Archfiend

Chapter 410: Dharmadhatu (14)

“That’s unfortunate for the Yuenü Tribe’s descendants. They don’t even know that they’re not alive anymore,” Xu Yangyi sighed.

Silence. Upon reaching this point, the story had already ended. He and Enihilus seemed pensive.

After ages, Xu Yangyi raised his head and said coolly, “If it’s sealed, all of this…”

Not waiting for Xu Yangyi to finish speaking, Enihilus promptly answered, “Should things go back to their original state, everything here will become real in another few centuries!”

Xu Yangyi asked succinctly, “In that case… what about the person following me?”

“It is different. He has been in much contact with benefactor. He already has the aura of the upper realm. As long as the Dream Walker is sealed… he will be the same as having separated from the Clearcloud Realm!”

Xu Yangyi nodded. If said there was one person he wanted to take out of the Clearcloud Realm, then it was Tian Guotao.

He hadn’t made the other come, instead having him stay at the ocean side to wait for his return.

“How do you seal it?” he immediately asked.

How could he allow someone else dip a finger in his treasure bowl?

Power was number one, and power… was all too needed to support this treasure bowl!

Enihilus glanced at Xu Yangyi with seemingly deep meaning. “Twenty years ago, I sensed a cultivator of our level arrive in the Clearcloud Realm. Ten years ago, this cultivator opened the seal by a hair. It seems that this hair… actually brought a massive effect on the seal! Today, the Dream Walker is already on the cusp of waking up.” He said with a trace of obvious resentment, “Now that I mention it, this person’s qi is rather similar to benefactor’s…”

This was the benefit of talking with a monk!

Even if a monk hated you to death within their heart, they wouldn’t speak of it. They would only take a stab at you, neither gently nor heavily. And even close to his body, Xu Yangyi could sense Enihilus’s grievance that itched to kick him to death. The old monk, however, had good self-restraint. He wore an expression that said, “I don’t care” on his face.

“I didn’t know about those things. Opening the seal was a mistake; I ask the master to understand.” Xu Yangyi stood up sincerely and bowed deeply.

The demon slayer didn’t know that the other’s life was perhaps linked to the Clearcloud Realm. This was an apology he had to give.

“Nevermind…” Enihilus “magnanimously” showed that he didn’t care and then said with a solemn face, “If I am willing, any can enter this place. But… only one can take Benefactor Rocjourney with them! That person is the heaven’s chosen of the Clearcloud Realm. I don’t know whether benefactor is or isn’t, but I have no other choice now. Moreover, I suspect that the aura of the other half of the seal is on benefactor. The Dream Walker will awaken soon. I no longer have any time to wait.”

“The senior who enlightened me once said… that when the two seals are made whole, the cultivator who gave rise to the Dream Walker will separate numerous planes and space, and slay his unrepentant fate of sin!”

Xu Yangyi mumbled to himself for a brief moment and stood up. “Have you ever heard… about That Which Cannot Be Said?”

He suspected that Bladevessel had been lying to him since the beginning.

Although he’d already decided to go on with this journey, he was absolutely unwilling to let go of that unspeakable thing if he succeeded!

However, Enihilus stared vacantly. Afterwards, he looked at Xu Yangyi strangely. “Benefactor… haven’t you seen it?”

“Seen it?” Xu Yangyi also stared vacantly.

Enihilus smiled and casually waved. All of a sudden, the massive tree top of the twin sal-trees split apart behind him. In between branches and leaves which moved naturally, a dot of golden light sparkled.

It was a blue fruit.

The exterior was like a walnut, and it was the size of a fist. The marks and wrinkles on its surface, though, were naturally carved, forming profound talismans!

“That Which Cannot Be Said… is the bodhi seed. The bodhi seed only grows from the twin sal-trees. Even if this isn’t a bodhi seed from the actual trees, its effect on Foundation Establishment is hard to surmise. In merely clearing one’s train of thought, it can resist millions of divine abilities.”

Xu Yangyi studied the seed for a couple seconds. He was sure that he hadn’t this specific object before.

But this was the object that he also had in his mind?

“I have one too,” he said simply and beckoned with his hand. The bodhi seed didn’t budge at all, however.

He beckoned again.

Again there was no movement.

He saw that the seed wouldn’t be taken away easily. This wasn’t his style. He forcefully beckoned again, and the bodhi seed finally moved.

“Fellow Daoist…” Rocjourney’s incredibly sullen voice came from the bodhi seed. “I’m… not good to eat…”

Xu Yangyi nearly sprayed out a mouthful of blood.

Yes… Rocjourney was the bodhi seed! But Enihilus had never told him that there was only one bodhi seed on the twin sal-trees!

Very good… he had unknowingly caressed a manly man for quite a while. Only after holding back for an unknown amount of time did Rocjourney choke these words out.

Xu Yangyi reckoned that the bearded man couldn’t stand to be stroked by him… 

He stealthily wiped his hands behind his back. This bodhi seed couldn’t be taken into the hand… Would there be a chance to kill it…?

As if seeing through his despicable thoughts, Enihilus slightly coughed and secretly transmitted his voice, Benefactor… it is yours… 

He’s not mine… Xu Yangyi replied.

“...This poor monk is saying…” Enihilus wanted to laugh, but his voice ultimately turned into bitter laughter, “that once the Dream Walker is sealed, the bodhi seed’s spiritual nature will vanish… Rather than falling on the seal… wouldn’t it be better to have benefactor take it along…”

“Take it… to go see a world it has never seen…”

“Only I alone must remain here… Is immortality truly so good?” His voice was brimming with endless lonesomeness. He was silent for no less than five minutes and then looked to Xu Yangyi. “If benefactor will truly remember me, remember that this place truly can seal the Dream Walker. If so… let Rocjourney accompany your continued descent… If he has the good fortune…”

Silence. Xu Yangyi didn’t want to give false comfort. After a long time, he murmured, “You’re not worried I won’t die down there?”

