Chapter 142 Exploring the Celestials Again!

Meanwhile, far away in a region of the East Sea, bubbles were bubbling up on the surface of the water, and gas visible to the naked eye was constantly being steamed out.

Many fish had already turned belly-up, floating blankly on the surface of the water.

Beneath the seabed, a young girl dressed in green, with fiery red hair, bright eyes, and white teeth, was sitting cross-legged.

Suddenly, she opened her eyes wide, as if she had sensed something.

She said indignantly, "Thieving Heavenly Dao, stinky Heavenly Dao, I was just born with a Cursed Body, it wasn't intentional. If it weren't for that thieving old hag whose face I can't see chasing me, who would want to run out on this trip?"

"You actually want to bring down Heavenly Punishment on me? Why don't you go strike that stinky old hag instead? Is it because you think I'm easy to bully? If my grandfather were here, he would definitely slash you down with one sword, letting you bully me!"

The girl sobbed and muttered a few words, but she didn't forget to run away. She hurriedly got up, preparing to continue fleeing into the deep sea.

As she ran, schools of fish swimming by would roll their eyes, turn their bellies up, and float toward the surface of the sea.

On her way to escape, the young girl did not forget to reach out and grab two exceptionally delicious roasted seawater fish, then stuffed them into her mouth.

"To die, one must at least die as... a well-fed ghost." The girl muttered, then grabbed another roasted seawater fish.

But suddenly, her running movement stopped, and she looked at the sky with some confusion.

"Wait, it's not striking me?"

The girl's body trembled violently. Because she was too excited, the half-eaten fish in her hand slipped away.

"I didn't expect... there is actually someone who attracts more hatred from the thieving Heavenly Dao than me. This is truly... terrifying!"

On a whim, the girl wanted to go and see the situation, but then she thought of her current situation and could only sigh helplessly, abandoning the idea.

Although she didn't know why that old hag was suddenly chasing her, despite being so powerful, she always let her go, as if she were deliberately driving her to this shore of the East Sea.

But now it was better not to be too conspicuous, so as not to bring disaster upon the Human Race.

...

Jiang Chen sat cross-legged on the ground, unaware of the changes around him.

At this moment, he was immersed in the various wonders he sensed when he inscribed that rune earlier.

Such wonders were no less than the profound feeling he experienced during his interaction with the Celestial Being.

But it was completely different from the wonders of that interaction with the Celestial Being, and one could even say it was the exact opposite!

If the Human-Shaped Life Wheel and various wonders seen during the previous interaction with the Celestial Being were all strengthening his progress in Divine Ability and Spell practice.

Then this mystery at this moment was targeting the various deficiencies in his essence, making adjustments and compensation!

The mystery of essence is such that one might not explore even one or two tenths of it in a lifetime.

essence is born from the Divine Soul, but it is distinct from the Divine Soul and cannot be confused as the same thing.

The Divine Soul is the foundation of a person, but before entering the Primordial Spirit Realm, the Divine Soul is confined within the human body; only the essence can explore the surrounding world.

But the strengthening of the Divine Soul does not necessarily lead to the strengthening of the essence. This essence seems more similar to attachment!

Having attachment is attachment, and having no attachment is also attachment!

Buddhism emphasizes letting go of everything and sincerely worshipping Buddha; this is seeking attachment through non-attachment.

The Daoist school is not restricted to this point. Having attachment is attachment, but is having no attachment not also attachment?

If one has no desires or demands, and the heart has no attachments, then what is the point of cultivating the Dao?

At this moment, Jiang Chen seemed to have vaguely realized the source of essence.

Whether it was a coincidence or something else, a scripture with extremely profound Profound Truth suddenly appeared in Jiang Chen's mind.

It was precisely that nameless Daoist scripture that Zhang Daoling had taught him!

In this scripture, the part Jiang Chen could barely understand was the part about essence. At this moment, the various Profound Truths in this scripture seemed to correspond perfectly with these mysteries one by one!

"Is this a coincidence?" Jiang Chen's expression was complex, but he did not pause at all; instead, he devoured and comprehended these interconnected mysterious Profound Truths as if starving.

After the two corresponded, they seemed to be keys for each other, reflecting Yin and Yang, allowing Jiang Chen to understand many of the Dao and principles within in an instant.

"So that's it. The power of essence is not related to the Divine Soul, but is the manifestation of heart power."

This sentence is a bit difficult to understand, but if it were another sentence, it would be simple and easy to understand.

That is, the heart is principle; if the heart has no external objects, then there are no objects outside the heart.

Jiang Chen greedily absorbed the various Dao rhymes, constantly perfecting and supplementing himself, and his essence also continued to grow stronger.

If the original essence was like a candle flame, although it could illuminate an area, it was weak and fragile, extinguishing at the slightest breeze.

