The Void King

2. The Prayer Beads

Feng was overwhelmed with emotion, almost reeling in anger. His entire life had been ruined by this seemingly ordinary string of Asian Buddhist beads. Without it, he would still be by his grandmother's side now. Without it, he would never have mysteriously arrived in this world.

Just as he was consumed by rage, the Buddhist beads that had been lying quietly in his sea of ​​consciousness suddenly trembled, scattering the vast expanse of pale golden liquid into various parts of Feng's body. Wherever the pale golden liquid passed, the originally raging blood and energy calmed down like docile sheep.

What shocked Feng even more was that wherever the pale golden liquid passed, not only did the raging blood and energy calm down, but even the meridians that had long been broken and chaotic were miraculously reconnected. This shocking scene made him feel bitter, and his feelings towards the Buddhist beads took a different turn. Although it brought him to this strange world, plunging him into despair, he knew that the reason why his meridians were now reconnected and unblocked was entirely because of it.

Just as Feng was struggling internally, the Buddhist beads in his sea of ​​consciousness began to spin rapidly, and then eight golden words appeared in Feng's sea of ​​consciousness: 

[I will not become a Buddha until hell is empty]

"I will not become a Buddha until hell is empty?" Feng repeated in a shock state. Wasn't this the eight-word mantra of Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva, the one known as Jozi in Japan? As a student of Asian Culture and History, how could he not know the legends about Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva? 

Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva was one of the four great Bodhisattvas in Buddhism, in charge of the ghost realm or the underworld. His status was so high that it completely surpassed the Ten Kings of Hell, making him the undisputed number one in the underworld.

[I vow not to become a Buddha until hell is emptied]

This was a mantra governing those with great perseverance and great power. It was also because Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva himself was compassionate and steadfast, which was why he established this eight-character mantra for himself. He firmly believed that all people in the world should dwell in goodness.

"Why am I seeing this?" Feng frowned, lost in thought. "What's going on?"

At this moment, he had already put aside his complicated emotions. The Buddhist beads suddenly displayed the eight-word compassionate vow of Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva. What was the meaning of this? Feng had been interested in cheap Asian antiques. This was the first time he had encountered such a bizarre event.

After buying the beads, he was at home sleeping when the whole room suddenly became filled with howling winds and ghostly wails.

Feng knew something was wrong at that moment. He had bought some strange antiques, mostly less that hundred dollars, but this time, he was terrified and his whole body was covered in goosebumps.

One after another, ferocious faces covered with long fangs and chilling, ghostly flames appeared around him, completely surrounding him. The terrifying, miserable cries and the biting, icy wind petrified Feng on the spot.

Whether out of fear of the Buddhist beads in Feng's hand or something else, these terrifying creatures surrounded him, making him fall down beside the bed in a trance. Seeing this the horrifying creatures rushed forward towards him. When he awoke, he found himself in this world.

Then a loud banging sound pulled Feng back to his senses from his memories. He saw that the eight-words mantra had disappeared, and his consciousness began to gradually blur. When he woke up, his soul had returned to his body.

He opened his eyes, his clothes already soaked with large beads of sweat. His first thought was that what he had just seen was a dream. "Daydreaming?"

However, before he could recollect himself, his expression froze again, because he discovered that all the meridians in his body had been reconnected. Whether it was the twelve regular meridians or the eight extraordinary meridians, they were all intact without any trace of breakage. In fact, he felt that his meridians seemed to be several times stronger than before.

"These prayer beads couldn't belong to Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva, could it?" Recalling the previous events, Feng was still incredibly shocked.

[Congratulations to the successor of the Buddhist prayer beads]

A deep, aged voice suddenly rang in Feng's mind, causing him to jump out of bed and look around in shock.

"Who is there? Who are you?" After about the time it takes to drink a cup of tea, Feng finally asked a series of questions. All the strange things had happened to him, so even if a person suddenly appeared inside him now, he wouldn't be surprised.

[I'm the remnant of the Void King, and I am the Protector of the beads]

The aged voice rang out again, but this time Feng did not continue to ask questions. He knew that this divine will was left behind by the Void King after her death and did not possess consciousness. Therefore, even if Feng wanted to ask something, it could not answer.

