Old Man of Snowy Mountain smiled as well. “Do not worry, Reverend. So long as you do not harbor ill will toward the Snowy Mountain Children of Fortune, you will be fine.”

“Good, good.” Yi Pin patted himself in the chest and let out a long sigh of relief.

And so the small and harmless interlude came to an end. But though the interlude itself was harmless, Ye Qing and Yi Pin also realized that the snowy mountains were far more dangerous and terrifying than they expected. Here, there existed many secrets and anomalies that even Sages did not dare to provoke lightly, much less them. So, Ye Qing solemnly shoved his carelessness and arrogance to the farthest corner of his mind and resumed his journey with much greater caution.

Luckily for the trio, the next part of the journey was more or less smooth-sailing. They did not succumb to the stupid impulse of venturing into the night, so none of the dangers they encountered were not so dangerous that they were beyond even Ye Qing’s ability to handle. This was normal. Mysterious and powerful Strangers like the Snowy Mountain Children of Fortune were ultimately in the minority after all.

Besides that, Old Man of Snowy Mountain had lived in these mountains for years and so were familiar with most of the taboos and Anomalies one must avoid to survive.

Here were some of the rules Old Man of Snowy Mountain had compiled to survive in the snowy mountains.

One, one must not visit a temple. A temple that existed in the middle of nowhere usually contained either a terrible Stranger or a powerful warrior. Neither were existences you wanted to fuck with.

Two, one must not greet a fellow traveler. Here in this barren wasteland, the human you encountered might not be a human at all. Hence the rule.

Three, one must not respond to any cry. The reason was more or less the same as the above two rules. You could not possibly know if the person calling out to you was a human or a Stranger.

Four, one must speak softly. It was because yelling or talking loudly in such a place might become a lure for a powerful Stranger. Here in the snowy mountains, loud noises could also trigger natural disasters such as an avalanche.

Five, one must not wear a red outfit. Although red clothes signified happiness and celebration, it was a lure for Strangers and evils as well. Even if that wasn’t the case, wearing red in a snow white world like this was like shining a beacon at night. It was all too easy to draw unclean things so to speak.

The trio inevitably encountered some Strangers and evils for the next couple days. However, most of them posed no real threat to them. All in all, it was good progress.

“Oh my… what a massive ice plain!”

When the trio finally climbed over the last snow mountain and descended back to ground level, they were greeted by an endless expanse of ice.

The ice plains were incredibly vast, stretching from one end to another. The blue ice was as thick and solid as the earth, and yet it was also translucent enough that they could see thousands and thousands of meters below. It was incredible.

“We’re at the Myriad Buddha Plains. Once we’re past here, the nearest town is just a few days’ walk away,” Old Man of Snowy Mountain explained.

Ye Qing asked while admiring the ice plains in front of him, “Why is it called the Myriad Muddha Plains?”

Old Man of Snowy Mountain did not answer him immediately. Instead, he said, “You will learn in a moment. Follow me, young master.”

Old Man of Snowy Mountain took point and guided them forward. A short while later, Ye Qing suddenly stopped in his tracks and stared with a stunned expression.

He saw many golden Buddha temples floating in the sky. They were vast, radiant, and majestic. Countless Buddhas and Arhats could be seen sitting inside the temples, and their glow painted this corner of the world in veluriyam Buddhist light. It looked like a scene straight out of a fantasy; a true Kingdom of Buddha.

Ye Qing quickly realized that the temples, Buddhas and Arhats were all just illusions, however. They weren’t real.

“Look below you.” It was at this moment Yi Pin pointed at their feet. When Ye Qing looked, he was surprised to find that there were just as many Buddhist temples, Buddhas and Arhats underneath the ice. The temples were numerous, and the Buddhist statues were innumerable. They seemed to span across the entire icy plains, and unlike the illusions in the sky, they were all real. It was beyond stunning.

Besides that, the temples, statues and more underneath the ice were frozen upside down, and the ones in the sky were in an upright position. It felt like the inside and outside of a mirror.

“As you can see, there are over a thousand Buddhist temples and many more thousand Buddha statues underneath the ice. That is why people call it the Myriad Buddha Plains,” Old Man of Snowy Mountain explained.

