Chapter 13: Ascension to Transcendence

In Room 401,

Jiang Yan sat cross-legged. Although the air on the mountain peak was cool at night, he seemed as if he had just been pulled from water, his clothes soaked through with sweat.

"So hot!"

His brows were knitted tight, his teeth clenched; in this moment, the world in his eyes had undergone a earth-shattering change.

The entire room ignited with raging flames, scorching every inch of space, thinning the air, making breathing difficult, and burning his throat with searing pain.

Hiss! Hiss!

The fire spread continuously; the room before his eyes quickly turned into a ruin. Ash danced in the air like strange fire insects, opening their grotesque mouths, attaching themselves to Jiang Yan, and flashing with sparks.

In this moment, Jiang Yan felt every inch of his flesh and blood begin to roast, as if thousands of ants crawled and gnawed on his body, causing excruciating pain, and he could see his body rapidly carbonizing, turning black and charred.

He... could it be he was about to be burned to death right here!

He did not know how long passed; Jiang Yan began to forget who he was, as if his memories had turned to ash and scattered.

Why am I here?

I... what am I doing?

Where is this?

So tired; let it end like this.

At the instant the thought of giving up arose, the world before his eyes suddenly became cool and comfortable.

Hum!

The Spirit of Spells deep within Jiang Yan's soul trembled slightly, just preparing to radiate light.

"No... neither life nor a severe illness made me bow and admit defeat; what are you, and why should I give up? Who am I... I am... I am Jiang Yan!"

Jiang Yan murmured with indistinct pronunciation, suddenly snapping back to his senses. He realized he had almost had his sanity swallowed by the burning house; his heart was filled with alarm, and he continued to circulate the visualization method.

These flames continued to scorch, yet the Spirit of Spells began to act. The lamp light flickered, quickly suppressing these ashes.

He had expected a war of attrition to begin, yet deep within Jiang Yan's consciousness, the Demon God Embryo rooted in the dark chaotic sea released a wisp of aura.

Boom!

Like destroying withered wood, it extinguished the flames that filled the world, and the world returned to its original state.

However, the burning ash did not disperse. At this moment, Jiang Yan saw their true form; they were indeed a swarm of insects made of ash, swarming into Jiang Yan's brow, the position known in Taoism as the Heavenly Eye and the Upper Upper Dantian, forcibly carving out a void, forming a dense mass that ran everywhere.

Hum!

The Spirit of Spells leaped into it, ignited the ash insects, and merged with them, finally giving birth to an Ash Lamp, upon which a faint gray flame jumped, vibrating the soul.

In an instant, Jiang Yan suddenly felt as if he had recovered from nearsightedness; the entire world in his vision became clearer and brighter, and his perception became sharper. He could easily sense the slightest movement within a five-meter radius, even the crawling of insects and the flow of air.

He vaguely felt that if he continued to temper it, he could even achieve...

Interfering with reality through will!

"After condensing the Ash Lamp, my soul power should have crossed into the Transcendent stage."

Amidst Jiang Yan's joy, he also felt a bit of fear; he never expected that even with the assistance of the Spirit of Spells, he had almost crashed.

This top-tier Transcendent knowledge originating from the long river of pathological history was indeed dangerous.

Fortunately, risk and reward were proportional.

Among them, the Lamp-Burning Fire Prison Visualization Method jumped directly from Entry Level (1%) to (10%).

As for the Ash Lamp, it was the core of the Lamp-Burning Fire Prison Visualization Method.

The Buddha viewed the world as a burning house; all troubles, external things, attachments, karma, and so on were flames. One needed to maintain tranquility within it to find the true self.

After the flames scorch, the house remains a house.

You remain you.

When this point is seen through, one successfully passes the first fire tribulation.

In this process, something named "Karma Ash" precipitates from oneself; these are the creatures resembling insects. Their corpses are the raw materials for condensing the Ash Treasure Lamp.

And when the Ash Lamp is raised to its extreme, a new tribulation will be faced.

There are four levels in total. The Spirit of Spells did not know the specific information, only that after crossing them, one could transform into the Star Treasure Lamp, the Moon Treasure Lamp, or the Great Sun Treasure Lamp.

Each transformation would birth different abilities.

When the three lamps unite, it becomes the Spirit Lamp!

This "Spirit" refers not to the immortals and gods of mythology, but to one's own will.

Illuminate the nature, see the self, break the void.

However, if he truly reached that step, the essence of his soul should not be much inferior to that of immortals and gods.

After the Ash Lamp is born, one must uphold three precepts: no illicit sex, no abusive speech, and no eating meat, while keeping the lamp flame burning brightly. Once it extinguishes, it will also invite unknown pathologies.

But how is that possible?

Even great virtuous monks who have seen through the red dust could break the precepts.

Humans are not sages; who can be without fault?

But for a skill offspring... can it commit illicit sex? Or will it open its mouth to curse?

As for eating, that is even more impossible!

It exists, yet does not exist.

