Samuel Carter's self-restraint was usually excellent, but at this moment he was so infuriated that he cursed out loud, then immediately muttered “what a sin.” Poor man—after decades of keeping his vows, today he was provoked by John Adams into breaking them and swearing!

“Master, please don’t be angry. If you like relics, I can burn as many for you as you want in the future.”

John Adams wasn’t upset at all. After speaking, he took the iron staff from Edward beside him and stepped up onto the stone platform.

Samuel Carter was also curious to see whether any relics had actually been produced, so he followed closely onto the platform. Edward and the others exchanged glances and hurried after them.

It was only then that John Adams noticed the solid stone platform had already cracked from the heat, which gave him a bit more confidence.

Weighing the iron staff in his hand, John Adams used it to push aside the ashes in the fire, revealing the nearly melted stones beneath. Amidst the ashes on the stones, several tiny beads shimmered with a rainbow of colors.

Chapter 5: The Fortune Teller

“Relics! They really are relics!”

“Rainbow relics! The legendary rainbow relics!”

“Buddha has shown mercy, our Buddha is compassionate, at last our Heavenly Realm Temple has relics!”

...

The monks on the stone platform, including Edward, saw the relics in the ashes and began shouting and acting as if possessed.

“It was clearly me who burned out the relics—what does it have to do with the Buddha, that old man?”

Only John Adams muttered discontentedly.

Samuel Carter was also very excited to see the relics, but when he saw the calm expression on John Adams's face beside him, his excitement suddenly faded.

“What’s the deal with these relics? Don’t tell me you used some kind of evil magic?”

Samuel Carter stared at John Adams suspiciously and asked.

“Do you really want me to say it right now?”

As John Adams spoke, he glanced at Edward and the others. Their minds were now filled with nothing but relics, and they didn’t care that the ashes were still hot—they were digging through them with their bare hands, searching for more relics.

Watching the frenzied Edward and the others, Samuel Carter hesitated for a moment before nodding, “Let’s go, we’ll talk when we get back!”

With that, Samuel Carter led John Adams away from the pagoda forest. The two of them walked in silence, each lost in thought.

Back at the meditation hall, Samuel Carter and John Adams sat facing each other. Only then did Samuel Carter speak: “Go ahead, what’s really going on?”

“It’s actually very simple.”

John Adams poured himself a cup of tea, drank it in one gulp, and then continued.

“Master, you must know about smelting iron. If you put iron ore in a fire and the heat isn’t strong enough, the stone remains stone. Only when the temperature is extremely high can you extract the iron from the stone.”

“So you’re saying that as long as the fire is hot enough, the temperature high enough, you can burn out relics?”

Samuel Carter looked utterly incredulous. On the way back, he’d imagined countless possibilities, but never expected the answer to be so simple.

“That’s right. So-called relics are actually just certain substances from the human body. Not only do people have them, animals do too. For example, if you throw a dog into a smelting furnace, you’ll get relics as well!”

John Adams said with absolute certainty.

The origin of relics was no secret in later generations. In fact, a certain eminent monk before his death even stated outright that he would not leave behind any relics, just to avoid being laughed at.

John Adams had seen a video on Bilibili where someone burned a freshly extracted wisdom tooth with a blowtorch, and in the end, a white bead was produced—surprisingly beautiful. Make a few more and you could string them into a bracelet for your girlfriend, though if you really did that, you’d probably lose your girlfriend pretty quickly.

Hearing this, Samuel Carter felt his entire worldview was about to collapse.

Relics had always been regarded as treasures by the Buddhist community. Even the most enlightened monks hoped to leave relics behind after their passing.

But now John Adams was telling him that as long as the temperature was high enough, even pigs and dogs could be roasted into relics. If this got out, the entire Buddhist world would probably go mad.

“Don’t tell anyone about this. Otherwise, even as the heir of the Prince of Han, you’ll bring trouble upon yourself!”

Samuel Carter was no ordinary man. He took a deep breath, calmed himself, and then warned John Adams.

“Master, you are my father’s elder. I feel a special closeness to you, which is why I’m telling you the truth. If it were anyone else, I wouldn’t say a single word, even if you beat me to death!”

John Adams replied with a cheeky grin, offering a bit of flattery.

Since he’d come to this era, he had to blend in well—especially with the ticking time bomb that was Thomas Jefferson in the Prince of Han’s household. The Samuel Carter before him was clearly someone worth winning over.

Samuel Carter showed no reaction to John Adams's flattery. He simply studied him for a long moment and said, “You’ve changed a lot.”

“Uh... well...”

John Adams was about to brush it off with something like “what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger,” but Samuel Carter waved his hand and interrupted, “Enough, I’m a bit tired. Go get some rest. I’ve already had someone prepare a place for you to stay.”

“This... yes, sir!”

John Adams felt that Samuel Carter's attitude had shifted rather quickly, but it wasn’t his place to ask more. He could only stand up and take his leave. Outside, a guest monk would arrange his accommodations.