Chapter 930

Red Lotus Temple, Red Lotus Hall.

This is the main hall of Red Lotus Temple, the largest hall, where on ordinary days are enshrined the statues of the Red Lotus past, present, and future Three Buddhas, the highest-status figures in Red Lotus Temple; it is also the place where the temple's core high-ranking officials hold discussions.

On a lotus pedestal cast of red copper, the statues of the Red Lotus Three Buddhas wear a compassionate expression, overlooking the vast hall.

The current abbot of Red Lotus Temple, the Faceless Buddha who is the foremost of the present Three Buddhas, together with the Wrathful Buddha, one of the Three Buddhas, along with hundreds of Elders, temple supervisors, hall masters, hall chiefs, pavilion masters, and so on, all clad in scarlet-red kasaya, stand solemnly in the great hall.

Each relic, the smallest the size of a fist, floats in midair, emitting various-colored light that illuminates the entire hall.

The Buddha-light and Zen-light emitted by the thousands of relics are sufficient to ensure that no evil spirits exist within this hall, and can even break any concealment or evasion technique.

Unless someone's cultivation exceeds that of these hundreds of great monks combined by a hundredfold, no word spoken inside this hall could possibly leak out.

The Faceless Buddha's aura is weak.

Earlier, in the blaze dynasty, the crown prince and second prince vied for the throne; Feng Rong relied on extraordinary means and abruptly inherited the throne. The Faceless Buddha, furious and flustered, personally left the mountain to argue a point for the second prince, Feng Shang.

As a result, he was schemed against by the Azure Lotus Monastery; the monastery's mountain guardian, Drunken Buddha, openly challenged him, and an unnamed powerful expert launched a sneak attack, destroying the Faceless Buddha's golden body; only his relics escaped through the void back to the temple, where, after great difficulty, he reforged his golden body in the Red Lotus Temple's Baobao Pond.

The reforged golden body naturally is not as strong as the original golden body that he had tempered through countless hammerings.

Nowadays, the Faceless Buddha not only has a very weak aura, but his strength is less than one-tenth of his peak. Yet he holds tremendous prestige within Red Lotus Temple; the hundreds of high-ranking monks present are all still respectful and obedient toward him.

"The patriarchs in the back mountains have indeed perished." A thin layer of Buddha-light shimmered on the Faceless Buddha's face, obscuring his features. His voice was deep and steady, without the slightest emotional fluctuation, making it impossible to discern his mood.

"The heavens of our Red Lotus Temple have collapsed halfway."

The Faceless Buddha slipped the prayer beads through his fingertips one by one: "However, it's only half collapsed… I have always said that those patriarchs are calamities; without them, Red Lotus Temple will only improve, not worsen."

He snorted coldly, and the Faceless Buddha said solemnly: "They have perished; in my heart, I am glad. You should feel the same, for now no one remains to point fingers at us, issuing orders with arrogant gestures."

"A bunch of people who ought to have died long ago should have just died honestly; why bother making things difficult for the junior disciples?"

The Faceless Buddha's words were a bit harsh.

Yet the hall was silent as a tomb; these Red Lotus Temple high-ranking monks each bore a solemn, dignified appearance, not a muscle on their faces twitching.

The Faceless Buddha looked around, carefully examined the faces of these fellow monks, then slowly nodded: "It seems that all of you senior brothers and I share the same view; that is excellent."

"Then, let's discuss the most pressing issue at hand."

The Faceless Buddha suddenly let out a heavy sigh: "Cangjing Pavilion Master, Xingchi Senior Brother, have we still not found the cause of the anomaly in our Red Lotus Temple's mountain-protecting formation? We actually still cannot enter or exit the mountain gate."

The atmosphere in the hall suddenly became oppressively heavy.

Clearly, these old monks' expressions showed no change, and their vital energy had no alteration, yet an invisible pressure in the hall suddenly surged to tens of thousands of times its former level.

If a lesser monk with slightly inferior cultivation were here, he would probably have been ground to dust by this abruptly increased pressure, his soul and spirit scattered.

