HBWnovel Chapter 355: The Chain of Missions Begins
Chapter 355: The Chain of Missions Begins
Chapter 355: The Chain of Missions Begins
Ananda, this is the name Lingjipusa mentioned earlier, and also the source of Lingjipusa's anger. Even after death, this intense anger was not resolved, but instead transformed into an extremely dense aura of death.
Lingjipusa probably knew that the anger in his heart would turn into death energy after he died, so he found this place before he died and set up a large array around it to prevent the death energy from spreading.
To cause such intense anger in a Buddhist monk who had attained the status of a Bodhisattva, to prevent him from finding peace even after death and to transform into a deathly aura affecting an area of hundreds of miles, is truly unimaginable. It's hard to fathom what he could have done to deserve such a fate as silver-haired.
The one who started all of this should be the name that Lingipusa roared out earlier—Ananda.
Ananda, according to classical texts, was a disciple of the Buddha and was respectfully addressed as "Venerable Ananda." Among the divine skills passed down in Leiyin Huasheng Temple today is one called "Ananda's Breaking the Precepts Knife," which is said to have been created by this great being from ancient times.
The title "Venerable One" itself seems somewhat strange.
In Buddhism, there is actually no such rank as "Venerable One." The title "Venerable One" is merely a special designation.
Based on my reading of Buddhist scriptures, I speculate that the so-called "Venerable One" is a lower level than the Great Bodhisattva, but higher than the ordinary Bodhisattva.
This Venerable Ananda is someone who is below great Bodhisattvas such as Manjushri and Samantabhadra, but above ordinary Bodhisattvas such as Lingji.
As a disciple of the Buddha, a pivotal figure in the Western Paradise, it was extremely strange that he didn't hold a formal rank. Lin Fei might not have noticed it before, but after hearing Lingjipusa's roar before his death, the more Lin Fei thought about it, the more uneasy he felt.
Even the martial arts passed down by Venerable Ananda are shrouded in mystery. Ananda's Breaking the Precepts Blade is one of the few martial arts techniques in Buddhism created specifically to take lives. Breaking the precepts is a taboo for monks, let alone someone of such importance within Buddhism.
"Could it be that the decline of the ancient Buddhist sect was somehow related to Venerable Ananda, a disciple of the Buddha?" Lin Fei wondered to himself. After all, the ancient era was too far removed from the present, and there were no records to consult. Lin Fei could only rely on his own guesses and speculations.
Just then, a system notification suddenly rang in Lin Fei's mind.
"Ding!"
"Having obtained a clue about the ancient Buddhist sect—Venerable Ananda, the first link of the multi-level quest 'Buddha Returns to the West' has officially begun!"
……
Mission Name: Ananda's Mystery
Clue obtained: The ancient Buddhist sect disappeared, possibly related to Venerable Ananda, a disciple of Buddha.
Quest Introduction: This is the first part of the multi-level quest chain "Buddha Returns to the West." From Lingjipusa, you learn that the decline of ancient Buddhism may be closely related to Venerable Ananda, a disciple of Buddha. Find Venerable Ananda's whereabouts and uncover the truth behind the disappearance of ancient Buddhism. This instance will be available when the next instance space opens.
Mission Difficulty:? ?
Task reward: ?
……
After learning that Venerable Ananda might be closely related to the disappearance of the ancient Buddhist sect, the first link in this chain of quests has officially begun.
However, the information about this officially launched series of missions left Lin Fei dumbfounded.
The difficulty of the mission was a question mark! And the mission reward was also a question mark. Lin Fei had never expected this situation before.
In other words, this task could very well be completed easily, but it could also be fraught with danger, even enough to cost Lin Fei his life.
After dying at the hands of Lingjipusa, Lin Fei abandoned his previous contemptuous attitude. None of these ancient powerful beings were easy to deal with. Although Lingjipusa had been dead for some time, he could still take Lin Fei's life with a mere flick of his wrist.
Not to mention, Venerable Ananda is even above Lingjipusa. Although being a Venerable is not a formal rank, in terms of strength, he is only below a Great Bodhisattva. Moreover, Venerable Ananda is a disciple of the Buddha, so his abilities are certainly superior to those of Lingjipusa, who has been dead for countless years.
Thinking of this, Lin Fei's expression turned somewhat grim. He had a vague premonition that the first stage of the quest, with its questionable difficulty and rewards, would probably not be so easy to complete.
Lin Fei sighed softly. No matter how difficult the task was, he had to complete it. If he couldn't complete the first link, the chain of tasks couldn't continue. Moreover, to earn more exchange points, he had to complete high-difficulty tasks, and other high-difficulty tasks might not be any less dangerous than this one.
Ultimately, the rewards for completing a mission simply cannot satisfy Lin Fei's needs. Rather than worrying about the mission being too dangerous, he should focus on improving his strength as quickly as possible.
Lin Fei thought for a moment and decided to put the series of quests aside for the time being. After all, the quest description already stated that the quest would not be officially started until the next time the dungeon space opened.
He walked to the side of the Lingjipsa skeleton, which had completely lost its energy due to the previous attack and could no longer pose a threat to Lin Fei.
Lin Fei examined the skeleton briefly, and as he had expected, there were no relics inside the skeleton of Lingjipusa.
Relics are formed from the power of eminent Buddhist monks during their lifetime, but all the power of this Lingjipusa during his lifetime has been transformed into overwhelming death energy, making it impossible for him to condense relics again.
At this moment, the most valuable things on Lingjipusa's body, besides his skeleton which had reached the Earth Immortal realm in his previous life, were the kasaya robe he was wearing.
The robe worn by the dignified Bodhisattva of the Western Paradise, a powerful being at the Earth Immortal realm, is definitely not an ordinary object; it is a rare treasure.
But after thinking about it for a moment and hesitating, Lin Fei ultimately did not take action to strip Ling Jipusa of his robes.
This cassock and robe could perhaps be exchanged for a considerable number of exchange points by the system, but Lin Fei was unwilling to insult the remains of this ancient powerful being in such a way.
Lin Fei sighed softly and said, "Dust to dust, ashes to ashes. You were, after all, a great power, a figure at the Earth Immortal realm. You won't suffer the humiliation of having your clothes stripped off after death."
Lin Fei raised his hand, and a streak of fire flew toward Lingjipusa's skeleton.