Chapter 35: Fated Yet Not Destined

In the early morning, sea mist drifted away, several large ships floated out from the thick fog, heading toward the distant islands. In this fleet, a ship about 110 meters long and nearly 20 meters wide, its hull sheathed in iron armor, served as the flagship, leading the other seven wooden sail ships forward. It was indeed the ironclad warship of the Jade Pond Sect.

The Jade Pond Sect's ironclad warship stayed at Giant Whale Island for seven days. During those seven days, Yao Yue Ru settled numerous affairs and swept clean the entire Giant Whale Island, then, carrying the vast wealth, people, and various supplies looted from the island, she filled seven ships to capacity and set sail again. The fleet did not return directly to Great Qian but headed overseas to the Divine Wind Kingdom.

In the warship's cabin, Zhou Shuo sat cross-legged on a futon, his spirit returning to his aperture, slowly opening his eyes and exhaling a long breath. The cultivation to subdue the eighteen demon gods is not something achieved once and for all; it requires constant, repeated tempering until one's state of mind is refined.

"How is it?" Zhou Shuo opened his eyes to see a great gold Buddha. On a twelve‑petal lotus throne, the Buddha with large ears drooping to his shoulders touched the ground with one hand and formed a circle with the index and middle fingers of the other hand, making a profound hand seal. This is the Buddha statue that houses the Present Tathagata Sutra, and before this statue, Yao Yue Ting and Yao Yue Ru were sitting in meditation, contemplating.

"No." Yao Yue Ting opened her eyes, turned her head to look at Zhou Shuo, then glanced at the Buddha and shook her head.

"There must be a secret hidden inside this great Buddha." Yao Yue Ru also opened her eyes and spoke with firm conviction.

"The hand seal of this great Buddha, together with the imagery on it, is indeed very evocative. The Great Chan Temple is a great sect that has been passed down for millions of years; it's not strange that it has passed on some secrets. I just don't know how much is hidden inside this Buddha." Zhou Shuo gazed at the gold‑capped great Buddha and nodded perfunctorily. He also didn't know why the sister duo had fixated on this Buddha, but the statue truly does conceal a secret, and it is enormous; some of the Great Chan Temple's partial immortal‑person secret manuals are hidden inside, but unfortunately he cannot reveal them.

Although he had earned the favor of the sister duo, even learning their sect's non‑transmitted Supreme Yin Heavenly Born Divine Chapter, their relationship could be said to be only a thin membrane away, yet Zhou Shuo did not believe some secrets should be revealed to them, for those secrets could very well bring about a lethal disaster.

"It must be huge; I've never seen a Buddha statue with such grandeur." Yao Yue Ru spread her arms to gesture.

"The Great Chan Temple was once one of the Six Holy Lands. That Yellow‑Browed Human Buddha, according to what we interrogated from Green‑Browed, was a former disciple who had been cast out by the Great Chan Temple; this Buddha statue was hidden by them in a secret chamber, and it surely contains some… but I fear…" Yao Yue Ting looked at her sister, who was gesturing with outstretched arms, and involuntarily turned her pensive gaze toward Zhou Shuo.

"The Great Chan Temple was destroyed long ago, yet the Supreme Three Scriptures have never resurfaced. The news that the Yellow‑Browed Human Buddha was a discarded disciple only reached the ears of the keen‑minded, so we…" Zhou Shuo caught Yao Yue Ting's gaze and immediately understood; in fact, he also harbored some worries, for the hidden strength of the Great Qian Dynasty is immense—the Qiankun Dragon Guard, the Creation Shadow Guard, and Qian Emperor Yang Pan and Hong Xuanji, these two are deep‑scheming and their goals can be described as extraordinarily ambitious.

"No way!" Upon hearing Zhou Shuo's words, Yao Yue Ru couldn't help but feel astonished; would the court really target someone who had already been cast out?

"There's nothing impossible about it. Before the court launched its suppression campaign, who would have thought the court would dare to move against the Great Chan Temple?" Seeing Zhou Shuo follow her line of thought, Yao Yue Ting felt slightly reassured; she glanced at her silly sister, who pursed her lips, this girl having no idea how terrifying the court could be—one of the Six Holy Lands, the Great Chan Temple, could be wiped out just like that.

"Then what should we do? Perhaps this is just an unnamed Buddha statue." Yao Yue Ru, looking at the Buddha statue full of charm, could not help but ask.

"If I had known this would happen, we wouldn't have gone to the Divine Wind Kingdom; we would have simply returned to Great Qian. Back in Great Qian, we could go straight to the magistrate's office to report the pirate suppression, then register the spoils—at most we'd lose a bit of blood, but we wouldn't end up in this passive situation." Yao Yue Ting suddenly felt regret; attacking Giant Whale Island had actually been an unwise move, and when people are caught up in emotion, they indeed lose rationality.

"What for!" Yao Yue Ru immediately became displeased; in this pirate suppression operation, the loot alone amounted to nearly a million taels of silver, exceeding a province's annual tax revenue. If reported to the court, they would have to hand over more than half—what a huge loss!

"But we are already nearing the Divine Wind Kingdom." Zhou Shuo looked at the regretful Yao Yue Ting; this girl's mind was far more mature than Yao Yue Ru's, and without foreknowledge of the plot, he truly might not measure up to her.

"So we no longer have time to turn the ship around." Yao Yue Ting lifted her head, met Zhou Shuo's gaze, and immediately felt a flicker of shyness, then turned away.

