Chapter 479: How Could One Become a Buddha?

Lin Xun was settled in a detached courtyard within the imperial palace.

This courtyard was of a very large scale, and several maidservants were arranged for Lin Xun within it.

These maidservants were all of different races, each possessing strange tails and ears, yet they maintained human forms, presenting a uniquely appealing appearance.

According to what Peony said, these maidservants were Lin Xun’s Bed-warming Attendants, and he could do whatever he wished with them.

Although Peony said that, Lin Xun never considered doing anything of the sort to them.

Lin Xun could sense it.

Peony did not intend to do anything to him; she had no intention of truly harming him.

After all, he was in her territory; if she wanted to harm him, she wouldn’t need to go through such elaborate measures.

Not only that, but Peony also gave Lin Xun a token.

With this token, Lin Xun could freely come and go within the imperial palace, and no one dared to stop him.

Naturally, Lin Xun did not stand on ceremony with Peony, as this was part of their deal.

After accepting the token, Lin Xun first went to see Honeysuckle.

After all, Honeysuckle was unaware that he had come to the Wild Domain.

When Honeysuckle saw Lin Xun, her eyes lit up.

Truthfully, Honeysuckle never expected Lin Xun to find his way here.

Lin Xun and Honeysuckle briefly caught up on each other’s affairs, and Lin Xun also learned of Honeysuckle’s thoughts.

The illness afflicting Honeysuckle’s grandfather had already been cured by Peony.

For Honeysuckle, curing her grandfather’s illness was an immense favor.

To repay this debt to Peony, Honeysuckle told Lin Xun she did not plan to leave the Wild Domain.

Lin Xun could understand Honeysuckle’s choice.

After all, in Honeysuckle’s heart, the Border Town was just a small place, and she held no particular attachment to it.

Not only that, but even if she returned to that small town, she would still need to constantly guide outsiders or certain hunters.

And almost every time, she would be risking her life for a meager living expense.

Instead, here in the Wild Domain, as Peony’s maidservant, she could live quite well.

After conversing with Honeysuckle, Lin Xun left the imperial palace to tour the city.

Merely listening to others’ descriptions of a place’s local customs and culture is insufficient.

Lin Xun needed to see the place for himself.

Only then could he gain the deepest understanding.

However, as the only Human Race member, Lin Xun was far too conspicuous, so he draped himself in a cloak.

Over the next three days, Lin Xun wandered through these four cities every day.

These four cities were actually very large.

Combined, their area was equivalent to that of a medium-to-large Dynasty within the Mortal World of the Myriad Laws World.

Thus, what Lin Xun could cover in three days was merely a corner of these four cities.

From the mouths of some commoners in these four cities, Lin Xun subtly gleaned their views on their City Lord.

The common people were actually very reverent towards their City Lord.

Many even smiled when speaking of Peony.

From this, it could be seen that Peony was, at the very least, a wise ruler.

And the residents of these several cities were all Cultivators.

This situation of an entire populace being soldiers was truly terrifying.

After all, the combined population of these four cities already exceeded ten million… an army of over ten million Cultivators.

It would pose no significant problem to swallow up a major Sect.

Lin Xun also visited several taverns and teahouses, sitting inside for a while.

Before this, Peony had given Lin Xun a bag of stones.

The more crystalline and translucent these stones were, the higher their value seemed to be.

These stones were locally known as Firefly Stones, a common form of currency.

Three days later, Lin Xun returned to the imperial palace.

Every day from noon until before dinner, Lin Xun would converse with Peony.

Outside of these times, Lin Xun would go out again to wander the city.

Two months passed.

Within these two months, Lin Xun had become quite familiar with the local customs and culture of the four Dragon Cities.

Furthermore, from Peony’s accounts, Lin Xun also learned about the customs and cultures of other Dynasties and kingdoms within the Wild Domain, as well as their relationships with the Dragon Cities.

There were a total of forty-six powers within the Wild Domain.

