Wujian Temple
Early next morning.
"The trial grounds, Wujian Temple, are now open. All disciples, please enter..."
The resonant heavenly voice echoed in her ears. Yingshi, who had been drowsy from a lack of sleep, was instantly wide awake.
What in the world was Wujian Temple?
In the book, the second round of the Heavenly Dipper Martial Tournament was supposed to take place in the Blood Rain Dense Forest. Unlike the Snowy Plains of the Heavenly Mountain, the dense forest was filled with various demonic beasts, and the clearing mechanism was monster hunting and survival.
When the hundred participants were eliminated down to the last ten, the survivors would enter the final stage: the Pagoda of Stupas.
Then came the very traditional tower-climbing and heart-questioning segment. The higher the floor reached, the higher the final ranking.
Yingshi remembered it clearly; there was absolutely no trial named Wujian Temple in the middle. Did the Heavenly Dipper Martial Tournament have backup exam questions?
What should she do? Now she was completely in the dark again.
Although her golden finger of knowing the plot had never really helped her from the beginning, having it repeatedly stripped away still made her panic.
Before she could properly prepare, a familiar white light descended. The hundred disciples on the teleportation platform, including Yingshi, were unceremoniously sent into the examination grounds.
After everyone vanished, another figure in white walked onto the platform.
She slightly lifted the white veil of her bamboo hat, nodded towards the void, and then quickly let the veil drop back down.
The white light flashed again, and the platform was completely empty.
...
Yingshi opened her eyes in a daze.
It's so yellow... For a moment, this crude and simple thought was the only thing left in her mind.
Dusky yellow. The sky and the earth were the exact same earthy hue, yet there was no smell of dust in the air. It was as if she had stepped into an antique painting that had weathered the passage of time.
The environment was incredibly bizarre, but what was even more bizarre was that the disciples hadn't been separated. At this very moment, everyone was standing uniformly in front of a massive ancient temple, looking at each other in dismay!
"This... what is the meaning of Wujian Temple? What are we supposed to do?"
"The heavenly voice hasn't introduced it yet. Let's wait and see for now."
"How strange... This time around, the disciples weren't separated!"
"My master previously participated in setting the questions for past Heavenly Dipper Martial Tournaments. In all the formats he told me about, there was never one where everyone was placed together right at the start."
"Could it be that after discovering demonic cultivators in the preliminaries, the immortal masters temporarily decided to change the exam format?"
As Yingshi listened to everyone talking, she looked around. Unfortunately, she didn't spot a single familiar figure. She also noticed that there weren't exactly a hundred people present, though there were likely around seventy or eighty.
The vast majority of the disciples shared the same starting point, so where did the rest of them go?
Unable to find anyone, Yingshi had no choice but to wait obediently with the crowd, quietly anticipating the heavenly voice to announce the rules of the trial.
They waited and waited. Gradually, the low murmurs of conversation died down.
The entire crowd stood in dead silence. Just as Yingshi was beginning to suspect that this round was actually testing who could sit still the longest, the wooden doors of the ancient temple ahead creaked open.
The doors opened, but there was no one inside.
An empty courtyard, dilapidated halls, and... exposed to everyone's view, a towering giant Buddha.
To say it was towering might be a slight exaggeration. The Buddha statue was about as tall as a pagoda, requiring one to crane their neck sharply to see its entirety. The bizarre thing was that before the temple doors opened, they hadn't seen the outline of this statue at all, even though it was clearly tall enough to loom over the courtyard walls.
"Look, there's a stone stele in the courtyard, and it seems something is written on it!" someone standing in the front row shouted.
"Who will read it? Or should we all go inside to take a look?"
"Calm down, let's wait for the people in front to read the contents of the stele to us."
"Why? If you want to see it, go in and look yourself. Don't forget that we are all competitors; everyone only needs to be responsible for themselves!"
"Oh, and how do you know this round isn't testing teamwork? Otherwise, why would they gather us all together?"
"But there are also disciples who aren't here. Who says being in the same place means we're all allies?"
As a few particularly active individuals argued back and forth, Yingshi took the opportunity to squeeze to the front row to look at the stele.
White characters on a black background formed a lengthy passage:
"Those who enter these doors are all bearers of sin, having fallen into this infinite hell due to the karmic debts of their past lives. However, the Buddha's dharma is merciful and grants you a sliver of hope.
The giant Buddha within the temple is the foundation that guards this realm. Yet, its dharma body has crumbled, and the Buddha's light is gradually extinguishing, causing an imbalance of yin and yang and giving rise to evil thoughts.
You must take on the roles of artisans to rebuild the Buddha's body. The limit is eighty stonemasons, twenty painters, and one chanting monk. Use the ink of merit to trace its golden form and immaculate stone to mend its dharma body. The time limit is seven days."
