Chapter 301: Are Your Buddhist Sects Not Too Tyrannical?

Just as Su Chen arrived at the royal palace and found Qiao Ling, before he could speak a word.

A golden pillar of light descended vertically from the depths of the heavens above Yunze City, instantly piercing through the clouds.

Golden radiance flooded down, illuminating the entire city as bright as daylight.

Immediately, vast chants of Sanskrit echoed from all directions.

The sound seemed omnipresent, reverberating directly within the minds of the city's million citizens.

Above the heavens, two hundred-zhang-tall golden bodily manifestations slowly stepped forth from the void.

They were the Luo Han Luo Han, Jianglong and Fuhu.

In Yunze City, all livestock simultaneously collapsed to the ground, trembling.

Civilians, merchants, and patrolling soldiers on the streets, upon seeing the two golden forms in the sky, cried out "Immortal Magistrate!" and knelt to bow before the two golden figures.

Before the royal palace's grand hall.

Qiao Hui was speaking with Qiao Ling, trying to change his mind and persuade him to stay, when he suddenly witnessed this celestial anomaly.

He looked up at the two colossal golden forms towering like mountains, his eyes filled with awe and fear.

"The True Buddha has manifested… the True Buddha has manifested!"

Qiao Hui knelt on both knees, clasped his hands together, and bowed repeatedly toward the sky.

The palace guards, eunuchs, and maids all collapsed to the ground, none daring to raise their eyes to gaze upon the heavenly visage.

In midair, Jianglong Luo Han's gaze did not linger a single instant on these mortals.

His eyes shimmered with golden light; his spiritual sense spread like an invisible net, instantly covering the entire Moye Kingdom palace.

"Brother, the heavenly fate remains obscured," Jianglong Luo Han transmitted mentally.

Fuhu Luo Han's fingers paused slightly as he counted his prayer beads: "No matter. Since we've come this far, mortal flesh cannot conceal the true Buddha's root nature."

Their spiritual senses descended, instantly spreading throughout the entire Moye Kingdom palace.

Almost instantly, both detected Qiao Ling's extraordinary nature standing between Qiao Hui and Su Chen.

Qiao Ling stood beside Qiao Hui, clad in a plain white robe, his body upright, gazing upward at the two colossal golden forms, with not a single thought of kneeling.

Jianglong Luo Han stared at the young man standing tall, his eyes bursting with uncontainable joy.

"It cannot be wrong. Even if heavenly fate is obscured, such transcendent, saintly root nature—such an unmaskable Buddha-nature—it must be the World-Honored One reborn!"

Fuhu Luo Han clasped his hands together and chanted a Buddha's name: "Excellent. After six years, we have finally found the Buddha's child."

The two retracted their hundred-zhang golden bodily manifestations, shrinking to human size, stepping upon golden lotuses, and slowly descending from the sky, hovering midair above the palace.

The golden light faded. Jianglong and Fuhu clasped their hands together in salute to Su Chen, and Jianglong Luo Han's voice rang out: "Jianglong pays homage to the Buddha. O Buddha, you have wandered too long in the mortal realm—it is time to return with us to Lingshan and reclaim your seat."

Qiao Hui, kneeling on the ground beside him, stared blankly at his son.

What had he just heard?

Qiao Ling looked directly into Jianglong Luo Han's eyes.

"My name is Qiao Ling, Crown Prince of Moye Kingdom," Qiao Ling's voice was quiet yet resolute, "I am not the Buddha you speak of, nor will I go to Lingshan. I have already taken a master, and I intend to cultivate with him."

Jianglong Luo Han frowned slightly.

Fuhu Luo Han snorted coldly, his gaze sweeping over Su Chen beside Qiao Ling.

In his eyes, this middle-aged Daoist priest, clad in a simple robe and hanging a broken gourd at his waist, emitted only the faintest aura of Qi Refining to the Void.

"A mere wild Daoist of Qi Refining to the Void dares to bewitch the Buddha's child?" Fuhu Luo Han's voice carried undeniable authority.

He did not regard Su Chen as worthy of notice.

A mere insect who had not even entered the Immortal Path—unworthy of even drawing his hand.

"O Buddha," Fuhu Luo Han turned back to Qiao Ling, "you have been deceived by this demonic Daoist, sunk in the sea of suffering, and forgotten your former station. Today, we come by the World-Honored One's decree to rescue you from this suffering."

Qiao Ling clenched his fists.

He felt the arrogance in their words—their utter disregard for all things as if they were grass.

They did not care what he was called, nor what he wished; they cared only for the "past life" hidden within his body.

"I said—I am not him," Qiao Ling stepped forward, placing himself before Su Chen. "I have already taken a master, and my master stands here. As Luohans, do you intend to forcibly take me away?"

Jianglong Luo Han shook his head, as if saddened by Qiao Ling's stubbornness.

"Mortal eyes cannot comprehend the vastness of heaven and earth," Jianglong Luo Han spoke calmly. "Your past life was the Ancestor of Ten Thousand Buddhas. How could this wild Daoist possibly be your master? You have yet to awaken your past wisdom—your spiritual intellect is clouded by the veil of the womb."

Fuhu Luo Han's temper flared. He stepped forward, golden lotus shadows blooming beneath his feet.

"Brother, why waste words? The Buddha's true spirit has been obscured by reincarnation. Let me use my power to awaken his past memories—he will understand everything himself!"

As he spoke, Fuhu Luo Han raised his right hand and formed a Buddha seal.

" Tihuguanding!"

Fuhu Luo Han roared, thrusting one finger forward.

A blindingly brilliant beam of Buddha-light shot from his fingertip, racing toward Qiao Ling's third eye.

This Buddha-light was a special technique of the Buddhist sect, designed to forcibly awaken the past memories of reborn disciples.

Once it pierced Qiao Ling's third eye, the immense memories of the Buddha would instantly shatter the self-awareness Qiao Ling had built over eighteen years.

Qiao Ling, Crown Prince of Moye Kingdom, would die utterly beneath this single finger.

What would awaken would be none other than the lofty Buddha, the World-Honored One.

The Buddha-light pierced the air at unimaginable speed.

Qiao Ling saw only golden radiance; countless monks' chants exploded suddenly within his mind.

The voices carried overwhelming seduction, seeking to forcibly strip away his consciousness.

He wanted to dodge, but his body was frozen by Fuhu Luo Han's technique.

Jianglong Luo Han clasped his hands together, prepared to welcome the Buddha's awakening.

At the very instant the overwhelmingly dominant Buddha-light drew within half an inch of Qiao Ling's third eye—

Su Chen, who had stood silently beside them, treated as air by the two Luohans, finally moved.

He raised his right hand and, from afar, flicked his finger toward the brilliant Buddha-light.

The Buddha-light aimed at Qiao Ling's third eye vanished instantly into nothingness under Su Chen's single flick.

Jianglong Luo Han, who had already bowed to welcome the Buddha's return, froze mid-motion.

Fuhu Luo Han, still holding the Buddha-seal gesture, his pupils shrank sharply.

Su Chen lowered his hand and brushed dust from his Daoist robe's sleeve.

He raised his head, his deep eyes calmly fixed on the two Luohans hovering midair.

"Two of you," Su Chen's voice reached Jianglong and Fuhu, "you sought to forcibly erase my disciple's consciousness before my very eyes."

He paused, then curled his lips into a cold smile.

"Are your Buddhist sects not too tyrannical?"