Chapter 318: Dream Awakening

A Bodhisattva sat cross-legged under a Bodhi tree, its physical body emitting a subtle fragrance, and yet a demon saint had descended there. This was truly bizarre!

Chu Feng's mind and spirit were utterly shaken. He felt an astonishing aura sweep over from the opposite side, so overwhelming that he could barely endure it. Had he not carved a symbol on the ground at the crucial moment, he likely wouldn't have been able to remain standing.

This was a field-related technique; the inexplicable energy he endured was channeled down through his feet. At that moment, he felt as if he had merged with this Buddhist pure land, enabling him to withstand the pressure.

Opposite him, the massive Bodhi tree, so wide it would take six or seven people to encircle, had long since withered and died. Not a single leaf remained, and even its branches were decaying. In the past, it was likely a divine tree, but it had continuously endured some inexplicable force, rendering it incredibly fragile. Some branches had rotted away and broken off.

How could this be?

Chu Feng observed that the golden-bodied Bodhisattva and the demon saint remained motionless, as if frozen in a painting. A terrifying, overwhelming aura filled the air. If not for the symbol beneath his feet, he would likely have been unable to bear it and would have been pressed to the ground.

"Hmm?!"

As he thought of this, he looked around. The great demons of Kunlun Mountain lay scattered on the ground. Could they all have been suppressed in this way? Were their lives in danger?!

Chu Feng was anxious, but he forced himself to calm down, knowing that if there had been any danger after such a long time, it would have already occurred.

Chu Feng took a step, carving a symbol on the ground with each stride. Otherwise, he feared he wouldn't be able to bear it and would be suppressed by an inexplicable aura. The source, of course, was the Bodhisattva and the demon saint!

Along the way, clusters of bright flames flickered. They were Buddhist lights, yet they seemed like bonfires burning. Soon, Chu Feng was greatly surprised. When he got closer, he saw what the clusters of Buddhist light truly were: tiny, invisible, crystalline particles, burning without extinguishing for thousands of years.

Could these be sarira?

A sarira had once exploded, scattering everywhere and transforming into Buddhist light, forming flames. After a long time, a small amount of residue from this sarira still remained, unextinguished. This was simply terrifying. How powerful must the complete sarira have been, if even a tiny remnant could form astonishing energy? This was truly astounding.

Chu Feng carefully sensed and realized that most of the energy in this Buddhist ruin was provided by these remaining sarira, emanating outwards. Fortunately, its energy was peaceful and not accompanied by killing intent; otherwise, this place might have become a dead end.

Chu Feng gasped, truly realizing how terrifying the ancient great evolutionary masters were. Compared to them, the gap in strength was enormous. He stared at the clusters of Buddhist light; within the flames, a blurry golden-bodied old monk seemed to be sitting cross-legged.

"A golden-bodied Arhat!"

Chu Feng guessed that this sarira belonged to a golden-bodied Arhat, not a Bodhisattva. If an Arhat's sarira could be like this, it truly made him feel powerless. He thought of Yellow Ox's words: cultivators in the Carefree Realm would only be considered minor demons in star worlds with higher energy densities. A great battle must have occurred here in ancient times!

Finally, drawing closer, Chu Feng saw the Horse King. It had transformed into a crimson Ferghana horse, entirely red with no stray hairs. Its size wasn't exaggerated, only two heads taller than an ordinary horse. At the same time, he saw a translucent spider, like jade. He knew this was the Pan King; it was about the size of a human head, not as large as he had imagined. Next, he saw a black bear, about three meters tall. This should be Xiong Kun's grandfather, the Old Black Bear King.

"They've all reverted to their original forms?!"

Chu Feng frowned. When he got closer, he squatted down and found that they were still breathing and not dead, merely unconscious and in a deep slumber. At the same time, their bodies were empty, having lost all energy. Chu Feng had a bad premonition. Had these demon kings been forced back to their original forms, stripped of their cultivation, and completely reverted to ordinary animals? This made his heart sink and gave him a headache. After careful examination, he found that the kings truly lacked energy; they were completely drained, no different from ordinary beasts.

"Yellow Ox!"

Chu Feng finally saw Yellow Ox, and the little fellow was also like this. No longer in human form, it was over a meter long, golden all over, with smooth, soft fur, as if cast from gold. Yellow Ox was breathing steadily and wouldn't wake up no matter how much he shook it. There wasn't a trace of energy in its body, and its spirit was very weak, no different from an ordinary animal.

