Chapter 233

Cheng Xinzhan stayed in the Three Pure Ones' Hall for more than ten days. He felt that the elders would never have any results if they didn't discuss it for a year or a half, so he said goodbye first. When the teachers and elders had any Dharma decrees passed down, he would just follow them.

The elders are now immersed in the fanaticism of the prophecy. The high-ranking cultivators of the Jingming Sect are like this, and the teachers and elders of Mount Sanqing cannot be an exception.

However, Cheng Xinzhan himself is still relatively sober. After all, he is only in the Third Realm, and there is still a long distance from the Immortal Realm. Empty talk cannot produce an Earth Immortal, and accepting disciples cannot produce an Earth Immortal. Only when the Dao method is divine can one refine an Earth Immortal.

He still has many things to do.

First of all, this fulfills the prophecy of the Jingming Patriarch. How can he not be familiar with the Jingming Dao method? The prophecy also has "greatly promote my sect," and the true scriptures that fill several scripture sedans are still waiting for him!

Moreover, Cheng Xinzhan has not forgotten the original intention of this trip to Mount Sanyuan, which is to seek scriptures to study the Dragon-Slaying Water Method. Let's not think about things too far away for now. A journey of a thousand miles always begins with the first step.

Thus, while the True Persons and Xuanzai were still studying the prophecy and Cheng Xinzhan's future Earth Immortal path in the Three Pure Ones' Hall, Cheng Xinzhan himself returned to the Wuyou Cave of Mount Mingzhi and began to read the scriptures and practice the Dharma.

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During the days from the main body's planning to go to the Jingming Sect to seek scriptures to returning from seeking scriptures, Cheng Xinzhan's Youjing Primordial Spirit was naturally not idle.

His technique of borrowing a corpse to return the soul was seamless, and no one could discover it. After completely controlling the Fire Temple lineage, he also had a clear understanding of the situation of the entire Mount Tianqiao.

First of all, it is true that Mount Tianqiao is the remnant of the ancient Buddha.

Since Patriarch Bodhidharma crossed the east to the land of Shenzhou and established the Chan Sect, the struggle for orthodoxy between the Shenzhou Chan Sect and the ancient Western Buddhism has never stopped. The struggle between Buddhism and Chan in those years was countless times more fierce than the struggle between the Daoist sect and the Xuan sect now. Destroying mountains and temples, burning scriptures and destroying texts were just common occurrences.

This kind of struggle continued until the prosperous Tang Dynasty. At that time, the Sixth Patriarch of the Chan Sect, Master Huineng, proposed "seeing one's nature and becoming a Buddha on the spot" and "Buddha Dharma is in the world, not separated from the world's awakening," making the supreme Buddha Dharma, which had always been on the high pavilion of the sacred platform, become a family scripture that everyone could recite. Believers spread all over the land of Shenzhou for a time, and the "sudden enlightenment" practice of the Chan Sect created a large number of high-ranking monks and Dharma practitioners.

And in the early Tang Dynasty, during the period when the struggle between the Chan Sect and ancient Western Buddhism was most intense, there was also a Westward Journey story that shook the three realms.

However, the length of that moving story was truly too huge, so it is not convenient to describe it in detail here. It was just that after that Westward Journey, the Chan Sect flourished, its power completely overwhelmed ancient Western Buddhism, and it spent hundreds of years driving all of ancient Western Buddhism out of the land of Shenzhou. Since then, in the land of Shenzhou, the Chan Sect is the Buddha Sect.

However, ancient Western Buddhism had also been rooted and preaching in Shenzhou for many years. When the Chan Sect swept and expelled them, it did not clean them up completely. Some fish that slipped through the net remained, and the ancestors of Mount Tianqiao were one of them.

And this group of remnants of Mount Tianqiao had completely gone into qi deviation. It was somewhat inappropriate to call them remnants of the ancient Buddha; they should be called the remnants produced after the ancient Buddha fell into magic.

These people belonged to the Shituolin branch of ancient Western Buddhism. When they were expelled by the Chan Sect, they hid their tracks and hid in the fish-and-dragon-mixed Mount Tianqiao in Xiangxi, and lived incognito for many years.

