Chapter 394: The Demon-Sealing Treasury

"Esteemed donors, may you listen to this old monk for a moment."

Baiyun Chanshi, who would resort to self-mutilation to attain Zen at the drop of a hat, spoke up: "Namo Amitabha."

His voice was like a Lion's Roar, shaking those restless people into stillness; the rings on his Zen Staff clattered, carrying a soul-shaking, spirit-startling intent.

"What profound insight does Arhat Baiyun have?" Gongye Xingyun asked.

"No profound insight, but this is a place of Buddhism, which has always had commandments: first, the commandment against delusion; second, the commandment against Greed; third, the commandment against killing."

"If you all break these commandments here, I fear you will have no affinity with the Dharma."

"What do you mean, you old bald donkey?"

The Desert Three Demons sneered: "Don't force your rules on us. The Golden Bricks here, if placed in the mortal world, would feed who knows how many people. You monks are the greediest of all."

He immediately said: "You are all fearful and dare not be the first to act, pushing others to go instead while wanting to be greedy yourselves; you don't admit your own greed, yet you accuse others of being greedy."

He immediately addressed the weakest person present, Huanglian Daoren: "You, yes, you kid. You were quite clever with the riddles and word games just now, so you go. See what the situation is."

"Me?"

"Nonsense, if not you, could it be me?"

Gongye Xingyun sneered: "There is only one entrance here, unlike the eight entrances before. I fear the treasure belongs to only one person. Desert Three Demons, you fear death, but do you not fear losing your opportunity?"

Hearing this, the three demons immediately began to ponder. Sand Demon said: "Second brother, third brother, what do you think?"

Yanmo said: "Eldest brother, we have already earned some treasures, but we haven't found the most important Buddhist cultivation technique. You and I have already reached this realm, but it is difficult to advance further; we can only switch to Buddhist cultivation and wash away our former foundations, but Buddhist things are truly evil."

Fengmo said: "That's right, eldest brother. We haven't obtained the Buddhist technique yet, so I fear we must plan carefully. We must not carelessly miss this opportunity."

Just then, a flash of inspiration suddenly struck Huanglian Daoren's heart—it was Xu Jia controlling him to give a rotten idea: "Behind this door, there might be a top-tier fierce demon. I have the Dust-Avoiding Pearl and know the Sand-Escaping Technique anyway, so why not open this door and then flee far away, watching them fight until they are covered in blood? Wouldn't that be perfect?"

He immediately took out the golden key and said: "Master, I seem to have the secret key to this door."

"Hand it over!"

Fengmo's escape speed was not slow; he snatched the secret key directly and then, laughing, rushed toward the Golden Gate.

As soon as the secret key approached the Huangjin Zhi Men, it began to shine, and at the same time, waves of Buddhist light spread out like ripples.

The phantom of the Golden Light Bodhisattva appeared again, but it was different from the Golden Light Bodhisattva in the secret chamber; this one was more evil. This Bodhisattva wore no crown, his hands were stained with blood, and his body was tattooed with the Eight Heavenly Dragons from the previous eight doors. He said: "Commandment against killing, commandment against false speech, commandment against Greed, commandment against lust, commandment against theft, commandment against drinking, commandment against..."

His mouth recited the Eight Commandments, but in his hand was a monk's blade. He said coldly: "The royal forbidden ground of Jinguang Si in Jinguang Guo; ordinary people are not allowed to approach."

Huanglian Daoren recognized him through fate and Cause and Effect: "Isn't this my second brother?"

Three Golden Light Bodhisattvas, the eldest brother, the second brother, and even the Old King who seemed to have entered Nirvana...

What exactly was behind this treasury? Although Huanglian Daoren wanted to figure it out, his figure gradually retreated behind the crowd, and he immediately turned into a wisp of yellow Sand and escaped into the smoke and dust.

Seeing him escape like that, Gongye Xingyun felt something was wrong. He said to his daughter: "You have also learned that Sand-Escaping Technique, leave quickly." Baiyun Chanshi sighed: "It has been over a thousand years, I have reincarnated ten times, and I have never understood it. Now, it is finally about to be revealed."

