"This Daizen Temple is really grand! I really can't imagine how glorious this sacred land of martial arts was twenty years ago! "
In the dark night, stars twinkled in the sky. In the cold air, gusts of night wind blew. Waves of whistling could be heard in the mountain forest, accompanied by the sound of snow falling from the treetops.
Howl, howl, howl!
A shrill howl of wolves came from the depths of the mountain. Then, the howls of wolves echoed from all directions, making one's hair stand on end.
This was the Taishi Mountain where the Daizen Temple was located.
Crack!
Hong Yi moved his feet. Step by step, he crushed a tile. He stooped down and picked up the shattered tile. He discovered that it was a greenish-black color with patterns carved on it. It was an extremely sturdy iron tile. However, due to the corrosion of time, there were countless spots on it, causing it to become weak and unable to withstand the force of a human stepping on it.
"The mottled traces of time! A thousand-year-old ancient temple has now become a pile of ruins. "
Looking at the surrounding environment, Hong Yi sighed.
That's right, the place where Hong Yi was now was the ruins of the Daizen Temple.
On the ground, there were broken walls and rubble everywhere, extending all the way to the other side of the mountain. Occasionally, there would be a huge iron incense burner, a stone cauldron, a lifelike Buddha statue carved in stone, and a huge rotten wood.
These ruins were proof of the glory of the Zen Forest that once existed in this forest!
Hong Yi even saw a huge mountain wall that had been cut open. The statue of a Buddha was carved on it, and one of the Buddha's toes was half the height of a person! People standing on its body could only look up!
This huge Buddha was carved from half a mountain. Hong Yi could not imagine how much manpower, material, and financial resources were needed to do this.
Dozens of tents were set up on a square that was ten to twenty thousand steps wide! The ground of this square was paved with solid bluestone, but it was full of potholes and there were many deep footprints.
These deep footprints were at least a foot deep. It was obvious that someone had used force to leave these footprints.
"Is this the martial arts field of the Daizen Temple?" Hong Yi looked at the soul-stirring footprints and potholes on the huge training field. He muttered in his heart, "How many people can this large training field hold?"
"Wu wu, wu wu wu, wu wu wu! The Da Qian Imperial Court! You and I are irreconcilable! I swear, I will definitely destroy the Imperial Court! Kill! Kill! Kill! Da Qian Yang Family, go to hell! I'm going to kill you! "
Just as Hong Yi was looking around at the scale of the Daizen Temple ruins, a heart-wrenching wail came from the distance. The wail was so loud that it shook everything around it.
"What's wrong with Enduring Monk?"
At this time, the people who were preparing in the tents came out and walked towards the place where the Enduring Monk was wailing.
After passing through a few mountains and plazas, the ruins of dozens of great halls, stone staircases, and a few forests, Hong Yi finally found the enduring monk who was wailing like a wounded wild beast.
The Enduring Monk lay prostrate on the square, his hands hammering the ground violently. Large rocks were shaken up by him, and at the same time, he grabbed some of the broken rocks in his hands and crushed them into powder with a creaking sound.
"Where is this?"
Hong Yi looked suspiciously at the Enduring Monk who was wailing incessantly. He then looked at the snow-covered plaza, which was littered with collapsed pagodas.
This was a forest of pagodas.
"The Enduring Monk is Wu Sheng, but he's crying like this. What is this place? "Arachnida Gigantea asked in confusion.
"This is a forest of pagodas. It's also the burial place of the eminent monks of the Daizen Temple, as well as the graves of the laymen. After the eminent monks of the past died, they would be cremated and their ashes would be placed in jars. Then, they would build pagodas and worship the ashes as relics. After their death, the monks who could be buried in the forest of pagodas were all highly accomplished monks. "
Hong Yi's hands were trembling slightly.
He finally understood why the Enduring Monk was crying even though he was Wu Sheng.
It was because the forest of pagodas had been destroyed!
The corpses and relics inside had all been dug out. Not a single one was left.
Needless to say, this was the work of the Da Qian Imperial Court. The Daizen Temple had been established for two to three thousand years and had always been prosperous. How many experts had come from it? Hong Yi guessed that in these two to three thousand years, the Daizen Temple had probably produced no less than a hundred Wu Sheng. Wu Sheng's achievements in martial arts were considered to be at the peak. After his death, his body would naturally be cremated and buried in the forest of pagodas.
