Chapter 172 - 148: Arriving at Yuyi Grotto-heaven

Chapter 172: Chapter 148: Arriving at Yuyi Grotto-heaven

The Floating City, the Seventeenth Heaven: Enlightenment Heaven.

The magnificent Bodhi Temple towered into the clouds. Huiji dragged his injured body back to the monastery.

He didn’t have time to repair his body; he went straight to his senior brother abbot’s meditation chamber.

When he arrived, Huifan, the current abbot of Bodhi Temple, was already there.

There wasn’t the slightest trace of Spiritual Ability Body modifications on him, presenting a stark contrast to Huiji.

He looked just like an ordinary, aged monk.

At this moment, his eyes were tightly closed as he chanted sutras, his long white eyebrows reaching his chest and swaying gently with the sound of his voice.

After a while, Huifan finished a round of chanting and asked without turning his head, "You didn’t get it back? Did Ling Xuzi make a move?"

"No. It was a Body Cultivator, at least late-stage Nascent Soul in cultivation. His strength was extraordinary. He didn’t use any Spiritual Artifacts, forcing me to retreat using only his physical body and a bizarre Palm Skill. It looked like he was still holding back. His Palm Skill contained an air of compassion, much like one of our Buddhist techniques, only it was somewhat unconventional and far more domineering," Huiji said.

"Perhaps an ancient cultivator. If that’s the case, then there’s no need to dwell on it," Huifan said.

"Senior Brother Abbot, the Bodhi seed that has been passed down for over a hundred thousand years is gone!" Huiji said in a low voice.

"It has been passed down for over a hundred thousand years, yet it never sprouted into a tree. This shows its destiny does not lie with us," Huifan said calmly. "Junior Brother, do not be so attached to worldly forms."

"If we don’t strive, where does destiny come from?" Huiji questioned, then continued, "Every brick and tile of Bodhi Temple, and this entire Enlightenment Heaven, was fought for by our Master, our uncles, you, me, and all our other brothers and disciples. Senior Brother Abbot, we are in the mortal world. We cannot escape it."

Huifan didn’t argue but simply began chanting sutras again.

Huiji couldn’t bear to watch and turned to leave.

And the sound of Huifan’s chanting grew a little louder.

He was not a competent abbot, but he was a competent monk.

In Huifan’s heart, the three feet of ground beneath his meditation chamber was his own Buddhist kingdom.

Beyond that, the vast Enlightenment Heaven and Bodhi Temple were all part of the mortal realm, consumed by Karmic Fire.

The boundless faith from his followers was also filled with the poison of desire, and he never drew upon even a sliver of it.

Unfortunately, for those in the mortal realm, if there is desire, if there is attachment, then there is no escaping this karmic debt.

He felt that he, too, could not escape, so he diligently chanted sutras every day, constantly wiping away the dust that settled on his Buddhist heart.

...

...

Abyss of Eternity.

The Eighteenth Level, the Burial Ruins Abyss.

The shuttle was still speeding forward.

Its speed was far inferior to Zhang Ji’s at full flight, but it was already far ahead of the various fighter jets on Origin Star.

It was definitely flying at more than ten times the speed of sound.

About half an hour later, the shuttle plunged into a lava field riddled with ground fire.

Even inside the flying vessel, Zhang Ji could feel the scorching heat.

But his Spirit was powerful, and upon careful inspection, he realized it was just an illusion.

’An Illusion Array,’ a technique that uses virtual images and scrambles spiritual perception to produce false feedback.

When this technology was developed to its peak, it became the virtual metaverse known as the Void Illusion Realm.

Of course, the Void Illusion Realm did more than just scramble spiritual perception and display virtual images.

That place could accommodate spiritual bodies; it was a quasi-spiritual energy space.

After passing through the lava, the world suddenly opened up.

Spiritual Springs flowed, immortal cranes danced in the air, and pavilions and towers were adorned with carved beams and painted rafters. It looked like the blessed land of an Immortal.

In fact, this was indeed a Grotto-Heaven, a blessed land.

It was the former dwelling of that unlucky bastard, Master Yu Yi, and was considered a prime location passed down from ancient times.

