A Scroll of Infinite Glory

Chapter 307 First Entry into Narayana

As soon as I got off the bus, I heard the sound of rain coming down from above.

Guan Luoyang looked up and saw dark clouds rolling in the sky. Rain was falling on the transparent ceiling of the station hall, splashing water onto the glass and washing away the dust. The water then gathered into trickles and flowed freely in all directions.

The rain never stops, the trickle never stops.

But besides the sounds of wind, rain, and people, the colors of the sky and clouds, and the cold light of the station, Guan Luoyang can also feel something more vast and magnificent.

Above the nine heavens, the dark, indistinct, gray-tinged golden psychic energy surges, just like the clouds in reality, constantly unfolding and rolling, yet more varied and delicate than clouds and mist, and more profound and enduring than the water cycle of nature.

Soaring high into the sky, yet deeply embedded in the earth.

Deep underground, layers upon layers of psionic ripples emanate from hundreds and thousands of different psionic nodes, expanding and echoing throughout the underground, continuously probing.

In terms of height, breadth, and depth, the psionic radar reconnaissance system covering the entire Narayana province is far more comprehensive and formidable than that of the border province of Indra.

If Guan Luoyang wanted to use the Heavenly River Escape Technique to enter this place, he would probably be detected when he was still tens of kilometers away from the surface.

He walked out of the station carrying his briefcase. Under the dim sky, the city was filled with skyscrapers. Everywhere he looked, there seemed to be hundreds of stories high, piercing the clouds, with lights on in most of the buildings.

Outside the train terminal, taxis were parked everywhere.

Someone opened the window, lay on their side in the driver's and passenger's seats, leaned their head against the window, and smoked. A hot dance video was projected onto the windshield, showing youthful dance moves swaying and raindrops reflecting off the projected image, creating a scene of revelry in the rain.

Some drivers, growing impatient inside their vehicles, stood outside, wearing rubber raincoats and leaning against their windows, glancing intentionally or unintentionally at the people emerging from the train terminal.

Many people didn't want to get wet after leaving the hall, so they just randomly picked up a car and got on.

Guan Luoyang got into the car, and the driver turned on the air circulation switch. The lingering smell of smoke in the car was instantly swept away, and the moisture was also taken away, leaving only a dry, refreshing feeling and a faint scent of vanilla.

The air circulation power was gradually reduced, leaving only a gentle breeze.

"Where are we going?"

"Coral Street".

The wheels rolled on, and the scenery outside the window began to pass by.

After turning a few corners, a strong light shone down from the side. Guan Luoyang turned his head and saw that the exterior wall of a building on one side of the road was shining brightly.

The building's exterior walls are made up of thousands of screens pieced together to form a giant screen that is hundreds of stories high.

On the big screen, a short-bearded scholar wearing wire-rimmed glasses spoke politely to the host.

"Recently, with the allocation of funds from the Hachiyoin Institute's finance department, a new batch of prayer wheels has been delivered. There are rumors that these prayer wheels will be given priority and distributed free of charge to unemployed people in the city. What is your opinion on this claim, Professor?"

"According to my information, this statement has been confirmed. In fact, this is not the first time. The problem of unemployed people in the city has always been a major concern for the upper class. For more than ten years, free prayer wheels have been distributed to give unemployed people the opportunity to contribute to the social environment of our Baye."

The scholar spoke eloquently, "At a recent high-level meeting, under the advocacy of the Lord of Sukara Mountain, the number of prayer wheels arriving this time will be unexpectedly large, perhaps even completely resolving the unemployment problem in the entire Narayan region. It can also be said that this once again confirms the care and concern of our Eightfold Decision-Making Committee for the grassroots people..."

Because the screen was so large, the scholars and the host appeared towering and imposing. Any buildings that were slightly shorter around them looked like old building blocks in comparison.

All the pedestrians and vehicles on the road appeared small and busy under the glow of this large screen.

Water splashed from the roadside puddles. People huddled behind the green belts and lying on the sidewalks, holding old umbrellas or covered with plastic sheets, waited for the rain to stop.

Guan Luoyang saw that some of them were sitting cross-legged on the sidewalk, hunched over, using rusty prosthetics to hold their umbrellas in place, while their other hands held out a device that was much newer than their prosthetics.

The device had a very simple structure; it looked like the tip of an electronic pen, holding a metal ring.

With a slight tremor of the hand, the ring-shaped metal will sway and rotate at the tip of the electronic pen, much like a child's simple toy using centrifugal force.

That is the "prayer wheel," one of the most common ritual implements in Hachiyo-in Temple. Although it looks simple in structure, it actually has a high level of technical sophistication.

Guan Luoyang could clearly sense that when these people, who originally had no spiritual energy, turned the prayer wheel, their brainwaves would gather and transform into weak spiritual energy signals, which would then be uploaded to the city's wireless spiritual energy network.

