Chapter 703: The Trend of the World, Ascending the Hanging Temple

At the moment the Hanging Temple underwent a world-shaking transformation, the human world, which had been stable for many years, was also not at peace; two major events occurred in succession.

First, the battle between the Xiling Divine Palace and the New Religion broke out.

The New Religion swept through various countries at an extremely rapid speed, growing like a snowball, and having gained the support of the Sword Pavilion, its power grew stronger with each passing day.

However, standing behind the Xiling Divine Palace was the Zhishou Temple, one of the Four Unknowable Places. Moreover, the Divine Palace itself was the most massive power in the human world, even capable of interfering in the selection of a country's monarch. In several clashes, although the Xiling Divine Palace was initially caught off guard by the New Religion's techniques, it subsequently mobilized tens of thousands of Temple Cavalry and used a large number of Red-robed Divine Officials to contain the Sword Pavilion, dealing an extremely powerful blow to the New Religion.

Yet, those with discerning eyes knew that as long as Ye Su did not die, the New Religion would not be extinguished.

But Ye Su was a great cultivator standing at the peak of the Five Realms, and now even had half a foot stepped into the realm above the Five Realms; wanting to kill him was not an easy task.

Immediately following this, another major event that shook the world occurred.

——The Wild People moved south.

Countless years ago, the Wild People occupied the northern part of the continent, spanning north to south, and were known as the strongest kingdom.

A thousand years ago, a Bright Great Divine Official of the Daoist Sect went to the Wilderness to preach, wanting to spread the divine radiance of Haotian onto the land of the Wild People.

But no one expected that the Bright Great Divine Official, who was profound in doctrine and high in virtue, and had already stepped into the realm above the Five Realms, would have his thoughts wander into a different path during the process of preaching to the Wild People, creating a cultivation method completely different from the righteous path, and worshipping an evil deity completely opposite to Haotian—Pluto.

The Daoist Sect naturally did not allow their existence, and thus a struggle between the Demon and the Dao that lasted for a thousand years unfolded.

The Wild People who believed in the Demon Sect were also enemies of the whole world, spurned by the people, and were eventually driven by the Datang to the Wilderness in the far north.

And as the thousand-year period approached, the extreme cold moved south, and the Wild People who had been drifting in the far northern Wilderness were forced to move south in the face of the increasingly harsh environment.

For them to move south, they had to fight for the soil to survive and develop, to snatch a bite to eat, and the first to bear the brunt were the Golden Tent Royal Court and the northern countries.

In the eyes of the world, the Wild People had lived in the bitter cold of the far north for many years, their numbers had plummeted, and they were not worth worrying about.

And while the Golden Tent Royal Court might not be as strong as Southern Jin in terms of comprehensive power, this group of nomadic people was skilled in combat, their fighting strength was almost only inferior to the heavy armored cavalry of the Tang Kingdom, and the Royal Court was filled with experts.

Logically speaking, the confrontation between the Wild People and the Golden Tent Royal Court was no different from an egg hitting a stone, and they should have been crushed.

Facts proved that this was indeed the case.

It was just that the object being crushed had changed.

The Wild People moved south like a hot knife through butter; the Golden Tent Royal Court collapsed at the first touch, suffering countless casualties, and had now reached the territory of the Yan Kingdom.

The reason for this was not only because this was a desperate battle for the Wild People. If they could not win, they could only die, and their entire race would perish.

It was also because the Wild People lived in the far north and were inherently physically strong, and recently they seemed to have practiced some kind of Demon Sect technique, which greatly improved their combat power; even the weakest Wild Person could exert the level of the peak of the Initial Realm, which was why they were so successful.

Compared to the New Religion, which had already been beaten to a half-crippled state, the Demon Sect was undoubtedly the true nemesis of the Xiling Divine Palace, and the two sides had been slaughtering each other for a thousand years.

Thus, the Divine Palace issued a decree, calling on Haotian believers and all countries in the world to aid the Yan Kingdom and resist the invasion of the Wild People.

Of course, the Xiling Divine Palace had not relaxed in the slightest regarding the pursuit of the New Religion.

It was said that someone had already walked out from that Daoist temple deep within Taoshan to completely annihilate the New Religion and kill the former Daoist Sect Walker.

……

At the bottom of the Tiankeng.

In a courtyard, Yu Liancheng was holding a piece of silk in his hand, looking at it carefully.

This piece of silk recorded the current turbulent situation, including the several clashes between the New Religion and the Xiling Divine Palace, as well as the several large-scale battles of the Wild People against the Golden Tent Royal Court, the Yan Kingdom, and others.

"These two fellows did not disappoint me."

Yu Liancheng smiled and nodded; in the past, he had passed on supreme arts to Ye Su and Tang at Washan, and now both were stirring up monstrous waves in the world.

One who could be called a Walker of an Unknowable Place was never a mediocre person.

Thinking of this, Yu Liancheng raised his head to look at Qinian, the Buddhist Walker who had delivered this piece of silk.

