"If you want to live forever, you don't have to look for those mysterious immortals." The monk said gently: "As long as you chant the Buddha's name and recite the scriptures, worship the truth and pray to the saints, you will achieve nirvana."
"Can chanting sutras lead to longevity?"
"That's right." The monk nodded.
"Then find me a three-hundred-year-old monk to prove it, and I'll give you ten thousand taels of silver." Xi Heng yawned, not taking it seriously at all.
“Nirvana is the elimination of worries, liberation from birth and death. Those who achieve it will be forever free from all worldly sufferings. They will be neither born nor destroyed, neither dirty nor clean, neither increasing nor decreasing… They will have all blessings, virtues and wisdom, and will be forever free from all worries, birth and death, and achieve the true mind of perfect brightness and tranquility,” said the old monk.
"Since there are no monks in the world who are 200 or 300 years old, what is the meaning of immortality?"
Xi Heng said bluntly: "Is there any trace of immortals in this mountain? If you can point out one, I can donate hundreds of taels of silver to your Buddhist temple."
"The immortal path seeks to become an immortal, the Buddhist path seeks to become a Buddha. There is no difference between the Buddha and the immortal. The female donor has a strong murderous aura and evil karma. The Buddhist Dharma is broad and allows people to repent. All evil karma will be eliminated if you think about it. If you put down your butcher knife, you will become a Buddha right away. Have you heard of this?" The other party was still preaching:
"Donors don't need to donate money. I just want you to burn incense and worship Buddha to get rid of the stains and become pure. Then recite a few scriptures to eliminate bad karma. It can be considered a good deed."
Xi Heng felt that he had just listened to a bunch of nonsense, so he didn't say anything more to the old monk and left the hall directly with his senior sister.
Inside the hall, the old monk stared at her back quietly, his eyes fixed on her for a long time.
As the figure disappeared into the distance, he immediately put away the kindness on his face, called a young monk beside him, and whispered:
"Although this person has changed his appearance, his figure and posture show that he is a martial artist with a strong killing intent. I believe he is the Princess Zhao who was rumored to have killed Fang Tiande."
"Go to Qingfeng Temple and inform those people in Huangmei Mountain."
……
On the way to the next area, Xi Heng lowered his eyes to look at the body and asked:
"Senior Sister, am I very murderous right now?"
Xi Heng felt that he would only exude murderous aura when he drew his sword to fight the enemy, and he always restrained himself at other times.
But just now, the old monk could see the murderous aura in her at a glance.
"A little?" Hong Miao was sensing carefully and could indeed feel a hint of coldness.
"Well……"
So Xi Heng tried to restrain himself again.
Have I killed too many people?
She couldn't help but think.
Should we kill less in the future?
As soon as this thought came to mind, Xi Heng dismissed it.
"Forget it, just do whatever you want." She didn't care much and continued to accompany her senior sister to visit this high mountain scenic area.
After visiting the Shenxian Temple and Xianwu Temple, and walking for another ten minutes, you will see a cave called the Goddess Palace standing on the mountain wall.
Although it is called a palace, it looks like a cave. At most, the entrance of the cave is built into a square with blue bricks, and there is a memorial archway outside with two unlit lanterns hanging on it to make it look brighter.
There is a wooden board next to the Goddess Palace, telling a legend about this place, saying that this is the place where the goddess got married.
When you step inside, you can see a bridal chamber scene, accompanied by red candles and red gauze. The bed decorated with flowers is painted with several paintings of mandarin ducks swimming in the water and birds flying side by side.
In the middle of the bridal chamber, a "囍" character surrounded by a mandarin duck pattern was pasted on the smooth golden wall.
There are words carved on the surrounding mountain walls, praising lovers for finally getting married.
Xi Heng didn't care much about it, but after Senior Sister Hong Miao entered, she seemed to be infected by the atmosphere and her five fingers that were grabbing her tightened a little.
I glanced at my senior sister and saw that her cheeks were already red.