During this period, this group of remnants was blinded by hatred and discovered that Xiangxi was a treasure land for raising corpses, so they tampered with the teachings and magic of Shituolin, worshipped corpses as Tuo, and changed their names to exist under the name of the Hanging Coffin Gorge of Mount Tianqiao.

At first, these people still thought about revenge on the Chan Sect and would kill some monks from time to time to vent their anger. However, after thousands of years, these people had long discovered that the Chan Sect replacing Buddha was the trend of the times, and there was no news from the Western Sect, so the thought in their hearts was extinguished. Thus, they completely degenerated into the magic path of corpse refining and became a local force in Xiangxi.

Nowadays, only the five great temple masters of the Hanging Coffin Gorge and their successors know the secrets of the ancient Buddha's inheritance. Everyone else just thinks that their sect is a demon sect born and bred in Xiangxi.

These five temples are the Gold, Wood, Water, Fire, and Earth temples. Each temple has a secret method of corpse refining passed down from generation to generation that is derived from the Shituolin branch of ancient Western Buddhism. The strange corpses refined have combat power far exceeding their lifetime, and they have Buddha nature, not afraid of thunder and fire. This is also the reason why Mount Tianqiao ranks first among the demon sects in Xiangxi.

The inherited strange corpse of the Fire Temple is the Drought Demon. In fact, this Drought Demon is also to adapt to the local name of Shenzhou. In the Shituolin branch of ancient Western Buddhism, it was originally called Fire Louluo.

The previous Drought Demon of the Fire Temple died under the sword of the Tianzhen boy. The Drought Demon is extremely difficult to refine, so it was broken for one or two hundred years before it was refined again. During this period, the status of the Fire Temple was also declining day by day. Until today, the Fire Temple reappeared the Drought Demon, and it is a six-handed twelve-eyed Drought Demon, which is much more powerful than the previous three-eyed four-armed Drought Demon.

Today, Cheng Xinzhan made an appointment with the master of the Water Temple to discuss things.

It is said that water and fire are incompatible, but in Mount Tianqiao, the relationship between the Water Temple and the Fire Temple is the best. Hunting Long Boyan, the Water Temple can also be considered to have helped with all its strength.

This is because among the five great temple masters, only the Fire Temple master and the Water Temple master are both from the demon race, so naturally, they have to watch and help each other.

Cheng Xinzhan looked like he was going to the Water Temple alone, but in fact, Wu Qingbo and the Ape Corpse were in the corpse-raising basket at his waist. This corpse-raising basket itself is also a quite remarkable magic treasure, because walking corpses also have magic power and spiritual intelligence, which is not exactly the same as real dead objects, so they cannot be put into the cave stone and can only be put into a specially made corpse-raising basket.

The Water Temple is in the north of Mount Tianqiao. It is extremely humid here, and water always seeps out of the gorge walls, falling to the ground to form water puddles of various sizes. Therefore, there is always the sound of dripping rain in this darkness, echoing endlessly in the gorge cracks, which makes people feel annoyed when they hear it.

The people in the Water Temple who received the order and waited in advance saw the Fire Temple master coming, hurriedly greeted him to lead the way, walked in front with their heads down, and did not dare to speak.

But this person was very surprised in his heart. You must know that although the water and fire temples had a good relationship, the two temple masters usually met elsewhere because they both hated the environment of each other's Daoist arena. Why did the Fire Temple master come in person this time?

After walking for a while, the person leading the way stopped, looked back and bowed,

"Temple Master Dan, please come in. My temple master is waiting for you inside."

The Fire Temple mountain demon is named Dan Xingwei.

Cheng Xinzhan looked up and saw a pitch-black cave in front of him, with five characters engraved above the cave:

"Infinite Water Prison Temple".

Cheng Xinzhan ignored the person leading the way and walked straight in.

The cave was pitch black. He walked for forty or fifty steps, and there was a faint blue light coming from the front. Then the front suddenly opened up, and Cheng Xinzhan walked into a cave room.

This cave room was also extremely large. In the middle was a huge water pool, and the surface of the water pool was floating with fine and dense algae. This kind of algae emitted a faint blue light, which was the source of the light illuminating the cave room.

