Scripture of Days Past

The Vajra Laws granted cultivators the ability to alter their bodies, allowing them to enhance their combat prowess and adapt to different combat environments.

After reaching the first level of the Vajra Laws, Chu Qiguang felt as though every inch of his flesh and blood had come alive. It seemed that he could now manipulate his body and alter his physical form on a whim.

However, he decided not to test his newfound powers for the time being and continued searching for books.

Ever since I came to Shu Province, I've found many scriptures related to Buddhism and the Vajra Monastery. Is this another case of knowledge attracting knowledge?

Back on Jade Face Mountain, Chu Qiugang felt as though he had reached some kind of bottleneck in his cultivation of the Sumeru King Scripture.

Perhaps "bottleneck" wasn't the right way to describe it. The real problem was that the negative side effects of cultivating the Sumeru King Scripture were growing increasingly severe, and they were worsening far faster than he was progressing.

This meant that the more he cultivated the Sumeru King Scripture, the more the risk-to-reward ratio turned against him.

Thus, he began searching Jade Face Mountain for knowledge related to the Sumeru King Scripture. The first useful scripture that he found was the diary of that monk from the Vajra Monastery.

The diary entries had revealed that while cultivating the Sumeru King Scripture, many monks of the Vajra Monastery had spontaneously burst into flames while chanting the phrase "Nan wu he luo tai you lang luo ye ye," which translated to, "Boundless wisdom and fire are buried where all the Buddhas are gathered."

This alerted Chu Qiguang to the connection between Buddhas and fire, while also revealing the existence of the Buddha Realm to him. After that, he found records of the first demonic tainting suffered by the Vajra Monastery.

𝕗𝚛𝚎𝚎𝐰𝗲𝗯𝗻𝚘𝚟𝚎𝗹.𝕔𝐨𝕞

From those records, he came to understand why the Vajra Monastery had strayed further and further from the correct path in its cultivation. He also understood why he had reached a bottleneck in his cultivation of the Sumeru King Scripture.

It was all because of that first large-scale demonic tainting incident.

The demonic tainting had made cultivating the Sumeru King Scripture far more difficult. That was why the Vajra Monastery had turned to the power of the Buddha Realm and the Buddha flame to assist in its cultivation.

Through Yang Ling, he learned about the three physical cultivation arts that aided in the cultivation of the Sumeru Strength Scripture.

Through Li Jian, he learned that a special medicine was required to cultivate the Sumeru Strength Scripture.

Through his own trial and error, he also discovered that reading Buddhist scriptures had a positive effect on the cultivation of the Sumeru King Scripture.

However, as the hallucinations grew increasingly severe, Chu Qiguang quickly realized that some other crucial element had to be missing. Otherwise, cultivation of the Sumeru King Scripture would be completely unfeasible, with demonification as the only possible outcome.

With that in mind, he decided that it was necessary to travel to Shu Province to obtain the Vajra Laws, the Steel Tendon Iron Bone Arts, and the Naga Bodily Refinement Ointment. He also wanted to search for the ruins of the Vajra Monastery to see if he could uncover more clues about the cultivation of the Sumeru King Scripture.

Finally, through the Vajra Monastery apocrypha, he had learned of the existence of the Buddha flame.

Thinking back to the diary of the Vajra Monastery monk he had read on Jade Face Mountain, it became clear that the monastery had been using monks as experimental subjects in an attempt to use the Buddha Realm and the Buddha flame to assist in the cultivation of the Sumeru King Scripture.

Chu Qiguang's train of thought was interrupted by another flare of heat from his Ring of Ignorance. He reached out for a book on the shelf, and a passage of text appeared before his Dao pursuer eyes.

"Since ancient times, legends about the Buddha flame have been told throughout the mountains of Shu Province. The Buddha flame contains the courage, power, and wisdom of the Buddhas. It is said that the brave warriors of the mountains who find the Buddha flame will become invincible."

The book contained stories about the native tribes of Shu Province, but they had clearly been deliberately compiled as they all revolved around the passing of fire.

In these stories, the Buddha flame was described as a miracle from the heavens. Those who were set alight by it always underwent drastic transformations, gaining unprecedented wisdom, knowledge, and strength.

Eventually, they would all attain enlightenment and become highly respected monks.

***

While Chu Qiguang was busy poring over the texts in the scripture library, the effects of the battle at the Daoist temple were still being felt throughout the Ba Manor City.

Amid the chaos and unrest, Liu Yao had spent the past five days hiding, feeling more lost than ever.

He was a fifth-state martial artist and the wealthiest man in Heavenly Melody Manor, yet he had been reduced to this sorry state. He was now neither human nor fiend, but merely a pawn for a Dao Comprehension-state cat fiend.

Last time, he had been forced to abduct two Demon Vanquishing Department Dao Comprehension Seeds. What would he be forced to do next?

Living in a perpetual state of unease, despair, and remorse, he had completely lost his former flair and confidence, and he spent his days drowning his sorrows.

Eventually, he decided that he had to escape.

I'll only sink deeper into this mess if I continue allowing that cat fiend to use me. If I want any chance of turning my life around, I have to run...