"Click-clack..."
A crisp sound rang out from the ruins, and two monks, one big and one small, emerged from the hole once more. They first cautiously looked around to make sure there was no danger before finally crawling out completely.
"Gurgle..." The little monk's stomach growled unexpectedly at this moment, making him feel somewhat embarrassed and annoyed.
Five days had passed since they last hunted those scaled beasts, and the two had to go out hunting again.
"Don't worry, Xuan Kong, we'll definitely be able to get enough food today."
"Yes, I understand, Senior Brother Xuanming." The little monk nodded obediently.
It turns out that the senior brother's name was Xuanming, and the junior brother's name was Xuanliang. Of course, it was Xuanming who gave him these names.
Looking at his junior brother, who was already twenty years old but only the size of a twelve-year-old child, Xuanming felt a pang of heartache. All of this was due to a lack of food. Originally, he had no knowledge of hunger because of his cultivation, but after losing all his cultivation, he needed to eat like an ordinary person. The process of finding food was extremely difficult. The area around Mount Ling was desolate and uninhabited, but fortunately there were some mutated wild beasts.
Having lost his cultivation, he could only try his best to capture some small ferocious beasts. Even so, he often failed. He was lucky enough to catch one two or three times a month. As a result, Xuanliang had never eaten a full meal since he was a child, and his body was like that of a child.
The two moved cautiously through the ruins. This time, besides searching for food, they also wanted to see if there were any survivors. For the past twenty years, Xuanming had been doing this. He didn't understand why everyone else had disappeared, and only he and Xuanliang had survived. He wanted to know the answer.
The two left the ruins along a familiar path and entered a dense forest where leaves had fallen. Gathering firewood was a necessary task for survival.
Perhaps because he had left the cramped stone cave and come to a wide-open space, Xuanliang seemed quite happy, even forgetting his hunger, and ran and darted joyfully through the mountains and forests.
"Slow down, don't step into our trap," Xuanming warned.
"I know," the little monk replied hastily, continuing toward the riverbank. He had set a net in the river last time, hoping to catch some fish, and the delicious fish soup left him wanting more.
Looking at his lively junior brother, Xuanming couldn't help but shake his head. Fortunately, there were no dangerous beasts here, otherwise he wouldn't dare to let the other run wild.
Before long, the two arrived at a riverbank. The water was clear and gurgling, and fish occasionally leaped out of the water.
Xuanliang rolled up his trousers and eagerly walked down to the river. He reached out and groped for the fishing net that had been placed in the river. Soon, he found the end of the net and pulled it up.
Soon, Xuanliang's eyes filled with disappointment. He saw that the already tattered fishing net had been torn open with a huge hole in the middle, and there was no fish, not even any debris.
“Senior brother…” Xuanliang looked at Xuanming on the shore with a mournful face.
"Hey, come on up quickly, don't catch a cold," Xuanming said with a sigh.
Just then, Xuanming's ears twitched slightly. Years of survival had made him extremely alert. Although he had no cultivation, he had not forgotten his martial arts techniques. Over the years, he had been training himself, and his skills were comparable to those of a Xiantian (innate) in the martial arts world.
He grabbed Xuanliang, who had just climbed ashore, and leaped behind a large tree, covering Xuanliang's mouth at the same time.
"Bang...bang..."
The ground shook, and Xuanming's heart sank. He could imagine a colossal creature walking towards them.
In the two years immediately following the disaster, there were many mutated giant beasts near Mount Ling. Xuanming would never forget that horror. At that time, all the corpses in and around Mount Ling were devoured by these giant beasts. They only left after they had eaten all the corpses.
Xuanliang also felt the tremors from the ground, and his body couldn't help but tremble. Xuanming quickly pressed his head down to comfort him, and he had already made a decision in his heart that he would lure away the giant beast and let his junior brother escape.
"Bang...bang..."
The giant beast's footsteps grew closer and closer, then stopped not far from the tree where the two were hiding, making them extremely nervous.
"Huff..."
The unknown behemoth was panting, seemingly having caught the scent of the two, and then walked towards them.
Soon, a large patch of shadows appeared before them.
Xuanming's eyes narrowed, and he reached behind his back with his right hand to take a broadsword. Then, he grabbed Xuanliang with his left hand and threw him backward with force.
"Junior brother, run!"
"ah..."
He then leaped from the tree, brandishing his broadsword, and slashed at the massive body.
"when..."
Clang...
"......"
Xuanming's blade seemed to strike metal, instantly shattering into several pieces, leaving him completely stunned.
"Huff..."
The giant beast's panting snapped him out of his shock. Xuanming slowly raised his head, and what came into view was an enormous bull's head, with a pair of large, bell-like eyes squinting at him.
"A cow?" Xuanming was stunned as he stared at the cow in front of him. Only then did he realize that the cow in front of him was different from those mutated beasts; its eyes were not black.
