IS Chapter 87

Ye Zhuo only allowed him to hug for a short while.

After briefly succeeding in his madness in the wilderness, Ye Zhuo naturally wanted to push him away.

He pushed the man’s shoulder, pushing a few times without any movement. Pushing again, he discovered that the feeling under his hand had changed, turning into the hard, stony dragon body and scales.

What was he trying to do?

—Dragon Li Yuan wrapped himself around him, then looped from his shoulder, his dark golden vertical pupils staring at him intently.

It was as if, if he didn’t like being hugged, he would be encircled by the dragon. In any case, he wouldn’t let him go.

Ye Zhuo said, “I need to look at the Inheritance Pearl.”

With Tai Qing dead, the main sect True Man couldn’t possibly remain still. Coming to such a remote wilderness was to find a suitable place to absorb all the Inheritance Pearls before the Upper Purity main sect could catch up.

Indeed, there was important business. The Ink Dragon reluctantly loosened his body slightly, loosely coiling beside Ye Zhuo.

Under the moonlight in the mountains, the Ink Dragon’s head, with its prominent scales and horns, quietly looked down at Ye Zhuo. This scene would make one feel as if they had arrived before ancient times, in a place that was not the human world.

Ye Zhuo closed his eyes directly and began to comprehend the Inheritance Pearl, avoiding seeing it.

Suddenly, a chill ran down his neck, and a spine-tingling sensation brushed against his skin. Opening his eyes, he saw the Ink Dragon lowering his head and nuzzling the bloodstains on his body.

This dragon was too restless.

Ye Zhuo turned sideways, held Li Yuan’s head, and faced him.

Ye Zhuo: “Stay still.”

The dark golden vertical pupils slowly narrowed into a line, still watching him without blinking, as if agreeing.

Ye Zhuo closed his eyes again, and Li Yuan stayed quietly. He had clearly coiled around Ye Zhuo, but dissatisfied, he simply enlarged his body, winding like mountains and rivers, enclosing Ye Zhuo inside.

Once Ye Zhuo’s attention returned to the Inheritance Pearl, he moved, gently placing the tip of his tail in front of him.

Ye Zhuo felt Li Yuan’s movement but said nothing.

He first chose the Inheritance Spirit Pearl obtained from the Eight Treasures Reincarnation Flower. This pearl seemed to like him very much. As long as he held it in his hand, scattered points of spiritual light would float into his body, containing an indescribable Buddhist aura.

As Ye Zhuo’s consciousness sank in, the Spirit Pearl gradually blurred into a deep light, shining brightly in his hand.

Countless Buddhist insights flooded Ye Zhuo’s mind. This kind of Buddhism, unlike the inheritance from the Sumeru Upper Realm, came from the human realm of this world.

With Li Yuan by his side, no one would disturb him. Ye Zhuo completely immersed his consciousness within.

Behind the myriad Buddhist teachings, Ye Zhuo vaguely saw the figure of a monk.

The monk wore a white monk’s robe of unknown origin, his figure was thin, his face serene. Remotely, he seemed to press his palms together and bow to him.

The human realm’s Buddhism surrounded Ye Zhuo, but beyond this, he saw the monk’s figure again.

The monk had no fixed abode, always traveling on the roads of the human realm. Regardless of wind, frost, rain, or snow, he always went where there were people.

The poor, the sick, the hungry, the people displaced by war, and those plagued by demons.

He knew some medical skills, and he would treat everyone he saw. He had little food and water, but he would offer it to those who needed it.

He lectured on the scriptures, speaking of the joys, sorrows, successes, and failures, fame, and wealth, all of which were fleeting clouds that must be seen through.

He also spoke of good deeds, saying that good causes lead to good results, ultimately leading to liberation.

He also had cultivation. The human realm he walked through was one where mortal dynasties were constantly at war, the Immortal Sects each displayed their own divine powers, and demons and monsters rampaged from time to time.

To save the world, one must subdue the demons of the world.

To cultivate oneself, one must also see through the demons of the heart.

He carried compassionate Dharma and practiced asceticism in the world. This kind of Buddhism was completely different from what Ye Zhuo cultivated.

The myriad dharmas of the world are not fixed. The Buddha-dharma in the heart is like the sword-dharma in the heart, different for everyone. However, they can all mutually corroborate each other.

