Xu Ying hurried after him, only to see Buddhist Child Jijue eliminating another batch of corpse immortals.
The Pure Land of Ultimate Bliss was indeed a world of ultimate bliss; struck by this technique of his, the remnant souls and spirits of these corpse immortals bore smiles upon their faces. Presumably, their souls had ascended to the Realm of Ultimate Bliss and turned to flying ash. Corpses littered the ground everywhere. Jijue stood beside them, chanting sutras for the dead.
"Does it do any good to kill them and then chant sutras for them?" Xu Ying asked humbly.
Buddhist Child Jijue shook his head. "It is of no use, but it puts my heart at ease."
The young monk's combat strength was peerless, his command of various Buddhist arts truly exquisite; he was virtually the natural bane of corpse immortals and ghost immortals.
Xu Ying judged that his techniques and divine powers were not only potent against corpse immortals and ghost immortals, but would likely prove just as formidable against the living.
Having received the inheritance of the Buddha Ancestor and the Buddhas of the Great Thunderclap Temple, it would be difficult for Jijue not to be powerful.
Pingnan Heavenly Monarch had come to this place to hunt down Ning Qing, who had obtained the Supreme treasure, the Jade Disc of Returning to the Dao, and seize the artifact.
He had dispersed his subordinate Immortal King corpses in all directions to search for Ning Qing's whereabouts. Consequently, the mountain ranges of Yingzhou were crawling with Immortal King corpses, scouring and searching high and low.
It was also for this reason that Buddhist Child Jijue believed corpse qi permeated the world here, thinking this place was hardly any better than the other shore.
Xu Ying climbed to a vantage point and gazed into the distance. This Yingzhou was truly immense, exceedingly vast. Everywhere, immortal mountains floated, suspended in the sky at varying heights, trailing ribbons of auspicious mist and beams of rosy radiance.
Mountains akin to Penglai were present in no small number.
Looking up, he saw the Immortal Realm wide open, immortal qi and immortal light raining down continuously, making this place scarcely distinguishable from the true Immortal Realm!
"Back then, how on earth did I bring Yingzhou down from the Immortal Realm?" Xu Ying felt somewhat bewildered.
Such an immortal realm formed a world of its own, far superior to Penglai's self-contained world.
*When I moved the mountains to the lower realm, were there still immortals living here?* Xu Ying wondered.
The memories of his forty thousand years of reincarnation and wandering had all awakened. Especially after obtaining the Imperial Monarch's scroll painting, the speed at which he broke the sixteen-character seal had grown faster and faster. It was only the seal on his first life's memories that was buried deepest, which he had yet to unravel completely.
However, whenever he revisited familiar places or encountered things etched deeply in his past, memories of his first life would still surface, allowing him to gradually recall what he had done in that original lifetime.
When Buddhist Child Jijue was not fighting, he was gentle, quiet, and handsome. He said to Xu Ying, "Benefactor Ah Ying, there are many of your questions that I cannot answer. For some of them, even the Buddha Ancestor was searching for answers. I can only answer what I know."
Xu Ying withdrew his gaze and inquired, "Did the Buddha Ancestor and the Buddhas leave this world to search for the other shore?"
Buddhist Child Jijue replied, "Yes."
Xu Ying showed a look of anticipation, hoping he would say more.
Jijue flushed with embarrassment, like an awkward youth inept at conversation, stammering, "What else do you wish to know?"
Grieved and exasperated, Xu Ying admonished him, "When I ask you a question, you cannot just answer yes or no! You should extrapolate and draw connections! After you say yes, you ought to explain why the Buddha Ancestor sought the other shore, and why the Buddha Ancestor and the Buddhas did not hesitate to abandon this world to find it! Why did they migrate in their entirety, leaving behind no lineage whatsoever?"
Buddhist Child Jijue stammered, "Benefactor Ah Ying, that is clearly not just one question."
Xu Ying shook his head. "This is basic worldly wisdom. Before this, did you never interact with anyone besides the Buddhas?"
Buddhist Child Jijue shook his head. "I was the only mortal on the mountain. I never met anyone else."
Xu Ying froze, eyeing Buddhist Child Jijue suspiciously. "You're a mortal? You haven't attained Buddhahood?"
Buddhist Child Jijue nodded. "The Buddha Ancestor told me that the Great Dao of heaven and earth has decayed, so it is no longer possible to become a Buddha."
*Still a mortal and yet this strong? Freak!*
Secretly marveling, Xu Ying smiled and said, "Don't worry. I used to be tactless and unworldly too, but luckily I met Seventh Master Yuan Qi. Once matters here are settled, I'll take you to see Seventh Master. He will surely train you to be just like me!"
Buddhist Child Jijue showed an eager look, utterly captivated by the prospect, wishing he could fly over immediately to listen to Seventh Master's teachings.
Still, he had to answer Xu Ying's questions. Buddhist Child Jijue said, "The Buddha Ancestor rarely spoke of what you just asked, and his words were often veiled in Zen riddles. However, when I asked the Buddhas, the Medicine Master Buddha told me that they left the origin universe to seek the other shore because of a great tide that swept across the universe."
