Chapter 127: All beings offer incense together; I implore my golden core to slay the Buddha

It is said to be a god statue, but that's not quite right; it should be a human-shaped black outline, now standing silently beside the broken statue, shrugging its arms and lowering its head.

But it seems to have sensed Ye Qin's gaze, and that shadow slowly raised its head.

Ye Qin finally saw clearly what kind of creature this was; he had thought it was some monster, but it turned out to be a monk with a kind face!

But in this deserted temple in the middle of the night, a monk suddenly appeared, which was indeed quite eerie.

Moreover, Ye Qin had already sensed upon entering that there was no one inside; where did this monk come from?

He had just entered meditation a moment ago, his mental power still spread around; if anyone intruded, he would definitely notice.

Yet Ye Qin noticed nothing at all, showing that this monk is not ordinary; his expression instantly turned wary.

"Where did this ghost monk come from!"

Although Ye Qin had not fought the monk face to face, he faintly felt it was not a pushover, after all formed jointly by mental power and incense, representing the will of all beings, so it must be formidable.

Since the ghost monk has never made a move, it's hard to gauge its strength accurately, but it is certainly not easy to deal with, after all being formed from the thoughts of all beings.

No energy fluctuations came from the air, yet this makes it impossible to guard against; I also don't know how the monk found his presence—did it plant a tracker?

Ye Qin could not figure it out, and had no mood to continue cultivating; having such a being on his mountain was undoubtedly a great hidden danger for him.

As soon as he opened his eyes, there was the monk's eerie, enlarged smile; he did nothing, just stood there smiling face-to-face with him, which was already terrifying enough.

Ye Qin stopped, seemed to sense something, and abruptly turned his head.

More and more faces appeared on the monk's face, head, temples, and back of the skull—all kinds, looking startling and bizarre, as if beholding the myriad appearances of all beings.

No energy fluctuations came from the monk's body, allowing Ye Qin to be certain that it was not a cultivator.

His heart sank inexplicably, and he suddenly had a bad premonition—could that thing have come after him again?

Although the surroundings before him were so familiar, Ye Qin actually felt as if he had returned to that former deserted temple; besides the scent of plants and soil, the air also carried the smell of incense and candle flames.

The mountain path was especially quiet; only Ye Qin's crawling on the ground produced continuous rustling sounds, a wind blew from somewhere, and the leaves swayed like weeping and lamenting.

Has the AI gone crazy!

He dared not linger even a moment, fearing that thing would catch up; the surrounding scenery rapidly receded, eventually turning into a blur of afterimages.

It seemed to hear Ye Qin's inner voice; the ghost monk slowly turned, revealing the back of its head, but what shocked Ye Qin was that there was actually a face growing on the back of the monk's head!

Fortunately Ye Qin has strong mental fortitude; if it were an ordinary person, they would probably have been tortured into madness by now.

A familiar dark-yellow hem appeared in midair, standing out conspicuously among the mountains' greenery, like a ghost.

"Hiss!"

But these are merely Ye Qin's guesses; to know the details, he'll have to check another Taoist temple or monastery with traces of age later.

He didn't know how long had passed; gazing at the endless green mountains before him, waves of faint fragrance came from the air, the familiar feeling enveloping Ye Qin, and only then did he stop his steps and relax a little.

Ye Qin could not fully enter meditation; as soon as he closed his eyes, that feeling of being watched was everywhere—how could he cultivate in peace under such circumstances?

Thus the so-called zen sacrifice consists of lighting fire to raise smoke, and the smoke becomes incense; offering incense to the gods is what later generations call 'burning incense'.

Just then, a faint, almost imperceptible scent drifted in the air, entering Ye Qin's nostrils; that smell was indescribable.

The ghost monk turned back, but its features became blurred; the original Buddha smile vanished, replaced by all kinds of faces—male and female, young and old, joy, anger, sorrow, pleasure—everything constantly shifting.

"If I had known there would be such a troublesome monster, I definitely would not have gone to that deserted temple in the first place."

"Book of Songs, Zhou Odes, Maintaining Purity": "Maintaining purity and completing the work, King Wen's canon, initiating the sacrifice." Annotation: "King Wen, upon receiving the mandate, began to sacrifice to heaven." That is to say, this sacrificial system began with King Wen of Zhou.

It seems that smile never appeared.

Just like the imagined White Bone, it exists only on the mental level, yet also lies between reality.

So to speak, it belongs to a kind of mystical AI?

