Checking in for 100,000 Years

Chapter 986: Do You Still Remember the Ancient Realm?

The clones of the Buddha Flame Root were spread all over the vast Divine Land, countless beyond number.

Even to the Dragon Tree Buddha, these clones were rather unfamiliar.

His true body was the Formless Tree; originally his roots didn’t have so many clones, nor were they this powerful.

But after those roots were seized by that mysterious person, who knew what that person did to them—his roots began to evolve madly.

Although he had merged with the Root essence of Buddha Flame, the Dragon Tree Buddha also discovered that the Buddha Flame Root was in a state of madness, its original memories shattered and fragmented, making it extremely difficult to find any clues about the mastermind behind the scenes.

The only thing he knew was that the Buddha Flame Root’s clones were far too many, spread throughout every corner of the Divine Land, all lying dormant.

In his haste, the Dragon Tree Buddha turned and glanced back, discovering that sword-wielding God of Slaughter wasn’t far behind him at all.

The muscles on his face twitched.

That terrifying fellow had been pursuing him relentlessly, clearly determined not to stop until he was dead.

"I absolutely cannot die. The Infinite Light Buddha Lord sent me down into the Divine Land precisely to find this second Purple Buddha, and at the same time uncover the reason this person managed to cultivate into a Purple Buddha. If I die like this, how am I supposed to answer to the Buddha Lord?"

A thought surfaced in the Dragon Tree Buddha’s heart.

This Yinfuti carried an astonishing secret on his body.

The technique this person cultivated was actually also the Mahamudra Sutra.

The most frightening part was that the boundless profundities of the Buddhist Law he commanded, although slightly weaker than his own, were clearly the true transmission at a single glance.

So-called "true transmission" was equivalent to a personal teaching from the World Honoured One.

This left the Dragon Tree Buddha utterly puzzled.

Without the World Honoured One personally passing it down, how had this guy, far away in the Divine Land, successfully cultivated it?

There had to be an earth-shattering secret hidden on his body!

As the disciple of the Infinite Light Buddha Lord, the Dragon Tree Buddha absolutely had to find a way to figure out the reason.

Thinking of this, the Dragon Tree Buddha braced himself and tore through the void even faster.

And the wounds on his body had already scabbed over by now.

They were almost completely healed.

His true body was the Formless Tree; he possessed a powerful regenerative ability.

After flying out above the Land of Thousands of Buddhas—

Sensing quietly for a moment, the Dragon Tree Buddha suddenly dropped from midair, plunging headfirst into the underground space.

"So he’s burrowed into the ground?"

Ye Yun flew to the sky above, a faint smile appearing on his face as he looked down.

After entering the underground, the Dragon Tree Buddha’s speed became even faster; the heavy soil didn’t create any resistance at all.

"Just as I expected. He wants to merge all his clones back together, but he has so many of them, spread across the entire Divine Land. Who knows how long it’ll take to fuse them all..."

Ye Yun murmured softly, a trace of helplessness appearing at the corner of his mouth.

His figure flickered, and he too dropped from midair, drilling into the soil.

The Buddha Flame Root had fused with the Dragon Tree Buddha, and now it had begun gathering all its clones; this was a good thing for Ye Yun.

He would not miss such a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.

The Dragon Tree Buddha kept descending, plunging down several thousand li before he began traveling horizontally in a certain direction.

Ye Yun followed behind him.

Although the soil deep underground did offer some resistance, the effect on his speed was negligible—hardly enough to slow him down at all.

"There are actually two clones of the God Venerable Realm nearby..."

The Dragon Tree Buddha was secretly delighted.

Under his powerful summons, two earthen-yellow lights flew toward him from two different directions.

In just half a stick of incense’s time—

The two rays of light merged into his body one after another, causing the Super Divine Dragon Breath of the Dragon Tree Buddha to surge once again.

"Hehe, I really ought to thank that mysterious person who cut me with a Sword back then. If not for him, how could my roots possess so many clones?"

The Dragon Tree Buddha smiled faintly, his heart filled with confidence.