At this moment, his essence was a candle inside a lantern; it wasn't much stronger than before, but its resilience had been greatly enhanced, and it would not sway with the wind.

Meanwhile, outside the scene, the eyes of the crowd could not help but gradually shift from the Human-Shaped Life Wheel to Jiang Chen.

Yang Shu and Jianzhen did not understand what had happened to Jiang Chen, only feeling that he was so eye-catching now, like the only bright lamp in the dark night, making it hard for people to look away.

Vajrabodhi, however, perceived further that the other party had merely obscured the six senses of those present through the flow of his essence.

It was not that everyone had noticed him, but that Jiang Chen had caused everyone's five senses to fade in their perception of the surrounding space, with only him remaining as usual.

This was what caused everyone to have an illusion.

But this conclusion made him feel even more astonished and suspicious.

He knew very well how powerful an essence method was required to achieve this. He considered his own essence to be strong, and he was not weak in the Bitter Sea Realm.

Buddhism cultivates attachment, which is also about constantly strengthening essence, using essence to accomplish various incredible things.

In the past, when he was in the Life Wheel Realm, Vajrabodhi used his essence to condense Heavenly Water, easily curing a man who was terminally ill.

Now that he had stepped into the Bitter Sea Realm, his essence was even more powerful; even within the Bitter Sea, he could rampage and explore at will.

But he asked himself, even he could not do what Jiang Chen did—lightly obscuring the five senses of the crowd so that most people did not notice anything at all, like moisture nourishing things silently.

Did he just improve so much strength after breaking through the Life Wheel?

For a moment, Vajrabodhi suddenly felt less confident about the upcoming Dao-Buddha conflict.

One Jiang Chen alone made him feel very tricky, and as Jiang Chen's Senior Brother, what kind of expert must Ye Fashan be, who had been immersed in Daoist methods at Maoshan for decades?

But the Dao-Buddha conflict was imminent; if he retreated now, then his coming to the Tang Dynasty would have no meaning.

Vajrabodhi's gaze dimmed, and thoughts surged in his mind.

On the scene, the crowd also gradually realized, their expressions changing slightly.

Especially Jianzhen and Cui Wei.

Jianzhen was like this because he had experienced a similar scene before; at that time, the Ancestral Master of the Way of the Celestial Masters, Zhang Daoling, had changed the celestial phenomena in a single thought, shielding the five sights.

He walked inside for a long time, and only when he recovered did he realize he was still in the same place.

The mysterious Divine Ability that Jiang Chen was displaying at this moment, although not as overbearing as Zhang Daoling's, was even more like moisture nourishing things silently, making people not notice where the change was at all.

Subconsciously, they ignored the surrounding space.

If an outsider were to suddenly launch an assassination attempt at this moment, it would probably take a few breaths to react.

And Cui Wei was increasingly angry: why could Jiang Chen still survive under such mighty Heavenly might? And even cultivate such a powerful essence?!

Seeming to sense Cui Wei's anger, the Human-Shaped Life Wheel, which had originally had no movement, suddenly clenched its five fingers!

That mighty Heavenly Punishment was easily clenched in its palm; occasionally, a wisp of purple electric light would shoot out from between its fingers, but it was immediately pulled back by an invisible restraint.

This thunder was clenched in its palm, but it was never extinguished, as if it were just playing around casually.

Jiang Chen's mind returned, he withdrew the essence covering, and suddenly smiled slightly, saying to Cui Wei:

"What you said just now is indeed correct."

"Wh-what?" Cui Wei was stunned, not reacting to what he meant.

"Those who commit too many evil deeds will inevitably be intolerable to Heaven!"

As the words fell, the Human-Shaped Life Wheel suddenly raised its palm, and the purple thunder clenched in its hand shot out at an extremely fast speed!

Cui Wei was greatly alarmed; the aura of that purple Heavenly Thunder just now, even just feeling it made him terrified, how could he dare to take it head-on now?

And a scene that was even more unexpected to everyone present appeared.

In the process of flying towards Cui Wei, this purple thunder suddenly split into a large part and flew towards Vajrabodhi not far away!

Vajrabodhi's mouth twitched, and he hurriedly dodged, while not forgetting to ask for accountability.

"Fellow Daoist Jiang, why attack this monk as well?"

Jiang Chen was silent; the will targeting Jiang Chen in this thunder had already been erased by the Human-Shaped Life Wheel.

What remained was the most pure Thunder of Punishing Evil, also known as Heavenly Punishment.

The reason it suddenly split and shot towards Vajrabodhi was not that Jiang Chen was manipulating it.

I am afraid that Vajrabodhi has committed too many evil deeds, and even the Heavenly Punishment could not stand it.

At this moment, it looked like only twenty percent of the Heavenly Punishment was attacking Cui Wei.

While as much as eighty percent was attacking Vajrabodhi!

...

(Alright, this is the final chapter)