Xia Ji stood in the middle of the freezing snowy grounds, breathing heavily.
Leiyin Temple had two major formations that made the temple what it was. They were the reason why the temple had stood the test of time. Such a trump card was never created for any individual, but the formations had just been destroyed by one person one after the other.
Anyone who had such an achievement should be proud of themselves, or even delighted enough about the outcome, but Xia Ji did not feel that way.
A voice deep in his heart said, 'This is the limit of men. The formation was never created for any individual. It is considered powerful enough to be able to defeat and undo the Demon Suppressing Formation and Arhat Formation.'
However, he quickly shook the thought out of his mind. He stared at the scattered lights and sighed once again on the snowy grounds as white fog blew out from his mouth.
This was not considered a particularly great victory. Outsiders might sing his praises if they heard about it. They would be in awe and admire him, they would fear him, his reputation on this land would be elevated to a higher level. It would be tied to his actions of "defeating the Frost Giants and protecting the Imperial City", and people would connect it with those situations of "tyranny and cruelty, slaughtering innocents", which would make him a dark legend.
Yet… What about it?
Was he doing everything for fame?
No.
Was it for self-benefit?
Maybe.
Regardless, he would still be bound by such limitations in the end. He raised his gaze to see a blurry scene of snow falling heavily over the land. Destiny suppressed him, and there was not much he had managed to change.
Xia Ji glanced at his surroundings. More than half of Leiyin Temple was now in ruins.
Every corner was filled with debris from buildings and walls, fresh blood and raging fire, and broken plaques on the ground.
Two doors away stood numerous houses and minuscule meditation temples. There were many monks and monk masters residing inside them. These people were moving about quietly and sneakily as they prepared to make their escape, but they had just taken a few steps toward the direction of the mountains when the Imperial Prince's voice could be heard in the wind.
"Death will come to those who leave without permission."
It was only then that the monks stopped in their tracks. They did not dare to disobey him at all. They held their breath and tried their best to slow down their heartbeat as they quietly prayed to Buddha. They prayed that this demon would receive the death he deserved, they prayed that they would be able to live through the night.
Xia Ji sat down cross-legged and recuperated for the duration it took to burn two joss sticks. With that, he shook off the snowflakes that covered him and stood up.
Within two blocks down from Leiyin Temple, almost everything had collapsed. The statues of Buddha had cracked and the only three ancient statues of Buddha in the main hall were left standing.
He turned his gaze toward them. The gold plating that was supposed to cover all three of those ancient statues had been scraped off. What was left of them was just a black, motley foundation. The faces of the statues were unrecognizable, but Xia Ji could still vaguely tell the difference between them. There was Tathagata, Dipankara, and Maitreya. This fitted three of Leiyin Temple's inheritance from Ancient Times. The spirituality of this Trailokya Dhyana had been carried through every skill, Buddhist instrument, and formations of Leiyin Temple.
There may have been hundreds of Buddha statues previously, but only three were left after experiencing such a catastrophe.
Xia Ji had a thought as he walked toward those three statues.
The only noise apart from the sound of wind and snow within the void of the ruins was the sound of his footsteps. The monks hidden further off could not help feeling terrified as chills ran through their hearts when they heard the footsteps draw closer.
Finally, Xia Ji arrived in front of those three statues.
He tried to sense them and a resonance on a spiritual level actually happened.
With that, he followed the will of the resonance and sat in front of the three statues. They each had a mudra formed with their hands and he formed a mudra as well. Xia Ji let go of all his troubled thoughts and carefully embraced the resonance he was feeling.
His mudra seemed to allow him to be as one with all three of the Buddha statues and he gradually fell into a mysterious yet profound world.
His surroundings changed.
There was no heavy snow.
There were no ruins.
There was only a small meditation temple at midnight.
A sound suddenly came from the door of the meditation temple.
The door opened and an old monk knelt with his palms placed together as he said respectfully, "Master, please do share your teachings. What is a person's original nature?"
Xia Ji felt that he was being led somewhere by the question, but he did not resist it. He next heard himself reply softly, "There is no one way to see it, which means there is no way to see it. It is as vast as the floating clouds covering the surface of where the sun shines. Not knowing any rules or law would be the same as having an empty mind. It would be like creating lightning from the void."
