The miniature wrapped up scroll, with a thick, black string tied around it, lay in the altar undisturbed by the flow of time. It appeared ancient in material, but in its quality it would lie indistinguishable next to a recently made one.
Liu Chen's breath was still caught in his chest from the scare and surprise the arrival of this paper had brought him. He squinted his eyes as he began to make his way closer to the Buddha's feet.
The bright golden light that had erupted from the now-hidden hole, had left some after-effects on his eyes and caused little black spots to dance in his vision.
When Liu Chen came upon the tiny altar and the scroll inside it, he slowly reached one of his hands out and hovered it over the area as a way to make sure no more startling incidents would happen.
After moving his hand over the scroll for a few more times, Liu Chen finally felt comfortable enough to pick it up. It weighed as light as it looked and seemed to just be a normal wrapped paper, but the previous turn of events told him that this scroll was anything but normal.
Liu Chen fumbled it in his hands as he thought of whether to open it up and read its contents. 'This isn't my property and could be an ancient secret that only Master needs to know, on the other hand this could also be some secret cultivation technique that could help me step into the Golden Core realm by the time the tournament starts. Should I open it...?'
Liu Chen had always struggled with curiosity in his previous life and one time it had cost him his innocence when he stumbled into his father's bedroom as a child. Hopefully this time, the consequences wouldn't be as traumatizing. He then shuddered as he remembered the lewd scene.
Liu Chen gave it one more second of thought before the scroll's allure became too much for him to bear.
'I should.'
As he untied the string and pocketed it for later use, he unraveled the small paper and saw a few separated sentences were written on it, with three tiny illustrations under some of them.
The first words written were: *"If you are reading this scroll, that means you are the second Temple Master chosen after me and know the secret of the Buddha's statue. I hope you are able to successfully cultivate my own three techniques and even enhance them, becoming more powerful than I ever was."*
'Yes! I hit the Million-Dollar Jackpot!
Liu Chen's mouth curled upwards into an uncontrollable smile as he understood this scroll contained the secret cultivation techniques of Heaven's Choice first Temple Master! He excitedly continued reading on, practically shaking with anticipation.
*"My first technique is called 'Dragon Body', it is a technique that takes body tempering further - giving an increased resistance to temperature and physical attacks, while also letting your primal Qi take on the form of burning flames."*
The illustration left under this sentence was a man sitting in the lotus position while flames burned around him. The man's surroundings were dark red and burning.
'Could the key to this technique be cultivating inside a volcano? Where the hell am I going to find a volcano!?'
The Next sentence read: *"This second technique is easier to master than the first one, for one you don't have to be inside of a volcano for this one, hahahahahha."*
'....'
Liu Chen continued to read on with a slightly angered expression.
*"No but really, in order to fully cultivate this technique to its full power, one part of each of your feet must be touching the ground and part of your upper body must be unclothed as a way to feel the air around you. This is called 'Mind's Eye' and gives you the ability to feel everything around you, and when mastered to perfection, foresight and lets a person become one with nature."*
This technique greatly interested Liu Chen since the power of foresight had been mentioned. However, he was hesitant to get too excited since the cultivation method for this might involve something crazy like jumping off of a cliff naked as a way to feel the air around him.
He slowly looked below the sentences to see the picture below and he was pleasantly surprised. The illustration did involve nudity, but the man in it was rolling and dancing in a field of grass.
'I guess nudity was a must, but I really don't mind at all.'
Liu Chen then read down further to the last three sentences. *"This last technique is my most powerful and probably the hardest to master as it was that way for me and I created it."*
*"It is called the 'One-thousand handed Guanyin Bodhisattva', and will only be easy for you if you're able to rapidly move your hands at a speed where they leave after-images and give the illusion that you have multiple of them."*
*"It calls upon the power of both your Qi and your spirit, fusing the separate energies into one, manifesting into a powerful Avatar in the physical realm. This is solely unique to this technique, being unlike any other Avatars and soul manifestations."*
The illustration below showed a man floating in air in a lotus position with one leg dangling down halfway bent. This time however, the man had six arms and each arm was making a different hand-sign while a golden light emanated from him.
Liu Chen smiled confidently as he viewed the drawing depiction of a man having to move his arms at almost light speed in order to use this technique. 'Thankfully, I have six-arms so I can use this easily.' He gleefully thought.
The writing and illustrations on the small scroll ended there. With a smile, Liu Chen pulled back out the thick black string, refolded the paper and tied the string around it. He did this as a way to preserve how it originally was, for when he showed it to his master.
"Before I practice these cultivation techniques, I must cultivate to at least the late stage of the Foundation Establishment realm. Otherwise, I would be practicing new methods with an unstable base." He declared loudly as a way to encourage himself. In the cultivation world, you must have discipline or else this same power that you cultivate will be the cause of your death.
