lerbook #249 - Changes in the state of concentration
#249 - Changes in the state of concentration
Chapter 248: Changes in Meditation
Looking at that familiar face, Zhao Lie was so excited that tears were about to fall; he was finally rescued.
Then Zhao Lie shouted at the fox spirit Nannan (in the language of demons): 'Little fox, hurry up and save me! I've been caught by this kid!'
The fox spirit Nannan picked up the honey jar and was about to open the lid when, upon hearing Zhao Lie's cry, her hand suddenly trembled, almost dropping the jar on the ground. Then, her eyes turned to the demon king Zhao Lie, her expression filled with disbelief, and a storm surged in her heart: "How is it possible! How could he really be the great demon king!"
The great demon king Zhao Lie was a supreme powerhouse who shook the demon race, possessing all sorts of incredible powers. His prestige in the demon race was unparalleled. How could he have fallen to this place, becoming a newborn tiger cub?
The fox spirit Nannan, holding the honey jar, stared blankly at the demon king Zhao Lie. The demon king Zhao Lie couldn't care less about his current embarrassing appearance being seen. He could only open his mouth again and shout: "That's right! It's me! Quickly save me!"
Upon hearing this, the fox spirit Nannan took a deep breath, suppressed the various emotions in her heart, glanced at Zhao Lie, grabbed the great demon king Zhao Lie and held him in her arms. Seemingly inadvertently, she walked out of the stone cave, and then lowered her voice and asked in the language of demons: "Are you really the great demon king Zhao Lie? How did you end up in such a state?"
The demon king Zhao Lie, now held in the palm of the fox spirit Nannan, had a cute little expression full of helplessness: "Don't mention it! The imperial court's twelfth-order mystery actually involved the power of time. I was sent back to my youth by that mystery's strike, almost returning to my mother's womb and vanishing as primordial energy. The most important thing is that I was actually picked up by this kid and fell into his clutches. This old ancestor is so miserable! Hurry up and save me; in the future, this old ancestor will definitely repay you."
Upon hearing this, the fox spirit Nannan wore a bitter expression: "I'm sorry, old ancestor, I can't save you."
Zhao Lie was stunned upon hearing this and subconsciously asked: "Why?"
"Because I was also captured by that kid! I became that kid's slave. I myself have fallen into the tiger's mouth; how can I have the ability to save you?" The fox spirit Nannan said with a face full of bitterness.
The demon king Zhao Lie was stunned upon hearing this. He had been wondering before how the fox spirit Nannan had gotten mixed up with Zhang Chen, but now, after hearing the fox spirit Nannan's words, the truth immediately came to light.
The two looked at each other. The fox spirit Nannan poured out the honey and brought it to Zhao Lie's mouth with a spoon: "Old ancestor, eat quickly. When you grow up, save me out early. I'm still counting on you, old man, to save me."
Zhao Lie was completely speechless upon hearing this and could only swallow the honey in annoyance, secretly vowing in his heart: "Grow up quickly. When I grow up, I must kill this kid."
Zhang Chen on the other side was currently forming hand seals, entering a state of meditation, using the Visualization Technique to restore his essence, energy, and spirit, so that his magic power could recover quickly.
As Zhang Chen entered meditation, an image of a Daoist priest appeared in the void. The Daoist priest formed hand seals with his right hand and held a treasure bottle in his left hand. The treasure bottle collected the essence of the sun and moon from the world.
Meditation is an endless void, a dark and deep void without any light. Only the Dharma image visualized by Zhang Chen sat cross-legged in the void, emitting great light from its body, forming a world of light, igniting the void, and becoming the only thing in the darkness.
As Zhang Chen's thoughts and will were injected into the visualized Dharma image, and then he silently circulated the acupoints to collect the essence of the sun and moon from the world, who knew that suddenly, in the endless darkness, a strange laughter sounded: Heh heh heh ~
Along with the bursts of strange laughter, there was also the sound of waves surging, the sound of waves flowing echoing throughout the entire void.
"Swish ~"
The Dharma image opened its eyes, its pupils filled with horror: 'This is my meditation void; how could there be laughter? Could it be that a heart demon has arisen? Is a heart demon tribulation descending? Or is someone trying to harm me?'
Just as Zhang Chen was in doubt and uncertainty, suddenly, in the distant dark void, red light flickered. The red light illuminated the endless darkness.
As the sound of waves resounded earth-shatteringly, from afar, a blood-red river emerged from the endless darkness.
Along with the appearance of the blood river, an indescribable stench filled the nostrils, making one wish they could open their mouths and vomit directly. That aura was very terrifying; even the light emitted by his Dharma image seemed to be tainted by that fishy stench, tinged with a faint red hue.
At this time, Zhang Chen's eyes turned to the red light in the distance, his gaze filled with caution. His own meditation void had always been stable and calm; when had such an anomaly ever occurred?
He saw the sea of blood rolling and surging, turning into a mighty red tide, obscuring the entire sky, enveloping from all directions, and impacting and sweeping down on Zhang Chen's Dharma image from above.