People who own prayer wheels are not considered unemployed and cannot be called beggars. Although most of the time, the lives of these people by the roadside and bridgehead are no different from those of beggars, they can receive living supplies once the marks on the prayer wheel pen holder are filled.

No time limit, just look at the scale.

On various media platforms of Hachiyoin, it is frequently reported that impoverished and physically disabled beggars, after receiving free prayer wheels, were able to accumulate three opportunities a day to receive supplies, and successfully became small-time millionaires through their firm will and sincere devotion.

Later, he was even selected by the Hachiyoin Academy, which gave him the qualification to cultivate spiritual energy and learn various supernatural abilities.

This kind of story, where someone rises from the level of a beggar to surpass the ordinary people and become a high-ranking figure, is a story that countless people love to hear. It has inspired the fighting spirit of countless people in the Eight Leaves, making them more serious when turning the prayer wheel.

Just as grains of sand accumulate to form a tower, and raindrops accumulate to form a river, it is these billions of faint psionic signals that have accumulated in the hands of the Eight Leaves' higher-ups, settling into unparalleled wealth. Even in battles between the strongest psionicists of the era, this accumulation gathered from the dust has become a factor that can influence the course of the battle.

What many people don't know is that the coalition government once used confiscated prayer wheels to conduct detailed tests. An ordinary person in good health would need to spin the prayer wheel diligently for at least five hours to accumulate one mark.

Ordinary unemployed people often need more than twelve hours to accumulate enough points, and twelve hours of focused attention will inevitably result in a drowsy state for the rest of the day.

In the Eight Leaves, everyone knows that the worse a person's health and the worse their environment, the more they need to rely on these supplies to survive, and the more focused and serious they need to be when turning the prayer wheels.

The taxi left the high-rise commercial district, and the driver patted the steering wheel with a hint of delight.

With all four wheels off the ground, the taxi rose to a height of 25 meters above the road surface as it crossed the intersection and entered the residential area from the commercial area, maintaining a constant height.

The houses in the residential area are mostly not this high, so the view in front of the taxi suddenly becomes much wider.

The Hachiyoin has a rule that unless you have a Hachiyoin Level 1 electronically certified driver's license, you can only maintain a flight altitude of less than 30 meters, whether you are a taxi or a private car.

Therefore, even with flying vehicles, many people still have to drive according to the ground road markings when in commercial areas. There's no way around it, as at least 80% of the buildings in commercial areas exceed the height limit.

But when you get to residential areas, everyone has to use their own methods.

The sound of vehicle engines swept low overhead. The residents of the neighborhood were used to this noise; at most, they would sit inside their houses and glance out the window, too lazy to even stick their heads out to look.

Soon, the taxi crossed over a street and slowly descended.

"This is the Coral District. Please pay 1,321 Tar. Well, round it down to 1,320."

Guan Luoyang scanned Li Mingwu's watch on the taxi payment screen.

Upon hearing the payment notification, the driver chuckled and said, "Next time you have an emergency, you can still contact me through this payment record. I also pick up passengers from Gaoguan Road; I'm available 24/7."

The taxi floated away into the air. Guan Luoyang placed his briefcase on his head, walked a few steps down the street, found the pattern in the house numbers, and started walking in one direction.

Although it was a rainy day, there were still quite a few pedestrians on the road, but there was much less conversation; most people were either wearing raincoats and umbrellas or sitting in their cars.

At No. 23 Coral Street, Guan Luoyang rang the doorbell.

An electronic voice came from the door: "Who are you looking for?"

"My name is Li Mingwu. I rented this house online before."

Guan Luoyang pressed the button on his watch, projecting a contract onto the screen.

"Oh, wait a moment, I'm coming."

A few seconds later, a young woman with her hair in a bun and wearing glasses opened the door. "Mr. Li, right? I heard from my dad that he's working overtime today. Let me show you your room first."

As soon as Guan Luoyang entered the door, the alarm clock rang in the living room.

A home robot resembling a white penguin moved from the living room after sounding its alarm, reminding everyone: "It is 11:55 a.m. In five minutes, it will be time for daily prayers. Please be prepared and don't miss it."

"Oh, it's almost midnight?"

The girl with glasses quickly said, "Mr. Li, please wait a moment, I need to pray first."

She hurriedly went to the drawer under the television, took out a prayer wheel, and then quickly turned around and went into the kitchen to get a pack of dry towels.

"Mr. Li, please have a seat and wipe the rain off your head."

The girl with glasses sat on the living room sofa, nervously holding a prayer wheel in her hands.

Guan Luoyang took the towel, dried his hair, and sat down on another double sofa.

