797: Chapter 797 Lu Xueqi and Biyao (176)

The little Disciple nodded, seemingly understanding yet not quite, and asked again, "Then what kind of person is a good person?"

Su Han removed the Bodhi beads and slipped them onto the little Disciple's slender wrist; they were a size too large and dangled loosely. The little Disciple curiously held up her hand, turning it back and forth to look, the beads shimmering with an amber glow in the sunlight.

Su Han cast his gaze out the window. The peach blossoms on the back mountain had bloomed, a sea of pink and white, with petals falling to cover the ground whenever the wind blew. In the distance, wisps of cooking smoke rose; the village at the foot of the mountain was preparing a meal. He smelled the fragrance of food mixed with the sweetness of peach blossoms and the damp scent of the earth. The Human Realm is truly wonderful, he thought. There are people cooking, flowers blooming, children laughing, and light shining in everyone's heart.

"Be a person with light in your heart," Su Han said to the little Disciple. "No matter what you encounter, keep a warm thing in your heart. That is enough."

The little Disciple tilted her head, looking at the Bodhi beads dangling on her wrist, and suddenly grinned, "Then I have light in my heart too!"

...

Three months had already passed.

The Evil Creature had been eradicated, the fissures had sealed, and the lingering aura of filth had been dispersed time and again by the spring breeze. The Cultivators had retreated from their respective defensive lines, and red silk was hung before the mountain gate of the Lingxiao Immortal Sect. The Sect Master said they would hold a grand celebration on the day of Grain Rain to reward all the members who had participated in the battle. Su Han did not object, nor was he particularly enthusiastic; he simply nodded in agreement and returned to the back mountain to continue his life.

But some things were different.

For instance, his cultivation. Over the past three months, Su Han had not deliberately sat to Cultivate, yet the Qi Sea in his Dantian expanded on its own every day, like an underground river finding a new spring, filling up steadily and unhurriedly. The several strands of power within him that were originally distinct—the Heavenly Gang Righteous Qi of the Lingxiao Immortal Sect, the lingering Zen intent from the Buddhist Realm, and that trace of Chaos Foundation from an unknown source—now showed faint signs of Fusion. They no longer operated independently; instead, they were like three tributaries flowing into the same lake, the surface calm, yet with undercurrents slowly churning beneath.

Another example was his eyes. On the third day after returning from the Human Realm, Su Han discovered that he could "see" things he could not see before. At first, it was a thin layer of golden mist floating above every plant and tree, like morning dew refracting sunlight. Later, the mist gradually became clear, turning into a kind of flowing luster—the tops of the pine trees had a mass of warm green light, the surface of the stream danced with fragmented silver light, and even the bluestone he stood upon was covered with a layer of extremely faint, earthy-yellow halo.

Initially, he thought it was the lingering effect of the Purifying Buddha Light that had not yet dissipated, so he sought out the Sect Master to ask. The Sect Master concentrated as he examined his Meridians, his brows furrowing so tightly they could crush a fly, and finally, he let go of his wrist and sighed deeply, "Han'er, I have never seen your current condition in all my three hundred years of life."

"Is it good or bad?"

The Sect Master was silent for a long time, then pointed out the window, "Do you see that old locust tree outside?"

Su Han nodded.

"What is on it?"

"There is a layer of... green light. It is faint."

The Sect Master stared at him for a long time, then suddenly laughed, a complexity in his smile that was hard to describe, "That is vitality. Every living thing has it; Cultivators call it 'Qi of Living Beings.' Ordinary Mortals cannot see it, and Cultivators who have reached the Soul Transformation Realm or above can occasionally perceive a wisp or two. But you—you have seen it clearly. Han'er, your eyes are now at the Realm of the 'Heavenly Eye'."

It took Su Han three days to digest this news. The Heavenly Eye Realm was the initial stage of the Wisdom Eye recorded in Buddhist scriptures, which "illuminates that the five skandhas are all empty." Legend had it that only those with great enlightenment could open it after an Epiphany. He had merely taken a trip to the Buddhist Realm, brought back a string of Bodhi beads and a principle; how had he achieved an Epiphany?

But the Sect Master was right. He truly saw it. He saw the dancing specks of light on every leaf on the back mountain, the pale white vortex of Qi still condensing above the heads of the new Disciples, and the scattered golden specks splashing from the soil when the old farmer's hoe fell at the foot of the mountain. The entire world had turned into a massive tapestry of light in his eyes; all things were glowing, just with different brightness and varying colors.

He asked the Sect Master, "Can everyone see it?"

The Sect Master shook his head, "Those who open the Heavenly Eye are rare in ten thousand years. Do not speak of this."

Su Han therefore asked no more. He tucked this secret into his heart, like slipping a warm pebble into his pocket, occasionally touching it to confirm it was still there, and that was enough.

At this moment, he sat by the stream, his toes curling slightly in the water, his gaze resting on a cluster of wild azaleas on the opposite bank. The flowers were in full bloom, every petal wrapped in a soft pink glow, like countless tiny lanterns hanging on the branches. The halo swayed gently in the breeze, and occasionally one or two petals fell into the stream, and the pink light drifted away with the current, traveling downstream, passing boulders, shallows, and bends, finally disappearing around the corner of the mountain path.

Su Han wondered, where would that drifting light flow to? Downstream there were villages, children playing by the stream, and women washing clothes. If the light landed on a child's hand, would that child feel exceptionally happy today? If the light seeped into the clothes, would those clothes feel exceptionally warm when worn?

Just as he was thinking this, he suddenly heard a rush of hurried footsteps behind him. Turning his head, he saw the little Disciple from last time with rice grains on the corner of her mouth, named A-Yuan, scrambling down the stone steps of the back mountain, shouting as she ran, "Uncle-Master Su! Uncle-Master Su! It's bad!"

Su Han pulled his feet out of the stream and stepped onto the bluestone to dry them, waiting for her to reach him, "What is it? Speak slowly."

A-Yuan panted, bending over and bracing her knees, her small face flushed red, "So many, many people have come down the mountain! Grandmaster Sect Head sent me to call you, saying you must go to the main hall quickly!"

"What kind of people?"

"Cultivators from all over! And many I don't recognize, wearing all sorts of clothes! They said... they said..." A-Yuan swallowed, her eyes sparkling, "They said they want to see you! They want to see the 'Su Han who destroyed the Evil Creature with one palm' with their own eyes!"

Su Han was stunned for a moment.

For over three months, he had stayed in the back mountain, rarely going to the front hall, and seldom meeting outside guests. He knew that after that battle, he had likely become famous, but the matter of "fame" always felt like it was separated by a veil for him, like looking at flowers through water, blurry and unreal. He had not thought to hide, nor had he thought to welcome it; he had just naturally shrunk back into the small courtyard of the back mountain, like a blade of grass bent by the wind, straightening up when the wind stopped, continuing to grow his own leaves.

But what must come would eventually come.

He bent down to pick up his shoes, walking barefoot on the stone steps up the mountain. A-Yuan trotted behind him, chattering about the Cultivators down the mountain—so-and-so came from the northern snow plains and was riding an ice dragon; so-and-so was wearing a bright red robe, saying they were an Elder from the Fire Cloud Valley of the Southern Border; and there were a few bald monks who stood before the mountain gate, pressing their palms together in prayer, chanting sutras for a long time before entering.

Su Han listened, and as he put on his shoes, he asked, "How long have they been waiting?" (End of chapter)