Some Dynastic powers formed alliances, while others were hostile, constantly warring with each other.

Beyond the territories controlled by these forty-six Dynasties, there was also a vast Domain.

Every year, many Dynasties would send people to explore this Domain.

Sometimes they would obtain unknown treasures, but more often than not, the explorers would perish within, unable to return.

Lin Xun had seen the map.

Overall, these sixteen Wild Domain Dynasties and kingdoms had a total area equivalent to the combined area of three major continents in the Myriad Laws World.

This was already considered extremely vast.

Lin Xun also learned that the fiery woman his Master mentioned seeing in his diary

was actually the Empress of the Blazing Fire Kingdom.

The Blazing Fire Kingdom maintained a relatively neutral position.

Their ruler’s temperament disliked engaging in warfare with others and also disliked forming alliances.

The reason his Master was pursued back then

was somewhat embarrassing.

It was because his Master accidentally saw the Empress of the Blazing Fire Kingdom bathing.

But to be fair,

looking at the portrait of that Blazing Fire Kingdom Empress,

she didn’t look much like a woman at all.

Moreover, her bathing took place in a sea of fire.

Recalling his Master’s description from that time,

the old man probably never imagined that a strange creature covered in flames, within that sea of fire, was actually bathing.

“Two months from now, there is a Monarchs’ Conference. If you wish to attend, I can take you with me.”

During one of their afternoon conversations, the dragon girl said to Lin Xun slowly.

Through their interactions during this period, Peony knew that Lin Xun was actually quite a decent person.

At the very least, during their conversations, he had never lied to her.

And although this fellow liked to wander about, he never caused any trouble.

Not only that, but he also exercised extreme restraint regarding his formidable power.

He did not look down on others because of how powerful he was.

She had already seen far too many people who, having obtained great power, lost their way, became blind to themselves, felt superior, and ultimately met their demise.

Of course, the girl actually harbored a small thought that Lin Xun would never guess.

That was, in the girl’s view, the Human Race was far too precious, like her most treasured toy.

And the girl wanted to bring Lin Xun to the Monarchs’ Conference.

It actually also contained a small sense of pride in wanting to show off her toy to others.

Of course, calling him a toy was just a manner of speaking; in the girl’s heart, she and Lin Xun were equal allies.

It was merely an analogy.

“Monarchs’ Conference?”

Hearing the girl’s words, Lin Xun was taken aback.

“Is it really alright for me to attend such a conference?”

“It’s fine.”

In our land, strength is respected above all.

If you wished, you could even establish your own Dynasty and become a Monarch yourself.

Moreover, you can pose as my personal guard; your identity won’t be exposed.

So, will you go?”

“In that case, I thank Miss Peony.

Miss Peony has helped me with such a matter.

I am not one who likes to owe favors.

If Miss Peony ever needs assistance, as long as it’s not too excessive, I will certainly help.”

“Mm, I understand.”

Peony nodded.

“Continue telling me that story about Mu Jin.

You said Mu Jin encountered a Buddhist girl before.

But didn’t you say Buddhism only accepts male Disciples? Why was there a girl?”

These past days, Peony had run out of questions to ask.

So then Peony wanted to hear stories.

Lin Xun wasn’t much of a storyteller.

Thus, Lin Xun recounted his own experiences to Peony, and Peony listened as if they were magnificent tales, developing an intense interest in Lin Xun’s various adventures.

Of course, in the stories, Lin Xun merely used an alias, Mu Jin.

Just yesterday, Lin Xun had reached the part where the Cultivator named Mu Jin encountered Wang Chen (Wang Chen), who had just left the Ten Thousand Buddhas Sacred Land to undergo trials in the Mortal World.

“That’s right. Buddhist Disciples are indeed only male; originally, there were no female Disciples.

But because that girl named Wang Chen was adopted into the Buddhist Sect and had an affinity with Buddhism, she was exceptionally accepted as a female Disciple.

