Nan Yan felt as if she had entered a cold, deep sea. Everything around her was suffocating black and white. The cultivators’ surrounding colors varied in size, with some even having black and white limbs upon entry.
She had to believe this was truly a realm of death, as the silence made others’ killing intent all the more palpable.
“Friend Zhengyuan, come with me,” Moxing Zheng beckoned to Nan Yan. “This is where I need your help. Buddhist cultivators can hear the voices of past lives. I want you to help me question the dead spirits.”
“What do you want to ask?” Nan Yan inquired.
“In the last Mountain Sea Prohibition, someone lost a life-burning lamp here. I want to find it. Only the lit dead spirits know where it is.”
“What’s a life-burning lamp?”
“You’ll know soon enough.”
The group silently crossed the wide plaza. As they approached, they saw an imposing hall in the center. Its craftsmanship was of indeterminable dynasty, with no windows on three sides and walls carved with brutal scenes of the eighteen levels of hell.
Everything indicated this was a place of the netherworld, yet Nan Yan saw that the plaque above the main door simply read “Great Hall of Mountains and Seas” in ancient characters.
Nan Yan stared for a while, feeling that these four characters weren’t in their original form. As she pondered, a cultivator ahead exclaimed in surprise:
“How can there be so many lamps here?”
Nan Yan’s attention was quickly drawn to what they were pointing at—the main entrance of the Great Hall. Inside was pitch black, with a statue at the entrance. On the stone platform before the statue sat dozens of bronze lamps, some bright, some dim.
They were identical to the Dao lamps she had seen during the demon-sealing array.
Moxing Zheng, well-prepared, explained, “These are life-burning lamps. Different lamps represent different Dao lineages. Our heart’s fire can strengthen these lamps, which can then light the dead spirits, bringing unexpected benefits… I’ll soon identify the Dao lineages of the life-burning lamps.”
The cultivators vaguely understood, their gazes flickering uncertainly at the lamps. Moxing Zheng stepped forward, biting his wrist hard. Blood immediately flowed out in large quantities.
“Blood sacrifice to the spirits, guide to the Dao… Open!”
At his command, the first bronze lamp began to shake. Moxing Zheng pointed, “Sword Dao.”
Song Zhu stepped forward. The lamp’s flame condensed into a tiny sword, finally floating into his palm.
Moxing Zheng continued, “Demon Dao.”
This time, six bronze lamps moved, flying towards the people from Sizhou.
“Medical Dao.”
Some present had studied medicine as a secondary skill, but none were specialists. The bronze lamp flickered before quieting. Meanwhile, a life-burning lamp with Taiji fire patterns floated towards Moxing Zheng.
“What’s Senior Brother Mo’s lamp?”
“Yin-Yang,” Moxing Zheng answered. “The Dao has four main streams, encompassing righteousness, evil, yin, and yang. When holding this lamp, the more balanced the surrounding schools, the less we consume.”
True to his words, after receiving the lamps, everyone illuminated saw their color loss reduced to half the original rate.
“And finally…” Moxing Zheng pointed to a life-burning lamp with a lotus pattern in the corner, “Buddha Dao.”
Nan Yan responded, moving towards it. The originally vigorous flame on the life-burning lamp suddenly extinguished as it fell into her hands.
“This…”
The others were slightly stunned, their expressions varied. A cultivator holding an evil Dao life-burning lamp mocked, “We should have persuaded Prince Zhenheng to come. A casually raised Buddhist disciple ultimately isn’t recognized by the Buddha Dao—”
He was cut off midway by Song Zhu’s glare, but then, thinking that as fellow prodigies who had entered the Great Hall of Mountains and Seas, why should he be inferior? He continued, “Am I not speaking the truth? Even a sweeper from Choushan Fansea would have at least a spark. This woman acts holy all day, who knows if she’s secretly done something to betray the Buddhist path?”
