Chapter 788

Yet the title of State Preceptor has always referred to the Lotus Living Buddha.

"Greetings, Great Khan! Have you not already bestowed upon me the title of Left Dharma Chief? It would be best not to bring up the title of State Preceptor again."

Although this body of the Lotus Living Buddha looked youthful, the moment he spoke, it was in the familiar steady, weighty voice.

In saying this, he was not blaming Tie Muzhen.

In truth, the God of Immortality and the Zi Yi Jing Wang were both quite important to the Great Yuan.

Therefore, the Lotus Living Buddha was actually reminding Tie Muzhen not to lose the greater for the lesser.

Tie Muzhen and the Lotus Living Buddha had, one could say, grown up listening to his Buddhist teachings since childhood, and he was the one who understood him best.

Hearing him speak thus, how could he fail to understand? He was immediately deeply moved,

"Only the Living Buddha truly knows me! What Left Dharma Chief — from now on I shall only call you Living Buddha!"

In his excitement, Tie Muzhen actually referred to himself as "I," which was extremely rare.

"Amitabha!"

The Lotus Living Buddha uttered the Buddha's name once more, and a trace of emotion stirred within his voice.

Only then did he turn to look at that Gao Seng of Wang Si, drift up into the air, and extend a single finger to tap between his brows,

"Jiucuo, do not panic. To study Buddhism is to cultivate the mind; if the mind is not still, how can one cultivate the Buddha and awaken to the Dao?"

With just that one simple sentence, Jiucuo, who had been on the verge of madness, finally came back to his senses.

"Jiucuo thanks the Living Buddha for the grace of his guidance."

Were it not for that single finger-point of the Lotus Living Buddha, Jiucuo, continuing on like that, would surely have gone mad.

Although his martial cultivation was ordinary, his Buddhist attainment was not low, and he was one of the key figures in Wang Si's reincarnation plan.

To the Great Yuan, this Gao Seng Jiucuo was extremely important.

This was also why Tie Muzhen had been able to listen to his rambling, muddled chatter for so long.

"No need for courtesy. Quickly return to Wang Si, take charge of the reincarnation plan, and be sure to bring Monk Naomo and Monk Huanxi back as soon as possible!

Now is an age of great contention, a troubled autumn — the Great Yuan urgently needs the service of those two and the monks of our Wang Si."

A smile hung on the Lotus Living Buddha's face, warm as the spring breeze, like a Buddha himself.

"Yes!"

Jiucuo immediately accepted the order, daring not linger any longer, and withdrew.

"I thank the Living Buddha once again for resolving the situation. If not for the Living Buddha today, Master Jiucuo would truly have been in grave danger."

Earlier, Tie Muzhen had also been able to see that something was off about Jiucuo, but his cultivation was ordinary and his Buddhist learning was ordinary.

Apart from being able to grasp the dragon qi of the Great Yuan, he truly had no other way to save Jiucuo.

"It's nothing!"

The Lotus Living Buddha smiled faintly, then his face grew troubled,

"Does the Great Khan know why I have suddenly returned in such haste?"

Every reincarnation was an extremely difficult trial-and-error.

Last time, the Long Yin cave was shattered by a single strike from the great Longshou Ximen Wudi, destroying his physical body. Of the four Lotus Living Buddhas, only Long Xiang Seng was fortunate enough to return swiftly.

The other three, including the Lotus Living Buddha himself, had been striving all along to coordinate with Wang Si.

Unfortunately, progress was minimal.

Wang Si had also never reported any good progress, and he had not expected him to suddenly appear today.

Tie Muzhen had been busy being happy, but now he suddenly recalled that something was strange about this and immediately asked,

"Why?"

"Great Khan, Long Xiang has entered Nirvana!"

The troubled look on the Lotus Living Buddha's face deepened. Seeing Tie Muzhen's stunned expression, but no particular worry,

he realized at once that the Great Khan had misunderstood, and immediately added,

"It is the kind where both form and spirit are destroyed — he can never reincarnate again…"

"What? What?"

Tie Muzhen started in shock.

The four Lotus Living Buddhas, and even more Gao Seng besides, were one of the trump cards the Great Yuan had cultivated generation after generation.

