NOVPUBAs soon as Wang Ba spoke, he knew he had said something foolish. If the plan had truly succeeded, the Three Continents would not have sunk, and Ci Wu, who was present, would most likely not have been there.
Sure enough, Ci Wu shook his head slightly.
"The flood still continues unabated, and now the whereabouts of Master Xinyuan are unknown."
Upon hearing this, Wang Ba couldn’t help but be shocked, but then he grew confused.
"Master Xinyuan is a prominent figure of the Buddha Sect. If something really happened...there must have been signs. Why can’t we know?"
With his gaze downcast, Ci Wu replied,
"Only after numerous attempts to investigate, did we realize that once the membrane eye gathers momentum, the rules of heaven and earth in its surroundings would change. The signs that used to be there, mostly wouldn’t appear in this situation."
"Master Xinyuan might already be gone since he entered it, or he may still be in there... However, his departure has put numerous Buddha Kingdoms in the Xituo Continent in a predicament."
"A predicament?"
Wang Ba felt oddly familiar with this situation, but then he became distracted by the other’s words and couldn’t help but be curious.
Ci Wu nodded in agreement.
"The people of many Buddha Kingdoms in the Xituo Continent follow the precepts strictly. Even when faced with a great flood, they are unwilling to violate the precepts and assault the Outer Continent. Like Master Xinyuan, they are trying to find ways to defuse this disaster."
"However, there are also monks who believe that everything else is ephemeral before a great disaster, and protecting the people of the Buddha Kingdoms is the only real thing. So, they are willing to face the backlash of violating the precepts, relocate to other continents, and cause harm to others, just to strive for a lifeline for the people of the Buddha Kingdoms."
"Of course, there are also those who exploit the situation. But these people are not worth mentioning."
While talking, Ci Wu suddenly asked, "If Tan Yue were in this predicament, how would you choose?"
"Me?"
Wang Ba was taken aback for a moment.
Then, he fell into deep thought.
The two scenarios Ci Wu mentioned were indeed difficult to choose from.
The former adhered strictly to the precepts, preferring to sacrifice themselves and the lives in Xituo Continent rather than inflicting harm on other continents.
The latter violated the precepts and although they caused harm, they did it to give the beings of Xituo Continent a chance to survive.
If viewed from the perspective of the beings of Xituo Continent, the latter seemed better.
But if viewed from the perspective of the cultivators of Fenglin Continent, they would prefer the former.
But Wang Ba was neither of them.
He looked at Ci Wu with hesitation.
"Do you want to hear the truth?"
Ci Wu placed one hand vertically on his chest and recited a Buddha’s name, "Whether it’s the truth or not, as long as you are at peace with your conscience, Tan Yue."
After hearing this, Wang Ba didn’t hesitate any further.
"My abilities are limited. If I were in such a situation, I would do everything I could, to get away with my loved ones as soon as possible."
Ci Wu looked surprised. He looked carefully at Wang Ba.
After a while, he finally let out a slow smile.
"Tan Yue, you’re quite straightforward. Well, what if you had the ability to do so one day?"
"Had the ability?"
Wang Ba was slightly surprised.
But his mind was blank.
He had never thought about that.
If he could imagine it, he would only imagine himself practicing to the stage of Void Refining, shattering the void, and ascending in broad daylight.
Beyond that, maybe he would cherish the days with his loved ones.
After hesitating for a while, he honestly replied,
"Senior, I’ve never thought about it, nor have I encountered it."
Upon hearing this, Ci Wu let out a meaningful smile.
"No problem, I just hope that Tan Yue will never encounter such a difficult problem in the future."
Coming to his senses, Wang Ba curiously asked,
"Which of these two are you, Senior?"
Upon hearing the question, Ci Wu smiled, pointing at the chain piercing through his scapula.
With a calm demeanor, he stated,
"I am somewhat similar to Tan Yue. I am not willing to cause harm, nor can I bear to see the beings of Xituo Continent suffer... However, even now, I can’t find a suitable solution."
But this statement made Wang Ba frown.
"If it’s just because of different understandings, why have you been..."
But Ci Wu remained calm.
"All the chaos in this world are just due to different understandings. It gives rise to greed, anger, and ignorance. So, this is also a punishment for me, for not being able to fight for the lives of the beings in Xituo Continent."
While speaking, he suddenly changed the topic,
"It’s just that, my death is a trivial matter, but if my lineage is broken because of this, my sin would be great!"
"Lineage?"
Wang Ba was taken aback.
At that moment, he understood why he had been invited to this place.
"It’s because I’m a disciple of the Dharma Lineage, able to practice various cultivation methods... That’s why you sought me out."