Nan Yan’s hand hovered over the lamp’s wick. Before Song Zhu could draw his sword, she spoke calmly, “I don’t remember if my mundane heart has stirred, but I’ve certainly had thoughts of killing. I’ve long reflected on my insincerity to the Dao.”
The evil Dao cultivator narrowed his eyes, “Are you threatening me? You? What are you hiding in your hand? If it’s lit, show everyone. Otherwise, how can we cooperate later?”
Nan Yan looked up, “My Dao lineage bites. Do you want to see?”
The evil Dao cultivator sneered, “I’m only afraid you’re too ashamed to show!”
Moxing Zheng seemed to realize something, his surprise growing: “Wait—”
He was half a beat too late. Nan Yan had already removed her hand. The extinguished flame on her lotus lamp reignited from its ashes, the flame standing out starkly among the blue and white spirit fires.
“What’s this?” The evil Dao cultivator exclaimed in surprise, suddenly crying out and reaching for his own greenish life-burning lamp flame. But it was futile. Nan Yan’s life-burning lamp, like a newly awakened hungry eagle chick, flew from its stand, mercilessly sweeping away a large ball of evil flame. It transformed into a blood-red karma fire lotus, burning fiercely, seemingly eyeing the life-burning lamps in others’ hands.
Had Nan Yan not quickly calmed the blood fire, it would have rushed out to absorb all the other life-burning lamps.
The evil Dao cultivator’s life-burning lamp was instantly reduced to a mere wisp, accelerating the loss of his primordial spiritual energy. Anxious and angry, he shouted, “There’s no such Dao lineage! What kind of Buddha are you cultivating?!”
“Enough,” Moxing Zheng sternly stopped him. “We’ve just begun. Do you want to determine victory and defeat here?”
Everyone quieted down and walked towards the depths of the Great Hall of Mountains and Seas with their life-burning lamps.
Li Mian watched for a while and noticed Li Chi’s fiery gaze. He quietly approached Li Chi and whispered, “Brother, do you also find it strange that she has transformed from Buddha to a demon?”
“Yes, she was destined for our demon path all along.” People only knew of the opposition between Buddha and demons but had never seen the symbiosis of demons and Buddha. Li Chi had truly broadened his horizons today. “If I could have her, it would greatly benefit our demon path!”
Li Mian continued, “Brother, doesn’t this method of transitioning from Buddha to demon seem familiar?”
Li Chi replied, “You mean…”
“Twenty years ago, some black jade slips suddenly appeared in Fanzhou. They reportedly contained astonishing demonic cultivation techniques. Even Father Marquis said they were terrifying after reading them. He specifically assigned several elders to study them, only mentioning they might be related to Buddhism, but they couldn’t decipher them. Our Sizhou has sent countless disciples to various states searching for the second half. I think…”
Li Mian hinted at something, seeing Li Chi’s eyes light up with a flash of ruthlessness. “Brother, I’ll give you my Entangling Emotion Flower. Anyone who touches it becomes addicted for life. It’s the only one in the world, specifically for picking those ‘unsweet melons’. Use it well.”
The blue flower seemed to concentrate all the world’s desires. Li Chi took it, saying, “Sister, you understand me best.”
Li Mian flashed a sweet smile, “Of course, everything I do is for your benefit.”
Beyond the great hall was deep darkness. The surroundings were invisible, not even a shadow of the floor beneath their feet.
“Friend Mo, where are we going?”
Everyone could only see each other’s faces by the light of their life-burning lamps. Though anxious, they weren’t afraid.
After a while, Moxing Zheng stopped, saying, “Look.”
Following his direction, Nan Yan vaguely saw some faint lights. As they got closer, they discovered these were suspended candles, smaller than their life-burning lamps. From afar, they looked like stars quietly suspended in space, seemingly endless.
“Each candle is a wandering soul here. Only by lighting them can we awaken them,” Moxing Zheng explained, approaching one candle and bringing his life-burning lamp near. A flame flew from the lamp, igniting the remnant candle.
As the light flickered, a small boy’s shadow emerged from the candle, his pitch-black eyes without whites staring directly at Moxing Zheng.