After quickly reading it, Yingshi came to a simple conclusion: the content of this trial was to reside in Wujian Temple as artisans and rebuild the golden body of the giant Buddha within seven days.
... It felt quite strange. It definitely couldn't be this simple!
Yingshi looked up with a serious expression, examining the incomplete body of the giant Buddha. Repairing it was indeed a massive project, but the key issue was that this task made it very difficult to establish criteria for elimination.
If those who put in less physical effort were eliminated, then they wouldn't be selecting the outstanding talents of the cultivation world's younger generation; they would just be picking manual laborers.
Therefore, something else was bound to happen in the temple to create eliminations.
"This stone stele is acting in place of the heavenly voice, isn't it?" someone else who had finished reading the inscription realized. "Everyone, save your breath and stop arguing. It seems this Wujian Temple is truly a trial that requires teamwork!"
"The eighty stonemasons must refer to us? Plus the other twenty painters who aren't with us... but why is there an extra chanting monk? Weren't there only one hundred disciples who advanced?"
"... By the way, do you guys feel like spiritual energy doesn't work in this place?"
As soon as these words were spoken, the entire crowd fell silent for half a minute. Presumably, everyone was secretly trying to circulate their energy, and the result was obvious—there was a restriction on spiritual energy within Wujian Temple.
But as the most authoritative assessment for rookies in the cultivation world, wasn't it putting the cart before the horse for the Heavenly Dipper Martial Tournament not to test the depth of spiritual energy and cultivation level, which were the most important things for cultivators?
This second round of the exam was strange in every aspect, and Yingshi couldn't help but feel anxious. What she was most concerned about right now was where the painters were! To be precise, where Shuangjian was.
Regardless, they had to go into the temple eventually... Perhaps the painters were already inside?
Yingshi hesitated for a moment before making the first move. Braving the complex gazes of the crowd, she took the lead and stepped through the temple doors.
Thus, the people outside saw that the disciple wearing the Yunshui Sect uniform had disappeared. In her place stood a young female artisan wearing gray cloth garments and a cloth hat in the courtyard.
Whoa, there's even a one-click outfit change!
"Let's hurry and go in too!"
With someone taking the first step, the rest swarmed forward, all pouring into the temple.
Once they actually walked inside, they discovered that the interior space had expanded quite unscientifically, being several times larger than what they had observed from the outside.
However, the giant Buddha seemed to have shrunk a size, now only standing three to four meters tall.
Yingshi kept a proper distance from the Buddha statue, observing it cautiously. Although its volume had shrunk considerably, the remaining majesty was still imposing.
The giant Buddha's head was damaged, a crack ran across its shoulder, its entire left arm was missing, and two fingers were gone from its right hand.
The torso was relatively intact, but the surface had countless pits and the colorful painting had completely peeled off, revealing the dark brown stone body underneath. The remaining gold paint was dull and mottled, resembling dried blood.
Yingshi looked at the giant Buddha's half-closed eyes and felt a little uncomfortable. Even though it was a very conventional image of compassion, it still gave her the creeps.
"...It seems someone is coming!" someone in the crowd warned.
Indeed, several footsteps were approaching. Yingshi turned her head to look and saw a slender figure stepping out first from the narrow door on the opposite side of the courtyard.
The person was dressed in a faded moon-white long gown, his dark hair loosely tied up with a plain wooden hairpin. A few stray strands fell by his neck, making his skin look even more coldly pale. He truly looked like a down-and-out painter, noble and elegant, forming a sharp contrast with all the dusty stonemasons present.
Were the painters' clothes more gorgeous than the stonemasons'?
It didn't seem so. For example, the other painters following behind him did not look so unattainable.
Everyone's robes were clearly wrinkled from over-washing, and their hair ornaments were pitifully shabby, looking as if they hadn't had a full meal in years.
Seeing the leading painter walking straight towards them, a tall and sturdy man in the stonemasons' team stepped to the front with a serious expression. He raised his arm to block the way, stared closely at the newcomer's face, and said sternly, "Stonemasons, painters, and chanting monks might be three different factions. Before we figure out the method to advance, it's better not to contact each other! Please keep your distance from us first!"
Before he could finish his eviction order, a young stonemason girl had already quickly ducked under his arm and ran towards the painter.
"Didn't you hear what I said! Why are you still going over there?!" The tall and sturdy man subconsciously wanted to stop this reckless girl who was defecting to the enemy, but just as he was about to make a move, the maverick painter opposite him shot him a cold glance.
The man froze for a few seconds. By the time he reacted, the young stonemason girl had already approached the painter's side.
She rushed so eagerly that her footing was unsteady. The painter even gently helped her stand firm, and then the two began to speak in low voices.
