For several months after Hua Jieyu’s departure, Ye Futian had been cultivating Buddhism with great concentration in Spirit Mountain. His aura was not exposed to the outside. He was quietly comprehending the Buddhist scriptures.
He seemed to be a natural member of Buddhism. In addition to reading and studying Buddhist scriptures, he also sat in on lectures given by various Buddha Lords, completely integrating into the community of Buddhist cultivation in Spirit Mountain. He even forged good relationships with many of the Buddhist cultivators there. Sometimes they would sit together and exchange Buddhist teachings. In short, he was living a very productive life, not at all like someone who was on the run.
Saint Zhenchan was also on the Spirit Mountain; he stayed at Spirit Mountain ever since he got back from the Vaidurya Pure World. He was also cultivating on an ancient peak, watching Ye Futian closely. Everyone on Spirit Mountain knew the grudge between these two, so Saint Zhenchan dared not do anything to Ye Futian while they were still on Spirit Mountain. He had not had any exchanges with Ye Futian ever since he returned from Vaidurya Pure World.
But this was precisely the kind of quietude that was even more terrifying. Anyone else other than Ye Futian would probably have trouble eating and sleeping. But Ye Futian himself didn’t seem to be bothered.
Both of them appeared to be in some very strange impasse, eerily quiet, and neither was affected by the other in the slightest.
But everyone on Spirit Mountain knew very well that things were not as harmonious as they appeared.
On this day, Ye Futian was listening to a Buddha Lord lecturing at his place of cultivation with other Buddhist cultivators. After the lecture, as usual, there were Buddhist cultivators who asked questions, while others gave thanks and bid farewell.
“Many thanks to the Buddha Lord.”
Ye Futian bowed, his hands together, and paid his respect to the Buddha Lord in a seated position. However, as soon as his voice faded, he disappeared from where he was, stunning all the Buddhist cultivators.
At this juncture, Ye Futian had been cultivating on Spirit Mountain much more than just a day or two. He had been here for a prolonged period of time, and his habits were well-known to other cultivators. Every time he listened to a lecture, he would give thanks, then get up and walk away slowly. Disappearing right off the bat was not a very polite exit.
Even that Lord Buddha glanced at the place where Ye Futian was sitting just to make sure. When he saw the empty space, he smiled and put his hands together, “Buddha’s blessings on Benefactor Ye.”
Obviously, they were all aware that something interesting had happened.
“The cultivation of Buddha’s Celerity is truly peculiar. There is no aura, as the disappearance is instantaneous, invisible, undetectable, and completely without warning.” Some Buddhist cultivators whispered amongst themselves. No matter how they expanded their consciousness, they could no longer find Ye Futian anywhere on the Spirit Mountain.
Saint Zhenchan, who was cultivating, suddenly opened his eyes. An extremely sharp divine aurora shot out from them as his consciousness spread out and covered the entire Spirit Mountain.
“He’s gone?” Saint Zhenchan got up, the Light of Buddha shone upon him, as he too, disappeared.
He wanted to see if Ye Futian, who had cultivated Buddha’s Celerity, could escape his clutches so easily.
Many Buddhist cultivators walked outside and looked into the distance. They wondered if Ye Futian could truly escape from Saint Zhenchan. If not, then there might be nothing but death that awaited him.
…
In the holy land of the Western Heaven, Saint Zhenchan appeared high above the sky and released his consciousness to cover the boundless space. His eyes were terribly frightening as he looked through the Western Heaven. Everything seemed to be within his sight.
Countless imageries and infinite faces appeared in his mind, but Ye Futian was not one of them.
The entire Western Heaven was searched and covered, but he still could not find him.
“What’s going on?” Saint Zhenchan frowned. Ye Futian couldn’t have been so fast. Even though Ye Futian had cultivated Buddha’s Celerity, it was not omnipotent because of the constraints imposed by the limitation of his realm.
No one had been able to completely maximize any of the superpowers in spite of their realms. Ultimately, Ye Futian was just a Renhuang in the Eighth-Realm, at least he was, in the eyes of Saint Zhenchan.