"Senior sister would be shy even in this situation." Xi Heng teased.
"Walking in this situation, I always feel like... you and I are getting married." Hong Miao said in a low voice.
"They're not even wearing wedding dresses, how can they look alike?" But Xi Heng didn't think so.
"Wedding dress?" Hong Miao blinked: "Can I wear it?"
"It's okay to wear it for a bit..."
As soon as she said this, she saw her senior sister nod immediately and say:
"I'll prepare it later."
"..."
For some reason, Xi Heng always felt that he had agreed to something extraordinary in a trance.
Gradually, time passed.
The sky changed from noon to dusk. Seeing the sun gradually fade, the two went down the mountain to find an inn to stay in, and then climbed another mountain in the south.
It dissipates day by day with daily play.
As for the trace of the immortal, naturally it was not found.
She also took the spirit stone to test it from time to time in the beautiful mountains, and the spiritual energy would still float upwards and disappear as usual.
There is no chance of immortality here, not even a single thing related to spiritual energy.
Xi Heng did not give up. After walking around, he took the horse back from the inn and continued walking towards the southwest with his senior sister.
The next stop is Lushan Mountain.
……
"Huh? What?"
Before reaching Mount Lushan, Xi Heng had just checked into a restaurant in the city. The food they ordered had not yet arrived, but the waiter brought a cyan envelope and placed it on their table.
She also said that the envelope was from a distinguished guest and was specially given to her.
Xi Heng ignored the doubts and reminders of Senior Sister Hong Miao beside him, and took it directly regardless of whether there was any poison mechanism hidden inside.
In the middle of the plain brown envelope, three large, thick characters were written within a red line.
"Hero's letter?"
Xi Heng tore open the envelope and took out a piece of folded rice paper.
There are only two lines of large characters on it.
"The world is in turmoil again, and changes are sweeping in... We invite all the martial arts heroes in the world to discuss the great plans of the martial arts world."
"On October 11, Yi Hai, I will be waiting for you at the Wulin Lake in Longchuan."
The signature at the back is: Master of Donghuangmei Mountain, Huang Lie.
"Master Huangmei Mountain..." It was the first time that Xi Heng knew this person's name.
"What is it written?" asked the senior sister.
"Huang Meishan seems to want to gather all the martial artists in the world. I wonder what he wants to discuss." Xi Heng handed over the invitation to the hero.
The senior sister took it, looked through it, frowned and asked, "How did he know we were here?"
"Maybe someone recognized him during the journey." Xi Heng said casually.
"...Are you going?" Senior Sister asked hesitantly.
"I am a blood demon wanted by Huangmei Mountain, and I am also the princess of the Great Zhao court. If I go, I might be surrounded and killed by a bunch of Huajin warriors. Of course I won't go."
"According to the rules of the martial arts world, for such a grand event, the host must ensure the safety of the invited guests."
Hong Miao pondered and said, "But now the world is in chaos, and the martial arts world is also in chaos. It is inevitable that some trouble will occur when martial artists from all over the world gather together. It is better not to go."
She cares very much about Xiheng's safety.
"Then I won't go."
Xi Heng ignored this so-called heroic post.
The senior sister reminded him again: "The fact that this post was sent to us means that our whereabouts have been exposed. We may need to disguise ourselves again to conceal our appearance."
"No need." Xi Heng said:
"The Tianliang army that had a grudge against me has been defeated, Fang Tiande is dead, and Huangmei Mountain can't send a few Huajin warriors to surround and kill me. It's really not worth it to pay so much for a dead person."
"But just in case..."
"If someone comes, we will draw our swords and fight them." Xi Heng picked up a piece of appetizer and put it into his mouth.
……
The two men walked through Mount Lu and then went to another place called Crane Tower, where legend has it that an immortal painted cranes.
Both places have wonders of the world, and the appearance is extremely magnificent. You will not get tired of looking at them even if you spend a whole day.
