Chapter 015: The Bodhi Tree

"Are you alright?" Pang Bo's voice reached Ye Fan's ears as he vigorously shook his shoulder.

Ye Fan snapped out of his trance. There was no Buddhist chant or Zen singing; the ancient temple remained as it was, covered in a thick layer of dust, and the others seemed as if they had not heard anything.

"Is this really the Great Thunder Sound Temple?" he whispered to himself. The sights and sounds he had just experienced, though brief, felt so real. This left him lost in thought, pondering deeply.

Ye Fan gazed at the bronze ancient lamp in his hand, but there were no more special sensations. It had some engraved patterns, simple and natural, unremarkable, with no signs of anything unusual.

"A meditation mat!" A male student found an old mat amidst the ashes, untouched by the passage of time.

Soon after, a female student discovered a rosewood prayer bead beneath the thick dust, unscathed by the ravages of time, still emitting a faint luster after the dust was blown away.

At the same time, Kade found half a broken wooden fish in the dust in front of the stone Buddha, with three carved bodhisattvas, either solemn or compassionate, lifelike and vivid.

At this moment, Ye Fan's thoughts were racing. If this place was indeed the legendary Great Thunder Sound Temple, then it was a place abandoned by deities, and all the artifacts unearthed here should be extraordinary!

"Dong!"

Wang Ziwen's foot seemed to kick something, producing a metallic ring. He cleared away the dust in the corner to reveal a damaged copper bell, the size of a palm, with an ancient design and a missing piece of the bell wall.

"Dong..." He rang the bell, and a melodious sound spread out, like the sound of Buddha, calming the mind and soul.

Ye Fan's thoughts were interrupted, and he couldn't help but look at the copper bell. It had cloud patterns engraved on it, simple yet filled with Zen, containing the charm of Buddhism.

Pang Bo muttered quietly. He had been the first to enter the ancient temple but found nothing, which could only mean he had bad luck.

Almost at the same time, Li Xiaoman found half a jade Ruyi under the stone Buddha's foot. After wiping off the dust, the translucent broken jade immediately began to emit a faint glow.

The ancient temple seemed empty, but several people found artifacts under the accumulated dust, prompting others to quickly start searching as well.

Ye Fan paid no attention to those artifacts. With the bronze ancient lamp, the only spotless, undamaged, and ever-burning object in the temple in his hand, other artifacts clearly couldn't compare.

"I don't believe I can't find anything..." Pang Bo grumbled.

"Search carefully here, and collect whatever artifacts you find," Ye Fan handed the lamp to Pang Bo, asking him to search with the light. Although the broken Buddhist artifacts didn't show any mystery for the time being, he knew that if there were deities in this world, these items must be extraordinary!

Ye Fan temporarily handed the bronze lamp to Pang Bo and stepped out of the temple, heading towards the Bodhi tree in front of the temple. At this moment, he had broken free from his original mindset and temporarily allowed himself to believe in the existence of deities.

Since the ancient temple was the Great Thunder Sound Temple, he could not miss the accompanying Bodhi tree. If there were Buddhas in this world, that withered ancient tree must be extraordinary!

The Bodhi tree is a sacred tree in Buddhism. According to the "Great Tang Records on the Western Regions," Buddha once told Ananda that there were three things in the world worthy of worship... Buddha's relics, Buddha statues, and the Bodhi tree.

Because Buddha attained enlightenment under the Bodhi tree, seeing the Bodhi tree is like seeing the Buddha.

The withered ancient tree before him was as vigorous as a dragon, too large for six or seven people to embrace. The main trunk was hollow, with only one withered branch hanging down two or three meters from the ground, bearing six green leaves that shimmered like emeralds.

Regardless of whether this ancient tree had any connection with Buddha, just the six jade-like leaves were enough to show its extraordinariness.

Ye Fan came under the tree and examined the ancient Bodhi tree carefully. The huge branches almost completely covered the ancient temple above. If they were full of leaves, one could imagine the scene of shading the sky and blocking the sun.

