Chapter 100

Ning Qingchen pondered for a long while, dissatisfied, mulling over the verse Qian Chen had casually spoken; she possessed a proud stubbornness, refusing to yield. Qian Chen idly tossed the Exorcising Golden Needle, his spiritual sense sweeping over it—he sensed a heavy Buddhist aura, and its quality was extremely high, its essence being an invisible, formless solar true fire refined into a divine needle by Buddhist teachings.

This Exorcising Golden Needle was likely a magic artifact with perfected sealing layers; the Bagu Monk had clearly prepared it well before hiding it, and in two thousand years, no one had cultivated it, yet its sealing layers had not diminished.

“So it’s a Buddhist artifact…” Qian Chen frowned slightly as he sensed the faint Zen aura on the needle: “I’d rather it were a Daoist-sealed artifact.” Buddhist artifacts are refined through mental force, a different kind of subtlety from Daoist sealing techniques—but Qian Chen didn’t understand them, for all his learning came from Daoist lineages, and even his occasional forays into demonic teachings were confined to Qi Refining.

He simply didn’t mesh well with Buddhist practices that focused on the mind.

The Dao Dust Pearl had been venerated for a million years in the Louguan Sect, where no one would idle away time discussing Buddhist cultivation before their own lineage’s sacred treasure.

“Even a demonic artifact would do!” Qian Chen silently shook his head. This exorcising treasure would have to be left to others for now.

The Seven Exorcising Treasures, to unleash their full power, are best activated by seven like-minded cultivators together. Qian Chen wasn’t the type to greedily snatch up any good thing he saw.

Right now, defeating the Blood Demon and Miaokong comes first. Finding a few capable allies to wield these exorcising artifacts would be far more effective.

Qian Chen’s target was the Xuantian Demon-Slaying Sword—the one that sounded distinctly different from the others. As the artifact forged by Yin Feng, the leader of the Seven Heroes, it should surpass the rest in power. Moreover, swords as artifacts possess superior versatility. Though Qian Chen already possessed the Qinghong Sword, his other disguises still lacked equipment.

As a cultivation master determined to wear seven or eight identities, wouldn’t it make him look poor if he didn’t prepare seven or eight sets of artifacts?

What if one day he had to impersonate someone in front of acquaintances and couldn’t produce a magic artifact?

Since awakening, when had Qian Chen ever been so desperate?

At that moment, Ning Qingchen suddenly understood, finally grasping the secret: “So the mystery truly lies in that verse… ‘If you seek me through form or sound, you walk a heretical path and cannot see the Tathagata’—it speaks of abandoning form and pointing directly to emptiness, breaking attachment to external appearances. Yet this Exorcising Golden Needle exists within ‘neither withered nor flourishing, neither false nor empty.’”

“But this verse carries immense grandeur: seeking ‘me’ through form, seeking ‘me’ through sound. This is the Buddha speaking. The latter half even says seeing ‘me’ is seeing the Tathagata… Could this verse truly come from the Buddha himself?”

“Yet why have I never heard it before?”

“Forget it! The Buddha’s integrity is far higher than the Supreme One’s. He didn’t even plagiarize the Diamond Sutra…” Qian Chen silently grumbled inside.

“But this Buddha isn’t some literary thief—he’s a cosplay enthusiast! He previously played Zen with the Supreme One, smiling while holding up a flower, and now he’s cosplaying the story of Shakyamuni attaining enlightenment and entering nirvana beneath the Sala trees. Truly… he knows how to have fun!”

“Don’t ask…” Qian Chen still offered his universal reply: “Ask and the answer is the Supreme One!”

The Supreme One!

Ning Qingchen and Yan Shu, who had been listening, instantly understood—it made perfect sense now. The Supreme One spoke in this tone, revealing the very root of Buddhism, implying that Buddhism is fundamentally Dao. To see the Supreme One is to see the Tathagata. Considering the Supreme One’s current identity, this further clarifies the distinction between Dao and Buddhism: at the Supreme One’s level, even the Buddha is merely ‘form.’

This was likely a verse spoken by the Supreme One to the Buddha before he had attained the Dao.

To help him break through the barrier of form left by the Supreme One, thereby truly comprehending his own Great Dao and realizing that all paths ultimately converge.

Only the true transmission of the Supreme One’s Dao could know such ancient secrets!

The two fell into reverie. Qian Chen watched them spontaneously fabricate their own interpretations, descending into divine delusion, and silently noted in his mental ledger: whenever something is inexplicable, just blame it on the Supreme One—he can explain anything. Everyone can imagine!

