“Why does this king feel as if things are becoming more and more complicated…” Toady was also taken aback.

Lin Xun and Zhao Jingxuan felt the same.

Before entering the Deva Secret Domain, they had originally thought it contained the inheritance of a monster-beast saint from the ancient era.

However, after exploring the domain for some time, they discovered that the Deva Secret Domain was actually a land of legacy for a group of saints that they had established together under the leadership of a saint stage king.

The saints’ aim had been to leave behind blessings for their descendants in hopes that when they emerged into the world, they would be able to surpass the older generation and create new legends on the road of cultivation.

It was only when the trio arrived at the Violet Cloud Sacred Mountain and did some investigating that they discovered the mountain seemed to be related to ancient Buddhist saint cultivators as well!

The most bewildering part was that baffling words had been left on all forty-nine altars such as ‘Fangchun Mountain’, ‘scam’, ‘crescent moon three stars’, etc.

“This place is filled with too much mystery. We underestimated it before we came.” Zhao Jingxuan sighed softly.

“Deva Secret Domain…legacy land of the saints…the Violet Cloud Sacred Mountain that seems to be related to Buddhist saint cultivators…everything here is an outrageous enigma,” Lin Xun strongly agreed.

“This king is certain that this secret domain is a legacy land of the saints!”

Toady concluded after much thought, “As for the Violet Cloud Sacred Mountain, it’s merely one of the legacy locations left by a saint who is also a great Buddhist saint cultivator from the ancient era!”

Lin Xun asked, “Then who is the monster-beast saint this domain was named after?”

Toady deduced, “That might only be a false rumor. Perhaps, that monster-beast saint was actually a Buddhist cultivator!”

Lin Xun was taken aback. A monster-beast saint Buddhist cultivator? It was a novel explanation that did seem to fit.

“No, the Mahayana secret script left on these forty-nine altars are definitely not from the same person.” Zhao Jingxuan suddenly pointed out something weird.

“That’s easy to explain. You guys should know that the Deva Secret Domain is from the ancient era, and countless years have passed since then. Over the years, many amazing individuals must have come here and explored.”

Toady’s thoughts gradually became clear as his golden eyes glimmered.

Zhao Jingxuan asked, “However, if many experts did come here in the past, then why did they leave these baffling words on the altars?”

At this moment, Lin Xun’s eyes suddenly narrowed and he said, “I have a certain hypothesis. For us, the Violet Cloud Sacred Mountain is a place where a peerless opportunity is hidden.”

“For the experts that came here in the past, however, they might have thought this place to be ‘Fangchun Mountain’ and sought to find the ‘secret of the Boddhi’ within it!”

“Exactly!”

Toady commended, “You’re on the same page as this king. This so-called Violet Cloud Sacred Mountain was once viewed as ‘Fangchun Mountain’ by those Buddhist saint cultivators, who believed the ‘secret of the Bodhi’ was hidden within it. However, they ultimately failed to find anything and felt that it was all a scam and neither Fangchun Mountain nor the secret of the Bodhi actually existed!”

Lin Xun and Zhao Jingxuan finally began to understand somewhat. However, when they thought about it more closely, they found that there were still several loopholes.

Zhao Jingxuan could not help but ask, “So is this Fangchun Mountain, or is it all a scam like the words on the altars have indicated?”

“The words on the altar are written in the Mahayana secret script, a rare type of Sanskrit in the ancient era that only Buddhist saint cultivators can use. Wouldn’t that mean that numerous Buddhist saint cultivators have explored this mountain over the years?”

Lin Xun also spoke up as he looked at Toady, “If that is the case, how can you be sure that the opportunity hidden in the Violet Cloud Sacred Mountain is related to a certain Buddhist saint cultivator from the ancient era?”

Toady was taken aback. He looked at Zhao Jingxuan and then at Lin Xun before he angrily said in embarrassment, “We’re here for the opportunity and not to investigate these stupid matters of the past. Who cares about Fangchun Mountain?”

“It seems that you don’t know either.” Lin Xun and Zhao Jingxuan had become suspicious.

Toady unhappily retorted, “Although this king has knowledge of all precious items and treasures, it doesn’t mean I know all of the secrets in history!”

“Go go go, stop idiotically standing around. Time is precious, so let’s head to the next altar.”

Toady quickly slipped away, evidently afraid that Lin Xun and Zhao Jingxuan would ask him more questions he could not answer.

However, they did not find any more noteworthy clues from the following few altars.

While they were feeling disappointed, Toady’s eyes suddenly widened as he excitedly scrambled forward, his face nearly touching the next altar as he blabbered, “There’s a real secret here that’s different from the other altars!”

Lin Xun and Zhao Jingxuan were immediately drawn over.

“The ever-changing…and inseparable from the sect…are…om…ma…ni…pad…me…hum!”

Toady read each word with a noticeable pause. Perhaps it was because he was overly excited and the Mahalayana secret script was too cryptic and complicated, so he could only identify and translate them one by one.

“The ever-changing and inseparable from the sect are om mani padme hum.” Lin Xun dazedly repeated the words and asked, “What does it mean?”

