Super Gene Ⅱ: Evolution

Master Chao Du nodded at the words and then inserted the twig into the soil in the corner of the wall, before twirling his prayer beads and closing his eyes to chant sutras.

A golden light radiated from his body like a halo of Buddha's light, and under its illumination, the twig miraculously grew into a several-meter-tall Buddha Fruit Tree within moments, bearing golden, gourd-shaped Buddha fruits.

"This..." Lin Shen and his companions were dumbfounded. They could not tell whether Master Chao Du's miraculous ability was due to the Power of Nirvana or the Immortal Laws.

"Could this be the Immortal Laws?" Master Chao Du stopped chanting his sutras and then looked at Lin Shen to ask.

"Master, we are only Ascenders. We can barely recognize the Power of Nirvana, and whether your ability is the Immortal Laws, we dare not conclude," Lin Shen replied with a wry smile.

Master Chao Du was not disappointed and nodded in response, "A trifle matter, benefactor, do not be concerned."

Ouyang Yudu chatted with Master Chao Du for a few more sentences, but unfortunately, Master Chao Du had always lived inside the Golden Buddha Temple and had never been outside of it, completely unaware of the outside world.

He did not even know that there were other temples outside the Golden Buddha Temple.

He had also never seen the spirits in the night sky. According to him, he chanted sutras and worshipped the Buddha every day in the Golden Buddha Temple and had never been in contact with the outside world. Lin Shen was the third outsider he had seen.

Lin Shen hastened to ask, "Do you still remember what the people you saw the first two times looked like?"

Master Chao Du thought for a moment and said, "The first person I met looked a bit like you, but he was taller and more mature and hearty."

"Looked like me?" Lin Shen was slightly startled.

"Yes, he bore a resemblance to you, only he was not as tall as that man," Master Chao Du reminisced.

"Is it this person?" Lin Shen took out his communicator and projected his fourth brother's image.

After looking for a while, Master Chao Du shook his head and said, "It's not him; he also looks quite like that person, but the temperament is different, nor is he that tall."

"It's not my fourth brother?" Lin Shen couldn't think of anyone else.

Lin Xiangdong bore the closest resemblance to him. Although their third brother looked somewhat similar, the resemblance was not as strong.

He heard that his second brother seemed very tall and robust, but he was not sure how similar they looked; Lin Shen's memory of him was vague.

"Who was the person you encountered the second time?" Lin Shen could only continue asking.

"It was a person with a somewhat peculiar face; half of it was human, and the other half appeared to be a statue cast of iron." Upon hearing Master Chao Du's description, all three of them were elated.

"The bizarre person he's talking about is clearly Tie. Since Tie has been here, it means we've come to the right place, and we're headed in the right direction," Lin Shen quickly continued, "Master Chao Du, do you know where that person went afterward?"

"He went nowhere," Master Chao Du said with a peculiar expression.

Lin Shen and his companions did not understand what Master Chao Du meant and could only look at him, waiting for him to continue.

Master Chao Du went on, "After he arrived here, like you, he stayed for one night, and I offered him Buddha fruits. He ate them, and like you, wished to see the Buddha Fruit Tree. I took him to see it, and afterward, he rested here by himself while I went to worship and chant sutras. But when I returned, he was gone."

"He must have left quietly by himself," Lin Shen mused.

Master Chao Du shook his head, "Having lived in the monastery for so long, I'm intimately familiar with everything here, almost as if I have a psychic connection. If he had left, I would certainly know. I can affirm that he has not left the backyard."

"Then it's strange. If he didn't leave the backyard, how could he disappear?" Lin Shen pondered.

"I have also speculated various possibilities, and ultimately, I concluded that there is only one possibility: he must have gone down into the pool. Other than this, there are no other paths in the backyard," Master Chao Du said, pointing to the pool where the Buddha Fruit Tree was planted.
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"Is there a passage under this pool that leads away?" Lin Shen suddenly became overjoyed.

He had originally thought that finding the teleporter would take some time, but unexpectedly, he stumbled upon this piece of information.

"I don't know. I have also dived to explore it. The pool seems bottomless, and the roots of the Buddha Fruit Tree keep growing downwards. I have descended almost ten thousand meters along the roots, but the underwater pressure became increasingly strong, so much so that I could no longer continue..."

Pausing for a moment, Master Chao Du continued, "Although I couldn't reach the bottom, I saw a black ancient temple deep below, where the roots of the Buddha Fruit Tree were embedded. While the divine spirits worshipped within the temple were not visible, there were eight pillars inside the temple, each sufficiently thick that it took ten people to wrap their arms around one. At the top of each pillar was a statue of a bizarre creature. Above the statues seemed to be shrouded in mist, and within the boundary of the pillars, there wasn't a single drop of water—all the water was blocked from entering..."

Lin Shen and his companions looked at each other, realizing that even if the likely immortal Master Chao Du couldn't dive into it, they would probably have an even harder time reaching the ancient temple beneath the water.

Even if the teleporter really was in the ancient temple, it seemed impossible for them to leave from here.

"If even Master Chao Du can't dive down there, how did that strange person manage to go down?" Lin Shen's curiosity deepened.

Just as he thought the matter had come to an end, Master Chao Du went on, "I couldn't approach the temple, and was about to retreat when I saw a figure of light emerge from within the temple, walking through the water as if the pressure meant nothing, radiating a brilliance like a myriad of sunbeams."

"I wanted to get closer to him, to communicate, but the figure paid no heed to me. He trod upon the water as if he were an immortal walking on waves, and in the blink of an eye, he broke through the surface. By the time I surfaced, the figure of light had already disappeared without a trace, only the sky was filled with strange and changing lights, as if it were covered with thousands of divine glows, which took a while to dissipate."

Master Chao Du continued, "I have been here for over a hundred years and have seen such celestial phenomena thirteen times. It was only on that day that I realized the source of these spectacles was from beneath this pool in the ancient temple..."

As Lin Shen listened, his heart pounded fiercely. The more he heard Master Chao Du describe it, the more he felt that the ancient temple beneath the water must be the place of Base Mutation capable of nurturing life.

Master Chao Du had witnessed the phenomena thirteen times in over a century, which suggested that this Base Mutation had given rise to thirteen creatures.

If, as they had earlier speculated, there was an Immortal Land on this planet, and this place was that land, then did it mean that over a hundred years, this place had nurtured thirteen Undying Creatures? That was quite alarming.

If thirteen Undying Creatures could emerge in just over a hundred years, then in the billions of years, how many such creatures had this place brought into being?

Considering further the Temple they encountered on their arrival, and the Bizarre Creature in the night, the more they thought about it, the more their scalps tingled with unease.

"Master Chao Du, could you take us down to see that ancient temple?" Lin Shen asked thoughtfully.

"I fear that your strength might not suffice to dive deep enough to see the temple," Master Chao Du said pensively.

"It wouldn't hurt to try," Lin Shen replied, having no other options.

If Tie had indeed left from the ancient temple, to leave this place, their only choice was to attempt to dive into the temple.