Without a doubt, that fellow behind him would never be able to catch up, especially after they entered the deep underground where the soil obstructed things; the other party’s speed seemed to be affected ever so slightly.

Though the effect was subtle, over a long pursuit the distance between them would naturally widen.

Therefore—

The Dragon Tree Buddha instead felt relieved now.

As long as he kept seeking out clones and fusing them into his main body, his strength would continue to climb.

Especially if he could find more clones of the Divine King Realm—once his cultivation base reached the God King Realm Layer Ten, or even half a step into the God Emperor Realm, he would be able to easily suppress that fellow behind him.

The Dragon Tree Buddha sped through the underground without pause, while Ye Yun tailed him unhurriedly.

One fled and one chased, the two of them traveling through the vast underground of the Divine Land.

Time flew by rapidly.

In the blink of an eye, seven days had passed.

The Dragon Tree Buddha had successively merged with seventy to eighty clones of the Buddha Flame Root, though all of them were only of the God Venerable Realm.

His strength had indeed increased, but there was still a huge gap compared to his original expectations.

"This won’t do..."

The Dragon Tree Buddha grew somewhat anxious.

If things continued at this pace, without ten or eight years, he would never be able to overwhelm that fellow behind him in terms of strength.

"Buddha Flame Root!"

A strand of the Dragon Tree Buddha’s Divine Sense instantly entered the Sea of Knowledge World of the Buddha Flame Root.

Although he had merged with the Buddha Flame Root, strictly speaking, the two of them had never fused their mental consciousness.

After all, after tens of millions of years, this Buddha Flame Root was no longer the root system of his past; it had long since been modified and evolved into another form entirely.

And this Buddha Flame Root had been in a constant state of madness, forcibly suppressed by the Dragon Tree Buddha.

"Not suppressing me anymore?"

Within the Sea of Knowledge, a young man in plain clothes stood amid Buddha light, a crazed look on his face as he stared at the purple Monk opposite him and let out a mocking laugh.

"You and I were originally one. The reason I suppressed you was because your state was unstable..."

The Dragon Tree Buddha sighed lightly.

After being constantly suppressed by him, the frenzied state of the Buddha Flame Root in the Sea of Knowledge had indeed been somewhat restrained.

"Tens of millions of years ago, you and I may have been one, but later I gained my own fortune and have long since become an entirely new lifeform. This time, being sneak-attacked and fused by you was my mistake!"

The plain-clothed youth sneered.

The Dragon Tree Buddha’s expression brightened, and he said with hope, "So you still remember the events from tens of millions of years ago!"

"I remember a little, but not much."

The plain-clothed youth spoke coldly.

He truly remembered only a little. After all, his current memories were shattered; he couldn’t clearly recall many things.

Including who had made him evolve, and by what methods that evolution had been accomplished—he had no idea about any of these processes.

The Dragon Tree Buddha’s face grew serious as he said evenly, "That Yinfuti behind us has been relentlessly chasing us. His swordsmanship is Profound Swordsmanship, extremely formidable, capable of inflicting tremendous damage on our physical body..."

"So what? The one who dies will be you, old ghost, not me!"

The plain-clothed youth mocked.

"I won’t die. This wisp of my Divine Sense can leave the world of the Divine Land at a critical moment..."

The Dragon Tree Buddha’s face was cold as he spoke bluntly.

The plain-clothed youth fell silent, as if trying to recall something.

After a moment, he raised his head, the madness on his face receding slightly as he said coolly, "Leave the Divine Land? What kind of joke is that? You think you can return to the Ancient Realm?"

"You still remember the Ancient Realm?"

The Dragon Tree Buddha was slightly startled, then his gaze turned distant, as if he had recalled some exceedingly ancient memories.

"I don’t remember it clearly, but I do remember that the Formless Tree came from the Ancient Realm. I’m not wrong about that, am I?"

The plain-clothed youth spread his hands as he spoke.

"You’re not wrong. The Formless Tree is not a species of the Divine Land, but hails from the distant Ancient Realm!"

Though the Dragon Tree Buddha’s face remained indifferent, when he recalled his homeland, a faintly desolate look surfaced in his eyes.