Just as his mind began to establish a connection with the Buddha statue, he did not feel anything abnormal except for a field of white covering his vision, making him dizzy.
After delicate appreciation, Lin Feng immediately discovered the profundity within.
There was nothing else in this enormous patch of white, except for radiant light.
Lin Feng could feel himself stepping into a world where only light existed.
"Pristine and extreme light… Everything else is rejected and only light remains."
The empirical nature of light was not warmth or the illumination of all beings but an absolute purity; it was a rejection of everything else.
Lin Feng was inspired. He suddenly realized that did he not exist in a similar world full of light, as a stranger and an unwanted guest?
As his train of thought stopped there, Lin Feng instantly felt the immense pressure from the brilliant light surrounding him.
There was no burning pain and neither was there a sharp one; Lin Feng could only feel the persistent rejection.
In this world, nothing else could be accepted, except for light.
Lin Feng could not feel any warmth from the boundless radiance.
These streaks of radiance were primitive and pristine, and did not carry any kind of warmth or heat; it was just pure light.
Endless, majestic and vast. One did not feel much hostility from it, but rather an unstoppable force without equal.
It was like Mount Tai crushing eggs as it easily pulverized adversity until not even ash remained.
Negative thoughts and scenes began to incessantly flicker across Lin Feng’s mind.
"I shouldn’t be existing here in the first place. Rejection is normal…"
"This place would be perfect without my existence. My entry was a mistake…"
"I can’t block it anymore. Even if I could block it for a while, I will collapse in no time. I might as well stop wasting effort as I have no hope at all…"
All kinds of messy thoughts invaded Lin Feng’s mind. Over here, there was a sense of the crushing of one’s willpower and caused them to inadvertently develop feelings of dejection and defeat.
Lin Feng had already opened his mind. Under the relentless assault of these negative emotions, he was gradually falling and crumbling.
"Eh, I think I hit jackpot." Lin Feng was elated rather than shocked as he was absolutely confident that there was only one possibility that could pressure him with such crushing force.
The Great Thunderclap Temple’s ultimate scripts of Dharma was called the Tathagata Mantras of the Compass. This was the Forever-Bright Tathagata Mantra, the Grand Celestial World’s most extensive and extreme mantra on Light.
The text of the Forever-Bright Tathagata Mantra was not printed nor was it hidden within the statue; it was hidden within the imprints and grooves made by the statue.
This pattern of markings detailed the true meaning of the Forever-Bright Tathagata Mantra.
Lin Feng endured the rejection by the Forever-Bright Light. He did not fight back or resist, but just held his position.
He relaxed his senses as he quietly absorbed and appreciated the wisdom contained within the Forever-Bright Tathagata Mantra.
"The teachings of Buddhism speak of equality and everybody can become the Buddha." Lin Feng watched the statue within the Forever-Bright Light silently as he thought to himself, "The true Buddha was not one that instilled fear, nor was it a giant one, but it was one that gave people a feeling of watching himself or herself from the previous life."
"Releasing the hearts of Buddha within people and their mindfulness, along with their understanding of their origins over thousands of lifetimes and their realization of the essence of their inner self is the wisdom of Dharma."
Just as he thought to himself, the face of the Buddha within the Forever-Bright Light began to become clear.
Its eyes were closed into slits and it wore and expression of warmth and peacefulness. It was quite unlike the fearsome and intimidating statues typically seen within temples. Instead, it emanated a rejuvenating energy that people seemed to be familiar with.
Lin Feng smiled as his expression also became one of tranquillity.
He said calmly, "Forever-Bright Light, Limitless Dharma illuminating all things. I diffuse the Forever-Bright Light into the hearts of all man so that they could attain great wisdom and freedom."
The Forever-Bright Light that was rejecting him all along softened and quietened down at this moment. It no longer rejected Lin Feng but existed harmoniously with him.
Lin Feng had completely fused with the Forever-Bright Light as one and could not be told apart as the Forever-Bright Light accepted him as part of itself.
Lin Feng’s consciousness withdrew from the lines and patterns along the rock. The Avatar of Ares laughed and pointed its finger at Zhu Yi’s forehead. "Zhu Yi, calm your mind and appreciate with care!"
The Forever-Bright Tathagata Mantra’s profound wisdom and the Forever-Bright Light’s concept of power had been wholly passed on to Zhu Yi.
Zhu Yi’s body shook as his eyes radiated.
"The art of the gentleman is remaining steadfast in the face of seduction and the temptation of treasures." Zhu Yi took deep breaths hurriedly as he tried to calm himself down.
Zhu Yi was clear about the problem of his crucible. There was unbalance between light and darkness as there as only the path of darkness but not the path of light, thus only half his crucible was complete.
Even the calm and composed Zhu Yi nearly lost his senses as he
had attained what he so greatly desired.
With such an unsteady mental state, he was definitely unable to grasp the true meaning of the Forever-Bright Tathagata Mantra.
Zhu Yi crossed his legs and shut his eyes. He was not trying to understand the mantra, but was trying to calm himself down completely. Only then did he start to seek enlightenment by studying the Forever-Bright Tathagata Mantra that Lin Feng passed on to him.
In the beginning, the pressure piled upon Zhu Yi was much greater than that of Lin Feng’s experience.
Lin Feng had completed the Aurous Core, and the steadfastness of his soul vastly surpassed Zhu Yi.
After a long while, Zhu Yi suddenly opened his eyes and light fired from within; it was an enchanting sight.