"How is your practice of the 'Thirty-Two Appearances' coming along?"

"Reporting to my Buddha, except for the Tathagata Aspect, they are all almost at the minor success stage."

Qinian's demeanor was extremely respectful.

In his eyes, Yu Liancheng was the Buddha and God walking in the human world, and he was willing to die for him at any time.

"Very good. From now on, you will serve as the Peak Master of the 'Ten Thousand Buddha Courtyard'. Go down and manage that group of fellows who do not listen to orders."

In the depths of the Tiankeng, there was no shortage of serfs completely tamed by the Buddhist sect, especially the middle-aged and elderly; from birth to death, they were influenced by the Hanging Temple at every moment, and they were the most fanatical believers of the Buddhist sect, even more fanatical than the monks of the Hanging Temple. They firmly believed that if they suffered in this life, they would be able to enter the Divine Mountain in the next life and enjoy boundless joy.

Facing this portion of serfs, one could neither kill them nor let one's guard down against them rebelling at any time.

So Yu Liancheng planned to fight poison with poison, letting Qinian, this Buddhist Walker, go manage them and teach them Buddhist concepts; as long as he guided them slightly and made them believe that the Hanging Temple on the mountain was a Buddhist heresy and not the true Buddhist sect, then they would spare no effort to launch the most ferocious attacks on the Hanging Temple.

"Yes."

Qinian retreated.

And after Qinian retreated, another graceful figure, unstained by dust, stepped into the room, her voice cold yet pleasant like a silver bell: "Qinian is a Buddhist Walker; do you really trust him?"

"I do not trust him; I only trust my 'Startling God Dao'. Completely twisting the spiritual faith of a world walker is not too easy for me. Of course, it is not too difficult either." Yu Liancheng's tone was calm, and he raised his head to look at Lu Chenjia, who was as cold as ice and snow, and whose beauty was like flowers piled with snow, the corners of his mouth lifting: "However, dealing with someone like you in the Cave Profound Realm is much simpler; it only takes a single thought. Making you crawl and learn to be a puppy in front of me is also an easy task."

"You... you dare..."

Lu Chenjia's pretty face turned pale, and she could not help but step back. For a person whose spirit had been twisted, to obsequiously flatter an enemy and to ruthlessly strike at a companion would be even more painful than death.

The methods of the person in front of her were truly too terrifying.

"Come here."

Yu Liancheng smiled and beckoned to Lu Chenjia.

Lu Chenjia snorted coldly and did not move at all.

"Come here." Yu Liancheng remained smiling.

Lu Chenjia still stood motionless, using her slender hands to gently smooth her cloud-like hair, lowering her head slightly to hide the ripples and terror rising in her heart.

"If you don't come over again, I'm going to come over and spank you." Yu Liancheng's tone carried a sense of eagerness.

Lu Chenjia bit her red lips with her pearly teeth; she knew this fellow could say it and do it. Thus, she moved with lotus steps and walked to Yu Liancheng's front.

Yu Liancheng stood up and hooked Lu Chenjia's pointed chin; her cherry mouth was nimble and rosy, and her two rows of fine teeth were like pearls, hooking a trace of a playful smile: "Rest assured, I won't twist your spirit, because that would be very boring. But I am truly curious, do you want to take revenge or not? Until now, you haven't truly seduced me. Or perhaps, you don't dare at all, because you are afraid that you will also sink into it, failing Longqing and failing Quni Madi."

"You think too much." Lu Chenjia looked at Yu Liancheng expressionlessly, like a snow lotus on an iceberg: "I just don't have the confidence yet."

"Even if you don't have confidence, you should try it first; at least you should know exactly how much you are still lacking."

Yu Liancheng smelled the fragrant scent on the young woman's body, looked at Lu Chenjia's lips, which were as beautiful as flower petals, and leaned in.

Lu Chenjia did not dodge or evade; her face was initially as cold as frost, and her eyes, looking at the close-at-hand Yu Liancheng, did not show the slightest ripple or fluctuation.

She slowly raised her slender hand, wanting to take this golden opportunity to avenge Longqing and Aunt Quni, but when her palm landed on Yu Liancheng's chest, she found it soft and lacking much strength.

After a long while, their lips parted.

Lu Chenjia panted slightly, glared at Yu Liancheng, turned, and walked away: "Boring, you, you just wait, one day, I will definitely kill you."

She appeared calm and unruffled, but unfortunately, the flush on her translucent earlobes revealed her true inner feelings.

"I'll wait for you, I'll give you one chance to kill me." Yu Liancheng wore a smile, his eyes filled with playful amusement as he said: "Remember, only once."

"Oh right, call Xiao Heizi over for me."

Lu Chenjia left without looking back.

After a moment, Xiao Heizi Zhuo Er walked over.

In these two months, Zhuo Er had led the serfs in campaigns everywhere; his blade technique had improved extremely rapidly, and his entire temperament appeared much colder and more ruthless than before.

"Greetings, Mr. Yu." Zhuo Er said respectfully.

