“You… what are you saying?” Ye Fan was startled and uncertain, and took several steps back. Encountering a Buddha who was in the midst of dissolving into the Dao was unexpected enough in itself — and the words he spoke were stranger still, defying all reason.
The old monk was gaunt to the point of emaciation, his entire body withered and dry, emanating a radiance that was bright and pure as sacred fire. His body had become nearly translucent — almost transparent — so that everything within could be seen.
This crumbling stone platform was suffused with a quality of tranquility, enveloped in the breath of the Great Dao, nearly crystalline in its purity. An ancient saint dissolving into the Dao was an earth-shaking event of the highest order. The purest Dao power was circulating. This place had become utterly mysterious and extraordinary.
“There is a mind-force coiled around your bones. Had this old monk not glimpsed a fragment of the future in the moments before seated dissolution, even a saint would be unable to perceive it,” the old monk said. The snow-white eyebrows on his face were reduced to ash within the Dao fire, and his bones crackled and snapped, on the verge of shattering.
Ye Fan found the whole thing baffling. Was there truly a mind-force on his body? When could he have been marked by such a thing, and how had it become coiled around his bones? He was half-convinced and half-doubting — though he could sense that this old monk was entirely sincere.
A figure of such tremendous attainment had no reason to deceive him on the very eve of dissolving into the Dao. And if this ancient Buddha truly wished him harm, a single finger pointed in his direction would surely be enough to annihilate him — or he could even forcibly convert him on the spot.
The ancient Buddha’s eyebrows opened a crack at their center, shooting out a thread of light capable of illuminating all things. It bathed Ye Fan’s body in transparency, making it clearly visible — and there, on the bone of his left arm, was a fine and slender blue divine chain, wound tightly around it.
“A thread of mind-force left by an unsurpassed being from beyond the domain — when was it wound onto me?” A look of shock crossed his face. Could it have come from the Ancient Bronze Coffin pulled by the Nine Dragons? Or might it be connected to the Fiery Planet where the Ancestral Crocodile had been suppressed? Or perhaps he had drawn something upon himself from back in the Ziwei Ancient Star Domain?
In a single instant, Ye Fan’s thoughts leapt in every direction, running through one possibility after another, unable to dismiss any of them. And then, almost without meaning to, another scene surfaced in his mind.
About half a year ago, he, Li Tian, and Yan Yixi had returned from the Ziwei Ancient Star Domain to the space above this ancient star — within the ruins of the battlefield of great saints from beyond the domain — where they had conducted a thorough exploration. First, they had obtained a divine Deity Flower. Then, with their own eyes, they had witnessed an ancient ship crossing over from the depths of the universe.
It had been a small metal vessel, barely a dozen feet in length, sealed shut on all sides. At the time, they had sensed an extremely faint breath emanating from within — a life that seemed to be approaching its very end.
At that moment, he, Li Tian, and Yan Yixi had all been deeply shaken. It was a vessel that had come sailing from the depths of the universe — no one could say how many years it had existed. It looked as though it had endured an immeasurable passage of time. They had not dared to provoke it and had quickly departed, descending to the surface of this ancient star below.
Now, as Ye Fan thought carefully through everything, his mind naturally settled on that scene. This was a being he had encountered beyond the domain — he couldn’t help but be suspicious.
“That mysterious being — has it left a thread of mind-force upon me? Has something unfortunate now come of this?” he couldn’t help but ask.
“For now, nothing is wrong — there is no need for concern. This thread of mind-force can only allow its bearer to perceive your existence. After all, the distance from beyond the domain to the surface of the earth is enormous. But what may come in the future is harder to say,” the old monk replied.
As he spoke, his withered body continued its dissolution into the Dao — ceaselessly being transformed into light, becoming strands of Dao principle that merged into heaven and earth. His flesh and bones blazed with golden light, fracturing inch by inch.
Beyond all that, the kasaya robe draped over him was clearly a holy weapon — and it too was dissolving along with him, becoming a series of vivid red chains of divine order, interwoven and intertwined.
What manner of realm was this? Flesh and bone and primordial spirit were burning in the radiance, dissolving into the Dao without pause — yet he wore an expression of compassion, utterly unmoved, not a single furrow appearing on his brow even if a mountain were to collapse before him.
He was walking toward the end of his life, soon to disappear from this world — yet he regarded it with such serenity, such indifference. This was a true ancient Buddha, one who had transcended the mortal world.
Ye Fan felt a deep sigh rise within him. Such a carefree ancient saint — how rarely one encountered such a person in the world. He had not expected that upon their very first meeting, it would also be a parting in death — that he would witness the ancient one dissolve into the Dao.
“I ask the senior to point me toward the way forward and resolve the difficulty of my situation.”
