novellhall Chapter 246 Soul Stabilization [5000]
Chapter 246 Soul Stabilization [5000]
Chapter 246 Soul Stabilization [5000]
Chen Xun stared at her: "You've studied philosophy?"
"A family with a long tradition of learning."
Zhuoma smiled: "My father is a folk scholar. He always said that true wisdom is not about giving you the answers, but about teaching you to ask the right questions."
"So, am I asking the right question now?"
"You're asking a question a character should ask."
Zhuoma looked at him and said, "But I think you are also looking for the answer, not for the role, but for yourself."
Chen Xun did not deny it.
After experiencing the dungeon, he did indeed feel a mysterious power constantly enveloping him.
The plane began its descent, and an announcement informed passengers that they were about to land at Beijing Capital International Airport.
You can see the city lights outside the window.
"Are you transferring in the capital?" Zhuoma asked.
"Okay, wait three hours, then fly to LS."
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"Me too."
Zhuoma packed up her small cloth bag: "Perhaps we can wait together; time will pass faster if we have each other."
When she got off the plane, Chen Xun helped her take the small suitcase from the overhead luggage rack.
The box is quite heavy.
"Thanks."
Zhuoma took the box: "Inside are books for my family. Paper books are hard to buy over there."
After passing through customs, they entered the transit area.
With more than two hours to go before their next flight, the two found a quiet corner of a coffee shop to sit down.
"Your question just now reminded me of a story my father told me."
Zhuoma stirred her newly ordered coffee.
"What story?"
"About the two brothers."
Zhuoma took a sip of coffee and continued her story: "They studied medicine at the same time. One became the most skilled doctor, able to cure all diseases; the other became the most skilled poison master, able to create all poisons. The doctor wanted to eliminate all diseases in the world, while the poison master wanted to eliminate all suffering in the world, using his poisons to render people unaware and without feeling."
"In the end, the doctor cured the poison given by the drug lord, while the drug lord created a poison that the doctor couldn't cure. They fought each other their whole lives, each believing they were saving the world."
"and then?"
"And then they all got old."
"Before he died, the doctor told the drug dealer: I have saved three thousand people, but I have watched thirty thousand die."
"The drug lord said to the doctor: I have spared ten thousand people from suffering, but those ten thousand people have never laughed again."
"Neither of them won, but their common student, a boy who studied both medicine and toxicology, understood that what really needed to be cured was not the disease or the pain, but the human heart's fear of disease and pain."
Chen Xun remained silent for a long time.
What happened to that child later?
"have no idea."
Zhuoma shrugged: "That's where the story ends. Father said the ending is for the listeners to write themselves."
An announcement came over the loudspeaker that boarding for the flight to LS had begun.
The two got up and walked toward the boarding gate.
As they boarded the second plane, Chen Xun suddenly asked, "Is Zhuoma your real name?"
"In XZ, Zhuoma is like Mary in America."
She smiled and said, "Many girls have this name, so it's true, but it's not the only one."
The plane took off, this time truly heading towards the plateau.
Chen Xun looked out the window at the increasingly thinning clouds, and below, the continuous snow-capped mountains began to appear.
The memories in the dungeon overlap with the real world.
He had seen those mountains countless times in Yao's memory.
"When you arrive in LS, will someone pick you up?"
"Zhuoma asked."
"There should be!"
"Ganden Monastery is in Dagze County, which is quite a distance from the city of LS."
"If the person picking you up doesn't show up, I can have my younger brother give you a ride; he'll drive."
"No need for that."
"It's no trouble at all."
Zhuoma looked out the window: "It's on the way!"
The plane landed at LS Gongga Airport at 3 p.m. local time.
The sun was blazing, and the sky was a blindingly blue.
Stepping out of the cabin, the air of the plateau hit me—thin, clean, and carrying the smell of ice, snow, and dust.
Chen Xun took a deep breath, and his lungs immediately protested.
In the dungeon, Yao's body adapted to the high altitude, but his body did not.
"Walk slowly."
Droma said from the side, "Don't rush!"
After collecting my luggage, I walked out of the arrival hall.
There were many cars parked outside, and people were holding up signs to pick people up.
As Chen Xun was searching for his name, a young man in a crimson monk's robe approached, clasped his hands together, and said in accented English, "Mr. Chen Xun? My teacher sent me to pick you up."
Chen Xun looked at Zhuoma, wanting to say goodbye, but found that she was already gone.
Just as quietly as she appeared.
"The lady who was with me just now—"
Chen asked the monk.
"Who is it?"
The monk was bewildered.
Chen Xun looked around at the bustling crowd, but the figure in the beige linen robe had already disappeared into the highland sunlight.
The car drove out of the airport and turned onto National Highway 318.
The asphalt road was softened by the sun, and on both sides were bare, yellowish-brown mountains, with snow-capped peaks visible in the distance.