The last six syllables were too difficult to pronounce and had a strange rhythm. Although there were only six syllables, they seemed to contain countless meanings.

Omm!

After he said them, a mysterious undulation suddenly arose nearby as a door swirling with dao light appeared!

In addition, light spouted from the lotus flower and connected to the door like a bridge.

The magical scene shook Lin Xun’s, Zhao Jingxuan’s, and Toady’s hearts. As expected, they did find some kind of secret from the altars!

“The power of those words must have activated some hidden mechanism that made this door appear!”

Toady was overjoyed. “There are fifty daos but only forty-nine can be derived in the world. The altars just so happen to be opposite, and the missing ‘one’ has now been discovered by us! This door is the ‘one that escaped’!”

Toady grew increasingly excited and nearly began bouncing up and down. “Didn’t they say the opportunity would only be left to the fated person? We’ve now become that ‘fated’ person!”

“Come on, it’s time for us to seize this opportunity!”

Toady leaped into the door before Lin Xun could stop him.

“Ah, whatever, let’s also get going.”

Zhao Jingxuan smiled faintly and said, “I feel that Toady is correct; this is the most appropriate path for us.”

Lin Xun shrugged. “It’s the only choice we have now.”

The two of them also walked into the mysterious door and began walking across the light bridge as the stars spun around them.

Their bodies rapidly shrank as they disappeared into the lotus flower.

After they vanished, the door and bridge disappeared as well as if none of it had ever happened.

……

The peak was covered in a sacred aura and mist. A lotus flower floated at the center of the peak, flowing with a bright light that seemed capable of illuminating the entire universe.

The doors above forty-nine altars were still present, as well as the forty-nine paths leading to the lotus flower.

After the first batch of experts crossed through the doors and disappeared into the world within the lotus flower, numerous experts soon arrived one after another and rushed into the doors as well.

These experts had originally been fighting at the foot of the mountain, but had fled in a panic to seek refuge at the peak after the appearance of the Golden-Winged Great Peng and the other terrifying monsters.

They were surprised to see the doors and immediately rushed in without much thought.

Although they were already lagging behind and could not eat the meat, they should at least be able to drink some soup, right?

With these thoughts, they plunged in.

“Here.”

Later on, a man and a woman led a group of experts to the altar Lin Xun and the gang had disappeared from.

The woman was holding an old scroll that seemed to be made of a material that resembled jade. She stared at the Mahayana secret script on the altar and compared it with the characters on the scroll.

The man was somewhat nervous and expectant.

If Lin Xun were here, he would definitely be able to recognize them. It was Yao Susu and Lian Fei!

“It’s here. The secret map left by my father is correct!”

Soon after, Yao Susu’s face lit up in elation.

“Does that mean the pagoda and secret map from your father came from here?”

Lian Fei also grew excited.

“Of course. My father once came to the Return Dominion long ago. Although he didn’t enter the Deva Secret Domain, he unexpectedly obtained the pagoda and this secret map. That’s what I would call an effortless encounter, unlike us who still have to take many risks in order to search it out.”

Yao Susu was somewhat emotional and said, “It’s a pity that my father has died and even the Yao Clan has been destroyed…”

“Susu, don’t be sad. When we obtain the greatest blessing within, we will return to the empire and avenge your father and the others!”

Lian Fei hurriedly consoled her, “I heard that the culprits who killed your father and the others are Lin Xun and Steel-Blood King Ning Bugui. The day will come when I will personally execute both of them and use their blood as an offering to the Yao Clan!”

Yao Susu took a deep breath and cast away such thoughts before she began to focus on translating the words on the altar using the secret map.

“The ever-changing and inseparable from the sect are om mani padme hum.”

The words she uttered sounded strange and cryptic.

Space suddenly rippled and a door appeared. At the same time, light surged from the lotus flower and connected to the door.

It was exactly the same thing that had happened to Lin Xun and the gang.

“So it is here! Hahaha, those idiots from the other clans only know how to blindly rush in. Who could have imagined that the true opportunity isn’t obtainable through brute force?”

Lian Fei loudly laughed in excitement.

He only dared to mock them so openly because there was no one else on the peak.

“Why so much rubbish? Move quickly before something else happens!”

A frosty voice suddenly sounded from the group behind Lian Fei.

Icy rage flashed in Lian Fei’s eyes but he ultimately restrained himself.

These experts were from the Water Brute Tribe. Lian Fei and Yao Susu had only been able to enter the Deva Secret Domain with the help of a bigwig from the Water Brute Tribe.

However, Lian Fei abhorred the attitudes of these experts. They viewed the duo as insects and did not give them even the minimum amount of courtesy.

“Brother Fei, let’s move first. After we enter and obtain the opportunity, we can use it to kill those distasteful people!”

Yao Susu transmitted in a voice brimming with hatred.

Lian Fei immediately nodded and stepped into the door without hesitation.

Editor’s note: The title of this chapter is the six-syllabled Sanskrit mantra particularly associated with the four-armed Shadakshari form of Avalokiteshvara, the bodhisattva of compassion. For more info, go here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Om_mani_padme_hum