Chapter 4: Nine-Star Space

  The fresh blood from the bitten tongue dripped down from the corner of his mouth and neck onto Yefeng's chest. After being carried to a temporary detention room at the end of the sudden trial, Yefeng's mouth had gone numb, but he suddenly felt an intense burning sensation in his chest, as if it was being scorched by fierce flames.

  Ye Feng lowered his head, and under the dim light, he found that there was a string of Buddhist beads on his chest, which he didn't know when it appeared. The string of Buddhist beads was hanging around his neck, shining with a soft golden light under the lamp, flickering and dazzling.

  Ye Feng counted carefully and found that this string of Buddhist beads had only nine beads.

  He really didn't know how the Buddhist beads ended up around his neck, he could only infer that the Buddhist beads must have been put on him by Liu Yong and Liu Mei as well. What was difficult for him to understand was that such an obvious string of Buddhist beads, why did he not see or feel it for a long time before?

  And what about the police, they took away the diamonds that Liu Yong had on him, but why didn't they take away this string of Buddhist beads? And during such a long period of severe interrogation, didn't they discover it either?

  What happened next was even more unbelievable. The intense pain that had felt like it was burning him up suddenly disappeared, replaced by an indescribable sense of comfort and coolness. This cooling sensation started from Ye Feng's chest and gradually spread throughout his body, soothing his injuries and making the pain from the beating he had received earlier instantly better.

  A few minutes later, this refreshing and cool feeling disappeared, everything returned to normal, Ye Feng's body no longer felt any pain, as if he had never been beaten before, the wounds on his tongue and lips also healed automatically.

  This bizarre and eerie thing made Ye Feng's body feel very refreshing, but at the same time it made his heart feel terrified.

  What is this string of Buddhist beads after all? Why did it feel and look invisible for such a long time, but now suddenly appear clearly, bringing such great improvement to his body?

  In just a few hours tonight, Ye Feng has experienced too many tragic, terrifying and bizarre things. He doesn't know what his fate will be tomorrow, nor does he know if he still has the chance to defend himself at the police station. He is even more unclear about how someone like him, a so-called murder suspect, should go through legal procedures, or whether he is qualified to hire a lawyer.

  What made him even more unbearable was that he couldn't imagine how his parents would suffer and be terrified when they found out about this, especially his mother who had lived in the countryside all her life. If something happened to their son, it would mean that their whole family would be ruined.

  Ye Feng raised his hand, wanting to touch the Buddhist beads on his chest. At that moment, his fate changed, and he embarked on a unique path of spiritual cultivation in this earthly world. This path belonged only to him, and although it was slow-going, as long as he continued on it, he could transcend mortality, attain enlightenment, achieve eternal life, and laugh proudly between heaven and earth.

  When Ye Feng's hand touched the Buddhist beads, time was frozen. This "freeze" is relative to Ye Feng's current perception, because his consciousness entered a strange space, which Ye Feng thought should be a reaction of his brain consciousness, in other words, it was a special space he imagined.

  But this fantasy space made Ye Feng feel incredibly real, so real that after he stayed in this space for a while, he could no longer distinguish whether this space was an illusion or actually existed.

  He felt time was frozen because his consciousness lived in this space, and everything he felt in this space was incredibly real. However, through this space, he could also see the real world where he was being held - a dimly lit temporary detention room. He saw himself curled up on the ground, clothes disheveled, motionless, as if asleep.

  This feeling is just like sitting in a very comfortable room watching TV, the room is the space where Ye Feng's consciousness is currently located, and the program being performed on TV is what Ye Feng is experiencing in reality.

  This strange and bizarre situation suddenly descended upon Ye Feng, causing his mind to be in a state of utter confusion. Ye Feng tried his best to calm himself down, attempting to make sense of this strange and bizarre occurrence, but before he could even straighten out his thoughts, an even more unimaginable thing happened.

  The space that was once filled with flowers and exotic fruits underwent another change, as a thick white fog spread out, quickly enveloping the entire space in a dense mist. Ye Feng could only see clearly within a meter in front of him, and he wandered around for about ten or so minutes before arriving at a tall tower.