The monk drove very steadily and slowly. Occasionally, yaks would slowly cross the road, and he would stop and wait.
Chen Xun sat in the passenger seat, the window slightly ajar, letting in a dry breeze.
He was still a little dazed.
"The teacher has been waiting for you for a long time."
The monk, named Dorje, was in his early twenties. He spoke Mandarin with a Tibetan accent, but his English was fluent: "He said you would arrive a day early."
Chen Xun turned his head: "Did the teacher know I wanted to change my ticket?"
"Your teacher said your sense of time is messed up."
Dorje smiled, revealing his white teeth: "Tell me not to be surprised, just answer it as usual."
Chen Xun's heart skipped a beat.
This teacher is something else.
After driving for more than an hour, we turned onto a winding mountain road.
The road narrowed, became gravelly, and was extremely bumpy.
A cluster of crimson buildings appeared on the distant hillside, layered and embedded in the mountainside, their golden roofs dazzling in the sunlight.
Ganden Monastery.
The foremost of the six major monasteries of the Gelug school, built in 1409, at an altitude of 4,300 meters.
The car was parked in the parking lot outside the temple.
When Chen Xun got out of the car, he experienced altitude sickness!
Dizziness!
I can't breathe!
"Walk slowly."
Dorjee, carrying his backpack, said, "Don't rush, you'll get used to it in a couple of days."
They crossed the square, went around the main hall, and went up a narrow set of steps.
The stone steps were worn smooth by footsteps, and faded prayer flags fluttered in the wind on both sides.
Chen Xun had to stop every few steps, his heart pounding in his chest.
Dorjee didn't urge him, but just waited with him.
Finally, we climbed to the front of a small, detached courtyard.
The wooden door was old, with a faded plaque hanging above it. The Tibetan script was incomprehensible, but it exuded a serene aura.
Dorjee pushed open the door: "The teacher is inside."
The courtyard was paved with stone slabs, and there was an old elm tree in the middle, under which a person sat.
Chen Xun didn't see it clearly at first glance.
Because the man was sitting in the shadows, wearing an ordinary gray monk's robe, with his back to the door, and was tapping a stone slab with a small hammer.
Ding!Ding!
The sound is crisp and even.
Dorjee clasped his hands together, withdrew, and closed the door.
Chen Xun stood still, adjusting his breathing.
There was a faint aroma of yak butter and Tibetan fragrance in the courtyard, mixed with the dry air of the plateau.
"sit!"
The person didn't turn around; their voice wasn't loud, but it was clear.
Chen Xun walked over and sat down on the stone bench on the other side of the shade.
Now I can see it clearly.
He was a monk whose age was hard to guess; he had a thin face, dark skin, and deep wrinkles that looked like they were carved by a knife, but his eyes were unusually bright.
He was still tapping the stone slab.
Ding!Ding!
The stone slab is covered with dense Tibetan script, and it is more than half completed.
Chen Xun didn't understand Tibetan, but he could tell that the lines were incredibly smooth, each stroke seemed to come alive.
"Chen Xun".
The monk put down the hammer and turned his head.
As he turned his head, Chen Xun's heart skipped a beat again.
I've seen this face in the dungeon.
It's not exactly the same, but it's very similar in spirit.
Like Yao's master, who was twenty years younger, or like Karuru in a moment before falling into darkness.
"I am Sanjay."
The monk spoke in English, his accent much more standard than Dorje's: "Marvel invited me to be a consultant, and they wanted to meet you as well."
Chen Xun nodded, unsure of what to say.
Sanjay stood up; he wasn't tall, but his posture was straight.
He walked up to Chen Xun and stared into his eyes for three seconds.
"Your soul hasn't fully returned."
Chen Xun was taken aback: "What?"
"Part of it is here, and part of it is in another world."
Sanjay's tone was as calm as if he were commenting on the weather: "Dreaming, aren't you? A common trait among old ascetics, but you're different!"
"You were forcibly dragged out, and then forcibly shoved back in. Time was messed up, and the anchor point was loosened."
Chen Xun felt a chill run down his spine.
The old monk saw through the side effects of the dream instance at a glance!
"I----"
"Don't explain."
Sangjie raised his hand and pointed his index finger directly at Chen Xun's brow.
Chen Xun instinctively wanted to dodge, but his body remained motionless.
My fingers are cold.
The moment the touch reached between his eyebrows, Chen Xun's mind went blank.
It's like someone pressed the restart button.
The sudden return of fragments of memory from four hundred and fifty years ago brings a sense of temporal disorientation, identity confusion, and alienation from modern life—
All side effects have disappeared!
He suddenly became fully awake.
True clarity.
I'm still feeling the effects of altitude sickness and dizziness, but I'm back!
He is Chen Xun, an actor who just finished filming "Guardians of the Galaxy" and came to meet with the screenwriter to discuss the "Ancient One" project.