How can one person cultivate all the ways of the world? Some cultivate in the world, some cultivate out of the world, some cultivate merit, some cultivate extinction. Together, they form the Great Way.

In the darkness, his understanding of his own Buddhism deepened by several points.

Ye Zhuo also learned his Dharma name, which was: Bei Zhen.

The shadowy images continued to emerge. The viewer seemed to follow this monk named Bei Zhen throughout the human realm. But how could the suffering of the human realm ever end? Everywhere was hell, everywhere were cries.

Having learned the supreme Dharma, one could ultimately only save those with affinity. Bei Zhen did not speak, but simply continued to walk in this way, for many years. All his life’s enlightenment was contained within this.

Strangely, among all that Bei Zhen had learned, there were some things related to the Way of the Realms.

Ye Zhuo had no understanding of these things, so he simply observed them.

Once all the content in the Inheritance Pearl had been absorbed, an exceptionally clear picture suddenly appeared before his eyes.

In the green hills and flowing water, under a peach tree, was a chessboard.

Some people sat opposite each other at the chessboard, some sat high in the peach tree, and an old man held a fishing rod, fishing by the stream.

They all looked like immortal cultivators, but each belonged to different categories, and their attire was also colorful. Ye Zhuo saw Bei Zhen among them. He brought a futon and sat in meditation under the peach blossom tree, his eyes closed and silent.

A voice came over, it was the two people playing chess speaking.

“How can the matter of the Ghost Realm be resolved?”

“Difficult to resolve. Maintaining the status quo is not necessarily a bad thing.”

“Demons and monsters are rising together, the human realm is in turmoil, is that also ‘not necessarily a bad thing’?”

“Exorcising demons and defending the Way is the duty of our generation.”

A cold laugh interrupted, “Can exorcising demons really defend the Way? What Way do you all think still exists in this human realm?”

“Mortals firmly believe in ghosts and gods, worshiping them daily. The dynasty reveres Buddhism and emphasizes education, engaging in extravagant construction. Demons and monsters roam freely in the human world, and swindlers and deceivers emerge endlessly. Immortal sects are also intertwined and colluding with the human world, it’s all a miasma. In my opinion, the fortune of the human realm has reached its end!”

Even the old man fishing sighed, “In today’s human realm, ghostly energy is flourishing while clear energy is declining. If this continues, it will gradually die out. To be honest with you all, I once secretly went deep into the Ghost Realm to gather information. The current Ghost Emperor has controlled the Ghost Realm for many years, is deeply cunning and ambitious, and must be guarded against.”

“The Ghost Way and the Human Way, for thousands of years, have not been unable to coexist, how has it reached this point today?”

“What is a battle of Great Ways compared to the life and death of the Realm!” A clear, angry voice came, it was a woman in a blue Daoist robe, her hair bound with a feather crown.

“The Ghost Realm is strong, and the Human Realm is weak. It’s like having no weapons while your neighbors have knives and axes, how can we sit and wait for death?” she said. “Cultivating the Way of the Realm, the rise and fall of a Realm is our destiny! If we don’t do anything, we might as well open the Realm Gate and become hungry ghosts and blood food together!”

“But the Ghost Realm is strong, how can we resist it? Gather the strength of the human realm and start a war between the two realms? Wouldn’t that be another slaughter of living beings? We have no chance of winning. The Ghost Realm’s actions have recently become more and more unscrupulous, we should discuss it with them and state our position on this matter.”

The woman said, “Discuss what? Simply separate the Realms! If the Ghost Realm’s hands can’t reach the Human Realm, how can there be such troubles!”

“How to separate?”

“Find the connection between the Human Realm and the Ghost Realm, and simply cut it off, once and for all.”

“When humans and ghosts first met, they made an agreement: humans would provide incense to the Ghost Realm, and the Ghost Realm would oversee reincarnation for the Human Realm. You say cut off the two realms, wouldn’t that also cut off reincarnation in the human realm?”

“When heaven and earth first opened, did humans have reincarnation? Wasn’t it born from creation, and death returned to the blue sky? It was only a few thousand years ago that we connected with the Ghost Realm that this matter came about. In the end, it’s not some golden rule, at this point, do we still need to abide by it?”

