Ball of Nothing

Buddha wasn't expecting a call. The God of Enlightenment answered it and was surprised to hear Hua Tuo ask for his help. Apparently, Zero was learning cultivation but the God of Medicine had run into some walls. Buddha didn't blame him. Zero was a very unique existence and even as the one dubbed as the cultivation monster, he wasn't sure if he was meant to hold onto that title with Zero in the picture.

"I understand. I'll head over soon," he told the weary doctor and hung up. From the description, it looks like Hua Tuo has made some rather disturbing discoveries. Buddha wished that it would be what he thinks it is but the God of Enlightenment would be a fool to hold onto false hopes.

The Wise God packed a few things along including a prayer necklace, a mana lotus, a golden pagoda and some water from his lotus pond. There was only one reason why Zero would be so qi hungry. If Buddha guessed it right, Solo must have planted something very troublesome into the void.

Hua Tuo couldn't be more thankful to see the conman as he stepped out of the portal. He greeted Buddha enthusiastically and carefully explained the situation again. Zero was still outside cleaning up the tub and trying to catch something for dinner. He wasn't aware of Buddha's presence until the Sage God of Enlightenment exited the cave.

"Zero, Buddha will ask you to meditate for a while. We're going to try and locate the eight meridians if possible. Don't worry, Buddha is more experienced in cultivation than I am. In fact, he is known as the cultivation monster because nobody has attained his level of enlightenment in history. He is the record-setter and breaker for anything cultivation related."

Zero blinked. Cultivation monster? Buddha? Somehow, the young doctor was able to believe it. Was the second trial really that tricky to overcome? Still, Zero did not question and do as he was told. He merely watched curiously at the things Buddha took out.

"Please sit on this lotus pad," Buddha told Zero.

The Enlightened One planted the mana lotus into the centre of the spring and Zero watched in fascination as the plant absorbed the qi and water, growing almost as big as the bathtub itself. The lotus pad didn't look very stable in the water but Zero didn't doubt Buddha and stepped onto the leaf.

Barefooted, Zero felt the bouncy texture and cool sleek surface with his feet. The teenager took to jumping a few times and was pleasantly surprised that it could act as a springboard. Buddha didn't scold Zero or judge him for giggling at the bounciness of the lotus leaf. In fact, he seemed amused by Zero's childish behaviour. Hua Tuo simply sighed and left matters to Buddha. Whatever was in Zero's inner dimension was beyond the Medicine God's ability to understand or help.

Zero didn't take long to settle down and was surprised when Buddha took a seat behind him instead of facing him like what Hua Tuo did earlier.

"Am I facing the right direction?" he asked the cultivation monster.

Buddha smiled serenely. "Yes, don't worry. Can you meditate and enter your inner world as usual? There is something I would like to investigate."

Zero complied and pulled his legs in, assuming an upright sitting posture on the lotus pad. Hua Tuo thought that his student looked rather professional and subconsciously reached for his communicator to snap a photo. The physician was like a doting grandfather who was proud of their grandchild who grew up into a fine young man. The photo turned out brilliant and the physician decided that he would keep this particular one for himself instead of selling it to Isis. The old man spent the next fifteen minutes how to set it up as his wallpaper for the home screen while Buddha worked.

The Wise One observed the qi around Zero as the teen meditated. He pulled out his golden pagoda just in case he lost his way in the void and used it to set up an invisible formation around the lotus pad. There was an invisible tent around the lotus pad that helped to auto-balance out whatever imbalance of energy or element types there were for the cultivators in the area of effect. Buddha spent a long time developing this and didn't use it often simply because it drew on his domain's power of enlightenment. However, knowing that this concerns Zero and Solo, the Enlightened One was not taking any chances. Godhood wasn't easily attained but it could be easily lost. Buddha still had many more things he wanted to learn, see and discover.

The Enlightened One took a seat behind Zero and drew on the pagoda's powers to activate his golden halo. The chaos energy in the Trigression Falls was sufficient for Buddha to make a connection with the void even without a dimensional crack or plane plate border nearby. Wherever the water Trigression Falls got its source from, Buddha was certain that Hua Tuo's fears of sucking the water dry with Zero's thirst were unfounded. If anything, the more real possibility was for Endow Hill to collapse from the deficit of mana and energy that sustained the powerful life forms here. In fact, he was almost certain that without the Trigression Falls, Sleepy Case would cease to exist.

