Chapter 1059

But because Cao Zhengchun's body was already riddled with wounds at this moment, this minor injury was hardly worth fearing.

He actually had quite a bit of backbone, and said to the old monk,

"Good! Since you have such backbone, this poor monk will take matters into his own hands."

The old monk did not get angry again; instead he bent down, took Cao Zhengchun's hand, and placed it directly onto Zhu Tie Dan's hand.

The moment they touched, Cao Zhengchun immediately felt his true essence, spirit, and physical body all surge toward his palm like a horse that had broken free of its reins.

Cao Zhengchun let out a cold laugh, knowing that this time he was not going to survive.

He did not mind, and merely glanced at Zhu Tie Dan, then could not help but say with a smile,

"Zhu Tie Dan, Zhu Tie Dan—who would have thought that after a lifetime of fighting each other, we'd end up dying together!"

Zhu Tie Dan had already been drained to the point that he could not speak; apart from his body trembling, there was no other reaction.

These old monks were precisely the old monks of the Heart Chan Hall from back then.

The one at the head, who bore a striking resemblance to Liaofan, had the dharma name Huike.

The others, in order, were Huineng, Daoyu, Sengfu, Ni Zongchi, and Tanlin.

Watching Zhu Tie Dan and Cao Zhengchun being drained madly by the Heavenly Fragrance Cardamom, on the verge of death,

the old monks were instead overjoyed, and gathered around Huike.

"Senior brother, we never expected that the great matter we have awaited for a thousand years would finally come to fruition today."

The fierce-looking Sengfu pressed his palms together before Huike and said, extremely agitated.

"Indeed! We have lingered in this world for a thousand years, all to welcome our Master's return. Fortunately, our efforts have not been in vain—today it is finally accomplished."

Huike was also overjoyed, and nodded.

He then led the old monks and walked to the stone platform.

Looking at the strange figure on the stone platform, these old monks suddenly broke down weeping.

"If not for that wretch Liuzhi Sanzang back then, how would our Master have suffered such a terrible calamity?"

Ni Zongchi stared at the strange figure and said, seething with anger.

"Enough, enough—Master is about to descend once more, there is no need for us to grieve like this.

Let us sit down and enter meditation now, to welcome the descent of Master's dharma vehicle!"

Huike also felt the same grief, but he was after all the senior-most brother.

After speaking, he took the lead and sat down beneath the stone platform, closest to the strange figure.

The other old monks sat down in order behind him.

Once seated, the old monks began chanting scriptures in unison.

The scene was exactly like the Great Hall of the Heroic Treasure in a temple, not some stone chamber inside Snow Peak Mountain.

As the sound of scripture chanting rose, the true essence and fortune within Zhu Tie Dan and Cao Zhengchun's bodies drained faster and faster.

Finally the two let out a muffled groan and were squeezed dry.

Immediately after, the Heavenly Fragrance Cardamom stirred of its own accord, without any wind, and floated to above the strange figure's head.

A faint beam of golden light poured down from within the Heavenly Fragrance Cardamom.

In an instant, it gilded the strange figure until he looked like a golden Buddha.

Huike and the others were even more thrilled beyond words at the sight.

The speed of their chanting grew faster and faster.

Then, high above Snow Peak, ten thousand miles up in the sky, the clouds suddenly churned.

Right after, a beam of seven-colored radiance appeared from who knows where, piercing through layer upon layer of cloud and mist, and shining straight down.

This seven-colored radiance was utterly miraculous.

Not only did it pass through the thick clouds and reach Snow Peak, it did not leak in the slightest, piercing straight into the belly of the mountain.

It arrived above the stone chamber, and poured into the Heavenly Fragrance Cardamom atop the strange figure's head.

Then the Heavenly Fragrance Cardamom trembled, and floated to the space between the strange figure's brows, stopping there.

It looked as if the strange figure had been born with an extra eye.

"We welcome our Master's return to the mortal world."

Once the Heavenly Fragrance Cardamom was in place, Huike took the lead and was the first to cry out in celebration.

The other old monks were also instantly overjoyed, and repeated Huike's words.

"The karma of the three realms is born solely from the mind.

If the mind is fundamentally absent, then within the three realms one has already departed from the three realms."

Bathed in the seven-colored rainbow light, with the Heavenly Fragrance Cardamom between his brows, the strange figure on the stone platform slowly opened his mouth and recited a passage of scripture.

"Greed is the Desire Realm!"

Hearing his voice, the old monks of Heart Chan Hall were already in tears; Huike, the leader, immediately spoke a line.

"Anger is the Form Realm!"

Following right after was Daoyu.

"Delusion is the Formless Realm!"

Next came Sengfu.

After the three monks finished, the old monks of unknown ages spoke together,

"From these three poisons, karma is created in varying degrees, and the retributions differ, divided into six destinations—hence the name Six Realms."

"Good, very good!"

Seeing this, the strange figure on the stone platform beamed with joy, nodding repeatedly in approval,

"Huike, how many years have I been sealed here?"

"To answer Master, since you were framed by Liuzhi Sanzang, it has been nine hundred and sixty-five years, three months, and eight days to this day."

Huike heard the strange man ask and immediately answered respectfully.

"Yet it still hasn't reached the full count of one thousand years — that is somewhat a pity."

The strange man heard that he himself had been sealed for nearly a thousand years, yet said it was somewhat a pity.

Several old monks immediately chimed in with praise, saying the Master's Buddhist attainments were profound and the disciples needed to study with a focused mind, and so on.

"Then has my teaching been spread by you all?"

The strange man waited for his disciples to finish their flattery before asking again.

"Since Master was sealed in this place, we have devoted ourselves to spreading the Chan teachings Master brought.

Now in the Central Plains, throughout Dajiangnanbei, temples flourish — over three thousand in both the north and the south.

The incense offerings are so prosperous it can be called the foremost sect of the Central Lands."

Huike was the senior disciple, so regarding this matter of spreading the teaching he naturally knew it inside out, and immediately replied.

"Three thousand temples?"

The strange man clearly hadn't expected that in just a thousand years his own sect had grown so vast.

Just as he was about to praise Huike and the others, his brow suddenly knit tight, and he said,

"Enough, you all have worked hard.

There is an enemy coming. You all wait here a moment and watch your Master go deal with them."

After he finished speaking, the stone platform beneath the strange man slowly rose.

Carrying him, it directly broke open the belly of the mountain and emerged atop the snow peak.

No sooner had he just arrived outside than he saw two streaks of rainbow light in the distance, arriving at the snow peak one after the other and stopping.

The arrivals were naturally the God of Immortality, Master Changsheng, and the Dongying Sword Saint Liusheng Wuji.

The two had seen the rainbow light appear in the world, its commotion extraordinary, and at once guessed that the third Tian Xiang Doukou — which gathered the fortune of this realm — had come into being.

So they stopped their great battle with each other and rushed over in haste.

Upon arriving, they discovered a snow peak had shattered.

A wild-haired strange man sat atop a stone platform.

The God of Immortality asked bluntly,

"You there, ascetic — have you seen the Tian Xiang Doukou?"

In truth, how could the God of Immortality fail to see through the strength of the strange man before him.

It was only that before he lost his memory, he had been extremely arrogant, styling himself the sole god of the world.