Yinshan Record

Chapter 23 Divine Register
Lady Snow.

Su Che muttered the name until he finally remembered who this person was.

Looking at this delicate female ghost with skin as smooth as jade and pale purple lips, Su Che remembered who she was.

Her identity is somewhat special.

There are three waterways around Shanyin County. One of them originates from Guobei County, flows east into Shanyin, and then passes through two other counties before turning north and flowing directly into the Yangtze River.

The official name of this waterway in the imperial court is Baicang River, while the common people call this section of the river Baicang River.

Mountains have mountain spirits, and waters have water monsters.

This Lady Snow is a water monster in the Guobei Mountain section of the Baicang River.

According to the records of the imperial guards, Lady Xue's file was placed in Guobei County, belonging to a water monster living in Guobei.

Su Che remembered that the document had mentioned something, intentionally or unintentionally.

This person is devoted to the path of God.

Xuefu looked at the two little guys who called themselves disciples of the "Yin Yang Dharma King".

She has been practicing the Dao for a long time. A hundred years ago, she cultivated a Xuan Yin Relic and achieved the fifth level of the Ghost Path, the "Impermanence" realm. Her lifespan in the underworld is long, and she can be called a Ghost King.

Only those who know their own situation truly understand that, among all the paths of cultivation, the path of ghosts is the most difficult.

The Taoist scripture says, "It is difficult for a ghost to become a saint even after countless eons," which describes the difficulty of ghost cultivation.

Xuefu herself has been stuck at the fifth rank for too long.

If there are countless difficulties and obstacles ahead, that's alright, at least there's still a path forward to forge.

For Lady Xue, what lay ahead was not a fog, but rather layers upon layers of iron walls blocking her way.

The so-called cultivation emphasizes the harmony of Yin and Yang. Ghosts belong to Yin, and if one cannot cultivate true Yang, there is no hope of progress in cultivation.

Therefore, for ghost cultivators, the former corpse is extremely important, because the corpse still retains a trace of their original true yang. Although it is negligible after death, this last bit is the foundation of everything for them in the future.

Just like a beautiful female demon, as ethereal as a wisp of cloud obscuring the moon, or as graceful as flowing wind and swirling snow, once controlled by a tree spirit, even if she encounters a scholar, monk, or other person she admires, she must find the jar containing her spiritual bones to break free from its control.

For over a hundred years, Xuefu has been constantly seeking opportunities to visit famous mountains and seek immortals and Taoist teachings, hoping to find a way forward.

Finally, they found a possible path for her to move forward.

For repair.

Although the path of the ghosts is difficult, there is a broad road beside it. Although it cannot lead to heaven, it can still allow her to go further.

That is to accumulate the incense offerings of countless people, using the smoke and fire of the human world to replenish one's depleted true yang, thus transforming from a ghost into a god.

Lady Xue then set her sights on this path and resolved to make great progress.

Occupying the Bai Cang River to become the River God was only part of her scheme. To ascend from the ghost realm to the ranks of the true gods, she would need to expend much more effort.

The first step is to condense the divine talisman.

The divine register is the core of the deities; those with a register are gods, and those without are monsters.

Legend has it that in ancient times, there was a Taoist sect that could summon gods. With a single decree, a disciple could instantly ascend from an ordinary person to a divine position, possessing immeasurable majesty.

Lady Xue is now sorting out the spiritual veins of the Baicang River and has ordered the construction of a temple in Guobei County in order to use incense to reshape her Dharma body and condense the divine register to transform into a deity.

The numerous difficulties and dangers involved are naturally beyond the comprehension of outsiders.

She came to this Kulin Zen Temple today for this very reason.

Every year on the eighth day of the eighth lunar month, when the entire Kulin Temple is wiped out, a pagoda in the stele forest behind the temple will shine brightly. Ghosts that receive this light will increase their yin energy and enhance their cultivation.

Furthermore, an ancient Buddha appeared and disappeared amidst the radiance, expounding the Dharma.

In the past, the monks and ghosts of Kulin Temple were usually suppressed by the one-eyed monster that roamed the area. On this day, the one-eyed monster would retreat, and the monks and ghosts would go out to chant scriptures, which would add to the mystique of the place.

Similarly, the powerful demons from Guobei County who understand the secrets of the matter will come to Kulin Temple in groups to seek their own opportunities.

Since learning about this matter from the Yin-Yang Dharma King, Xue Fu has not missed a single Ghost Buddha sermon on the eighth day of the eighth lunar month.

She glanced at Su Che and Lin Jiugong.

These two little devils don't seem to have much yin energy, perhaps because they received some guidance from the Yin-Yang Dharma King and are already preparing to switch to the path of the gods.

This Yin-Yang Dharma King is strange; he himself refuses to turn to the divine path, but he doesn't forbid his subordinates from taking that path.