Yu Liancheng sat down and said calmly: "Your blade technique has reached great completion; you can go back to take your revenge now."

Zhuo Er suddenly raised his head, a flash of light in his eyes; the hatred for the destruction of his entire village was carved into his bones—how could he forget it?!

And since Mr. Yu let him go back for revenge, it meant he believed he already had the ability to take revenge, and it was definitely not letting him go back to die.

"Do you know who your enemy is?" Yu Liancheng said.

"Xia Hou." Zhuo Er gritted his teeth and said.

"Correct, Xia Hou is your enemy, but Xia Hou is also just a marionette for the true mastermind." Yu Liancheng said: "And the guy who has been manipulating Xia Hou and hiding behind the scenes is an old man named Wei Guangming."

"Wei Guangming?" Zhuo Er frowned slightly; clearly, he had never heard this name before.

"This person is a Great Divine Official of the Xiling Divine Palace, and this matter also involves a secret from over a dozen years ago..."

Yu Liancheng sighed leisurely and recounted how, over a dozen years ago, Wei Guangming saw Darkness shroud Chang'an and then instructed Xia Hou to slaughter the General's Mansion and the Border Villa.

After listening, Zhuo Er's face revealed a look of astonishment.

Originally, he had thought the tragedy at the General's Mansion involved Imperial Court infighting, and the tragedy at the border was Xia Hou killing innocents to claim merit, but he had not expected such a secret matter to be involved.

"Wei, Guang, Ming!" His fists were tightly clenched, his knuckles cracking.

He did not believe in the so-called "Son of Pluto" descending to the world; he only knew that his parents, relatives, and friends... had all died in the border massacre.

From then on, he lived a life of displacement, his heart filled with hatred every day, and he never slept a peaceful night again. All the pain he suffered came from that guy named Wei Guangming.

"With your current strength, a desperate battle would very likely allow you to defeat Xia Hou. But Wei Guangming is now capable of Heaven's Revelation, and his cultivation is rare in this world; you are definitely no match for him."

"Then, Sir, your meaning is..."

"Open your hand."

Zhuo Er opened one palm, and suddenly the sound of a cicada chirping rang out; a black cicada flew out from somewhere, landed on his hand, and then transformed into a black page.

More and more black cicadas appeared, turning into pages.

A moment later, there was a black book in Zhuo Er's hand. The title page of the book had the large characters "Twenty-Three," faintly revealing a strange aura.

"Go, take this book and find Wei Guangming; he is in Chang'an, in the Old Brush Studio in Chang'an." Yu Liancheng waved his hand.

"Yes." Zhuo Er left, taking the black book named "Twenty-Three" to seek his true enemy.

"I should also prepare for the next step." Yu Liancheng rested his right cheek on his hand, a look of contemplation appearing between his brows. Liberating the million serfs in the Tiankeng would still take some time. But currently, with the Wild People moving south and the battle between the Xiling Divine Palace and the Wild People unfolding, he had more important things to do, so the matters here would have to be temporarily shelved.

In short.

He had to leave for a while.

The army of Herdsmen had already formed, so there was no need to worry about the so-called nobles.

As for the cultivators of the Hanging Temple, there were military formations to deal with them; the only thing that worried him slightly was the Peak Master of the Scripture Lectures, this Peak Master of the Scripture Lectures who was above the Five Realms.

An existence above the Five Realms, even if trapped in the midst of a massive army, could easily break out of the encirclement and destroy everything in their path; that was a true dimensional strike.

"Peak Master of the Scripture Lectures."

Yu Liancheng raised his head and looked far off in the direction of the so-called Divine Mountain, as if seeing an old monk wearing a bamboo hat, holding a tin staff, and appearing as one with the earth.

"Very well, before I leave, I will suppress this old monk first."

Ever since the trend of the serfs rebelling from underground became uncontrollable, the mountain path that was the only way up the mountain had been guarded by monks. Looking out, it was a bright and dazzling sea of shaved heads, gleaming in the sun. There were estimated to be two or three hundred of them, and all were at least at the Perception Realm, with several even being Daxingzhe of the Knowing Destiny Realm.

The foundation of the Buddhist sect over ten thousand years was unimaginable to the outside world, second only to the Zhishou Temple.

A monk sat on the mountain path; this monk had eyebrows like rulers, his deep eyes contained pure luster, his eyebrows were slightly frosted, his forehead had deep wrinkles, and his Faxiang was solemn, making it impossible for one to guess his true age.

This monk was surrounded by the other monks, clearly his status was extraordinary.

In reality, this was indeed the case; he was the Peak Master of the Discipline Hall of the Hanging Temple, Master Baoshu, one of the people with the highest seniority in the entire Hanging Temple.

Suddenly, Master Baoshu opened his eyes, his divine light brilliant.

A handsome man draped in a black cassock came from afar.

He pressed his palms together, as if he were a virtuous high monk, and smiled slightly: "Old monk, a good dog doesn't block the path. Hurry up and get lost; this Buddha will send you down and let your whole family be reunited."