Translator: Sparrow Translations  Editor: Sparrow Translations

Atop Mount Yujing, Lin Feng managed to imprison the strand of mana from the Vairocana Pristine Cleansing Fire. He laughed a little inside as he thought to himself, "I guess I have to thank you for the gift. Buy one get one free it seems – besides the Heavenly Apocalyptic Blaze, you have gifted me with the Vairocana Zen Palm Fist Print."

However, Lin Feng was slightly taken aback after sweeping it with his consciousness. "The Mahakasyapa Print, the Ananda Print and the Subhuti Print… What’s all this nonsense?"

Even though he had never come across the Vairocana Zen Palm Fist Print, this form of martial way and abhijna had a stunning reputation and shook the Earth with its power and everybody knew of it.

The Ten Forms of the Vairocana Zen Palm Fist Print had been lost ever since, but its reputation was known by all.

The ten different mana prints were: the Original Print, the Cakkavala Print, the Infinite Print, the Formless Print, the Bodhi Print, the Maha Print, the Akhanistha Print, the Intelligent Fist Print, the Dhyana-Mudra Print and the Vajra-Freedom Print.

The Maha Print and the Bodhi Print were called such, but they were not simplified names for the Mahakasyapa Print or the Subhuti Print.

"Speaking of the Mahakasyapa and the Subhuti…" Lin Feng contemplated. "In accordance to Buddhist teachings and archives, it seems as if they are amongst the ten great disciples of Buddha. Ananda should be among their ranks as well."

Since the beginning to history and the immemorial eras and over the course of history, Buddha descended upon the earth and began to spread his teachings and established the Buddhist Sect.

The people that listened to Buddha’s teachings were uncountable. Of this bunch, the ten most outstanding individuals were collectively referred to as the ten great disciples of Buddha.

The ten great disciples discussed and mulled over the great meanings of the Buddhist dharmas together and contemplated the meaning of carefreeness and loneliness, the empty spirit, the window to the truth about the self as well as the concept of ineffectuality of everyone on each other. These ten individuals were Mahakasyapa, Maudgalyayana, Purna, Sariputra, Rahula, Upali, Aniruddha, Katyayana, Ananda and Subhuti.

The Buddha only had to be in the heart. Anybody with Buddha within his or her heart could go to nirvana. Therefore, the Great Thunderclap Temple of old did not erect any statues of Buddha himself, but rather erected golden statues of these ten great disciples.

Four thousand years ago, the Royal Hades Region flattened half of the Great Thunderclap Temple, ad this led to some of the original statues of the ten great disciples to go missing.

During the war between the two worlds, the Great Thunderclap Temple sustained painful losses besides the ten authentic golden statues. If not for this, the Anti-Buddha Alliance may not have had such ease in eliminating the Great Thunderclap Temple during the War of Buddha Annihilation.

Lin Feng mulled over the three Vairocana Zen Palm Fist Prints that he obtained from the middle-aged monk. He began to connect the dots in his mind. "So this is the case. They didn’t obtain the authentic Vairocana Sutra outline, so they didn’t learn the Vairocana Zen Palm."

"This is perhaps the outcome of him roaming the world to search for the missing Ananda, Subhuti and Mahakasyapa statues, and subsequently pondering over the Buddhist dharmas hidden within and procured these three forms of the mana prints by himself."

Lin Feng carefully studied and even connected with the prints’ concepts of power on

a deeper level. "Real and fake at the same time. Still, it is of authentic descent – one could say this is the new Vairocana Zen Palm, and one could also say this if the fake Vairocana Zen Palm."

Even so, when Lin Feng compared his Vairocana Sutra – that was simply missing the outline – and the prints that he obtained, he could still affirm that these three prints that were derived from the three disciples’ golden statues were still inferior in power to the original and true Vairocana Zen Palm.

"No matter what, this person relied on himself to derive all this abhijnas without losing the true wisdom and essence of the original Vairocana Sutra – it’s still worthy of praise."

What Lin Feng was interested in now was whether he could derive the real and authentic Vairocana Zen Palm from the three prints that he obtained.

"I’ll consult the library later." Lin Feng smiled and s.h.i.+fted his gaze elsewhere. Over there, Hu Yanyan was still cultivating in silence in her original form and was unaware of what had just transpired.

