Chapter 357: Chang Lingfeng's Purpose and Plea

What is going on?

Hearing the crying and fussing, Du En felt a bit puzzled.

It had been perfectly quiet before; normally, this child shouldn't be making a fuss. Could it be that because of some obscure, special trait he possessed, he had sensed some hidden danger or threat at this moment?

With this thought in mind, Du En waved his hand to unfold the small stone statue, revealing the wooden cradle inside, and picked up the child.

"There really is a child?!"

Seeing the child at this moment, Chang Lingfeng couldn't help but feel extremely astonished.

Then, seeing that Du En was unable to stop the crying for the moment, he hesitated slightly before boldly speaking up: "Um, benefactor, the way you are coaxing him is wrong."

"Coaxing him wrong?"

Du En really hadn't seen anything unusual about this infant and had been on the verge of using his old trick to make him continue sleeping quietly, but hearing this, he thought for a moment and chose to go with the flow.

"Are you good at coaxing children?"

"I wouldn't say I'm very good, I just used to help look after kids for neighbors in the same camp."

"Hmm, then you give it a try."

He handed the infant over.

Chang Lingfeng threw away the useless knife handle, wiped his hands, and seeing they were clean, took the child. Then, the scenario of him kidnapping the baby and running away did not happen; he really just started coaxing the child.

Du En silently put away the spell he had been brewing, watching as the other person actually managed to soothe the infant quickly, making him stop crying and start giggling, and then, the baby even soiled him.

It was all previous inventory; now that he was happy, he just let it all out.

"So stinky! You little rascal!"

Chang Lingfeng, feeling he had been pranked, didn't get angry at all; he just laughed and scolded, lifting the little brat up and spinning him around twice, making him laugh even more happily.

Invisibly, firelight bloomed, dispelling the darkness.

It was Du En who had lit the flame.

The laughing Chang Lingfeng only then realized that the "parent" was still here!

"Sorry, sorry, I was just a bit happy, so..."

"It's fine. He has been cooped up and has had no companions, so this is good too."

Du En said calmly, flicking his fingers to dissipate the foul matter on Chang Lingfeng.

Feeling at ease, he immediately took the infant back into his arms and couldn't help but say: "But come to think of it, this child really is quite different. How should I put it? Right, clean! He looks even cleaner than any of the children I've looked after in the camp!"

"Because he is a Flawless Infant."

"Eh? This... it really is. The legendary Holy Infant, born without any cultivation, pure and flawless—this is my first time seeing one."

Speaking of this, he immediately became vigilant, looking around, and spat out a warning: "Benefactor, you must be careful of the Queguang Sect. Those guys who perform shamanistic dances are just as bad as the bald donkeys of the Jingguang Sect—they are two of a kind. I heard they scour for Flawless Infants and then sacrifice them to that bullshit Spirit Mother!"

"Oh? You don't have a good impression of the Queguang Sect?"

"... Hmm, although ever since I was little, I've always heard others speak of their goodness, I really find it strange. Fire is clearly something we make ourselves, so why do they insist it is a gift from the Spirit Mother? If there really were some bullshit gift, would we still be left hungry, with people starving to death every year?"

The thoughts Chang Lingfeng revealed at this moment were actually still somewhat suppressed.

He wanted to say more, but because he feared the Queguang Sect, he ultimately only chose to say this much.

—This was a doubt he had held since he was a child, appearing naive, regarding the Jingguang Sect and the Spirit Mother!

"So that is why you researched a cultivation method yourself?"

"As expected, nothing escapes your eyes, benefactor. Yes, if they won't give it, then I'll solve it myself. Although it was bumpy, I managed to figure out a few tricks."

Regarding this, the young man seemed somewhat proud, but immediately thinking that showing off in front of Du En was like "wielding an axe before a master," he chuckled sheepishly and closed his mouth, feeling very embarrassed.

This is also a genius.

Du En thought to himself.

Although he was born with a basic framework, being able to figure out the ropes on his own—calling him a genius was not an exaggeration at all! However, the focus now was not on this.

He continued to ask: "Why did you sneak into the group of those converting to Buddhism, and what is it you want to beg me to help you with?"

The laughing young man immediately restrained all his smiles, revealing a heavy expression as he explained the reason.

"The day before yesterday, near the camp where I live, there was an abandoned mining area where traces of short-tailed fat rats appeared. That is rare, fatty prey, so I immediately went to hunt them with some others from the camp."