What was eye-catching was that a female corpse was leaning against the edge of this water pool!

Now in the water pool, one could only see the upper body of the female corpse. The chest and abdomen of the corpse were covered with thin silver fish-scale armor, and she was wearing a huge silver horn crown on her head. At a glance, one knew it was a Miao girl who had been harmed.

The rest of the flesh exposed on the corpse presented a miserable white color like a fish belly, and scale-like patterns could be faintly seen on it. The woman's face was beautiful, and she should have been a beautiful young girl in her lifetime. It was just that at this time, the woman's wide-open eyes had no whites, pitch black, as if two ink beads were embedded in them.

And in the mountain demon's memory, the part of this female corpse below the water pool was even more terrifying, with a dragon tail bone more than four feet long.

This is the inherited evil corpse of the Water Temple, "Infinite Blood Sea Phase Dragon Girl".

Beside the Dragon Girl, there was a woman sitting in meditation. This woman had a seductive appearance, red lips and snake pupils, and a thin waist that could not be held in one hand. She was the master of the Water Temple, a snake spirit transformed into a human form, named Xue Linglong.

This woman saw the mountain demon come in, but did not move at all, only saying,

"I really didn't expect you to come in person."

The mountain demon still had that low and hoarse voice,

"I came to thank you."

Xue Linglong smiled,

"Why say these things? We are all monks from outside. In this Mount Tianqiao, it is not very easy to recite scriptures, so naturally, we have to help each other. Moreover, slaughtering the Long Boyan village, I also got a lot of benefits. No need to say thanks anymore."

The mountain demon nodded,

"Yes, you and I don't need to say thanks, but Li Laogui Li is a lion's mouth. Last time when I asked him to take action to slaughter the Long Boyan village, you know how many benefits he asked for. Now, seeing that I successfully refined the Drought Demon, he is jealous again, specifically came to find me, and asked for benefits."

Xue Linglong's expression did not change. Among the five temples, except for the mountain demon in front of her, she had the closest relationship with Li Laogui Li of the Wood Temple. His greed was well-known, so it was not strange for him to do such a thing. It was just that what did this have to do with her?

"My brother, you came to me specifically just to tell me bad things about Li Laogui Li? Or are you dissatisfied with me helping to bridge the gap for Li Laogui Li to accompany you to slaughter the Long Boyan village?"

The mountain demon's expression changed slightly, and his voice became a little hurried, "You invited Li Laogui Li to go for a trip for me, which was a great help to me. How could I be dissatisfied with you."

Xue Linglong smiled, "Then why are you telling me this? Do you want me to go and tell him not to go too far?"

The woman herself felt it was impossible. This was not Dan Xingwei's personality.

Sure enough, the mountain demon shook his head, but said,

"I owe you a lot of friendship, so naturally I won't disturb you because of this kind of thing. I came here because I have a great benefit to give you."

Xue Linglong's eyes flowed, "Oh? A great benefit?"

Listening to her tone, it seemed she didn't quite believe it.

Cheng Xinzhan naturally heard it too. He did not argue, but used his thumb nail to prick his index finger, pricking out a drop of blood.

The smell of blood floated in the Water Temple cave. After Xue Linglong smelled the taste, her expression changed greatly. Her figure disappeared from the spot and came to Cheng Xinzhan's side. Her nose was close to Cheng Xinzhan's finger, sniffing carefully. Finally, she actually stuck out her tongue and licked it, then her snake pupils shrank, looking at Cheng Xinzhan,

"You, why do you have dragon blood in your body!"

Xue Linglong could not help but be shocked. She was of the snake race, and her craving for dragon blood—no, it should be said that her craving for dragon treasures such as dragon blood, dragon bones, dragon scales, etc., was extremely strong. And the things she had been seeking for many years but could not get, why could a mountain demon possess them?

And judging from the Dharma power revealed in this dragon blood, this dragon blood was extremely pure, and the master's realm was also extremely high!

"Where did you get it?!"

Before Cheng Xinzhan could answer, she asked another question.

