Chapter 469: Secret of the Immortal Soul
Translator: Sparrow Translations Editor: Sparrow Translations
The Virtuous Zen Master was invited as a guest out of courtesy, which was not the same as Kang Nanhua or Miao Shihua, who were Guardian Elders. He was freer, but his relationship with the sect was not that close.
Kang Nanhua and Miao Shihao could claim to be from the Celestial Sect of Wonders, whereas the Virtuous Zen Master was still from the Great Thunderclap Temple.
But the Great Thunderclap Temple had been destroyed, thus he could be considered to be a part of the Celestial Sect of Wonders. Lin Feng allowed him to remain Buddhist as he wanted to let the Virtuous Zen Master retain his connection with his roots.
To the Virtuous Zen Master, this was the best conclusion. He could feel Lin Feng’s magnanimity and decided to repay Lin Feng and the Celestial Sect of Wonders in the future.
As Lin Feng saw him in this state, he could not help but smile.
When he returned to Mount Yujing, he brought the Virtuous Zen Master to the Tripitaka Block. At the corner of the Tripitaka Block, there was a layer of bookshelf that contained collections of sutras. They were all Buddhist sutras that were placed in that bookshelf intentionally by Lin Feng.
The Virtuous Zen Master caressed these books and revealed a nostalgic look. Obviously, he recalled the Pavilion of Books at the Great Thunderclap Temple.
Lin Feng said, "Besides gathering the sariras and sending them back to the Great Thunderclap Temple to be buried, I have obtained some Buddhist collections unintentionally. Hence, I kept them here. I hope to see the Buddhist mantras being passed down in the future."
"Although the Great Thunderclap Temple was destroyed, as long as these collections are retained, there may be one day it rises again."
The Virtuous Zen Master took in a deep breath and bowed towards Lin Feng as he turned around, "You have done a lot of good deeds. Everyone in the Buddhist realm are grateful towards you."
He turned around and stared at a sutra before sighing, "Buddha is merciful. The last time I saw the Vairocana Sutra was during the war."
After the war, many of the elders passed away and the Pavilion of Books was also destroyed. This sutra was eventually lost." The Virtuous Zen Master shook his head and commented, "I believed that I will never see it again in this life."
"Although it lacks the Vairocana Zen Palm, it is still very rare already." The Virtuous Zen Master mumbled, "I thank Master Lin on behalf of all the Buddhist followers, to let this sutra reappear again."
The Virtuous Zen Master looked at the Vairocana Sutra in front of him. The Acalanatha Tathagata Mantra, Forever-Bright Tathagata Mantra, Art of Acalanatha, Bodhisattva Sutra, Ksitigarbha Sutra were all elite Buddhist mantras in the Great Thunderclap Temple. Now that they were all gathered together, the Zen spirit of the Virtuous Zen Master was drummed up at this point.
As he thought of the horrifying image of the destruction of the Great Thunderclap Temple, he almost cried.
Lin Feng smiled, "If I have any more of these in the future, I shall let you arrange and manage it. What do you think?"
The Virtuous Zen Master nodded his head and said seriously, "Thank you Master Lin."
Lin Feng and the Virtuous Zen Master exited the Tripitaka Block. They picked an abode on Mount Yujing for him to stay and retrieved a portion of the essence of the Cloud Forest Tree for him to recuperate and cultivate.
As a Buddhist follower, the Virtuous Zen Master’s main goal is to cultivate his own body. As his own body was strong, he could resist the Holy Fire sacrificial rites. After that, he borrowed the essence of the Cloud Forest Tree to recuperate, but it was with much difficulty as he needed to tap on external forces to heal.
This was slow and the Virtuous Zen Master could only count on himself to manage it.
After sending the Virtuous Zen Master to rest, he drew two balls of essence from the Cloud Forest Tree and released Shi Zongyue and the Stellar Holy Man from the Purple Clouds.
They were both in critical condition due to the Holy Fire sacrificial rites. Prince Anliang was still a little better, but the Stellar Holy Man was already on the verge of dying. He was only a step away before his Immortal Soul was destroyed.
Under such a circumstance, Lin Feng could not inject the essence of the Cloud Forest Tree into his Immortal Soul directly. Otherwise, he could not take it.
Firstly, he used the Purple Clouds to pair with the powers of the Grand Moon Primordial Water to nourish the Stellar Holy Man’s Immortal Soul. After that, he slowly infused the huge amount of spiritual energy from the Cloud Forest Tree into the Stellar Holy Man’s Immortal Soul.
The Stellar Holy Man was already dying. But after a long while, he finally entered a more stable state. After waking up, he did not hesitate and revealed his Immortal Soul. He then absorbed the huge amount of spiritual energy to heal his Immortal Soul.
The essence was just a resource to heal the Immortal Soul. To fully heal it, it was still important for the cultivator to manage his powers appropriately.
The Stellar Holy Man’s Immortal Soul Avatar converted into a river of stars. It looked dark and initially, there were only a few stars flashing. Furthermore, the radiance was dim and looked as if it could disappear anytime.
Following the shift in time, the stars brightened and became more and more. At the end, the river of stars was completely filled with stars that were flashing brightly.