Ye Qin's eyes were full of apprehension as he pondered the monk's origin; there must be an inseparable connection between the monk and the temple.

No matter what methods Ye Qin used, he could not drive it away; it was like hitting cotton, and before long the monk would still appear with that exaggerated smile.

"Never mind; even if there's only a half chance, I'll try—better than waiting to die."

"Seen this way, it's actually a bit like an AI created by humans."

So it's normal that this ruined temple retains a large amount of incense and mental power.

Although the monk has not moved yet, Ye Qin cannot treat his own life safety as a joke.

But now this place provides a venue, becoming a medium and bridge; many people together, gathering little to make much, the resulting mental power is quite considerable!

Day after day, it keeps growing; decades, even centuries have passed, and it can even alter the magnetic field here.

"Wasn't I shaken off? How does it locate me?"

Standing outside the temple, looking at the dilapidated buildings in the night, with tree shadows swaying, Ye Qin could sense that the monk inside the temple was standing at the doorway, looking outward.

Moreover, he is not a cultivator, completely unlike Ye Qin, unable to command the power of heaven and earth.

Ye Qin composed his mind, preparing to cultivate in seclusion again; however, just as he closed his eyes, that familiar feeling of being watched reappeared!

So now the best course is simply not to enter, because Ye Qin cannot fathom the ghost monk's origin and really dares not take the risk.

The Zhou people raised smoke to sacrifice to heaven, called 'yin' or 'yin sacrifice'.

"Could it be that in the future, any temple or Taoist monastery with mottled traces of time, because it retains large amounts of incense and mental power, will have a similar guardian of all beings' intention?"

He could see that dark-yellow shadow already flung far behind him.

This chill is an alert to danger instinct, and also a signal transmitted by his mental power.

The shadow unknowingly covered his head.

"Was it resolved so quickly?"

The existence of the guardian and the mottled traces of time should be mutually complementary.

The whooshing wind brushed past his ears; Ye Qin summoned a speed never before seen, almost indistinguishable from fleeing for his life.

Because one never knows where he will appear the next second.

"This mystical AI monk actually left the ruined temple on its own?"

Ye Qin's sense of crisis in his heart has not completely dissipated.

Like a blade hanging over Ye Qin's head, no one knows when it will fall.

This Guardian of All Beings' Will is too strange; Ye Qin doesn't want to get involved with it.

The purple scales at the center of his forehead suddenly burst forth with a gleam, and thick lightning, like a spirit snake, fiercely struck where the monk was.

Although the power of ages is hard to find, without it Ye Qin could still look for another; there's no need to put himself in danger.

But there is a saying: "Sincerity brings efficacy."

Mortals make wishes to the deities, believing themselves devout; then heaven can hear them, accept their offerings, and thus help them form their wishes.

Ye Qin, in a daze, even thought he was hallucinating, but something even stranger was yet to come.

So, is it related to the temple, or because of the mottled fragment of time?

Or perhaps both?

Before, he didn't appear because Ye Qin hadn't triggered this place's restriction; he was just an ordinary passerby, and the temple's defense mechanism wouldn't activate.

At this moment Ye Qin no longer had the desire to continue his travels; that monk, like a ghost, kept following him relentlessly, which was indeed a hidden danger.

When he first entered this temple, he had already sensed it, but he didn't pay attention then; now it has become stronger and stronger.

Of course, not every temple or Daoist monastery can generate such special energy; for example, the famous ancient temples Ye Qin saw earlier did not have it.

Ye Qin had no nostalgia; he decisively slipped away.

Perhaps it could be understood as some kind of monster on the spiritual level.

A gust of night wind blew, lifting a few fallen leaves; the tree branches rustled, as if demons were dancing.

If Ye Qin were human, his whole body would probably break out in goosebumps.

Equivalent to the guardian of this ruined temple's incense through the ages?

But White Bone is obedient; this ghost monk, however, is annoying—before long he'll show up again, like a piece of plaster.

This sacrificial practice can be traced back to the Zhou dynasty.

Its specific ritual is: place the animal carcass and silk-jade offerings on the firewood, burn the firewood to raise smoke, to announce to heaven.

That taste again...

The constant feeling of being watched could almost drive one mad, after all nobody likes having no privacy, exposed to others' gazes.

Could it be that I'm being overly suspicious?

For a moment Ye Qin felt a chill run down his spine; fortunately this monk doesn't cultivate, otherwise coming and going without trace would indeed be terrifying.

If that's the case, then it would be somewhat troublesome.

