Chapter 274: The Big-Eared Monk Preaches the Dao

With a crack!

The void fissure suddenly trembled violently, then simultaneously pulled apart toward both sides and ends, forming an ever-growing rift.

As the rift expanded, more crystalline light gushed out from within, churning like the sea surface. After flashing a few times, it transformed into a crystalline wall of light about five or six zhang in size, spanning before Han Li.

Hum!

At that moment, the True Word Wheel suddenly blazed with light again, spinning with incredible speed. The time patterns on it trembled violently, causing the nearby void to twist.

Han Li watched the anomaly before him. In just a few moments, his expression changed several times, but then he gritted his teeth and resolved to wait and see. His gaze fell upon the wall of light.

Countless crystalline lights flowed unceasingly on the surface of the wall, within which some scenes flickered rapidly.

At first, these scenes flickered extremely fast, growing and shrinking, with varied colors, making them impossible to discern. But after just a few breaths, the flickering gradually slowed, forming several outlines.

Han Li's heart stirred. From these outlines, he could vaguely make out what seemed to be several human figures.

Just then, with a muffled thud, one of the time patterns on the True Word Wheel suddenly leaped, dimmed rapidly, and turned a dull gray.

"What's happening?"

Han Li looked up sharply at the True Word Wheel, slightly startled.

Although the wheel had slipped from his control, it still maintained a spiritual connection with him. At that moment, the connection with that gray time pattern abruptly severed.

It felt as if some extremely eerie mysterious force had extracted something from his body, leaving a void in his heart.

This had never happened before!

But he did not immediately retract the True Word Wheel. Instead, he forced himself to stay calm and continued to stare at the wall of light.

He vaguely felt that there was something mysterious about this wall.

As that time pattern dimmed, the scenes on the crystalline wall slowed and became slightly clearer.

It seemed to be atop some mountain peak, where there was a tall object with several blurry figures, some large, some small. Occasionally, colorful things flashed across the high sky.

Just as Han Li activated his Brightclarity Spirit Eyes to see more clearly, a soft thud interrupted his thoughts.

Another time pattern on the True Word Wheel dimmed.

Han Li looked up, his expression darkening. Then a thoughtful look appeared in his eyes, as if he was pondering something.

Then, with another thud, another time pattern on the True Word Wheel dimmed.

Han Li's eyes flickered. The dimming of the time patterns on the True Word Wheel followed a pattern: roughly every breath, one would dim.

His heart stirred, as if he understood something. He quickly shifted his gaze back to the wall of light.

Sure enough, as these two time patterns dimmed, the scenes on the wall became clearer still.

After another five or six breaths, Han Li's eyes brightened. Now he could see clearly: it was the summit of a huge cyan mountain, lush with green trees and dotted with strange rocks.

Around the mountain stretched a boundless sea of clouds, rolling and surging.

In the center of a forest of strange rocks stood a circular stone platform, about a thousand zhang in circumference and a hundred zhang high, entirely cyan in color, connected to the mountain below as if naturally formed.

The surface of the cyan stone platform had a few cracks, covered with moss and entwined with vines, as if telling of its long history.

At that moment, five or six figures were scattered around the platform, all looking extremely bizarre.

One of them was very tall, as thin as a bamboo pole, wearing a loose yellow robe that looked quite incongruous.

With straw-like yellow hair on his head, a deeply wrinkled, uneven face like old tree bark, and similar skin on his hands, he looked much like the Wood Clan of the Spirit Realm.

Beside the yellow-robed tree-man stood a short figure, less than five chi tall, thin and withered, like a child compared to the tree-man. But his head was as large as a bucket, making him look top-heavy, as if he might fall headfirst at any moment.

The third figure had long arms and legs, with unusually broad palms and soles like palm-leaf fans. His bare upper body had fiery red skin, as if cooked, covered with strange circular patterns. On his head was a mane of flame-like red hair, from which sparks occasionally leaped.

The fourth figure was a small child of five or six, with a round body and a round head, like a large ball topped with a smaller one. A bellyband was tied around his stomach, making him look like an ordinary child, but his arms were twice as long as a normal person's, reaching down to his knees, and they had an extra joint, making them appear extremely bizarre.

The last figure was enormous, several times larger than the others, draped in what seemed to be the fur of some demon beast, with dark green skin, standing like an iron tower.

