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"Seeking Gold?" Cai Shen’s golden pupils suddenly contracted, his voice rising a notch.

Qi Yun continued to gaze out the window at the Celestial Vault, which was shrouded in boundless Buddha Light. His tone was calm and placid, as if he were stating the most natural thing in the world:

"Why not? Senior, have you forgotten why we came here in the first place?"

He tilted his head slightly, the cool moonlight illuminating one half of his tranquil face. A spectral flame seemed to flicker in the depths of his eyes.

"Initially, our goal was to find your main body, borrow the might of the Imperial Soldiers, and search for clues about the Fruit Position. This was to deal with the pressure from the Wu Dao True Monarch and to plot a path to the Realm of the Great Master.

The Fruit Position is a path, and the Golden Core is also a path."

He paused, his gaze seeming to pierce through the glorious facade of the Saint Realm before him, seeing something deeper.

"The Overseas Buddhist Cultivators staged a comeback, operating in this world for thirty years to forge this Spirit Mountain Sacred Realm. They gathered such immense Buddha’s Rhyme and cast an almost independent Pure Land...

For me, this in itself is a rare, great opportunity!

I will observe their ’Laws’ to comprehend my ’Principles’; I will borrow their ’Momentum’ to nurture my ’Dao’."

Qi Yun turned to face Cai Shen directly, the sharp glint in his eyes like a physical substance.

How could Cai Shen not understand Qi Yun’s plan after hearing this?

The doubt and shock in his eyes quickly faded.

They were replaced by a divine light mixed with amazement and excitement. His golden apparition even brightened a little.

"I get it! You lad... you plan to use the boundless Buddha’s Rhyme of this Spirit Mountain Sacred Realm to power your miraculous ability and have your Great Brightness Shizhi Dharma Body... ’Seek Gold and Prove the Dao’ right here?!"

The more he spoke, the more he felt that while the plan was risky, it was brilliantly imaginative!

Qi Yun’s mysterious and unfathomable Innate Divine Techniques could even Refine and absorb an Imperishable Golden Core to deduce the Ten Thousand Laws. If supplemented by the unique and vast "environmental resources" of the Spirit Mountain Sacred Realm, using his Great Brightness Shizhi Dharma Body as a vessel and a catalyst to Seek Gold...

Seeing that Cai Shen had understood, a faint smile touched the corner of Qi Yun’s lips.

"Senior understands me."

"But..." After his initial excitement, Cai Shen quickly calmed down. A grave expression appeared on his small, golden face as he raised the most critical question.

"Is it feasible? I know your Innate Divine Techniques are extraordinarily miraculous, and its power of Refinement and deduction is almost heaven-defying.

But Seeking Gold is no small matter!

For your main body to Seek Gold, you would still need to procure an Immortal Appearance or a Fruit Position as a guide.

But now, this Great Brightness Shizhi Dharma Body of yours has neither a Buddhist Cultivator’s Fruit Position nor a Bodhi Immortal Appearance. It’s merely a Dharma Body condensed from Divine Techniques... Can it truly Seek Gold and Prove the Dao here out of thin air?"

Cai Shen had been with Qi Yun for a long time and had a deep understanding of the power of Qi Yun’s Magic Technique Panel, which Qi Yun explained as his "Innate Divine Techniques." He knew full well its domineering ability to Refine all things and deduce the Ten Thousand Laws.

He was amazed by this Divine Technique, but not surprised.

After all, back in the Golden Tang Dynasty, he had seen even more outrageous innate abilities.

But precisely because he understood, he was even more aware of the crux of the matter—no matter how wondrous a Divine Technique, it still had to follow the principles of the Great Dao.

Hearing this, Qi Yun showed no hesitation as if stumped. Instead, the spectral flame in his eyes burned even brighter; he had clearly considered this long ago.

Qi Yun was, of course, well aware of the fundamental limitation Cai Shen had just pointed out—that his Dharma Body lacked the orthodox foundation of a Buddhist Sect Fruit Position or Immortal Appearance.

But this was precisely the key to his decision to attempt such a rebellious act in the Spirit Mountain Sacred Realm with his Great Brightness Shizhi Dharma Body!