However, he could not find Ye Futian anywhere in the Western Heaven, which was a little odd.
“He’s not in the Western Heaven.” At this time, a voice was heard in the head of Saint Zhenchan, which caused a shudder in his heart. He nodded slightly to the void, at no one in particular. He knew who it was that told him.
Except, if Ye Futian was not in the Western Heaven, then where was he hiding?
“Still in the Spirit Mountain.” The voice came again, and Saint Zhenchan’s eyes sharpened, his expression hardened with this knowledge.
It seemed that Ye Futian was playing him for a fool?
He came here to look for Ye Futian, but Ye Futian was still on the Spirit Mountain.
This was deliberately toying with him!
The Buddhist cultivators on Spirit Mountain had discovered that Ye Futian was still there; he was in the library. The library was a place where all telekinetic powers were blocked out and could not be invaded even by divine consciousness. Ye Futian had appeared directly inside the library using Buddha’s Celerity. Just when there was a lot of chatter on Spirit Mountain, a Buddhist cultivator came out of the library and informed everyone that Ye Futian was there. Even the Buddha Lord, who was lecturing on the scriptures, laughed when he heard that; even he was fooled by Ye Futian.
After a while, Ye Futian slowly came out of the library, holding a few scriptures. He nodded at Bitter Zen, then walked down the stairs.
At the bottom of the stairs, Saint Zhenchan was standing there, waiting. He stared at Ye Futian with an extremely chilly look in his eyes.
Ye Futian looked neither left nor right—as if he hadn’t seen him at all—and continued to move forward.
“Do you plan on hiding in Spirit Mountain in the name of cultivation?” Saint Zhenchan suppressed the anger in his heart and asked indifferently.
Ye Futian stopped with his back still facing Saint Zhenchan. The two did not look at each other, but Ye Futian said with a smile, “Spirit Mountain is the Buddhist holy land, contained profound numbers of Buddhist scriptures, with Buddha Lords lecturing and preaching. I plan to cultivate on Spirit Mountain for decades until I have survived two Divine Tribulations. You, are you afraid of that?!”
Saint Zhenchan’s face was dark and gloomy. If Ye Futian was this determined, not leaving Spirit Mountain and continuing to cultivate here, there was nothing he could do.
Furthermore, if he really planned on cultivating here until he had survived two Divine Tribulations, by then, would Zhenchan even be able to fight him?
Ye Futian had forced his way into the Spirit Mountain while he was yet in the Eighth-Realm when he defeated the Arhat. In the end, it was Grandmaster Bitter Zen who intervened and intercepted Ye Futian.
And at the time of that battle, Ye Futian had only cultivated Buddhism less than a hundred days.
Ye Futian started moving forward again, saying, “It was you who wouldn’t let go and brought on everything that happened later. I had to destroy the divine body to protect myself; I only escaped after suffering heavy injuries. Remember, it was you who owed me, not the other way around.”
He didn’t look at Saint Zhenchan once. The other wanted to kill him; it appeared that Zhenchan was the victim, but what really happened back then?
Ye Futian was, in fact, the one who was forced into desperation by Saint Zhenchan. An item as precious as the divine body of Shenjia the Great Emperor had to be destroyed because of his determination in hunting Ye Futian. Ye Futian himself almost died.
Now, Saint Zhenchan was the hunter, and Ye Futian, the prey. This was only because Zhenchan was stronger. If the situation were reversed, then it would be Ye Futian who was hunting Saint Zhenchan instead.
Saint Zhenchan didn’t bother to say another word. In a flash, he was gone; he had returned to where he was before. Ye Futian’s words had no effect and did not cause him to let down his guard. On the contrary, from this day forward, he kept even closer tabs on Ye Futian.
His murderous intent was even stronger, and the desire to kill was more fervent than before. He MUST kill Ye Futian at all cost.
