Dan Shu's words struck a blow to the heart of the eighty-year-old woman, Bailu.
Perhaps because she had been kept in isolation for so long, Bailu's demeanor was more like that of a child.
'I heard he has the ability to maintain a youthful mindset...?'
'Is that his idea of a young person?'
Dan Shu had discussed Noldrei's physical state with him before. In her eyes, Noldrei was nothing short of a perfect monster.
A normal person's body was confined to the realm of organic or silicon-based life.
But Noldrei could transform himself into a being of pure photons, like a great ball of light, capable of moving through the quantum crevices of reality.
He could exist in two, or even several, parallel worlds simultaneously. He could even shift back and forth between organic and inorganic states, far surpassing the power the Vidyadhara could represent.
But in the eyes of the Xianzhou people, such a thing was thought to be impossible. The existence of Imaginary Space meant that the many worlds were fundamentally different. In other words, this already fragmented universe could not be pieced together.
"The Alchemy Commission is undergoing internal reforms. Would you like to come and watch later?"
Dan Shu thought for a moment. She decided it was best not to leave the Vidyadhara out of this; they should also be absorbed into the Pure Land Faction during the restructuring.
"Why would I watch you reform the Alchemy Commission?" Bailu was rather frightened by this woman.
While she wasn't afraid of being abducted by ordinary people, the thought of such attempts being relentless and unending was enough to rob her of a peaceful night's sleep.
"It's nothing, really. It's just that, as the High Elder of the Vidyadhara, you should probably be aware of the future direction of the Alchemy Commission."
Dan Shu, a woman who wielded the authority of the Alchemy Commission's Master Alchemist in all but name.
What was there left for her to fear?
All of this was to eliminate the eight sufferings of the mortal world and ascend to eternal bliss!
In that moment, Dan Shu felt a clarity she had never known. Before, she had been lost in a frenzy, unable to distinguish what she should do or how, immersed in the affairs of the past.
Now, her heart was as still as water, no longer capable of stirring up uncontrollable waves.
Cause and effect, karma, the meaning of life—it had all coalesced in her heart.
Dan Shu knew she had become an inevitable sacrifice for the establishment of the Pure Land Sect.
After succumbing to Mara, her spirit had expanded into a cosmic existence of void and cyclical renewal.
At this moment, the three poisons of greed, anger, and ignorance were purged from Dan Shu's heart, and all idle speculation had ceased.
She no longer needed words to sway her. Her very being was now a sacrifice to the Pure Land that Noldrei spoke of. Dan Shu believed that the compassion of the Medicine Master would surely deliver the suffering of past lives into that pure land.
"For thirty years I sought the Medicine Master, watching leaves fall and new branches sprout time and again. Since the day I witnessed the peach blossom, I have held no more doubts."
Bailu didn't understand what poem Dan Shu was reciting, nor had she seen any "peach blossom."
She sensed a power within Dan Shu that she had never encountered before. Bailu was unaware that what Dan Shu had comprehended was not the Abundance brought by the Medicine Master, but the annihilation born from her own quest to build the Pure Land.
All that moves is impermanent; all that is born must die. To not be born is to not die; this annihilation is the greatest bliss.
Noldrei already knew that Dan Shu had abandoned the original path of the Disciples of Sanctus Medicus.
She had seen the cause and effect of her own inevitable destruction in this new direction.
Dan Shu wanted to manifest that Pure Land-like world, casting aside everything to throw herself heart and soul into her faith.
She no longer acted merely out of her own suffering, but had achieved the resolute conviction of a true believer in a state of transcendence.
As for what Path she had embarked upon, that was not something Noldrei could guess.
He was still at home, playing mahjong with two people he hadn't seen in a while.
Since three people could make a game work, Noldrei took a break from his activities and filled Elysia in on what he had been up to for the past two days.
When Elysia heard that Noldrei had actually created a "Pure Land Sect" on the Xianzhou, she suddenly felt as if she might be following the wrong leader.
Back on Earth, Noldrei's goal had been to establish a new Progenitor civilization.
Back then, he was more of a hero leading humanity forward, an emperor commanding a new civilization.
But no matter how Elysia thought about it, she never imagined that Noldrei would become a religious master here, and one with the flair of a cunning schemer at that. He'd even managed to confuse the local Master Diviner to the point of a mental breakdown.
He was currently stirring up a storm within two of the Xianzhou's commissions, a path that seemed to be heading straight for supervillain territory.
The Herrscher of Sentience wasn't at all surprised by what Noldrei was capable of. She was only worried about when she could finally go back.
Senti asked, "I don't care what you're up to. You've done all this, don't tell me you're not planning to leave in the end? Or are you planning to establish a Second Empire here?"
Noldrei replied without a hint of hesitation, "No, I have no intention of helping this place improve. One place creating a Progenitor civilization is enough. The situation of the people here on the Xianzhou isn't much better than ours on Earth. It's nothing more than some minor conflicts arising from the problem of lifespans."
"I have no desire to solve their problems for them. They're perfectly capable of solving them on their own; they just haven't crossed that ideological hurdle. And I have no intention of taking the people of this place with me."
"To me, this place is like a fish pond. When I'm happy, I'll stir it up a bit. When I'm not, I'll pull out a fish or two. The Aeons, the Emanators... I've already learned what I needed to know. This place holds little appeal for me now."
Elysia and Senti exchanged a look.
'Damn, what a cold-blooded bastard.'
They could both clearly see that Noldrei was baiting the Master Diviner, yet in the next breath, he claimed the place held no attraction for him. It was obvious he had no intention of taking any responsibility for the young woman.
But that was fine. They had come out with Noldrei to test the experimental train, not to sow his seed across the universe.
Elysia asked, quite curiously, "Then what will you do about the Pure Land Sect you created?"
Noldrei shook his head. "Don't worry about it. In anyone's hands, it's just a tool for control. The existence of the Aeons won't change its fundamental nature. The Luofu Xianzhou has been wary of the Alchemy Commission for a long, long time. This problem isn't something that can be changed in a day or two."
He scoffed dismissively, "If I really want to leave, it's not like someone can actually stop me, right?"
Elysia was a little unsettled by his proud and disdainful posture.
'You're setting up such a huge flag. What if someone really takes a liking to you and won't let you leave?'
Elysia had a bad feeling. She felt that Noldrei had casually tossed a bomb at the Xianzhou people, but his plan to just pack up and leave might not be so simple to pull off.