However, the so-called immortal traces are still nowhere to be found.
According to legend, there is a fairy cave behind the Lushan Waterfall. Every time the moon is full, the moonlight shines through the waterfall, reflecting a walkable path. When you step into it, you can see the secret wall inscriptions left by the immortals, practice magic, and cultivate qi.
However, Xi Heng used the blood sword energy to cut off the waterfall several times, but he could not find any hole in the stone wall behind that could be entered.
When the full moon night comes, the so-called long road illuminated by the moon will also disappear without a trace.
The bright moonlight shines on the waterfall, making the water above sparkle with tiny spots of light.
Xi Heng sat cross-legged on the cliff on the other side of the waterfall, quietly watching the beautiful scenery under the moon all night, and then left quietly.
"Could it be that all the stories about immortal magic are false..."
She gradually began to doubt.
But if it is false, why are there so many stories about immortals in this world?
"Perhaps the immortals are not fake, but they are no longer here..."
"As a rumor goes, a long time ago the world was filled with spiritual energy. As long as one had the aptitude, one could cultivate the Way of Immortality and breathe in the spiritual energy of heaven and earth."
“But at some point, the spiritual energy between heaven and earth will spontaneously dissipate. Without spiritual energy, there will be no one who believes that there is no immortal cultivation.”
Xi Heng guessed silently.
If this is true, then it is such a pity... She was unable to travel to the world before the Dharma Ending Age, and finding immortals became several levels more difficult.
"As long as immortals exist, they will leave traces... legends are part of it, spirit stones and spells are part of it, and what I'm looking for is just the part that is enough for me to retain spiritual energy and breathe in and out to practice qi."
Xiheng continued his journey south.
When we arrived at the Crane Tower, we saw that the crane painted by the immortal in the legend on the most conspicuous stone wall painting inside the door had indeed disappeared without a trace.
But when Xi Heng asked the store owner about this rumor, he said: There was indeed a painted crane on this wall that would dance and flutter in response to customers' applause, but that was a hundred years ago...
The building has been renovated several times and transferred several times over the past century, and the current store owner is no longer the same family as before.
"How can we tell the truth from the falsehood of something that happened a hundred years ago?" Xi Heng didn't quite believe it.
Afterwards, the shop owner pointed out to her that many of the pictures on the wall had faded and there was a blank space on the flat stone.
This stone is where the painted crane stayed that year.
Now the cranes are gone, so it seems empty.
This statement was really not convincing, but Xi Heng heard the other party's firm assurance and looked at the mural carefully again. He stared at the empty space for a long time and vaguely felt a sense of imbalance.
There seemed to be something on the flat stone in the painting, but it is gone now.
……
It has been three months since Xi Heng took his senior sister away from Jiangning City.
During this period, she has traveled to many so-called fairy mountains in the mainland of Da Zhao.
From east to west, she has climbed Tianmen Mountain, Yushu Mountain, Jinling Mountain, Kunshan Mountain, etc.
But the result was obvious. Just like all the other people in the world who were seeking immortality, Xi Heng never achieved anything.
During this period, I asked people I met on the road about the fairy traces and learned more and more rumors and stories - so many that they could be compiled into a book.
For example: Someone once saw an immortal living on the highest peak in the world in the southwest direction. He was accompanied by snow all year round, did not eat or speak, and was blown by the cold wind on the edge of the snow cliff on the top of the mountain, but he stood still resolutely and meditated for several years at a time.
When Xi Heng heard this, he just thought that someone was climbing a mountain. When he was close to the top of the mountain, he saw the body of a dead person sitting cross-legged. He mistakenly thought that the person was meditating, so he was amazed.
This story was passed down and became a legend of immortals.
Because she had also searched for immortals several times based on rumors, she felt that these rumors were becoming more and more untrue, so she just listened to them and there was no need to travel thousands of miles to verify them.
During the journey, Xi Heng was thinking silently on horseback:
