Journey to the West: A clone sacrifices to the heavens, possessing boundless magical power.

Fan Yuan felt a chill run down his spine, realizing something was wrong. He immediately pretended to have exerted too much force and was so weak he couldn't stand up straight. His body swayed, the axe clattered to the ground, and he sat down heavily, panting heavily, his face perfectly displaying an expression of surprise and delight.

"Hey, hehe, I'm just lucky today, it just so happens to be the right time," he explained to everyone with a sheepish grin.

The foreman gave him a disdainful look and cursed, "Useless thing! You're exhausted after splitting a log? Get up and get to work!"

Seeing this, everyone turned their attention away and stopped paying attention to him.

Fan Yuan breathed a sigh of relief. He leaned on the wooden stake and stood up shakily. He became more and more careful with his subsequent movements, deliberately using seven-tenths of his strength and reserving three-tenths for each axe blow. He also strictly controlled the speed of his chopping at the usual level, daring not to go astray in the slightest.

In the eye of the impending storm at Guanyin Temple, any unusual occurrence could bring about one's own demise.

While working, Fan Yuan observed the Zen temple discreetly.

The monks who came and went were all dressed in brocade robes, with rosy complexions and unhurried steps, a stark contrast to the sallow-faced and emaciated ordinary people outside the mountains.

The aroma wafting from the kitchen was that of refined rice and flour mixed with mountain delicacies, which was nothing like the austere vegetarian meals of an ordinary temple.

This is hardly a place for quiet cultivation; it's clearly a den of iniquity disguised as a Buddhist temple!

Fan Yuan's heart burned even hotter.

The four essentials for spiritual practice are wealth, companions, Dharma, and environment. He now has the path to the Dharma, but he is completely penniless when it comes to wealth, which is the resource for spiritual practice.

This Guanyin Temple is incredibly wealthy!

Elder Jinchi lived to be 270 years old, which was definitely not due to chanting scriptures, but must have been due to the presence of rare and precious natural treasures that prolong life.

The Black Bear Spirit is a demon king who has occupied this mountain for hundreds of years, and his cave must contain many elixirs and spiritual herbs.

These will all be his goals!

Night fell again, and Fan Yuan returned to the dark and damp cellar to begin his first formal cultivation as a cultivator.

He sat cross-legged and began to circulate his internal energy. The sparse spiritual energy in the world slowly gathered towards him, was drawn into his body, and gradually strengthened the faint sense of energy within his dantian.

At the same time, he could feel that the essence of his heart and blood that he had lost in the process of forming his clone was slowly recovering during his cultivation.

Three days later, in the dead of night.

In the cellar, Fan Yuan slowly opened his eyes, a glint of light flashing in his eyes.

After three days of breathing exercises, the wisp of energy in his dantian had grown considerably stronger. It was no longer a flickering candle in the wind, but had gained a solid foundation.

More importantly, the essence and blood that had been depleted in the process of forming the first clone had been fully restored under the nourishment of spiritual energy.

It's time to create a second clone!

Having learned from his previous experience, Fan Yuan was even more cautious this time. Although his beast clones had keen senses, in the Black Wind Mountain where demons roamed, it was tantamount to suicide.

This time, he needs a clone who can blend in with the crowd and gather intelligence.

"A humanoid clone would be most suitable."

Fan Yuan had made up his mind. He took out a few pieces of dried meat wrapped in oil paper from his pocket. These were the meats he had secretly hidden from the kitchen over the past few days.

The [Primordial Myriad Appearances Mirror] had previously suggested that when condensing an avatar, supplementing it with spiritual materials from heaven and earth could enhance the avatar's foundation. He had no spiritual materials, but this meat containing the life essence of living beings was better than nothing.

He forced out another drop of his heart's essence blood and dripped it into the ancient mirror in his sea of ​​consciousness. At the same time, he enveloped the pieces of dried meat with his divine sense and visualized their blood essence being absorbed by the treasure mirror.

hum!

The ancient mirror trembled, its light swirling, and under Fan Yuan's mental control, a second humanoid clone slowly took shape!

[Primary clone successfully formed.]

Current number of clones: one

[Clone feedback rate: 10%]

[Doppelganger deployment range: within a radius of ten miles.]

Under Fan Yuan's mental control, the clone's appearance became unremarkable. It was thin, pale, and dressed in tattered clothes, looking exactly like a refugee who had fled here.

Without any delay, Fan Yuan immediately sent the refugee clone to a mountain road several miles away from the Zen temple.

A shift in consciousness opens up a completely new perspective.

The avatar of the refugee staggered along the mountain path, feeling the hunger in his stomach and the weakness in his limbs. All of this was set up by Fan Yuan to make the avatar more realistic. A refugee with a ruddy complexion would only arouse suspicion.

He controlled his clone, which began to wander around the outer wall of the Guanyin Temple.

His objectives were clear: first, to ascertain the layout of the monastery, especially the distribution of the kitchen, storeroom, and monks' quarters; second, to locate the possible private storehouse of Elder Jinchi; and third, to observe the movements in the direction of Black Wind Mountain and see if there were any patterns of demonic activity.

During the day, he would disguise himself as a beggar and sit or lie not far from the gate of the Zen temple, coldly observing the comings and goings of pilgrims and monks. At night, he would sleep on the ground near the courtyard wall, eavesdropping on the movements inside.

Although this humanoid clone had no cultivation, it was controlled by Fan Yuan's divine sense, and its observation and memory abilities were far beyond those of ordinary people.

In just two days, a detailed map of the Guanyin Temple's perimeter was clearly imprinted in his mind.

That evening, the refugee's clone was curled up in a corner behind the Zen temple, pretending to doze off, when he suddenly heard two people talking inside the wall.

He immediately held his breath and pressed his ear close to the wall.

"...Have you heard? In a few days, it will be the Elder's 270th birthday." A man with a rough voice said, sounding like a martial monk.

"I already knew. The elder hasn't been in a good mood lately. A few days ago, he sent people to the mountains to find some Blood Ganoderma, but the quality was poor, so they couldn't be refined into longevity pills. He got very angry." Another voice echoed.

"Hey, the elder's longevity doesn't just depend on these spiritual herbs, have you forgotten? Every year around this time, that guy from Black Wind Mountain comes to offer birthday wishes, and his gifts are truly precious!"

"Silence! This matter must not be publicized!" The previous voice immediately tensed up, "The elder and the king... they are fellow Daoists, we servants should not utter a word!"

"Yes, yes, I was too talkative."

Then came the sound of their footsteps gradually fading into the distance.

Outside the wall, the refugee clone controlled by Fan Yuan slowly straightened up, a hint of understanding flashing in its eyes.

It matches up!

Elder Jinchi was indeed collecting longevity herbs, and he also had an annual birthday celebration with the black bear spirit of Black Wind Cave!

This Zen temple is no longer a pure Buddhist place, but a den of thieves who collude with demons!

Jin Chi's private treasury must contain the rare and precious treasures he has amassed over the years, and the arrival of the Black Bear Spirit also means that Tang Sanzang and his disciples are just around the corner.

There is not much time left for him.

……

The next day, in the main hall of the Zen temple.

Today is a Buddha's birthday, and the temple is filled with the smoke of incense. Elder Jinchi is personally presiding over the Dharma assembly.

As the lowest-ranking fire-worker, Fan Yuan was also assigned to do odd jobs in the main hall, responsible for replenishing the lamp oil for rows of huge tallow candlesticks. This gave him an excellent opportunity to observe Elder Jinchi up close.