  Ye Feng could see the tower very clearly, as there was no white fog around it. Ye Feng counted and found that the tower should have nine floors, each with a gradually increasing height. The first floor's height was similar to an ordinary house in the real world, but the second floor's height was much higher than the first floor, almost equivalent to a three-story building in reality. By the third floor, it was several times higher than the second floor, comparable to a small high-rise in reality. The fourth floor was several times higher than the third floor, and so on. By the ninth floor, it could be described as a skyscraper. Ye Feng looked up and could only vaguely see the outline of the ninth floor of the tower.

  When Ye Feng's consciousness stood at the entrance of the first floor of this nine-story tower, a kind of fiery heat like molten lava suddenly surged up, an extremely strong desire to enter this layer of the tower.

  As Ye Feng entered the tower, he was astonished to discover that he had suddenly gained a physical form, one that was identical to his real body. He could feel the gentle breeze in the tower and smell the fragrance of incense wafting from the central platform on this level.

  The current Ye Feng can be said to have thoroughly jumped from reality into this bead space in terms of feeling.

  And this string of Buddhist beads with only nine pearls also has a corresponding nine-story pagoda in the inner space.

  The first floor of the tower has a platform over two meters high in the center, and there is nothing around the platform, making it look very empty.

  Ye Feng approached the high platform and found that there were grooves on the edge of the platform. Ye Feng's feet fit perfectly into the grooves, allowing him to climb up to the top of the platform.

  He climbed up to the high platform, and in his line of sight was a stick of incense and a candle, not far apart and inserted into an incense holder. The incense and candle were burning, with smoke drifting and dispersing, giving off a fragrance that was refreshing and delightful. Apart from this incense holder, there was only one meditation mat on the entire high platform.

  Ye Feng walked over and sat cross-legged on the futon, then there was no then.

  Because after he sat cross-legged on the cushion, his consciousness was no longer under his control. He seemed to have fallen into a chaotic world, surrounded by emptiness. He could clearly feel the speed of his breathing, the beating of his pulse and the flow of blood.

  Then, there was only one word left, pain, an extremely intense pain, compared to the kind of pain he felt when being beaten by police in the police station, Ye Feng thought that kind of pain could no longer be called pain, and this kind of pain now made the previous pain seem like nothing, it could even be said to be enjoyable.

  Ye Feng felt that the pain he was experiencing now was something that ordinary people would definitely not be able to endure, and they would certainly pass out from it. However, he continued to feel the pain clearly throughout, not only did he not pass out, but instead became more awake the more painful it got.

  After the initial severe pain passed, Ye Feng was able to open his eyes. In a daze, he saw the reality of himself, but at this moment, his real self was no longer curled up sleeping somewhere. Instead, his body was violently shaking, and from his head, face, neck, and all the places not covered by clothes, thick black liquid was flowing out in streams. It looked disgusting, although it didn't smell, but it should be very stinky.

  About two or three hours later, this suffering finally disappeared. Ye Feng felt refreshed all over his body, full of strength, and felt light as a swallow, as if he could fly in the sky. His brain was also exceptionally clear, as if he had suddenly realized something, only to temporarily grasp the key to this realization.

  When Ye Feng wanted to get up, many epiphanies that had been stuck in his mind suddenly became clear. Ye Feng suddenly understood a lot of things, such as where the Buddhist beads came from, what this space was all about, and what the high tower was all about. Why did it have nine levels? And why could he see his real self in this space? Was the self in this space true or was the one in reality true?

  Firstly, this space exists within the Buddhist beads as a small world, it can be said to be illusory, but also can be said to truly exist. Apart from him, no other living being on earth can enter this space, unless he actively signs a master-slave contract with a certain creature, then it can come in. However, after entering, everything must follow his consciousness, and it will never be possible to leave again.