Seeing his slow, leisurely movements, the bespectacled girl couldn't help but ask, "Mr. Li, aren't you going to pray?"

Guan Luoyang shook his head: "I'm too tired from taking the train and then a taxi today, I don't want to pray."

The girl with glasses said with a hint of envy, "I heard that Mr. Li owns a shop, so it doesn't matter whether he prays or not. But it's different for us students. Every day at school, we go for an hour in the morning, then another hour after school, and then another half hour to get home at noon. We can't skip long holidays either. If we miss a day, it doesn't count as perfect attendance, and it affects our credits."

She sighed, her back hunched, and listlessly shook the prayer wheel in her hand. "I really want to graduate soon."

Guan Luoyang waved his hand: "It's the same for people who don't go to school. If you miss too many classes, it's said that it will be recorded in the big data system and affect your personal credit assessment. If your credit assessment is bad, it will affect things like medical insurance and personal income tax. I can only slack off occasionally."

The bespectacled girl frowned, trying to cheer herself up: "But my grades are alright. The school has said I have good potential in several tests, and maybe I can get a psychic qualification in the future. If I can become a psychic, things will be much easier."

The intelligent robot issued another reminder.

The girl with glasses immediately shut up and focused on turning the prayer wheel.

Just as the clock struck noon, loud singing echoed through the streets.

Guan Luoyang got up, walked to the window, and looked out.

A light drizzle fell, and the figures of intelligent monks appeared on the long street.

These monk robots, from head to toe, are covered in a rustic, weathered blue color, like bronze that has stood the test of time. They wear gray ascetic robes woven from high-strength fiber material.

The robe only covered half of the chest, waist, and upper thighs at an angle. The other parts, with their dark blue metal shells, were deliberately carved with simple and even slightly rough patterns, supposedly to imitate the statues of monks from classical times.

A bronze disc, symbolizing the fullness of sunlight, is welded onto the bald back of the intelligent monk's head.

This bronze disc can be said to be the embodiment of the intelligent monk's "supernatural powers." It can detect all psionic crimes within a one-kilometer radius and notify nearby intelligent monks to gather and make arrests.

Of course, this only applies to crimes committed using psychic abilities; they don't care about crimes committed between ordinary people or by cyborgs.

Even if a motorbike robber happens to bump into them and falls, getting bruised and battered, the intelligent monks will kindly help them up, return the stolen goods, chant Buddhist mantras, and wave goodbye.

The daily public prayer time is when these wise monks are most active, and they can be seen on every street in the Narayan region during these times.

Because they are generally three meters tall and have the same physical appearance, the public cannot easily distinguish whether a monk who has just walked past one end of the street has come from another corner of the street. Therefore, for fifty years, no one has known the exact number of these intelligent monks.

However, the hymns they play are not consistent. It is said that there was one type at the beginning, which gradually increased to five types, and in recent years there have been ten different hymns. The residents have no interest in distinguishing them.

Guan Luoyang, however, was quite interested and listened carefully to the lyrics.

"Homage! Namo Bodhisattva of Great Wisdom who creates golden bodies, the master of countless chips as numerous as the sands of the Ganges, possessing inconceivable programming supernatural powers, skillfully using gold, silver, copper, iron, and tin, and able to manipulate radium, uranium, silicon, carbon, and magnesium..."

"Excellent, excellent! When the magnetofluid and coolant fill the 84,000 conductive pipes and form the golden body, each conductor will possess the power of a dragon and the power of an elephant, creating an immeasurable true body that will remain indestructible for a thousand eons..."

"Homage to the Bodhisattva of Great Wisdom who created the golden body, Narayana, Varuna, Indra, Surya... all beings in the eight directions, the replacement of limbs and the advancement of matter, all originate from this, from the Great Wisdom..."

The rhythmic singing was accompanied by the sounds of bells, drums, flutes, strings, electric guitars, explosions, electronic synthesized roars and whistles, and the buzzing of reeds.

Just listening to such songs has a subtle and powerful spiritual effect, instantly inspiring a sense of solemnity and awe in people.

Many faint psionic signals in the residential area were unconsciously strengthened after these intelligent monks passed by, and the rhythm of the psionic surges became more stable.

"Great wisdom..."

Guan Luoyang extended a finger and gently tapped it on the windowpane.

The Great Wisdom Master, one of the four mountain masters of the Eight Leaves Academy, was in charge of the technological research and development of the entire Eight Leaves Academy. In his early years, it can be said that he led the iteration and upgrading of the Eight Leaves Academy's prosthetic technology.

In terms of value, the Great Master of Wisdom would definitely be at the top of Guan Luoyang's list of targets.

As for how to confirm the whereabouts of the Great Master and find a suitable opportunity.

We're just waiting for the landlord, who was praised by the Fifth Mirror, to return.

(End of this chapter)