Xu Ying's spirits instantly rose. "The Three Realms tide?"
Buddhist Child Jijue was puzzled. "What is the Three Realms tide?"
Xu Ying said, "The Netherworld, Mortal Realm, and Immortal Realm attract and draw near to one another, causing spatiotemporal anomalies—that is known as the Three Realms tide. A friend of mine named Yuan Tiangang calculated that the Three Realms tide is approaching, which will bring opportunities for ascension to immortality... I'll introduce Yuan Tiangang to you later."
Buddhist Child Jijue said, "The great tide is likely not the Three Realms tide you speak of. The consequences brought about by the great tide are unlike your Three Realms tide. The Medicine Master Buddha said that back then, because of the great tide, all gods, Buddhas, and immortals felt their Dao fruits tremble and their Dao grounds become unstable; there even occurred the phenomenon of the Dao weeping."
Xu Ying was perplexed. *How does the Dao weep?*
Jijue knew nothing about it either, and could only repeat the Medicine Master Buddha's words: "After the Dao wept, the Great Dao of heaven and earth began to decay. The Buddha Ancestor sensed that an other shore might exist within the void, very close to this world, which in turn caused the great tide. The Medicine Master Buddha said that because of this great tide, the Dao rises and ebbs."
"The Dao rises and ebbs?" Xu Ying was somewhat puzzled.
Jijue did not know what the rising and ebbing of the Dao meant either, and merely continued recounting, "The Medicine Master Buddha said the Buddha Ancestor originally believed he had found immortality, only to realize it was not true immortality, which made him resolve to travel to the other shore. Yet upon arriving at the other shore, he discovered that it was not the true other shore after all—or rather, not the other shore he had imagined in his heart."
Xu Ying pieced together the clues.
During the great tide, the Buddha Ancestor realized the Great Dao of heaven and earth was influenced by the other shore and discovered he was not truly immortal. Thus, he led the Buddhas, cleaved away the peak of Mount Sumeru, and ascended into the other shore.
Yet having gone there, he found the other shore was not what he envisioned, and even if he wished to return, he could not.
Was the other shore the Buddha Ancestor went to the same place as the one the Dao Ancestor sought? He asked Jijue, who replied, "Apart from the Buddhas, I saw no one else there."
Xu Ying could not help saying, "Jijue, have you noticed an issue? If you saw no one else on the other shore, then how did you come to be?"
Jijue froze, hesitating. "I must be a person of Mount Sumeru!"
Xu Ying shook his head. "Mount Sumeru had only the Buddhas. Did the Buddhas give birth to you? That's obviously impossible. There was no one else on the mountain, so how did you get there?"
Jijue could not answer. Ever since his earliest memories, he had been on Mount Sumeru, receiving guidance from the Buddha Ancestor and the Buddhas.
*The other shore is strange. Besides the Buddhas, there must be others.*
Just as Xu Ying thought of this, Jijue suddenly charged out again, shouting, "Vile creature, halt! Direct Enlightenment!"
Buddhist light cascaded from the heavens, slamming into the crown of a female corpse king and pouring into her. Though stunningly beautiful, she was reduced in an instant to a pile of withered bones under the consecration.
"Merciful Buddha! Fiend, where do you think you can hide? Treasury of the True Dharma Eye!"
Behind Jijue, his ten-thousand-zhang Primordial Spirit shot beams of Buddhist light from its eyes with a resonant hum, sweeping in all directions to uncover a corpse king concealing its form. Without another word, Jijue pounced forward.
"Show your true form! Zen Staff Strike!"
Xu Ying was already accustomed to the young monk's antics. Glancing upward casually, he caught sight of something beyond the firmament, sparkling and shining like a star.
"Jijue, don't stray too far!"
Xu Ying shouted loudly, then suddenly soared into the air, rising higher and higher as he peered out beyond the heavens.
After a moment, he reached the high vault of the heavens and finally saw the vista beyond. The shining object was a sea of fire formed from chaotic immortal fire.
And behind the sea of fire lay a magnificent, billowing Sea of Chaos; before that vast Sea of Chaos, the trifling sea of fire was utterly insignificant!
"The Mud Pill Palace other shore of the Sea of Chaos!"
Xu Ying's heart pounded wildly. Steadying himself, he realized that the Sea of Chaos other shore did not refer to the Sea of Chaos itself, but to that sea of fire.
Beneath the sea of fire, there should be a continent carved out directly upon the Sea of Chaos by an incomparably powerful being!
*In my first life, I ignited the chaotic immortal fire there, fashioned a great furnace to refine the chaos, and concocted the immortal medicine of longevity.*
Xu Ying looked into the distance and saw that Yingzhou was drifting toward the Sea of Chaos. In a matter of days, the two would draw close, and geomagnetic forces would cause interference, turning into a torrent that connected the two realms!
*The position of Yingzhou is exceedingly peculiar, and its trajectory of movement must also be extraordinarily marvelous. Could Yingzhou be constantly drifting through the void along a course that visits the six great other shores?*
Xu Ying fell into deep thought. The trajectory of Yingzhou was clearly laid down by his first life. Placing this continent of the Immortal Realm here was not without purpose; he must have had an intention.
