Chapter 241: Group Tribulation Crossing

Great evils often lie dormant in softness; beware the needle hidden in cotton. Deep hatreds frequently arise from love; guard against the honey on the blade's edge.

Xu Qing did not understand why the old crone who had lived with Xuan Yu for many years would scheme so, but these matters were no longer important to him.

In the end, the old crone had cost Xuan Yu her life. Regardless of the cause, the result had already been wrought; should they ever meet on a narrow path one day...

Xu Qing would never show mercy.

Even if the other party spoke with flowers in the sky, he would still have to take an axe to them!

Having understood the crux of the matter, Xu Qing's thoughts instantly became clear.

He looked at the reward from the Scripture of Delivering Beings: a technique of Void Spirit Body Protection, identical to the method the old Daoist Priest had used to defend the temple against invasion.

This body protection technique was far superior to the Substitution Stake Method Xu Qing had learned. The Daoist Priest's method could utilize inanimate objects, using architectural feng shui layouts as substitutes, whereas Xu Qing's Substitution Stake Method could only use trees, paper effigies, or puppets as stakes. No comparison was needed; the superiority was already decided.

Xu Qing pondered that this thing was excellent!

Currently, his substitution stake was still the Yin Locust Tree at the Shuimen Bridge Courtyard, but it was obvious that for the damage he could not withstand now, not to mention one Yin Locust Tree, even ten would not necessarily hold it back.

Now that he possessed the Void Spirit Method, he could let that Yin Locust Tree, which trembled in fear all day, retire early, and instead use the feng shui layout of the Shuimen Bridge Courtyard to ward off external harm.

Besides the Void Spirit Method, the Scripture of Delivering Beings also rewarded a Heaven-Class Lower Grade technique called the Seeking Immortal Art.

Heaven-Class rewards were extremely rare; Xu Qing counted carefully, and the Heaven-Class rewards he had obtained so far numbered only two or three.

Daoist Priest Bai Yun had been granted the Heavenly Scripture, and the techniques he cultivated were none of this world; this karmic connection should have been a karmic sin, yet it was nonetheless a genuine immortal connection.

Xu Qing had a sudden realization: humans have good and evil, things have good and bad; even Heaven and Earth have the distinction of Yin and Yang, let alone an immortal connection?

Thus, it could be seen that this so-called immortal connection was not, as people thought, entirely a karmic bond of good.

The Seeking Immortal Art was precisely a strange technique capable of sensing any immortal connection in the world.

This spell could be cast once every twelve years, exactly corresponding to the number of a cycle; immortal connections in the world are finite, and at the end of each cycle, one must perform sacrifices and set up an altar, arrange rituals, borrow the technique of Spirit Wandering, commune with Heaven and Earth, and thereby discover the location of the immortal connection.

Whether that immortal connection is good or bad is another matter entirely.

Xu Qing frowned slightly.

What difference was there between this and the amateurish method of spirit-writing to summon immortals?

In the latter, no one knows whether a ghost or an immortal has been summoned; in the former, when you cast the Seeking Immortal Art, you also do not know whether the immortal connection found is good or bad.

As Xu Qing was pondering how to utilize the limitations of the Seeking Immortal Art, he suddenly realized: he himself was a zombie!

If he encountered a heavenly treasure or a rare herb, that would be one thing, but if he encountered a true enlightened master, regardless of whether the other party was good or evil, seeing a zombie, they would likely not show a favorable countenance.

Xu Qing remained silent for a long time; this Seeking Immortal Art was no different from a Demon-Seeking Art on his person. If he encountered a demon immortal like the Holy Maiden, he would certainly not choose to collude with her; a fierce battle was even possible.

But if he encountered a true enlightened master, he would likely not fare well either.

For in the menu of demon-slaying and defending the Dao, zombies have always been a signature dish.

Once encountered, it is a must-order item.

However, this method was not entirely useless; after all, an immortal connection is not limited to meeting a living immortal; it could also be a lost heavenly treasure or a divine weapon just born into the world.

Xu Qing did not believe his luck would be so bad that his first search for an immortal connection would lead him to a master dedicated to subduing demons and defending the Dao.

Inside the Ruyi Temple, Xu Qing rummaged around, not only scavenging the utensils needed for sacrifices and setting up an altar, but also unexpectedly obtaining gold and silver treasures of considerable value, as well as over three hundred thousand shi of grain.

The Ruyi Temple and the Cizhao Temple were of the same ilk; regarding the enclosure of land and the exploitation of tenant farmers, the Ruyi Temple had done no less.

