Cultivation is just so scientific!

Chapter 399 246: Rendezvous

Zhi Ming Arhatʼs expression was somber, like still water. Since the last time Jue Yuan Buddha and Jue Tu Buddha fell, and the Jade Foot Relics were lost, he had stayed at the checkpoint.

He was looking for an opportunity to sneak into the Ten Thousand Great Mountains to find Li Yuanba and take back the Jade Foot Relics.

Qianye Temple already knew that it was Li Yuanba who had killed Jue Yuan Buddha, but Li Yuanba had been in seclusion within the Senluo Sect for the past year; otherwise, Zhi Ming Arhat would have long since sneaked into the Ten Thousand Great Mountains and captured Li Yuanba himself.

He had been waiting for intelligence from the Senluo Sect, but he had never expected Li Yuanba to leave the Ten Thousand Great Mountains and appear within the territory of the Righteous Path.

When Jue Neng Buddha discovered Li Yuanbaʼs whereabouts, he immediately reported it to Zhi Ming Arhat. By the time Zhi Ming Arhat received the news, Li Yuanba had already disappeared without a trace.

Zhi Ming Arhat used some resources to obtain the positioning information within Li Yuanbaʼs travel permit, and then set out in pursuit once again.

Indeed, every wooden travel permit contains a positioning Array. This was designed to track Devil Cultivators who caused trouble within the territory of the Righteous Path, to ensure they could be found.

Because the energy fluctuations from the positioning Array within the wooden travel permit were interfered with by various anti-counterfeiting and durability Arrays on the permit itself, and the Arrayʼs own fluctuations were extremely weak, it was certain that any tampering had never been discovered.

Every use of the positioning feature on the wooden travel permit carried the risk of exposing the permitʼs location, so the Righteous Path would not use this function unless absolutely necessary; it was only meant for monitoring.

Zhi Ming Arhat also asked to use this function solely for the sake of the Jade Foot Relics and to inherit the Divine Foot Skill.

With strength equivalent to the Golden Core Stage, he believed that capturing Li Yuanba, who was only at the Foundation Establishment Stage, would be easy.

Though Li Yuanbaʼs Sword Escape speed was fast, Zhi Ming Arhatʼs speed was considered upper class even among Golden Core Level cultivators. After applying for the positioning Array information, he caught up with Li Yuanba in just three two-hour periods.

Zhi Ming Arhat caught a distant glimpse of Li Yuanbaʼs figure, and couldnʼt suppress the thrill in his heart, a flash of excitement crossing his eyes.

”Amitabha!” he chanted a Buddhaʼs name, and his speed increased once more. With every syllable of the chant, he closed a significant distance with Li Yuanba.

In his estimation, by the time he finished chanting the Buddhaʼs name, he would be standing right in front of Li Yuanba.

This was the confidence of an Arhat, assured of his superiority over the weak.

Sword Cultivators were indeed strong, and the speed of their Sword Escape was indeed fast, but that was relative to cultivators of the same realm. Under Zhi Ming Arhatʼs overwhelming advantage of a higher realm, Li Yuanbaʼs speed seemed insignificant.

Just as the last syllable was about to be uttered, Li Yuanba sighed helplessly, knowing that after today his troubles would greatly increase.

Just as Zhi Ming Arhat was about to capture Li Yuanba, his gaze suddenly became one of extreme shock.

Under his watch, a sacred white lotus appeared beneath Li Yuanbaʼs feet, giving him an ethereal appearance like an immortal Buddha.

Two hundred meters ahead of Li Yuanba, a second white lotus instantly appeared. His figure vanished on the spot and reappeared on the second lotus.

Enhanced by ”Purple Qi Eastward” and having cultivated Divine Thought, his normal distance using ”Step by Step Lotus” had reached two hundred meters.

His figure flickered continuously in the void, vanishing from Zhi Ming Arhatʼs sight with incredible speed.

Zhi Ming Arhat stood frozen in the air, his mouth agape, lacking all the usual composure of a high monk.

He did not give chase because he knew it was impossible to catch up.

After all, it was the Divine Foot Skillʼs ”Step by Step Lotus,” and though it was only at the initial stage of Divine Skills, it was still much faster than the speed of a Golden Core cultivator.

Zhi Ming Arhat himself had aspired to inherit the Divine Foot Skill, but unfortunately, he had failed the test and, after one attempt, lost the qualification.

A disciple capable of inheriting the Divine Foot Skill would appear only once every few hundred years, which showed just how difficult it was to cultivate the skill.

Even Jue Yuan Buddha, who had mastered ”Step by Step Lotus” before, took over ten years to master it. After that, he spent decades more to reach a level of one hundred meters per step.

But look at Li Yuanba just now; he achieved two hundred meters per step.

Li Yuanba had received the inheritance of the Divine Foot Skill right after obtaining the Jade Foot Relics, and the entire process took barely a year.

To have cultivated ”Step by Step Lotus” to such a level in one year made Zhi Ming Arhat begin to doubt the will of the Buddha.

”How did he pass the test of the Buddhaʼs intent?” Zhi Ming Arhat stood in a daze for a long time before regaining his composure, as he confronted the most critical question.

To inherit the Divine Foot Skill, oneʼs own study of Buddhist teachings had to reach a very profound level, withstanding the impact of Buddhist chants on the soul.

It was already unlikely for a non-Buddhist Sect individual, let alone a Buddhist Sect like Qianye Temple, which specialized in the examination of the Divine Foot Skill. Even then, a disciple capable of inheriting the skill had to be chosen from thousands, followed by targeted cultivation over an extended period.

When Qianye Temple conducted the Divine Foot Skill test, several high monks with profound understanding of the Dharma would assist. Even so, the success rate of inheriting the skill remained frightfully low.

”Could it be the reincarnation of a Bodhisattva?” Zhi Ming Arhat muttered to himself.

He no longer thought of capturing Li Yuanba; he needed to report to the sect that Li Yuanba had learned ”Step by Step Lotus.”

According to his judgment, the only possibility for learning ”Step by Step Lotus” so quickly was clear.