Zero found it enjoyable. For some reason, there was a golden pool of in his inner dimension that continued to pour in steadily. There was no actual need for Zero to focus on sorting out the different types of qi either because the golden pool of whatever did the work for him. It was a pleasant mix of warm and cold and it reminded Zero about the strange illusions he experienced with Aggression Falls.

Buddha materialised behind him and Zero jumped. He had been swimming in the golden liquid that appeared from nowhere in his inner dimension and wasn't expecting anyone to join him. Was this what Hua Tuo meant by the invasive feeling when they practised dual cultivation?

"Hello, Zero."

The teenager smiled awkwardly. Now that he thought about it, he wasn't wearing anything in the inner dimension and neither was Buddha. Unlike him, Buddha had this really glaring golden light coming from his crotch area and Zero raised a brow, taking a look at his own crotch area. The boy frowned in dismay when he noticed that there wasn't any golden light coming from it. In fact, there was nothing there and it looked as Zero had always remembered it to be. Just skin that covered the area like the skin on his knees and elbows... Zero wondered why Buddha had such a special nether region. He vaguely wondered if Truen, Baal and Hua Tuo's crotches glowed too. Maybe he'll ask them later.

"Follow me," Buddha told the teenager who was rudely staring at his crotch without shame or embarrassment. In fact, Buddha was willing to bet his entire cultivation base that Zero didn't know it was rude to stare. The Enlightened One briefly wondered if anyone had the birds and the bees talk with Zero yet. In any case, it wasn't his problem.

Buddha got his priorities right and his mission was to find that hungry monster in Zero's inner world that Hua Tuo found overwhelming. He didn't blame Hua Tuo for not being able to handle the situation. Zero's inner dimension was very similar to the void that Buddha frequented. Although it was devoid of chaos energy at the moment, Zero's inner dimension held a lot of undiscovered secrets. He had lost memory fragments locked, major portions of his innate ability sealed up by the system Solo created as well as emotions.

Yes, Buddha knew that too well. In order to achieve Nirvana, the Enlightened One had to cast his humanity aside. He left all his emotions in the void even though he'd taken some of it back ever since he attained immortality. Zero wasn't able to cope with the overwhelming emotions he felt instinctively from others so he sealed them away. Gods have it easier with the gift to filter prayers and listen to them with an alternative mind so that it wouldn't drive them insane. However, Zero didn't have that. Buddha had to wade through the waves of other people's emotions and feelings in the space with Zero following close behind. The boy's face was scrunched up as voices and feelings overwhelmed him.

Taking pity on the creator, Buddha chanted the heart mantra with the prayer beads in his hand. The chanting built a scripture barrier around both of them and Zero sighed in relief, thankful from the reprieve. Was this really his inner dimension?

Buddha wasn't too surprised about the true form of the energy monster in Zero's void. With so many lost souls that Zero picked up along the way seeking salvation and unresolved grievances, they could be sitting and cultivating for centuries before all the karma was settled.

Buddha's halo helped to light the way and Zero didn't know why there were so many monsters hidden in the darkness. One thing for sure, they were all attracted to Buddha's golden light. The golden pool from earlier was now gone. It was devoured by the horde of nameless creatures in his inner dimension. Zero didn't know how his inner dimension was created because Hua Tuo didn't mention anything about the process of making one when he found out that Zero already had one. The teenager sulked. His inner dimension was probably not the same as other cultivators. Why would there be monsters in his inner dimension that he wasn't even aware of? Hua Tuo described his inner dimension as a garden full of exotic plants but Zero has never seen it. Then again, Buddha should have one too. Why is it that dual cultivation worked one-sidedly? Both Sage Gods have visited his inner dimension but Zero was unable to visit theirs.

While Zero entertained the questions in his head, Buddha was busy searching for something in the muck. The lost souls weren't surprising to know. A good exorcism session and chanting to put them at peace will suffice. However, there was something that kept amassing them even as they walked so unless Buddha did something about the source, the horde would continue growing.

