benefit at its core..."

Certainty!

Absolute certainty!

On either side of the Celestial Tier, the majestic Wisdom King Stone Statues stood, looking down on the ant-like beings climbing below.

The Seven Treasures Auspicious Cloud above churned even more violently, and enormous silhouettes of Buddhas could be faintly seen rising and falling within it. The signs of the Zen Assembly’s beginning grew ever more apparent.

Qi Yun’s steps slowed, almost imperceptibly, by half a beat.

Deep within him, the consciousness of his true self was rapidly calculating and deducing.

’The greatest benefit... What makes him so certain?’

’Is he bluffing? Is it a trap?’

’Or... does he really possess top-secret information about the core of the Zen Assembly?’

Silence stretched between them for several breaths.

There was only the solid feel of the Seven Treasures Ladder under their feet and the silent pressure of the vast Buddha’s Rhyme all around.

Finally, Qi Yun slowly spoke. His transmitted voice betrayed no emotion, only the calm of a deep pool.

"Then Your Highness might as well start talking."

...

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