Chu Feng's heart turned cold. He looked at the demon kings' original forms scattered on the ground, then at the Bodhisattva and demon saint under the withered Bodhi tree in the distance, both motionless. Then, he saw the Mastiff King, a stout Tibetan Mastiff with shiny fur. Its symptoms were the same as the others: it had been reverted to the state of an ordinary wild beast. The ground was covered with birds and beasts, lying amidst the rubble and on the ruins. All had manifested their original forms, unable to maintain their human state.

There was only one exception: the old lama, whose original form was human. He sat cross-legged, draped in a kasaya, his body shriveled, skin loose, eyes closed and motionless. The old lama, a Buddhist high monk, had also been affected here. Although he was still breathing, his entire energy, once deemed invincible, had completely vanished. He too had effectively been reverted to his original form, degenerated, his abilities completely faded! Beside him, a mighty lion lay motionless.

"What's going on?" Chu Feng's heart was heavy, and an ominous feeling arose. Had the renowned kings of Kunlun Mountain all been crippled? This was truly awful; not a single one was conscious, nor did any retain their powerful evolutionary energy.

"Big Black, Brother Tiger, wake up!" Chu Feng approached the Big Black Ox, shook its body, and then patted the Northeast Tiger's head. Then, he kicked the Donkey King a few times; it had now transformed into its original form, an ordinary donkey. Unfortunately, they all remained motionless; even lifting them up and shaking them vigorously was useless, they just wouldn't wake up. Similarly, Chu Feng extended his mental energy, reaching deep into their bodies to call out, but it was also useless.

His head throbbed. All these demon kings, what had happened to them?

Chu Feng stood up, looking up at the Bodhi tree directly ahead. Perhaps the root of everything lay there. He carried the Great Thunderclap Bow on his back, held the Vajra Ornament in his hand, and stepped forward.

Boom!

Suddenly, his eyes widened, and his body stiffened in disbelief. Right there, in front, as if the heavens and earth were being created, astonishing changes occurred. The ancient Bodhi tree, which six or seven people couldn't encircle, had originally been rotten and dead, but now it was budding, full of life, with vibrant green mist surging. Moreover, Buddhist light appeared on the Bodhi tree, illuminating all directions, with golden rays shooting forth among the verdant leaves.

What's happening?!

Chu Feng's mind fluctuated violently; his eyes were fixed. Among the branches and leaves, ancient books appeared, flipping their pages automatically with rustling sounds. Then, the sound of scriptures reverberated, deafening, making his spirit surge, as if wanting to connect with the ancient tree.

"Is this a mysterious breathing technique?" His eyes were slightly glazed as he stared at the ancient tree. Then, he became bewildered, his entire spirit about to sink in and merge with the ancient tree.

"No, this isn't right. My physical energy, my mental energy, are being drained and will disappear into that ancient tree. This is..."

As Chu Feng lost himself, he remembered the symptoms of Yellow Ox, the old lama, and others. He quickly forced himself to break free from that pulling force and struggle out of the Buddhist light vortex.

"No!" he shouted.

However, a golden vortex of Buddhist light surged forth and still swallowed him.

"Xiao Feng, wake up!" Vaguely, he heard an anxious and sorrowful voice calling him.

He didn't know how much time had passed, but Chu Feng opened his eyes and saw sunlight streaming through a window. He was lying in a pristine white bed; it looked like a hospital room. Chu Feng sat up, confused. How did he get here? His head ached slightly, and many memories seemed blurry.

"Ah, Xiao Feng, you're finally awake!" His mother, Wang Jing, entered the room, dropping the things she was carrying. She quickly came to his side, her face tear-stained, crying and laughing at the same time.

"Mom, what's wrong? Don't cry, I'm fine," Chu Feng comforted her.

"Child, you worried us to death," Wang Jing said, crying. "You went to Tibet alone for a trip and ended up unconscious on the edge of the desert. You scared us to death."

"Huh?!" Chu Feng was surprised. Went on a trip, then fainted in Tibet?

"Yes," Wang Jing said, her emotions fluctuating wildly, tears streaming down. "An old herdsman saved you, and then we rushed to the western region and took you to the hospital. It's been over half a year, and you've been in a coma the whole time."

Chu Feng was bewildered. What was going on?

He had indeed traveled to Tibet before; some memories surfaced. He had eventually gone to Kunlun Mountain, and then the world changed, and many things happened.

"Mom, that's not right," he quickly asked. "I think I finally fainted in an ancient temple where Buddhist light shone everywhere. By the way, where's Yellow Ox? How are Big Black Ox and the others?"