At this point, the voice-projecting crystal that Lin Feng grabbed in his palm began to react. The source was the leader of the Heavenly Fox Tribe of the Barren Expanses, the Nine-Tailed Heavenly Fox Grand Sage.

Lin Feng accepted the message and a normal and dull voice rang out. "Master Lin, it’s my fault for what happened. I have come to apologize."

"My daughter Yanyan has no idea. I hope Master Lin will bestow magnanimity and forgiveness upon her. I will personally forge an Ancient Skin of the Original Oyster as compensation – do accept my gift."

The Heavenly Fox Grand Sage was indeed direct. The moment she opened her mouth she humbled her tone and directly offered compensation and asked for forgiveness.

The Ancient Skin of the Original Oyster that she spoke of could not be made from typical oyster demons. It had to be the remains of a demon which had already attained the Undying Demonic Soul.

Both oysters and foxes were demon tribes adept at illusory mantras and the like. The Ancient Skin that was originally of the Undying Demonic Soul Stage from the oyster demon, after refining by the Heavenly Fox Grand Sage herself, was definitely something extraordinary and would embody the most profound ideas and concepts of illusions and transformation.

Hu Yanyan had already a.s.similated the Heavenly Apocalyptic Blaze, and was bound to ascend to the Undying Demonic Soul. With the Heavenly Apocalyptic Blaze in hand, her prowess would be even greater than normal with immense potential.

A disciple such as her was worth the Heavenly Fox Grand Sage making such a sacrifice to guarantee her safe return in exchange.

Lin Feng did not answer the Heavenly Fox Grand Sage, but asked another question instead. "Who’s that monk?"

The Heavenly Fox Grand Sage pondered for a while before she answered. "I do not know. That day, a young-looking monk came up Mount Qingqiu, and my Mountain Defense Illusory Formation was like nothing to him and he came up in front of me."

"This person’s background is a mystery. He originated from demon tribes but he has managed to master the authentic Buddhist mantras from the Great Thunderclap Temple. I couldn’t tell the limit of his power, but he was definitely stronger than me – there’s no question."

Lin Feng’s brows furrowed a little. "Oh? A young monk?"

The Heavenly Fox Grand Sage said, "That is correct. His human form is only a youth that’s slightly over ten years old."

"It seems as if the middle-aged monk that I saw just now wasn’t his original being but simply an avatar." Lin Feng contemplated to himself. "Buddhist cultivators have very acute senses and are big on seeing the true self, and go far enough to claim that they’re the counters to Fox-type illusory spells. There is nothing surprising that he just strolled up Mount Qingqiu."

"After we met, this person offered the Heavenly Apocalyptic Blaze in exchange for my daughter, Hu Yanyan, to help him execute a plan." The Heavenly Fox Grand Sage came clean. "I got greedy so I agreed right away. However, Hu Yanyan has no idea, please do forgive her."

The corner of Lin Feng’s mouth seemed to curl into an undetectable smile as he said plainly, "I will not seek trouble with your daughter. However, if you think that’s the end of the story, you’re wrong. It’s not going to be so easy. The fact that you, the Heavenly Fox Grand Sage, collaborated with others to play me for a fool is a debt that cannot so simply be settled by the Ancient Skin of the Original Oyster."

The Heavenly Fox Grand Sage said quietly, "What do you need, Master Lin? Just say the word."

Lin Feng replied calmly, "If you have time, do visit Mount Yujing."

The Heavenly Fox Grand Sage was quick. After obtaining Lin Feng’s permission, she came up Mount Yujing and met up with Lin Feng inside the main hall of the Celestial Sect of Wonders – the Grand Celestial Hall.

She transformed into human form. She looked like a middle-aged woman with an extremely typical look, but gave others a feeling of warmth and amiability. While her features were plain and typical, they still seemed to exhibit a certain beauty and were pleasing to the eyes. The more one looked at her, the more they would feel she was not so normal after all.

However, Lin Feng was well aware that this was an illusion of the Heavenly Fox Grand Sage and it was not the original human form that she would naturally transform into. Still, that was unimportant.

