Generally speaking, the state of possessing only a sliver of true spirit meant that there was merely a chance of reincarnation, slightly better than complete annihilation. Such a minuscule true spirit was fundamentally incapable of supporting even the slightest thought; it was a chaotic and indistinct haze. Even a gentle breeze could disperse it.

Otherwise, a power as formidable as the Hanging Temple would not have deemed rescue unnecessary upon hearing that Guan Yan only had a sliver of true spirit remaining.

Guan Yan was an utterly unique exception.

His sliver of true spirit survived for five hundred years in the seams of the Senhai Origin Realm, never fading away. He even, with unparalleled talent, discovered a method of cultivation based on the true spirit.

At the time, this had already shattered Jiang Wang’s imagination. And now, Guan Yan was even communicating with him, who was in the present world, through the power of the Jade Balance Star!

What kind of divine ability could accomplish this?

Jiang Wang strove to calm his mind and asked, “How far is the Senhai Origin Realm from the present world?”

This was a crucial question.

He had indeed been to the Senhai Origin Realm, but it was through the descent of the Seven Stars Building. Even if the Seven Stars Building reopened, and he entered again, it was essentially impossible to enter the Senhai Origin Realm again. Therefore, he didn’t actually know the Senhai Origin Realm’s location.

If he could know the distance, he could perhaps roughly estimate Guan Yan’s strength.

“I don’t know either,” Guan Yan replied, “I’m contacting you through the Jade Balance Star’s power. The Jade Balance Star reflects both the Senhai Origin Realm and the present world simultaneously; its stellar power is omnipresent.”

In essence, stars indeed projected onto myriad realms; wherever stars could be seen, stellar power was omnipresent. Therefore, Guan Yan’s method was entirely feasible.

But while Guan Yan made it sound easy, the specifics of achieving it were almost impossible.

To connect, through the Jade Balance Star’s power, from a world reflected by the Jade Balance Star to another world reflected by the Jade Balance Star. This could no longer be explained by mere control over the Jade Balance Star’s power.

Unless…

Jiang Wang suddenly recalled that time in the Senhai Origin Realm, when they saw the Jade Balance Star in the sky shift position, landing on the throne formed by the light of the altar.

Granny Xiao Fan, as the Dragon God Priestess, cried out, “The Dragon God takes His seat!”

At that time, he had speculated about the relationship between the “Dragon God” and the Jade Balance Star. Unfortunately, his strength at the time was far from sufficient to explore the truth.

The Senhai Origin Realm had many unsolved mysteries to begin with; the most terrifying one was that after they completely annihilated Yan Xiao and left the realm, they heard Yan Xiao’s cries again.

But Guan Yan didn’t discuss these things, he must have his reasons. Jiang Wang dared not speculate wildly, at least not now. After all, this person possessed the Divine Sense Penetration, and now demonstrated such strength.

“This is too incredible, Senior Guan Yan,” Jiang Wang said, “Your strength exceeds my imagination.”

“It’s not as exaggerated as you think.”

Guan Yan said, “The main reason I can contact you is because after you burned the monastic robe, I locked onto your location in the present world. Secondly, it’s because you’re in the Star Moon Plains. This is one of the places in the present world closest to the starry river.”

But Jiang Wang still found it difficult to understand: “But the Star Moon Plains are plains; if we’re talking about distance, the Star Gazing Tower in Linzi, or the spire of the Hanging Temple, are much closer, right?”

“The distance I’m talking about doesn’t exist in space. But I can’t explain it clearly to you, because your cultivation hasn’t reached that stage.”

Alright. Jiang Wang nodded. He understood very well that some things simply couldn’t be understood without standing in that position. Cultivation was like that, and so was life.

But he at least knew one thing: the Star Moon Plains were indeed special.

“Then the voice you left in the Hanging Temple…”

“That monastic robe was prepared for me by my master, and it has a deep karmic connection with me. It was, for a long time, my only connection to the present world. I made many preparations in advance to be able to complete that farewell. Now, even if you asked me to go back to the temple and leave a voice, I wouldn’t be able to do it.”