"What are you talking about?" Wang Jing asked, her face filled with worry. "You were delirious while unconscious, sometimes saying strange names. Why are you still like this after waking up? Son, what's wrong with you? Do you still recognize me?"

Soon after, a doctor arrived. After the doctor arrived and performed a full examination on Chu Feng, they quietly said this to Wang Jing: "The patient's head was injured, and due to severe trauma, there are some mental impairments. Don't worry, he will slowly recover."

"Where's the energy in my body? My flying sword? And the black substance that troubled me?" Chu Feng was utterly bewildered.

Soon after, Chu Zhiyuan arrived.

Over the next few days, Chu Feng was completely bewildered. He strongly demanded to be discharged, learning that this world had never undergone any changes; only he had changed, having been injured and collapsed in Tibet. Half a month later, his parents had a heart-to-heart talk with him.

"Child, don't overthink it. You'll slowly recover. Perhaps there truly is reincarnation, and while you were unconscious, during that period of soul-loss, you experienced a cycle of rebirth."

In the following months, Chu Feng was slightly melancholic. No matter where he went, he searched for traces of the world's changes, but ultimately failed. This was a real world, not a dream, with no falsehood. He was simply a modern person; Yellow Ox, Big Black Ox, everything, did not exist. Once, Chu Feng wanted to use the pain of cutting his wrist to test if he was in some strange state. The result was that he terrified Wang Jing, who took him to the hospital.

"Child, why are you so foolish? Don't give up hope! Slitting your wrist is the act of a coward!"

Chu Feng was bewildered. The Yellow Ox he dreamed of, the path of evolution, and his final trip to the Himalayas were all fake; these people and events simply didn't exist in reality.

"There are parallel universes," a professional told him during a discussion. "Perhaps your spirit traveled into another spacetime and eventually returned."

"Impossible, impossible, impossible!"

But the breathing technique he remembered was useless. He had no so-called energy in his body, nor could he evolve in this world.

Thus, he lived in a daze for a while. He finally accepted reality: he had once had an inexplicable experience that, though real, was merely an illusion. Soon after, Chu Feng went to work. Everything thereafter was like an ordinary person's life: he married, had children, and slowly grew old. Decades later, he was old and white-haired. But he still couldn't forget that one real experience; it was a knot in his heart.

"This is life, ordinary yet real."

When he could no longer walk, he still felt regret and couldn't let go, yet he couldn't help but sigh softly that such an experience was normal, real.

"It's not like this, it shouldn't be like this!"

In his final moments, on his deathbed, he was still unwilling, struggling to shout. Though his voice was weak, his spiritual fluctuations were incredibly intense.

"Go back, to the real! I want to return to true reality, this damned dream!"

At the very last moment, he didn't care about anything. Even as the end of his life arrived, he firmly believed that those past experiences were real.

With a bang, Chu Feng's body shook. He opened his eyes and found himself not very far from the Bodhi tree. His body was still young, and in the distance lay various birds and beasts.

"The Bodhi tree, also known as the Enlightenment Tree, can help one achieve enlightenment."

Chu Feng looked at the ancient tree. At this moment, its leaves were withering, decaying, and returning to a dried state.

"The Bodhi tree was reversed by someone," Chu Feng murmured to himself. "The Enlightenment Tree became a tree that makes people doubt their own path to enlightenment. I always had doubts in my heart, questioning my path of evolution, and today it was amplified infinitely by this." Because he was a modern person, who had only believed in science in the past. That experience of reincarnation made his heart palpitate, made him feel fortunate, and also terrified him. His feelings were complex.

He could imagine that Yellow Ox, the old lama, and the others must also be experiencing their own cycles of rebirth. Their doubts about the Dao would certainly be infinitely magnified, and they too were struggling and lost. He looked at Big Black Ox, Northeast Tiger, Old Lion, and the other non-human entities. Their biggest doubt was why they, originally ordinary beasts, could evolve and become higher life forms. So, they all manifested their original forms, denying themselves? This sent a chill down Chu Feng's spine.

This place seemed peaceful, but it was extremely dangerous!

Under the Bodhi tree, the golden-bodied Bodhisattva was now visible, looking very young and compassionate. Its body was pierced by a war spear, while the demon saint, tall and powerful, had blood dripping from its brow, struck by a finger but not pierced through. At this moment, the black substance within Chu Feng's body transformed into silver-white, then quickly reverted, with astonishing speed. At the same time, he heard the sound of chanting scriptures—it was the Great Thunderclap Breathing Technique. Was there a complete inheritance here!?