The old man’s eyes were filled with utter scorn, "You? Teaching? Meaningful? You might as well be misleading the youth!"
Ye Tian, embarrassed into tomato-red cheeks, didn’t mind at all and pointed at the two people still fighting in the field, "Old man, I actually think you’ve had a tiring life these years, guarding those broken beads, what’s the fun in that? Since you’ve already drunk your wine and eaten your meat, why not go back and find that green-dressed little sister who used to wait for you? Pairing up and being merry, isn’t that delightful? Who would want to stubbornly guard some broken bones like a fool here, competing with others, it’s better to compete with a fool."
The old man had a weird reaction, he neither refuted Ye Tian nor cursed, but just silently stared at him, and then sighed deeply, "Kid, your perception, it’s almost on the verge of opening the Buddha’s acupoint."
"Opened or not, I don’t really care, I’m indifferent."
"You don’t have any pursuits in your life?"
Ye Tian laughed and scolded, "You old man, where did you learn this, talking to me about life and aspirations, aren’t you disgusted?"
The old man said seriously, "Kid, I really do have the Ice Worm, do you want it?"
"If you give it, I’ll take it."
"You only know that this Ice Worm is rare, but do you know why it’s rare? Ice Worms rely on nurturing, not on natural growth. This means, to obtain an Ice Worm, you can’t expect it to grow by itself; instead, it must be carefully nurtured by humans. The difficulty of raising worms lies in this step, it not only requires a huge amount of energy, but also an extremely long time, hence the saying that gold is easy to obtain, but a worm is hard to find."
Ye Tian frowned and asked, "What do you mean by all this?"
"Fifty years ago, I accidentally obtained a baby Ice Worm. I initially just wanted to play around with it, might have thrown it out to feed to chickens when in a bad mood, at least to get an egg from it, but because... never mind, you wouldn’t understand anyway, for some reason, I kept that Ice Worm, holding it in my hands. I can give you the baby Ice Worm, but how you raise it from thereon is up to you."
Ye Tian was astonished, "I heard that before people had rallied against those Thai Wizards, did you snatch this baby worm from their hands?"
"Cough cough, why so much nonsense, be careful I don’t give it to you."
"Hey, hey, calm down, let’s talk nicely, honestly, at your age, with such a fiery temper, be careful of sudden heart attacks, high blood pressure, and fatty liver!"
After some haggling, Ye Tian’s entire mentality underwent a transformation, no longer talking about retreating to the mountains to rejuvenate the mind, nor about teaching in the mountain villages to give back to society. He solely wanted to get his hands on those Buddha Bead Relics and then go back to raise worms.
Seeing the enthusiastic Ye Tian, the Great Zen Master nodded in satisfaction, deeply moved, the power of love indeed is great!
In the end, the confrontation naturally came down to Ye Tian and the Bodhi Master.
The Black Armored Master winning was unsurprising, but faced with Bodhi, he voluntarily disarmed; recognizing the person before him more than he understood himself, engaging in further struggle would just waste his life adding fertile soil to his seeds.
This Bodhi truly transcended into sainthood, yet he was willing to sit idle on that cushion for twenty years, waiting for an answer in his heart that no one else knew.
This person was not someone everyone could easily take on; although constantly referring to each other as fellow disciples, everyone knew no one could beat this disciple, nor dared to confront him—who could withstand his Bodhisattva Heaven Inquiry?
Thus, after Black Armored Master withdrew, there was only one lonely figure left in the arena; if his answer did not require the Buddha Beads and relics for validation, he would never stand there, perhaps he had finally waited for this day over twenty years.
In the end, the only person who could reach inside was Ye Tian alone.
"You finally came," Bodhi’s face was handsome, impressive despite his tattered clothes, his bearing always making people acknowledge his extraordinariness; even with a shaved head, he still looked smashing. He stretched out his palm, holding three Bodhi seeds, "These three seeds are yours."
This time, Ye Tian didn’t hold back, running bouncily to grab the seeds, then sprinted to a spot fifty steps away. In fact, he wanted to distance himself even more, but seeing the not-so-pleased look of the Great Zen Master outside, he could go only this far.
Old man, come at me if you dare!
Ye Tian, holding the three seeds, felt extremely happy inside, why not take what’s given for free, only a fool would refuse. After all, I’m not one.
This good attitude forced the Great Zen Master standing nearby to cover his face, pretending he didn’t know Ye Tian. Ye Tian curled his lips, Dramatic!
Bodhi stretched out a palm, "Please."
Ye Tian didn’t mind, although there was a somewhat disdainful tone, our Little Ye Tian wasn’t the type to be petty, so he just chuckled and said, "Sure, sure," acting as though someone was begging him.
"I’ve been waiting for this day for twenty years, during which I always contemplated how to Prove my Path, but could never gather the courage to trust in the Heavenly Dao. I feared a single thought might destroy me, so I’ve been waiting."
Ye Tian was never one to patiently listen to convoluted speeches, especially from someone as enigmatic as this, a genius praised by the Great Zen Master; perhaps chillingly exceptional, he let him have his say for now, no money involved, and he could catch a breath himself, the previous trial cost him quite some energy, "Master, please continue."
"I’ve finished speaking."
Ye Tian was momentarily speechless; was the Master another shrewd person, just a moment ago he was speaking well, why stop when I start to talk?
"Cough cough," Ye Tian cleared his throat, well if you won’t speak, then let me do it, "Actually, I think I have a right to speak on Master’s so-called Proving Path."
The surrounding crowd, even the little monk, rolled their eyes at him; anyone could see Ye Tian’s heaving chest, clearly showing signs of excessive energy wastage, yet there he was bragging shamelessly! Not afraid of his tongue tying in the wind.