Urban Martial Saint

Ye Qing had never heard of such mechanisms, but hearing Du Canglang talk about it, he suddenly remembered the ancient tomb outside the secret chamber where Patriarch Bodhidharma passed away, which sounded somewhat similar to what Du Canglang described.

In that tomb, the stone chamber outside and the stone corridor inside seemed to be movable. At a certain moment, this stone chamber might be in this location, and after another moment passes, the stone chamber is no longer in that location. How the ancients achieved this is unknown. But there’s no denying, these methods are indeed marvelous. Ye Qing was completely bewildered when he first encountered such a scenario, never thinking that such exquisite mechanisms could be used in a tomb chamber.

Now, listening to Du Canglang, Ye Qing suddenly realized that the situation with these seven forked paths was quite similar to the ancient tomb outside the secret chamber of Bodhidharma’s passing.

Ye Qing said, ”According to what you say, of the seven forked paths, six are dead-ends, but surely one forked path leads to the end. If we split into seven teams and enter these seven forked paths simultaneously, wouldn’t at least one team surely reach the end?”

”Things aren’t as simple as you think.” Du Canglang shook his head and said solemnly, ”I said earlier, one of the forked paths can lead to the end, but there’s a condition to it. The path that leads to the end is not without mechanisms, but they are solvable. Break through these mechanisms and you can reach the final tomb chamber.”

”Then isn’t that saying nothing at all?” Ye Qing said, ”As long as you break the mechanisms, any of the other six forked paths can also reach the final tomb chamber.”

”Not the same.” Du Canglang shook his head, ”I said, at a certain moment, only one forked path can reach the final chamber, and the other six become dead-ends. Do you understand what dead-end means? In that specific moment, the mechanisms of the six paths cannot be broken, are unsolvable, and cannot lead to the end. That’s what makes them dead-ends!”

”I see.” Ye Qing suddenly realized, glancing at the seven pathways behind him, he frowned slightly and said, ”According to you, going in isn’t just about splitting into seven teams; each must also have the capability to break the mechanisms? Isn’t this nonsense? We’re not masters at solving mechanisms, how could we possibly break the mechanisms in here?”

Du Canglang was also frowning, looking at the forked paths in front of him. After a moment of silence, he suddenly said, ”There’s something wrong with this pathway.”

”What’s wrong?” Ye Qing asked curiously.

Du Canglang said solemnly, ”Ordinary branching paths like these usually come in threes, fours, sixes, or twelves. I’ve never seen a setup with seven forked paths like this.”

”Why?” Ye Qing was even more astonished, staring at the seven forked paths, ”Is there a specific requirement for the number?”

”It’s not about the number, it’s about the time,” Du Canglang said. ”The rotation of ancient tomb mechanisms was based on the natural distribution of time within a day. In ancient times, a day was divided into twelve time periods. For three forked paths, each can rotate for four time periods. For four paths, each can rotate for three periods. Six paths mean each rotates for two periods, or twelve paths would mean each rotates for one period. But with seven paths, how do you calculate the time?”

Ye Qing also became puzzled. He wasn’t well-versed in these things, but he could understand after Du Canglang’s explanation.

”Could it be that this pathway isn’t the kind of mechanism you described?” Ye Qing asked curiously.

”Impossible.” Du Canglang shook his head and said, ”This is definitely the kind of mechanism I described. If not, who would go to such lengths to create these seven forked paths?”

”Then what exactly is going on?” Ye Qing was also extremely puzzled.

”There must be something wrong with these seven pathways!” Du Canglang stared at them for a long moment, then suddenly remembered something and turned to ask urgently, ”Right, you mentioned earlier that one of these pathways causes people to age rapidly?”

The Wanyan Family members were still in shock from what Du Canglang had said about the mechanism. Hearing his question, they were momentarily stunned before nodding and answering affirmatively.

Upon getting a definite answer from the group, Du Canglang’s face changed again. He stared at the pathways ahead and said solemnly, ”A path that causes rapid aging; could it really be that thing?”

”What thing?” Ye Qing asked immediately, highly curious. How could a path cause rapid aging? He had never heard of such a thing.

”It’s a peculiar flower called the Instantaneous Blossom, also known as Beauty Fleeting as a Snap of the Fingers!” Du Canglang said solemnly. ”I’ve only heard about it, said to grow in the Great Forest Temple of Tianzhu. This flower has a unique trait: it can absorb nutrients from nearby living beings, making them age rapidly. It’s said that in ancient Tianzhu, an exceptionally beautiful young girl accidentally approached this flower, and in a snap of the fingers, her beauty vanished, and her black hair turned white. She went from a young maiden to a wizened old woman, which is where the name Instantaneous Blossom, Beauty Fleeting as a Snap of the Fingers comes from.”

”Oh?” Ye Qing’s eyes widened, and everyone else was also exclaiming in astonishment. Hearing Du Canglang’s words, everyone finally understood what was going on with that pathway. It wasn’t some bizarre occurrence; there must be an Instantaneous Blossom there, right?

”Doesn’t that make this flower terrifying?” Wen’er asked curiously.

”Terrifying or not is relative.” Du Canglang said, ”In ancient times, the people of Tianzhu regarded the flower as demonic, launching full-scale operations to eradicate it, nearly driving it to extinction. Fortunately, the Great Forest Temple later invested significant effort to transplant the remaining Instantaneous Blossoms into the temple, preserving the species from extinction.”

”Why would the Great Forest Temple want to preserve such a strange flower?” Ye Qing asked, puzzled.

”Like I said, terrifying or not is relative. To ordinary people, the Instantaneous Blossom is indeed terrifying, akin to a monster. But to the Buddhist Sect of the Great Forest Temple, it’s different.” Du Canglang said, ”A meritorious monk in the past discovered by chance that the Instantaneous Blossom could not only absorb nutrients from people but also absorb excess impurities within the human body. These impurities are known in the Buddhist Sect as Karmic Power. Said to be people’s sins, but that’s nonsense. Simply put, it’s the waste and impurities within the body. Eating grains, absorbing air and water all produce some waste in the body—this is what’s referred to as Karmic Power!”

”This... is Karmic Power?” Ye Qing’s eyes widened, never expecting the so-called Karmic Power to be so simple.

”What else did you think it was?” Du Canglang glanced at Ye Qing and said, ”Of course, the nature of Karmic Power relates to one’s cultivation. As you know, the Buddhist Sect advocates peaceful teachings like laying down weapons to ascend to Buddhahood. They rarely get angry and abstain from meat and alcohol, reducing their bodily impurities and Karmic Power. However, others, like a person practicing sorcery, use poisons on their body and accumulate more impurities. Should they be engulfed by Karmic Fire, it might consume them entirely!”

Ye Qing thought of the earlier incident where the Corpse Ghost Dragon was scorched by the Purple Lotus Karma Fire, and it was indeed terrifying, just as Du Canglang described.

”The Buddhist Sect emphasizes eliminating Karmic Power to achieve enlightenment. This so-called enlightenment is reaching the Buddhist Vajra Indestructible Body. The primary condition to cultivate the Vajra Indestructible Body is to eliminate all Karmic Power, which is immensely important.” Du Canglang said, ”And a monk from the Great Forest Temple accidentally discovered that the Instantaneous Blossom absorbs Karmic Power. Therefore, they expended great efforts to transplant all Instantaneous Blossoms into the temple to aid their cultivation!”

”But the Instantaneous Blossom absorbs not only Karmic Power but also a person’s nutrients.” Wen’er said, ”Aren’t they afraid of being drained of nutrients and aging to death for the sake of cultivation?”

”This brings us to a crucial point I want to make.” Du Canglang looked deeply at Ye Qing and said, ”The Buddhist Vajra Indestructible Body seems to neutralize the power of the Instantaneous Blossom. It can absorb Karmic Power but not their nutrients. Therefore, for those practicing the Vajra Indestructible Body in the Buddhist Sect, the Instantaneous Blossom poses no harm, only benefits. However, after the temple’s destruction, no Instantaneous Blossom survived, so practitioners must find other ways to eliminate Karmic Power. The most common method is to use the painful process of Purple Lotus Karma Fire to burn away all Karmic Power, but this is less effective and extremely painful!”

Ye Qing was unaware of these secrets about the Great Forest Temple. Hearing Du Canglang, he was profoundly shocked. But recalling how Du Canglang looked at him earlier, Ye Qing felt uneasy. Was Du Canglang intending to use him in some way?

”So according to you, we only need a Buddhist Sect practitioner to pass through the path filled with Instantaneous Blossoms to reach the Tomb of the Duwang Sect Master?” Wen’er asked.

”It’s not as simple as just finding anyone. Like I said, the Vajra Indestructible Body specifically restrains the Instantaneous Blossom. It’s not that all Buddhist Cultivation Techniques do.” Du Canglang once again looked at Ye Qing and said, ”To walk this path, you need at least someone who can cultivate the Buddhist Vajra Indestructible Body!”