Chapter 74

Qianfo Smoke and Dust!

The four huge characters made Fang Ling's eyes narrow slightly.

He carefully examined the mountain peak, which was over a hundred feet tall, and a sense of anticipation rose in his heart.

Fang Ling had studied the map of his journey quite a bit. This level of spatial disturbance was no obstacle to him. Perhaps this time, he would obtain another Qianfo Smoke and Dust Map!

Following the direction indicated on the map, Fang Ling stepped up the mountain. The surroundings were peaceful, with lush vegetation and the occasional chirping of insects, giving a sense of seclusion.

In just half an hour, Fang Ling had covered half the distance.

The reason for his slow pace was that he frequently collected useful herbs along the way and placed them in his small cosmos bag.

"Jinluo Fruit"

When Fang Ling reached a small platform, he saw it was covered with Jinluo Fruits, numbering about three or four hundred.

Recalling his battle with Zuo Daoming for the Jinluo Fruit, Fang Ling couldn't help but touch his nose.

Now, the Nine-Transcendence Dao Pill was of no use to Fang Ling, but this did not diminish its value. Many people were stuck at the Seventh Level of Qi Cultivation for their entire lives. A pill that could make them cultivators might make them fight to the death for it.

Fang Ling didn't hesitate, and with a wave of his hand, he collected all the Jinluo Fruits into his small cosmos bag.

"Hmm"

Just as Fang Ling was about to leave, his gaze fell on the mountain wall behind the Jinluo Fruits.

The wall was covered with green grass, but faintly, Fang Ling felt that the grass resembled carvings.

He hesitated for a moment before walking over.

With a wave of his sleeve, the invisible inner energy cleared away the grass, revealing a statue of a Buddha to Fang Ling.

However, the lines of the statue's arms and legs were no longer clear. If it weren't for Fang Ling's preconceived notion, he wouldn't have recognized it as a Buddha statue.

The marks of time had made the Buddha's face unrecognizable. Looking at the statue, Fang Ling felt a sense of sorrow.

What connection did he have with his previous life in this world?

He remembered when he first came to Qianfo Mountain, the sculptures were vivid and lifelike, but now everything seemed to have undergone the vicissitudes of time...

However, Fang Ling instantly expelled this feeling from his mind. After the trials of the Immortal Seeking Path, his mental fortitude was far superior to that of ordinary cultivators.

After giving the statue one last look, he continued forward without looking back or lingering!

The path of seeking the Dao was fraught with danger, and all he could do was rely on his inner self and keep moving forward!

Along the way, Fang Ling continuously wiped the dust off the broken statues. He had no particular thoughts, just a sense of duty.

A platform covering a hundred acres appeared before Fang Ling. The area around the platform was filled with various spatial rifts.

After this journey, Fang Ling understood why the five major sects chose Qianfo Mountain as the place to select their true disciples.

Compared to Jingyang Ridge and the Western Suburban Zoo, the spatial instability of Qianfo Mountain was even greater, with the spatial rifts being more densely packed.

If it weren't for the map, Fang Ling had no doubt he would have perished on this mountain before reaching halfway.

Qianfo Temple was no more, not even a speck of dust remained. The ground was cluttered with various weeds and herbs. Fang Ling rested on the platform for a while and collected a large amount of herbs.

However, while the herbs were old, truly precious spiritual herbs were few.

The oldest spiritual herb Fang Ling found was a ginseng root that was about a hundred years old. However, when he dug it up, the ginseng was already withering.

Examining the ginseng, Fang Ling understood why no one had come here for so long, despite the herbs being relatively young.

It wasn't that they didn't want to grow older, but in the cycle of prosperity and decline, they couldn't survive beyond a hundred years.

As for the reason, Fang Ling couldn't find it.

Passing through the ruins of Qianfo Temple, Fang Ling continued forward. After walking a few hundred steps, a blood mark appeared on his face.

He had dodged quickly, but a spatial rift had still cut his face.

The spatial rifts gave him no time to dodge, but fortunately, it only grazed his skin.

Just a little more...

This made Fang Ling walk even more cautiously and slowly...

What was that? Fang Ling turned his head and saw a skeleton lying about ten feet away. The skeleton was wearing a green Daoist robe, but the body had long since turned to bones.

From the appearance of the skeleton, the person had died in a spatial rift. There should be many spatial rifts around it.

Fang Ling wanted to leave, but the small cosmos bag on the skeleton's body tempted him. After a moment's hesitation, Fang Ling suddenly took out a long spear from his small cosmos bag and extended it toward the skeleton.