Cheng Xinzhan signaled her not to be impatient and used magic to heal the wound before saying,

"This was something from many years ago. I was going to the Southern Wilderness to find fire corpses for refining the Drought Demon, as there are many underground fire caves there. Just after I left, I happened to bump into Li Laogui Li. After asking, I found out that he was also going to the Southern Wilderness. After all, that is the territory of the Green Robe Patriarch, so we had to be on guard. We agreed to travel together for a while and then go our own ways when we arrived."

"On the way south, we met a few monks from Mount Fanjing and were about to kill them. But at this time, a little monk was scared out of his wits and revealed a secret in exchange for his life."

"What secret?"

Xue Linglong asked.

Cheng Xinzhan looked at her and said unhurriedly,

"He said he discovered an ancient dragon trace under the Wujiang River. He discovered it but couldn't get in, so he specifically returned to the sect to find helpers to explore the dragon trace again."

"Is the dragon trace real? Did you two go in?"

Xue Linglong stared closely at Cheng Xinzhan's eyes.

Cheng Xinzhan nodded.

"What's inside?"

She asked closely. As for the fate of those little monks, there was no need to ask, she knew.

"The dragon trace is very secret and has already been very dilapidated. It looks like a cave temporarily opened by an injured dragon for healing and recuperation. After a long time, the spiritual prohibitions gradually failed, the cave collapsed, and it was seen by the little monk who happened to pass by."

"That injured dragon was too badly injured and died. I don't know if it was because the time was too long or some other changes occurred, but no spiritual treasures were left behind, and no dragon pearls were seen. There were only dragon blood that had turned into blood crystals and dragon bones that had already turned into jade."

"Then what about the dragon bones?!"

Xue Linglong grabbed Cheng Xinzhan's hand tightly, "My good brother, take out the dragon bones, and sister will definitely obey you!"

Cheng Xinzhan looked at Xue Linglong like this, and his heart was as clear as a mirror. He knew too well how much attraction a genuine dragon bone had for Xue Linglong. If she really got the dragon bone, then the Dragon Girl evil corpse next to her might really be comparable to the Fourth Realm.

However, he just shook his head, "At that time, I hadn't refined the Drought Demon yet, but he had a wood charm. There were only three blood crystals, but the dragon bones were a whole set. Who do you think took the dragon bones?"

Xue Linglong's body stiffened, and she slowly let go of her hand. After a long silence, she said,

"No wonder brother said bad things about Li Laogui Li as soon as he came in. So you were waiting for sister here. It's just that you two hid it from me so hard. The dragon bones and dragon blood are icing on the cake for you two, but for me, they are charcoal in the snow!

"Dragon blood can improve my bloodline, but brother, it's fine for you to take dragon blood, after all, it strengthens the blood and energy. But, but what is the use of Li Xiaohuai taking dragon bones? Refining tools? Can he refine them clearly?"

Cheng Xinzhan also shook his head quite embarrassedly,

"Sister, at that time, the two of us made an oath in the dragon trace. After going out, neither of us would covet the other's, and neither of us would spread this matter."

Xue Linglong looked at Cheng Xinzhan and said, "Then why is brother willing to spread it now?"

Cheng Xinzhan snorted coldly,

"I have already told sister just now. Li Laogui Li saw that I successfully refined the Drought Demon, was jealous, specifically came to find me, said that I was able to get the Long Boyan giant corpse all because of his help, so the reward given before was not enough, and came to ask for benefits. He opened his mouth and asked if there were any blood crystals left. How can I swallow this breath?

"It was agreed that neither would covet the other's, I did it, but he broke his promise. Since that's the case, no wonder I told sister about the dragon bones."

Xue Linglong's eyes flickered, her eyes flowed, looking at Cheng Xinzhan, and asked,

"Then what does brother mean? Do you want to go with sister to persuade Li Laogui Li?"

"Heh!"

Cheng Xinzhan let out a sneer,

"Persuade, what is there to persuade? Sister, humans often say 'those who are not of my race must have different hearts.' The three of them have been guarding against the two of us for more than a day or two. Moreover, the master has passed away for so many years, and the position of the Mount Tianqiao mountain master should be discussed again. It's already at this time, are we still just persuading?"

(End of chapter)