Chapter 3591: This Object Possesses Spirituality

Night fell.

The skyline once again revealed an aurora, dreamlike and illusory.

Ye Chen once again led three beautiful women toward the direction of the aurora.

This time, Lin Wanner had specially packed an oversized travel bag and asked Ye Chen to carry it for her; though the weight of several dozen jin was trivial to him, it was still somewhat burdensome for her to carry while walking through the snow.

Yun Ruoyu and Song Ruoyu stepped lightly like swallows; thinking that they might receive even stronger Buddhist hand seals tonight, both could not conceal their excitement.

Ye Chen also harbored anticipation; yesterday's hand seal had indeed resolved the breakthrough from zero to one in spiritual energy during the Dharma-Ending Age, but to him it seemed rather useless; he could temporarily accept Xiao Churan leaving him to better prepare for her revenge, but how long this separation would last depended entirely on his fortune.

If he remained unable to break through for a long time and could not open the Niwan Palace, his revenge plan might not be completed even in decades.

Although he knew Xiao Churan still loved him deep down, Ye Chen did not know how long this love could endure after their separation.

One or two years might be acceptable, but three to five years, or even ten to eight years, would likely be an unknown.

Thus, Ye Chen urgently desired a swift path to cultivate his strength, hoping that his grudges against the Poqing Hui and Wu Feiyan could be completely settled within the next five years.

Beneath the aurora, the three sat cross-legged, heads raised to gaze at the sky; Lin Wanner stayed by Ye Chen's side, taking from the travel bag he carried for her a folded egg-roll table and a folded moon chair, setting them up, then producing a small charcoal stove and a cast-iron kettle, using the kettle's lid to scoop untouched snow from the ground into the pot bit by bit.

She then took out a charcoal made from olive pits, tossed in a small piece of solid alcohol, struck a match across the night sky, and lit a cluster of fire.

The fire boiled the water, and she then brought out a set of travel tea utensils, carefully arranging them on the table.

It was clear she intended to boil snow water to brew tea.

Ye Chen admired her; she remained calm and composed at almost any time, and never forgot her fondness for leisurely elegance.

A pot of snow melted and then boiled, the boiling water steeping a piece of pu-erh tea to release its fragrance; the aurora in the sky still showed no sign of transforming into hand seals.

Ye Chen felt puzzled—could it be that this mysterious thing only had that one useful set of hand seals from last night?

Yun Ruoyu and Song Ruoyu were also somewhat confused, but both deeply understood that opportunities cannot be forced or spoken of recklessly, so they remained silent.

It was Lin Wanner who first broke the silence, pouring four cups of tea and then softly saying: "Young Master, the hand seal has not appeared for a long time—could there have been some change?"

Ye Chen's expression turned grim as he muttered: "It shouldn't be any change; I suspect this dog-thing won't show itself unless it sees a rabbit—no hawk released until then."

Lin Wanner asked, puzzled: "Young Master, what do you mean by that?"

Ye Chen sighed: "The first time, it suddenly manifested eight hand seals, which drained nearly all my spiritual energy; the second time, yesterday, was also after I again performed those eight hand seals and expended most of my spiritual energy, after which the aurora manifested the second set of sixteen hand seals. So I suspect it wants me to first give it spiritual energy—like paying money first before receiving goods."

Saying this, Ye Chen told her: "Today, during daytime seclusion with Miss Yun and Miss Song, I deliberately passed on the first set of eight hand seals to them; they used them, but felt no effect; only when I fully circulate those eight hand seals does my spiritual energy drain greatly, so I am more convinced that this thing resides within me. Moreover, its first transmission of those eight hand seals to me was precisely to make me deliver my spiritual energy to it; yesterday, I gave it spiritual energy first, and only then did it grant me the useful hand seals. Clearly, this is a transaction."

"This…" Lin Wanner was momentarily startled, then said: "If that's the case, the thing within Young Master's body also requires a great deal of spiritual energy."

Speaking thus, she added, puzzled: "But if this thing truly resides within Young Master's body and can absorb spiritual energy from him, why doesn't it absorb directly instead of requiring Young Master to perform specific hand seals? And strangely, this hand seal was transmitted to Young Master by it—like it could just take it outright, yet insists Young Master actively give it, which is truly odd."

Ye Chen pondered: "Thinking this way, it does seem rather superfluous."

Lin Wanner suddenly recalled something, excitedly saying: "Young Master, do you still remember— in the first aurora, it initially manifested as the Buddhist Wanzi Yuan?"

"Naturally I remember." Ye Chen nodded, saying: "I even joked then that, if viewed from above, the mirrored Wanzi Yuan resembled the Nazi symbol."

Lin Wanner exclaimed excitedly: "So, regardless of who or what the thing within Young Master's body is, it must be connected to Buddhism! Since it originates from Buddhism, it must follow Buddhist precepts—just like monks begging for alms, they must receive offerings from donors before accepting; if left unattended, they would rather starve than take without asking. Thus, the thing within Young Master's body is likely the same: even if it could directly absorb spiritual energy from him, Buddhist precepts forbid it, so it must resort to indirect means, making Young Master actively give it."

Ye Chen complained: "The first time it didn't even clarify the numbers four, five, six to me, leaving me dazed and losing so much spiritual energy—this isn't very fair either."

Lin Wanner helplessly said: "Young Master, what more do you want from it? It can't speak; the only thing it can do is change the aurora to convey information to you, and it's not merely taking."

Ye Chen nodded: "That's also true."

Lin Wanner sighed: "If our speculation is correct, then this thing must possess spirituality…"

Ye Chen said gloomily: "Whether it truly has spirituality—we'll know if we test it."

Having spoken, he took out a Peiyuan Dan, endured the heartache, and swallowed the pill.

After the Peiyuan Dan released its surging spiritual energy, Ye Chen calmed his mind and again circulated those eight hand seals.

Hand seals, like techniques, must be performed in the correct order to be effective; today he used the sequence 1234, 8765, which scrambled the conclusion of this set of hand seals, so it had no effect.

When he again performed the first four hand seals, the golden pagoda in his sea of consciousness once again surfaced, though Ye Chen could not sense its presence nor see the dense, mottled cracks covering it.

This pagoda, if its scale is ignored, resembles an ancient building weathered by wind and frost, eroded by time, appearing on the verge of collapse; if standing in an ancient temple, it would likely have long been reinforced and protected as a cultural relic.

When the pagoda surfaced, its form paused slightly, as if worried Ye Chen might trick it again, so it unconsciously hesitated.

Immediately after, when Ye Chen completed the full set of hand seals correctly, the spiritual energy in his sea of consciousness instantly surged toward the pagoda's interior.

At that moment, the pagoda burst forth with dazzling golden light; the countless fissures on its body began to repair at a visible speed, and the pagoda's size seemed to increase slightly as a result.

However, Ye Chen's spiritual energy is limited; after nearly ninety percent of it was absorbed by the pagoda, the pagoda still bore many unrepaired cracks.

Ye Chen's spiritual energy was rapidly depleted, cold sweat covering his body; originally unafraid of cold, he was blown by this wind and involuntarily shivered.

Yet this also made his mind clearer.

Thus he raised his head, fixed his gaze on the aurora in the sky, awaiting that mysterious entity to give him some fair feedback.

Just then, the aurora swaying wildly in the sky suddenly changed—those particle-like light points rapidly converged, and a pair of large hands reappeared in the night sky!