"You scared me to death. I thought this trial was divided into side maps, and we wouldn't be able to see each other because of our different identities!" Yingshi whispered.
The inexplicable awkwardness from last night was long gone from her heart. Seeing Shuangjian again, she only felt an immense sense of reliance.
"How do you feel?" Shuangjian frowned slightly and asked her with concern.
Yingshi paused for a moment, pursed her lips, and smiled. "I feel... you look really good in this outfit!"
"..." Shuangjian's long eyelashes clearly trembled. He seemed to quickly look down and examine his own attire before saying somewhat unnaturally, "I'm asking, how is your body feeling? Is there any discomfort?"
"Oh! I'm fine. I just felt a bit of chest tightness and shortness of breath when I first came in, but I'm much better now."
Shuangjian gazed at her slightly reddened ears and said in a voice that only the two of them could hear, "A mystic art has been cast in the Infernal Temple. The suppression of spiritual power will also affect the blood pact. You and I still need to consolidate the pact once more here."
"...Is it still just a blending of blood and tears?"
"Yes."
"Alright, then let's do it early, just in case," Yingshi muttered.
Seeing the two of them talking as if there was no one else around, the tall and sturdy man really couldn't help but want to stop them, but someone behind him called out to him.
"Why meddle in other people's business? Don't you recognize who those two are?"
Someone nearby, upon hearing this reminder, suddenly realized, "Oh, are they the senior brother and junior sister from the Cloud Water Sect?"
The tall and sturdy man said crossly, "So what if they are from the same sect?! In the second round of the trial, factions are not divided by sects!"
"You really turn a deaf ear to what's going on outside... By the way, why are you so sure that stonemasons, painters, and chanting monks are divided into three factions? The number of people in the three identities is different. The Heavenly Dipper Martial Gathering wouldn't set up such a severely unbalanced test."
"Exactly."
An exceptionally elderly voice interjected, causing everyone to look toward the sound.
They saw an old monk with white eyebrows and beard slowly walking out from the narrow door, supported by a painter beside him. It was actually Duan Qinghe, who had a respectful posture.
The old monk stood still in front of the crowd, performed a Buddhist salute, and said slowly, "We gather here all for atonement. Whether a stonemason or a painter, it is merely a raft to cross the sea of suffering, a worldly body to build merit. You all need not argue over these meaningless physical forms."
"...Could it be that you are the chanting monk?" a disciple asked in confusion.
"Not so." The old monk smiled and shook his head. "The chanting monks have been guarding the Chanting Pavilion for a long time. This poor monk is nothing but an ordinary sweeping monk in the Infernal Temple."
He opened his palm, holding two items: a translucent white stone and a block of golden ink.
"These are the Immaculate Stone and the Merit Ink," the old monk introduced. "Starting today, everyone will receive a fixed ration of this in their rooms every day. Stonemasons get the stone, painters get the ink. Not a bit more, not a bit less. As long as everyone keeps to their duty and uses all the items they receive daily to repair the Buddha's body, in seven days, the solemn and majestic appearance of the Buddha will be restored."
"Will we get them today?"
"That's right, you can all go back to your rooms to verify it." The old monk put the stone and ink back into his sleeve and raised his hand to point to the west of the temple, where several rows of houses stood. "After the sunset bell rings, worldly ties will temporarily rest, and you should all return to your respective places. One person per room, one door, one world. After dark, everything is silent. It is the time to cleanse the dust of the heart. Remember... do not disturb this peace."
One person per room, that means living alone!
...But if visiting each other is not allowed, what should they do?
Yingshi turned her head to look at Shuangjian.
Shuangjian also lowered his eyes to look at her. As soon as their eyes met, Yingshi immediately mouthed the words, "What do we do?" But Shuangjian shook his head slightly at her.
Someone from the crowd threw out another question, "Senior, regarding this Merit Ink and Immaculate Stone, if even one person's share is missing, will it be insufficient to repair the Buddha's body?"
The old monk smiled and nodded, saying profoundly, "Since it is a fixed number, naturally there cannot be any shortage."
"Then we can just supervise each other while working."
The old monk was noncommittal about this. He just turned his head to look at the giant Buddha, bowed, and chanted a Buddha's name, "Amitabha. The Buddha's heart is like a mirror, capable of observing all living beings... I hope you all take care of yourselves."
After speaking, he actually closed his eyes and began to meditate on the spot.
Some people still had doubts and wanted to ask the old monk for clarification, but an extremely dull bell rang immediately:
"Dong—"
The sound had no source, as if it rang out of thin air above the temple, sounding equally clear and real in everyone's ears.
Everyone was somewhat stunned, and Yingshi was too, but she quickly grabbed Shuangjian's sleeve and pulled him toward the houses.