Although it was not as bright as it was previously, the Stellar Holy Man had already escaped the clutch of death.
On the other side, Prince Anliang was in much better condition. With the provision of the essence of the Cloud Forest Tree, he recovered rapidly.
He did not reveal his Immortal Soul Avatar, which was the Crimson Imperial Dragon King. On the other hand, he revealed a 3 foot tall giant which wore a crown. It was imposing and wore a bright red magic robe. As its eyes opened, burning flames sprayed out of it and converted to red clouds.
Within the red clouds, there were the movements of Crimson Light Dragons.
This giant sat on its knees in space and revealed a weird atmosphere around it, as if it did not fit with the world it was in.
Lin Feng’s gaze flashed, "Is this the virtual entity that you comprehended through your cultivation of the Imperial Script of the Crimson Dragon?"
There were three levels to the Undying Demon Soul. The first level was the immortal Demon Soul, second level was the original true spirit and the third level was the syncretic star soul.
For the Immortal Soul Stage, there were also three levels to it. The first level was the cultivation of avatar, second level was the cultivation of the virtual entity and the third level was the way of the virtual entity.
Before the realm of the Immortal Soul Stage, there were the Qi Cultivation Stage, Foundation Establishment Stage, Aurous Core Stage and Nascent Soul Stage. But the foundation of it could be called the Qi Cultivation Paladin.
The Qi Cultivation Paladin was the natural life of the Heavens and Earth, which had a limit to its longevity.
Only by breaking the barriers and forming the Immortal Soul could one live like an immortal.
In the Immortal Soul First Level, where the avatar was cultivated, the cultivator’s life form was altered. He would no longer absorb spiritual energy into his body for cultivation. On the contrary, he would infuse with the spiritual energy to become part of the Heavens and Earth.
As he became part of it, he became immortal too.
Unless the Heavens and Earth were destroyed, he would be immortal.
However, such a connection and infusion was weak. The connection was built on the cultivator’s understanding of the Great Way of Tao at that moment in time. It was not a true translation of one’s self into the Heavens and Earth, thus he might still be killed by a strong external force.
Because the Heavens and Earth were an entity, all the vital energy could be converted to mana. Hence, most Immortal Soul Stage Elders’ mana would never be exhausted, unless there was a stronger opponent who could temporarily cut the connection between the cultivator and the world.
For instance, the Holy Fire sacrificial rites by the Golden Roc Grand Sage was the case.
Once the cultivator’s avatar was damaged, the connection with the Heavens and Earth was no longer perfect. He would then be unable to tap on the vital energy to heal himself. This was the case with Shi Zongyue and the Stellar Holy Man. That was why they needed the essence of the Cloud Forest Tree.
When their injuries recovered and they infused back with the Heavens and Earth, their energies would recover rapidly.
The Immortal Soul Avatar was also the show of a cultivator’s determination.
As the Immortal Soul Avatar improved, it could cultivate the virtual entity. It was different from the Immortal Soul Stage Avatar that infused with the Heavens and Earth. It was way beyond that as the cultivator understood the true meaning of Tao, forming a world on his own.
He did not rely on the Heavens and Earth any more, but owned a true and independent self. People were always below the Heavens, but as the virtual entity was cultivated, people and the Heavens started to become on the same level.
When Lin Feng pranked Xiao Yan previously, he once said that from the perspective of all life, they were an independent entity by themselves. Everyone was different.
But by leaving the perspective of a single person and adopting a new perspective through the world’s eyes, one could realize that they were just a part of destiny.
Cultivation was a way for one to overcome this state of being average. Even if he looked from the broad view of the world, he was still different than the others.
When he said these words, Lin Feng was indeed trying to prank Xiao Yan. But these words were not wrong, as they described the goal of cultivation.
The cultivation of the virtual entity was the first step to seeking such an independence.
This was still very premature, but it was the foundation for everything to come.
Once an Immortal Soul Stage cultivator reached the second level, he could cultivate the virtual entity. The powers of the virtual entity were even higher than the Immortal Soul Avatar. At the same time, it superseded the state of mind of a cultivator by infusing the comprehension of the way of Tao into that cultivator.
Different people could have the same Immortal Soul Avatars. But every virtual entity was different.
However, these Immortal Soul Stage cultivators would not reveal their virtual entity in battle. Although it was strong, it was not used for battling. To a certain extent, it was like a Nascent Soul. Although it was strong, once it was damaged, it would cause great harm.
If the virtual entity was damaged, the cultivator might even revert to the Immortal Soul First Level
The giant that Shi Zongyue revealed was the virtual entity he cultivated using the foundation of the Imperial Script of the Crimson Dragon and the infusion of the true meaning of Tao.
Lin Feng watched as Shi Zongyue and the Stellar Holy Man cultivated. After a long while, the two of them stopped and kept their virtual entity and Immortal Soul Avatar respectively. They stood up and bowed towards Lin Feng, "Thank you for helping us!"
Lin Feng said, "There is no need to stand on ceremony. Since we entered the Cloud Forest World together, we should help one another."
He waved his hand and broke through space, "Xiling City is just below. I will send the both of you till here only. But if you wish to stay on this mountain, you are free to do so."