There was even a massive Spirit Vein within, though it had probably been mostly mined out by now. It was likely no longer capable of supporting a Divinity Transformation Cultivator.

The shuttle arrived at a residence and slowly came to a stop.

Aunt Liu led Zhang Ji and Kong Jue off the shuttle and headed inside.

"I’ll have to ask you two to rest here for today. Tomorrow, I will take you to meet the leader," Aunt Liu said.

"My injuries haven’t fully healed..." Kong Jue said.

"A Healer is on the way," Aunt Liu replied.

"I don’t want a doctor, I want meat," Kong Jue snarled. "You know what kind of meat. I joined you all for that exact reason..."

Aunt Liu’s expression remained unchanged. She nodded. "It will be sent to you tonight."

"Hurry up! I’m hungry!" Kong Jue urged.

Aunt Liu didn’t respond, turning and walking away.

Kong Jue glanced at Zhang Ji and said, "You pick first."

Zhang Ji chose the small courtyard on the left and walked over. Kong Jue stared at Zhang Ji’s back for a moment, then chose the remaining courtyard on the right.

Kong Jue wanted to expose the fact that Zhang Ji had pocketed his Bodhi seed, but he knew it would be useless to bring it up.

Given Zhang Ji’s cultivation level, probably only a few people in the entire Ascetic Order could match him. The others wouldn’t risk a conflict with Zhang Ji over a single Bodhi seed.

Although the Bodhi seed was a Tier Five spiritual treasure, it only enhanced one’s comprehension. In this day and age, a boost in comprehension wasn’t all that significant.

Without Spiritual Qi, you could comprehend a Cultivation Technique until you were blue in the face, and it wouldn’t make a difference.

The computing arrays in Celestial Secret City could crush the brainpower of ten people holding Bodhi seeds in a quarter of an hour.

If not for this, Kong Jue wouldn’t have offered up such a treasure as a pledge of allegiance.

The item’s symbolic value far outweighed its practical use.

He had heard that if it could sprout and grow into a Bodhi Tree, it could grant great wisdom and great enlightenment. Cultivating under the tree would allow one’s cultivation to advance by leaps and bounds, covering a thousand miles in a single day.

But he figured that was just the old monks boasting.

After all, it had been passed down for over a hundred thousand years, and no one had ever heard of anyone successfully getting it to sprout.

’Forget it. It’s just a fruit pit.’

Kong Jue ultimately suppressed his desire for revenge.

The main reason was that he stood no chance in a fight; the gap was just too wide.

...

...

"What a treasure, what a treasure!"

After checking his room and finding no surveillance devices, Zhang Ji took out the Bodhi seed to admire it.

It looked like an ordinary fruit pit.

But only by holding it in his hand could he understand how marvelous it was.

Inspiration flooded Zhang Ji’s mind. With just a little thought, all sorts of information rapidly emerged and intersected, providing him with a constant stream of results.

He felt as if he had just installed a super-powered external processor for his brain.

For now, it was just a Bodhi seed, so its effects were relatively average.

There were many superior Spiritual Artifacts that could replace it.

But once it was planted and grew, that would be a different story.

The Bodhi Tree didn’t just boost comprehension; it also increased cultivation speed and experience gain efficiency.

Within the Bodhi Aura, the training efficiency of the same Cultivation Technique would be greatly enhanced. Even one’s digestive ability would become much stronger.

Furthermore, the Bodhi Tree’s effects doubled every thousand years. A hundred-thousand-year-old Bodhi Tree in its ultimate form was so absurdly powerful that one could sit under it for seven days and directly form a Golden Core.

That was equivalent to attaining B-rank strength in just seven days under the tree.

Zhang Ji had only experienced it once in a late-game storyline of *Star Trek*.

After completing Huifan’s quest, he would allow the player to cultivate under the Bodhi Tree for seven days.

It was basically an official speed-up hack.

Any "Excellent" grade skill could be maxed out by just idling under the Bodhi Tree for seven days.

And that was without using the [Limit] hack.

With the [Limit] hack, seven days?

Even one day would be too long.

However, while its effects were heaven-defying, growing a hundred-thousand-year-old Bodhi Tree was also quite difficult.