It is emptiness; emptiness is it.

Innate Buddha-Body Saint.

The precepts are borne by it; the abilities are used by Jiang Yan.

The Ash Lamp resides in the Upper Upper Dantian; it can help Jiang Yan see through illusions and glimpse the lamps of all beings.

Whether to turn them into lamp oil or to help the lights of ten thousand homes grow is up to oneself to decide.

The flame of the Ash Lamp has no temperature, yet it possesses terrifying lethality against ghosts and spirits.

It was also one more trump card to have.

As a man without a sense of security, Jiang Yan couldn't sleep well at night without a few hundred trump cards prepared.

He sighed inwardly, glanced at the time on his phone, prepared to take a shower, then use meditation in place of rest.

But just then, a sudden knock came from outside the door.

Thump!

Thump thump!

Jiang Yan asked, "Who is it?"

"I'm the front desk clerk who checked you in today. My name is Chen Yu. I just watched a horror movie and I'm a little scared being alone. I want to come chat with you." Chen Yu's soft, gentle voice came through.

You say you want to chat?

Clearly you're here to get some scripture!

But Jiang Yan, looking through the peephole on the door, saw a young, pretty girl standing outside. Though she wore heavy makeup, he could tell she was the hotel's front desk clerk.

"Forget it, it's really not convenient for me…"

Jiang Yan was just about to refuse when, out of the corner of his eye, he saw the Burial Coffin had skillfully hidden itself in the backpack, and the blood threads had gathered into a tiny hand giving an OK gesture.

Burial Coffin, being a good child, would not disturb its master in conceiving little brothers and sisters.

Jiang Yan was deeply moved, then zipped the backpack shut, not wanting the little one to see some indescribable scenes.

Chen Yu's voice came again from outside the door: "Please, big brother, I'll only stay for a little while. It's really so boring late at night."

A girl of sixteen not only had a body soft as cream, but her voice was also gentle and enchanting.

Late at night, a lone man and a lone woman — it really did make the heart stir.

Jiang Yan sighed and asked:

"I'll give you one more chance. Are you sure you want to come in? My temper is very fierce."

"Mm-hmm." The girl's soft, gentle voice came through.

Jiang Yan didn't dawdle. He opened the door directly. "Come in."

After saying that,

he began to undress. As he raised his arms, the feather-like lines of his latissimus dorsi pulled taut; the mermaid lines at his waist rose and fell with his breathing; under the lamplight, beads of sweat shimmered at his collarbone — revealing a muscular, sculpted body like an ancient Greek statue.

Truly achieving the look of meat when undressed and slim when dressed.

Gulping!

This sudden scene made Chen Yu unable to help but swallow.

Men like a beauty's legs; women also like a handsome man's physique.

This is humanity's pursuit of beautiful things.

"Big brother, you really are in a hurry…"

Chen Yu said shyly. Her slender hand pushed the door shut, her right hand quietly locked it, then she walked toward Jiang Yan.

One step, two steps,

her footsteps faster and faster,

her gaze no longer restrained, greedily sizing up Jiang Yan. Her body suddenly swelled; on her cheeks, arms, and legs, dense white fuzz began to sprout, covering her whole body in the blink of an eye.

Her originally slender arms turned into sharp claws that tore through the air, swiping at Jiang Yan, as she let out a low laugh:

"Little cutie, let's start the game right now!"

"Use your screams… to please me!"

But with a "ding," Chen Yu's smile froze on her face.

She stared blankly at the scene before her. Her sharp claws had fallen on Jiang Yan, but were blocked by a layer of faint golden light. Not only could they not touch flesh and blood, but she herself was shaken by a tremendous force until the web of her hand went numb.

"What is this!?"

Chen Yu's face drained of color. Her first reaction was…

Run!

Boom!

But before she could act, a wave of golden light swept before her eyes. A large hand directly gripped her skull; her cranium could not bear the weight, letting out a "crack crack" sound.

"Ugh!"

She had just tried to struggle when a fist struck her abdomen. Her organs seemed to twist into a knot; an iron-rust taste flooded her throat; she violently spat out a mouthful of fresh blood. Her body instantly went limp, then her feet left the ground against her will, lifted into midair like a little chick.

"How is this possible!?"

She forced her eyes open, only to see Jiang Yan — whom she had regarded as prey — bare-chested, with boiling currents of air swirling around him. The right arm gripping her was covered in a layer of blood-colored arm armor; antlers grew and spread across its surface, golden light flowing over them, dense Sanskrit characters emerging like a swarm of golden eyes wriggling, silently watching her.

There was no Buddha's compassion — only…

indifference.

In her ear, Jiang Yan's low voice rang out:

"I gave you a chance, yet you insisted on coming in to seek death."

At this moment, Chen Yu couldn't tell…

who exactly was the monster?

Continue to ask for follows, ask for monthly tickets, recommendation tickets! Black-Haired Bird kowtows in gratitude

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(End of this chapter)