“The world knows of the underworld and reincarnation, karmic rewards and punishments. Rashly separating the two realms, wouldn’t that be going against the will of heaven?”

“But the Way of Heaven is weakening, haven’t you all sensed it?”

The argument became more and more intense, with each side holding its own view.

Bei Zhen, who had been sitting in silence with his eyes closed, suddenly spoke.

“Reincarnation may not be real,” he said. “Souls still return to emptiness.”

Everyone looked at him in astonishment.

Bei Zhen pressed his palms together, “Incense has been obtained, blood food is also available, why bother truly setting up reincarnation for the human realm?”

“That’s right,” the woman murmured to herself, “Whom does the incense of the human realm ultimately go to? Whose bodies and flesh are ultimately fed to? What seems to be able to be maintained now is only because the Ghost Realm has not completely mastered the Human Realm, and is only temporarily feigning compliance.”

“Master Bei Zhen, how certain are you of this statement?”

“Completely.”

“If that’s the case, we must go to the Ghost Realm to investigate again.”

“Good.”

Bei Zhen closed his eyes again, and the image in the Inheritance Pearl ended here.

Ye Zhuo opened his eyes, and the aura on his body also slowly changed.

In the past few days in the Void Realm, he had continuously challenged powerful enemies, and his sword path enlightenment had long since increased. Now, with the enlightenment of Buddhism, he had also reached a new level.

He was only a hair’s breadth away from the late stage of the Tribulation Realm.

“Congratulations. What was inside?” The voice of Dragon Li Yuan came from his divine sense.

His shoulder grew heavy, and the dragon naturally rested his head on his shoulder.

Ye Zhuo: “?”

“There was a Buddhist inheritance, as well as the beginning and end of the separation of the human and ghost realms,” Ye Zhuo said. “I saw images from more than a thousand years ago, of some ancient predecessors who cultivated the Way of the Realm arguing about the affairs of the Ghost Realm.”

Listening to their arguments, the human and ghost realms had reached a point where they had to be separated, otherwise, they would be devoured by the Ghost Realm, and in the end, the entire realm would become a blood food dependency.

Ye Zhuo lowered his head and looked at the place where the Inheritance Pearl had originally been in his hand.

Li Yuan’s head was still resting on Ye Zhuo’s shoulder, also looking down. His dragon form had been adjusted several times, and now it was just the right size.

The Inheritance Pearl had been completely absorbed, and the last bit of spiritual light had completely dissipated and merged into Ye Zhuo’s body.

As the last trace of spiritual light disappeared, a beam of white light suddenly lit up in the distance, piercing through the sky and the earth. Looking over, it was actually in the direction of Du Mountain—the place where he and Sect Leader Lin had picked the Eight Treasures Reincarnation Flower and obtained this Inheritance Spirit Pearl.

That place had an extremely vast and mysterious great formation, growing four different beasts of fortune, wealth, longevity, and happiness. Whenever a beast transformed, some imperceptible shifts would occur in the great formation. This time, the formation was even larger, as if it had been completely activated.

Was the condition for completely activating the great formation to completely absorb the Inheritance Pearl in the formation?

The light showed no signs of dying down. With such a big commotion, it would definitely be noticed by others.

“The current Ghost Emperor,” Ye Zhuo said, “what kind of ghost is he?”

Li Yuan thought for a moment, “He’s a so-so ghost.”

Dragon Li Yuan was a dragon with high standards. His “so-so” didn’t really have any reference value.

Ye Zhuo: “What’s his temperament like?”

Li Yuan thought for a moment.

“Frivolous and cunning,” he said. “He also uses a sword, but his swordsmanship is not as good as mine.”

That was a useful statement. Ye Zhuo said, “I need to look at the other one.”

Li Yuan gladly said, “Good, I’ll watch over you.”

Unlike the first Spirit Pearl, which was already close to him, the second Spirit Pearl did not actively approach Ye Zhuo, nor did it release its aura to him.

It even vaguely showed signs of rejection.

Ye Zhuo’s mind probed into it, and the first thing he saw was an overwhelming mass of dense Daoist words and language.

“…”

This kind of thing was indeed more suitable for Wei Sheng Xian to read.