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

"Young man, can you hear the bell?"

An old woman washing clothes by the river looked up at Qi Fei walking across the bank and suddenly said this.

Qi Fei didn't stop walking, nor did he reply.

He had already crossed the heart of the Min Kingdom and was heading towards the border between the Min and Yue Kingdoms.

The South China Sea is on the other side of the Yue Kingdom. Only by going there can we find a ship to the South China Sea and reach the South China Sea that the "sword" spoke of.

He knew what the old woman was about to say.

Sure enough, the old woman's voice came from behind.

"Following the great vow, we will deliver all those suffering in the sea of ​​misery."

Qi Fei didn't turn around; instead, he quickened his pace.

Along the way, he had heard too many people talking about the sound of bells and too many people talking about "grand aspirations." They all said the same thing and used the same tone.

What does it mean to follow a grand vow and deliver all those suffering from the sea of ​​misery?

Qi Fei muttered to himself, "I'm supposed to be following the great wisdom, saving the world with boundless compassion!"

How did a knock-off version of "Great Wisdom" suddenly appear here?

He didn't know what was going on lately.

After leaving Sanshan County, there were more and more people like this along the way, with bells ringing everywhere and "great vows" everywhere, as if overnight.

The grand vow is mostly related to the Zen wisdom mentioned by Zen Kong.

But Chanxin Temple is, after all, a sect of immortal cultivation. It can't be so useless that it can be destroyed by Chanzhi alone, can it?

As he walked, lost in thought, he unknowingly entered a grove of trees.

The forest wasn't large, but the trees were dense. Suddenly, the canopy overhead swayed violently.

A few leaves drifted down, followed by a series of cracking sounds as if something had crashed down from above, breaking branches along the way.

Qi Fei instinctively took a step back, and a figure fell straight down from the tree in front of him, crashing to the ground with a "bang," raising a cloud of dead leaves and dust.

Qi Fei looked down.

A gray monk's robe, bald head—it was a person.

Chan Kong lay on the ground with his limbs outstretched. Half of his face was buried in the pile of fallen leaves, with only one eye showing. That eye blinked twice, as if it had seen Qi Fei.

Seeing Chan Kong fall from the tree again, Qi Fei remarked, "Seriously? You always make the same appearance?"

Zen Kong rose with a casual air of "What a coincidence that we meet again!" and said, "Benefactor Fu Ye, fate is truly wondrous!"

"..." Qi Fei was too lazy to pay attention to his talkativeness.

He was about to continue his journey when he sensed something was wrong with Zen Kong's aura.

The last time we met, Chan Kong was all red, like a boiled crab. Although he was injured, at least his breathing was still steady.

But this time, his breathing was even more disordered than before.

"You don't look too good." Qi Fei stopped and turned to look at him.

Zen Kong did not deny it, nor did he even try to cover it up.

He shrugged and said calmly, "Of course it's not good. No one would be happy if they were being hunted down."

"Who's chasing you? It can't be the person you mentioned last time, can it?" Qi Fei asked.

"No," Chan Kong shook his head, looking in a certain direction behind him, "it's cultivators from the Five Cauldrons Sect."

Qi Fei followed his gaze.

In the distance, a monk in a long robe was walking slowly out of the forest.

The man's robe was dark blue, embroidered with subtle patterns. He held a small yellow banner in his hand, embroidered with a tripod.

The tripod has a simple and unadorned body, three legs and two handles, with bold lines.

The monk's age was impossible to discern; his face was mostly obscured by the hood of his robe, revealing only a pale chin and a pair of sinister eyes.

His gaze first fell on Chan Kong, and he coldly snorted, saying, "You wicked monk, where do you think you're going to run to!"

Then his gaze shifted to Qi Fei, and his sinister eyes suddenly lit up.

He looked Qi Fei up and down, his gaze sweeping from head to toe, then back up, finally settling on Qi Fei's face.

"His mind is clear and his eyes are bright, his spirit is exceptionally pure," he murmured, "He is truly excellent material for alchemy."

In just two short sentences, one was addressed to Chan Kong, and the other to Qi Fei.

One word is "hunt down," the other is "covetousness."

The two sentences reached Qi Fei's ears, causing Qi Fei and Chan Kong to exchange a glance.

Without needing to discuss or agree, the two reached a tacit understanding in that instant.

"Why would cultivators from the Five Cauldrons Sect come to the Min Kingdom?" Qi Fei watched the approaching figure warily, a faint light from his "Shadow Detection" already illuminating his palm.

Zen Kong sighed.

That breath was long and heavy, carrying something that was hard to describe—whether it was weariness or sorrow.

"Because... Zenshin-ji Temple is no longer there."

Qi Fei didn't ask what "gone" meant. Zen Kong's expression already told him the answer: Zen Kong Temple was gone.

The Zen Heart Temple, which has no fixed gate, transmits knowledge from heart to heart, and believes that all things arise from the mind, is scattered like dandelions across the land of Fujian. It is the Zen Heart Temple that has produced Zen Wisdom, Zen Madness, Zen Ability, Zen Emptiness, and countless other monks.

Is gone.

He had no time to ask any more questions. The cultivator from the Five Cauldrons Sect had already raised the yellow banner in his hand. He shook it gently, and a beam of yellow light flew out from the banner, sweeping towards Qi Fei and Chan Kong.

Qi Fei did not retreat. The light from his palm suddenly shone brightly, and he met the yellow light head-on.

"Shadow Observation" is like an open umbrella covering the front of the yellow light, causing the fierce light to pause slightly and slow down, but it did not dissipate and continued to advance little by little.

Qi Fei's mind stirred, and the sound of his sword rang out.

A sword light appeared out of thin air between "form" and "reality," like a white rainbow traversing the sky, clean and swift, slashing straight towards the cultivator of the Five Cauldrons Sect.

Once this monk is dealt with, all problems will be solved.

"Oh? A sword cultivator." The cultivator from the Five Cauldrons Sect raised an eyebrow slightly, his tone carrying a hint of surprise, followed by delight.

"Great materials, great materials. We're really lucky today."

As he spoke, he actually reached out his hand, spread his five fingers, and grabbed at the sword light.

The sword light landed in his palm, cutting his skin, and blood dripped down between his fingers, but that was all.

The sword light, powerful enough to sever remnants of souls and cleave through illusions, only left marks on his hand, without causing any fundamental damage.

Qi Fei couldn't help but exclaim, "This guy is so fierce!"

Chan Kong explained from the side, "One of the Four Heavenly Kings of the Five Cauldrons Sect, a cultivator at the Three Bodies Realm, of course he's powerful! Otherwise, how could I have escaped?"

Qi Fei glanced at the cultivator who was examining the wound on his palm, then looked at Chan Kong beside him whose aura was unstable, and quickly calculated the difference in their abilities.

The conclusion is not optimistic.

"Now that things have come to this," he said, "we can only rely on our own abilities."

The phrase "each relying on their own abilities" simply meant that they would escape separately, leaving their fate to chance.