Eternal Life: I Can Control My Essence Qi

Mani Kingdom, the Central Land.

The magnificent and solemn Mani Temple is located here, covering an area of several hundred miles, resembling a large city.

Hundreds of thousands of monks and novice monks, with morning bells and evening drums, chanting Buddhist scriptures; tens of thousands of Buddhist Cultivators traversing back and forth on escape lights, a scene of a Buddhist Holy Land.

The source of Buddhism for the Forty-Eight Thousand Temples, the origin of the name of the Earthly Buddha Kingdom, undeniably the Ten Thousand Monks Ancestral Land.

"Om Mani Padme Hum..."

The dull chanting of mantras and scriptures resounded through the wilderness, shaking the clouds and sky, and pale golden light beams shot straight into the sky, reflecting patches of golden clouds.

Among those golden clouds, countless Buddhist Secret Mantras floated uncertainly, flying up and down, sprinkling like a thin veil of misty radiance, falling like spring rain.

No matter if they are ordinary people or cultivators with strong magical power, when they come under these golden clouds and enter the Mani Temple, they suddenly feel much more at peace inside, as if they have gained eternal joy and stability.

And deep within the Mani Temple:

A grand and magnificent hall sits in a quiet and empty courtyard.

Inside the hall is a vast jade pendant spanning dozens of feet, depicting the entire map of the Mani Kingdom, with its mountains, rivers, and cities vividly marked, temples scattered all over the map.

The entire map, visibly diffused with golden light and black qi, the two entangled and inconstant, sometimes the golden light surges and the black qi fades, other times the black qi rushes forth and the golden light wanes.

Looking across:

Across the vast domain of the Mani Kingdom, extending tens of thousands of miles, the golden light and black qi were constantly in a state of change, maintaining a state of opposition and balance.

"Hoo, hoo..."

The long breaths like dragon roars echoed in the empty hall, as if an old dried tree in its twilight years was sighing.

An old monk, with a white, beardless face and long white eyebrows, sat cross-legged before the enormous jade pendant, watching the intertwining of the golden light and black qi, his eyes as deep as a pool.

"...Master."

Footsteps came from afar, and Zhenhui knelt at the entrance of the hall, whispering:

"Daoist Tianshuang, guarding the Nether Marsh Demon Cave, just sent a message through the Divine Travel Array, saying he wants to temporarily leave for a few years and requests the temple to send someone to replace him."

"I understand."

The old monk spoke slowly, his voice hoarse and dry:

"Take my decree, find your senior brother Zhenliang, and have him replace Daoist Tianshuang, temporarily overseeing the Nether Marsh Demon Cave."

"Yes."

After paying his respects, Zhenhui got up and quickly left the hall.

The Great Awakening Hall, ranked first among the twelve halls of Mani Temple, is responsible for monitoring the world’s demon caves and earthly miasma, wielding great power and standing, subtly even above the abbot of Mani Temple.

The Golden Body Arhats who have held the Great Awakening Hall’s position over generations are often the favored successors of those few Great Arhats, and this generation is no exception.

But as time passes:

Tongxing Arhat has been in charge of the Great Awakening Hall for three cycles of sixty years, yet he has not reached the Great Arhat realm. Seeing his life expectancy exceeding five hundred years, even within Mani Temple, it inevitably generates much criticism.

And for all of this, Tongxing Arhat, in the vortex’s center, understood clearly, but he didn’t mind, only gazing at the vast jade pendant map, often sighing silently.

"Tap, tap, tap..."

After Zhenhui left, another steady and powerful set of footsteps could be heard.

From the footsteps, Tongxing seemed to deduce the identity of the visitor, slightly furrowing his brows, suddenly speaking:

"Tongyuan Junior Brother, you are here."

"Is it again some instruction from those Uncles or Grandmaster Ancestors?"

"Yes."

The current Abbot of Mani Temple, Tongyuan Arhat, dressed in a robe blended with red gold and mystic hues, sighed, pressed his hands together, and said quietly, "Grandmaster Ancestor Guangming asked me to relay a message to you, Senior Brother."

