Chapter 956: The Moon Delivers the Pearl

Since the Five Directions Assembly, He Pingsheng had come to Solitary Pine Mountain to seclude himself and contemplate the Dao of Time.

Three hundred years had passed.

Of those three hundred years, several decades were spent by He Pingsheng within the Momentary Time Array.

If all this time were combined, He Pingsheng had spent nearly a thousand years contemplating the Dao.

During this time, the curse energy on the body of the Golden Suffering Daoist within him was completely worn away.

He Pingsheng’s cultivation base had risen from Mahayana Emperor Realm Level One to Mahayana Emperor Realm Level Six.

After breaking through Level Five, his combat power had undergone an unprecedented surge.

Now, He Pingsheng truly felt he was the strongest under a Transcendent Immortal.

Even if he encountered a Transcendent Immortal, he might not win—but he would certainly not lose.

At most, he would be at a slight disadvantage.

“What do you plan to do?” He Pingsheng asked. “Follow me like this forever?”

Jin Ku sighed. “What else can I do? Do you have a better idea?”

“Unless we both swear a Heavenly Dao Oath!”

“You swear you won’t kill me after I leave, and I swear I won’t reveal even a single thread of your secrets after I depart!”

“But will you swear a Heavenly Dao Oath?”

He Pingsheng fell silent.

Swear an oath?

It wasn’t impossible.

But the problem was, even if he swore a Heavenly Dao Oath, it still couldn’t guarantee this old man wouldn’t spill his secrets.

It wasn’t a Heavenly Dao Slave Seal—no rules bound him.

What if one day, this fellow blurted it out right before he died?

He’d be dead anyway—what did it matter whether he spoke or not?

So, swearing an oath was still not reliable enough for He Pingsheng.

“Forget it!” Jin Ku chuckled. “Actually, I think our symbiotic relationship is fine. I’ll just keep living in your spiritual sea—then neither of us can escape the other. Isn’t that reassuring?”

He Pingsheng did not answer him.

But he also did not reject the proposal.

There was no way to resolve this completely yet—he could only let the old thing remain in his spiritual sea for now.

“Don’t forget!” He Pingsheng said. “You promised me—you’d help me resurrect Zhou Qingmei!”

“Are you ready now?”

“Alright,” Jin Ku nodded. “Should be no problem. Give me Zhou Qingmei’s image and aura—I can begin the ritual. But before that, you’d better find a Yin-Sha location.”

He Pingsheng nodded. “Good.”

He looked up, scanning his surroundings.

His gaze finally settled on a patch of empty space.

That was where his family’s world had been finally activated.

He Pingsheng had tried.

He extracted the aura of the [Five-Five Balance] talisman stripped from Wang Dun, linked it to the Great Lun Ming King, and confirmed the location of this small spiritual world and the Spirit Realm.

Though the location was roughly determined, he could not open it.

The Interdimensional Talisman had no effect.

He cast one final glance at the spot, then swept his hand and tore open the void, stepping through.

When he emerged again, he was in the Sky Peng Emperor Domain.

Sky Peng Emperor Domain, Divine Crane Imperial Nation.

Nine Prodigies Heaven Abyss!

As He Pingsheng descended from the void, he suddenly spotted a monk clad in a crimson kasaya.

The monk’s bare chest revealed skin as white as jade, muscles sharply defined, a face so beautiful it seemed unreal.

It was his long-time “old friend”: Mingyue Buddha Sovereign.

After so many years, Mingyue had finally grown from Void Refinement to Mahayana Emperor Realm—Buddha Emperor.

And not just any Mahayana Emperor Realm—he was at Level Eleven.

Just one level away from reaching Mahayana Peak.

“Amitabha…” Mingyue’s face showed no fear or unease upon seeing He Pingsheng—only calm serenity as he performed the Buddhist palm-to-palm salute: “I never expected to meet you here, He Daoist.”

When He Pingsheng held the Five Directions Assembly, Mingyue had not attended.

He Pingsheng had not even thought of this rival.

Yet here they met today.

But He Pingsheng recalled an old memory—he had once taken Mingyue’s prayer beads and cast them into this Nine You Heaven Abyss to contain the endless Gang winds.

Was this fellow here now to retrieve them?

He Pingsheng’s spiritual sense swept through—and indeed, the string of prayer beads in the abyss was gone.

“Long time no see?” He Pingsheng regarded Mingyue coolly. “What are you doing here?”

Mingyue said: “Guiding lost souls and spirits—accumulating boundless merit.”

He Pingsheng frowned.

Inside him, Jin Ku sneered. “Sounds noble—really, you just want to break through your bottleneck here!”

“Amitabha,” Mingyue murmured softly. “I didn’t realize your body harbors a little ghost… hah…”

“But this little ghost has a petty mind, judging noble hearts by his own low standards.”

“Hey!” Jin Ku flew into rage. “Who’s the little ghost?”

“Listen here, boy—I’m a Earth Immortal!”

“I could crush you with one slap—do you believe me?”

“You’d better not crush me,” Mingyue said. “If you kill me, He Daoist will be heartbroken.”

Hummm…

As he spoke, Mingyue pulled from within his kasaya a snow-white pearl the size of a fist.

Upon it burned a tuft of pure white flame.

The pearl floated before He Pingsheng.

“This is the Buddha Flame Pearl,” Mingyue said, looking at He Pingsheng. “Forged from the remains of a high Buddhist master after nirvana. It holds a strand of Buddha Flame.”

“Zhou Qingmei perished at Body Integration—her cultivation was too high!”

“Even with a Earth Immortal’s ghost inside you, you may not succeed in retrieving her!”

“Know this: countless Immortals dwell in the Uninterrupted Hell!”

“The prison holding Zhou Qingmei is certainly no ordinary cell!”

“Take this Buddha Flame Pearl—it will mask your aura and traces once you enter the Underworld.”

“Second, when you bring out Zhou Qingmei’s soul, you may temporarily store it upon this pearl.”

He Pingsheng felt both surprise and shock. He did not reach for the pearl, but stared at Mingyue. “How do you know so much?”

“Amitabha,” Mingyue said. “It doesn’t matter.”

“You only need to know this item is useful to you.”

“Alas… in my youth, my Buddhist teachings were shallow, and I failed to grasp the true meaning of saving all beings. I nearly severed Zhou Qingmei’s opportunity. Today, I give you this pearl—as my small compensation and sincere intent.”

“Amitabha!”

“After using this pearl, leave it here in the abyss—it will stabilize the Gang winds forever.”

“He Daoist, may we meet again in the Immortal Realm!”

With that, Mingyue stepped forward and vanished into the heavens; his aura erupted like invisible lotus petals falling.

At that moment, his Mahayana Emperor Realm Level Eleven bottleneck shattered.