Liu Chen walked out of the front Temple building with the pocketed scroll, and headed to the waterfall at the back of the mountain. He still did not know why such rich primal Qi gathered there and neither did his Master, saying "It has always been this way.", but he would surely continue to reap its benefits with or without knowing the reason.
...
On the side of the large pond that the waterfall converged into, lay a set of orange and black monk robes. Small animals such as squirrels, rabbits, and birds had been watching from down in the grass, and up in the trees - a man with black pants on meditating, while the heavy waters of the waterfall forcefully crashed onto him.
Liu chen had been cultivating on top of a giant rock inside the waterfall for nearly four hours now. Yet, the quality and quantity of the primal Qi in the vicinity still managed to shock him to this very moment. At this rate, he should be able to reach the middle stage of the Foundation Establishment realm in two weeks.
Such speed was just truly astonishing!
As his mind was in a trance-like state and he sent more Qi into his lower dantian (stomach) and circled through his meridians to re-enforce his body for his Golden Core establishment, a loud crash echoed on the other side of the mountain.
The explosion practically shook the entire Mountain's grounds as even the waterfall Liu Chen was under came to a slight halt before crashing down again.
'Someone actually came to the mountain? Of course its when my Master is in secluded cultivation.' A deadpan expression crossed onto Liu Chen's face as he jumped out of the water and quickly put his monkish attire back on.
He had kept his pants dry using his energy, and made sure that the small ancient scroll was properly secured and protected. He definitely could not risk it falling out of his pocket and being forever lost somewhere on the mountain!
He then sent energy into his legs as he leapt onto the side of the Southern pavilion and then landed gracefully on top of it. He then rushed to the front of the mountain at break-neck speed, jumping from one building to another.
He tactfully avoided going anywhere near the Northern Pavilion or the Hidden Chamber right next to it.
As he finally got to the front building and immediately landed in front of it, he saw a young nobleman in front of him with an eye-catching physique standing inside of a deep crater that could fit an entire carriage inside of it.
This man had long and un-kept red hair, that resembled a blazing inferno and hazel eyes to match. His clothes consisted of dark scarlet robes layered on top of each other, with golden dragon patterns covering most of them.
He also had golden Armor strategically placed where all of his vital spots and joints were. On his feet were plain black leather boots with a golden buckle on each foot. Still, with such fancy attire, the most noticeable thing about him was his robust muscles.
As Liu Chen was about to inquire about the man's purpose for his visitation at Heaven's Choice Temple, the man suddenly spoke in a deep and majestic voice full of grandeur.
"Take off your robes little monk." He commanded.
Liu Chen stood in place, baffled at this man's audacity. It was bad enough he caused such damage to the property but now he is commanding him to undress as well, this man was surely mentally ill.
"My deepest apologies dear benefactor, but I must inquire about your sudden appearance here at Heaven's Choice Temple. Also, you will have to pay the fees for the damages you just caused to the property, Amitabha." Liu Chen gently said, mimicking his Master's way of speaking.
The man in front of him stood silently, with his arms crossed. A few seconds had gone by and the young man still did not reply to Liu Chen's response.
He inwardly sighed as he realized this might be harder than he thought. 'What was I expecting from such a man. Decency and basic human comprehension skills might be too hard for this mentally unwell fellow. May the Buddha bless him.'
Liu Chen was just about to say something else to the man in hopes of getting through to him when his tongue suddenly became stuck in his throat.
The young man was ferociously looking Liu Chen in the eye with his scarlet gaze, as a heavy pressure began to emit upon the vicinity. Sweat trickled at his brows as he couldn't hold eye contact with him for longer than three seconds.
It felt as if a deadly predator was in front of him, and Liu Chen was the prey!
As the killing intent further surged around him, the man once again spoke but this time less grand and more domineeringly. "I'll tell you once again boy, take off your robes."
Liu Chen had no choice to comply as he helplessly pulled down the orange robes that hung over his shoulders. His six arms came into view as the cloth fell softly onto the ground.
The heavy murderous pressure quickly dissipated and the man began to thoroughly examine Liu Chen's body from top to bottom. He leaned forward as his eyes scanned every trace of Liu Chen's muscle and skin, and to be honest, it made him feel quite uncomfortable.
After surveying his body for five minutes straight, the man brought his head back up and smiled eerily.
"Good." He commented as if he were a beast appraising his food.
'...'
Liu Chen stood rooted to the ground, covering his body with all six of his arms, as a golden liquid threatened to seep out of his body.
'This man didn't say anything about my arms. Actually, he seemed more interested in me after I revealed my arms. Is he...a perv!?'
He inwardly screamed as the fear of being de-flowered by this man immediately stirred inside his mind.