After speaking, Guan Yan added, “It’s possible in the Star Moon Plains, though.”

Guan Yan was extremely patient, answering almost every question.

“Then,” Jiang Wang asked, “When are you going to marry Granny Xiao Fan?”

The intent transmitted by the Jade Balance Star’s power paused briefly.

Strictly speaking, he only officially “returned to secular life” after bidding farewell to the Hanging Temple. Jiang Wang’s question was indeed a bit unexpected.

“Senior?”

Even across the stellar power, even if it was just intent, Jiang Wang seemed to sense a faint ‘shyness’ from Senior Guan Yan.

“I haven’t yet been able to manifest myself…”

Does manifesting himself mean to solidify a physical body?

Jiang Wang pondered in his heart and then asked, “Then why did you seek me out this time?”

“Actually, I just wanted to see my homeland, but only the Star Moon Plains accepted me. I encountered you in the Star Moon Plains, and so I thought, I’d talk to someone from my homeland,” Guan Yan replied.

His sliver of true spirit had wandered in the seams of the Senhai Origin Realm for five hundred years; that kind of loneliness could drive anyone mad.

Only those who truly understood his experience could understand his seemingly pointless actions.

After going through so much trouble, he just wanted to see his homeland.

“I’m not very good at finding topics,” Jiang Wang had a sudden idea, “How about we talk about cultivation?”

“The path I walk is already different from yours…”

“It doesn’t matter, we can talk about the past. Just think of it as reminiscing about the past, cherishing the past.”

Before abandoning Buddhism, Guan Yan was already a Divine Proximity realm cultivator. Guiding Jiang Wang was more than enough.

Of course, he couldn’t say guide now, he had to say “exchange,” even if it was just one-sided. After all, the dialogue was nominally accompanying someone who missed their homeland to chat.

Jiang Wang realized that he had been tormented by Bitter Awareness for so long that he seemed to have unconsciously learned a trick or two.

Anyway, Guan Yan didn’t refuse again.

And so, the two of them “chatted” all night long.

Actually, it was mainly Jiang Wang asking questions and Guan Yan answering.

Rarely encountering a senior powerhouse who was so easy to talk to, he threw out all the problems he had encountered in his cultivation, asking in such detail.

Guan Yan, who had been lonely for five hundred years, could probably be lonely for another five hundred years.

In short, he didn’t really want to talk anymore. As soon as dawn broke, while the influence of the Jade Balance Star was still present, he hurriedly indicated that he would stop here for today and chat another day if he had time.

Compared to Guan Yan’s undisguised exhaustion, Jiang Wang was in high spirits.

He felt that his entire cultivation system had been sorted out and greatly improved.

Guan Yan was evaluated by the Abbot Zhi’e as the most insightful of all Buddhist disciples he had seen. From the Zhi generation to the current Jing generation, how many disciples had the Hanging Temple produced in total? This evaluation was too high. Although Jiang Wang didn’t know Abbot Zhi’e’s evaluation of Guan Yan, it didn’t prevent him from feeling enlightened and experiencing boundless horizons after communicating with Guan Yan.

Reluctantly “bidding farewell” to Guan Yan, Jiang Wang decided to come to the Star Moon Plains more often in the future to communicate with him.

“Ah.” Jiang Wang patted his forehead in annoyance, “I forgot to ask Senior, which other places are like the Star Moon Plains, after all, close to the starry sky. That way, even if it’s not convenient to come to the Star Moon Plains in the future, I can go to other places to contact Senior!”

After dawn, the Star Moon Plains were vast and empty, and no one could be seen.

A bird, whose species could not be identified, picked up a hard-shelled fruit and landed on the ground. It kept pecking at the fruit shell with its beak, trying to eat the flesh inside.

Just as it was working hard, a round squirrel popped out from somewhere, grabbed the fruit, held it in its arms, stood up on its hind legs, and scurried away quickly.

From a distance, it looked like a furry meatball rolling on the ground, and it quickly rolled away…

The real winter was about to begin, and this still-warm early winter season was the last time to store food.