A monk with a pale complexion, his face full of worry and sorrow, his forehead covered with dozens of wrinkles, and wisps of spiritual light rising like incense smoke from the crown of his head toward the sky, stepped forward and bowed with palms together to the Faceless Buddha.

"Senior brother, junior brother is incapable. This formation remains our Red Lotus Temple's mountain-protecting array; I have inspected every foundation, every restriction, every eye, every disk, every banner, every banner, and all the suppressing spiritual treasures and Buddhist implements."

"Not even a single formation line has changed."

"But this formation simply refuses to obey our commands; all of our command talismans have lost their effect… We are indeed confined, suppressed, sealed, and isolated by our own mountain-protecting formation."

Xingchi Old Monk gave a bitter smile: "Moreover, the formation has become… its power greater and more wondrously variable. None of our dharma signals can be sent out, nor can any external information get in… This matter, upon reflection, is terrifying."

Xingchi Old Monk murmured: "I, junior brother, pride myself on having read all of Red Lotus Temple's secret transmissions to perfection, every formation inheritance… even the formation manuals that the youngsters furtively brought back from the Azure Lotus Monastery and White Lotus Palace, I have also mastered, and I have innovated, deducing countless novel formations."

Holding up three fingers, Xingchi Old Monk solemnly said: "I, junior brother, believe that in the entire Blaze Dynasty, when it comes to formation cultivation, I belong among the top three."

"Perhaps there is one person in White Lotus Palace who can match my formation cultivation; likewise, perhaps only in Azure Lotus Monastery is there someone whose formation cultivation slightly exceeds mine."

Closing his eyes, after serious contemplation, Xingchi Old Monk murmured: "White Lotus Palace does not value formation arts, nor do I speak of it, for after all this is mere frivolous trickery; those upright gentlemen disdain to study it in depth."

"The seniors of our Red Lotus Temple place greater emphasis on the boundless power of the Dharma and the limitless mana of Buddhism… as for the way of formations, the ancestors of our Red Lotus Temple do not regard it highly."

"Azure Lotus Monastery has many ancestors who have deeply studied formations… but I, junior brother, dare to swear by my Buddha-heart that even if those ancestors of Azure Lotus Monastery… I have repeatedly broken through their mountain-protecting formation, sneaked into their various secret realms to scout; thus, their great formation, in my view, is nothing special."

"Therefore, I, junior brother, dare to say that in the vast Blaze Dynasty continent, throughout history, my attainment in formations can rank among the top three."

The Faceless Buddha's voice remained devoid of emotional change: "Even so, you still cannot break the aberrant formation that now confines the entire Red Lotus Temple?"

Xingchi Old Monk's face flushed slightly; he bowed with palms together to the Faceless Buddha and gave a bitter smile: "Junior brother, I am incapable."

The Faceless Buddha said softly: "It's not that you are incapable; the enemy is simply too formidable… It seems that the demise of our Red Lotus Temple's ancestors is inseparable from him. Then, what does he intend to do? Tell me, what does he intend to do?"

The assembly of great monks remained silent.

Upon reflection, it is terrifying.

Truly, upon reflection it is terrifying—someone sneaked into the rear mountains of Red Lotus Temple and slaughtered the ancestors who had sealed themselves, not a single hair left… Sorry, the ancestors of Red Lotus Temple originally had no hair.

Then, he used some unknown means to alter Red Lotus Temple's mountain-protecting formation.

Consequently, for nearly a year, Red Lotus Temple has been isolated inside and out, with no news whatsoever; no one can step out of the mountain gate, and not a single one of the secret agents placed outside has returned to report.

What exactly has happened outside?

What exactly is the situation outside?

A group of monks who have cultivated to the point of having hearts like dead water, utterly without ripples, cannot help but feel their innards tremble.

With such methods, if that person wished to annihilate Red Lotus Temple, it would surely not be difficult?

As they were pondering, suddenly they heard from the bell-and-drum tower at the Red Lotus Temple's mountain gate a thunderous bell and drum sound.