Lin Feng said something to her and the Heavenly Fox Grand Sage in front of him immediately entered into a state of contemplation.

There was dead silence in the hall. Lin Feng said upon the main seat with a calm and unworried expression and quietly waited for the Heavenly For Grand Sage’s response.

After a long while, the Heavenly Fox Grand Sage opened her mouth and said, "Master Lin, I agree to your request."

Lin Feng smiled and said, "If that’s the case, then please bring your daughter back with you."

The Heavenly Fox Grand Sage heaved a heavy sigh and brought the slightly dumbfounded Hu Yanyan along as they left the mountain.

Hu Yanyan scanned her surroundings and figured that there was n.o.body at the summit of the mountain. Her gaze turned to the clouds in the sky as well as the blazing mountain stones, and layers complicated emotions began to stir within her heart.

Lin Feng watched the two of them leave and chuckled softly. "b.a.s.t.a.r.d monk – you think you can just get away with this by leaving this few things?"

"This is but round one. Our game has just begun."

This issue regarding Hu Yanyan did not stir up any commotion within Mount Yujing, until Tun Tun sneaked up to Hu Yanyan’s stone room looking for trouble did she realize that the fire fox had already departed Mount Yujing.

What needed to be arranged had been settled and Lin Feng was not afraid of the Heavenly Fox Grand Sage going back on her words. Once the two of them left Mount Yujing, Lin Feng no longer paid attention to the issue and s.h.i.+fted his focus back to refining his own magical item and began to contemplate about his own mantras.

Time flew by. Mount Yujing was the same as always – s.h.i.+ Tianhao was still shut-in and in the midst of cultivation while Yue Hongyan and Yang Qing were putting in effort on their ends. The whole batch of disciples from the second generation were also working hard.

Xiao Yan brought Lin Tong, along with the two phoenixes at the Grand Sage level, and returned to Mount Yujing.

One of them was the previously acquainted Fei Hua, and the other was in the second level of the Undying Demon Soul, also known as the Original True Spirit stage.

However, much like Fei Hua, he treated Lin Feng with respect. On one hand, it was respect for Lin Feng’s battle prowess. On the other, however, it was more because he needed Lin Feng’s help to persuade and permit Lin Tong to go to the Barren Expanses.

After they thanked Lin Feng again, the two phoenixes extended a cordial invitation to the Parasol Tree Forest as a guest.

Lin Feng laughed and accepted the invitation, and ended up idly chatting with the two of them.

Lin Feng did not inquire about the many happenings amongst the Marquis of Jinghuan, the Phoenix tribe, the Great Zhou Empire and the Great Void Sect.

Fei Hua and her partner did not dally any longer and very quickly took her leave. Xiao Yan was responsible for sending off their guests on Lin Feng’s behalf.

After the two phoenixes left, Lin Feng laughed as he patted Lin Tong. The little kid was all over Lin Feng and was unwilling to get down. "Okay, you can come down now, Lin Tong."

Lin Tong exclaimed in defiance. "No, no, I miss my grandfather!"

Lin Feng could feel the s.h.i.+fts in spiritual energy in her body as he carried Lin Tong. It was indeed denser and more agile than before.

It was like that Fei Hua and the others said previously. When the ritual was healing up the Parasol tree King, Lin Tong also benefited greatly.

When Xiao Yan returned from sending off their guests, he watched Lin Tong as she hung onto Lin Feng like a little koala and was intensely amused.

Lin Feng glanced at him and looked at Lin Tong in his arms and laughed. "Lin Tong, look over there – someone’s getting jealous."

Lin Tong blinked a few times and turned around to look at Xiao Yan. She sucked on her thumb and hesitated for a moment before she said, "Then… Then I will find you later." Then she rolled off Lin Feng’s body and ‘pounced’ at Xiao Yan.

"Father!"

"How many times have I said it before, it’s G.o.dfather." Xiao Yan was originally feeling extremely amused at the sight but could feel a headache coming on all of a sudden. Still, he was afraid of revealing this fact in front of Lin Tong and picked up the little girl. He glanced at Lin Feng with a look of exasperation and helplessness and whispered, "Master, you can’t keep doing that."

Lin Feng casually smiled in response before asking Xiao Yan another question. "How’s the harvest from this journey?"