"When we returned with a bountiful harvest, we found that nearly half the people in the camp had run off, including my widowed mother, my fiancée, and my best friend."

"I heard from those who didn't run that while we were out hunting, the bald donkeys of the Jingguang Sect snuck over, bewitched the people in the camp, and made them defect and convert to that Jingguang Sect."

"I had clearly warned them that those bald donkeys were no good, but in the end, they still found an opening, used their evil arts, and took them away to convert to some Jingguang Buddha. It's truly damnable..."

By the end, Chang Lingfeng seemed self-reproachful, feeling that it was his carelessness that allowed the people around him and those in his camp to be caught by the Jingguang Sect's guys, who used evil arts to bewitch and take them away.

Thus, he ran over alone to search for them.

Unfortunately, he encountered an accident; if it weren't for Du En's intervention, he would likely have been sliced in two or rotted into a puddle.

"Ah!"

The infant in his arms seemed to sense his dejection and reached out to him with a soft cry.

He immediately put away his heavy mood and revealed a smile, though it was somewhat forced.

Amidst this interaction and play, Du En was deep in thought.

If Chang Lingfeng's experience was not fabricated, then this Jingguang Sect was not something that suddenly appeared after he entered the game, but had existed for a long time, only it had been brewing in the dark and was just now ready to erupt.

Combined with the previous Southern Blood Demon... looking at it comprehensively, these crises and dangers were not actually generated by True Monarch Huiqing intervening and pushing them in real-time, but rather he was utilizing things that already existed and were bound to erupt sooner or later.

So, what True Monarch Huiqing did was actually to give the Spirit Mother an instruction: in the event that he couldn't kill Du En, he would use this current form to point and lead him to various places, intending to use the crises there to eliminate him?

Even if he couldn't eliminate him, he could still go with the flow and let him act as a free thug to clear out the various existences of the Queguang Sect's Spirit Mother that had already grown strong and threatened his own main cultivation sites!

To speculate even more boldly, I fear there is more...

When the interaction with the infant came to an end, Du En, having gained some clues, spoke to confirm: "Have you seen the people from the Jingguang Sect?"

"Yes, I have. A few years ago, that bald donkey drifted into our camp, started spreading fallacies to deceive the public, and practiced evil arts, making people waver and become obsessed. I interrupted him a few times, and even once snuck over in the dark and cracked his bald head open."

Speaking of this, Chang Lingfeng only regretted not killing him back then, grinding his teeth in hatred.

"Are they really people of the Buddhist sect?" Bald donkey, shaved head, tonsure; these are typical traits of the Buddhist sect. I had assumed those who converted to worship the Buddha all had their hair intact, and that the Pure Light Sect was merely a case of hanging a sheep's head to sell dog meat, but I didn't expect it would actually involve monks from the Buddhist sect.

However, it is not all that strange; this is not the first time Du En has witnessed the methods of the Buddhist sect. To say nothing else, the Samadhi Treasure Pagoda he is able to manifest contains the essence of the Buddhist sect.

And from other aspects, especially looking at the Flesh Bodhisattva that the Sinful Dragon transformed into back then, it seems perfectly normal that there would be some kind of method to bewitch people's hearts.

"You want me to help you rescue your friends and fellow camp members?"

"Yes, I know this is very shameless, but I see it clearly now. Although the bald donkeys of the Pure Light Sect haven't shown their faces, being able to stir up this scale of chaos is clearly not something I can resist on my own, so I can only come to beg you."

Chang Lingfeng felt very ashamed of this. He racked his brains but couldn't find anything to offer as thanks; he was truly penniless, and his only blade was completely ruined.

After thinking it over, it seemed there was only the method he had researched himself? Although he felt it was not presentable, he still tentatively asked to see if it could serve as a reward.

"You may."

Seeing his conscience was uneasy, Du En nodded directly.

At the same time, he also wanted to see what was different about this original method, researched by himself without the guidance of others.

Even if it couldn't be put to use, it could still fill out his foundation.

"Many thanks, benefactor!"

Chang Lingfeng was overjoyed and began to organize his words to explain the method, "I call it Spirit-Filtering and Refining. Using the cultivation one already possesses by birth, one hides a mysterious flesh furnace to act as a sifting tool, filtering and burning away impurities bit by bit, then converting it into Dharma power to fill the two Dharma-containing voids in the body..."

It was worthy of being an original method he had pondered out himself; it was filled with various personal definitions, but it wasn't complex and was easy to map out. Moreover, it only reached the Foundation Establishment stage of cultivation, so it was actually quite crude overall.