If he put this thing inside the [Ark of Hope], it would probably still take eighty to a hundred days to sprout and start growing slowly.

He would also need to get his hands on the [Shennong Cauldron].

The Shennong Cauldron could refine all herbs and condense them into Shennong’s Dew. A single drop could advance a Spirit Plant’s growth by a thousand years.

As long as he had enough raw materials, he could raise a hundred-thousand-year-old Bodhi Tree like it was child’s play.

The raw materials just needed to be Spirit Plants. For a large batch of Spirit Plants, he first needed enough Spiritual Qi. For Spiritual Qi, he had to build the [Qiankun Nine Heavens Void Tide-Inducing Array]. To deduce the Array, he needed the [Dao-Merging Jade Slip], a super-computing chip...

And Zhang Ji wanted more than just these things.

The Floating City had to fall. Its ruling structure was inherently flawed.

Besides, he needed chaos to seize the opportunity to get more of what he wanted.

Once the world’s order descended into chaos, he could step in to set things right. He could then establish a new organization, reunite all the cultivators in the world, and have them work together as one to build a great array that would sustain him!!

Although it was still a form of exploitation, Zhang Ji felt he was better than those capitalists in the Floating City.

Those capitalists ate the meat and then tried to suck the marrow from the bones.

Zhang Ji, on the other hand, preferred to take a one-point cake and bake it into a hundred-point cake. Then, he would eat ninety points and let everyone else share the remaining ten.

Always thinking about quickly consuming everything and then burning the bridge was a low-class move.

Unless there was truly no other choice, doing so was a bit petty.

Of course, this was mainly because Zhang Ji had a broader perspective and control over more information. If he were on the same level as the people in the Celestial Essence Realm, he would also be thinking about grabbing a few more bites to fill his own stomach first.

While lost in thought, Zhang Ji suddenly sensed someone approaching the residence. He extended his spiritual particles and saw someone deliver a Spatial Spiritual Artifact to Kong Jue.

Kong Jue seemed to sense Zhang Ji’s spying, but he didn’t care. He returned to his own courtyard and took out a large pile of flesh and blood from some unknown creature from his Spatial Spiritual Artifact. Then he stripped off his shirt, revealing a gaping, bloody maw on his abdomen, and began to devour it ravenously.

The scene made Zhang Ji’s expression turn a bit strange.

After he consumed a large amount of meat, countless white ants swarmed out from within Kong Jue’s body. They began crawling back and forth over his wounds, quickly repairing his physical body.

Spirit-Devouring Ants, a type of small Spirit Beast that feeds on substances containing Spiritual Qi.

However, the ones on Kong Jue were a mutated variant.

Using Beast Taming Technology, he had cultivated man-eating Spirit-Devouring Ants.

These Spirit-Devouring Ants could consume human flesh and blood to rapidly repair his own body while also strengthening it, allowing his cultivation to advance at a飛快 speed.

This was his unique Ant Feeding Demon Skill.

It was also the origin of his title, the "Ant-Feeding Monk."

Zhang Ji’s eyes narrowed slightly.

Within the Blood and Flesh Ascetic Order, from top to bottom, nearly everyone was a similarly ruthless character.

In this End of the Dharma Era, resources were scarce.

It was extremely difficult to quickly advance one’s cultivation and secure a place for oneself without resorting to depraved methods.

The poor bastards in the Blood and Flesh Ascetic Order had no choice but to get creative.

There was Aunt Liu, who peeled off skin and flesh to play with flesh and blood reconstruction, and now this man-eating Ant-Feeding Monk before him.

Even more extreme, there was a guy who used Spiritual Instruments to feed his own flesh and blood, squeezing out Spiritual Qi for his cultivation; he was known as the "Iron-devouring True Monarch."

And then there was the "Saintess of Ten Thousand Eyes," who specialized in gouging out people’s eyeballs to create surveillance devices and treasures that could gather Spiritual Qi.

This was the Blood and Flesh Ascetic Order.

Every member was a prodigy in their own right. Without a unique, twisted skill, it would be impossible to cultivate to such a high level in this era.

Retracting his spiritual senses, Zhang Ji sat down cross-legged and began to cultivate on his own.