"Logic be damned!" Sand Demon grabbed Fengmo, who had acted on his own but failed to truly enter the treasury: "Deal with this gatekeeper first!"

He immediately threw a handful of Sand. This was no ordinary Sand; it was Samadhi Esha, a mixture of yellow Sand, bone Sand, and mortal-world Sand, refined together. Just like the legendary "Samadhi True Fire," it was a junior version of the Samadhi Divine Sand.

Once this Sand was thrown, the next moment, Fengmo took out a bag and released a gust of wind. In an instant, the wind swirled the Sand, turning it into a Sand tornado of immense power, heading toward the Golden Light Bodhisattva statue.

Yanmo looked at the others vigilantly; if they made the slightest move, he would strike with all his might. This had been the three brothers' habit when working all along.

"Commandment against Greed! What is the fate of the greedy if not death?"

Facing the provocation of the two demons, the next moment the Bodhisattva slashed with his blade. The blade intent was nearly solid, passing through the Sand tornado and striking straight at their vital points. Even though they had attained the realm of Earth Immortal and could abandon their physical bodies to a certain extent, that was only for when there was no other choice. The two demons panicked and controlled their flying swords to block.

Their two flying swords could barely be considered first-class; they were vastly inferior to the Seven Swords of the Sword Casting Villa. One sword was yellow and plain, looking like a yellow scorpion, and the other was blue-gray, humming like a flying snake.

The Yellow Scorpion Sword was a single-refined version of the Five Poison Sect's Five Poisons Sword, while the Flying Snake Sword was inherited from the ancients; it was originally a second-class sword and only barely entered the ranks of first-class swords after being refined with Fengmo's heart blood.

The two swords combined had considerable power, but they only just managed to resist one blade-Qi from the Bodhisattva phantom.

"So tricky!" The two demons did not want to exhaust too much of their strength, so they immediately used the recoil of the clash to fly backward, retreating behind the old monk Baiyun.

After retreating a certain distance, the Bodhisattva actually stopped pursuing, merely reciting Buddhist commandments like "killing, lust, evil..."

Baiyun Chanshi said: "These are the Buddhist Eight Commandments." He then confidently headed forward.

However, when the Bodhisattva saw him, he said coldly: "Ignorance and delusion remain unchanged; what do you seek in this life? Better to ascend to the Pure Land early!"

He took a golden bow from his back and shot directly at Baiyun Chanshi. For a moment, the aura of the "Four Heavenly Kings" emerged, causing the old monk Baiyun to retreat a few steps, blocking the arrow intent with his Zen Staff.

"Damn it, I don't believe this rootless phantom of a Bodhisattva can keep exerting power forever!"

Sand Demon looked at Gongye Xingyun: "We have all gone up to test it, and you are just hiding here. Are you trying to pick up the scraps?"

Gongye Xingyun smiled: "I could turn around and leave right now, and I have the courage to do so. My Sword Casting Villa does not want any Buddhist secrets or Buddha Treasures; I just came along for the ride. I see Talismans drawn on this door; I fear this is not a treasury, but a Demon-Sealing Vault."

"With such a Martial Bodhisattva guarding it, even if we break it open, how will we deal with the demons inside?"

"Forget the demons; we must open it and bring it to light to know what treasures are inside. Besides, it has been sealed for a thousand years; even if there were demons, they would have died long ago."

Seeing that Huanglian Daoren had already left, Gongye Xingyun had no intention of staying; at this point, he was just watching the show.

"What is locked inside includes both demons and treasures," Baiyun Chanshi said. "Jinguang Guo has a Buddha Treasure called the Golden Light Sarira. With this Sarira, this country in the Western Regions was often visited by a hundred nations coming to pay tribute. This Sarira could create an Oasis; wherever its light shone, there was favorable weather and a bountiful harvest."

"Such a treasure naturally attracted the covetousness of demons."

(End of chapter)