"When you disembark, you must pay attention—make absolutely sure no one sees this great Buddha." Zhou Shuo looked at the still‑bashful girl, couldn't help but smile inwardly, and while looking at the Buddha said, he really did fear people seeing this thing; the sister duo might have been drawn in by the Buddha's aura, but unfortunately he now has no chance, and his spirit may not even be able to penetrate this Buddha.

"No, we will destroy it now." Yao Yue Ting's face flushed slightly; hearing Zhou Shuo's words, she immediately spoke up.

"Destroy it now?" Zhou Shuo looked at Yao Yue Ting, his eyes showing a hint of surprise.

"Regardless of what secrets this great Buddha holds, we can't worry about that now; we can't bear to send it away, so we might as well destroy it." Yao Yue Ting gave a slight nod and made the decision.

"If that's the case, then let's do it! The gold overlay on the Buddha's surface—first peel it off." Yao Yue Ru had no objection; she stood, took the sword Zhou Shuo had placed aside, drew it, and swung hard, scraping off a slice of the red gold gilded on the Buddha, revealing the wooden body within.

Swish, swish—several strokes, Yao Yue Ru used Zhou Shuo's side‑sword like a butcher dissecting an ox, scraping all the red gold from the Buddha's surface to expose the wooden body. Yao Yue Ru looked at the wooden Buddha, suddenly felt a stir, closed her eyes, turned her thoughts into a yin wind that flew from the space between her brows, then drilled into the surface depressions, still leaving some of the golden Buddha within.

"Yue Ting you…!" Zhou Shuo watched Yue Ting with closed eyes, his finger twitched involuntarily, but he restrained himself.

Crack—several tearing sounds, the wooden body of the Buddha, more than a person tall, emitted a splitting noise, like wood burning in fire. Zhou Shuo directed his gaze over and saw the tall Buddha's body crack open with fissures, from which a pungent odor drifted out, accompanied by Yao Yue Ting's urgent cry.

"Zhou Shuo, help me, there's something inside."

"All right." Without another word, Zhou Shuo turned his thoughts into a yin wind that escaped from the space between his brows, then wrapped around the Buddha, intertwining with Yao Yue Ting's thoughts as they probed the Buddha's interior; in an instant, the grain of the wood inside the Buddha flooded his mind, while Yao Yue Ru's face beside him showed an expectant look.

"Bang!" A muffled thud, the Buddha's wooden body split completely open, revealing a fist‑thick wooden post inside. The post gave off a pungent smell. Yao Yue Ru, sword in hand, stood guard nearby; looking at the post left among the splintered wood, she widened her eyes, her expectation turning to joy, then to doubt.

"Golden‑thread Nanmu tree core." Yao Yue Ru examined the post from top to bottom; this is a precious wood, medicinal in nature and also usable as material for a daoist's flying sword to carry thoughts and souls. Though quite valuable, it is far from being the secret.

"How is it?" Yao Yue Ting opened her eyes and asked Zhou Shuo.

"Nothing at all." Zhou Shuo gave a slight shake of his head, meanwhile feeling a bit puzzled and thoughtful; his thoughts had entered the Buddha smoothly, yet he had not found the Present Tathagata Sutra. Hmm, how did Hong Yi obtain it? He also used thoughts, hmm, could it be that he cultivated the Past Amitabha Sutra, so they resonate? But it seems there's no problem—if the Great Chan Temple didn't leave some means with its treasures, that would truly be strange; after all, treasures require affinity, and lack of affinity also won't do.

"So the 'secret' we thought of is just this single wooden post?" Yao Yue Ru looked at the two people with opened eyes, feeling a bit disheartened; she had originally believed that, like in strange‑tale novels, opening the Buddha would yield a supreme treasure manual, but it turned out empty—indeed, novels are all deceit.

"Not necessarily; the post might conceal a secret, but we currently have no way to probe it—perhaps our cultivation is insufficient, since neither I nor Zhou Shuo have broken the life‑death barrier." Yao Yue Ting gazed at the contemplative Zhou Shuo, slightly shook her head; although opening the Buddha revealed nothing, this golden‑thread Nanmu tree core still seems to hold an unsolved secret.

"What should we do?" Yao Yue Ru looked at the pensive Zhou Shuo and couldn't help but blink her double pupils.

"Put the thing away; when our cultivation reaches that level later, perhaps we can make some discovery." Zhou Shuo collected his thoughts; just because we can't get it now doesn't mean we never will.

Yao Yue Ru sheathed her long sword, exchanged a glance with Yao Yue Ting, then looked at the golden‑thread Nanmu tree core emitting a 'fragrance' and nodded her head slightly.

"Miss Yue Ting, Miss Yue Ru, Master Zhou, the Divine Wind Kingdom is almost here." The voice of a Jade Pond Sect disciple came from outside; the Divine Wind Kingdom is almost here.

"Understood, send a few people to help us tidy up." Yao Yue Ru looked at the scattered Buddha statue in the cabin and the red‑gold shavings she had sliced off with her sword, and replied.

"Yes." The Jade Pond Sect disciple's voice outside hesitated slightly, then hurried away; after Yao Yue Ru and Yao Yue Ting processed the situation, they both blushed, and Yao Yue Ru fiercely glared at Zhou Shuo—it's all his fault.

Zhou Shuo, who had received an eye‑knife, spread his hands innocently: "I didn't do anything; this is purely a misunderstanding. You said something that caused the misunderstanding yourself—why glare at me?"