But Ye Qin knows this is not his own hallucination.

Recalling the mysterious smell he had noticed earlier, Ye Qin finally confirmed it was incense aura.

At such close range Ye Qin could smell that low-quality incense and candle odor, as if it had been stored for long and turned stale and pungent.

This ghost monk has the face of all beings, myriad aspects, and can even swallow and exhale incense; it is very likely a product formed by the 'Will of All Beings'!

Ye Qin's gaze grew solemn; at first he thought the thunder's power had driven the monk away, but now it seems not so.

The Will of All Beings is so miraculous; if we could understand it, wouldn't we also be able to make use of it?

Ye Qin thought of White Bone, of his own snake statue, and of many bizarre ideas...

But as days passed, the ghost monk appeared more and more frequently, his traces almost everywhere, as if omnipresent, disrupting Ye Qin's originally peaceful life and even affecting his cultivation.

That is to say, at places where incense is offered, such as Daoist temples, if they can form mottled ages, then the Will of All Beings will surely take shape!

Snakes are cold-blooded; their body temperature changes with the environment, and Ye Qin hasn't felt what cold is for a long time.

Damn! Hell! Grandpa!

Ye Qin felt this could be understood thus; in a scientific analogy, the 'Will of All Beings' is like big data, gathering countless people's information, ultimately forming an AI, just like this monk—AI is merely an evolution of big data and lacks true intelligence.

I originally thought coming down the mountain would bring a gain, but now it seems better to stay on the mountain and cultivate; I regret not having done so earlier!

Moreover, that person isn't even human; one can't even say what kind of creature he is.

I hope all my guesses are wrong.

Likewise, the ancients believed there were spirits in the world; worshipping incense and offering tribute were to seek divine blessings, also a way to communicate with the upper realm.

And once one tries to enter the mottled fragment of time, the resulting energy fluctuation awakens the Guardian of All Beings' Will.

Only by raising one's cultivation level can one remain unchanged amidst all changes.

Ye Qin looked around; everything was normal, he seemed to realize something, his body jerked, then he slowly lifted his head.

Whoosh—

Otherwise, in the future when entering such places, one will still have to find a way to deal with these guardians.

He sniffed carefully; it seemed someone was lighting incense and candles, but the key is that this is a desolate wilderness—where could anyone come from?

Could it be related to this ghost monk? After he appears, the smell becomes stronger.

After continuing to crawl for a while, sure enough the monk suddenly appeared again.

Zhou Rites, Ministry of Rites, Grand Minister of Rites: "Using the grand sacrifice to worship the Heavenly Emperor, using genuine firewood to sacrifice the sun, moon, and stars, using the scorching blaze to sacrifice the deities of fate and destiny. Wind Master, Rain Master."

Ye Qin let out a faint sigh, silently cursing his bad luck; he went out hoping to make a breakthrough, but ended up bringing back a heap of trouble.

In the darkness, an inconspicuous wild temple looked dilapidated, on the verge of collapse, yet no one expected it to harbor such mysterious power.

Although it caused Ye Qin no substantive harm, this way of appearing and disappearing unseen affected both his sight and his mind considerably.

Each appearance came without any energy fluctuation, and it couldn't be beaten to death; it was really a nuisance, making Ye Qin feel very uncomfortable.

Despite Ye Qin exhausting every means, he could not make the monk vanish completely, for this ghost monk is visible only to him; other animals notice nothing at all.

Swish!

Just as he spoke, he suddenly turned his head.

"Withdraw first; better not to enter this place."

Therefore, the strange energy fluctuation Ye Qin sensed earlier must originate from here, formed by the joint action of incense and the Will of All Beings' thought.

Even if he rediscovered the place with the power of time, he dared not enter it; who knows whether this monk would cause trouble.

Ye Qin was somewhat surprised, somewhat unable to believe; the whole process was somehow too easy.

The distance between them was so close they were almost touching Ye Qin's face, less than half a finger apart.

Yet that monk hung upside down on the tree like a bat, Ye Qin's heart filled with alarm, he shot out directly, instantly pulling away the distance.

However, this ghost monk does not correspond to any kind of being in the world, because he is not human, not a so-called god, nor even a ghost, but merely a special existence formed from the combination of incense and thought power.

Such an existence is a threat, an unknown threat!

Ye Qin crawled along the small path, the feeling of being watched still existed and grew stronger, a chill surged from behind.

The next second, the monk's exaggerated smile appeared again before his eyes, almost face to face, the half-old, half-new yellow kasaya fluttered in the air, his body almost pressing up.