"I wonder what the nature of Ci Wu’s cultivation method is."
But then a doubt arose.
The Xituo Continent has countless disciples, with countless talents. Why was it necessary to find him, who was just a cultivator from an outer continent?
Could it be that they were not afraid that once he had achieved cultivation, he would bring even greater slaughter to Xituo Continent?
However, in the next moment, he realized he was wrong.
"This little monkey was born with Buddha nature; even you have been quite influenced by it. It should inherit my mantle."
Ci Wu looked at the quiet Wu Monkey King beside him, a kindly smile over his face.
Wang Ba: ?
You’re actually more interested in Wu Monkey King?
Am I inferior to a monkey?
But after a second thought, he had accepted it.
In terms of talent, he might truly be inferior to the Wu Monkey King.
After all, teaching the Wu Monkey King is equivalent to teaching him. Once the Wu Monkey King learned it, he could follow suit.
Therefore, Wang Ba quickly found peace with the situation.
However, what worried him slightly was that the Wu Monkey King had already been cultivating a method for Immortal Ascension, the "Monkey God Nine Changes". It wasn’t like Wang Ba, who could practise various Cultivation Methods simultaneously.
Immediately, he put forward this problem to Ci Wu.
Ci Wu chuckled: "My lineage is called ’Unseen Power.’ The secret to it lies not in the method. Although not as versatile as your Dharma Lineage which combines many strengths, there’s no problem in concurrently practicing it with another method... Nevertheless, is this monkey willing to do so?"
Without hesitation, Wang Ba looked at Wu Monkey King, sneakily signalling him with his eyes.
The Wu Monkey King immediately knelt in front of Ci Wu obediently, kowtowing a few times.
A gratified smile appeared on Ci Wu’s face:
"Good! Good! Good!"
About to say something, he suddenly looked up, following the slowly swaying chains with his eyes.
At the end of the chains, something seemed to be changing again.
Swiftly, he beckoned the Wu Monkey King over and lightly tapped its forehead.
The Wu Monkey King instantly collapsed as if heavily drunk.
Ci Wu immediately saluted Wang Ba with a fist and palm gesture:
"Thank you, Tan Yue, I have already passed on my teachings entirely to this monkey. If Tan Yue wants to learn, feel free to do so."
His straightforwardness caught Wang Ba off guard.
"Are you not afraid that after learning, I would use it against the cultivators of Xituo Continent?"
Ci Wu just laughed and joined his palms together, his expression tranquil:
"All creatures fear consequences, Bodhisattva fears the cause."
"Today’s cause will become tomorrow’s consequence."
"There may be changes here, you should leave."
Wang Ba was taken aback.
Almost immediately, he noticed a tremor in his Spirit Beast Bag. The Wu Monkey King was instantly drawn into it.
In the blink of an eye.
He only heard a sound of flowing water in his ears, and upon regaining his senses, he found himself back where he had been before.
"Wang Ba? Where… where did you just go? How come I couldn’t see you at all?!"
Qin Lingxiao seized Wang Ba’s arm excitedly, sending him a telepathic message.
Wang Ba raised his hand toward the Sea Barrier: "I was just..."
However, he immediately fell silent.
In the Sea Barrier, the place where the monk was just standing, now only contained raging currents and Demonic Beasts swimming in them. Everything earlier seemed like a dream.
But Wang Ba knew clearly it wasn’t.
"What level of existence does this Ci Wu truly hold?"
Thinking it through, Wang Ba couldn’t find an answer even when comparing Ci Wu with everyone else he’d met.
He decided to give up on this.
Swiftly, without leaving a trace, he pulled away from Qin Lingxiao. Using the map in his mind, he summoned Fu, and set a direction.
A glimpse of excitement emerged in his heart, and he said in a low voice:
"Let’s go, we’re going home!"
...
In the Sea Barrier.
In the depths of the incessant current.
Ci Wu looked at those two men and a beast entering the mouth of a giant lizard, and then quickly swimming away. A trace of surprise flashed in his eyes.
"This... this person is quite different from the Dharma Lineage successor I know."
"However, looking out for his own interests, huh..."
As Ci Wu slowly reflected on the previous conversation, a touch of lament emerged in his eyes:
"My dear Martial Uncle Xinyuan, even if the Xituo Continent fails, a person like this must surely be able to continue your lineage, right?"
"This way, I’ll finally be able to do something."
He slowly raised his head.
The chain piercing through his scapula quietly descended.
His gaze seemed to penetrate the raging current, the massive body of the octopus blocking his view.
And then it fell on the two figures hovering in midair.
At this very moment.
Those two figures also seemed to sense something.
Their gaze fixed squarely on him.