"He said if you are unwilling to awaken and let go, then you will have to relinquish your position, vacating the role of Hall Guardian Arhat, for the younger generation to have a path of advancement."

"He will give you no more than twenty more years."

"..."

Tongxing Arhat’s eyelids drooped, and after a moment’s silence, he slowly said:

"Do you really believe... this is a path of advancement?"

"I don’t know."

Tongyuan Abbot frankly said:

"I long ago lost hope of achieving the Great Arhat, tasked with managing Mani Temple’s affairs and miscellaneous duties, diligently for many years, with no thought of advancement."

"But almost every Great Arhat in history has awakened and succeeded in this position, now eyeing this spot, are far more than just a few brothers..."

Tongxing Arhat smiled faintly, slowly said:

"If they want it so much, I can just give it to them directly."

As he spoke, he was about to rise from the meditation mat without the slightest hesitation, as if he had been waiting for this day all along.

"Wait!"

Tongyuan Abbot stopped him, shaking his head, saying:

"Why rush, Senior Brother?"

"Since the Grandmaster Ancestor has spoken, then twenty years is twenty years."

"Within that twenty-year deadline, you cannot let go; even if you do, no one dares to take it."

Hearing this, Tongxing Arhat fell silent for a long time again, then shook his head and said:

"They shouldn’t hold any more hope for me."

"Why not?"

Tongyuan Abbot’s voice was deep:

"Three cycles of sixty years ago, you already had the qualification to achieve the Great Arhat, but have delayed until now."

"I’ve never understood why you insist on being entangled in these insignificant trivialities, unwilling to awaken and advance..."

"Trivialities?!"

Upon hearing this, Tongxing Arhat abruptly interrupted him, his tone lifted a few notches:

"The welfare of all beings, how can it be a trivial matter?"

Monk Tongyuan looked at him expressionlessly:

"First there are Buddhas, then there are sentient beings."

"If you do not become a Buddha first, how can you have the right to enlighten all beings? Can it be that Senior Brother does not understand?!"

"..."

The face of Passing Arhat twitched slightly, took a deep breath, and slowly exhaled, speaking in a hoarse voice:

"You may go."

Monk Tongyuan turned around and left, the golden cassock on his body dazzling under the sunlight, his voice carrying a trace of indifference from afar:

"Senior Brother, remember, you have twenty years left."

......

In the blink of an eye, three months passed.

On this day, Zhang Yao was sitting in the Sealed Demon Hall of Changle Palace, sitting cross-legged with eyes closed, multitasking:

One thread of Divine Thought steered Magical Power, continuously dissipating Demonic Qi; another thread was allocated into the Divine Travel Array, chatting and exchanging with Golden Core Cultivators and Golden Body Arhats from various places.

Meanwhile, most of his mind and energy were devoted to comprehending and cultivating the Divine Techniques of the ’Celestial Wind Formless Body’, striving to reach Perfection in progress as soon as possible.

"Hmm?"

Suddenly, Zhang Yao seemed to perceive something and opened his eyes.

"Which Fellow Daoist is visiting?"

As the words fell, a hearty laugh echoed from outside:

"Hahaha... Fellow Daoist Qingxu, it’s me."

Upon hearing this, Zhang Yao immediately identified the visitor from the voice, showing a smile:

"So it’s Fellow Daoist Heze, please come in quickly."

As he spoke, he stood up and left the meditation mat to greet him outside Changle Palace.

Outside Changle Palace:

A middle-aged Daoist with a mystic robe and large sleeves, wearing a high crown and a wide belt, stood in front of the palace gate, his robe flapping loudly in the mountain wind.

His face was slightly dark, with three strands of long beard under his chin, his aura deep as the sea, yet like an invisible whirlpool, continuously stirring.

"Fellow Daoist Heze, you and I finally meet."

