"Late-stage Awakening... truly extraordinary."
He rose slowly, his five fingers curling slightly. He felt a mountain-shattering force surging within his palms; his blood ran scorching hot, and his inner Buddha-light, though restrained, possessed a searing intensity that could singe one's very lashes.
"This is merely the late stage, yet my physical body is already this formidable. If I truly become a Dharma Master or attain the High Monk fruit, what kind of terrifying majesty would that be?"
As the thought took hold, his Dao-heart grew firmer. He clenched his fists, vowing to break through the doors of the Master realm as soon as possible.
After another bout of bitter cultivation, his prowess leapt once more—surging from the late stage of Awakening to the Peak Realm, leaving only a thin veil between him and the rank of Dharma Master.
"Peak Awakening... just one step away." Lin Yan wiped a bead of sweat from his brow and gave a self-mocking laugh. "Sigh, I suppose my talent is quite mediocre. It took me a full half-month just to get here. Then again... my master, the old monk Yuan Kong, spent fifty years of bitter toil just to touch this threshold."
Thinking of this, his heart cleared, and a smirk tugged at his lips. "Hehe, old man, when you return from your travels, you'll probably have to rub your eyes three times before you believe your 'little disciple' can actually tear ghosts apart with his bare hands."
Suddenly— A sudden, bone-chilling draft swept past the corridor pillars, cold enough to make one's teeth chatter.
"Hmm?" Lin Yan's brows twitched. "Yin energy seeping into the Hanging Temple? Bold... to dare set foot in a pure Buddhist sanctuary. I'd like to see what kind of filth is looking for death."
He didn't get up to give chase. Instead, he sat back down on the futon in the courtyard, crossing his legs in the lotus position. He began chanting mantras in a low vibration, and the Buddha-light spread out silently like a thin mist. At the Peak of Awakening, ordinary evil was nothing more than fish on a chopping block.
Outside the temple, the Yin winds howled, swirling withered leaves like knives. The window frames creaked and groaned as if they were about to be torn asunder.
Lin Yan sat as still as a bronze bell, his chanting long and steady, his Buddhist aura warm and resonant.
CRASH! The mountain gate was blown wide open. A blue-faced, fanged malicious ghost stormed into the courtyard, its throat rattling with a beast-like roar:
"Baldy! Your master suppressed my brother three months ago and broke my ribs! Today, I'm going to tear this broken temple down!"
It stormed in, wreathed in black mist. Its gaze swept across the courtyard and suddenly locked onto Lin Yan. Squinting its blood-red eyes, it let out a jagged sneer: "The old baldy isn't here? Good! I'll slaughter you, little novice, and wait for him to return so I can torture him slowly!"
Lin Yan stood up calmly, his eyes clear and undisturbed.
"A mere petty ghost dares to tread upon my mountain gate?"
"Little monk, you'll pay your master's debt today!" The ghost's voice was raspy as black mist surged around it. "I'll suck your blood and Buddhist essence dry first, then wait for that old baldy to return—I want him to watch his disciple die with his own eyes!"
The black shadow bolted, claws tearing through the air, aiming straight for Lin Yan's throat. Lin Yan shook his head, a faint smile playing on his lips. He had been worried about where to find a "lucky break"—and here it was, delivered right to his door with free shipping.
As the claws neared, Lin Yan's form exploded upward. His Buddhist power surged like molten lava, his bones vibrated in unison, and his blood-qi erupted. He threw a heavy punch, his fist as solid as iron.
BOOM!
The fist collided with the ghost's chest. The malicious spirit was sent flying like a shrimp hit by a sledgehammer, crashing through the courtyard wall and tumbling into the dirt outside. He struggled to stand, looking down to see its chest armor shattered and its flesh charred and smoking.
Its pupils shrunk in terror. "This... impossible! Who are you? Your cultivation is even more overbearing than the old monk's!"
Before it could finish its scream, Lin Yan blurred forward like a released arrow, shattering the paving stones beneath his feet. He closed the distance in an instant and threw a second punch—this one wrapped in golden flames, carrying the weight of a collapsing mountain.
With a sickening crack, the ghost's spine twisted and deformed. It fell to its knees, twitching. Before it could utter another word, its body began to disintegrate into grey ash, scattering in the wind.
The ghost was dead. A system notification rang out in his mind: "Congratulations to the Host for slaying a Malicious Ghost. Dropping Mysterious Gift Bag."
Lin Yan's heart warmed. He retreated to his room and opened the bag. "Gift Bag opened successfully. Obtained: Bodhi Pill."
"A Bodhi Pill?" Lin Yan's eyes flared with excitement. This was a divine pill refined only by Venerable-level masters. One pill was worth ten years of meditation.
"Incredible luck!" He swallowed it without hesitation.
The pill melted instantly, turning into a scalding torrent that crashed through his limbs and bones. For three days, Lin Yan sat motionless, enveloped in a pale gold halo, looking like an ancient Buddha descended upon the earth.
"BREAK!"
He shouted like a clap of spring thunder. The barrier shattered. Golden light erupted like a rising sun. A massive pressure expanded outward, silencing the surroundings. His bones sang and his strength surged, his blood-qi roaring like a river.
"So this is the Dharma Master realm?"
Lin Yan stood up and stepped out of his room. Without even striking a pose, the flagstones beneath him cracked, and the copper bells on the eaves vibrated from his sheer presence. His Buddhist power was now dozens of times stronger than before; his physical power had increased tenfold. With a thought, his blood-qi rose and condensed into a crimson-gold lotus in his palm.
In the depths of the Hanging Temple, the ghosts that had been sealed for years sensed this aura and began to cower, not even daring to whimper.
"Now, let's see the true weight of the Subduing Demon Fist!"
He struck out, his punches tearing through the air like thunderclaps. He also mastered the auxiliary spells of the Subduing Demon Scripture: the Invisibility Spell, the Golden Light Spell, the Purification Spell, and the Salvation Spell. To him, these were simple; the real bottleneck was always the Buddhist power itself.
"Master spent fifty years and remained stuck in the Awakening stage. I have already reached the Dharma Master stage."
"Above that is the High Monk realm. I hear even the geniuses of the century need sixty years to get there. High Monk... a true master of an era."
Lin Yan smiled. "With the system, that realm isn't far off."
He knew that in this era of "Dharma Decline," sitting in a temple was not enough. To truly evolve, he had to enter the "Red Dust" of the secular world. Only by slaying demons could he gain the resources needed to reach the legendary Venerable or Saint status—realms where even the Judges of Hell would have to stand and bow in respect.