“The design of these temples look different from the ones from the Central Plain!” Ye Qing said.

The appearance and architectural style of these temples were markedly foreign compared to the ones built in Yan, Chu, Qi or Wei. This was doubly true for the appearance of the Buddhas and Arhats. They were either three-headed and six-armed, blue-faced and long-fanged, or humanoids with bestial bodies. They looked nothing like the benevolent and merciful Buddhas, Bodhisattvas and more of the Central Plains.

“Indeed, they are not. All these belong to the Mara Sect of the Western Regions,” Old Man of Snowy Mountain answered.

“What is the Mara Sect? Why did they build their temples at such a place?” Ye Qing asked curiously.

“That… I’m not sure, young master.” Old Man of Snowy Mountains shook his head.

“I can answer that.”

Yi Pin interrupted the conversation. “The Mara Sect worships the Buddha Emperor Mara. Legend has it that he is the sworn enemy of Siddhartha Gautama, first of all Buddhas. He commands a total of three hundred and ninety six million Buddhist realms. He preaches killing as a form of mercy, and that to fall and become a demon is to become a Buddha. That is why the Mara Sect, a sect that worships the Buddha Emperor Mara, is famous for their aggression and bloodthirst.”

“Back when the Mara Sect was strong, they were the state religion of the Western Regions. Every country, big or small, worshiped the Mara Sect and the Buddha Emperor Mara. Those who did not were denounced as heretics and slaughtered. Their actions and behavior were almost no different from that of a true demon.”

“About three thousand years ago, the Mara Sect claimed that their Buddhism is the one true Buddhism, and all other forms of Buddhisms are heresy. So, they mustered a Buddhist army of one hundred thousand, crossed over the Raya Mountain Range, and tried to wipe out the Buddhism of the Central Plain and preach the teachings of Mara.”

A disdainful smile appeared on Yi Pin’s face then. “Of course, they make it sound oh-so-religious, but it’s really just base desires for the fertile lands of the Central Plain. Too bad for these foreign barbarians, the Central Plain was far stronger than they could possibly imagine.”

“Led by the Lanke Temple and the White Horse Temple—both of them leaders of the Buddhism of the Central Plain—they united the

jianghu

and launched a decisive counterattack against the Mara Sect. Not only was the Mara Sect expelled from our borders, they were this close from being annihilated and going extinct.”

“That war was later named the War of the Buddha Emperor, and it ended with the Mara Sect falling from grace. Since then, the Mara Sect became one of the countless insignificant sects out there, and they had never recovered their strength to this day.”

“This is where the Mara Sect’s main encampment and central headquarters used to be when they launched their eastern invasion against the Central Plain. Unfortunately for them, Thousand Leaves Zen Master of White Horse Temple later reversed heaven and earth and sealed this entire expanse underneath the ice with his immense power.”

“I see!” Ye Qing exclaimed in realization before musing thoughtfully, “If this was the central headquarters of the Mara Sect, then a ton of good stuff must be buried down there, isn’t it?”

“But of course. You’ll need to smash open the ice first before you can get to them though.” Yi Pin let out a knowing chuckle. “Do you want to give it a try, Joyless?”

Ye Qing shook his head. “Er… never mind. It’s not going to be worth the time or the trouble.”

He was just saying for the heck of it. He could tell at first glance that this blue ice was no ordinary ice. He could break it, but it would take an ungodly amount of time to dig one thousand meters of ice at the minimum and get to the temples. Even if he had the time, it was uncertain if he would actually find a treasure down there.

Suddenly, Old Man of Snowy Mountain suggested, “I may have an idea if you really want the treasure, young master.”

Ye Qing said curiously, “Tell me.”

Old Man of Snowy Mountain answered, “There are countless tomb raiders on this plain who spend their whole lives digging into this ice and plundering its depths such as the Buddhist thieves, the treasure seekers, the treasure hunters and so on. If you really want to, I can capture them all and command them to work for you instead!”

“Eh. We’ll see.” Ye Qing waved off the idea. For one, he didn’t want to stir up unnecessary trouble. And two, anything that wasn’t a top-tier Strange Artifact or a named treasure on the Strange Artifact Register was, frankly, beneath his notice.

What could you do? He was a picky man.