The spear was seven feet long, and with Fang Ling's arm, it was enough to reach the small cosmos bag on the skeleton.

When the spear was halfway extended, Fang Ling felt a lightness in his hand. The spear, made of fine steel, had silently broken in half in the air.

Spatial rift!

Fang Ling's eyes narrowed, and he took out a large saber from his pocket. The saber, including the handle, was no less effective than the spear.

However, when he raised the saber three inches and extended it, it was also silently cut in half.

After a quarter of an hour, a pile of broken spear and saber shafts had accumulated on the ground where Fang Ling stood, but the skeleton still lay there.

Fang Ling's face darkened. He now had only one spear left. If this attempt failed, he would have no more shafts to use.

Three feet, two feet, one foot...

As the spear was about to reach the skeleton, Fang Ling's heart raced, but his hand became steadier.

Just as the spear tip was about to touch the small cosmos bag, it was silently cut in half.

Looking at the broken spear, Fang Ling felt a bitter taste in his heart. He had struggled for so long, only to fall short at the last moment!

Forget it, if he couldn't get it, he wouldn't. Fang Ling patted his hands and was about to give up.

When he used the spear shafts, he found that there were at least a dozen spatial rifts around the skeleton. Even if the small cosmos bag contained something valuable, Fang Ling wouldn't risk his life to get it.

After taking two steps, Fang Ling stopped again. He took out a silk thread from his small cosmos bag and tied the three broken spear shafts together.

After a quarter of an hour, the small cosmos bag finally appeared in Fang Ling's hand. He opened it, and the contents inside disappointed him.

A jade slip, a few pieces of medium-grade spirit stones, and nothing else.

Did he make a mistake? After all that effort, he only got this much. Fang Ling placed the jade slip on his forehead and began to sense its contents with his mind.

"Array Formation Handbook!"

As the contents continuously flooded his mind, Fang Ling's face slowly broke into a smile.

This was the array formation insights of a cultivator from the True Dao Sect, and it was from a cultivator at the Golden Core stage. The jade slip introduced the secrets of setting up dozens of major arrays. Although it didn't mention the Golden Saber Array, it still gave Fang Ling a lot of valuable information.

The array formations given to him by Master Zhao were on a completely different level compared to the insights in this jade slip.

Once an array is set up, it can change the color of heaven and earth!

This was a line from the True Dao Sect cultivator's insights, and it was this line that ultimately solidified Fang Ling's goal of joining a sect.

The True Dao Sect!

No, it should be the Array Dao Sect!

As a sect named after array formations, the True Dao Sect's expertise in array formations was evident. Fang Ling's greatest reliance was the Smoke and Dust Map. By incorporating array formations into the Smoke and Dust Map, its power would increase several times.

Putting away the jade slip, Fang Ling bowed to the skeleton and said, "I cannot bury your remains now, but please rest assured, I will join the True Dao Sect and promote your insights."

The top of Qianfo Mountain was already beckoning. Once he reached the peak, he would have completed this Immortal Seeking Path.

Fang Ling looked up at the mountain peak and saw a large tree, about the same size as the Smoke and Dust Map in the Western Suburban Zoo, standing quietly there.

The leaves, the size of a baby's palm, still stood straight up.

Fang Ling quickly walked toward the tree, eager to add another Smoke and Dust Map to his collection.

When he approached the tree, a broken lotus pedestal appeared before him. The pedestal still retained its original shape, but the statue that should have been sitting on it had turned into a pile of rubble.

The characters on the lotus pedestal were clearly visible.

The text of the Maitreya Descending Sutra.

Fang Ling looked at the familiar characters, feeling a sense of nostalgia.

He wasn't particularly interested in the sutra, but in this world, apart from the Golden Goose Technique, this was the only place he had seen characters from his previous life.

He couldn't help but read each character, and it took him nearly half an hour to finish the sutra.

It was more accurate to say that Fang Ling was reading the characters rather than the sutra!

Since breaking through to the Seventh Level of Qi Cultivation, Fang Ling's memory had become incredibly sharp. After reading the sutra, he had memorized it completely.

"Hmm, this character is a bit blurry." Fang Ling reached out to wipe the character.

However, as soon as his hand wiped half of the character, it fell off.

Another character appeared before Fang Ling!

What was happening?

Fang Ling's mind raced, and he directly broke open the stone above the character. A five-hundred-character oral formula appeared before him.

"The Immovable Vajra Sutra"

The first five characters made Fang Ling's smile even wider.

PS: Thanks to Ye Feng for the generous support, and thanks to all the brothers who silently support Old Cat!

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