Xu Qing was not surprised by this. In the Great Yong Dynasty, all major temples and monasteries were wealthy landlords dominating their regions.

Temples enjoyed tax-exempt privileges; some common people, in order to evade harsh taxes, would even voluntarily "falsely register" their fields or "bring fields into the temple."

Once temples tasted the sweetness, they would also spend vast amounts of gold and silver to purchase land; a temple of medium size might enclose as much as a thousand qing of land.

As for "famous great temples" like the Ruyi Temple or the Cizhao Temple, how could the enclosed land be limited to merely ten thousand qing?

How many people are there in total within temples and monasteries? With ten thousand qing of land, even if all the monks and Daoist Priests combined, along with the temple abbot and the monastery master, went down to the fields to farm together, they could not possibly cultivate it all.

So what should be done?

Of course, it is to rent it out to tenant farmers for cultivation and collect exorbitant land rents!

Thus, without paying taxes, the temples' profits compounded, money rolled up more and more, and the land enclosed grew wider and wider.

When tenant farmers were insufficient, they would hire common people to farm; if they encountered common people with no food to eat and no land to till, they would make them work without pay.

Finally, the great masters in the temples would even speak kindly, saying: "Our Buddha is compassionate, giving you food so you do not starve to death. You must be grateful and work even harder in the fields to repay the temple."

The temples of the Great Yong Dynasty were also the most numerous of all past dynasties. Starting from Emperor Longping and continuing through Emperor Jingxing's governance of the world, the prevalence of sacrificial rites further increased the status and arrogance of the temples.

If you were to ask whether the imperial court did not feel the sharp decline in tax revenue?

They felt it, but could only turn a blind eye, shifting all responsibility elsewhere.

As for why, the reason was simple: behind the temples in every region stood figures who were no ordinary people.

You may move against the temples, but you cannot touch the rice bowls of the nobles!

Since the status of the temples could not be shaken, where would the tax revenue come from?

Only by inventing new categories and collecting various harsh and miscellaneous taxes to exploit the common people at the bottom.

Xu Qing knew this principle well; after seeing the gold and silver stored in the Ruyi Temple and the grain counted in the hundreds of thousands, he understood a truth.

They say that drivers, boatmen, innkeepers, porters, and brokers deserve death even if innocent, but in his view, those major temples and monasteries today, the monks who do not engage in production, and the fake monks and fake Daoists who occupy vast fields and houses, are the ones who should be eradicated!

Idleness breeds trouble; when these fake monks and fake Daoists are idle, they are openly devouring people!

After scavenging the belongings of Daoist Priest Bai Yun, Xu Qing simply set up the sacrificial altar and communicated with Heaven and Earth right in the other's home.

One cannot but say that cause and effect cycle, and retribution never misses.

Daoist Priest Bai Yun loved to engage in killing and harming lives, seizing others' estates; now that his head and body were separated, all the estates he acquired had entirely fallen into others' hands, which was precisely the fulfillment of this retribution.

Seeing Xu Qing worship Heaven and Earth, Xuan Yu also joined in, holding incense and bowing.

Demons love to worship deities, hoping thereby to gain divine protection; demons facing Tribulation Crossing are especially devout.

As the saying goes: sharpen the spear before the battle; even if not sharp, it will still shine.

Demons are also keeping pace with the times.

"What is Immortal Xuan Yu praying for?"

Just as Xu Qing was about to cast the Immortal-Seeking Technique, he turned his head and saw the young girl behind him pressing her palms together, eyes closed, muttering incessantly.

"I am praying for the gods' blessing."

Xuan Yu opened her eyes, glanced at the cloudless sky stretching ten thousand li, then looked back at Xu Qing.

"The demonic energy within me is nearly impossible to suppress, Immortal Xu."

Just as Xuan Yu was about to say something to Xu Qing, a chaotic noise suddenly erupted from outside Ruyi Temple.

Xu Qing narrowed his eyes and saw a Monk riding a donkey backwards, accompanied by an abbot clad in a kasaya, arriving inside the temple.

Behind them stood twelve martial Monks resembling Arhats; each brimmed with vital blood and qi, every one of them a martial master at the Condensed Qi Barrier realm!

Xu Qing watched indifferently; ever since Daoist Bai Yun had used the Mother-and-Son Buddhist Beads to send a distress signal to Cizhao Temple, he had been waiting for these Monks to arrive.

However, since there had been no movement all this time, he had assumed Daoist Bai Yun's spell had failed, never expecting this bunch of Monks to show up only now.