The old monk halted his verses and gave this some thought. Then, a happy smile appeared on his face. "Thank you, master."
The scene around him changed.
The midnight meditation temple vanished, but another empty land of a temple appeared under the sunny sky.
Bong! Bong! Bong!
The rising and falling sound of the huge bell rang throughout the temple.
The curtain was drawn and a monk came to him in a respectful gesture as he said sincerely, "All the disciples have taken their place. They want to listen to your teachings, master."
Xia Ji heard himself reply softly, "I'll be there momentarily."
The monk retreated respectfully.
Xia Ji extinguished the oil lamp and walked out of the meditation temple. There were tens of thousands of rush cushions placed on the empty land. One monk was seated on each rush cushion. Every one of the monks opened their eyes and turned to watch him, the looks in their eyes filled with expectation and longing. It was the longing for the teachings of Zen methods.
Xia Ji sat among the monks and meditated for fifteen minutes, thirty minutes, forty-five minutes… He sat until the sky turned dark and did not say a word. When dusk had fallen, thick smoke was billowing from the temple dining hall. The aromatic smell of vegetarian dishes wafted from afar as it tempted the nostrils of hungry foodies. It was only then that he opened his eyes and said while smiling, "Let's have our meal."
The monks were speechless.
The monk who had invited him in quickly said, "Master, why didn't you say a word?"
Xia Ji head himself laughing in reply, "I've said everything, didn't you hear me?"
The monk gave it a thought and said doubtfully, "Master, did you mean that we should have our meals when we're hungry, go to sleep when we're tired? Don't all normal people do that?"
Xia Ji heard himself laughing as he said, "No, no, no. Normal people refuse to eat when it's time to eat. They would have hundreds of excuses for it. They refuse to sleep when it's time to sleep and would have thousands of reasons to pick on it. That is why, it is different from what normal people do."
…
Scene after scene rapidly changed around him as it brought him to experience situations filled with Zen-ness and true knowledge.
It was impossible to tell how much time had passed before he opened his eyes.
The three motley-looking, black statues were still in front of him.
The sky was still dark and heavy snow was still falling.
His time in that spiritual world was only but a few fleeting moments in reality.
He had now understood that this was not some knowledge passed down from Tathagata, Dipankara, and Maitreya. Rather, it was this temple's great abilities of the past that had been resonating with the Buddha's statue and had left some remnants of spirituality.
However, time had passed for far too long and these spiritualities had mostly dissipated. Only very little of it had been left to pass on. However, these leftovers were what had made those three statues unique.
Now, it could be because he had displayed the form of Tathagata that had ignited this resonance, which prompted Leiyin Temple to pass on to him this treasure of spirituality. It enhanced his spiritual strength.
Crack!
Crash!
The three motley Buddha statues had lost the support of the spirituality and started to break one-by-one. The statue on the far left broke apart first as it turned to pieces of black stone and fell rolling to the ground, forming into a small, stone hill.
Next, the statue on the far right started to crack as well.
Only the Imperial Prince of the Shang Dynasty was left sitting in what was originally the location of the Sakyamuni Valuable Palace. He sat steadily without moving, quiet and mysterious.
He carefully experienced the spirituality he was gifted with and it turned his Trailokya Dhyana into a slightly deeper red. It turned more condensed and solid and his spiritual strength was clearly stronger.
In addition to the second "Dhyana of the Present" skill bead he had obtained previously, which helped enhance the process, his spiritual strength was now strong enough to leave a spiritual mark that had his unique signature.
Once this thought was birthed, it was like pushing open a huge door.
The world beyond this door was calling out to him.
So, Xia Ji stood up.
Crack!
Clang!
The motley Buddha statue on the left had crumbled completely. It fell into ruins at one side and formed a mound of worthless gravel.
The Tathagata statue in the middle had finally started to completely crack too.
A dark crack appeared from the Buddha's head to the body. Soon, this statue followed the footsteps of the others.
Following the complete crumbling of this final statue, the last remaining symbol left behind by Leiyin Temple of the Ancient Times had vanished into thin air and existed no more.
However, none of this happened.
That was because Xia Ji had leaped gently into the air and stood on the shoulders of this Buddha's statue.
He reached out his hand.
He touched the head of Buddha.