Therefore, incense gives rise to thought power; when united, it is what Buddhism calls the 'all beings' intention'!

Colloquially explained as: the intention of all beings, the heart/mind of all beings, the thoughts of all beings.

"However, speaking of which, if this monk is truly a product condensed from the all beings' intention, it's rather too formidable."

He pondered so deeply that he failed to notice the shadow not far away gathering like thick ink, the temperature in the air dropping extremely low.

However, that smile was like a mask stuck on his face, even the curvature of the mouth corners seemed fixed, extremely stiff, looking at it in any way feels somewhat uncomfortable.

Ye Qin inexplicably felt some regret in his heart; not having entered the mottled time fragment, he instead provoked an unknown mystical AI creature.

Fortunately, Ye Qin quickly regained his composure, attempting to find a solution.

Moreover, it originates from that monk.

Unknowingly, he had been tossing about for most of the night; seeing the faint rosy light seeping from the horizon, misty bright light and shadow, rosy vapors steaming, clouds turning and mist surging, foretelling the arrival of a new day.

Ye Qin's lightning scorched much of the surrounding land and trees, while the monk seemed like an unharmed person, eerily strange.

Ye Qin looked closely and saw that an incense stick was actually inserted into the monk's throat, as if it were placed in an incense burner!

Ye Qin was quite certain about this!

This was also the first time he encountered such difficulty after he was reborn as a snake and began cultivating.

Rather than saying he resolved it, it's more like he actively disappeared.

Ye Qin clearly understood that once he condensed into a monster core, his life level would undergo an immediate qualitative change, transcending the mundane from then on, perhaps it would be different!

But the monk's gaze is now so tight, like a bone‑eating maggot, making it impossible for Ye Qin to completely calm down and cultivate.

Burning incense, making offerings, incense — these are not cultivation!

For a Daoist with orthodox lineage, this is a way to communicate with the upper realm.

This monk is like AI data in a computer; he was born between heaven and earth, inherently without a physical form, merely a mass similar to big data of all beings' intention, naturally able to disappear and appear at will.

He has come!

I never expected that monk would actually chase after him; this realization sank Ye Qin's heart to the bottom of the valley.

"Damn it... where is the hundred‑faces mask?"

Ye Qin's pupils instantly turned into a straight vertical line, his body tensed, and he quickly darted forward.

"I can't afford to provoke him, nor can I hide from him."

Producing these beings also requires opportunity, just like the power of mottled time; exactly how they form is unknown, at least Ye Qin currently cannot solve the riddle.

At first, the monk merely came over occasionally to harass.

Upon looking again, not far away the greenery swayed in the wind, sunlight poured down from above, forming large and small light spots, light and shadow coexisting, everything appeared serene and beautiful.

Yet Ye Qin also does not know what this is; after all, humanity's cognition has no record of it, because it exists on the spiritual level, invisible to the naked eye.

Ye Qin's gaze also became solemn.

In the darkness, the monk's eyes were bright and alert, emitting two beams of light, fixedly staring at Ye Qin without moving.

That feeling of being watched finally dissipated, Ye Qin involuntarily let out a sigh of relief.

However, the world has no gods or spirits, yet people of the past firmly believed in them; the mental power they expended does not vanish just because there are no deities in the world, but instead becomes a thought power drifting between heaven and earth.

Along this way the monk appeared and disappeared mysteriously, constantly following Ye Qin without lifting a hand, like a ghost clinging to his shadow, and we do not know his purpose or significance.

The monk not taking action now does not mean he won't act later; although he is not a cultivator, he is nevertheless sufficiently eerie.

Most of the time, incense refers to the incense and candlelight used in temples to worship gods and Buddhas.

If at that time Ye Qin truly disregarded everything and entered the river of time, what would happen afterward is really hard to say.

Ye Qin's whole body broke out in a cold chill; he couldn't help but complain, and after blinking, what met his eyes was still the monk's exaggerated smile, everything unchanged.

Whoosh!

But at that moment, the ghost monk moved, drifting like a gust of wind; seeing that smiling face draw ever closer, Ye Qin instantly shot out like an arrow from a bow, swiftly darting outside, leaving only a green afterimage in the air.

Ye Qin resolved to shake off the monk, mobilizing the heaven and earth Qi throughout his body and infusing it into his scales all over, almost like a lightning‑fast gale; his former spot was left without a trace.

