Chapter 405: As Everlasting as the Sky

The strings of light formed by the Mind Locking Curse were like silk, drilling into Shanjue’s temple. The last string seeped into Shanjue’s ‘Lingshan’, twisting his face.

The ‘Lingshan’ here was actually referring to what is located at the glabella of the Xuanmen disciples’ ancestral cavity. To be able to see the Lingshan, then only can one become a Luohan, become a Buddha. Hence, it was evident the importance of a Lingshan to people of the Buddhist sects.

A faint fiery red was appearing on Shanjue’s glabella. It meant that he had reached his spiritual power’s maximum capacity by breaking away from the silk-like curse of the Mind Locking Curse; once his bier had been controlled, any Dharma, no matter how strong, could not be used.

He did not even have the leisure to hate how sly Shen Lian was. How dare he trick him by secretly placing a Mind Locking Curse in the Mind Lamp.

The more Shanjue struggled to break away, the more he discovered a terrifying thing. The Mind Locking Curse placed by Shen Lian was placed with a pastlife’s power. A deceased person’s power of rebirth was, in truth, the world’s most formidable power. Formidable not in its force, but that once one got tangled in it, it will be mixed together with the survival instinct present in mortal realm’s sentient beings, making it hard to be distinguished. But what was even more terrifying was that the power of rebirth was a curse from the Buddhist sect called the ‘Rebirth Mantra’. It naturally had a shred of Dharma-like attribute, making it harder for Shanjue to break away from the Mind Locking Curse.

He was aghast at Shen Lian’s superior tactics. Versatile and flexible use of both Daoism and Buddhism techniques without restrictions. He was simply a natural-born saint of combat.

“The sky will not age, the laws will not be broken; the intertwined web of a thousand knots in the mind will not be untangled so easily. Monk Shanjue, you will not escape.” A person emerged from the darkness of the netherworld, carrying the copper coffin singlehandedly. The other hand had no flesh nor blood, only bone. A young lady followed the person, carrying a sword, something was amiss.

The Mind Lamp Shanjue was holding disappeared from his hand in the blink of an eye, and landed on the copper coffin that was black as ink and shone brightly. The surrounding ghost fire dispersed, illuminating the netherworld soil on the ground, driving away the silence that wandered in the void.

Monk Shanjue saw Shen Lian and understand that the tide had turned, he asked, “When did you place the Mind Locking Curse?”

Shen Lian faintly smiled, “Is this important? You would need to give me a reason to release you.” The collection of the Jinji Country palace’s power of rebirth was preparation for this matter. He did not know of the past and future himself, but the principle, to always be prepared, would never be wrong. Had there been no power of rebirth to form the base for the curse, to capture Shanjue would be difficult.

Because he was not only a golden bodied Arhat, he also focused on cultivating the ‘two emptiness’. He would be one of the best in the world in his ability to stay hidden, to conceal himself, and had various skills that would let him escape dangerous situations.

Shanjue let out a long sigh and said, “Had you not cast the curse, I will surely be able to escape. I am now on the chopping block, and at your mercy. Will you let me go if I were to give you the undisclosed Dharma of the Chengshi Sect, and the ceremonial cultivating technique of Dipamkara Temple’s Mind Lamp?’

Shen Lian coldly said, “It seems you are still unwilling to give up. Had I taken up your offer and accepted the undisclosed Dharma, regardless of how accepting Zen Master Miaodi is, I’m afraid trouble is inevitable. As for the Mind Lamp’s ceremonial cultivating technique, I don’t need to focus on cultivating Dharma. Even if i were to totally master it, it will remain a foreign thing to me. Are you suggesting that I convert to Buddhism?”

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Shen Lian was not afraid of Zen Master Miaodi. He had no intention of making the world his enemy, but he did not even have the capability to do so. The Zen masters from the eight Buddhism sects were intensive in their cultivation, each with their own secret technique. To thoughtlessly provoke them would mean grave trouble.

