Su Min could only sigh helplessly at the dusty scrolls. If finding treasures were truly that easy, she would not let a single opportunity slip by. She would seize them all for herself. Unfortunately, reality was not nearly so accommodating or straightforward.
"No news at all... If a treasure were near the imperial capital, I might still dare to go and investigate. But as I am now, if I were to encounter that Demon Queen directly, death would be almost certain."
Unrolling another scroll, Su Min fell into deep thought. Some of the records kept within the merchant guild's archives were probably classified, beyond her current access. But most reports, especially those detailing natural disasters and strange phenomena, would not be so tightly guarded.
"It has not even manifested its energy yet? How troublesome."
Tossing the scroll aside in frustration, she leaned back in her chair, resting her chin in one hand as her eyes narrowed in contemplation. At that moment, the heavy doors to the archive burst open. A middle aged man in official robes rushed in, his face pale and panic written plainly in his wide eyes. Su Min vaguely recognized him as one of Governor Jia's aides, though she was not sure of his specific rank.
"What matter brings you rushing in so frantically?" she asked, her voice calm and level, a stark contrast to his agitation.
"While the governor's men were escorting the remaining villagers back to the city for questioning, we were stopped! Stopped by a bald donkey!"
"Bald donkey?"
Su Min blinked in momentary confusion, then realization dawned. The governor's forces numbered in the thousands, and some of his guards were even at the Body Refining realm. For a single person to halt their procession outright, the interloper was clearly no ordinary man. And the term "bald donkey" could only refer to one thing, a Buddhist monk.
"Someone from Lingxi Prefecture?" she murmured, her interest now fully piqued.
In this vast world of cultivation, the lands stretched on endlessly. The Great Wei Empire where she now lived was merely a forgotten corner of the map, one of many ancient prefectures sealed behind vast, powerful celestial barriers known as the Boundary Formations.
In the original game, those barriers were a game mechanic, designed to limit player exploration early on and create a sense of tension and danger. Here, though, it was no simulation. It was terrifyingly real. Lingxi Prefecture was the known sacred ground of the powerful Buddhist sects.
The Great Wei itself had neither temples nor monks, its spiritual landscape dominated by Daoist and folk practices. Yet the Buddhist lineage was known to be incredibly powerful, remaining influential even well into the late stages of the game's lore. They commanded profound arts related to reincarnation and the cycles of samsara. Now that heaven and earth had fully awakened, a Demon Queen at the Golden Core stage might reign supreme across the Great Wei, but within the ancient Buddhist sects, she would be considered nothing special. Far stronger beings walked among their hallowed halls.
For a monk to appear here, now, meant someone had deliberately sent him. And whoever he was, he was certainly not weak.
"Why did he stop you?" Su Min asked, her expression unreadable as she watched the official.
"He said he wished to take custody of the remaining villagers. To 'purify their karma,' he claimed."
"Is that so..."
Su Min closed her eyes and fell into a brief silence. The villagers themselves meant nothing to her. They had willingly accepted the clam demon's cursed gifts and become its accomplices in slaughter. How many innocent fishermen and travelers had been devoured because of their greed and fear?
Yet, what truly concerned her was not the fate of the villagers, but the monk himself. How had he managed to cross the formidable Boundary Formation and enter this sealed realm?
"Let him be," Su Min said at last, opening her eyes and smiling faintly. "The clam demon is dead. Those who received its direct blessing are already corpses. The rest are just ordinary people now. They will cause no great stir."
The official hesitated, surprise flickering across his face. He could tell, the lady before him had no intention of opposing the mysterious monk. Truthfully, Su Min had another, more pragmatic reason for leaving it alone.
In the game, the Buddhist monks were renowned for their compassion and efficiency in handling such aftermaths. Whenever players encountered villages devastated by demons or dark cults, the safest and most morally clean course was to entrust the survivors to the roaming Buddhists. Later in game records showed that most of those people did live out their natural lives in peace under monastic care, though not without the occasional dark secret or political maneuver happening behind the scenes.
At that moment, a deep, resonant voice, calm yet imbued with immense spiritual power, echoed through the hall as if the speaker were standing right beside them.