It's not Yao, nor is it the Supreme Master who has lived for 450 years.
"alright!"
Sanjay withdrew his hand and sat back down on the stone bench: "Now we can talk about the script."
Chen Xun touched his brow, where it still felt a little cool: "What was that just now?"
"A little trick."
Sanjay smiled, his wrinkles smoothing out: "When I was young, I also loved to daydream. Later, my master taught me this technique called the Mind-Stabilizing Finger. To put it simply, it helps you re-anchor your consciousness!"
"You modern people like to call it psychological counseling, but we don't need to talk, we just take action."
Chen Xun: "————"
This is much more hardcore than psychological counseling.
But he did feel better.
The memories from the copy are still there.
The unreal feeling disappeared.
"Thanks."
"You're welcome, Marvel paid for it."
Sanjay pulled a tablet computer from under the stone table, his movements so practiced they seemed almost unnatural: "I didn't write the script. Marvel just asked me to do the final review and revisions. They wanted it to be Eastern mysticism, philosophical depth, and visually appealing fight scenes."
He swiped the screen and brought up the PDF of "Ancient One: The Shadow of Vishanti".
"Let's start by talking about the strengths of the original script."
Sanjay looked up: "The timeline is well chosen, from 1890 to 1943. It avoids the main storyline of World War II, but still shows the changes in the world. The visual elements in XZ are used with restraint, without any sense of sensationalism. The magic system is a creative fusion of Tibetan hand gestures and Taoist Tai Chi."
Chen Xun waited for "but".
"but!"
Sanjay indeed said, "The characters' motivations are too weak. Why was the Ancient One so determined to protect? Why did Karuru fall into darkness?"
"The script describes a difference in ideals, but such an idealistic difference wouldn't cause the five-hundred-year-old bond between the master and disciple to collapse. You need to be more specific..."
Something more in line with human nature.
He clicked on a scene: "For example, Karuru's mother died, and she used forbidden magic to prolong her life, but her mother turned to ashes!"
"The transition was good, but the groundwork wasn't laid enough. The audience needs to feel her love for her mother and that sense of helplessness and despair before her extreme actions become convincing."
Chen Xun nodded.
He never expected that a high-ranking monk from XZ would be so knowledgeable about scripts!
"And the Ancient One."
Sanjay turned to another page: "He's living the right life!"
"No one wants to watch a character who never makes mistakes, never wavers, and always chooses the right path."
"You have to make him struggle, have selfish motives, have those moments when he doesn't want to be a saint but has no choice."
Chen Xun thought for a moment: "For example?"
"For example, he's actually afraid of dying!"
Sanjay looked him straight in the eye: "Having lived for four or five hundred years, watching the people around him grow old one by one, and starting to feel his limits, when the Dark Dimension extended an olive branch, saying that he could live forever, do you think he was ever tempted?"
Chen Xun was startled.
Yao did indeed have feelings for him in the dungeon.
One late night, as a dull ache of disintegration coursed through his body, he stared at the book "The Contract of Dormammu" in the forbidden library and read it all night long.
"It's definitely been tampered with!"
"That's right, you have a deep understanding of the character!"
Sanjay pushed the tablet over: "Only when the audience sees the saint's vulnerability will they believe in the saint's strength; otherwise, he's just a paper doll and can't stand up to scrutiny."
Chen Xun took the tablet and swiped his fingers across the screen.
Sunlight filtered through the elm leaves, casting dappled patterns on the stone table.
The sound of chanting could be heard in the distance, deep and resonant.
Why did you take on this project?
Chen Xun suddenly asked, "With your cultivation level, Hollywood scripts shouldn't even be of interest to you."
Sangye laughed, this time out loud: "They offered a lot of money. The temple needs to renovate the scripture hall and is short of funds."
"I think this is an opportunity to let the world see the true wisdom of the XZ, not mysticism or sensationalism, not superficial inspirational stories, but a profound reflection on life, suffering, and choices."
He chuckled. "I have a niece studying film in Los Angeles. She said if I don't take the job, she'll come back and become a lama. She's just trying to scare me."
Chen Xun smiled too.
This old monk is incredibly down-to-earth.
"Oh, right!"
Sangye suddenly remembered something: "Did you meet a woman named Droma on the way here?"
Chen Xun sat up straight: "You know her?"
"My niece."
Sanjay blinked: "She ran into you, and seeing how distracted you were, with your sense of time completely messed up, I knew I had to use the Mind-Stabilizing Finger."
Chen Xun: "————"
So the whole thing was planned.
"Is she also a spiritual practitioner?"
"Count as half."
Sanjay took a sip of butter tea: "I grew up in a temple when I was little, then went away to study, and now what am I doing—well, you call me a spiritual healer, I'm quite popular in Los Angeles, I charge three hundred dollars an hour."