Moxing Zheng asked, “Do you know the location of the Mountain River Sea Crown?”
The boy nodded, said something, then turned into a wisp of smoke and entered Moxing Zheng’s life-burning lamp.
Song Zhu inquired, “Found something valuable?”
“Yes, he pointed out a general direction,” Moxing Zheng turned to the group. “Dead spirits will nourish the life-burning lamps. The brighter the flame, the deeper the Dao insights gained. But there are powerful dead spirits we can’t awaken. They might drain your lamp in one go.”
Someone in the crowd looked enviously at Nan Yan’s brightest flame, asking, “Then, logically, consuming others’ flames would be faster than lighting candles one by one, right?”
Moxing Zheng didn’t deny it, only saying, “If you have that ability.”
The blood-colored flame dancing before Nan Yan seemed like the darkest, most cruel aspect of a Buddha who had cultivated in pure lands for ten thousand years—murderous karma, supreme and unrivaled, making all other Daos bow in submission.
“Then we’ll split up for now.”
Nan Yan didn’t rush to light candles, instead walking slowly through the Great Hall. She knew someone was following her but wasn’t afraid, planning to deal with them once they were further away.
The footsteps behind her were soft, hesitating to make a move. Nan Yan remained still. Suddenly, she heard an unusual sound pass by about ten steps behind her.
Finally coming?
Nan Yan held a Buddhist mudra, waiting for the sound of dragging chains to approach before raising her hand to strike.
Buddhist light flared, illuminating her target—four elders in star-patterned Daoist robes with veiled hats, dragging a disheveled young man by a spirit chain.
“No need to hurry, we’ll take you to see your beloved senior brother soon…” The elder’s voice mixed anger and mockery as they quickened their pace.
“Be careful!” Nan Yan couldn’t retract her hand in time, but surprisingly, her Pure Awakening Finger force passed right through them, disappearing into the distance.
An illusion?
Nan Yan’s gaze swept over the group. For a moment, she was stunned. When she came to her senses and tried to chase them, their phantom images had completely vanished.
That bound young man! That face?!
Nan Yan had spent considerable time with Ji Yang. She knew he was a person whose spirit far exceeded his form. But that young man just now, though covered in injuries, unmistakably had the face of Ji Yang when she first met him.
Nan Yan hurriedly gave chase, but darkness surrounded her. She hastily tried to light a nearby candle, but it seemed to come alive and dodge her.
Puzzled and in a hurry to find the group, she tried several more candles, all with the same result. They seemed to fear her flame, each avoiding her.
Is my fire poisonous?
Nan Yan grew frustrated. She could only wander for a while. The blood fire on her life-burning lamp, oblivious to how its fierce appearance scared away so many dead spirit candles, danced lively, sometimes becoming a lotus flower, sometimes a turtle, like a mischievous seven or eight-year-old child, thoroughly enjoying itself.
Nan Yan sighed, deciding to sit down and place the lamp beside her. She infused Buddhist energy into the life-burning lamp, letting the flame grow to the size of a palm. She told it, “Go play by yourself. Better yet, bring back a talking candle spirit.”
Given permission, the flame happily disappeared into the darkness.
Nan Yan’s surroundings fell into complete darkness. She could only sit cross-legged, meditating to maximize her five senses, hoping to track where the phantom had gone.
In less than a quarter-hour, Nan Yan’s closed eyes sensed a flicker of light. Opening them, she saw her life-burning lamp had indeed brought back a nearly burnt-out candle.
“Impressive. Your mother didn’t raise you for nothing.” Nan Yan’s gaze filled with motherly love as she fondly patted the flame, which had turned into a small fire lion. She then asked, puzzled, “If it’s lit, why hasn’t a dead spirit appeared?”
As soon as she spoke, she suddenly felt a pair of hands, cold as jade, gently embrace her from behind. Then, a calm, soft voice sounded in her ear.
“…Were you looking for me?”