Once the karma of Shanjue and his was involved Chengshi Sect’s undisclosed Dharma, it will evolve into a huge dispute. Since Shanjue had left Chengshi Sect and joined the Dipamkara Temple instead, he found it hard to ask for Zen Master Miaodi’s help. To ask Zen Master Miaodi to aid him would be a difficult task.

As for the Mind Lamp ceremonial cultivation technique, Shen Lian had a deep-seated fear towards it. There was a fine line between the laws of Buddhism and demonism. He was afraid that after extended periods of using the Buddhist sect’s Dharma, its foundation would be unconsciously altered.

Throughout the ages, many Daoist connoisseurs were converted to Buddhism like that. Although there were means to extricate oneself, the doctrine was incompatible to Shen Lian’s intention. Thus, Shanjue’s two conditions did not do anything to move him. He went so far as to think the first condition was designed to trick him.

Shen Lian had always been someone who lived with this principle, ‘Good is not to be returned for evil; evil must be met simply with justice.’ If he were to think from Shanjue’s perspective, he would not think Shanjue would treat him kindly. Since this monk would be willing to leave Chengshi Sect and, in turn, worship the Dipamkara Temple as a mean of escape. It could be seen that he was a character that would do anything, regardless of the means to attain powerful Dharma.

Shanjue noticed that his intention had been exposed, but he was not worried, and went straight to the point instead, “What do you actually want?”

Shen Lian calmly said, “What secret lies in this netherworld soil to the extent of having it suppressed by the entire Dipamkara Temple? Even if there is no Dipamkara temple, having the netherworld soil expand itself, it will at the most turn into a small Yin mountain, separating Yin and Yang. There was no need to go to such extent. Since you coveted the Mind Lamp, your concern was probably about the power of the netherworld soil, as it would pose the biggest threat to you. But now that it is gone, you did not hurriedly leave the netherworld soil. It is obvious that you have another purpose, am I right?”

Shanjue said, “Nothing can be hidden from you. You are indifferent towards the Dharma of Buddhism, but I am curious about the Dharma of Daoism. Truth be told, the Dipamkara Temple had suppressed a celestial being beyond the skies, named ‘Xuantan Zhenjun’, who was an extraordinary individual from the Daoist’s deity realm. It was rumored that his hierarchy beyond the skies was on par with the ancient Dipamkara Buddha. However, in the end, his attainment was still no match to the ancient Buddha, finally being trapped in a palm-sized abode of Buddha. Xuantan would rather choose death than to bow to the ancient Dipamkara Buddha. Lastly, the intention to die silently covered the abode of Buddha, converting it into a netherworld’s soil, even leaving an excerpt of real technique in the netherworld’s soil.

The ancient Buddha gave birth to fury, and in the end, he maintained grievances and Mind Lamp, suppressed the snow-capped mountains, and blocked the earth. Later, the first generation of the founding master of the Dipamkara Temple was a sadhu who had traveled and dreamed of the ancient Buddha. He passed down the Daoist system here and it was passed on since then. If I did not have the Mind Lamp and the excerpt of real technique in my mind, why should I come to the Dipamkara Temple, and I would never think that after all this painstaking effort, in the end I have cheapened you.”

Shen Lian did not know the truthfulness of the statement and whether it was just a series of rhetoric. Even if the ancient Dipamkara Buddha was no match for the great Buddha, he was still considered as a supreme power in the universe regardless of the past, present, or the future. Although the celestial being Xuantan lost to him in combat, it was still an unimaginable terror. Thinking about this, Shen Lian’s heart paled, he even lost the intention to thoroughly investigate. Either way, it was still a worthwhile trip as the netherworld’s soil enabled him to realize the exquisitivity of a Buddhist sect.

He directed Fang Yanying and said, “You carry the sword and send Monk Shanjue on his journey.”

Fang Yanying heard, and without hesitation, carried the sword and steadily walked towards Shanjue.

Shanjue was so angry, he laughed and said, “Daoist Shen must you really execute me? I’ll have you know that I know of many secrets. Don’t you want to know?”

Shen Lian kept his silence, even more so for Fang Yanying.