[I have lived for over fourteen thousand years and reached the Sky Realm. Under the final tribulation cloud, I was unable to enter the Nirvana Realm and ended up with my soul scattered. Because I was unwilling to accept this, I simply poured all my life's learning into the protective prayer beads. From this day forward, you are my sole successor. Your virtues, either good or evil, means nothing to me. I, Void King, have only one request: inherit my skills and make my name, Void King, famous again throughout the world. But you will have to discover the functions of the protective prayer beads and all the knowledge I have acquired throughout my life by yourself. To trigger the arrays of the prayer beads, you will need endless demonic blood essence]

The voice grew softer and softer, and with the last word, the aged voice disappeared completely. 

Feng could even hear the resentment in the remnant's tone. He checked his internal energy again and found it to be extremely smooth. However, he had already fallen from the ninth level of Body Tempering, and his internal energy was no longer as abundant, but this did not discourage him. 

As long as his meridians were intact, there was no problem in restoring his previous level of cultivation. Feng's meridians had all been opened up. Now he only needed to continuously invigorate his energy and blood and open up his acupoints. Afterwards, everything would fall into place naturally.

"I can feel more strength now." After stretching his shins, Feng not only didn't feel any discomfort, but also felt full of energy. His punches even made a whistling sound as they went through the air, which made him feel quite good.

The first level of Body Tempering only required a force of two hundred pounds, but he already has a force of two hundred pounds without even entering the first level of Body Tempering. How could he not be excited? He was eager to start cultivating, but he knew that blind cultivation would not bring him much progress. So he had a preliminary plan, which needed to be carried out in a reclusive place. And he might have the perfect place in mind.

With a plan in place, it was time to put it into action. Feng glanced at the soft light streaming in through the window, quickly washed and dressed, and then set off. With the sun rising over the sea, it was the perfect time for cultivation.

"Oh ho ho, isn't this our family's genius young master Feng?"

"Boo booo booo, young master Feng."

As Feng passed by the Zhou family compound, he was suddenly blocked by a group of five boys, about his age, belonging to the fifth generation of the Zhou family. However, Feng couldn't be bothered with these clowns. When he was at his peak, these people were either calling him "Brother Feng" or "Master Feng," but now that they saw him fall from grace, they either kicked him while he was down or mocked him relentlessly.

Feng simply smiled in response. He might not have known these people's tricks before, but he was no longer the naive young boy who was easily provoked.

"Oh ho, still not responding? Are you trying to act noble or arrogant?" The boy named Bilin felt humiliated when he saw that Feng did not respond to him in front of everyone. He used to be extremely wary and afraid of Feng, but now, Feng was at most a useless person, a good-for-nothing despised by the family, while he was still a fifth-generation member of the Zhou family with a prominent status.

"Can you get out of the way now?" Feng was not interested in arguing with these people; he didn't want to miss the best opportunity for cultivation because of them.

"What did you say?" This time, not only Bilin was stunned, but the other four also showed anger after they came to their senses. How dare this good-for-nothing insult them? Isn't he courting death? "You piece of trash, do you really think you're something special now?"

"Get lost!" Feng sneered inwardly. Although Bilin was the same age as him, his talent was average. At over fourteen years old, he was still only at the first level of Body Tempering, and his strength was very average. Naturally, the people who hung out with him were no better.

""Me? Bilin stretched out one hand, which transformed into five claws, and tried to grab at Feng's face.

Faced with Bilin's swift attack, Feng leaned back slightly and shifted her steps a few points, effortlessly dodging Bilin's fierce attack like a ghost.

"What?" Seeing that Feng had easily dodged his attack, Bilin's expression immediately tightened. Wasn't it said that Feng had been crippled? How come his movement technique was still so good? However, before he could react, he was met with a solid and perfectly powerful punch.

Feng struck with just the right amount of force, delivering a punch to the back of Bilin's head, sending the tense Bilin flying five meters away before collapsing unconscious.

"If you want to block my way again next time, you're welcome anytime!" After dealing with Bilin, Feng glanced at the four dumbfounded fifth-generation clansmen, waved his sleeve, and left gracefully.

Several minutes after Feng left, the four fifth-generation clansmen finally reacted and hurriedly shouted at the same time.

"Feng's dantian is not damaged."

"Let's quickly go and report this to Young Master Kan."