Chapter 68: Seven Days Of Enlightenment (1/2)

Lin Mu stopped in his tracks upon hearing senior Xukong's words.

”Now that your filial duty is complete, you can now focus on your cultivation. As for the test that I gave you, you can complete it whenever you can, as it seems like your target has disappeared.” Xukong spoke.

Lin Mu nodded inwardly and agreed with senior Xukong's words. After paying his respects to his parents and ancestors, he was indeed feeling much lighter than before. An invisible burden was lifted from his mind, making him feel free.

Lin Mu returned to his house and sat down in his room. Sitting down, he started his cultivation session. Chanting the severing heart sutra emptied his emotions, allowing him to sense things he would not be able to normally.

Lin Mu could observe the difference in his sensitivity to spirit qi. It had increased by a little bit once again. He understood that the reason for it was the fulfillment of his filial duty, but he could not understand why.

'Is this perhaps why the disciples of the cultivation sects are ordered to sever their ties to the secular world when entering the sects.' Lin Mu muttered to himself.

Senior Xukong seemed to have heard his muttering, as he spoke in his mind.

”You are correct in this aspect. The secular ties of a cultivator weigh down on their mind, dampening the progress of their cultivation. Severing them is a necessity in order to be eligible to walk on the myriad paths of the Grand Dao.” Xukong explained.

Lin Mu was deeply affected by senior Xukong's words. It was as if there was something inside him that was resonating with his thoughts. He then thought about the feeling of liberation he experienced after fulfilling his filial duty and linked it with senior Xukong's words.

Lin Mu felt that the feeling of liberation was a little similar to something he had felt before. Unknowingly as he went on this train of thought, he had stopped chanting the severing heart sutra. Instead of it, he had started chanting the calming heart sutra.

What Lin Mu grasped now was the tranquillity offered by the calming heart sutra. He correlated it with the liberating feeling and the calmness that occurred after that. Hours went by as Lin Mu pondered on his thoughts.

Slowly but steadily, Lin Mu was sinking into a state of trance. His breath had harmonized, while his mind had stilled. A bout of enlightenment filled Lin Mu's entire being as the chants of a thousand monks filled his mind.

Their esoteric and obscure chants started to make sense to him, and he started to grasp their meanings. His mind returned to the time when he first obtained the calming heart sutra. He started to remember the words he had seen imprinting in his mind, the same ones that he had forgotten.

While Lin Mu was lost in his enlightenment, Xukong was experiencing a different scenario. He saw a blinding light arising from the altar that was located in the ring. He did not dare approach the altar and stayed where he was, as after his last encounter, he did not want to suffer again.

In a surprising revelation to Xukong, it wasn't a peerless sword intent that had risen from the altar. Instead, it was the soothing and tranquilizing Buddhist aura. He felt as if an eminent Buddhist monk was chanting the sacred scriptures while banishing foul demons of the mind.

A similar effect was currently occurring in the northern town as well. The waves of Buddhist aura that were spreading from Lin Mu's body had covered the entire town and had even spread beyond it.

The residents of the town felt as if their struggles did not seem as awful as before. The earthly sufferings that a mortal suffered from, became gentle for the residents. The aggression and fights that were common once, had become rare now.

Tranquil expressions could be seen on the faces of the residents. Even the hunters and mercenaries who had recently suffered from losses came to terms with them. The mourning and acceptance, which would take a person weeks or months, was completed in a day.

The Northern forest had also become silent. Last time it had been intimated into being silent by the peerless sword intent, but this time it had become silent because of the absolute tranquillity granted by the Buddhist aura.

*****

In an elaborate courtyard there existed a luxurious mansion. Two people were currently sitting in this mansion, recuperating from their injuries. These two people were none other than the pair of grandfather and granddaughter, Jing Wei and Duan Ke.

While no physical injury could be seen on their bodies, their pale and weak appearance said otherwise. Both of them had suffered from internal injuries caused by the ward that was placed on Lin Mu by senior Xukong.