Chapter 910: The Silent, Pondering Lin Feng
Translator: Sparrow Translations Editor: Sparrow Translations
The harvest that came most intuitively to mind was his numerous sariras.
Back when the Great Thunderclap Temple was destroyed, a large number of sariras fell into the hands of the Great Zhou Empire while several sariras got dispersed to other areas, and the Golden Cicada Master had collected a considerable portion of those.
The Golden Cicada Master naturally could not use those sariras as ingredients to craft treasures with ease like Liang Pan or Zhu Hongwu, but the sariras in his possession were still properly preserved. If Lin Feng paid closer attention, he might even have sensed the incense remnants.
This time round however, the Golden Cicada Master only deployed them to establish his battle formations but Lin Feng rounded all of them up and collected everything that he had.
Previously during the scuffle for the Three Mountains of the Ying Sea, Zhu Yi had gathered a batch of sariras from the Monk Da Kong. After he delivered them back to the Great Thunderclap Temple and replanted them in the soil, Lin Feng received a kasaya from the System. This kasaya was not a magic treasure but nonetheless possessed certain defensive properties, its greatest use being to spread the values of Buddhism and guide people into meditation to comprehend its practices.
Lin Feng originally intended to give the kasaya to the Virtuous Zen Master but he persistently declined. According to its description, this kasaya can protect and nurture any sariras that Lin Feng finds in the future.
Lin Feng was not actively searching for sariras and just brought the kasaya along. Now that he found some coincidentally, he quickly took out his kasaya and gathered the sariras securely. Following that, he refocused his attention on the secret spell ceremony that the Golden Cicada Master held previously.
Lin Feng interrupted the ceremony right before the verge of completion. While it failed to reach its maximum power, the information he gained up till now was already substantially rewarding. Multiple images flashed through his mind which coincided with what Lin Feng thought about previously. He nodded in succession, "This means that the direction of my previous guesses was spot-on. I just never would have imagined that things would actually turn out this way."
Lin Feng recalled the images that went through his mind. He could vaguely make out a figure amidst the dark void, but it was extremely wispy and completely unidentifiable. The dark void itself was dead silent, concealing a dreadful terror, akin to a place off the edge of the world where nothing returns from.
Lin Feng has already witnessed this scene once through the golden bowl and the former memories of the Marquis of Jinghuan. This eerily silent abyss of darkness was the Death Sea - the most mysterious of the Grand Celestial Seven Seas.
The figure floating on the Death Sea was more arcane than the shadow of the Buddha earlier. Needless to say, that figure was most likely the Founding Grandmaster of the Great Void Sect - the person who plunged into the Death Sea with the Buddha, the Great Void Holy Man.
Lin Feng gazed quietly at the drifting figure and noticed a round mirror surfacing beside it.
The Supreme Heavenly Mirror was still in the Divine Lands, hence this was obviously not the same mirror. If Lin Feng's prediction is correct, this would probably be the Great Void Holy Man's earliest portable treasure - the Supreme Yin Yang Mirror.
This treasure was not created from a Magic Treasure Embryo, but was instead developed step-by-step from a magic treasure in the Gestation Realm. Back then, it was already very close to achieving the Destiny Realm. Until today, many still believe that this treasure is the one closest to achieving the Destiny Realm among all the late-developing magic treasures.
However, with the subsequent emergence of the Supreme Heavenly Mirror, most of the Great Void Holy Man and the Great Void Sect's energy and resources were poured into the Supreme Heavenly Mirror, hence interrupting the Supreme Yin Yang Mirror's development.
Following that, the Great Void Holy Man plunged into the Death Sea and brought this magic treasure along, otherwise it might actually achieve the Destiny Stage if he continued to leave it behind at the Great Void Sect for too long without it experiencing much adversity.
In the dark void, the supposed Supreme Yin Yang Mirror floating beside the wispy figure suddenly shattered, morphing in streams of light and disappearing. But under the mana veils of the blurry figure, the rays of light did not extinguish into the Death Sea but instead seemed to be struggling to break free from the Death Sea.
