Chapter 366 - 337: Golden Pool
The Spirit Mountain Sacred Realm was a Supreme Dao Field forged by Overseas Buddhist Cultivators, who had poured their very foundations into its creation.
Here, the Buddha’s Rhyme was as vast as an ocean and the laws of the world were manifest. The mountains and rivers, the flora, the temple halls, and the Buddha Statues had been steeped in this environment for countless years. As a result, they could all naturally give rise to Spiritual Objects and treasured lands rich with pure Buddhist Dao Intent.
An ancient tree might grow a heart of Zen, a clear spring might hold the eight virtues, or even a simple stone, through this enlightenment, could gradually begin to glow with Spiritual Light.
To the Saint Realm, these Spiritual Objects were like the minuscule dewdrops that naturally formed with each breath of a giant tree.
The Saint Realm was vast and its Spiritual Mechanism immense. The birth and dissipation of such Spiritual Objects occurred almost constantly, too subtle to be noticed.
And this played right into Qi Yun’s hands.
Once his mind was made up, he was no longer content with merely marking their locations.
As he roamed, if he sensed that a Spiritual Object had reached maturity, he would quietly stop.
He would act immediately, beginning its Refinement and feeding it into the update progress for the Great Brightness Shizhi Dharma Body.
In just half a month, aided by the Magic Technique Panel’s sharp senses—which were keen enough to ’scour the heavens and scrape the earth’—and its tyrannical Refining Power, the update progress for the Great Brightness Shizhi Dharma Body rose again and again.
The Dharma Body itself grew increasingly condensed, transparent, and closer to Perfection.
...
One day at dusk, the blood-red setting sun coated Spirit Mountain in a tragic yet beautiful layer of golden crimson.
Qi Yun appeared before a deep, secluded stone grotto in the back mountains of the Saint Realm, a place rarely visited by people.
The grotto was not a place for meditation. It was remote, and its mouth was so entwined with vines that only one person could squeeze through sideways.
Inside, the cave was dim. Only a single sliver of light filtered through a fissure in the ceiling, illuminating a green stone Buddha statue in the center. It was unclear when it had been left here, but it was already heavily damaged.
Only the statue’s torso and head remained, its facial features blurred with age.
Yet one could still vaguely discern its posture of lowered brows and downcast eyes.
Two days prior, Qi Yun had passed by and felt something. He sensed that this Stone Buddha, due to a coincidental intertwining of lingering traces of Incense and Wish Power within the cave, had given birth to a sliver of incredibly complex and profound spiritual nature suffused with Daoist Intent.
A Spiritual Object of this caliber was far rarer and more precious than the wood hearts and water essences he had found before.
The Daoist Intent it contained was also more unique and profound.
Qi Yun slipped sideways into the cave and sat cross-legged about thirty feet before the Buddha Statue. He retracted his aura until he was like a stone, blending into the cave’s cool, dim environment as he waited patiently.
Outside, the sky turned completely dark, with only the faint glow of the stars and moon filtering through the fissure.
Suddenly, at the "heart" of the broken Stone Buddha, a faint light began to glow, as warm and gentle as aged Jade. It brightened with excruciating slowness.
A pulse of spiritual nature, like the throbbing of an embryo, began to radiate from within.
In the very instant this spiritual nature was about to fully blossom and transform into a true Stone Buddha Heart—
Qi Yun moved.
His fingers formed a sword sign as he pointed from afar. A thread of Great Brightness Buddha Essence, condensed to the point of being nearly transparent, shot from his fingertip and accurately plunged into the newly formed, gentle radiance.
At the same time, the Refining Power of his Magic Technique Panel flared to life, casting an invisible wave over the area.
A pure and unique Daoist Intent, like water from a bursting dam, was extracted and refined. It followed the connection between Qi Yun’s Buddha Essence and the panel, surging into his Great Brightness Shizhi Dharma Body.
The Dharma Body’s light retracted, and its solidity and inner meaning improved by a visible margin!
The entire process took no more than three breaths.
The grotto returned to dim silence, the light at the broken Stone Buddha’s heart completely extinguished.
Gazing at the progress bar on the Magic Technique Panel, which had once again grown, Qi Yun smiled faintly. He slowly retracted his power, just about to rise and leave.
"Amitabha Buddha..."
Just then, an old, resonant voice, tinged with a smooth, smiling tone, recited the Buddha’s name from the cave entrance behind him without any warning.
Qi Yun froze for a moment, a cold glint flashing through his eyes.
He turned slowly. The vines at the entrance were gently parted to reveal an old monk standing there, smiling. He wore a Brocade Golden Threaded Kasaya and a Monk’s Hat inlaid with all manner of Treasure Beads.
The old monk had a plump, ruddy face. His long, narrow eyes were curved into crescents, and he slowly turned a string of oversized golden Prayer Beads in his hand.
He was decked out in so many jewels that he looked less like an eminent monk and more like a well-maintained, wealthy old man.
"Praiseworthy, praiseworthy." The old monk strolled in. His gaze first swept over the Stone Buddha, now completely devoid of spiritual nature, before landing on Qi Yun. His smile grew even more amiable, as if he were looking at a junior he deeply admired.
"I am Golden Pool. I have the humble position of Steward at the Treasure Light Pavilion here in the Saint Realm.
This junior brother... you’re a new face, aren’t you?
What might you be doing in such a secluded grotto?"
His tone was gentle, as if making casual small talk, but the depths of his narrow eyes revealed an undisguised sense of probing and calculation.
Especially when his gaze swept over Qi Yun, one could faintly feel his Divine Sense attempting to perceive the unique Buddha’s Rhyme on Qi Yun’s person that had yet to completely settle.
Qi Yun’s expression remained calm. He placed a single hand vertically before his chest in a salute, his voice as mild as ever:
"This humble monk is Fa Hai. I have only recently entered the mountain to cultivate.
I saw that this grotto was tranquil and that the broken Stone Buddha had an ancient charm, so I came inside to meditate and contemplate the vastness of the Buddhist Skill across the ages.
May I ask what guidance Senior Brother Golden Pool has for me in coming here?"
"Guidance? I wouldn’t dare." Golden Pool Arhat chuckled as he fiddled with his golden Prayer Beads, taking a few steps closer. His gaze darted back and forth between Qi Yun’s face and the Stone Buddha.
"It is just that I was passing by moments ago and faintly sensed a fluctuation of pure Buddhist affinity and Daoist Intent. It seemed as if a Spiritual Object was taking natural form, and my curiosity brought me here to have a look.
Instead, I find you here alone, Junior Brother, and the aura of that Spiritual Object... has already vanished.
And yet, the Buddha Light on your person is brilliant, and your Daoist Intent is overflowing—quite a bit denser and purer than it was a moment ago, I’d say."
He paused. His smile remained, but his tone became pointed and meaningful.