Everyone’s eyes were attracted by the churning water, including Zhou Wen.
With a loud splash, green lotus leaves emerged from the water. After extending out from the water surface, many water droplets swirled on the lotus leaves, making them wobble. The splashing sounds continued to echo. More and more lotus leaves appeared on the surface of the river like bamboo shoots after the rain. They kept appearing, and not long after, the river was almost completely covered by the lotus leaves. At a glance, it was as if it had turned into a green river of jadeite. In the darkness, the lotus leaves even emitted a faint light.
“Did such a phenomenon happen in the past Buddha Eye-Opening?” Zhou Wen asked Li Xuan.
Li Xuan shook his head and said, “I’m not very sure about that. However, I heard that there was indeed a phenomenon before the Buddha Eye-Opening. However, I’ve only heard of birds flying over from all directions, nothing about the river giving rise to lotus leaves.
As the two conversed, there was another change on the river surface. Lotus flowers extended out from the water and slowly bloomed between the lotus leaves, making the scenery on the river even more pleasant.
Those lotus flowers seemed to be lamps that illuminated the surface of the river. It was truly a magical sight.
Zhou Wen was watching the scene of the lotus flower blooming when he suddenly heard someone shout, “The Buddha has opened his eyes... The Buddha has opened his eyes...”
Zhou Wen and company turned their heads and looked at the statue on the stone wall. Its closed eyes seemed to have a golden line drawn. Light shimmered from within as though it was about to open its eyes.
Zhou Wen’s heart stirred as he switched his Primordial Energy Art to the Small Perfection of Wisdom Sutra. He thought, The Small Perfection of Wisdom Sutra is also a Buddhist Primordial Energy Art. It might be of some use. Since it shares the same religion, the Buddha statue might even glance at me.
Many students and cultivators moved in front of the Buddha statue, hoping to obtain the Buddha statue’s favor.
Feng Qiuyan, Ming Xiu, and Tian Zhenzhen also came to Zhou Wen’s side. Tian Zhenzhen looked at the Buddha statue curiously and asked, “Could it be that only those with Buddhist physiques or people with Buddha-related Life Providences can obtain the fortuitous opportunity during the Buddha Eye-Opening?” “Who knows? The last people who got chosen by the Buddha statues apparently didn’t have any Buddhist physiques,” Li Xuan said after some thought.
“Could there be no standard?” Tian Zhenzhen asked again.
“Even if there are standards, no one knows what it is,” Li Weiyang said. As they spoke, the Buddha statue’s eyes had already completely opened, its eyes sparkling with a Buddhistic glow. However, the direction it was looking at was not the humans on the shore, but the lotus leaves and lotus flowers over the river.
“Is he enjoying the flowers?” Ming Xiu looked at the Buddha statue in deep thought.
“From the looks of it, enjoying the flowers is his main goal. Choosing someone might just be done in passing,” Li Xuan said with a twitch of his lips.
Dragon Gate Grotto had thousands of people along the riverbank as they helplessly watched the Buddha statue enjoy the flowers. The Buddha statue did nothing but admire the flowers, with zero intention of looking at the humans by the shore.
Seeing that the Buddha statue wasn’t looking at him, Zhou Wen couldn’t help but feel somewhat disappointed. It looks like the Small Perfection of Wisdom Sutra isn’t of much use.
Suddenly, not far away, a figure ran to the river bank and jumped into the river. After that, the figure separated the lotus leaves and swam towards a spot where the Buddha statue was looking at.
“Holy f*ck! This bro sure has ideas!”
“You want to get a Buddhist affinity this way? Is that person’s brain damaged?”
“I guess that person must have gone crazy thinking of getting a Buddhist affinity? If you can obtain a Buddhist affinity using such a trick, what kind of affinity is that?” “The person destroyed so many lotus leaves and flowers and disrupted the Buddha statue’s enjoyment of the flowers, spoiling its mood. I won’t be surprised if there’s a punishment, so to get a Buddhist affinity? Stop dreaming.”
Everyone reacted and immediately understood what that person was trying to do. There were people who were amazed, but most people were mocking the person.
“That person is rather interesting! Is it a student from our school?” Zhou Wen looked at the person who was swimming with piqued interest. Earlier, they had all had their eyes on the Buddha statue and hadn’t seen who had jumped into the river.
Although this method seemed unreliable, this person dared to act on their ideas. It wasn’t comparable to the people on the shore who could only mock.
“Probably.” Li Xuan was somewhat unsure. The person was swimming amongst lotus leaves so they were blocked from view. Furthermore, the river’s water had drenched the person’s clothes, so it was impossible to tell if they were wearing the school uniform.
Boom!
The person was trying their best to swim when a bolt of lightning suddenly shot down from the sky. It hit the person who was swimming in the water. The surrounding river water rose a foot high because of the impact, and the lotus flowers nearby also suffered damage. An area was charred black after the lightning strike.
“I knew it. How dare you use such a trick before Buddha? You deserve to be struck by lightning.”
“Some people only want to take shortcuts. Have you learned your lesson?”
“You even dare to fool Buddha? Who else should be struck by lightning if not you?”
Many people who were watching were gloating. Even though there were people who were concerned about whether that person had died from the lightning strike, no one dared to save the person. They were afraid that they would also be struck by lightning once they entered the river. Zhou Wen felt that the person was rather interesting. He had seen the might of the lightning, and it wasn’t enough to hurt him. He said to Li Xuan, “Wait here for me. I’ll see if he’s dead.”
Zhou Wen didn’t summon his arm wing, but he used Dragon Gate’s Flying Immortal Skill. He stepped on the lotus leaves and headed for the lightning-strike victim.
As he stepped on the lotus leaves and landed on the spot where the person had been struck, he reached out to grab the person who was floating faced down. Upon closer inspection, he was surprised. This person’s hair and clothes had been charred black, but the person wasn’t dead. The person had only fainted.
That wasn’t the main point. The main point was that Zhou Wen actually knew this person. She was none other than Fang Ruoxi, who had graduated from Guide High School with him.
It’s no wonder you jumped down from our side. It’s her! Zhou Wen was looking at the Buddha statue just now, just like the others. He really didn’t notice that Fang Ruoxi had disappeared.
Just as he was about to bring Fang Ruoxi back to the shore, he suddenly saw a bolt of lightning appear out of nowhere. It descended from the void and struck Zhou Wen and Fang Ruoxi.
“Zhou Wen, be careful!” Li Xuan and company shouted.
And among the other spectators, many gloated over Zhou Wen’s predicament. They felt that he deserved being hit for his rash act.
Zhou Wen naturally saw the lightning smite down as well. The lightning came quickly, preventing him from having any time to think. Zhou Wen summoned his Overlord Sword and slashed out the Demonic Astral Wheel at the lightning
The blood-colored light wheel tore out and collided with the lightning. Immediately, a streak of blood-red light exploded.
As the Demonic Astral Wheel shattered, the lightning also shattered. It transformed into electric wisps that scattered across the river surface, charring the lotus leaves and lotus flowers.
Boom!
Before Zhou Wen could retract the sword in his hand, another bolt of lightning came smiting down, preventing him from having a chance to return to the bank.