“What happiness is there yet in life, and what bitterness is there yet in death? If benefactor fails, I will be buried along with the Clearcloud Realm at worst, is all,” Enihilus said with neither joy nor sorrow.

Xu Yangyi deeply studied the old monk for a few seconds and nodded. “I’ll do my very best. Your fate isn’t related, but I don’t want to die yet.”

Enihilus didn’t speak. He turned his head and said, “Benefactor Rocjourney.”

Golden light flashed, and the bearded Rocjourney appeared again. However, he didn’t say a word this time. He stood where he was without a murmur.

The situation was clear as day. The person he had disdained before, the one he held in contempt, was actually going to take him along to fulfill his life’s calling.

In his heart, he was extremely unwilling! With each second he walked over to Xu Yangyi’s side, his face took on a feverish hue. Regardless, he had no choice but to conduct himself as such.

“Bene…” At this time, before Enihilus even got a word out, the entire Garden of the Twin Sal-Trees was suddenly wracked by fierce tremors!

Streaks of black qi accompanied by mournful shrieks rumbled from the center of the twin sal-trees! And with this black qi’s bubbling… a small green leaf on the twin sal-trees unexpectedly responded and withered.

In the next second, the massive dark-green tree top erupted with a flash of golden light. Boundless Buddhist light glimmered! Both of the two simple trees… were like bodhisattvas! Two nigh massive phantasms were transient in their existence, and golden light filled the air in their wake. The withered tree leaf then recovered its dark-green color. However… the terrible and ominous qi continued to linger all around.

“It’s here!” Rocjourney’s and Enihilus’s voices rang out at almost the same time. The two of them bolted up to their feet and stared at the twin sal-trees.

After a full ten minutes, the black qi was suppressed again by the Buddhist light, and yet… no one relaxed. Because they all saw that a ring of jumbled yellow-green leaves had already appeared underneath the sal-trees’ lush verdant canopy!

The nightmare’s corrosion… Although the Dream Walker hadn’t awakened yet, its consciousness was already ceaselessly battering the location of the seal!

“Benefactor!” Enihilus turned his head around, his gaze like lightning. “Time demands immediate action! It’s awakening even faster than what I imagined!”

“In another week at most… it will fully awaken! And when the time comes, not a single soul in the Clearcloud Realm will be able to escape!”

“The entrance.” Xu Yangyi didn’t waste words and cut straight to his question. He also felt the increasingly lively vitality within that qi just now. 

“In the middle of the twin sal-trees… there is a Transference Formation carved. From there, you can directly reach the second level!”

Xu Yangyi nodded and immediately rushed over. At this time, Rocjourney finally spoke out, gnashing his teeth. “You… believe in this tra—this cultivator so much?!”

“He’s only at the peak of initial Foundation Establishment! Although I can’t say I can beat him if I use all my power, there can’t be too much of a difference! After all, this place is the Garden of the Twin Sal-Trees!”

Enihilus didn’t reply. After ages, he laughed wryly, “When will I believe him?”

“Then you…”

“But do you have another choice now?” Enihilus turned around and glowered at Rocjourney. “I know he’s barely at the cusp of the middle stage, but continuing on is better than nothing. In any case though, there is only a shred of hope in the end! Good or bad, it is still a shred!”

“Then you shouldn’t hand me over to that Foundation Establishment cultivator of an insect!” Rocjourney likewise glared. “If he fails, the Clearcloud Realm will be damned to eternal hell! Can he win? Can he beat the Dream Walker?! I don’t believe it!!!”

“He’s only at the peak of the initial stage! He’s just barely started cultivating! How can he compare with a vicious beast like this?! One that can shake a Greater Thousand World with its name! If he goes down, he’ll be nothing more than a dessert!”

Enihilus’s expression was gloomy. “If so, will you carry on alone? Might you leave the twin sal-trees?”

“If I had other choices, how could I be willing to hand over the Clearcloud Realm’s fate to an insignificant Foundation Establishment cultivator?!” The old monk deeply eyed Xu Yangyi. “I hope… he will manage to come back alive…”

“Tch.” Rocjourney’s disdainful sneer echoed without hesitation.

Enihilus remained unmoved. “At the very least… he might quell the Dream Walker for several years. Perhaps a true Dao Master will arrive in the Clearcloud Realm in the following years. It is not yet known…”

Xu Yangyi, who they didn’t favor, was none the wiser. At this moment, he was already standing in the middle of the twin sal-trees.

The two trees intertwined in the middle to form a round arched door. At the sides of the arched door, rings of golden talismans were carved on the surface like inanimate creatures. Just as his hand was about to stroke the door, though, Enihilus waved his hand. In an instant, the talisman runes brightened one after another.

With each rune’s sparkle, a screen of golden light was slowly pulled in the middle of the twin trees’ arched door.

“This is the Taiji door’s second level…” Xu Yangyi took a deep breath, but as he was about to stride forward, his foot stopped in the air.

“My comrades are still in the upper level.”

“I shall take charge of watching over them,” Enihilus said sincerely. “They cannot see through the fabrication, so they cannot come here. Benefactor…”

“If possible, I wish for you to return alive.”

Xu Yangyi nodded. Without a moment’s pause, his foot stepped into the light screen.

“Dammit!” Rocjourney clenched his teeth. “That fool doesn’t know of the world’s immensity!”

With his curse said, the bodhi-seed-turned man transformed into a ray of golden light and also charged into the portal.