The next day, Jiang Chen left Jiuyan Sect and headed for Buddha Temple accompanied by the Liu brothers, Liu Wen and Liu Wu, and a large White Tiger.
As he left the sect, a thousand people saw him off.
From the twelve Supreme Elders to the menial disciples of the Jiuyan Sect, they all continuously urged him to take care of himself and to be especially wary of those bald monks from Buddha Temple because those monks were very bad!
These words made Jiang Chen’s scalp tingle, and he quickly hurried away.
A red figure, however, was not far behind him, appearing and disappearing intermittently.
Watching Jiang Chen’s departing figure, the twelve Supreme Elders sighed.
The Old Ancestor indeed had great wisdom!
Recently, since they decided to reform Jiang Chen, the evil deeds committed by Jiang Chen have significantly decreased.
Not only that…
Before leaving Jiuyan Sect, Jiang Chen even managed to get the two lunatics, Jiang Lianyue and Qingning, to enter secluded cultivation!Xiao Hongyi followed as well!
With this, Jiuyan Sect was temporarily at peace!
Originally, although everyone had witnessed the terror of the demonic seed, they still had some doubts about the words of Old Ancestor Jiuyan.
After all, the matter was truly inconceivable!
Any person with a normal mind wouldn’t fully believe it. But the facts were right before their eyes, and they had no choice but to believe.
“I feel that I’ve started to look at Jiang Chen more favorably recently, even finding him somewhat handsome,” Beast Taming Peak’s Master Jin Rou remarked.
“Me too.”
Sword Peak’s Master Zhang Lingfeng joined in: “At the beginning, I had to forcibly suppress the disgust in my heart and grit my teeth to reform Jiang Chen. But recently, although I still feel disgusted, I also find him somewhat pleasing to the eye.”
“It’s because Old Ancestor’s method is effective, and we have developed a certain resistance to the influence of the demonic seed,” Weapon Peak’s Master Niu Wu said.
This statement received unanimous approval from the twelve Supreme Elders.
With gratitude in their hearts, everyone bowed deeply in the direction of Old Ancestor Jiuyan and said in unison, “Old Ancestor’s wisdom illuminates the truth. We are unworthy!”
Jiang Chen would be dumbfounded as if he was struck by lightning if he heard this conversation.
In his nine cycles of reincarnation, there were indeed quite a few people who found him particularly pleasing to the eye.
But without exception, all those people were villains!
This also meant that the people of Jiuyan Sect were about to be labeled as villains by the heavens!
“Still, Buddha Temple is a bit troublesome,” Supreme Great Elder Xiao Ting said with concern.
Everyone nodded, their expressions solemn.
What were those bald monks from Buddha Temple best at? Reforming and saving souls! If Jiang Chen was reformed by Buddha Temple, what would happen to the demonic seed in their hearts?
If he was saved, that would be even worse.
Now, everyone in Jiuyan Sect was convinced that the cause of the inner demon was an excessive obsession, which arose because of Jiang Chen.
Under this premise, if Jiang Chen, the ‘evil one’ was punished, it would only have the opposite effect, strengthening their obsession with righteousness.
At that point, the demonic seed might take deeper root, or even fully erupt! And Jiuyan Sect would directly become Jiuyan Demonic Sect!
“We must guard against this. If Buddha Temple wants to lead us into demonhood, I will send those bald monks to meet the Buddha first!” one of the Supreme Elders said fiercely.
“Indeed, although we are both on the side of righteousness, those who are not of our sect will have different hearts! Moreover, since the establishment of the Buddha Temple, they have repeatedly detained Jiuyan Sect’s disciples and forced them to chant Buddhist scriptures! This act disregards our Jiuyan Sect!” another Supreme Elder agreed.
Hearing this, Xiao Ting’s brows slightly furrowed.
Why did he feel that Jiuyan Sect was a bit too aggressive?
Although he didn’t understand, he also felt it was justified.
Because the current Jiuyan Sect was resisting the entire demonic path with the strength of the entire sect.
If anyone tried to sabotage them, he would not let them off either.
“Keep a close watch on the situation at Buddha Temple,” Xiao Ting finally instructed.