Chen Xun smiled.
"Let's get back to the script."
Sanjay said seriously, "Marvel wants you to give them feedback within two weeks. Then they start pre-production. The filming locations are set in Qinghai and Iceland. XZ won't allow it, but Qinghai has similar landforms, and Iceland is for the Dark Dimension, where the volcanic landforms look like an alien planet."
"What about the action design?"
"We hired Yuen Woo-ping's team."
Sangye pulled up an email: "But they need someone who knows Tibetan mudras to guide them, so I have to go to Los Angeles for three months. It's my first time in the US, I'm kind of looking forward to it. I've heard the hamburgers are delicious?"
Chen Xun laughed: "Enough for everyone!"
The two chatted for an entire afternoon.
Sanjay not only understands scripts, but also understands film.
He spoke eloquently about camera language, pacing, and the balance between commercial appeal and artistic merit.
He studied film when he was young, and later returned to XZ to practice, but has always paid attention to the industry.
Have you seen Nolan's "Interstellar"?
He suddenly asked.
"I've seen it."
"Where do you think we lost?"
Chen Xun thought for a moment: "It's too long and too deep. The audience will get tired."
"Yes, but also no."
Sanjay tapped the table: "It lost because of the distance."
"Nolan wants to explore grand themes: love, time, and the survival of humanity, but he speaks from a high vantage point, so the audience has to look up to listen."
"In your Guardians of the Galaxy, you crouch down and put your arm around the audience: Bro, this tree can dance, isn't that cool?"
""
He imitated American slang quite well.
"So 'The Ancient One' has to be in the middle, with some height, but not too high. It makes the audience feel that this sorcerer is awesome, but also that he has his own troubles, just like me."
Chen Xun nodded.
As the sun began to set in the west, the shadows in the courtyard lengthened.
Dorjee came in and said that the vegetarian meal was ready.
Sangye stood up: "That's enough for today. You can stay in the temple's guest room. The conditions are so-so, but it's quite quiet. We'll continue tomorrow."
Dinner was eaten in the dining hall next to the scripture hall.
Simple dishes like zaoba (a type of rice cake), butter tea, and stir-fried shredded potatoes.
Chen Xun wasn't used to the food and just stuffed some food haphazardly into his mouth.
There were a few young lamas at the same table who were secretly watching him and whispering among themselves.
"Is it really Star-Lord?"
"No, it doesn't seem like it. It was quite funny in the movie—"
"Shh, don't talk while you eat."
Chen Xun smiled at them and continued eating.
At night, the guest room had no TV or internet, only a bed, a table, and a lamp.
Outside the window were dark mountains and a sky full of stars.
The starry sky on the plateau is frighteningly low, and the Milky Way is visible to the naked eye.
Chen Xun lay on the bed and opened the control panel.
[Side effects have been cleared]
[New Passive Skill: Soul Stabilization (Mental Strength +20%, greatly enhances resistance to mental interference, memory confusion, and time distortion)]
Good guy!
Sanjay's finger strike directly granted him a permanent buff.
This trip was worth it!
He turned over, recalling the conversation from earlier that day.
Sanjay is right, the script for "Ancient One" needs to explore more human struggles.
His experience in the dungeon is the best source of material.
Those moments of fear of death, the conflicting feelings of love and hate for Karuru, the nights spent protecting the world yet occasionally questioning its meaning —
All of these need to be written in.
Chen Xun turned off his phone.
The starry sky is too bright; I can't sleep.
He got up, sat cross-legged on the bed, and tried to form the Vishanti hand seal.
The hands move quickly.
The last handprint is frozen in time.
There was nothing there.
But this time he sensed something was different.
It seems that we have some connection with the world.
Footsteps sounded outside the window; it was Dorje on his night patrol. The footsteps gradually faded into the distance, and the temple returned to silence.
Chen Xun closed his eyes.
I still need to revise the script tomorrow.
At seven o'clock in the morning, Chen Xun was woken up by a knock on the door.
Dorjee stood outside the door, holding a tray in his hand: "The teacher told you to eat breakfast and then go to the prayer hall; the final part of the script needs to be finalized."
.
The tray contained glutinous rice cakes, butter tea, and two boiled eggs.
After washing up, Chen Xun sat on the edge of the bed and ate.
The egg was overcooked, and the yolk was hard to swallow, so he swallowed it with butter tea.
The sky was just beginning to brighten outside the window, with the morning light shining on the distant mountaintops, while the sound of morning chanting could already be heard in the temple.
At eight o'clock sharp, he entered the prayer hall.
Sanjay was already there, sitting cross-legged on a futon, with a tablet and a pile of handwritten notes in front of him.
Seeing Chen Xun enter, he waved, "Sit down, it's the last three scenes!"
The two of them faced the screen, refining their sentences line by line.
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