Chapter 3549: Old Man
The dilapidated temple was surrounded by trees, looking quite tranquil. To the front was an old plaque with two characters.
“Archaic Buddhist?” The old man took his time reading the characters. It took a while before he said with uncertainty.
His pace quickened as he wanted to see which master was staying here. However, he stopped before reaching the entrance because there was a dog laying on its stomach there.
It had nothing but skin and bones, looking weak and dispirited from a long-term illness. He wouldn’t have spotted without getting this close.
Many would a.s.sume that it was already dead since it didn’t move at all. No sign of breathing either.
Nonetheless, the old man stopped because the dog still gave him a sense of danger. He had walked across the world before. Very few things in the southern region of West King could make him shudder in this manner.
“Hmm…” His eyes narrowed as light exuded from his forehead while gazing at the dog.
It was still lying there, unmoving. It probably didn’t notice the old man.
Noises from another direction attracted the old man’s attention. In another corner outside of the entrance, he saw a boar resting beneath the shade. It was round and chubby with patches of hair, looking funny and adorable.
Next to it was a vegetable garden. Calling it a garden might be an exaggeration due to its simplicity.
The boar looked lazy and bored while sunbathing. It occasionally ate from a stem growing out of the soil.
The old man instantly took one step back and prepared his defense. Meeting that dog was startling enough. Now, the boar took it to the next level.
Both of these things were here? It was too much of a coincidence.
“Gao! Gao!” The dog suddenly barked, seemingly unhappy because the old man reacted more to the boar.
This wasn’t the case. It was only a matter of timing since the boar came after.
The old man channeled his mantras and gathered his energy, ready for a tough fight.
Meanwhile, the boar chewed the stalk and raised its head at the dog, looking rather arrogant.
“Can these two be from the legends…” The old man shuddered again.
His thoughts were interrupted by chants coming from the temple. It wasn’t loud but had a calming and pleasant effect.
The dog heard it and closed its eyes again, going back to sleep without caring for the old man. This was the case for the boar too. It continued chewing on the stalk, looking as bored as can be.
The old man became afraid again. He recognized these two creatures and found it unfathomable that they would become docile after hearing the chant.
In this split second, a thousand decisions appeared in his mind. He eventually took a deep breath and tidied his clothes. He checked his walking posture and removed any sign of arrogance before walking towards the temple.
This temple was clearly timeworn. He took note of the statues and wall paintings. Their meanings eluded him despite his rich knowledge.
He followed the direction of the chants and made it inside a hall. He saw a young man sitting and facing the wall.
The guy seemed to be sleeping, lacking the seriousness when chanting. He resembled someone who was spewing rubbish more.
This surprised the old man. In the beginning, he thought that it would be a supreme master, not an ordinary youth.
He couldn’t help gauging the youth, looking at him up and down. His appearance was as ordinary as can be, the same with his cultivation. Southern West King had as many cultivators like him as the number of hair on an ox.
He started questioning himself. Did he misjudge?
He wasn’t trying to judge a book by its cover. However, all signs pointed otherwise. He had met plenty of people before and was always right in his a.s.sessment.
He stopped thinking about this and focused on the wall painting. It was too old and was damaged. One couldn’t see the content anymore, only the faint outline of what seems to be a woman. It was impossible to tell if she was a beauty or not.
She seemed to be floating, perhaps descending from the nine heavens. All in all, one could imagine many things due to the vagueness of the painting.
He stopped and glanced at the youth again. The guy was still chanting while closing his eyes, similar to sleep talking. He resembled a student sleeping in cla.s.s and was spouting nonsense.
At first, he was only curious about the chant due to its effect on the two animals. However, after actually listening, he found the content to be complex and boundlessly profound.
He immediately realized that this wasn’t nonsense but rather, the highest-level mantra. He took a deep breath and focused all of his mind on listening.
He had seen plenty of merit laws and manuals before from dao lords and emperors, even the scriptures of the ancient past…
He wouldn’t dare to claim himself as a peerless genius in history. However, he knew how amazing his talent was. It allowed him to understand numerous top merit laws after reading them once.
Alas, he didn’t grasp ten to twenty percent of the content. The chant exceeded anything he had heard before. He felt as if he was falling into an ocean of the dao, immediately losing his way.
In fact, he was doing an incredible job to keep his sanity and wits while listening to the chant.
The unprecedented experience of floating in this dao ocean shook him to the core. He gained immense benefits from this brief session. Calling it an immortal scripture wasn’t out of line.
Of course, this required the listener to be able to comprehend the content. As he understood one or two lines during the dao search, lightning bolts coursed through his mind and illuminated his grand dao.
They chased away the fog and let him see truths. He became ecstatic and couldn’t help stomping his foot.
He had no idea that the youth had stopped chanting. It took him a while before he woke up from meditation.
He looked around and noticed that the youth’s eyes were open. He was still staring at the painting, not at the intruder. It was as if there was a supreme beauty there commanding his attention.
By this point, the old man realized that this youth was actually a hidden master. He wasn’t wrong this time.
The youth eventually glanced at the old man and shook his head: “Attempting to reach that girl’s domain with your meager abilities? Know your limits.”
The old man didn’t become angry after hearing the contemptuous comment, only frozen in place. He became emotional and afraid. The youth only needed one glance to know everything about him.
“You’re fortunate to be alive. And the dao deficiencies can be repaired as well.” Li Qiye added.
“Immortal, please teach me.” The old man immediately got on his knees and said respectfully. [1]
If an outsider were here, they would be stunned to see someone as prestigious as the old man kneeling right now.
1. The word for immortal here isn’t immortal in the strictest sense. For example, a mortal can refer to a cultivator using this word