After encountering that Cultivator named Mu Jin, Wang Chen became entangled with him. She kept following him, wanting to convert him.”

Peony asked, “And then? Did this Wang Chen truly convert Mu Jin?”

Lin Xun smiled and shook his head:

“Convert? In this world, what exactly constitutes conversion?

Was that Mu Jin righteous or evil, right or wrong? How can one clearly define such things?

Perhaps later on, that girl named Wang Chen couldn’t even determine whether the person she wanted to convert was truly a Devil Head.

Instead, later on,

the girl Wang Chen seemed to develop a rather strange sense of dependence on this Mu Jin.

When this dependence reached a certain level, she no longer wanted to leave Mu Jin…”

Lin Xun continued telling the story to Peony, speaking of Luo City, speaking of the Secret Realm.

Peony listened attentively. As the sun set, they knew their conversation for the day was about to end.

“This man is so strange.”

Before Lin Xun left, after a moment of contemplation, Peony said this to him.

“Strange? Why do you find him strange?”

Lin Xun was also a bit puzzled.

“Because that girl named Wang Chen clearly loved that man named Mu Jin.

That man Mu Jin must have known she loved him.

So why did he leave?

“Of course, it’s because that man already had his own wife, so he didn’t want to hold her back.

Besides, Wang Chen’s Dao path held limitless prospects.

If Wang Chen fell in love with him, she would be descending into the Mortal World, affecting her cultivation.

So, both emotionally and rationally, Mu Jin dared not accept her feelings.”

Lin Xun explained.

However, upon hearing Lin Xun’s explanation, Peony fell into thought again.

Shortly after, Peony still shook her head:

“Something’s not right, it still feels off… I feel that man named Mu Jin was overthinking things!

How could anyone think that way?

Love is a matter between two people.

She loves him, and he loves her.

Isn’t that perfectly normal?

Besides, can men in the Myriad Laws World only marry one wife?

From what I understand from Honeysuckle, in your Myriad Laws World, a man can have many wives.

If that’s the case, then why does the notion of ‘holding her back’ even exist?

And if it truly would affect the girl’s cultivation,

then wouldn’t this attitude of Mu Jin’s also be affecting her?

Although I don’t understand much about Buddhism,

cultivation seeks clarity of mind and unobstructed thoughts.

If Wang Chen’s thoughts are not even clear and unobstructed, how could she become a Buddha?

How could she possibly see through the Mortal World?”

“…”

Listening to Peony’s words, Lin Xun fell silent for a moment, unsure how to explain.

Peony even gave Lin Xun a feeling.

That she saw things more clearly than he did.

It seemed he truly was as Peony described.

For a moment, Lin Xun’s mind was somewhat unsettled.

Had he truly been so wrong?

Leaving Peony’s room, Lin Xun returned to his own courtyard.

Sitting in the courtyard, Lin Xun pondered for a long time.

Three more days passed.

On this day, Lin Xun did not go to see the cities but set out early in the morning with Peony.

Because Lin Xun didn’t want to expose his identity, he wore a cloak that could block Divine Sense detection.

This cloak was undoubtedly a treasure of immortal-grade quality, adorned with intricate dragon patterns and flowing with spiritual power.

Upon wearing it, Lin Xun even noticed fine dragon scales upon it.

Looking at Lin Xun wearing this cloak, Peony blinked a few times but didn’t say anything more.

“What is it?”

Seeing Peony looking as if she wanted to say something but stopped herself, Lin Xun asked.

“Nothing. This garment suits you quite well when you wear it.

It’s getting late, so let’s hurry and go.”

Without further ado, Peony lowered the carriage curtain.

Carried by several Titan Giants (named by Lin Xun; these giants were actually called Mountain Ridge Tribe), an enormous palanquin, followed by the Iron Cavalry, moved step by step towards the direction of a city.

And Lin Xun naturally mounted a Headless Horse and followed behind.

Gazing at the city not far away, Lin Xun grew even more curious.

What kind of existences would those so-called City Lords be?