At that moment, the meditation world constructed by Zhang Chen was like a tiny reef in the sea, facing the overwhelming tsunami, without any power to fight back.
"Damn it, what exactly is going on?" Zhang Chen looked at the red tide, his eyes filled with horror.
"Boom ~"
The blood-red tide swept across the entire universe, crashing down fiercely. However, the Dharma image of Zhang Chen burst out with immeasurable light, and the world barrier formed around him did not shake in the slightest.
"So it's just a paper tiger." When Zhang Chen saw that the ten-foot void around his Dharma image was still as stable as Mount Tai, and all laws were invulnerable, blocking the overwhelming tide, he couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief, a hint of relief appearing in his eyes.
At this time, the sea of blood rolled, completely submerging the Dharma image visualized by Zhang Chen. In that sea of blood, a figure wearing a gray robe slowly drifted out from the sea of blood, rowing a boat.
"It's you!"
As soon as the other party appeared, Zhang Chen immediately recognized the origin of the other party.
"Kid, I didn't expect us to meet again. It's really good to see you again!" The black-robed figure looked at Zhang Chen, his eyes filled with all kinds of mockery and coldness.
"I don't think it's good at all." Zhang Chen's face darkened: "How did you run into my meditation world?"
"Your meditation world? Hahaha, you kid are simply a chick who doesn't understand cultivation at all. Meditation is an endless void, and what all living beings call entering meditation is just anchoring a coordinate in the endless void, building a courtyard, or opening up a virtual world. Some people have strong cultivation and can come from one house to another, drive out or kill the original owner, and then replace them. Do you understand now?" The black-robed man's voice was full of triumph.
Zhang Chen cursed inwardly upon hearing this. There was actually such a saying in meditation? He had been cultivating with his head down all the time, but he had never heard of such secrets.
Was he now being soaked in the world of blood sea, and that blood sea was constantly eroding his foundation, fearing that the other party was aiming to invade and seize him?
However, he was not flustered at this time, because his Dharma image was very stable and there were no signs of shattering.
"Even if, as you said, you can seize people, the meditation void is infinitely vast, but how did you lock onto me in the endless void? Find my trace?" Zhang Chen was puzzled.
"Don't forget, in the Wangchuan River, an arm of yours was already covered by my robe. At that time, my robe was already imprinted on your essence, energy, and spirit. Even across the distance of time and space, endless dimensions, you can't escape my control." The black-robed man pointed at Zhang Chen with a voice full of complacency:
"Kid, lower your head and look at your own arm."
Upon hearing this, Zhang Chen's meditation Dharma image quickly lowered its head to look, and saw that on its own Dharma image arm, half a sleeve had appeared inexplicably. The sleeve was pitch black, exactly the same as the black-robed man's cloak.
Zhang Chen looked at the black-robed man again, and sure enough, he saw that one sleeve on his body had disappeared without a trace. The sleeve had been transferred to his body at some point.
"How could this be? I remember I clearly broke your divine power back then?" Zhang Chen's eyes widened in shock, and when he looked at the endless sea of blood again, his eyes were filled with horror. What should he do? Even if he had something to rely on and the other party couldn't seize his body, it would still be deadly if the other party made trouble in his samadhi and prevented him from cultivating.
Zhang Chen wanted to activate the Soul Hooking skill, but at this time, the Soul Hooking skill was still in its cooldown period, so how could he activate it?
However, although the Soul Hooking Chain was not successfully activated, it allowed him to detect the flaw.
"I see, you're lying to me!"
Just as Zhang Chen was about to activate the Soul Hooking Chain skill, a kind of inexplicable understanding surged into Zhang Chen's heart. The other party was right in saying that the samadhi void was connected, and even that they could seize the body through the samadhi void, driving away the original owner and taking over the nest.
The reason the other party could find this place was not because he was marked by the sleeve back then, but because the problem lay in the Soul Hooking Chain.
Although the other party could not mark and sense the location of Zhang Chen's physical body in the real world, they could sense the location of Zhang Chen's samadhi world through the samadhi void.
It should be known that Zhang Chen's soul mark contained Zhang Chen's soul origin, and whenever Zhang Chen entered samadhi cultivation, when he circulated the power of his soul, the 'Soul Hooking' mark in the other party's soul would also sense it.
It was like the quantum entanglement in the real world, where if one particle changed, the other particle would also change.
When Zhang Chen's soul state changed, the Soul Hooking mark imprinted in the other party's soul origin also changed.
It was in this kind of causal fluctuation that the essence, energy, and spirit of those old guys, because they were integrated into the Soul Hooking mark, were equivalent to being integrated into Zhang Chen's essence, energy, and spirit, so they were also equivalent to being transformed into a part of Zhang Chen's particles, and were directly summoned.
To summarize, simply put, when Zhang Chen cultivated in samadhi, the mark imprinted in other people's bodies would also change at any time. And because the souls of those old guys were integrated into Zhang Chen's soul mark, their souls would also sense it at any time, and then the other party would be summoned.
"I didn't expect the Soul Hooking skill to have such loopholes," Zhang Chen said secretly in his heart.
He was dissatisfied with the loopholes, but he didn't know that the people marked by his soul were about to curse their mothers. That mark was like a brand imprinted in the soul, and no matter what means were used, it could not be removed. Was there anything more incredible than this in the world?
It should be known that they were all old guys who had experienced countless kalpas and were indestructible, and they had a subtle grasp and control over their own souls. How could they not destroy a brand left by an ant?
"Fake! All of this is an illusion. You are just using the fluctuations of essence, energy, and spirit to evolve illusions to interfere with me," Zhang Chen's face returned to calmness at this time, and his dharma body suddenly uttered the true words 'Om Mani Padme Hum'. As the six-character mantra was uttered, it was like thunder exploding in the darkness. The sky full of blood collapsed, the black-robed figure also dissipated, and the dark void returned to peace.
Everything was still as quiet as before, only the essence of the sun and moon sprinkled down from the sky and was absorbed by the treasure bottle and transformed into essence.
Zhang Chen looked at the void in front of him and a thought arose in his heart: "If the old guys in the River of Forgetfulness can invade my spiritual world along the fluctuations of essence, energy, and spirit, there is no reason why the Great自在天魔 cannot do it?"
Zhang Chen carefully examined the void, but he never detected the trace of the Great自在天魔.
"It shouldn't be! The Great自在天魔 is not an easy person to deal with. How could this guy let go of this opportunity?" Although Zhang Chen didn't find anything, he firmly believed in his heart that the Great自在天魔 must have secretly done something to him, but he was just a little short in his means and didn't discover it.
The reason the other party hadn't exposed himself for a long time could only be said that this old guy had a big plan, and he was afraid that when he made a move at a critical moment, it would definitely be a thunderous strike.
So Zhang Chen decided to use a trick to trick this old guy:
"Great自在天魔, come out."
Zhang Chen opened his mouth to bluff, but there was no movement in the void. However, Zhang Chen continued with a confident expression: "With my means, now that I have discovered the clues, finding you is just a matter of course."
Sure enough, as Zhang Chen's words fell, a small bug fell on his clothes at some point. At this time, the small bug cursed in his heart: "That damn bastard, reckless man, he has ruined my great plan."
But then the small bug twisted and transformed into the appearance of the Great自在天魔. The Great自在天魔 had a faint smile on his face, not at all embarrassed: "What a coincidence, we actually met here! Strange, how did I appear in your spiritual world?"
Zhang Chen looked at the Great自在天魔 in front of him, his teeth itching with anger. This was the Great自在天魔's main body. This old guy was deliberately mystifying, using a trick to say that he was sealed, but he didn't know when he had hidden in his spiritual world, using an incarnation outside to cater to him, deliberately disrupting his sight.
"It is a coincidence," Zhang Chen smiled coldly: "But I have a doubt, why did I feel that your true body was sealed in a distant time and space when I dragged your true body back then, and I couldn't drag it at all?"
"I have no distinction between clone and true body. All bodies are my clones, and they are all my true bodies. Only one true self-consciousness cannot be replaced, but my true self-consciousness can be moved among all the incarnations at any time. I can change my body with a thought. I have a clone that was suppressed in the ancient times. As long as I transform my true self-consciousness at a critical moment, so you know..." The Great自在天魔 smiled sheepishly, his eyes looking at Zhang Chen's calm-faced dharma body, feeling that something was not right.
Zhang Chen was not actually angry. Was he only allowed to plot against the Great自在天魔, and not allowed this old guy to fight back?
It's just that this old guy was hiding too deeply! Too good at hiding! If he hadn't cultivated the six-character mantra, and if the old monster in the Yellow Springs hadn't come to stir things up, he was afraid that he would have really capsized.
"When did you sneak in?" Zhang Chen asked the key question. He had already marked the other party with a chain, so there was no reason for the other party to take advantage of the opportunity.
"When you were severely injured by the Moon God," The Great自在天魔 was very frank, answering almost every question: "Unfortunately, who would have thought that you would obtain the six-character mantra. If you had not mastered the power of the six-character mantra, you would never have been able to discover my trace."
"The six-character mantra can restrain you?" Zhang Chen was stunned when he heard this.
The Great自在天魔 was also stunned, looking at Zhang Chen in astonishment: "You don't know the wonderful use of the six-character mantra?"
Then the Great自在天魔 looked at Zhang Chen's expression, and his whole face suddenly darkened. He slapped himself hard: "What a loss that you have lived for countless years, and you were actually tricked out by someone with two words!"
The Great自在天魔 was bitter in his heart, annoyed and wishing he could tear his own body to pieces and completely disappear between heaven and earth.
"So are you going out yourself, or should I invite you out?" Zhang Chen asked.
The Great自在天魔's face was full of bitterness: "Little brat, don't be like this, you're scaring me."
"Hehe." Zhang Chen didn't wait for the Great自在天魔 to make a choice, his dharma body shattered, and the next moment his consciousness directly returned to his physical body, and then he slowly opened his eyes: "A bit interesting!"
"Thanks to me obtaining the six-character mantra, otherwise I would have capsized!" Zhang Chen sighed quietly.