Upon witnessing this sight, Lin Feng dawned upon a realization. "He's indeed doing what the Buddha did, leaving behind clues regarding the Death Sea for future generations. But with how mysterious and unpredictable the Death Sea is, these clues are merely insignificant bits of the whole picture."
Lin Feng thought to himself, "There are many things that the Golden Cicada Master already knows. The golden bowl of Buddhism is in his possession, and he has picked up the clues left by the Great Void Sect. He definitely occupied himself thoroughly having lived from the Primordial Age until now. He most certainly knows about the Great Void Sect's Supreme Yin Yang Mirror, it's just a matter of how much information he actually gained."
Lin Feng turned his gaze towards Zhou Yuncong, who was still cradled in the veil formed from Yang Qing's Grand Moon Primordial Water. He shook his head and chuckled, "Interesting, this is really interesting."
As he mulled over this, a shadow flashed past his eyes. The Crimson Gorilla Grand Sage reappeared before him, but this was merely his Demonic Soul's Shadow Projection. His actual being was not present. With the Golden Cicada Master causing a total upheaval with the Nine Netherworld Ten-sided Dual Garbhadhātu, the entire Immemorial Ape Demon Tribe has been considerably shamed. The Crimson Gorilla Grand Master would definitely have to hold his reign over the main peak of Mount Lingyuan to prevent the Golden Cicada Master from exploiting any openings. When such unexpected situations arise, even the Heavenly Demon Ape Tribe that stands guard over Mount Lingyuan's main peak cannot argue against having the Crimson Gorilla Grand Sage as the temporary ruler of the mountain. Everything else can wait until the Heavenly Grandmaster Grand Sage returns.
The Crimson Gorilla Grand Sage naturally could not work directly with Lin Feng to capture the Golden Cicada Master, but he nonetheless projected his Demonic Soul as an avatar here, which was certainly an intriguing move.
With all hell breaking loose, the Heavenly Grandmaster Grand Sage could very well return to Mount Lingyuan earlier. On the other hand, the Crimson Gorilla Grand Sage's thirst for the Golden Cicada Master's blood was no longer representative of his Crimson Gorilla Ape Demon Tribe alone, but has instead expanded to an issue that impacts the whole of the Immemorial Ape Demon Tribe.
The Crimson Gorilla Grand Sage's split avatar greeted Lin Feng by joining his hands. "Please pardon me, Sect Master."
Lin Feng was not bothered at all. "No worries. Do whatever you want."
He quickly took out his golden bowl again and prepared to continue his search for the Golden Cicada Master. But before he summoned his spell, Lin Feng suddenly noticed something and turned around, gazing far into the horizon. A magnificent and mysterious ray of light shot across the sky in a graceful arc and instantly landed in front of him after traversing a seemingly endless void.
Strangely enough, a monkey appeared before Lin Feng's eyes. The monkey was not large, standing upright at around Lin Feng's height, and he looked exactly like any other wild monkey roaming the hills and forests except for his incredibly bright pair of eyes.
Yet, he did not exude any form of dominance, leading Wang Lin and the rest to raise their eyebrows in confusion. The Crimson Gorilla Grand Sage began sizing up this monkey uneasily.
After the Monkey steadied himself, he scanned his surroundings briefly before landing his gaze on Lin Feng. He smiled, exposing his fangs. "Are you the Leader of the Celestial Sect of Wonders?"
Lin Feng observed the Monkey curiously. Even though the Monkey did not emanate much demonic energy, he still emitted a fairly strange aura. Lin Feng had not had this feeling ever since he returned to the void - not against the Swordmaster Tiangang, the Saintly Celestial Sword, the Great Mount Shu Formation, the Crimson Gorilla Grand Sage, nor the Azure Sky Dragon King.
He did not even sense such a confounding aura when he faced the Golden Cicada Master. If Lin Feng had to name one occasion, the Supreme Heavenly Mirror shooting across the sky did give him a similar sensation. It felt clearer and stronger back then but it vanished in an instant without any lingering effects.
But as he stared at the Monkey up close, Lin Feng suddenly felt that particular sensation tugging at his heart again, as if activating a warning alarm in his heart.
Lin Feng's interest was piqued. He nodded, "Indeed I am."
Upon hearing this, the Monkey immediately cracked a wide grin. "That's great. I have no qualms about your feud with the Golden Cicada Master, but my junior is in your custody. Let him go at once."
Lin Feng appeared puzzled for just an instant, but that expression quickly faded without anyone noticing. He could easily infer that the Monkey was referring to the Nine Infants Grand Sage, but ...
Lin Feng sized the Monkey up, but then remembered the Dharma Avatar created by the Nine Infants Grand Sage, the fleeing Fengxi Grand Sage, and the Golden Cicada Master, which rendered him temporarily speechless.
As his mastery level increased day by day and his status climbed higher and higher, Lin Feng had not experienced such a feeling for a very long time. But at this moment, he was indeed overwhelmed by an impulse to just stare blankly at the sky. "Could this be the day that I too received a wrong script?"
Lin Feng glanced at the Monkey and said gravely, "Wukong, you're being mischievous again."
"Huh?" The Monkey was taken aback and stared at Lin Feng in confusion. "What do you even mean?"
Lin Feng broke into laughter and shook his head, then looked at the Monkey again. "Your junior may be abiding by the Golden Cicada Master's orders, but it's only a matter of his loyalty and allegiance. He did not provoke me intentionally, so I never wanted to claim his life anyway. But you barge in here with such audacity, barking and demanding me to let him go. Who do you think you're trying to command?"
The Monkey nodded and cracked a smile on his hairy face. "Barking? What a joke. Even if you do let my junior go, I'll still want to battle you to see just how good you are."
With his voice still trailing off, the Monkey already charged towards Lin Feng in a flash! In that instant, his power surged violently as demonic energy charged up into the heavens, leading Lin Feng to cast a sidelong glance at him. This Monkey was a great demon that has completed the entire Cardinal Tribulations and achieved the Vipralopa Stage! And judging from his Abhijina, his combat abilities should be extremely formidable. Even Lin Feng felt slightly odd, wondering how the Golden Cicada Master managed to tame this Monkey to be his disciple.
"Could it actually be the Golden Hoop Incantation?" Lin Feng asked himself teasingly.
Despite his pondering, Lin Feng was definitely not slow in reacting to his assailant's attack. His palms were as sharp as swords and as he sliced them outwards at the void, he activated the Fences of the Heavens and formed a shapeless barricade that blocked the Monkey's Path.
He did not expect the Monkey to continue his advance, charging through the void straight for the spatial barricade. But in this process, his body abruptly transformed - not turning bigger or smaller, nor exposing his true form, but instead rapidly evolving into a dragon!
He had the head of an ox, antlers of a deer, eyes of a prawn, ears of an elephant, neck of a snake, talons of a phoenix, and the paws of a tiger. It exuded the true majesty of any dragon except for its lack of dragon scales. It was a virtually transparent White Jade Dragon.
Its enormous body danced around as if alternating between dual realms in the void, mystifying and allusive.
Borrowing the terrifying innate Abhijina from a tribe as powerful as the White Jade Dragons, the Monkey transformed himself into one and penetrated straight through the spatial barrier formed by Lin Feng's Fences of the Heavens.
Once he crossed the barrier, the White Jade Dragon disappeared momentarily but reappeared as his original monkey form and continued charging towards Lin Feng.
Everyone onsite was flabbergasted while the Crimson Gorilla Grand Sage's jaw almost dropped. "The Ten ... Ten Thousand Mantra Ape?!"
Lin Feng's eyes lit up and yelled almost simultaneously with the Crimson Gorilla Grand Sage. "So he's the Ten Thousand Mantra Ape?"