"It is quite surprising. This method of linking cultivation and flesh to filter and burn away impurities is actually useful right now; it can be used to reinforce the Azure Drenched Dharma Robe and make up for its performance."

Du En quickly found a place where it could be used.

In fact, of the four instrument prohibitions of the Azure Drenched Dharma Robe—Spirit Gathering, Subjugation, Spirit Warming, and Cleansing—the first three were fine; they could still be strengthened mindlessly for now, and there was basically no need to worry about them failing to keep pace.

But only the final Cleansing instrument prohibition, because its base was merely an ordinary cleaning function, was actually a shortcoming even if he tried hard to stack and adjust it.

He didn't need to pay much attention to the icing on the cake regarding combat, but it was difficult to keep up with the other three in terms of purifying spiritual energy, which had an invisible impact.

—It isn't obvious now, but it will become more prominent the further one goes!

However, right now, he had unexpectedly encountered an appropriate way to supplement it.

It was not to perform major surgery on the instrument prohibition and change things drastically; if it were really like that, with his current attainments in artifact refining, he could have done it long ago.

Instead, it was to apply Chang Lingfeng's method of coordinated filtering and burning, thereby reinforcing its performance without needing to change the base of the instrument prohibition. In this way, he could achieve the same result in the most convenient and direct manner without having to overturn and start over.

"A good method, it has a lot of future."

After listening to Chang Lingfeng's oral account, Du En did not stint on his praise.

This made him feel a little shy; clearly, he hadn't expected such a high evaluation.

At the same time, his heart was stirred, feeling that his reward was at least somewhat presentable.

In this way, the shame and unease in his heart could be eased a little.

As if sensing this, the infant, who had just calmed down, stretched out its hands again, making babbling sounds.

Thus, Chang Lingfeng suppressed his other emotions and played with him again.

This was a person who liked children.

And he knew very well how to coax children.

Du En nodded secretly, and for the continued journey westward, he did not let the infant stay in the cramped cradle any longer.

"Although this underground space also seems cramped..."

Thinking this, he took the big one and the small one and set off westward again.

Gradually, the murmuring voices of those who had converted to worship the Buddha reached his ears once more.

To avoid accidents, the infant lay back into the cradle and was protected.

Chang Lingfeng also broke away from the relaxed posture of teasing the child and became nervous, subconsciously reaching for his blade, only then remembering that he had long since lost the hilt.

Looking up at the calm back in front of him, his trepidation seemed to be erased as well.

The next moment, the flame that had been lit earlier went out.

He was startled immediately.

"Don't worry, it's just so as not to attract attention."

Du En's words seemed a bit late, but this sudden shock had scared away much of his hidden trepidation, and when he calmed down, he was already able to steady his mood.

Turning out of this narrow path, they arrived at the edge of the main western tunnel.

There were many signs of destruction here, with blood remaining in various places. It seemed the suppression forces of the Queguang Sect had once tried to strike directly at the heart, but it looked like they had failed.

Therefore, the end of this main tunnel could still exist like this, and there appeared honeycomb-like confluence intersections.

The converts who had converted to worship the Buddha, having encountered suppression and slaughter and scattered in all directions, had not been completely wiped out after all. Now, after trekking and exploring, many people had arrived here and converged once again.

So it was very clear that the Pure Light Sect had excavated many confluence paths.

"Fellow travelers! Look! The Buddha is not far ahead!"

"We will eventually be able to escape the Avici and obtain the blessings of the next life!"

"Reincarnate into the Pure Light, obtain both affinity and blessings!"

In their eyes, it seemed the Spirit Mountain Pure Land was already near.

Even more fanatical than before, they gathered and, supporting their exhausted bodies, ran faster out of the Queguang Sect's control zone.

"What reincarnation into the Pure Light, what affinity and blessings—it's all evil arts and sorcery!"

Regarding this situation, Chang Lingfeng could only curse, while his gaze swept around, wanting to find the main culprit, the bald donkey of the Pure Light Sect, but in the end, he still couldn't find them.

"Let's go. Whatever the specific situation is, we must see it with our own eyes to know."

Du En said this, and they converged into the flow once more.

Because the spatial fulcrum here was, unsurprisingly, right in front of the road.

Chang Lingfeng naturally followed closely behind. Not knowing that Du En possessed great Dharma power, he tried hard to pretend that he had also been struck, continuing to pass himself off as one of them.

(End of chapter)