“I will dissolve it for you.” The old monk chanted a single invocation of Amitabha. His entire body blazed with brilliant golden light, drawing upon the Great Dao of all heaven and earth. The resonance of the Buddha nature rained down across the entire Ayu Plateau.
“Boom!”
The Great Dao of the entire Western Desert seemed to be drawn hither. The mind-force of all living beings transformed into boundless radiance blazing ten thousand feet high, flooding heaven and earth and surging forward in a great wave.
A golden Buddha of immense stature appeared, cradling Ye Fan in the palm of its hand. It then drew upon the infinite Buddhist radiance of the Western Desert and received him within the resounding of the Great Dao of heaven and earth. Ten million streams of Buddhist radiance descended like golden waterfalls, crashing down upon his body.
This was a baptism. The pure mind-force flowed in from Mount Sumeru, like the overflow of some unsurpassed Dao fruit — beyond description. It scoured his Dao-bones, flushed through his flesh and blood, causing every inch of his body to shimmer with crystalline brilliance, healing all impurities and blemishes.
“Clang!”
Ye Fan heard a faint ringing within his body — as though a chain of iron had been severed. He felt as if he had broken free of some kind of binding. The very moment it happened, he was startled. Something had indeed been amiss.
Simultaneously, a blue divine chain flew outward from his body, clearly visible against the golden radiance of the Buddha nature — straining to escape toward the heavens beyond. It rang out in metallic protest.
The golden Buddhist radiance surged forward and contained it, trapping it beyond escape. The ancient holy monk’s face was touched with compassion. Drawing upon the mind-force of Mount Sumeru, he drew the blue chain into his own body, taking it with him into his final dissolution.
“Pop!”
A soft sound — and that thread of mysterious mind-force dispersed. It melted into the principles and order of heaven and earth. Ye Fan was completely freed. He breathed out a long and deep breath.
“Many thanks to the senior.”
The pure mind-force flowed through his body — a gift from the heavens, washing away the dust and grime of the world, consolidating his own Dao fruit, making all things clear and luminous. Ye Fan’s physical body radiated the treasure glow of seven-colored glazed jade, unblemished and flawless throughout — as though he had become a divine figure, his countenance solemn and dignified.
In that instant, he felt himself grow more ethereal and unencumbered than ever before — that he was on the verge of forcing his way through this barrier, of cutting against heaven’s intent and severing the Dao. Yet the golden sacred light flickered and flashed, and in the end it only managed to stabilize him there.
Simultaneously, from within the ancient ship in the battlefield beyond the domain, a ripple of perception emerged. A voice murmured, “Amitabha… has also arrived in this world. Truly, this sacred ground is the most mysterious of all. With Mount Sumeru as its foundation — what does it seek to cultivate?”
There on the Ayu Plateau, upon the crumbling stone platform, the old monk dissolved into the Dao within golden Buddhist fire. More than half his body had already burned away. Still he did not change his expression. He blazed like a radiance — as pure as a newborn child’s smile.
Ye Fan bowed again, expressing his gratitude. “What did the senior see?” he asked with earnest sincerity. The things that would come to pass in the future — he longed to know.
“In the moments before the fire of life was extinguished, this old monk only glimpsed a single corner of what is to come — like a withered yellow leaf falling from its branch, blown by a great wind high into the sky, briefly seeing a somewhat wider expanse of the world. But in the end it must fall back down. A single leaf — how could it comprehend the entirety of the world? It was only a momentary flash of clear sight.”
Ye Fan paused. This was truly an attained ancient Buddha. Even while dissolving into the Dao, he spoke with a light and easy smile — natural, unforced, free and unrestrained. He was extraordinarily transcendent.
“The Buddhist faith speaks of cause and effect. The senior has resolved my difficulty — this junior does not know how to repay the debt.”
“For you, the fruit lies in the present, and the cause lies in the future. For me, the cause lies in the present, and the fruit lies in the future.” The old monk’s body was nearly burned through. His Dao-bones were cracking apart, each piece crystalline and luminous. The kasaya holy weapon on his body had completely turned to ash.
“I ask the senior to enlighten me clearly.”
“You will give grace to my Buddhist faith — I rejoice that the Dharma shall be perfected and complete. As you set out for the far shore of the starry sky — you are the dharma-protector of my school on that journey.” In the midst of the firelight, his bones shattered and his body broke apart — yet he remained serene and tranquil, pinching a lotus blossom between his fingers and smiling.
Ye Fan was astonished. This old monk was truly extraordinary, transcending the mundane world entirely. He had foreseen even the matter of Ye Fan’s departure for his distant homeland. He was worthy of being called an ancient Buddha.
Then, the old monk said one more thing — and Ye Fan stumbled, very nearly tumbling to the ground. The words spoke of retrieving a true scripture, and of him serving as its protector along the way.
