Immortal of the Nine Realms-Chapter 1493: Buddhist Kingdom

Ji Gang and the others left the Black Dragon Boat to explore on their own, leaving the massive vessel almost empty. Only Fang Chen and a small sugar glider, fast asleep on his shoulder, remained.

'Fellow Daoist Fang, let’s travel together. It’ll make our cover as Dao Companions look more convincing. This way, we can keep Third Sister from pestering you again.'

Little Immortal Honglian put away her own Black Dragon Ship, came over, and casually reached into Fang Chen’s robe pocket to scoop up the sugar glider, tucking it into her chest pocket.

Fang Chen smiled and nodded. 'Fine by me.'

If she hadn’t come, he would have gone looking for her anyway. He needed to confirm whether Shao Guangyin knew about her existence. If he did, he might have left her something behind.

'Junior Brother Fang, Junior Sister Hong, don’t explore on your own. Come with me.'

From a distance, Xie Aman beckoned to the two of them.

The two exchanged a quick glance, then flew over and greeted her respectfully. The nearby core disciples, realizing Xie Aman hadn’t called for them, took the hint and quietly dispersed.

'Do you know,' Xie Aman asked with a small smile, 'why Shao Guangyin took this contest so seriously?'

Little Immortal Honglian tentatively answered, 'Wasn’t it because victory would grant them the right to guard the Great Thunder Sound Temple for ten thousand years?'

'In Qingming, there are countless Ancient Forbidden Zones.' Xie Aman smiled. 'If this were just another Ancient Forbidden Zone, why would he risk exposing his trump card?' 𝓯𝓻𝒆𝙚𝒘𝓮𝙗𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝒍.𝙘𝓸𝙢

Fang Chen’s mind stirred.

By 'trump card,' is she referring to that demonic transformation technique?

If that transformation indeed originated from the demons’ homeland, then it really wasn’t worth revealing it over an Ancient Forbidden Zone. After all, the Nine Mortal Realms were still under human control, and they had yet to find that key.

'Then there’s something in the Great Thunder Sound Temple more important than the temple itself?' Fang Chen asked.

Xie Aman nodded. 'When the Ancient Forbidden Zone No. 97 was first discovered, the earliest explorers reported that there existed a Buddhist Kingdom.'

'A Buddhist Kingdom?' Little Immortal Honglian was surprised. 'There are still living beings here?'

Most Ancient Forbidden Zones were utterly lifeless, filled only with danger.

'Whether they’re living or not, I can’t say,' Xie Aman replied. 'But my guess is that it isn’t inhabited by the living, but by something ancient, left behind from a distant era for special reasons.'

She smiled faintly. 'The Rulai Monastery has spent over a thousand years searching for this Buddhist Kingdom on Great Thunder Sound and never found it. They refused to give up. That’s why they fought so fiercely this time.'

'Senior Sister... You know where the Buddhist Kingdom is, don’t you?' Fang Chen asked.

Xie Aman didn’t answer directly. Instead, she merely smiled. 'The explorers who first discovered this place all went missing. I suspect those of the Rulai Monastery captured them. But before one of them disappeared, he hid something away. I managed to... acquire that item through certain means.'

From her sleeve, Xie Aman produced a string of prayer beads. They looked utterly ordinary, showing no spiritual glow or energy.

'Take a look,' she said.

Little Immortal Honglian accepted them, and her expression changed immediately.

A few breaths later, she handed the beads to Fang Chen.

The moment he held them, a deep, resonant chanting of Buddha echoed in his ears. The sound seemed directional, as if it came from a specific point.

Instinctively, Fang Chen looked behind Xie Aman.

'There’s a Buddha’s chant,' he said slowly. 'It seems to be coming from that direction. These beads might be... guiding us somewhere.'

He returned them to Xie Aman, a flicker of interest rising in his heart.

Could the 'Buddhist Kingdom' actually be a Ghost Kingdom?

With the path to the Underworld sealed, perhaps the ancient souls of the old world had been forced to form a cursed realm much like the Demonic Fiend Mountain Range, because they had nowhere else to go. If that was true, he had to see it for himself. Those wandering souls were likely pure humans, and they had to be saved.

'I’m not certain,' Xie Aman said. 'So I am planning to bring you both to investigate. If we find nothing, we’ll treat it like a fun trip. The merit from the contest alone more than covers your losses, and you might even profit.'

She smiled. 'Well? Will you come?'

Little Immortal Honglian looked at Fang Chen. Seeing him nod, she agreed too. 'Then we’ll come along.'

Xie Aman chuckled softly. 'Good.'

She led them aboard her Black Dragon Ship, and they shot into the sky.

Watching from afar, Ji Tianjun, who had lingered without leaving, felt a faint mix of envy... and relief.

***

They didn’t know how many tens of thousands of miles they traveled before Xie Aman suddenly laughed. 'The chanting is growing louder.'

Beneath them stretched an endless ocean, the vast expanse glimmering faintly. The luminous barrier of Buddhist light that had once filled the sky was now gone.

Two years had passed since their departure. For those two years, they had not stopped for a single day, following the faint trail of the chant.

Fang Chen and Little Immortal Honglian took turns listening to the beads. After a while, they both nodded.

'The chanting is definitely louder,' Little Immortal Honglian said. 'It feels like we’re getting close.'

She then asked with hesitation, 'Senior Sister... aren’t you worried this might be a trap?'

'If it is, could a mere trap harm an eighth-transformation immortal?' Xie Aman’s smile was calm, her eyes full of confidence. 'I suspect the Rulai Monastery has been trying to use excavation to repair the flaws in their Buddhist Path. Great Thunder Sound was one of their hopes. I imagine Shao Guangyin will be harshly reprimanded for losing it.'

'The Buddhist Path...' muttered Fang Chen. He asked, 'What sort of Immortal Path does the Rulai Monastery follow?'

'No one knows,' Xie Aman said. 'No one knows which paths the ninth transformations of the world are walking. But one thing is certain—the ninth-transformation immortal of the Rulai Monastery is not of the true Buddhist lineage.'

She smiled faintly. 'The Buddhist Path was recorded in ancient texts as being incomplete, suppressed by the Immortal Dao itself. Those who once knew its true method to reach the ninth transformation had their memories erased.'

'Erased?'

Fang Chen and Little Immortal Honglian exchanged a look, both thinking the same thing.

'Could it be related to the Three Realms War?' Little Immortal Honglian asked.

'We aren’t from that era,' Xie Aman said. 'The records are fragmented. But yes, it seems connected. Back then, the Buddhist Path apparently allied with a foreign enemy. So, the powerhouses of all realms suppressed them together with those enemies.'

Little Immortal Honglian was stunned.

Fang Chen suddenly recalled what Wang Chongsong had once told him.

Perhaps it wasn’t that the present-day humans were the ones trying to betray the Nine Mortal Realms, but that the traitors had existed even back then.

Maybe the demons weren’t as strong as I imagined, Fang Chen thought. If the Three Realms were breached, then the details must have been complex. No wonder the Yang Gods adapted and matched them blow for blow.

Who’s a human, and who’s not?

Fang Chen fell into thought.

Just then, Xie Aman’s delighted voice broke the stillness. 'We’ve arrived! The beads really are the key! That Buddhist Kingdom Shao Guangyin searched for over a thousand years... Only through this can it be found.'