"Earlier I smelled incense and saw the 'all beings' thought power' — could it be — "

It is quite obvious that this ghost monk has followed him all the way, the arc of his smile almost split to the corners of his mouth; a face that should be kind appears somewhat twisted, as if mocking Ye Qin for just having discovered it.

The ordinary trees around were hidden in the darkness, like layers of ghostly shadows; the originally tranquil country lane also fell into a strange web of suspicion.

Everything is merely a beginning.

Moreover, the intention of ordinary people is scant, its effective range small, negligible.

"Surely not an illusion!"

"When did this AI ghost monk appear behind me, I actually noticed nothing!"

"Longyuan Mountain is quite far from that wild temple; I don't believe that ghostly thing could still chase after me."

This is something Ye Qin never expected; why would it leave the temple and come after him?

"I currently have no way to deal with it; could it be because my cultivation level is insufficient? If I wait until I condense into a Golden Core, might there be a turning point?"

And this ghost monk is equivalent to an AI existence, while the all beings' intention formed from the fusion of incense and thought power is akin to big data.

He can be certain that this monk is absolutely not human, but what exactly it is as a creature remains unknown for now; fortunately, it is also not a cultivator, since it possesses no heaven and earth power.

The monk before him looked no different from an ordinary monk, wearing a somewhat worn yellow kasaya, and he gazed at Ye Qin with a squinting smile.

Purple sparks lit up the surrounding darkness, but the monk's figure swiftly dissolved like night, vanishing without a trace.

Mysterious beyond mysterious.

"This ghost monk has so many faces, as if beholding all living beings, with faces praying and inhaling and exhaling incense…"

Ye Qin connected all this, and the clues in his mind became increasingly clear.

This time Ye Qin reacted swiftly; almost the moment he saw the monk, he unleashed thunderous power, and simultaneously the monk's figure vanished into the air.

Ye Qin's gaze swept back and forth between the broad leaves, hoping his guess was wrong.

"What the hell is this ghost monk, neither god nor man?"

And this is incense.

A strange chill rose in his heart.

"Continuing like this won't do; it's far too passive."

A weirdly familiar smile flashed through the forest, so quick that Ye Qin almost thought it was his own hallucination.

But for some reason, it made Qin inexplicably sense a threat, perhaps because it was too eerie and unknown.

"If we deduce this way, it all makes sense."

Just moments ago, Ye Qin felt a strong sense of being watched; when he turned around, he found nothing but the swaying tree shadows.

Behind him, however, there was nothing but trembling leaves, like a long-limbed monster lurking in the darkness, its eyes fixed on him.

"If we understand it this way, it's fine; after all, this ghost monk appears to have no consciousness, is not a cultivator, merely a mental‑level monster, not much different from an AI."

Ye Qin pondered thus, and couldn't help turning his gaze toward the mountain base, where the temple dedicated to the Mountain God that enshrined him stood.

It seemed as if some mysterious force had altered everything around him.

Even if, in the end, this wild temple lies abandoned, the lingering incense and the collective will of beings within it cannot dissipate quickly.

The fact that it can produce mottled fragments of time shows that this wild temple was once extraordinary; although now abandoned, it must have once been a thriving hub, drawing people from all directions to come and worship.

"Strange."

A strange, solemn, devout face, mouth open, teeth bared, lips constantly opening and closing as if murmuring prayers, yet wisp after wisp of incense smoke drifted from his mouth.

Crack!

"This AI monk is too disgusting, snake‑like."

An enlarged, completely inverted Buddha's smile suddenly appeared before Ye Qin!

The monk made no substantive move, yet he kept squeezing Ye Qin's nerves.

No matter what, this incident served as a wake‑up call for Ye Qin; the urgent priority is to raise his realm as soon as possible.

Ye Qin's eyes were full of caution—not because he was timid, but because this affair was truly too strange; he had never encountered anything like it before.

"Fortunately I was wary and didn't directly enter those mottled time fragments; otherwise today I might have capsized in a gutter."

Moreover, when he previously entered the temple, the monk showed no trace of aura; thus we can infer that the monk only appeared after Ye Qin triggered those mottled time fragments.

Ye Qin's sense of eeriness grew stronger; his intuition told him that, although he didn't know what kind of creature this ghost monk was, it was clearly not something to be provoked.

This feeling of suffocation was also thanks to Ye Qin's strong mental endurance; otherwise the pressure of recent days would have driven him mad.

"I must break through to the Monster Core Realm today!"

"And then I'll kill that damned ghost monk!"