The crucible within his body’s spiritual altar that stood on two legs suddenly trembled and shot out streaks of light as it gradually formed the other two legs.
Between the explosive sounds, Zhu Yi’s crucible finally morphed into one with four legs and stood upright on his spiritual altar.
The aura of light and darkness appeared at the same time. A streak of light energy and another streak of dark energy were intertwined upon the front surface of Zhu Yi’s crucible, and faintly exhibited an understanding of the twin elements of creation.
Abnormalities on the crucible was the mark of a supreme one!
Back in the day when Lin Feng completed his own Supreme Crucible, there was a tidal wave of glowing radiance, evolution and limitless morphing of fate and fortune.
By developing the Supreme Crucible from the First Class Crucible, Zhu Yi could be said to have opened a big door of opportunity to the Grand Celestial World’s arena of cultivation.
Lin Feng was happy for Zhu Yi as he felt the change within Zhu Yi’s body.
Zhu Yi opened his eyes and returned to his standing position. He thanked Lin Feng with utmost respect and reverence, "Thank you, master. I could not have attained today’s enlightenment and fortune without your teachings and wisdom."
Lin Feng laughed and said as he shook his head, "This is the result of your own hard work. I do not dare to claim credit. There’s an old saying that goes: In the long road of cultivation after you, do not slack and remember today’s lessons and hard work."
Zhu Yi nodded his head. "I will remember this by heart."
Lin Feng continued, "Do maintain and nurture your crucible. Surely you must have noticed that previously there was no light but only darkness in your crucible. It was a huge weakness."
"But now, there is an excess of light and darkness is now slightly weaker. The disequilibrium between light and darkness may cause you problems if you want to cultivate to the Aurous Core stage in the future, even if you a Supreme Crucible."
Zhu Yi thought to himself, "The darkness may exceed light once again if I try to strengthen it, and it will remain in disequilibrium. I could enter a vicious cycle of adding to either pillar endlessly."
"I shall suppress the light for now until both parties are at an equilibrium. I will adjust again after reaching the Aurous Core stage."
Lin Feng nodded and laughed. "Good, good, good! No pain, no gain.
Taking a step back today is for advancing two more tomorrow.
You can give up momentary benefits right in front of you for the betterment of the future shows that you understand the real meaning of taking and letting go. I am extremely pleased."
Zhu Yi began to laugh as well. "I definitely still need your guidance."
Subsequently, Zhu Yi began to nurture his crucible while Lin Feng’s attention returned to the ongoing auction.
The auction was getting more heated from the popularity of the previous auctioned items.
Song Fu was in a good mood. Participants of the auction had to provide one item each to the auction and the Pavilion of Heavenly Trade had to pick the best items to auction.
Whatever the item that was being auctioned, the Pavilion of Heavenly Trade took a cut from every deal. The higher the final price of the deal, the greater the profits of the Pavilion of Heavenly Trade.
There were many arch-enemies and nemeses within the auction’s audience, and the price of the final bid was undoubtedly going to rise when these people bid against each other out of spite.
Song Fu waved his hand and revealed the next item up for auction – it was a small tower.
There were countless streaks of red lightning within the tower.
Upon closer inspection, one could see that the streaks of lightning ultimately morphed into a pillar of ember flame of considerable force.
"The name of this tower is the Red-Jewelled Thunderflash Tower.
Even though it is only a magic item of the Aurous Core stage, there were huge amounts of Scarlet Thunderous Fire stored within," Song Fu introduced the item. "As we all know, the Scarlet Thunderous Fire is one of the most powerful spiritual fire apart from the Seven Legendary Primordial Fires. It is comparable to the Great Thunderclap Temple’s Acalanatha inferno of old."
Everybody that could recognize the product sprung to life. The Seven Legendary Primordial Fires, the Six Great Primordial Waters and the Four Grand Primordial Winds were entities that one could only meet but could not ask for. Even if one did come across such an entity, taming it for cultivation was still a challenge.
One could only ask for the second-best alternative. A spiritual fire such as the Scarlet Thunderous Fire was a fantastic choice.
Song Fu announced the bidding price, "This Red-Jewelled Thunderflash tower goes for fifty red Talisman-Dollars. Every bid has to be at least one red Talisman-Dollar!"
The auction quietened down as this item was not cheap. Red talismans could only be produced by cultivators that were at least at the Aurous Core stage. Fifty red talismans, which were equal in value to five hundred green talismans and five thousand yellow talismans, would definitely be considered a huge sum.
Furthermore, this was only the starting price.
Yet when one could understand when the usefulness of the Scarlet Thunderous Fire was considered. This Red-Jewelled Thunderflash Tower was considered the pinnacle of magic items that belonged to the Aurous Core stage. Even if senior cultivators from the Nascent Soul stage would have a use for it if they purchased the spiritual fire.
"Fifty-one red Talisman-Dollars!" The bidding started in no time and rose continuously to seventy red Talisman-Dollars in the blink of an eye.
"I bid seventy-five Talisman-Dollars!"
The auction returned to silence once again as everyone’s attention shifted to a point of light.
On the Mount Shu Sword Sect’s seat, Bai Zhen laughed coldly as he said, "Lin Feng is afraid of us raising his bids. Even though he entered the venue along with Yang Tonghui of the Heavenly Master Sword Sect, it’s just a cover. The seat beside Mirror Master Miao Shihao should also belong to him or his disciple."
"This seat is the one he is using to bid." A short elder beside Bai Zhen scoffed and said, "Teach him a lesson. Let him know that his small sect is nothing in front of Mount Shu Sword Sect!"