“Wait — hold on. What are you saying? Surely this isn’t about a journey to the Western Heaven to retrieve scriptures?” He could not possibly bear such a burden.
The ancient Buddha smiled and shook his head. He said Ye Fan was overthinking it — there was only a single thread of cause and effect, a single strand of karmic connection. It was nothing like what he was imagining.
Ye Fan calmed his mind and came to understand what was being asked of him. A glimmer of something unusual crossed his face. The Buddhist faith cultivated the future — was there truly such a thing as reincarnation and a life to come? He asked sincerely.
The old monk replied: believe, and it exists. Disbelieve, and it does not. The ages flow on and on, and in time the world will see two flowers that are the same — a thousand and a hundred years of glances exchanged, one flower withering, one flower blooming.
“Did the senior ever encounter Shakyamuni?”
“Two thousand years ago, I was wandering and came to the foot of Mount Sumeru and saw him descending the mountain.” This Buddha had walked among the mortal world and had not come from the Great Thunderclap Monastery. In ordinary times, he dwelt within various unremarkable, out-of-the-way temples.
The old monk’s sole request was this: to be buried on the far shore of the starry sky. In the moment of death, a clear and total perception of the true nature of the Buddha would be granted.
“You wish to observe the Dharma of Shakyamuni — is this not at odds with what you yourself cultivate?” Ye Fan had a question in his heart.
“I revere Amitabha and also recognize the true Buddha nature in all things. Whether Shakyamuni is the demon shell of the Buddha I cannot say. I seek only a single lost true scripture.”
“May I ask which ancient Buddha the senior is?” Ye Fan very much wished to know. The Buddhist faith spoke of reincarnation and the life to come. This old monk most likely had a remarkable origin — perhaps he was one of the ancient Buddhas spoken of in myth and legend.
“A name is empty — in the end it is all emptiness. All Buddhas attain such a nature of bliss — directly unto Nirvana. Neither coming from anywhere, nor going anywhere…” The old monk dissolved into the Dao within the firelight, strand by strand of divine order merging into heaven and earth.
A soft and gentle force pushed Ye Fan away into the far distance. Otherwise he would have dissolved along with the ancient one — this was an earth-shaking event, and the space here was suffused with a permeating luminous mist. Golden Buddhist radiance flooded the plateau in a single instant.
The old monk’s bones broke entirely. His flesh and blood became light. At last, he dissolved completely into the Dao, his name stricken from the world. A long while passed. Ye Fan walked forward, and there amid the ashes he found a relic — as large as a small child’s fist, perfectly round and luminous, radiating an undying sacred light.
The life to come — believe, and it exists; disbelieve, and it does not. Ye Fan fell silent. In the end, he shook his head quietly, and gathered up that relic.
He continued along the Ayu Plateau, encountering one pilgrim after another — all of them prostrating with every step, making their way toward the Ayu Sacred Lake upon the plateau, their sincerity without measure.
Along the road there were soft carpets of grass, and hard, unyielding stones — yet none of them found this to be any kind of hardship. On the contrary, their spirits were full, their hearts carrying a conviction. One devout prostration, then another, then another — a kind of cultivation in its own right.
This scene after scene moved Ye Fan deeply, setting him in quiet contemplation. A spirit world anchored in faith does not grow hollow. Mind-force fortifies the self — it too is a form of cultivation. Yet for those who seek to achieve the Dao, they must answer only to themselves — the self alone, supreme and sovereign.
Perhaps for ordinary people, this was a means of solace — something that let the heart feel satisfied. He couldn’t help but gaze toward Mount Sumeru, which lay too far away to see. He sighed quietly — Amitabha was truly unfathomable.
Ahead, there was a sacred lake — lucid and clear, its pure radiance shimmering. It was the Ayu Lake upon this plateau, one of the sacred sites of the Buddhist faith.
Beside the Ayu Sacred Lake stood a temple — not grand, not imposing, occupying very little ground. It was only a small temple. Yet this was precisely the place Ye Fan had been searching for: the Agama Ancient Monastery.
A beautiful woman stood before the Agama Monastery — otherworldly and serene, purified of all earthly glamour, every allure withdrawn. She was like a lotus blossom opening in full bloom — standing there quietly. It was An Miaoyi.
“My master has dissolved into the Dao. In the glimpse of the future she perceived before the end, she saw that you would make a journey far away. I already know all of it,” came a voice with a rich and melodious quality — An Miaoyi’s true self still present within her, the part of herself she had not yet severed.
Then, neither of them spoke another word. They began to walk around the Ayu Sacred Lake side by side — walking together, shoulder to shoulder, like a pair of divine figures transcending the mortal world.