In short, all five were oddly shaped, not resembling humans, yet their facial features bore some resemblance to humans.

The five formed a circle, spaced hundreds of zhang apart, some sitting, some standing, some kneeling, all gazing at the center of the stone platform.

There, a red-robed monk with a large head and big ears sat cross-legged.

The monk's cheeks were piled with layers of fat, squeezing his eyes into slits. His earlobes were extremely long, hanging down to his shoulders. Below his head was a very obese body, so that the already wide red kasaya robe could not fully cover him, hanging open on both sides, revealing an enormous belly that touched the ground at its lower end, making him look like a mountain of flesh.

At first glance, Han Li couldn't help but have a strange thought:

"Perhaps this man cannot even walk normally... no, not even stand up..."

But this thought flashed by, and as he looked more closely, he noticed some peculiarities.

The red kasaya was no ordinary item; it was studded with many colorful gems that sparkled. In his hand, he held a string of green jade prayer beads, slowly turning them. Each bead was crystal clear, emitting a faint green light that dazzled the eyes, with runes flickering within.

Looking at the big-eared monk, despite his extreme obesity, his whole body faintly emitted a layer of luster, giving a sense of solemn dignity. Sitting there, he seemed to be the center of everything.

The monk's lips moved, as if he were speaking.

As soon as he opened his mouth, a string of five-colored runes flew out from between his lips and teeth, turning into a five-colored stream of light that swirled around him, then rose into the air and scattered, causing heaven and earth to resonate faintly.

Countless specks of light appeared where the stream dissipated, then turned into an endless gale, howling and swirling to form several enormous tornadoes.

But as soon as these tornadoes formed, they immediately dissipated, turning into a blazing rain of fire falling from the sky, covering the heavens and the earth.

Before the fire rain could fall, it dissipated again, turning into a storm of ice, freezing everything for thousands of miles...

These phenomena looked lifelike but vanished in an instant, causing the nearby void to tremble, the sea of clouds to churn violently, and the cloud vapors to surge.

Seeing this, Han Li was startled and marveled.

Yet no matter what happened in the sky, the stone platform and its surroundings remained completely unaffected, not even the leaves trembled.

At the same time, golden light flickered behind the big-eared monk's head, and countless golden lotuses tumbled and coalesced into a large golden auspicious cloud, appearing mysterious and wondrous, swaying slightly as the monk's head moved.

As the auspicious cloud swayed, visible ripples spread through the surrounding void.

The oddly shaped figures nearby seemed oblivious to the phenomena in the sky, staring unblinkingly at the big-eared monk, listening with rapt attention, as if forgetting time and space.

On the crystal wall, after speaking for a while, the big-eared monk paused.

The five-colored stream of light in the sky slowly dissipated, all phenomena vanished, and the trembling void and sea of clouds gradually calmed.

The yellow-robed tree man suddenly stood up and bowed from a distance to the monk.

The monk and the others looked at him.

The yellow-robed tree man gestured with his hands and spoke, his expression suggesting he had some doubt and was asking a question.

Upon hearing this, the others' expressions tightened, as if the tree man's question also puzzled them. They all turned to look at the big-eared monk with expectant faces.

After hearing this, the big-eared monk threw his head back and laughed heartily, causing all the fat on his body and head to jiggle.

At the same time, the void near the mountain seemed to tremble with the laughter, the surrounding sea of clouds surged, and the mountain itself shook, presenting a scene of heaven and earth quaking.

Han Li's eyes showed shock; just a laugh could cause such a dramatic change in heaven and earth. Who exactly was this big-eared monk?

After laughing, the big-eared monk spoke again, raising an extremely fat hand to gesture, as if explaining the yellow-robed tree man's doubt.

After a few words, the yellow-robed tree man showed a look of understanding, then bowed with utmost respect and sat down again.

The others also showed relieved expressions, bowed to the monk, and then sat down in turn.

The big-eared monk lowered his hand and continued his sermon, with the five around him listening intently, their faces showing fascination.

Seeing the rapt expressions of those oddly shaped figures, Han Li felt a strong urge to listen to what the monk was saying, but although the crystal wall now showed everything much more clearly than at first, not a single sound came out.

He smiled bitterly, but could do nothing, and could only stare helplessly.