Chapter 558: Seeking the Fozi (13)

After leaving that illusory temple, Chijiao's footsteps never once ceased.

He carried his monk's staff, walking step by step amidst the ruins and broken walls.

The appearance of each direction in Zhongzhou was different, seemingly corresponding one-to-one with the Four Great Divine Continents of the outside world.

Although the west of Zhongzhou lacked the sands of the Western Desert, ancient temples could be seen everywhere; everywhere there were Buddhist temples, and everywhere there were scriptures.

"Rest assured, I will find the next Fozi; only true Buddha-nature will allow you to thoroughly take root and sprout."

The monk Chijiao held the fruit of the Bodhi tree in his bosom; he could feel its thoughts, and so he silently comforted it.

"Believe in me, I have succeeded before; it was I who found him back then and let him become the Fozi... although judging by the final result, it was also I who harmed him."

"Even though I have become like this now, I will still find the next Fozi, I promise you."

There was not only one monk, Chijiao, here; all around were many monks wearing kasayas and ring scars on their heads, only their appearance looked vastly different from Chijiao's.

Some were fat and big-eared, with chests and breasts exposed, their mouths constantly chewing food, looking quite jolly.

Some were covered in jewels and treasures, wearing all kinds of ornaments, their whole bodies glowing with gold, yet they also carried dazzling Buddha-light, looking quite astonishing.

Some looked as handsome as jade, with delicate features; even a shaved head could not erase his stunning appearance, and his body emitted a fascinating aura.

Regardless of the monk's staffs and Prayer Beads in their hands, or the kasayas draped over their bodies, even the palm-leaf fans held by some monks were not ordinary objects; they were all graded magical treasures.

Of course, besides these monks, there were also many guards for the monastic group here.

These guards were divided into two groups.

One group was a crowd of ordinary people without any strength; they were the first batch of devout Believers who had successfully entered the Heaven Gate, walking alongside those monks... and serving as their vanguard when exploring the Secret Realm.

Naturally, they had no ability to discern a Killing Array, and could only rely on one fearless Believer after another using their lowly lives to test it; one would fall, then another would go up, ultimately forcing a bloody path out with their corpses.

They were Believers, but more like slaves, slaves to be discarded at will.

As for the other group, they were mostly a crowd of tall and fierce men, with shackles on their wrists and ankles, some even wearing golden hoops on their foreheads, their bodies filled with a fierce, baleful aura, silently scanning the surroundings; when their gazes fell upon those mortal Believers, a trace of greed would flash, and they would grin wide at them, sticking out scarlet tongues to lick their lips.

These were demons, and they were Great Demons that had taken human form, at least above the Earth Realm, and there was no lack of Spirit Transformation and Void-refining auras.

The strength of the Western Desert had never been considered poor among the Four Great Divine Continents; some felt that Spirit Mountain in the Western Desert even had the ability to compete for the top two spots, it was just that Spirit Mountain had always kept a low profile, not engaging in external conquests, and had always been managing its own territory.

They saw Chijiao, looked him up and down, sizing up his appearance and attire, and then all let out a cold snort.

Tattered monk's robes, not a single Buddhist implement on his body, and even his monk's staff lacked the blessing of the Fozhu; although the person was a bit sturdy, he lacked any Buddha-Qi.

An ascetic monk.

Ascetic monks were a school of Buddhism that had once been popular in ancient times with many followers, but now this lineage had completely withered at Spirit Mountain; no one practiced it anymore, and it was thoroughly without successors.

Asceticism is for those mortals without wisdom roots to practice; only those people with thin fortune need to use painful cultivation to accumulate merit for their next life, while we, the Buddha-chosen ones with wisdom roots, are the ones with truly great fortune, and we must be distinguished from them!

We do not need ascetic cultivation to obtain the Dao Fruit, nor to obtain merit; this is the difference between monks and Believers!

In the eyes of today's monks, ascetic monks were a group of idiots who had abandoned the Fozhu's favoritism and insisted on wallowing in degradation with the Believers; they could even be called a disgrace to Buddhism and were to be spurned by the monastic community.

However, at this moment when they met, they did not speak out to denounce him.

This place was Zhongzhou, and this ascetic monk could travel alone; his strength was likely not low, so there was no need to create extra trouble.

Thus, the leading monks, after chanting a Buddhist name, indicated their attitude here—not welcome.

We will not strike at you, but don't think about mixing in here to join the fun; leave quickly.

"This Dharma master, please stop; this place has already been discovered in advance by our Lingyu Sect, and this place has an affinity with our sect, so please do not approach."

Wherever there are people, there is a Jianghu.

Although the Western Desert had no noble families or sects, all forces were subordinate to Spirit Mountain and obeyed the orders of Spirit Mountain.

But Spirit Mountain was not a monolith; within it were various factions and different lineages.

And the one currently in the limelight was the Lingyu Sect branch, which was strongly promoted by the current Fozhu, and the chief disciple under his seat was the founder of the Lingyu Sect.

Simply put, this branch practiced hedonism, believing that all things have spirits through desire.

The greater the desire, the truer the spirit.

The desire for wealth, the desire for food, the desire for the opposite sex... all can be used to comprehend Buddhist principles.

The disciples of the sect immerse themselves in these great desires to reflect on and comprehend Buddhist principles, ultimately achieving transcendence.

It could be said that their school and the ascetic monk's way of cultivation were almost completely opposite, thoroughly incompatible like water and fire.

"..."