Buddha had a vague idea about what he was looking for. He hadn't been Solo's confident and friend for no reason. According to his knowledge about the creator in the past, Solo was a rather whimsical person but also cautious. The creator didn't trust anyone and had a selfish personality. Life didn't matter much to him and everything he did was purely for his amusement. It is also where Gugu and Jevy inherited their obsessive behaviour.

Zero followed Buddha for what felt like an hour without any questions. With nothing much to do, the boy started learning parts of the mantra. It was easy and repetitive so Zero followed Buddha as he chanted. They walked in a single file along a straight line to nowhere in particular. Occasionally, Buddha would make a turn and Zero would find himself colliding in the Enlightened One's back. For a while now, they were walking on a gentle slope upwards.

Buddha was sure of it. This feeling... it's familiar.

As they closed in on the culprit, Buddha frowned. Logically, it wasn't possible. This defied every single law of the world. However, there was no other way he could explain the sense of familiarity. Solo shouldn't exist. Yet, he felt his presence here along with Zero behind him. They might be the same existence and entity but they gave off very different vibes. If Zero was warm and sweet like honey tea, Solo would be cold and sharp like a blade.

"I can see something!" Zero exclaimed and stopped chanting. It was very small and faint and far in the distance but even Buddha could see it.

At this point, the nameless creatures in Zero's inner dimension had dwindled in numbers as they got closer to it. Buddha never picked up his walking pace but Zero was bouncing and hopping, trying to jump over Buddha's shoulder to get a better view of that mysterious thing in Zero's void.

It took longer than Zero thought it would for them to reach the mysterious glowing object. To his surprise, it wasn't very big. The object was a box or a crate that was sealed. Zero could easily hold it in his hands as the box was only about a foot long. Buddha didn't stop chanting immediately but when he did, a deafening silence made Zero uncomfortable.

On closer observation, the light emitted by the box didn't look like anything Zero had seen before. The light was grey and almost black like the darkness around them. It didn't reflect the golden light coming from Buddha and seemed to be completely isolated on its own. Zero didn't know why but he felt as if the box wasn't a part of his inner dimension. It was as if it came from an external source and was planted here before he even knew it.

He was not wrong. Buddha recognised what the box was and why it was here. He helped create it after all with Solo's instructions. However, the Enlightened One didn't know what to do with it now that he confirmed his fears.

Zero looked at the Sage God curiously. For once, he saw a clear conflict in Buddha's eyes. He no longer had that serene expression on his face and Zero swallowed. If Buddha was serious, it meant that trouble was brewing.

He stared at the strange box and wondered what they were going to do about it. Was this what Buddha wanted to find? Perhaps this box was what was causing Zero so much difficulty in his progress with cultivation. He didn't have a problem when it comes to magic apart from his inability to recover mana naturally. However, Zero found a way to overcome that by absorbing things and converting energy from one form to another.

"Is something wrong?" he asked, unable to stand the deafening silence any longer. The tension was too thick and it made Zero nervous.

Buddha didn't answer right away. He was thinking.

Zero didn't know if the Sage God heard him the first time but decided that it was best not to ask a second time with the heavy frown on Buddha's face.

Not even the Sage Gods would be able to help Buddha make the decision he was forced to make at the current moment. The box in question was something Buddha helped solo store all his will in for Zero when he awoke. It was previously sealed away in a part of the void that only Buddha could access. The box was unsealed recently when Zero accepted the memory fragments from all six Great Gods. While all of it was going according to Solo's plan, Buddha didn't know if it was fair for Zero to be still under Solo's influence even when he was gone. The Mind's Eye system was stored in this very box and it was Solo's will that prevented Zero from doing many things that the teenager wanted.

Buddha turned around to look at Zero. The teenager became nervous and jittery when he did so. Zero didn't know what Buddha was thinking about but for the Enlightened One to be so serious, this must be of utmost importance.

"Zero, I have a question for you. You must answer me to the best of your abilities about what you truly feel and not what makes the most sense."

The boy nodded and stood at attention, waiting for the most serious question that Buddha was ever going to ask him.

"What are you going to do if you have to face Solo who has become your enemy?"