The resources expended could be seen from the fact that the Great Yuan's Wu Lin was far smaller than those of the Great Qin and Great Tang.

It could be said that every Gao Seng capable of reincarnation was an incomparable treasure of the Great Yuan.

Since the Great Yuan established this reincarnation plan, no Gao Seng had ever suffered the destruction of both form and spirit.

At worst, their physical body would be destroyed, and then they would endure the arduous queue at Wang Si, fusing and reincarnating.

Yet who could have known that now, the very first Gao Seng to utterly fall would appear so abruptly.

And it was Long Xiang Seng — who had just made the list, and whose current cultivation ranked second among the four Gao Seng of this generation who had successfully reincarnated!

"How could this be? Living Buddha, who killed Master Long Xiang?"

This blow made Tie Muzhen even more indignant than the "betrayal" of Zhamuhe and General Chilaowen.

"Sigh! Karmic debts, karmic debts — you should know, Great Khan…"

The Lotus Living Buddha grew increasingly wretched, and pointed a finger at the heavens.

"This… the Heavenly Dao Golden List, the Qinglong Society…"

Tie Muzhen was no fool. Raising his eyes to see the Heavenly Dao Golden List and the Heavenly Dao Hundred Flowers List on the horizon, he immediately understood.

This time, Long Xiang Seng's appearance on the list directly exposed the matter of his having ordered the annihilation of Wu Dangpai.

At the time, Tie Muzhen had known that Long Xiang Seng might be in danger.

But Long Xiang Seng was currently in the Great Tang, beyond Tie Muzhen's reach.

He had thought that after so long, the Qinglong Society still hadn't made a move, and assumed the matter had simply passed.

Who could have known that the moment it was exposed, the Qinglong Society came to kill.

"Detestable! Infuriating!"

Upon learning it was the Qinglong Society, Tie Muzhen slammed his palm and shattered the dragon desk, yet the fury in his chest had nowhere to vent.

If Long Xiang Seng had been killed by some other faction, he could have acted without any scruple, swearing to make them pay blood for blood.

But this was instead the Great Longshouxi, who had slain a hundred thousand Keshen troops with a single sword, along with the Qinglong Society under his command.

No matter how fiery his temper, Tie Muzhen could only swallow it.

"Enough, enough! From now on, I shall treat the disciples of Jin Gang Sect with great kindness."

Tie Muzhen let out a dispirited sigh and could only make such a statement.

Long Xiang Seng came from Jin Gang Sect; apart from this sect, he could be considered to have no sons, no daughters, no grandsons, no granddaughters.

Therefore, wanting to repay Long Xiang Seng, he could only helplessly place the burden upon Jin Gang Sect here.

"Sigh! Great Khan, my hasty reincarnation and return is not just to talk about this…"

Living Buddha Lianhua saw Tie Muzhen like this and, though he inwardly expressed approval, his coming this time truly was not for this.

"Then it is…"

Tie Muzhen was stunned for a moment, then immediately understood,

"Oh dear! This Qinglong Society is coming to bring bad luck to our Great Yuan?"

Setting aside what the Qinglong Society did to the Great Tang because of the Yihua Palace.

Just take the Great Longshouxi Ximen Wudi — he clearly only wanted to save Qiao Feng, that's all.

Was it necessary to descend a sword from beyond the heavens and slay a hundred thousand Keshen troops?

That was nearly half of the entire Great Yuan's Keshen troops, you know?

Now that the matter of Wu Dangpai has been exposed, it's obvious that killing one Long Xiang Seng is not enough to quell the Qinglong Society's wrath.

Great Yuan can almost be said to be the Qinglong Society's next target!

"Exactly! My disregarding everything to return this time is precisely to help the Great Khan resolve this crisis."

Only then did a faint smile appear on Living Buddha Lianhua's face.

"I wonder what method the Living Buddha has — even if it requires me to abdicate, it would be acceptable."

Compared to personal hegemony, the ten-thousand-generation foundation of Great Yuan was what Tie Muzhen cared about more.

If sacrificing his own life alone could purchase the Qinglong Society's appeasement, he would certainly do it.

"The Great Khan is truly the blessing of our Great Yuan!"