Xuefu couldn't help but laugh when she thought about it.

Even though he had already died once, the Yin-Yang Dharma King still couldn't shake off his Taoist habits, regarding the way of incense offerings as poison.

"You two, come with me, walk a little further ahead, it will be beneficial later."

Su Che and Lin Jiugong exchanged a glance.

Surrounded by ghosts, if anything were to happen to us, unless Brother Zhongyuan were to strike with a flick of his sleeve, we would be certain to die. "Thank you for your kindness, Your Highness. Our cultivation is too low, so we'll stay outside."

Su Che responded.

This place is teeming with powerful demons. The deeper you go, the more trouble you're likely to cause. In this environment, anything like searching for the One-Eyed Demon is completely pointless.

Su Che felt that it was better to act cautiously now.

"Two little devils."

Madam Xue smiled.

“It’s better to have a low level of cultivation,” she said, looking ahead. “Once you reach my level, you’ll know how difficult it is to abandon your previous accumulations and take another path.”

Is it difficult to take a different path?

Su Che couldn't help but think of someone.

That was the Lion-Blue Lotus Tathagata who established the lineage of this Kulin Zen Temple.

He went from being a demon to a Taoist, and from the Taoist he became a Buddha.

He changed roads three times in a row. What was his purpose?
That would be a further step forward.

Therefore, there must have been only one purpose for him to leave the Western Lands and come to the East to spread the Dharma.

That is the pursuit of the possibility of reaching a higher level.

Perhaps the same reason was later for him to leave the previous dynasty and go to the East China Sea.

He obtained what he wanted during his tenure as the Grand Preceptor of the previous dynasty, so he chose to disappear.

What could be the thing that allows a third-grade expert to advance further?
Su Che thought of the mysterious Zhongyuan again.

Is the reason why the Zhongyuan Festival pays so much attention to the remains of the old lion also related to this item?

interesting.

The Zhongshan Society clearly doesn't even have a single expert at the fifth rank, yet they've already started coveting something of this level.

Isn't this Lord Zhongyuan a bit too hasty?

Su Che and Lin Jiugong followed Madam Xue deeper into the shadowy mist.

Lady Snow seemed to have found her usual spot, quietly sitting cross-legged and floating in the air.

Ahead lay a forest of pagodas, each a meter or two tall, resembling a sturdy mound of graves.

Hundreds of headless monks sat cross-legged there, their necks shrouded in wisps of eerie green mist, from which light emanated in a flickering pattern.

They kept chanting the mantra of the Three Refuges, which made Su Che feel inexplicably annoyed.

“The monks from the West used pagodas as tombs. The largest of these pagodas was a cenotaph built by the Kulin Zen Monastery for the patriarch when it moved to Shanyin County.”

Madam Xue gave Su Che and Lin Jiugong some pointers.

The Kulin Zen Monastery seems to have a deep connection with that old lion.

Su Che knew information that Madam Xue and others did not possess.

Zhongshan was absolutely certain that the remains of the Lion-Lotus Buddha were inside the belly of Xuanshan.

The calls for taking refuge in the Three Jewels grew louder and louder.

The cenotaph of the patriarch has also gradually undergone some changes.

The bricks on the tower gradually turned blue, and a faint blue light shone from the tower, blending into the surrounding mist.

All that could be seen was a Buddha with a golden body, sixteen feet tall, with a head like a lion, fangs like swords, a body of blue, and six arms each holding a Dharma instrument, which appeared in the radiant light.

"Thus have I heard. Vairocana Buddha liberated countless heavenly demons in the Great Snowy Mountains. Among them, seven deities who were the Lords of the Dharma-ending Age received the Buddha's teachings, were upheld by the Buddha, and immediately attained the status of Bodhisattva Mahasattvas. Their names were Vajrapani Bodhisattva, Vajrajnaparamita Bodhisattva, and Vajrapani Bodhisattva..."

The old lion chanted scriptures, and a faint sandalwood fragrance arose from the mist, soothing the mind and calming the spirit.

If it weren't for the fact that he was surrounded by ghosts, Su Che would have thought he was listening to a great monk preaching at Jiming Temple outside Jiankang City.

The lion was reciting scriptures, and the surrounding demons listened with rapt attention, as if it contained some essential meaning to complete their spiritual practice.

Su Che and Lin Daoren stared at each other in disbelief.

Suddenly, the old lion's chanting of scriptures grew softer and softer, and its radiance diminished and diminished.

In the blink of an eye, it vanished, and even the surrounding mist gradually thinned out.

In an instant, a faint bell tolled between heaven and earth. Su Che felt a clear stream surge through his body, nourishing him from the Niwan point, making him feel incredibly refreshed.

Suddenly, he felt a weight on his wrist; he didn't know when something had appeared.

(End of this chapter)