At this moment, Ye Fan's heart stirred. He noticed that the six crystal clear green leaves emitted a barely visible green mist, a small part of which drifted towards the distant multicolored altar, while most of it disappeared into the roots of the tree.

The green mist, in the shape of threads, kept overflowing from the six green leaves, giving people a sense of life and endless vitality flowing.

Ye Fan squatted down and dug away the soil at the roots of the tree, wanting to see what was below that could gather the green mist overflowing from the Bodhi leaves.

Under the soil, he didn't see anything miraculous, only a Bodhi seed, without any luster, no brilliance, no mist, dark and ordinary, easily mistaken for a clod of earth if not noticed.

The only special thing was its size. Ordinary Bodhi seeds were no bigger than a fingernail, but this dark Bodhi seed was as large as a walnut.

Ye Fan was surprised. Could it be that the green mist overflowing from the Bodhi leaves was absorbed by it? After observing for a while, he saw the thread-like green mist flow down and disappear three inches away from the Bodhi seed.

Although he didn't see it absorb the essence of the Bodhi leaves, he could almost confirm that it was the cause.

Ye Fan held the Bodhi seed in his palm, examined it carefully, and to his astonishment, the natural patterns on the seed, which was otherwise unremarkable and dark, formed the image of a compassionate Buddha!

The Buddha image was naturally formed, entirely from the convergence of natural textures, yet it seemed as if it was meticulously carved on it.

The dark Buddha image, simple and natural, faintly exuded a Zen charm.

"A naturally formed Buddha image, could it be that 2,500 years ago, Siddhartha Gautama truly attained enlightenment because of the Bodhi tree?"

The Bodhi tree, also known as the wisdom tree, enlightenment tree, or contemplation tree, is said to awaken one's divinity and enlighten oneself.

Ye Fan held the Bodhi seed high above his head, facing the six green leaves above. The speed of the green mist overflowing increased significantly, and the vibrant life force became even more intense, all concentrating on the Bodhi seed, of course, the radiance still disappeared three inches away.

"Pop!"

A soft sound came, and one of the crystal clear Bodhi leaves emitted its last green mist before shattering into ashes and falling down.

At this point, Ye Fan was finally convinced that the Bodhi seed, though seemingly ordinary, was indeed extraordinary. He treasured it and put it away.

At this time, he noticed a lot of powder on the ground, identical to the ashes from the Bodhi leaf that had just shattered. Could it be that all the Bodhi leaves on the tree disappeared like this? This surprised Ye Fan greatly.

The Bodhi seed with the naturally formed Buddha image made him feel that it was of great significance, and he vaguely felt that it was even more important than the bronze ancient lamp that always accompanied the stone Buddha!

There were still five green leaves on the Bodhi tree, but they were not as crystal clear as before, much dimmer. Ye Fan did not pick them, one Bodhi seed was enough, he did not want to attract attention.

At this time, no one had yet come out of the Great Thunder Sound Temple. Ye Fan left the Bodhi tree and returned to the ancient temple.

At the moment, another seven or eight people had found Buddhist artifacts, each of a different appearance. Liu Yunzhi even found half a golden vajra behind the stone Buddha. Although it had been buried in dust for who knows how many years, it still shone brightly when unearthed, giving a heavy and condensed feeling. If not for the broken end, it would be a perfect and powerful casting masterpiece.

This staff-like vajra has a very imposing name in Buddhism, the Vajra, which indirectly signifies "destroying the enemy," symbolizing invincible and unbreakable wisdom and true Buddha nature, and is the staff held by all revered sages.

If there are Buddhas in this world, this Vajra is undoubtedly a sacred object, and it would not be surprising if it had extraordinary and mysterious powers, even with the power to split mountains and stop rivers. However, at the moment, its miraculous nature was not apparent.

Liu Yunzhi swung the half Vajra forcefully, and it cut through the air like a golden lightning bolt, radiating a brilliant light, the treasured Vajra full of momentum.

"Imagine, if these artifacts were all held by deities, and if we discovered how to use them, what kind of earth-shattering scene would unfold..."

Hearing Liu Yunzhi's words, all those who had found Buddhist artifacts were filled with longing.