When in doubt, consult the Supreme One’s Dao; when logic fails, imagination succeeds!

Qian Chen said: “What ‘neither false nor empty’? It’s just talking about the Formless Realm. Buddhism divides consciousness into three realms: the Desire Realm, the Form Realm, and the Formless Realm. Phenomena born of form belong to the Desire and Form Realms; abandoning form leads to the Formless Realm—the meditative state where one transcends the material world in Buddhist cultivation.”

“When I closed my eyes and meditated, entering the Infinite Void, I immediately saw this needle…”

Ning Qingchen was stunned into silence. She had studied Buddhist sutras and knew of the Four Heavens of the Formless Realm—but those were the abodes of celestial beings. Before the Bagu Monk’s nirvana and rainbow transformation, he likely could barely enter the Infinite Void, which was already the cultivation level required to reach the Western Pure Land. Yet Qian Chen spoke as if entering the Infinite Consciousness, the Nothingness Realm, and the Neither Perception Nor Non-Perception Realm were effortless.

No wonder the demons couldn’t claim this exorcising treasure—let alone whether they could comprehend this layer.

Even if they grasped the principle of formlessness, to enter the Formless Heaven through meditation was pure fantasy; those who succeeded were likely already converted into Buddhist protectors.

Ning Qingchen also realized: Qian Chen’s method was certainly not the normal path. The Bagu Monk must have left some arrangement—perhaps instructing Daoist disciples to chant a few Buddhist mantras or silently pray, causing the Exorcising Golden Needle to descend from the Formless Realm’s Infinite Void… Who knew Qian Chen simply barged in and took it?

Qian Chen glanced at her, wondering what this overimaginative girl was concocting now—he sensed she was enjoying her own delusions wildly… Please don’t scare yourself!

“Yan Shixiong, Ning Shimei, Zhiqiu Daoist… this Exorcising Golden Needle is useless to me. Take it, one of you!”

Yan Shu slapped his sword pouch: “This is a Buddhist artifact—I’m not used to it, and I only need my sword. Other artifacts merely hinder my sword path.”

Qian Chen, knowing his devotion to sword cultivation, turned to the other two. Zhiqiu hesitated: “If I take this treasure, my master will surely demand I rebuild Qingyuan Temple to repay karmic debt and fulfill fellowship. I deeply revere Master Bagu… but this tedious task should go to someone else!”

Ning Qingchen was also troubled.

“It’s a girl’s trinket, I admit, but my sword path isn’t refined yet—I’d have to practice flying needles? And I have no desire to form ties with Buddhism…” She understood the stakes: Buddhist artifacts carried heavy karmic entanglements. In the Central Plains, there were countless tales of rogue cultivators who painstakingly schemed to seize relics of Buddhist elders, only to end up—by the end of their scheming—becoming monks themselves!

Thanks to certain overseas Daoist sects’ propaganda, everyone in the Central Plains knew this trick.

Though Ning Qingchen had a somewhat cold demeanor, she had never imagined spending her life before a Buddhist lamp and ancient Buddha, becoming a nun.

At that moment, Qian Chen spotted the big yellow chicken beside him and suddenly remembered something—he slapped his forehead: “Ah! I forgot about you, Daoist! Roosters crow at dawn, naturally attuned to solar primordial energy… and you’re a beast body—Buddhist aura poses no obstacle. This Exorcising Golden Needle suits you best!”

At that moment, Ning Qingchen also snapped back to awareness—the most troublesome thing about this needle was still its karmic burden!

The Three Pure Ones’ disciples dared not betray their sect, but Feng Shi? No problem!

Even if it got converted into Buddhism, it’d still have a future. Buddhism is famously indiscriminate, universally saving all beings. No matter how great a demon, they welcome them gladly—conversion is a joy!

The big yellow chicken’s eyes narrowed, as if saying: I think you’re trying to trick me!

At that moment, Qian Chen had already cheerfully driven the needle into its eye. The Exorcising Golden Needle sank into the eyeball, transforming into divine light, turning the chicken’s eyes golden-yellow, radiating faint solemnity. After the needle entered, the chicken seemed to sense its benefits and ceased resisting, fixing its gaze on the sun and instinctively refining it.

Soon, its demonic aura faded considerably, revealing faint traces of sandalwood incense.

“No problem…” Qian Chen shoved a spirit pill, glowing with a faint clear radiance like a relic, into its beak and patted its head: “You might even get a Bodhisattva as your adoptive mother! Either way, it’s a good thing… Focus on refining this needle in your eye—perhaps you’ll unlock another subtle ability.”