He raised his head slightly, his gaze seeming to pierce through the roof of the Zen Temple to stare directly at the vast, boundless Celestial Vault of the Saint Realm, where immeasurable Buddha Light flowed.

He unconsciously rubbed his fingertips together, feeling the gentle, rich, and yet orderly flow of the Supreme Buddha’s Rhyme in the air.

"I want to try..." Qi Yun’s calm voice held an almost inexplicable excitement.

"With my miraculous ability as the foundation, if I have enough resources for it to Refine and deduce...

Can I brute-force my way upward and reverse-engineer the path to Seeking Gold!"

He didn’t intend to follow the beaten path and procure an Arhat Fruit Position or a Bodhisattva Immortal Appearance from the Buddhist Sect for this Dharma Body.

That was indeed the orthodox, smooth path, but it was not something he could do, nor was it what he wanted.

The path he wanted to take was completely different!

"I will no longer follow the old formula, struggling to gather the trinity of Dharma Body, Immortal Appearance, and Fruit Position to achieve the Perfection of the Golden Core."

The spectral flames in Qi Yun’s eyes blazed, like two inextinguishable Dao-flames lit in the darkness.

"Instead... it is to emulate that supreme principle—’The One gives birth to the Two, the Two gives birth to the Three, and the Three gives birth to all things’!"

"This is a gamble," Qi Yun admitted frankly, "but it is even more an act of ’Questioning the Dao’!

I’m questioning the limits of my miraculous ability, and I’m also questioning... whether the path trodden by our predecessors is truly the only way to achieve the Dao on the road of Cultivation!"

His eyes burned brightly as he looked at Cai Shen.

"If this method works, it will provide invaluable experience and validation for my main body’s future attempt at Seeking Gold.

I will understand another... a brand-new path, one based on my own foundation, tempered by external forces, but not bound by existing forms!"

"To not take a Fruit Position, to not refine an Immortal Appearance... Lad, you really are audacious!" After listening, Cai Shen couldn’t help but gasp, his small, golden face filled with shock and disbelief.

"Using the Dharma Body as a base to reverse-engineer Seeking Gold?

Even among the most heretical Law Creators I saw in the Golden Tang Dynasty, I doubt many had an idea like yours!

This is truly unprecedented, and... unlikely to be seen again!"

This was no longer simple, heaven-defying audacity.

This was a direct challenge and inquiry into the fundamental logic of the existing cultivation system!

Hearing this, Qi Yun simply smiled faintly. Beneath his tranquility was a confidence and a domineering will that came from the depths of his Dao Heart.

He stood with his hands behind his back before the window where moonlight and Buddha Light intertwined. His figure was as straight as a solitary peak, his gaze as clear as a cold pond, yet it seemed to contain the mighty power to devour and disgorge the Star River.

"Cultivation and Questioning the Dao is, by its very nature, an act of defiance against the heavens.

If one always follows slavishly in others’ footsteps, only daring to walk where predecessors have trod, skirting around high mountains and turning back at deep chasms...

Then what ’truth’ is there to cultivate? What ’Dao’ is there to question?"

His voice wasn’t loud, but each word was like the clang of metal, striking the silent night.

"The path before us was blazed by our predecessors.

Since our predecessors could do it, why... can’t we?"

"Since our predecessors could do it, why can’t we..."

Cai Shen subconsciously repeated the phrase, his golden apparition trembling slightly.

He turned his eyes to the deep blue figure standing beside him at the intersection of light and shadow.

The moonlight outlined the determined profile of Qi Yun’s face, while the Buddha Light reflected the unyielding fire of his Dao Heart in his eyes, a fire that seemed to want to burn away all shackles.

In a daze, Cai Shen felt a strange sense of... familiarity from this young figure.

This was an aura he had felt a long, long time ago, during the magnificent Golden Tang Dynasty—an era when humanity’s Dao flourished, when geniuses rose in droves, and when countless incredible Daos were created and proven!

It was the bearing of the true elites, of the ancient sages who refused to bow to fate, who were not bound by their heritage, and who intended to leave their own unique mark upon the Great Dao!