……
Buddha Temple had a vast influence. Located on the western side of the Central Domain, it had countless temples within it, standing like forests and spreading across thousands of li.
In a subordinate temple of the Buddha Temple, the morning bell and evening drum resonate, and incense smoke curls up gently.
This temple is structured in a single line, with its buildings aligned in a row.
Apart from the main hall and Buddha hall, there are only connected monastic cells where monks with unshaven heads reside, reciting scriptures and chanting Buddha’s name daily.
“Dong—!”
A young monk strikes the temple bell, its sound rolling out and echoing throughout the temple complex.
In no time, a diverse group of monks, both men and women, quickly leave their cells with solemn expressions and enter the Buddha hall.
They sit cross-legged on their own meditation cushions and pick up the wooden fish in front of them.
Under the radiant golden statue of the Buddha, another monk sits cross-legged, with a shaved head marked with ritual scars and wearing a kasaya.
This person is the preaching monk of the temple, whose true identity is one of the thousand elders of the Buddha Temple.
The elders of the Buddha Temple are numerous and vary in their cultivation levels, but they are proficient in Buddhist teachings.
The monk lights incense, closes his eyes, and gently taps his wooden fish.
“Guanyin Bodhisattva, when practicing the profound Prajnaparamita, perceives that all five aggregates are empty and thus relieves all suffering…” he recites softly.
Hearing this, the other monks follow suit, striking their wooden fish, their sounds overlapping with the monk.
“Shariputra, form is no different from emptiness, emptiness no different from form.”
“Form is emptiness, emptiness is form. Sensation, perception, volition, and consciousness are also thus.”
In an instant, the hall is shrouded in incense smoke, filled only with the sounds of wooden fish and chanting.
The golden light of the Buddha statue on the high platform shines even brighter as if seeking to save all sentient beings.
Suddenly.
“Crack!!”
A crisp and jarring sound rings out.
The monks, who were a moment ago meditating on Buddha, are instantly jolted awake, looking resigned as if accustomed to this disturbance.
The preaching monk’s eyes snap open, and his mouth twitches uncontrollably.
Everyone’s gaze follows the sound.
Behind the seated monks, there is a man with a towering figure and thick eyebrows nearly joined together.
Even while sitting cross-legged, he towers over the others.
Looking at the wooden fish he has just shattered, he scratches his head awkwardly and says,
“Sorry, I didn’t control my strength.”
Everyone is exasperated.
Didn’t control his strength? How many times has this happened now?
The rules of the Buddha Temple.
Monks who come here must chant scriptures and meditate on Buddha together with nine others.
The Buddhist Sect values mutual aid and salvation, so only after all ten receive the approval of the preaching monk can they leave the temple and move within the Buddha Temple’s sphere of influence.
No matter how slow, monks who have come in the past usually gain approval to leave within a month.
But they have been stuck here for a full four months! Do you know how they’ve spent these four months?
They neglect sleep and food, hoping to finish their chanting and meditation and then leave this cursed place.
But every time, every single time, the man who is like a tower breaks the mallet and shatters the wooden fish.
At first, the preaching monk thought the man was just too strong, so he gave him an extremely sturdy spiritual wooden fish.
But nothing changed!
Reluctantly, the preaching monk had to keep replacing it with higher-grade, more robust mallets and wooden fish.
The result was the same.
The wooden fish that the man just shattered was a high-grade spiritual instrument!
A treasured Buddhist Sect artifact from the bottom of the preaching monk’s chest!
“Mu Kui, you have no fate with Buddha, leave the Buddha Temple at once,” says the preaching monk with a pained expression, waving his hand as if shooing away a fly.
Upon hearing this, the other monks feel no joy.
Because this is the fiftieth time in four months that the preaching monk has said this! And every time, Mu Kui’s response is the same.
“That won’t do,” Mu Kui shakes his head in refusal.
“Eldest Senior Brother says I’m foolish. I must complete the sect’s mission to prove him wrong!”
After a brief silence, the monks collectively slap their foreheads and then question their existence.
The preaching monk is utterly disheartened, wishing to crash his head against the golden statue of the Buddha behind him and then tell the Buddha,
“Even Buddha cannot save this person!”
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