Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
âI guess Iâm finally dead.â This was the first idea that occurred to Jiang Chen when he woke up. When he realized he was still alive, he complained involuntarily, âWhy am I not dead?!â
âSon, what silly things are you talking about?â A gentle female voice could be heard. Jiang Chen opened his eyes, unable to believe it. A pretty woman was sitting beside him, looking at him in a loving manner.
âMother?â Jiang Chen looked around. He found he was lying in his old room in the Hundred Thousand Mountains.
Holding a wet towel, his mother, Gao Yue, looked very tired. She looked as if she had not gotten any sleep for a long, long time.
âMother, what is going on?â Jiang Chen was dumbfounded. He was starting to believe that natural law did exist and he was just a toy twisted around someoneâs finger. He suddenly slapped himself heavily to confirm whether this was true or false.
âSon, what are you doing?!â It gave Gao Yue a scare. Thinking something serious must have happened to Jiang Chen in the outside world, she said, âDonât behave like this, son. No matter what happens, I will be here with you. Did you get treated badly in the outside world?â
âMother! I...how come Iâm here?â
âI donât know.â Shaking her head, Gao Yue also looked surprised. She said, âSix months ago, I felt very disturbed. I was worried about you and your father, so I kept praying for you.â
âSix months ago?â Jiang Chen was shocked, since he did not feel that much time had passed.
âOne night, you fell from the sky onto your cousinâs bed completely naked. She was screaming with fear.â Gao Yue stopped, involuntarily showing a smile. This was too much information. Jiang Chen could not digest it all immediately.
âMother, where is the mirror in my room?â Jiang Chen was really very observant. He could immediately notice that there was something wrong.
Gao Yue looked worried and hesitated. âSon, stay calm.â Gao Yue knew how clever her son was. It was impossible to lie to him, so she had to warn him first. She had her personal maid carry a mirror into the room.
âWhatâs going on?â Standing in front of the mirror, Jiang Chen was speechless. He did not know what to say.
Covering her mouth, the maid was secretly smiling.
Jiang Chen thought he would see an old man in the mirror. However, it turned out he was much younger. He was about 14 or 15 years old and much shorter.
âJiang Chen, this is the influence of the genuine blood of the celestial phoenix,â Gao Yue said. The genuine blood of the celestial phoenix would give him a new life more than once. As long as the essence blood in his body was extremely pure, he would be able to get a new life. After each rebirth, he would get younger.
âI donât remember working on the essence blood,â Jiang Chen said.
âItâs really weird. Itâs normally very hard to achieve. However, you achieved it more than once. Son, what happened to you out there?â
Shaking his head, Jiang Chen was confused. However, he was sure the current world he was in was real! As to the Sacred Zone, he was afraid that was a dream.
âJiang Chen, did you hear anything about your father?â
The question made Jiang Chen quite emotional. He felt sad. Compared to the beautiful false appearances, reality was much crueler.
âFather destroyed the Sacred Martial Arts Institute. In this way, he avenged Taoist Priest Skywind, but he also became a target because of this. He had to go to the Three Middle Realms in the end,â Jiang Chen said.
âYes?â Gao Yue was still worried.
âDonât worry. Iâll bring father back,â Jiang Chen said.
âNow you are comforting me again. Take it easy. Your mother isnât so fragile. But you, if it were not for the genuine blood, I would have lost you forever.â
Jiang Chen lowered his head, feeling guilty.
âDonât overthink. Take a good rest.â Gao Yue also knew she had said something inappropriate, so she stopped talking about this.
Jiang Chen did need some time alone to figure out what had happened. He had exclaimed about how real the dream had been in the Sacred Zone. In the same way, he also felt that what had happened there had been extremely real.
âBy the way, son, your swords and your scripture are here.â Before leaving, Gao Yue took out the last three things Jiang Chen still possessed. The two swords and the scripture had appeared with him, because all of them had recognized him as their master. Since the Divine Fire Ring did not belong to him completely, he was not able to bring it over.
âJiang Chen.â
Azure Demon had witnessed his rebirth. Quite thrilled, he said, âThat Flame Emperor didnât believe you would survive, but I never doubted it.â Azure Demonâs words reminded Jiang Chen of the fact that he had been possessed by the devil, but he did not have many feelings about it. Then, at the thought of Nangong Xueâs death, he felt so heartbroken that he could not even breathe. Fortunately, all of his hatred and anger had been vented. He would not be possessed by the devil again. It was even fair to say he had entered a brand-new era.
âPast, present, and future.â
Thinking about what had happened in the Sacred Zone, Jiang Chen suddenly became enlightened. He gave off a strong Buddhaâs light. Along with that, numerous lotuses appeared. The Eight Groups of Spiritual Beings were bathing in the Buddhaâs light. Azure Demon and the black dragon were very pious. The scripture was greatly strengthened.
Jiang Chenâs attainments in Buddhism were getting greater and greater.
âBuddhism practices pay attention to the future life.â
He vaguely felt like the 500 years he had passed in the Sacred Zone and the Realm of Nine Heavens had been a plot against him.
âTaoism leads to oneâs conscience.â
The Buddhaâs light and the lotuses transformed again. Jiang Chen turned to the sun and the moon and rose into the air.
âBuddhism is the heart. Taoism is the bone. Confucianism is the surface.â
Jiang Chen entered a mysterious state. Possessed by the devil, death, rebirth, this life, the past. All his experiences turned into an endless energy that kept flowing throughout his body. Jiang Chen opened his eyes slowly after a long time.
âNo matter what kind of mystery occurred 500 years ago, Iâll discover it on my own.â
As soon as he finished speaking, the same vision appeared in the Nine Realms at the same time. Strong people from all realms were shocked, but no one knew the reason why.
Jiang Chen did not know he had caused such a great disturbance either.
He had believed Xiao Nuo had lied to him during all these years. It was her who had attacked him with the Sai. However, now, it did not seem so simple to him. There was an invisible hand manipulating everything.
âIf you can gather all of the eight groups of beings, the scripture will be endowed with a dreadful power,â Azure Demon said excitedly.
Their original plan was to find an eminent monk to enhance the Buddhaâs power of the scripture, but, to their surprise, Jiang Chen had achieved more than they had expected. In Azure Demonâs opinion, Jiang Chen did not look like a Buddhism practitioner. However, now that he had taken a good look at Jiang Chen, the latter did have the look of a Buddhism practitioner.
âJiang Chen, what is going on with your state?â Suddenly, Azure Demon shouted from surprise because he had discovered something.
Jiang Chen had discovered it too. He wore an extremely confused look on his face. âI wonât work on it specifically. Iâll leave it to destiny.â However, he was not disturbed by it any time soon. He did not think it was a big problem. It would be fine even if he lost everything; not to mention the current situation. Most important, he was not sure yet whether all this was 100 percent true.
âAzure Demon, how long has passed?â Jiang Chen asked.
âAlmost a year. It took the two swords and me half a year to travel through various realms. And you were in a coma for another six months Thatâs why your mother thinks only six months have passed.â
âIt has been that long?â Jiang Chen was surprised. It should not have taken him so long if it was only a rebirth.