Travel one hundred miles north from Heaven's Pier, and you will reach Jadebrook Mountain. These deeps are deso…
Travel one hundred miles north from Heaven's Pier, and you will reach Jadebrook Mountain. These deeps are desolate, their paths long untrodden by travelers.
Ascend a few miles, and the forest grows dense and foreboding—a haven for bandits. This lawlessness is a lingering scar from the previous dynasty's persecution of Buddhism, which forced monks into lay life and left their followers scattered.
Another three miles up a flight of stone steps leads to the summit, where the Buddha's Light Pagoda stands, often bathed in sunlight.
It is named for a legend from the Xiande era. When Master Miaoshan preached here at sunrise, the light crested the peak in a perfect halo, seen by all as a sign of the Buddha's grace. Ever since, this place has been called Halo Peak.