The cremated remains of Wu Sheng were the best material for Taoist masters to refine magical weapons.
How many bones would there be if there were more than a hundred Wu Sheng? Furthermore! In these thousands of years, the Daizen Temple still had Human Immortals! And they were not low-level Human Immortals, but top-level Human Immortals!
People like Wu Housekeeper, who had just become a Wu Sheng, were already very precious after their cremation. Not to mention top-level Wu Sheng, or even Human Immortals, top-level Human Immortals!
And all these top-level cultivation materials had been dug out by the Da Qian Dynasty.
"This kind of digging out the bones is not what a benevolent ruler would do!" At this point, Hong Yi also felt that the emperor of the Da Qian Dynasty had gone too far.
For example, Wu Housekeeper was his enemy. He had always obeyed Hong Xuanji's orders to capture him and destroy his martial arts. However, after being captured, he committed suicide. Hong Yi still cremated his body and put it in an altar. He did not even take his clothes or weapons. He even planned to find a place with good Feng Shui to bury him.
Hong Yi would never dig out the bones like the Da Qian Dynasty and use them as treasures to refine magical weapons!
This was not what a benevolent person would do. Bones were the last bit of dignity of a person. In the etiquette of scholars, using bones was definitely a taboo.
"Ah! So this is the pagoda forest! There are so many corpses in the Daizen Temple! Have they all been dug out by the imperial court? Heavens, how many magical weapons would they need to refine? Oh yes, I heard from my grandfather that when the monks of the Daizen Temple die, they will be buried in the pagoda forest. Apart from that, the weapons and magical weapons of the monks will also be buried with their bones! Back then, my grandfather wanted to steal one of them, but the moment he entered the pagoda forest, he was severely injured by the guardian of the pagoda forest! The monks of the Daizen Temple rarely kill. My grandfather sneaked up on Monk Yin Yue a few times, but Monk Yin Yue did not have any intention to kill. He only chased them away. But if someone enters the pagoda forest and steals the bones, weapons, and treasures, it is definitely a big taboo! Those monks will be killed without mercy. "
Arachnida Gigantea looked at the ruins of the pagoda forest in the snow. She shook her head and sighed.
"Benevolence, benevolence … The imperial court should set an example … Even if they pretend to be benevolent, they should still put in effort on the surface. What a pity, what a pity, sigh … "
Hong Yi shook his head and sighed. He walked forward and helped the Enduring Monk up.
"Master Endurance, my condolences. Grief hurts the body, and the future is long. In fact, you have endured for twenty years, and you already knew this would happen. Calm your mind, this justice will be returned sooner or later." "Master Endurance, my condolences. I promise you! "
Hong Yi said with a pause.
"I never thought that the Da Qian imperial court would be so ruthless!" After the Enduring Monk stood up, his face was full of tears like a child, but he stopped crying.
"This is the pagoda forest, and over there is the Heavenly King Hall with a total of three hundred and sixty rooms. The Medicine King Hall to the west also has three hundred and six rooms. There is also the Vajra Hall, Prajna Hall, Ming Of Silla Hall, Bodhisattva Hall, Incense Hall, Scripture Hall, Scripture Hall, and the training ground … A total of seventy-two halls, seventy to eighty thousand monks, all destroyed, all destroyed!"
The Enduring Monk allowed his tears to flow down his face. There was no longer any expression in his eyes. He pointed at the surrounding mountains one by one and introduced to Hong Yi everything that happened in the past.
"Back then, during morning lessons, we would light incense for the Buddha. Those little monks who lit the incense had to run on horseback to light the incense one by one. When the bell rang, it could be heard hundreds of miles away! That atmosphere was really solemn. There were more than ten thousand of us martial monks. When we trained in the training ground in the morning, the voices of ten thousand people connected together. Our aura and blood energy were connected together. Even the clouds in the sky were shaken and scattered! At night, thousands of large oil tanks and wicks as thick as an arm made the entire Daizen Temple as bright as day … "
Under the Enduring Monk's introduction, there seemed to be an endless number of temples in front of everyone, a treasured temple that shone with golden light! Countless monks were practicing martial arts in an orderly manner under the sun. A huge aura enveloped the surrounding hundreds of miles. It was really a spiritual mountain and a land of Buddha …
"Oh right! I have to look for the underground palace of our Daizen Temple! "The Enduring Monk suddenly said.