"Amitabha. Many thanks, benefactor, for your understanding."
!!!
The very walls and floor seemed to tremble with the power carried in that simple phrase. The official yelped and nearly collapsed in fright, his legs buckling beneath him. Even Su Min's expression changed sharply. She had not sensed his approach at all. Her spiritual sense had detected nothing.
"Foundation Establishment..." she whispered, a cold knot forming in her stomach.
She narrowed her eyes, focusing on the golden robed monk who now stood silently before her, as if he had been there all along. His cultivation base was a heavy, palpable pressure, clearly far above her own. Yet, curiously, she felt no immediate, killing intent. If he had intended to kill her for slaughtering the transformed villagers, he would have done so already, back when she led the forces against the village. That meant he was not acting on a blind, self righteous fury. Still, she kept her spiritual guard up, ready to summon her sword or gourd at a moment's notice.
"Since you are here, you might as well sit," she said, gesturing to a chair opposite her. Her voice was steady, betraying none of her inner tension.
Though dangerous, the monk had not yet reached the Golden Core stage. He was still within the mortal realm of cultivation, albeit on a plateau far above her current level. A soft, warm flash of golden light seemed to linger around him as he fully materialized, his entire body bathed in a faint, sacred glow that smelled of sandalwood and incense.
"Benefactor seeks the Five Elements Treasures, yes?" the monk said, his voice melodious and calm. "I happen to know the whereabouts of one."
Su Min's gaze sharpened, her full attention now locked on him.
"You are a Reincarnated Arhat from Lingxi Prefecture, are you not?" she stated more than asked. "Why have you come here?"
She wasted no time on pleasantries or spiritual debates, going straight to the point. In this world, most "Revelations" referred to the lingering will and insights of ancient cultivators imprinted upon heaven and earth. Sometimes, lucky Body Refining cultivators stumbled upon these echoes by chance. But Buddhism held a greater, more systematic secret, complete reincarnation techniques. Though these powerful rituals allowed a cultivator's legacy and a fragment of their soul to continue, they did not guarantee that the new vessel retained its past memories or full consciousness intact.
"Benefactor is indeed perceptive," the monk said with a serene, unchanging smile, his palms pressed together in a gentle salute. "I am from Lingxi Prefecture, an inheritor of an ancient path. The suffering of all beings in this land reached my ears across the barrier, so I performed a great secret rite to cross over and offer salvation to the lost."
Su Min snorted inwardly at the lofty proclamation. She did not believe in purely selfless acts.
"A noble ambition, but ultimately a reckless one," she countered aloud, watching him carefully. "The barriers between realms have not yet fallen. Crossing them must have placed a great strain on you, damaging your cultivation base. Even now, to act with your full power would be dangerous. One misstep and you risk being expelled back to Lingxi Prefecture, or worse." She saw the faintest tightening of skin around his brow, a subtle confirmation.
"Good."
That meant he could not easily obliterate her with a single, effortless strike. His power here was constrained. She could work with that.
"Indeed, your insight is correct," the monk conceded, his smile becoming a touch more genuine, perhaps even weary. "Thus, I wish to propose a trade."
"A trade?" Su Min's interest was piqued again.
"You are preparing to advance to the Foundation Establishment stage, are you not?" he continued. "When I crossed into this realm, I saw a creature dwelling in the western desert. It stands only a few meters tall but is covered in blades of strange, living metal. Its cultivation has already reached the late stage of Qi Refining. If it forms its core, it will become a true catastrophe for this land."
Su Min's brows furrowed as she processed this. A creature of metal...
"The Metal Aspect of Slaughter..." she murmured, recognizing the description from the Five Elements lore.
"Precisely," the monk said gravely. "I will tell you its location. In exchange, I hope you will accept a Buddhist seat of dharma and allow a small shrine to be established in your name within the territories you influence."
Su Min's expression darkened instantly.
She remembered all too well how, in her past life's history, Buddhism had often sought to spread its faith by rebranding local Daoist deities and folk gods as their own Bodhisattvas or divine protectors, absorbing their worshippers.
It seemed that here, in this world, history was preparing to repeat itself. They were not just offering help, they were making a strategic move to plant their flag in new soil, using her as their conduit.