The monk Chijiao looked at them, his eyes without sorrow or joy, completely ignoring the contempt of those monks; he soon withdrew his gaze, made no reaction, and continued to walk with his head down, passing by them along the original path.

He had never intended to have contact with these people.

They were not the people he was looking for.

Although these people had the Buddha-light bestowed by the Fozhu on their bodies, they lacked Buddha-nature and were just a group of fallen ones.

"Who exactly is the demon monk..."

The monk Chijiao thought of the people he had just seen, seeing the wronged souls entangled on those Demon Race protectors, those mortal souls with faint Buddha-light.

If it were not for the fact that the Heaven and Earth of Zhongzhou devoured flesh and blood, otherwise, in the outside world, these mortal Believers would have become blood-food for these Demon Race protectors after death.

Yes, they were using the flesh and blood of Believers to raise these Great Demons.

Because in the eyes of the Lingyu Sect, satisfying the appetites of the Demon Race protectors was also a part of immersing in great desire.

They had fallen.

Even if spoken of in the most high-sounding terms, the fact that the Lingyu Sect had fallen was true, without the slightest falsehood.

In the eyes of the monk Chijiao, these people had completely fallen into the Demon path, completely running counter to the Buddhism of ancient times, and could not be called Buddhism at all.

Even, in the eyes of the monk Chijiao, it was not just the Lingyu Sect; the entire Spirit Mountain of the Western Desert had fallen.

And after seeing this scene, the Bodhi seed in the monk Chijiao's bosom also fell silent, seemingly very disappointed by their fall.

But Chijiao was not angry, only gently comforting it:

"Do not be impatient."

"If we cannot find it here, we will go to the Western Desert to find it, go to Spirit Mountain to find it."

"If there are none left in the Western Desert, then I will go to the Southern Border, to the Eastern Wasteland, to Beiming... If I still cannot find one, then I will go overseas, to find those descendants of the Demon Emperor."

"There will always be seeds that have not yet been corrupted; there must be true followers of the Buddha."

"I will walk every inch of the world to find a new Fozi for you; this is for you, and also for atonement."

"Even if I find one in the end, I will not force him to walk this path, but will let him choose for himself."

The monk Chijiao spoke in a low voice, his tone carrying deep regret and self-reproach.

That was a remorse that, after countless years, even after transforming from a Buddha of that era into a small snake and awakening, he still could not forget.

He blamed himself for why he had forced that person to make a choice back then.

He felt regret for why he had believed the promises those people made back then.

"I will not repeat the mistakes of the past."

The monk Chijiao took out the Bodhi seed and held it in the palm of his hand.

"The choice should be made by him himself."

He must choose for himself whether to become a Buddha, and whether to sacrifice himself for the sake of all living beings in the world.

The monk Chijiao tucked the Bodhi seed into his bosom and continued to step forward, one step at a time.

The choice lies in the hands of the next Fozi himself.

But, he must be found first.

"Hmm?"

And not long after he began to walk, he suddenly felt the Bodhi seed in his bosom grow slightly warm.

"Could it be!?"

He jerked his head up, looking in the direction indicated by the Bodhi seed.

"That is... the East?"

Chijiao was wild with joy and was about to rush over there, but that palpitation suddenly vanished.

"It's gone!?"

"How could this be!"

The monk Chijiao was puzzled, not knowing what exactly had happened.

"Why did it appear again?"

"Wait! Why did it disappear again!"

???

What on earth happened!?

The monk Chijiao was puzzled, then hurried toward the East.

He had to find out!

"Heh, as expected, just as I thought, it can be used as a trump card."

Ren Yidao put away the headless Buddha statue he had just thrown like a javelin, feeling very satisfied with his astonishing conjecture.

I do not know if it is because of its special material, but this headless Divine Statue does not cause any spatial fluctuations when used, and not a single trace of aura remains.

Although it cannot be used as a dagger due to its size, using it as a brick behind someone's back is not bad either.

I am truly worthy of myself.

To be able to come up with such a unique tactic, could anyone else think of it?

Even if someone could think of it, would they dare to do it?

I dare.

Therefore, Huhu is very strong!

"It's just that, under normal circumstances, I wouldn't find an occasion to use it as a weapon anyway."

"Perhaps it has a damage bonus against followers of the Buddha? If I swing it out of the blue like this, let's see who dares to defend..."

He laughed.

Ding ding ding!

Artifact acquired!

【Headless Buddha Statue 10 dug out of a pit】: Inflicts a certain amount of deterrence and true damage to followers of the Buddha! The negative effect is that it has a high probability of making the follower of the Buddha furious, greatly increasing their attack, and slightly decreasing their sanity...

"Alright, the disciple has been saved, and the item has been found; my trip to Zhongzhou this time is already more or less complete."

After achieving his goal, Ren Yidao had already begun planning to slip away.

Ren Yidao had an inexplicable feeling that with the recovery of this world, this place would become increasingly dangerous.

He felt that what was gradually recovering at this moment... might not just be this continent, but also other things remaining upon it.

Fortunately, he had no attachments now, his goals had all been achieved, and he could run away at any time.

And unfortunately...

And his intuition had almost never been wrong.

Ren Yidao rubbed his chin, put away the yellow sand tiger, sent Cang Lan into the Divine Path Bell as well, and sat back upon his Baihu Daoshen.

It was becoming increasingly dangerous here; it was more reliable to use his own Daoshen.

"This place is not suitable for a long stay."

"Huhu will not be keeping you company anymore~"