  This string of Buddhist beads, specifically, is not actually a Buddhist bead from Earth. Its name is Jiuxing Pearl, and it comes from a Xianxia world called Tianlong Star in the vast universe. The owner of the Jiuxing Pearl was a True Immortal from Tianlong Star who had just successfully crossed the calamity. Unfortunately, this immortal had only recently entered the higher realm of true immortals when he was ambushed by another immortal who held a grudge against him from their time in the lower realm of Xianxia. Under the attack of over ten true immortals from the higher realm, he was thoroughly destroyed. At the critical moment, he used all his might to set up strict cultivation laws for the Jiuxing Pearl, which contained his life's work, and then infused it with his remaining immortal energy. Borrowing the power of his Yuanshen, he self-destructed in a terrifying explosion that ripped through space, sending the Jiuxing Pearl into another distant spatial world - Earth. The true immortal did this because he didn't want his cultivation method, which had taken tens of thousands of years to develop, to disappear with him.

  The Jiuxing Pearl drifted through space for an unknown number of years before landing on Earth, and coincidentally landed in Mingzhu City, China. By chance, it was obtained by the actual owner of the villa where Liu Meimei lived, who was a collector of antiques with some feudal superstitions, and he treasured it as a priceless treasure along with some jewelry and diamonds hidden under the floor tiles of his villa's bathroom.

  Liu Meimei, who was once the mistress of the villa owner, inadvertently discovered the secret of the treasure hidden in the villa after her partner's drunken ramblings. However, no matter how hard she tried, she couldn't get him to reveal where it was hidden. In desperation, Liu Meimei could only beg her partner to let her stay in the villa temporarily, and he agreed, coincidentally having a business trip abroad that would last for a long time. Unbeknownst to him, his mistress Liu Meimei not only discovered his secret but also had an affair with a police officer.

  The villa owner suddenly returned and caught Liu Meimei and Liu Yong in bed, the furious villa owner slapped Liu Meimei in the face, then a fight broke out between the two sides, and Liu Meimei and Liu Yong killed the villa owner in a fit of rage.

  Liu Mei and Liu Yong wanted to frame Ye Feng, but they thought that the owner of the villa had another daughter, and this daughter was also the only heir to all his inheritance, which means that his daughter would very likely know the secret under the bathroom tiles in the villa.

  So they decided to make the secret public, hiding most of the diamonds and keeping only a small portion of the diamonds and some worthless Buddhist beads on Ye Feng's body. Even if the villa owner's daughter wanted to investigate in the future, she could only investigate from Ye Feng's side. Even if Ye Feng didn't admit it and turned around to accuse them, as long as Ye Feng, the suspect, had no evidence to support him, the villa owner's daughter would have nothing to do with them.

  Moreover, they were certain that Ye Feng would be shot before the daughter of the villa owner received the will and learned the secret.

  Suddenly enlightened and understood the origin of the Nine-Star Pearl, Ye Feng naturally knew the cause and effect of the whole thing. He didn't know why it was like this, but the whole story suddenly played out in his mind like a movie, and this time seemed long and short at the same time. Anyway, he understood every detail of the entire process.

  Ye Feng was able to enter the Buddha's beads, also known as the Nine Star Beads, because his fresh blood merged with the Nine Star Beads and automatically formed a contract with certain laws.

  Actually, before Ye Feng, the first owner of Jiuxing Pearl, who was also Liu Meimei's old lover and the real owner of the villa, had already merged his blood with Jiuxing Pearl after being stabbed a few times. Unfortunately, he died before the contract took effect.

  However, due to the blood fusion, the Jiuxing Pearl underwent a sudden mutation. Liu Yong hung the Jiuxing Pearl around Ye Feng's neck, but after the mutation occurred, neither Liu Yong nor Ye Feng, including all the police officers, could see the Jiuxing Pearl with their naked eyes. Moreover, Liu Yong was also shielded from consciousness by the immortal law within the Jiuxing Pearl, completely erasing his memories related to the Jiuxing Pearl, which means he had no idea that the Jiuxing Pearl (Buddha bead) even existed.

  Ye Feng, after being beaten at the police station, bled from his bitten tongue and lips, which merged with the Jiuxing Pearl, triggering the law again. Since Ye Feng did not die, he successfully contracted with the law.

  Now Ye Feng finally understood that being able to enter the first layer of the High Tower was a reward from the law for him, the only contractor, and also a great gift left by a true immortal who had destroyed his body and spirit in the Tianlong Xiu Zhen world for those with fate.