"Eeya?"
Immediately afterwards, a voice came from the back of the ox, and a little girl poked her head out from the ox's back, blinking her big eyes as she looked at Xuanming.
“A person…a person…” Xuanming murmured. He saw a little girl, the first living person he had encountered in twenty years besides Xuanliang.
"Why did you cut off Niu Er's horns?" Mengmeng was on the cow's back.
"Uh..." Xuanming didn't know what to say for a moment.
"Senior brother, sob sob..."
Just then, Xuanliang ran up from behind, crying, and hugged Xuanming tightly, having just terrified him.
"Hey, why aren't you saying anything? Why are you cutting down my cow?" Mengmeng pouted and complained.
"Yes, I'm sorry, I... I thought it was a mutated beast." Xuanming quickly apologized, shielding Xuanliang behind him.
Mengmeng sized up the two of them, then rolled her eyes and said.
Are you monks?
Upon hearing this, Xuanming's body trembled, and then he slowly nodded. Monk, what a familiar title, he hadn't heard it in two years.
Xuanming unconsciously put his hands together in prayer, and Xuanliang followed suit.
"Little monk Xuanming."
"My name is Xuanliang," the two introduced themselves.
"Hehehe... You really are a monk. Come with me, I have some questions for you." Mengmeng laughed. After saying that, she patted Niu Er and turned to leave.
Xuanming was stunned for a moment, then grabbed his junior brother and followed. It was rare to see a living person, and he was very curious about the other person's identity.
“Senior brother, the net…” Xuanliang pointed to the tattered net still on the shore.
"I'll come back to get it later," Xuanming said.
In the blink of an eye, the cow had disappeared. Xuanming could only quickly chase after the path it had taken. Soon he arrived at an open space by the river. There was a campfire there, and several people were sitting in front of it: two men, two women, and the little girl from before.
Xuanming stared at the group in shock, not for any other reason than their magnificent attire, which seemed unlike those who had suffered from a natural disaster. Then, their gazes fell upon the campfire, where a large pot sat and emitted a fragrant aroma of meat.
"Gurgle, gurgle..." Xuanliang's stomach growled again as it smelled the aroma.
"What are you standing there for? Come here, my brother has something to ask you." Mengmeng shouted, hands on her hips.
Xuanming snapped out of his daze and slowly walked over with his junior brother. As they got closer, they discovered that one of the men was extremely handsome and had a noble air, while the other was bald and dressed in strange clothes. The two women were incredibly beautiful, like goddesses from the heavens.
"I...I've met several of you," Xuanming said, bowing.
Xuanliang, somewhat shyly, hid behind his senior brother. He had never seen a stranger before, let alone two beautiful women.
"Don't be nervous, are you a Buddhist disciple?" Li Daoyi asked.
“Yes, oh no, it used to be, but Buddhism is gone now,” Xuanming stammered.
"Can you tell me what happened here?" Li Daoyi asked.
Xuanming looked at Li Daoyi with some confusion, not understanding why he asked that question.
But seeing the questioning look in the other person's eyes, who seemed genuinely unaware of the great disaster, Xuanming suppressed his confusion and began to explain.
About an incense stick later, Xuanming recounted everything he had seen and heard, though he didn't actually know much.
"Oh? You mean the black, dust-like powder that drives people who get on it crazy?" Li Daoyi asked.
"Yes, my senior brothers were like monsters, their eyes were bloodshot and they would bite anyone they saw. If it weren't for that Buddha's light, I..." Xuanming nodded with some lingering fear.
At this moment, Li Daoyi looked around thoughtfully. Everything around him seemed to have lost its color. Although it was daytime, the sun could not be seen in the sky, and the whole world could not feel any spiritual energy. This was also the reason why Xuanming lost his cultivation.
"So, you must have been exposed to that black powder back then. Why didn't you mutate?" Li Daoyi asked.
“I…I don’t know. Junior Brother Xuanliang didn’t mutate either. When I found him, he was covered in black powder,” Xuanming said.
"Come here," Li Daoyi beckoned.
Then, the two of them were enveloped by a force and involuntarily floated towards Li Daoyi.
"Spells..." Xuanming's eyes widened immediately. Li Daoyi ignored him, reached out and grasped their arms respectively, and a surge of magical power flowed into their bodies.
Xuanming felt the flow of magical power within his body, his eyes wide open. How could this person in front of him still possess magical power?
Xuan Liang looked at Li Daoyi with curiosity, feeling a comfortable sensation within his body.
A moment later, Li Daoyi released his grip and withdrew his magic power.
"They are all Immaculate Divine Bodies," Li Daoyi said slowly.
"Immaculate Divine Body? What is that?" Dongfang Bubai couldn't help but ask.
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