*I need only wait a few days, and Yingzhou will carry me close to the other shore of the Sea of Chaos.* Xu Ying's eyes gleamed.
He was now only one Immortal Realm cave-heaven short of opening all six secret depositories, and the immortal medicine harbored within this final Immortal Realm cave-heaven happened to be the longevity immortal medicine.
Yet even Shenpo had not told him where his first life had comprehended the Mud Pill Palace and crafted it to refine the primordial energy of chaos into the longevity immortal medicine.
Perhaps he could find clues regarding this in the Mud Pill Palace on the chaos other shore.
Withdrawing his gaze, Xu Ying was about to look for Buddhist Child Jijue when he felt a sudden tug of intuition. Turning his head to look into the distance, he saw an immortal mountain floating in the sky, its neatly arranged houses giving him a strange sense of familiarity.
His heart stirred, and he hurried over in flight. In moments, he landed on that immortal mountain. Filled with excitement, he walked toward the houses on the mountain as a wave of familiarity washed over him.
Xujiaping.
The streets here and every house lining them were designed strictly after Xujiaping, without the slightest discrepancy!
Back then, he had rebuilt Xujiaping here as a way to remember his hometown!
Scenes of his first life rose before Xu Ying's eyes. Figures bustled along the streets—all faces he had once known well. Some stopped to call him Xiao Ying; others greeted him warmly.
He saw his young self frolicking amidst the crowd, racing wild with childhood friends. He saw himself mischievously climbing walls and dashing across rooftops.
"Don't fall!" His mother's voice called out.
Xu Ying's heart trembled. Turning back, he watched the young woman pass straight through his body like a wisp of smoke.
Leaning weakly against a wall, Xu Ying stared blankly as his mother ran along the street with open arms, terrified that he would tumble from the eaves.
"He won't die from a fall!"
Beside him, his father's voice sounded. Xu Ying looked toward the young private tutor. That was his father, chuckling as he stood before the door.
Suddenly, his father and mother dispersed like dust and smoke. Even more memories of Xujiaping flooded his mind: memories from when he was younger, of his father holding down his head to scrub his face vigorously, of sneaking out with friends to go fishing.
There was also the time he and a bunch of playmates raided a Qingluan's nest, only to be pinned down in the nest by the Qingluan, waiting for their parents to come redeem them. Walking along this familiar yet foreign street, a smile graced Xu Ying's face, his heart profoundly tranquil.
Reaching the end of Xujiaping, he looked ahead and saw a manor. Xu Ying walked forward and stepped inside.
It was completely deserted.
Xu Ying wandered about at leisure, looking in all directions, thinking to himself, *Did my first life live here for a time?*
The place was filled with books and lined with bookshelves everywhere; they were likely various ancient texts gathered by his first life.
Xu Ying casually pulled out a book. It was a cultivation method from an ancient era called the Taishang Cave Abyss Mysterious Art. Strange to say, the moment he saw the title, the contents of the book came back to him naturally.
He picked up another book, which recorded a method created based on Great Emperor Beiyin's Heavenly Dao, titled the Beiyin Demon-Subduing Divine Incantation.
Memories concerning the Beiyin Demon-Subduing Divine Incantation immediately surged into Xu Ying's mind, and he grasped the method and divine powers recorded within the text as if second nature.
Every book he picked up awakened a sealed memory. Unknowingly, as he read more and more books, more and more Dao methods and divine powers from his first life awakened within him.
Browsing through them one after another, he lost all track of time, completely immersed in awakening the memories of his first life.
In the Immortal Realm, the Imperial Monarch's eldest disciple, Immortal King Jiang Zhongfu, underwent a sudden change of expression. On the shrine before him, Immortal Dao runes were going dark one after another.
"Disaster!"
He hurried to the Imperial Monarch's estate, sought an audience, and reported the matter.
"Is Xu Ying about to break free from the sixteen-character seal?"
The Imperial Monarch was surprised. He rose to inspect the sixteen-character runes. Seeing that eleven had already been extinguished and only five remained, he smiled. "No matter. I have already prepared the means. Jieputi will eliminate him for me. The sole Holy Buddha of this world is more than enough to refine and suppress all rabble!"
Xu Ying arrived at the study. The books kept here were those he had read during his childhood. As he caressed them, memories of his youth rushed over him like a tide.
At that moment, Xu Ying saw the writing on a scroll. The handwriting gave him a familiar feeling: *This is Father's handwriting. But...*
He suddenly froze and hurriedly picked up the scroll. The ink on the paper was remarkably fresh, completely devoid of the aged feel of having sat for tens of thousands of years!
*The words on this scroll were written not long ago!*
Xu Ying's heart thudded wildly. He rushed out of the manor and looked across the boundless mountain ranges of Yingzhou. This Yingzhou was the immortal mountain he had stolen from the Immortal Realm for his father!
His father should still be alive, right here within Yingzhou!
Chapter 431