The old monk had said that after the evening bell rang, they had to return to their respective rooms, otherwise who knew what kind of trouble would happen!
"Dong—"
The second bell followed closely.
The incredibly dim twilight instantly turned to night. The tolling of the evening bell seemed to carry some unquestionable power of rules. It gave no time to react, merely declaring coldly that the hour had arrived.
With someone leading the run, naturally more people caught on. Unfortunately, everyone was unable to circulate their spiritual energy to use Flash Step, so they could only sprint together towards the houses in a hundred-meter dash, hurriedly fighting for rooms. During the process, there was no shortage of shoving and shouting, like "I saw this room first!"
"Dong—"
The third bell tolled like a final ultimatum.
The area around the giant Buddha was already completely empty. Even the meditating sweeping monks were nowhere to be seen, and the doors of all the houses were tightly shut.
Thus, night fell upon Wujian Temple.
"..."
Time was really tight!
Yingshi leaned against the door, calming her slightly ragged breathing.
She hadn't even had time to agree with Shuangjian on the subsequent arrangements to consolidate their blood pact. Fortunately, the two of them were not far apart; he was right next door. Otherwise, just the symbiotic dependency suppressed by the mystic arts would be enough to make her miserable!
Yingshi observed the room she was in. This room was quite cramped, containing only a bed and a set of table and chairs. At this moment, at the head of the bed, there was indeed a stone identical to the Immaculate Stone the old monk had shown earlier, faintly emitting a luminescent glow.
Yingshi approached carefully, pinched the stone in her hand, and examined it closely.
How could this thing... be used as a patching material?
It was clearly not made of the same material as the currently exposed core of the giant Buddha.
This prop should just serve a symbolic purpose, right?
Wujian Temple, a level not written about in the original book, felt a bit like a large-scale live-action role-playing game to her.
After the old monk appeared, it felt like it had jumped to the scene of a "rules-based horror story."
Rules like having to stay indoors at night and not being allowed to visit each other privately sounded incredibly bizarre right off the bat!
It would be best if this second round of testing didn't have any scary elements, otherwise she wouldn't be able to handle it...
Yingshi's heart tightened little by little with her various imaginations. When her gaze continued to sweep across the empty walls and finally landed on the closed door, a sudden chill ran down her spine—
On the inside of that ordinary wooden door, there was neither a latch nor any mechanism to lock it!
This meant she couldn't lock the door from the inside!
...Damn it, wouldn't some weird thing break in during the middle of the night?!
Yingshi's head buzzed, and she instinctively jumped to the wall adjacent to Shuangjian's room, leaning her whole body against it.
She tried hard to recall what the old monk had said at the time. Besides saying they couldn't visit each other, did he say everyone had to keep quiet and not talk?
...It seemed there were indeed words about peace and quiet!
Yingshi could only swallow hard, clinging to the wall like a gecko, pulling a long face as she suppressed her urge to knock on the wall and call for Shuangjian.
Although she desperately hoped to establish some connection with Shuangjian, in order not to violate the rules and invite trouble, it was better to just stay put for now.
But an indescribable, brief syllable still echoed in the silent room, coming from inside the wall pressed right against her ear.
...That was the sound of a solid object scraping.
It sounded like something heavy and dry was deforming.
Before Yingshi had time to spring away, a blue brick on the wall beside her, which originally looked no different from the other bricks, suddenly caved inward silently.
One inch, two inches... the square brick continued to retract until it was completely removed by someone, revealing a hole that connected the two separated rooms.
Yingshi stood frozen in place, staring blankly at a slender, fair hand with distinct knuckles, reaching out silently from that hole just large enough to accommodate an arm, opening its palm toward her.
—It was a posture waiting to be held.
Actually... objectively speaking, this was clearly a very terrifying scene.
In a bizarre temple, a hand reaching through a broken wall, with a red string worn on the wrist.
In reality, Yingshi had read a ghost story related to a red string. It was about taking an elevator in a hospital and learning that all the dead in the morgue wore a red string on their wrists, only to see that the nurse sharing the ride happened to be wearing one... She was getting sidetracked.
In short, she didn't feel the slightest bit of horror or terror, because this was Shuangjian's hand. It was the silent comfort he conveyed to her by breaking down the barrier.
"..."
Yingshi's rapid breathing calmed down slightly. All the anxiety in her heart churned together and turned into drifting clouds.
She slowly grasped Shuangjian's hand, drawing from it a warmth that made her feel incredibly safe.
Even if they couldn't speak and she couldn't lock the door, having a warm hand to hold made it feel like it wasn't a big deal.
Thank goodness, she still had her companion, boohoo!
Yingshi rested her head against the wall as well. With sparkling eyes, she gently hooked her pinky finger around Shuangjian's finger.
A pinky promise.