After that, Ye Futian often used Buddha’s Celerity all over Spirit Mountain, appeared in the library from time to time in this manner, so that Zhenchan had to investigate every time. Later, there were several other Buddhist cultivators who were in the habit of reading and studying Buddhist scriptures in the library. Ye Futian understood what was going on, but he didn’t care.
After a few months, Tianyin Buddha Lord came to Spirit Mountain and saw that Shenyan Buddha Lord was also around and invited him for a game of chess. Shenyan Buddha Lord did not refuse and played chess with Tianyin Buddha Lord. In a blink of an eye, a few days had passed.
On this day, Ye Futian appeared in the library again. As usual, he was reading the scriptures on the first floor. At this time, Bitter Zen had found those Buddhist cultivators in the library and asked them to help with cleaning up the library. Since these cultivators had gotten to know Bitter Zen rather well, and on account that he had asked for their help personally, they felt they could not refuse. Therefore, they followed Bitter Zen around to clean up the library.
After they finished cleaning, they discovered that Ye Futian was no longer inside the library, and vaguely sensed something was not quite right. As usual, they instilled a telekinesis force into a jade slip.
Saint Zhenchan, who was cultivating on Spirit Mountain, received the news in an instant. His divine consciousness covered all of Spirit Mountain, but he could not find any trace of Ye Futian.
“When did he leave?” he asked.
“I don’t know. Grandmaster Bitter Zen had asked me to help clean up the library,” the voice answered. Saint Zhenchan looked exceedingly apathetic. He simply replied, “Idiot.”
Every time Ye Futian left the library, the people inside would inform Saint Zhenchan so that he could locate Ye Futian outside the library. It was precisely to prevent losing track of him once he left the library.
Buddha’s Celerity was an incredible superpower that he had to take measures to guard against. Could Grandmaster Bitter Zen be in cahoots with Ye Futian?
“Ye Futian left.” Saint Zhenchan sent a message to someone else. His figure was gone in a flash. He left Spirit Mountain immediately and headed towards the Western Heaven.
Shenyan Buddha Lord, who was playing chess with Tianyin Buddha Lord, received a message from Bitter Zen. The chess piece in his hand had not yet been placed, as he looked up at the smiling Tianyin Buddha Lord and understood something.
“Shenyan, why haven’t you made your move yet?” Tianyin Buddha Lord asked.
“Just a minute.” Shenyan Buddha Lord turned his eyes and looked into the distance. His eyes just now had become extremely terrifying.
But in the next moment, the Light of Buddha shrouded this entire space, as Tianyin Buddha Lord said, “Shenyan, if you want to play chess, then focus on it. If you are distracted, I am afraid you will lose again.”
His Heavenly Eyes blocked, Shenyan Buddha Lord now looked at the Tianyin Buddha Lord and asked, “Why are you helping him?”
“Even The Buddha has said that he is a person who is predestined in Buddhism. This matter is between him and Zhenchan. Why do you interject yourself between them?” Tianyin Buddha Lord said.
“Aren’t you interjecting?” Shenyan Buddha Lord asked rhetorically.
“I don’t want you to interject, that’s all. Once they are outside of Spirit Mountain, I don’t care about what goes on between him and Zhenchan,” Tianyin Buddha Lord continued. As a strange look flashed through Shenyan Buddha Lord’s eyes, he lowered his head and glanced at the chessboard before he made his move. He said, “Even if I don’t intervene, can he escape from Zhenchan?”
“That’s his business. Everything has its own cause and effect. Why should we cling to this?” Tianyin Buddha Lord said, “Isn’t it much better to play chess with peace of mind?”
“Right.” Shenyan Buddha Lord didn’t say anything but settled down to play chess in peace without further distraction.
If Saint Zhenchan, as someone who had survived the second Divine Tribulation of the Great Path, could not take down a latecomer like Ye Futian, then he had truly squandered these many years cultivating in vain.
Many people on Spirit Mountain felt that Ye Futian had a destiny in Buddhism. His fortune had been great, and many of them wanted to see just how great this fortune of Ye Futian’s might be!
