Covering the sky

"What's wrong with you?" Pang Bo's voice reached Ye Fan's ears as he shook his shoulder vigorously.

Ye Fan woke up as if from a dream. There was no Buddhist chant, no monk's song. The ancient temple was still there, covered in a thick layer of dust, while the others appeared to have heard nothing.

"Is this really the Great Leiyin Temple?" He muttered to himself. Though brief, what he had just seen and heard felt so real. Why was it so vivid? He stood there, lost in thought, carefully considering the situation.

Ye Fan stared at the bronze lamp in his hand, but it no longer felt special. It had some intricate engravings on it, ancient and natural, plain and unremarkable, with no sign of anything unusual.

"Cushion!" A male student found an old cushion from a pile of ashes, its age failing to wear it down.

Not long after, another female student found a purple sandalwood prayer bead beneath the thick layer of dust. Despite the wear of time, it was not damaged at all. After brushing off the dust, it still had a faint glow.

At the same time, Kaide found a broken wooden fish in the dust in front of the stone Buddha. It was engraved with three Buddhas, some solemn, some compassionate, lifelike and vivid.

At this moment, Ye Fan was deep in thought. If this place was truly the legendary Great Leiyin Temple, then it was the forsaken land of deities, and every artifact unearthed should be extraordinary!

Ding!

Wang Ziwen's foot seemed to kick something, emitting a metallic vibration. He cleared away the dust from a corner, revealing a broken copper bell, about the size of a palm. One of the bell walls was missing, and its design was ancient.

Ding... He shook the bell, and immediately, a melodious bell sound echoed out, like Buddhist chants that calmed the mind.

Ye Fan was distracted and turned to look at the bell. The bell had cloud-shaped patterns on it, simple yet imbued with a Buddhist aura.

Pang Bo murmured something and stepped into the ancient temple first, but found nothing. He could only say that his luck was poor.

At almost the same time, Li Xiaoman found half a jade ruyi beneath the stone Buddha's feet. After wiping off the dust, the translucent jade piece emitted a faint glow.

The ancient temple appeared empty, yet several people had found artifacts hidden under layers of dust. The others quickly began searching as well.

Ye Fan paid little attention to the other objects. The only thing truly spotless and intact in the temple was the bronze lamp he held, and no other item could compare to it.

"I don't believe there's nothing else to find…" Pang Bo muttered.

"Search carefully here. If you find anything, take it with you." Ye Fan handed the bronze lamp to Pang Bo, instructing him to use the light to search. Although he couldn't discern any divine properties from the broken Buddhist artifacts for now, he knew that if gods really existed, these items had to be extraordinary!

Ye Fan handed the lamp to Pang Bo and stepped out of the temple, heading toward the Bodhi tree in front of the temple. At this moment, he had cast aside his original mindset and temporarily allowed himself to believe that deities truly existed.

If this was the Great Leiyin Temple, then the Bodhi tree nearby could not be ignored. If there were truly Buddhas in the world, then this withered ancient tree had to be extraordinary!

The Bodhi tree, known as the sacred tree of Buddhism, is recorded in the Records of the Western Regions of the Great Tang to be one of the three objects worthy of reverence: the Buddha's relics, the Buddha statues, and the Bodhi tree. This is because the Buddha attained enlightenment under the Bodhi tree, and seeing the Bodhi tree is like seeing the Buddha.

This ancient, withered tree before him was as massive as a coiled dragon. Six or seven people could not encircle it. Its main trunk was hollow, and only one branch hung about two or three meters above the ground, bearing six green leaves that shimmered like translucent jade.

Regardless of whether this ancient tree was related to the Buddha or not, just those six jade-like leaves were enough to show it was extraordinary.

Ye Fan approached the tree and studied it carefully. The massive branches almost completely overshadowed the temple. If the tree were full of leaves, one could imagine the scene of it blocking the sky.

At that moment, Ye Fan's heart stirred. He noticed that the six translucent green leaves emitted a faint, barely perceptible green mist, some of it drifting toward the distant five-colored altar, while most of it sank into the roots of the tree.

The green mist flowed from the six leaves like threads, giving the sensation of life coursing through it, with boundless vitality in motion.

Ye Fan knelt down, digging through the soil at the roots to see what could cause this green mist to condense.

Under the soil, he didn't find anything extraordinary, just a Bodhi seed, dull and unremarkable. It appeared gray and ordinary, and if not for careful attention, one might mistake it for a lump of dirt.

The only unusual thing was its size. Ordinary Bodhi seeds were the size of a fingernail, but this one was as large as a walnut.

Ye Fan was taken aback. Could it be that the green mist from the Bodhi leaves was absorbed by this seed? He observed it for a moment, and saw that the green mist continuously flowed toward the seed, but it stopped three inches away from it, vanishing into the air.

Although he didn't see the seed absorb the mist, it was almost certain that the green mist was being drawn toward it.

Ye Fan carefully held the seed in his palm and examined it closely. To his astonishment, the natural grain patterns on the dull seed formed the image of a compassionate Buddha!

The image of the Buddha appeared naturally in the grain, as if it had been sculpted, but it was simply a product of nature's flow, exuding a faint Buddhist aura.

"Could this be the Bodhi seed that the Buddha achieved enlightenment under two thousand five hundred years ago?" Ye Fan thought to himself.

The Bodhi tree, also known as the Wisdom Tree, the Tree of Enlightenment, or the Tree of Thought, was said to awaken one's divine nature and self-awareness.

Ye Fan raised the Bodhi seed above his head, towards the six green leaves. The flow of green mist increased significantly, and the vitality became more concentrated, all directed toward the seed, although the light still vanished three inches away from it.

Pop!

A soft sound rang out, and one of the translucent leaves released its final green mist before shattering into ashes, which fell gently to the ground.

At that moment, Ye Fan was sure that the Bodhi seed, though seemingly plain, was extraordinary. He carefully put it away.

He then noticed the ground around him was covered with ashes, identical to the ones left by the Bodhi leaf. Did all the leaves on the tree disappear like this? Ye Fan was amazed.

The Bodhi seed with the Buddha image seemed even more significant than the bronze lamp that had always accompanied the stone Buddha!

There were still five green leaves on the tree, but they were not as luminous as the ones before. They had faded considerably. Ye Fan decided not to take them. One Bodhi seed was enough, and he didn't want to draw attention to himself.

At this time, no one had left the Great Leiyin Temple, so Ye Fan left the Bodhi tree and returned to the ancient temple.

By now, seven or eight people had found Buddhist artifacts of all kinds. Liu Yunzhihad even found half of a golden vajra behind the stone Buddha. Although it had been buried in dust for many years, it still gleamed brilliantly, giving off a heavy and refined feeling. If not for one end being broken, it would have been a perfect and powerful piece of craftsmanship.

This staff-like object was called the Vajra in Buddhism, symbolizing wisdom and the true nature of the Buddha, representing invincibility and the ability to destroy enemies. It was a symbol of the strength and authority held by the Buddha and other enlightened beings.

If the Buddha existed in the world, this Vajra was undoubtedly a sacred object, and its power could likely cause miraculous phenomena. However, for now, it seemed nothing unusual was happening.

Liu Yunzhihad swung the broken Vajra in the air, and the golden staff glowed like a bolt of lightning, brilliant and imposing.

"You guys think, if these artifacts really belonged to deities, what kind of earth-shattering scenes would occur if we discovered how to use them…" Liu Yunzhihad said, and everyone who had found Buddhist artifacts was filled with awe.