Chapter 15: Three Feet to Four Feet

Chapter 15: Three Feet to Four Feet

In the lower levels of Taian City, the perpetual neon lights cast a psychedelic glow, blurring the distinction between day and night.

Deep within the narrow alleys, Li Buyi hummed a tune, his spirits unusually uplifted.

Even when Wang, the leader of the church, informed him that recruiting believers wasn't going as smoothly as planned, he didn't dwell on it. Instead, he casually set one of Wang's subordinates on fire in front of him, using the person as a burning incense stick to encourage Wang to work harder.

"Blessings," he murmured, "Another soul guided today."

Just then, Li Bu received a message from the church.

His brows furrowed.

The higher-ups were actually asking him to deal with Yangyan Martial Arts Academy as soon as possible.

This was unacceptable. Dealing with the academy meant directly confronting the official powers of Taian City.

Moreover, the old master of the academy was not someone to be trifled with.

He watched the footage of that night's battle, and the old master was indeed a formidable opponent within the Fourth Stage. It seemed that he was held back by his mental realm and was unable to break through, despite having honed his combat skills to their peak.

Such a seasoned Fourth Stage martial artist would undoubtedly have a trump card for mutual destruction, and Li Bu wasn't about to foolishly engage in a life-or-death struggle.

After a moment of thought, Li Bu edited a message saying, "The enemy has external support, too strong, need backup," and added three exclamation marks to emphasize the urgency and danger of the situation.

After sending the message, he closed the terminal, ensuring that even if his request was denied, he wouldn't see it.

"The Buddha says, ignorance is blameless," he thought to himself.

With the terminal shut, Li Bu felt a bit better.

Recalling the boy with deep Zen intentions and a strong connection to the Buddha, Li Bu's mood improved even more.

The blood Buddha, a reward he had earned by shedding blood for the church in his early years, contained a strand of "Tranquil Mind" from a powerful member of the church.

When worn by believers, it could ward off the risk of getting lost in the Mind Sea and stabilize themselves.

For non-believers, it subtly influenced and guided their hearts, leading them into the embrace of the church.

Thinking about the opportunity to develop a "Bodhisattva Disciple," Li Bu's spirits soared.

Whether Taian City had the Dao Collection or not didn't concern him in the slightest, even if it did, it was out of his reach.

But guiding a Bodhisattva Disciple was a real achievement, and the merits were enough to smooth out the path after stabilizing the Mind Image.

Li Bu suddenly stopped, a thought forming in his mind.

Should he guide the boy to enlightenment right now?

His eyes lit up at the idea.

Speaking of which, what would it be like to use the flesh and blood of a Bodhisattva Disciple as an incense stick?

No, no...

His expression was conflicted.

Even if the scent of a Bodhisattva Disciple was fragrant, it couldn't compare to the complete Ten Grounds Bodhisattva inheritance, the path to the Heavenly Position!

Hmm, half a month should be enough for the psychological suggestion of the blood jade, right?

Li Bu reassured himself, "Be patient, stay calm, and wait for the flower to bloom."

After all, he was dealing with a Bodhisattva Disciple, and the means had to be gentle. He couldn't be as crude as skinning and pulling tendons, or the Bodhisattva Disciple might hold a grudge against him, and how could he continue in the church then?

...

...

In the Mind Sea.

Ji Jingqiu followed the guidance provided by the sapling, and buried the blood jade under its roots.

Strangely enough, when he entered a meditative state holding the jade Buddha, his mind also held a blood-colored jade pendant in the Mind Sea.

This jade Buddha was clearly extraordinary, containing some kind of power at the mental level, which allowed it to appear in this form alongside him in the Mind Sea.

Ji Jingqiu thought, "That buzzcut guy indeed had ill intentions."

But regardless of what schemes and plots were hidden within the jade Buddha, they had now turned into flowers.

Ji Jingqiu patted the tiger cub, eagerly waiting by the sapling.

According to the feedback from the sapling, the main source of his afternoon hunger wasn't his body but his mental state.

He had practiced the breathing technique in the Mind Sea earlier, and with the assistance of the sapling, his mind and body had achieved harmony, allowing him to quickly cultivate a strand of energy surge.

This was the second ability of the Bodhi sapling as a prototype of Martial Dao Divine Ability—【Wisdom Light】.

Under the illumination and assistance of Wisdom Light, cultivating any martial art would be twice as effective.

The unfolding the Pure Land, the support of Wisdom Light, and even the assistance of the Bodhi sapling...

All of these relied on the Bodhi tree and required energy.

Merely sleeping and resting to replenish mental power was no longer sufficient to sustain the current consumption.

The sapling was doing its best, but it couldn't keep up with the demands.

Simply put, the child was hungry.

And the blood jade was the "food" it needed.

As the blood jade was buried, the branches of the sapling swayed gently, emitting a joyous mood and scattering radiant light.

Before long, a leaf slowly grew on a branch, so, vibrant and green it seemed like water could drip from it, swaying lightly on the branch.

Ji Jingqiu was overjoyed.

This sapling was more like a newly planted tree.

With its sparse branches, it looked pathetic with only three leaves.