Zhang Yao stepped forward to greet, marveling at the middle-aged Daoist’s figure, exclaiming:

"Fellow Daoist Heze’s craftsmanship is truly breathtaking and exquisite!"

"Even with my Divine Thought and Insight, I couldn’t discern any flaws in Fellow Daoist’s Puppet incarnation, it’s seamless!"

Indeed, the Golden Core Cultivator ’Ancestor Heze’ before him was actually a Puppet incarnation.

Among the many foreign Golden Core Cultivators in Mani Kingdom, most were at early or middling stages, with only two at late stage Golden Core, namely ’Ancestor Heze’ and ’Lady Baiyu’.

Ancestor Heze stationed at Panlong Mountain was said to originate from Donglang Prefecture, one of the Celestial Continent Nine Mansions, and mastered the exceptionally rare Puppetry Skill, with puppets sold externally that could serve as avatars, achieving almost indistinguishable effects.

Moreover, it is noteworthy that:

This Ancestor Heze is the longest-staying foreign Cultivator in Mani Kingdom, reportedly having been there for nearly a hundred and fifty years.

Every foreign Golden Core Cultivator typically orders an Incarnation Puppet from Ancestor Heze to meet daily travel needs, and assemblies among many Golden Core Cultivators are also dependent on Puppet incarnations.

"Hahaha... Fellow Daoist Qingxu overpraises."

Ancestor Heze stroked his beard with a smile and said:

"The Incarnation Puppet you ordered earlier, I’ve spent three months crafting, and finally succeeded. Today I came to deliver it to you."

"Why not inspect it first, and after confirming there are no issues, we can discuss other matters?"

"Other matters?"

Zhang Yao’s expression momentarily shifted, instantly understanding—

This Ancestor Heze’s visit today seemed not only for delivering the Incarnation Puppet but also for other reasons.

"Alright, let’s proceed as Fellow Daoist wishes."

Zhang Yao nodded in agreement, gesturing with his hand:

"Fellow Daoist, please, let’s discuss inside."

Soon, after entering the front hall, the two took seats separately, with Ancestor Heze releasing the Puppet incarnation.

With a sweep of his sleeve, a lifelike statue appeared in the hall, its appearance and features almost identical to Zhang Yao’s true form, visually indistinguishable.

"Marvelous indeed..."

Zhang Yao exclaimed, upon employing Divine Thought for thorough Investigation, he noticed several subtle differences confirming it was a Puppet, not a real person.

Yet, this was in its unrefined state; once Magical Power and Divine Thought refined it, simple Divine Thought would find it hard to detect, unless using special verification methods or direct interaction.

Zhang Yao extended a thread of Divine Thought, penetrating the core of the Incarnation Puppet, refining the central source.

"Buzz!"

In a moment, the Puppet incarnation abruptly moved, opening its eyes to meet Zhang Yao’s gaze.

As Zhang Yao’s mind stirred, attempting to control the Puppet incarnation, he found it as convenient and smooth as his true body, like moving a limb, feeling no obstruction at all.

Most astonishingly, despite being a metal-crafted body, its various senses matched those of flesh and blood, if it were a mortal, perhaps unable to discern the subtle differences.

The only difference is:

Zhang Yao’s true body is extraordinarily sturdy and possesses abundant Magical Power, whereas this body is quite feeble, akin to a standard Spiritual Artifact, approximately equivalent to a Foundation Establishment Body Refining Cultivator.

Moreover, the capacity for Magical Power in this body is limited, its combat strength not formidable, merely a trivial thing for Golden Core Cultivators.

Of course, this is just for travel and communication purposes, inherently not a combat type Puppet.

The internal mechanism of such Puppets is also inscribed with a series of complex Arrays, so long as it doesn’t stray too far beyond a hundred thousand miles, it can maintain control via Divine Thought continually.

"How is it?"

Ancestor Heze stroked his beard, showing a hint of pride:

"Are you satisfied with this Incarnation Puppet, Fellow Daoist Qingxu?"