You've only been cultivating for a few years, and you're already talking about cultivating

"what?"

A soft, slightly surprised gasp came from afar.

The figure of "Zen Energy" emerged from the shadows of the forest.

His steps were neither hurried nor slow. With each step he took, a pale golden lotus bloomed on the soil, only to quickly disappear, just like the monks of Qifei Zen Temple.

He looked at Qi Fei, his gaze calm but carrying a hint of surprise and astonishment that "you actually caught it."

Qi Fei stood in front of Chan Kong, the light of "Discriminating Shadow" in his palm still lingering.

He stared at the approaching monk without saying a word.

The wind passed between the two of them, carrying the smell of burning.

Within a ten-foot radius around the two, the once lush and verdant forest had been completely transformed in the blink of an eye.

The trees had turned into charred, dead wood; some were broken in half, others were charred from top to bottom, their bark cracked to reveal the dark red wood beneath, as if they had been struck by lightning and then burned again.

The earth turned scorched black, the soil hardened and cracked, with wisps of smoke occasionally rising from the cracks.

Some of the charred wood was broken in two, with the upper half leaning precariously against the adjacent trunk.

This is the result of the aftereffects of their confrontation reaching the real world.

For ordinary people, such methods are almost a natural disaster and are completely incomprehensible.

"A sword cultivator?" Zen Energy looked at Qi Fei with a scrutinizing gaze.

Qi Fei neither denied nor confirmed, only vaguely replying, "I guess so."

He examined the monk's robe on "Zeneng," which was exactly the same as the one on Zenkong.

He hesitated for a moment, then asked, "What's going on here? Is it internal strife within the sect? A struggle for the mantle?"

A weak voice came from behind, punctuated by coughing: "Cough cough... My senior brother has been possessed. He's not my senior brother, he's Ksitigarbha."

"Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva?" Qi Fei heard this name for the first time.

"I will not become a Buddha until hell is emptied." "Zen Neng" put his palms together, "This is the great vow of the Ksitigarbha community."

"Indeed, it is our 'great vow to save the world'."

Qi Fei frowned, not quite understanding.

The sword, however, spoke in his mind: "People, look, people without hair all talk like this."

"Zen Energy" doesn't seem to care about Qi Fei's reaction.

He turned his head, his gaze passing over Qi Fei and landing on Chan Kong behind him, his tone surprisingly gentle.

"Junior brother, I have not been possessed. I am still me! However, I am no longer the illusory me of yesterday, but the me with a 'great aspiration'."

He paused, as if giving Chan Kong time to process what he had just learned.

"You don't understand now, but when you truly understand the 'Great Vow,' you will awaken from the heretical path of Zen and join the 'Great Vow to Save the World.'"

Having said that, he didn't press the matter further and turned to leave.

Golden lotuses bloomed one by one beneath his feet, supporting his steps, and he disappeared into the depths of the forest in a few breaths.

Qi Fei stood there, watching the gray-robed figure disappear into the distance, his mind filled with questions, not quite understanding what was going on.

"Is he really your senior brother?" He turned to look at Chan Kong, a question lingering in his eyes. "He didn't kill you?"

Zenkong leaned against a surviving tree trunk, his face pale and a bitter smile on his lips.

He understood better than Qi Fei: "They probably weren't confident they could take us both down at the same time."

Qi Fei thought about it and agreed, nodding, "Then the two of us are pretty strong."

Chan Kong paused for a moment, then couldn't help coughing twice, his wry smile turning into a wry smile: "...Fu Ye, you're quite the master of being sarcastic."

Qi Fei didn't respond to that.

He squatted down and reached out to feel Chan Kong's pulse.

The moment his fingertips touched the skin, he felt that Chan Kong's wrist was burning hot, like an iron block just taken from the edge of a furnace, but his skin and veins had no burn marks, they were intact and smooth as usual.

The heat didn't seem to be coming in from the outside; it seemed to be coming from inside.

"It seems you were injured by him," Qi Fei frowned. "The injury is very strange."

This was the first time he had ever seen such an injury.

"It's 'Nameless Fire'." Zen Energy had already gone far away, but Zen Kong's breathing became more and more rapid, and beads of sweat appeared on his forehead one after another, running down his nose.

"The nameless fire is not in the skin, flesh, or bones, but only in the heart. It does not burn external things, but only the heart itself."

He closed his eyes, trying to regulate his breathing, his voice growing softer and softer: "I need to enter into deep meditation... so that it can slowly dissipate."

Qi Fei didn't ask any more questions, nor did he hesitate.

He helped Chan Kong sit down under the tree, making sure he was steady against the trunk, then stood up and looked around.

The surrounding area was scorched black, the trees were all dead, and there were no birds or animals, but the terrain was still relatively open and the view was still clear. If someone came from a distance, they would be seen at a glance.

"I will protect you," Qi Fei said.

Zenkong had already closed his eyes, and his breathing gradually became long and even. He heard those words, and his lips moved slightly.

The curve of his lips on his pale face was like a smile, or perhaps a sigh.

Qi Fei sat down on a rock next to him, finding the monk who earnestly uttered "shameless" somewhat interesting.

If you encounter someone like that, lend a hand. There's no grand reason or justification needed.

This protection lasted for a full day and night.

Zen Kong leaned against the surviving tree trunk, closed his eyes and entered a meditative state, motionless, like a stone statue forgotten in the mountains.

At first, he was just pale and breathing weakly.

As night fell, his skin gradually turned red, as if a fire was slowly burning beneath it, spreading from his face to his neck, and from his neck to his arms. His whole being was like a clay pot being slowly simmered over a low flame, not boiling on the surface, but churning inside.

After dawn, more than half an hour passed before Chan Kong finally exhaled a breath of intense heat. As the breath came out of his mouth, it even carried a faint red glow.

He slowly opened his eyes, his whole body was flushed, and his face was full of exhaustion, clearly indicating that the past day and night had not been easy.

Qi Fei glanced at him and said, "You look like a boiled crab."

Zen Kong looked down at his reddened arm and said, "I've already transferred the 'Nameless Fire' from between 'Form' and 'Reality' into my own body. The rest is just a matter of healing slowly."

"That's good," Qi Fei said. "You can tell me what exactly happened."

Zen Kong gave a bitter smile and briefly explained that after returning, he saw Zen Neng being possessed, the two fought, and he escaped to this place.

"I can't beat him," Chan Kong said frankly, without the slightest embarrassment. "My senior brother was originally inferior to me, but he was possessed by someone else."

"The person who possessed his body was highly skilled; I was no match for them."

Qi Fei nodded and asked directly, "Then... what is the Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva?"