In the nourishing presence of the blood jade, the fourth leaf emerged, growing 33.3% larger than the previous one!

The new leaf drooped slightly, and at its tip, a drop of bloody dew formed, slowly dripping down.

Before Ji Jingqiu could react, his Evil Tiger pounced and swallowed the drop of bloody dew in one gulp.

Ji Jingqiu grabbed the tiger cub by the back of its neck and lifted it into the air. The cub licked its lips, blinking its pitch-black eyes, and looked around nonchalantly.

Ji Jingqiu frowned, observing the tiger cub to ensure there were no adverse changes, before he could breathe a sigh of relief.

According to the Bodhi tree's feedback, that drop was an impurity within the Blood Buddha, a filthy substance, not the bones after the flesh was stripped away!

He hadn't expected this little fellow to be so quick. With a swift stride, it rushed forward and swallowed the drop into its stomach.

Ji Jingqiu, without mercy, gave the silly tiger cub a good scolding and then put it down.

The original text can be found on Book/Bar 6!

Looking at the tiger cub frolicking beside him, Ji Jingqiu suddenly realized something.

Why did the space feel more spacious than before?

Had the Pure Land expanded?

After some inspection, his senses confirmed his suspicion. The coverage of the Pure Land had increased from three chi to four chi.

This validated his guess—the Pure Land's coverage area could indeed expand.

And directly linked to this was the growth of the Bodhi tree.

Ji Jingqiu looked up at the bloody world outside the Pure Land.

He had always been curious about what lay beyond, if it was a part of the Flame Temple Nirvana Visualization. At that moment, he felt a strange calling.

The familiar feeling of the calling came from a distant place, beckoning him to go there.

It was like igniting the heart flame, not intense but subtle, like an unseen current beneath the ocean's surface or the silent spread of roots beneath a grassland, slowly yet firmly touching every sensitive nerve.

It seemed that was where he truly belonged, a place he had left behind long ago. It was time to return to his roots, like a leaf falling back to its origin.

This feeling made Ji Jingqiu uncomfortable.

He decisively withdrew from the inner realm and returned his consciousness to his physical body.

The first thing he noticed was the previously raging hunger subsiding and calming down.

Next, he focused on the jade Buddha in his hand.

The jade Buddha, which had been emitting a bloody glow under the moonlight, now appeared much dimmer. Its surface seemed to be covered in a layer of dust, losing all its luster.

The Buddha's sinister smile faded, and it sank into the ground.

According to the little tree's response, this thing had become useless, no longer holding any value as a collectible.

However, Ji Jingqiu didn't throw it into the trash but carefully kept it instead.

If he could get more of these jade Buddhas, wouldn't his Bodhi sapling grow even faster? Once the tree's canopy spreads like a parasol, covering the sky, wouldn't the little Nete Poison Syndrome be easily manageable?

Speaking of which, the person who mentioned his deep Zen intent, could it be related to the Flame Temple Nirvana Visualization? Ji Jingqiu wondered. This visualization seemed to have a connection to the Buddhist teachings.

Unfortunately, he couldn't contact Mu Zailaoshi or Ms. Mei at the moment.

Next time, he would definitely probe for more information about this visualization.

Ji Jingqiu was in high spirits now.

With the expansion of the Pure Land, the time he could spend in the visualization state should also increase, meaning he would suffer less.

Of course, this also meant that his physical body was falling further behind...

Ji Jingqiu adjusted his state and began his pillar training.

As the inner realm filled with radiant light, he started his afternoon attempt, modifying the Coiled Dragon Pillar to match his own image.

Have you ever seen the sun rising before 2 AM in Tai'an City?

...

The next afternoon.

After a day of pillar training,

The sponge was squeezed dry of its last drop of water.

Feeling uneasy, Ji Jingqiu, with his rumbling stomach, sought out Yang Shi.

Yang Yan plucked a small tuft of his beard, shocked.

"You've cultivated energy surges? When did this happen?"

"Yesterday?"

After understanding Ji Jingqiu's intention, Yang Laoguanzhu carefully examined his body.

A long time passed, and Yang Laoguanzhu remained silent, deep in thought.

This made Ji Jingqiu anxious.

He wasn't afraid of the doctor diagnosing him with an illness, but he was afraid of being ignored!

At this moment, Yang Yan's heart was filled with disbelief.

He had examined Ji Jingqiu's innate bone structure the previous day, and it was only mediocre at best. However, in this era, innate bone structure wasn't crucial, so he didn't pay it much mind.

Considering Ji Jingqiu's mediocre bone structure, Yang Yan feared his pillar training would progress slowly. That's why he specifically chose the Coiled Dragon Pillar for this young man.

The Coiled Dragon Pillar, though painful during training, offered the fastest progress among the pillar techniques.

How could someone with mediocre bone structure cultivate energy surges in just one day?

And when Yang Yan checked again, he found that Ji Jingqiu was indeed experiencing significant blood and energy loss.

Even though Ji Jingqiu had cultivated energy surges, it was hard to explain.

After all, everyone had witnessed his hearty appetite at lunchtime!

(End of Chapter)

Chapter end