Chapter 695

At dusk, Ning Ning Qingchen finally left the cloud tower where she was temporarily residing; this flying ship was a cave dwelling for guests visiting the marketplace.

The flying ship was about sixty zhang long and forty zhang wide, a place of pavilions and towers that seemed to float in the clouds.

The cloud tower where Ning Ning Qingchen lived was close to the edge of the flying ship, and looking out from the pavilion, one could see the vast and wide scenery of the sea and sky.

With another turn of the eyes, it was a garden courtyard of the Central Lands...

One could see lush trees and beautiful woods below the tower, spiritual herbs containing pearls, and exotic flowers flashing and flickering. With several wall screens blocking the view, it was a scene at every step. Walking a few steps along the small path, one could see a belt of clear water, winding from the depths of the flowers and trees and pouring into the crevices of the rocks, and after a few more steps, it gradually headed north.

On both sides, flying towers pierced the sky; this was the small tower where Brother Qian Chen was temporarily residing!

The small tower was named "Listening to the Tide Pavilion"!

The entrance had carved beams and embroidered railings, all hidden among the mountain hollows and treetops.

But looking down from the tower, one could see the tide pouring like snow on the sea surface below, stone steps in the courtyard climbing through the clouds, white jade railings embracing the edge of the pond, stone bridges over three ports, and beast-faced spouts.

Ning Ning Qingchen saw a green ox pacing calmly in the courtyard, its rough tongue casually rolling up the crisp spiritual herbs planted in the yard and rolling them into its mouth. Master Feng stood on one leg on the ox's back, occasionally poking its head under its wing to preen its feathers.

"Why are you two so unrefined? This is a tower rented from someone else. Eating the spiritual herbs so greedily, I'm afraid they'll come to ask Yan Yan Shixiong for compensation!"

Ning Ning Qingchen said with a smile, but seeing the old ox impatiently flick its ears, Master Feng pulled its head out from under its wing, staring at the sky with a pair of small, pale-green eyes, its gaze revealing a complex emotion of contempt, arrogance, anger, and intense scrutiny!

Ning Ning Qingchen suddenly realized: "I forgot! You are an Eth-wood Green Ox and a Solar Golden Chicken; urging the growth of some spiritual herbs is naturally a piece of cake..."

The green ox watched her walk into the cloud tower, rolled its eyes, and lay down by the murmuring stream, while Master Feng hurriedly flapped its wings and flew to a parasol tree nearby.

"Who has the energy to urge growth! The price the Master paid to charter this flying ship is enough for me, the old ox, to eat all the spiritual herbs on the ship!"

"And these low-level spiritual herbs are just for chewing to relieve boredom. If I really want to steal something, I have to steal the Master's wine... How about it! Are you, little hen, willing to go? If you take the blame for this, I, the old ox, will give you a third!"

"That is wine brewed from the only remaining Immortal Medicine in the Earth Immortal Realm!"

Master Feng rolled its eyes at the sky; this ox was very wicked, it was likely that the ox's master wanted this beggar's chicken! It only instigated it to trick me!

Ning Ning Qingchen walked into Brother Qian Chen's room, only to see a spiritual talisman on the door suddenly drift down, fluttering in the breeze. A gust of wind swirled, pushing open the door and blowing the talisman to drift with the wind, flying into the room. Inside the room, there was only a long sword placed on the table.

Suddenly, the long sword hummed lightly and leaped up. A butterfly flew from the void and landed on the sword, instantly transforming into a man in green Daoist robes. He flicked his sleeve, putting the spiritual talisman into it.

Brother Qian Chen raised his hand in a vague gesture, opening the doors and windows. Instantly, a biting, fresh morning breeze blew in from outside, brushing against Brother Qian Chen's hem and staining it with a trace of damp coolness.

"Today is the Jiazi Treasure Assembly; why doesn't Yan Yan Shixiong go out for a walk?" Ning Ning Qingchen asked with a smile.

Brother Qian Chen was surprised: "Isn't the Treasure Assembly in the evening?"

"The immortal mountain of the Yingzhou Pavilion already flew over yesterday, causing quite a stir in the city. Moreover, the main assembly in the evening requires an invitation from the Seven Immortal Alliance, or a guarantee from a regular guest, to be invited to the Hanging Mountain."

"Cultivators who can enter must at least be True Persons of the Core Formation realm. So there are still a few small treasure assemblies in the city. Yan Yan Shixiong, why don't you hurry up and scatter some money today so the Seven Immortal Alliance will send an invitation!" Ning Ning Qingchen explained to him.

As she spoke, Ning Ning Qingchen looked at Brother Qian Chen with burning, bright eyes: "What has Yan Yan Shixiong been busy with these past few days? I always feel like you're hiding something from me!"

Brother Qian Chen took out two jade letters and said: "Yan Yan Shixiong Yan already sent Shaoqing disciples to deliver the invitations for the Treasure Assembly a few days ago! These past few days, I have been contemplating the Great Dao in my dreams, and for a time, I became obsessed with it and forgot everything else!"

He stood up and said: "But since Ning Ning Shimei has invited me, let's go out for a walk and see!"

Because it was a temporary outing, Brother Qian Chen did not lead the green ox, but followed Ning Ning Shimei Ning as they pleased, slowly pacing to the street where the incense competition had taken place the day before.

At this moment, he was surprised to see that the street, which had originally been as crowded as a weave of people, was packed with heads, filled with cultivators.

The street originally meant for walking had been divided into individual stalls, each only large enough for one person to sit in meditation.

Some cultivators with not-weak cultivation bases had each set up their meditation cushions, and those with the means even placed an incense burner in front of them, inserting a wisp of sandalwood incense. Among them, there was no lack of experts who had penetrated the Law.

The area closest to where Xiao Yu and Zen Master Zhen Yu had been the day before had even had a Zen room cloud tower temporarily built.

Built with fragrant wood, it was nine stories high, reaching straight into the sky...

And the teahouses and shops on both sides of the street had all changed their business to meditation rooms. There was no lack of True Persons of the Core Formation realm whose precious light descended, opening seals and walking into the meditation rooms nearby.

Brother Qian Chen looked at this exaggerated scene, and a thought suddenly surged in his heart.

Just as he turned his head, he saw Ning Ning Qingchen smiling like a flower: "Yan Yan Shixiong, you don't know, but after those two magic treasures and the Buddhist hand fought here that day, some people wanted to find the Buddhist magic treasures shattered by the spiritual beads, as well as the Buddha blood dripped by the Buddha's hand. As a result, they searched this place thoroughly; they found many fragments of magic treasures, but did not find any traces of Buddha blood!"

Brother Qian Chen thought to himself: That's for sure! Most of the Buddha blood was collected by me as it dripped! How could such supreme elixir materials be left for idlers?

The rest were picked up by the Ear Dao God nearby!

It intended to use the true Buddha blood in combination with various ink materials to concoct Buddha-blood gold ink, used for copying sutras and painting divine Buddha murals.

This little demon was insane; it really had the intention of asking Brother Qian Chen to slaughter a Buddha and squeeze out blood for it to paint a Buddha portrait. But even if a Buddha descended, Brother Qian Chen would only be the one slaughtered; it wouldn't be his turn to paint such a portrait equivalent to a god or Buddha.

As far as Brother Qian Chen knew, the little demon had already used up the Buddha blood ink to paint a Buddha hand, pinching a lotus finger, which was very divine.

Brother Qian Chen felt that every time he looked at it, the Buddha hand in the painting might reach out at any time and grab him, which was very unlucky!

So a few days ago, he entrusted Shaoqing disciples to help him dispose of it!

Ning Ning Qingchen walked with him through the crowd. When they entered the bustling crowd, they were like fish entering the sea, as if they couldn't pass through, and they had to rub shoulders to get past the gaps between people, but the two of them simply walked through.

Within three inches of Brother Qian Chen, it was like a natural chasm; it seemed that even if a hundred people were pushed in, it wouldn't be crowded!

Ning Ning Qingchen explained: "However, while searching for the Buddha blood, some people discovered that the wondrous incense and Buddha-light emitted by the Pure Land Heavenly Realm, although scattered by the two magic treasures, still had residual fragrance and Buddha-light covering the surroundings, leaving behind some fragments! Absorbing them can open wisdom and lead to sudden enlightenment of certain wondrous meanings of Buddhist Dharma!"

"Now, dozens of rogue cultivators have used this opportunity to contemplate several Buddhist supernatural powers!"

She looked back at Brother Qian Chen and said meaningfully: "And the spiritual light left behind by those two magic treasures is also of great benefit to cultivators contemplating the Great Dao. So that day, some people found the places where the fragrance and Buddha-light remained, demarcated them as places for cultivation, and rented them out to cultivators!"

"The people of the Seven Immortal Alliance even found the places where the two magic treasures left marks, allowing their disciples to contemplate and practice with the help of the magic treasure imprints!"

"Is this really useful?" Brother Qian Chen was a bit dumbfounded; clearly, he was the one spreading "wisdom."

How did it become the Seven Immortal Alliance's turn to hype up the school district... oh no, the enlightenment rooms? They even concocted such absurd rumors about the spiritual energy left behind by the battle between immortals and Buddhas; would anyone really believe this?

"Young people should have a sense of awe!"

An old cultivator meditating nearby couldn't stand it anymore and said: "This is the immortals and Buddhas of the heavenly realm fighting; any trace left behind is a supreme treasure of the human world."

Another white-haired old cultivator kept opening his mouth to inhale breath, his chest bulging like a toad with long inhalations, and then he circulated his energy to refine the inhaled breath.

He had temporarily learned a Toad-Fishing Technique, intending to absorb the residual wondrous incense here as much as possible...

But this action was soon warned against by the deacon disciples of the Seven Immortal Alliance!

He was actually also a cultivator who had penetrated the Law. After being stopped, he helplessly stopped his cultivation and said indifferently to Brother Qian Chen and the other: "A venerable Buddhist high monk once attained the Dao and became a Soul Transformation expert here, opening the gateway to the Pure Land, shedding heavenly flower fragrance, and shining with Buddha-light to shape his golden body! But it was destroyed by the means left behind by the Daoist sects!"

"The creation of a Soul Transformation expert attaining the Dao was shattered here; every bit of soil and stone, every wisp of energy, might contain extraordinary opportunities. These past few days, Buddhist disciples have not stepped out of their doors; it is said that they are all in Zen meditation, contemplating the scene of the Buddha hand pinching the beads, sensing the Zen opportunity left by the Buddha!"

"Many Buddhist disciples have contemplated extraordinary Buddhist Dharma, and some have even fallen from Buddha into demons, realizing taboo supernatural powers."

The old cultivator nearby also nodded repeatedly, earnestly advising Brother Qian Chen: "Don't look at the fact that several great experts of the Buddhist sects died this time, but they have also contemplated many Buddhist Dharmas of the higher realms through the Zen opportunity left by the Buddha's hand. Whether it is a blessing or a curse is very hard to say!"

"Some people, while in deep meditation, have glimpsed the Form Realm and seen an incredible hand in the Formless Realm, counting prayer beads!"

"That hand plucked a prayer bead, and supreme wisdom descended. That person stole a trace of it and realized a few words of a supreme sutra."

Another white-haired old cultivator was full of interest and took over the conversation: "I have also heard this rumor. Although I initially thought it was absurd, some great experts heard about this and borrowed fragments of the Xianhan supreme treasure, the Dew-Collecting Plate, to reflect that place!"

"The Buddha-light reflected in the fragments of the Dew-Collecting Plate shocked the Buddhist cultivators!"

The old cultivator leaned close to the two of them mysteriously and whispered: "Don't tell others about this... Some people have already gathered a few fragments of the Dew-Collecting Plate and caught a glimpse of a Bodhisattva manifesting in the Heaven of Neither Thought Nor Non-Thought."

"The battle between those two Daoist magic treasures and the Buddha hand shed by the Pure Land is not that simple; it may hide some terrifying secrets!"