The Qi Yun before him had a shallow Cultivation, and a difficult road lay ahead.

But this heart for "Questioning the Dao," this courage to challenge the established paths, this domineering will and confidence that ’what predecessors could do, I can do too’... was truly rare!

Cai Shen was silent for a long time. The last trace of doubt and shock on his small, golden face finally transformed completely into a solemn sense of approval and anticipation.

"Good!"

He spat out the single word. Though his voice was soft, it carried the weight of a mountain.

"Since you have this heart, this ambition, and your miraculous ability to rely on... then I shall accompany you and brave this untrodden path of ’Questioning the Dao’!"

Qi Yun looked back, his gaze meeting Cai Shen’s. The eyes of both held a determined light.

...

---

With a grand plan set to define his fate, his actions gained a clear structure.

After settling on the risky strategy of "borrowing their furnace for his own Alchemy" and having his "Dharma Body Seek Gold" with Cai Shen that night, Qi Yun’s movements within the Spirit Mountain Sacred Realm seemed to follow the duties of a newly returned Buddha Son dedicated to quiet cultivation.

In reality, his every move was calculated and part of a larger, hidden strategy.

Holding the pale green Token, he began to purposefully wander the lower levels and some of the permitted middle-level areas of the Spirit Mountain Sacred Realm.

Dressed in a deep blue monk’s robe, his steps were unhurried, his gaze gentle and calm, and the clear Light Appearance behind his head flowed naturally.

When he occasionally encountered other Arhats who were meditating or walking, he would stop to briefly discuss his insights on Buddhist Skills. His words were humble, and he always quoted the orthodox essence of the Great Brightness Glazed Treasure Scripture. This, combined with his pure and ancient aura of light, often earned him their goodwill.

Sometimes he even garnered introductions and pointers about various places in the Saint Realm.

To any observer, he was a diligent and devout Ancient Sect Inheritor, working hard to integrate into the Saint Realm.

However, no one could see the tiny, imperceptible spark of light in the depths of Qi Yun’s calm eyes, which quietly extended out in all directions.

It was the unique sensory power of the Magic Technique Panel.

At this moment, Qi Yun was strolling along a stone path through the woods that led to the Ancient Buddha Tower.

Towering ancient trees lined both sides of the path, their trunks entwined with old vines that emitted a faint golden light. The air was filled with the serene fragrance of sandalwood and the Pure Qi of grass and trees.

He didn’t break his stride, and his expression remained normal, but in his mind, several sensory "reflections" were clearly forming.

Thirty paces ahead and to his left was an ordinary Bodhi tree, one that would take three people to encircle. Deep within its root system, where it intersected with an Earth Vein, there was an unusually condensed and gentle cluster of wood-elemental Spiritual Mechanism, tinged with an essence of "enlightenment." After years of being steeped in Buddhist Skill, it had developed a trace of "Zen-wood spiritual nature."

To his right, from a crevice in the mountainside, came the faint sound of gurgling water; a trickle of clear spring water seeped out, forming a small, shallow pool below—a branch of the Eight Merits Water Vein.

...

Qi Yun silently committed this information to memory without making any unusual moves. Like a tourist genuinely captivated by the scenery, he paused for a moment under the Bodhi tree as if to feel its ancient Zen intent, cupped water from the spring to wash his hands, and clasped his palms together in a soft chant. Finally, he walked to the front of the Buddha Tower, respectfully circled it three times, and then departed.

This was just a short walk on an ordinary day.

In the days that followed, Qi Yun’s figure appeared in various parts of the Saint Realm.

All of this was preparation for the "Alchemy" that was about to come.

Wandering the Saint Realm, carrying the moon on his back and hiding the universe in his sleeves.

Qi Yun’s gaze remained gentle and peaceful as it swept over every blade of grass, every tree, every tower, and every hall, as if he were merely admiring the magnificent sights of a Buddha Country.

Only in the depths of his Purple Mansion, on an increasingly detailed "resource map," did pinpricks of light, like newly lit stars, silently point toward a single goal.

Using their rhyme to nurture my Dao.

...