"What is the underground palace of the Daizen Temple?" Hong Yi asked.
"Legend has it that our Daizen Temple also built an underground palace under the ground. However, this is only a secret among us monks. Even I don't know where the exact location of the underground palace is."
The Enduring Monk seemed to be recalling something. "I entered the Daizen Temple when I was young. Occasionally, I heard the legend of the underground palace of our Daizen Temple. However, no one mentioned it after that. Moreover, I've lived in the Daizen Temple for so many years. I'm basically familiar with every plant and tree in the Taishi Mountain. I've never found any underground palace. However, in the past, many places in our Daizen Temple were forbidden areas. Now that our Daizen Temple is destroyed, we can check if there are any clues! "
"What was placed in the underground palace?" Arachnida Gigantea asked curiously.
"I don't know either. It's only said that there was an underground palace." The Enduring Monk shook his head. "Our Daizen Temple has three secret manuals. The Scripture of the Past was cultivated by the abbot. The Scripture of the Present is the supreme manual of martial arts. The Scripture of the Future was created to restrain the Taishang Dao. Right now, the Scripture of the Past is in the hands of Hong Yi. The remnant of the Scripture of the Future is in the hands of the Da Qian Crown Prince. There's also the Scripture of the Present, which is the secret manual to become a human immortal. I suspect that if our Daizen Temple has an underground palace, it's probably hidden in the underground palace. "
"That's impossible!" Hong Yi shook his head. "The Daizen Temple has been destroyed for 20 years. When it was destroyed, it must have been ransacked by Taoist masters. Moreover, it's very likely that many Taoist masters came to search for treasures in these 20 years. After being ransacked for 20 years, even if there was an underground palace, it would have been discovered by others. Moreover, if I can get the Scripture of the Future, someone will definitely get the Scripture of the Present. Someone might even get the true Scripture of the Future by chance. It's just that we don't know who it is yet. "
"That's not for sure. The underground palace of our Daizen Temple is a secret. Even a Taoist master would have a hard time finding it. It's better for us to search again! Hong Yi, if you get the Scripture of the Present, you'll definitely be able to cultivate the Dao of Wu Sheng! Moreover, with your Thoughtless Tranquility state, you might even be able to turn your body into a human immortal! Once your spirit becomes a ghost immortal and your body becomes a human immortal, you'll be able to reach the supreme Yang Spirit state! At that time, no one will be able to stop you from doing whatever you want! "
The Enduring Monk said as he walked. He pointed to the center of the forest in the distance, behind a large square.
"That's the ruins of our Daizen Temple's Sutra Depository! When I was young, I heard rumors that the underground palace of our Daizen Temple might very well be built underneath. Perhaps it's in the belly of the mountain. Those who cultivate Taoist techniques can burrow into the mountains. Why don't you use your Taoist techniques to search for it? Perhaps you'll find some clues. "
"I can understand your feelings. You want to see what kind of complete existence the Great Zen Temple has, right? Although dao techniques can reach the heavens and enter the earth, Although Taoist techniques can go to heaven and earth, the difficulty is much greater. With my current Divine Soul, I can only burrow about a thousand feet into the ground at most. If it's a rock, it'll be even shallower. If it comes into contact with the underground lava, my Divine Soul will be severely injured, even if it's not destroyed immediately. "
Although that was what Hong Yi said, he still sent a strand of his spirit into the ground of the ruins of the Daizen Temple's Sutra Depository. With a little force, his spirit burrowed into the ground like a pangolin. It felt like entering the sea.
"Good! This spirit burrowing into the ground is indeed ten thousand times more difficult than entering the sea! "
The moment Hong Yi's wisp of soul reached the ground and drilled into it, he immediately felt his surroundings becoming heavy. He was completely enveloped by a thick and chaotic aura. His soul was extremely sluggish and showed signs of not being able to circulate properly.
His senses seemed to be blinded. He could only sense the situation within a radius of a few dozen zhang. Any further and it was a blur.
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