Yin Tingxue paused as she spoke, then turned her gaze to the side and said, "After so many flowers have blossomed and fallen, haven't I seen enough of life's impermanence?"

She then shifted her gaze back and stared at the paper flower:

"But why must life be impermanent?

Why, just because you say he interfered with my karma, do I have to listen to you and become a Buddha?

I don't want impermanence anymore!"

Master Zhihui suddenly froze, her pupils contract sharply. She was clearly calm, yet the staff in her hand echoed with a persistent sound.

Meanwhile, Yin Tingxue spoke each word with deliberation:

"Precisely because life is impermanent, I hope for permanence.

Because I've seen countless snowflakes scattered in an instant, I've come to cherish this single paper flower."

After speaking, in the cold, desolate night, Yin Tingxue picked up the flower and smiled faintly at the master.

Master Zhihui was suddenly shaken, as though she had never imagined she would hear such words from Yin Tingxue. When she finally regained her composure, she was stunned to find Yin Tingxue's face tranquil, while she herself was trapped deep in a sea of bewildered suffering.

Master Zhihui, incredulous, nearly roared in disbelief:

"The subtle smile with the flower—you're guiding me?!"

Yin Tingxue's voice was gentle:

"I'm guiding you to be human. What do you think?"

............

Opening his eyes, all he saw was pitch black.

Chen Yi felt as though he had been pushed into a bottomless space, a void like the World of Ignorance, where he sought to see but couldn't, sought to touch but could not grasp.

A pervasive emptiness filled the heavens and earth, an astonishing stillness, as serenity seeped into his heart.

Everyone dies.

He understood this truth, and a calm thought swept across his mind.

This tranquility wasn't unfamiliar to him; it resembled the momentary peace experienced when refining one's spirit to return to emptiness, stepping into the Third Grade Realm.

Standing alone in the darkness, Chen Yi saw nothing—not the heavens, not the assassins, not the gleam of blades or swords. He descended into the depths of his own heart and returned to a child-like state, pure and untainted.

In an instant, countless images flashed through Chen Yi's mind: the little courtyard in the Capital City, always noisy and joyful; the women he once feared now filling it with laughter that rang light-heartedly; young girls often sitting on the doorstep, rising to brew tea as he approached...

He had married her and even gifted her a hand-carved Bodhisattva figurine.

Ugly. Hideously ugly. Though Chen Yi wasn't keen to admit it, it really didn't look good.

Yet, when drinking their ceremonial nuptial wine, she had still shed tears.

Encircled by pure darkness, Chen Yi became submerged in profound silence—this was precisely the "emptiness" within the refinement of spirit to transcend mundane existence.

Am I… nearing the Third Grade?

From nothing to something, from something back to nothing, and unknowingly returning to something once more—it seemed he had traversed the entire cycle.

After an indeterminate amount of time, within the darkness, Chen Yi gradually regained awareness and retrieved fragments of his consciousness.

Opening his eyes, he extended his hand, trying to see something but still failing to discern anything.

The dismantled little paper boat was nowhere to be found.

Chen Yi stared blankly for a long while.

Until a serene voice emerged from behind:

"Layman Chen, it has been a long time."

Chen Yi turned around to see, in the midst of darkness, a nun standing alone, clad in a Kasaya.

Upon seeing her, he opened his mouth and asked, "Why are you here?"

His voice was so neutral it surprised even himself.

The nun smiled faintly and softly said:

"Because there's a Buddha in your heart, so I am here to guide you."

"There's a Buddha in my heart?"

"Outside the heart, there is no law; every person's heart holds the Buddha."

The nun sighed and continued:

"Layman, you are human—how could you not have Buddha within?

Just as every person you've killed had much to possess, you too have much to carry. They will die, and so will you."

It was precisely to enlighten Chen Yi—to aid him in entering the Third Grade Realm—that she appeared in this place, using it as the turning point for his awakening.

Every person can attain Buddhahood. This is because the Buddha resides inherently within the human heart. One must understand that all beings suffer. Once nirvana is achieved and one enters the void, suffering ceases; this is the essence of Buddhist Law.

These teachings, Chen Yi had long known, and the nun need not reiterate.

Chen Yi chuckled faintly and said, "If there's a Buddha in my heart, why can't I see it?"

The nun had long anticipated such a response; she neither refuted nor revealed any anger.

Ultimately, Chen Yi's ego was deeply ingrained, enough to astonish even her, a Bodhisattva.

In the profound darkness, the nun suddenly bent down, as if to pluck a flower.

Chen Yi felt a peculiar "intuition"—unrelated to sight or touch—he simply sensed that the nun had picked a Flower of the Other Shore.

As the nun lifted the flower lightly, Chen Yi's pupils contracted slightly.

Every sensation told him it was a Flower of the Other Shore.

Yet, when the nun raised the flower once more, Chen Yi realized it had transformed into a white lotus.

A quiet lotus—transcendent in its stillness.

"You have reached the other shore."

Chen Yi, incredulous, repeated: "I've reached the other shore?"

Chen Yi abruptly turned his head to look back,

Behind him stood an immense Golden Body Dharma.

Majestic and towering within the darkness, it raised its hand to issue the Fearless Seal, its gaze lowered humbly, radiating golden brilliance throughout its form—a representation of supreme solemnity like the golden statues within temples!

The nun smiled and said:

"Congratulations, layman, you have entered the Third Grade—Refining the Spirit to Emptiness—via the way of my Buddhist Law."

After speaking, the nun softly curved her lips into a smile, bowing her head into the posture of a Bodhisattva with lowered brows.

She awaited Chen Yi to fold his hands in respectful salutation, chant a Buddhist hymn, and fully dedicate himself to the Dharma—prepared to become one… with the Heaven-Mending Stone.

Yet, within the darkness, silence lingered.

The Bodhisattva of Medicine was not impatient; after waiting so long for alignment with the Tao of Buddha, her patience remained undiminished.

After an extended pause, she heard a deeply unexpected and rustic remark:

"I refined my spirit to emptiness, only to bring forth this thing?"

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