Chapter 548: Wine Pools and Meat Forest

"You mean that thief clashed with members of the Rite Buddha Sect and even killed monks from my Dharma Flower Temple?" a Nascent Soul monk clenched his fists, looking at Lin Zhenjun.

"That's right. I had already dispatched extra patrols within the city to watch over that group of the Rite Buddha Sect, but I didn't expect the thief to be so bold and ferocious, charging into the Rite Buddha Sect during our shift change and slaying everyone."

"Impossible! Hui Ming and Hui Xin are in the late Golden Core stage; how could a mid Golden Core practitioner kill them so quickly?!"

"That person also knows the Instant Movement Technique."

The Nascent Soul monk gritted his teeth: "Find him! We must locate that thief and kill him! And Lin Zhenjun, your patrol men neglected their duties, causing my temple's monks to die at the thief's hands; you owe us an explanation!"

Lin Zhenjun's face turned cold: "What explanation does Master Yuancong want? I have already stripped those people of their posts and expelled them from the Spiritual Water Imperial City."

"Not enough!"

"You... as a monk, you should be compassionate. Why must Master Yuancong be like this? The fault does not lie with them..."

"Get out! Lin Yan, this humble monk speaks to you politely because I see you are the City Lord of the Imperial City. If you don't know any better, this monk will take matters into his own hands!"

Lin Yan clenched his fists and sighed helplessly: "Fine, I will give the Master an explanation."

"Send word to all temples to request their assistance; we must find that damned thief!"

For a moment, the situation around the Spiritual Water Imperial City became tumultuous.

In reality, after doing all this, Yan Buji changed his appearance and continued to roam freely.

He is confident that, unless he meets a Transforming Spirit cultivator, ordinary people cannot see through his disguise.

"However, these Buddhist monks possess some peculiar secret arts, and fortunately I have a modest understanding of Buddhism." Yan Buji looked at the incense smoke clinging to his arm and circulated Immortal Essence to dissipate it.

Such secret arts are hard for ordinary people to detect; after all, in the West Sand River Basin where incense smoke is so thick, a trace on a person is no big deal.

But Yan Buji knows that the two monks he killed had, before dying, used a secret technique to covertly transfer their own incense aura onto him; fortunately Yan Buji had also studied the Mingwang Sutra, which can dispel it.

The Golden Core monk is already such a hassle; if we truly killed a Nascent Soul, it might pierce the heavens.

"If we follow the simplified and traditional accounts, the eradication of martial arts began with the Buddhist sect, so if the local monk cultivators learned that I practice Martial Cultivation, they would surely risk their lives to hunt me down," Yan Buji thought, planning to investigate.

Entering an Imperial City, Yan Buji sat in a tavern watching the monks beside him eat meat and drink wine, feeling somewhat curious.

Which temple did these monks come from?

"Kid, what are you looking at?"

"Just admiring the radiance of a few Masters. Owner, consider the wine for these Masters on me."

"Benefactor, you are too kind," several wine-and-meat monks said cheerfully, inviting: "Benefactor, why not come over and taste this fragrant meat?"

"Then I shall decline politely."

Yan Buji walked over and sat on one side, watching the steaming hotpot with skin-on meat pieces swirling, took a pair of chopsticks and took a bite.

The unique spiciness and aroma surged straight to the heavens; Yan Buji's eyes lit up: "Indeed delicious."

"Right? This fragrant meat rolls around, even immortals can't stay steady. Hahaha"

"First time for you, Benefactor? The dog meat here is the most famous; both cultivators and mortals love it!" the monks laughed.

Yan Buji, with a puzzled expression, asked: "Which temple are these Masters from? I have little experience and truly haven't heard of it."

"We humble monks are all from Hualuo Temple; Hualuo Temple differs from other temples in that we do not observe strict precepts."

"Oh? Is there such a thing?" Yan Buji was even more curious; temples that ignore strict precepts are indeed rare.

"By the way, wouldn't you be considered heretical?"

The monks smiled, seeing Yan Buji's doubt: "Our Hualuo Temple traces its lineage to the Buddha of Ling Mountain; its founding abbot was the Buddha's disciple Long Xuzi."

Yan Buji suddenly understood, rose, and clasped his hands: "So it is the Buddha's orthodoxy; I have been disrespectful."

"Benefactor, you are too kind, haha, sit, sit, sit," the monks said, delighted, and quickly invited him to continue.

Yan Buji sat down again, took his chopsticks, and began eating.

"May I ask why the Masters have come here? Is there some matter?"

"Aren't you, Benefactor, here because of the Wine Pool and Meat Forest?"

"Wine Pool and Meat Forest?" Yan Buji looked puzzled, shook his head: "I have traveled here, saw many cultivators, and came to rest, but haven't had time to inquire about it."

"I see. Then you might as well visit the Wine Pool and Meat Forest; it is a naturally formed treasure land, located in a valley three hundred li outside the Imperial City, and it happens to be opening during this period."

"A treasure land? I wonder what extraordinary treasures the Wine Pool and Meat Forest produces?"

The monk replied: "There are indeed treasures. The Wine Pool and Meat Forest not only yields a famed wine called 'Drunken Immortal', but also a six-turn ingredient 'Zhenxiu' that can help cultivators increase their magical power, and if used well can even let a Nascent Soul true lord increase Dao Marks!"

"Increase Dao Marks?!" Yan Buji's eyes widened: "Such a treasure exists? Six-turn ingredient... could it be a Celestial Material of the Food Dao?"

"Of course. Though the Food Dao lineage has long vanished, it is said the earliest cultivator who founded the Food Dao was inspired by the Wine Pool and Meat Forest, leading to the creation of a sky‑piercing great path."

Yan Buji had indeed heard of the Food Dao; it is said this great law resides in the very essence of every being, and once mastered one can disregard purity and impurity, freely devour Spiritual Materials to grow strength. There are also some peculiar Food Dao divine skills, but because the Food Dao's emergence and disappearance were brief, few have heard of them, and none have been seen using such skills.

Yan Buji guessed that the entry requirements for the Food Dao are relatively high, making it difficult to popularize.

"In that case, we must go join the excitement. Since this treasure land is so precious, why is no one guarding it?"

"Guard it? Ordinary monks avoid such wine‑and‑meat matters; even if it can boost cultivation, they dare not touch it lightly. Most people adhere to strict precepts, so they naturally don't value the Wine Pool and Meat Forest much."

"Perhaps privately they scramble for it joyfully, but publicly no one is assigned to guard it."

"Hahaha."

The monks burst into laughter, and Yan Buji nodded: "What the Masters say is reasonable."

"However, these days the area hasn't been peaceful; I heard monks from the Dharma Flower Temple near the Spiritual Water Imperial City were also killed."

"We could never encounter such a villain; he wouldn't have the nerve to roam near here, would he? In a few days when the Wine Pool and Meat Forest opens, every temple will secretly send people, and the Dharma Flower Temple's members will also arrive."

Yan Buji raised an eyebrow.

That villain is actually here, drinking and eating meat together with you.