"Huu..."
I sigh after somehow receiving the title of Grand Cultivator.
'The difficulty has increased so much since the disappearance of Tae Yeol-jeon.'
Moreover, if the title of Grand Cultivator is something that makes the Human Race Grand Alliance so wary, it's almost as if there's no point in even having it.
Nevertheless, had I stayed still, the Integration stage Grand Cultivators who received word from Hon Won would have continued to pursue me. By obtaining the Grand Cultivator qualification, I managed to prevent that from happening, and for now, that is enough to be satisfied with.
I used the voice transmission talisman to contact Hong Fan.
"Hong Fan, come to the area below Heavenly Human Island with Jeon Myeong-hoon."I wait for Hong Fan while recovering my spiritual power in the basin created by Jun Jae.
Since I've become a Grand Cultivator again, the next steps are simple.
'First, rescue Kim Yeon, and then, either by kidnapping Kang Min-hee or by some other means, prevent her from going berserk as the Ghost Guiding Holy Mother.'
Also, I have some questions for Yeon Wei.
At that moment, lightning flashes.
Kurururung!
As if the red lightning is wriggling, Jeon Myeong-hoon descends with his arms crossed in front of me.
"Looks like you've done something incredible again."
He clicks his tongue while looking around.
"I'm quite the busy person. Anyway..."
I look at Jeon Myeong-hoon's feet.
He has six shadows.
"You've almost fully learned the Six Extremes Yin Thunder Body"
"Yeah. I've mastered the Lightning Path part, but the Curse and Ghost Path parts are difficult, so I haven't fully grasped them."
The Six Extremes Yin Thunder Body is a devilish art that combines the Curse Method, Ghost Path Method, and the Lightning Path Method.
It involves infusing ghostly energy into one's Nascent Soul through the six symbols of curses: Violent Death, Disease, Worry, Poverty, Evil, and Weakness. By interpreting the ghostly energy and the life force within oneself as Yin and Yang, Yin Lightning is then formed. This is the essence of the Six Extremes Yin Thunder Body.
However, if one has already practiced the Lightning Path Method, it is said that you only need to taint the internal lightning energy with the curse symbols to convert it into Yin Lightning.
Yin Lightning is originally formed through curses and ghostly energy, but Jeon Myeong-hoon is cultivating the Six Extremes Yin Thunder Body in a peculiar way by somehow first generating Yin Lightning and then forming curses and ghostly energy based on it.
'How does he even do that...?'
I click my tongue at the absurdity of the Heavenly Golden Thunder Body and speak.
"I'd like to explain our plan going forward."
"What is it?"
"For now, our basic goal is to advance our cultivation. In the process, let's gather our colleagues like Kim Yeon, Kang Min-hee, and Oh Hyun-seok."
"What about Deputy Oh?"
"Oh Hye-seo? Hmm...I have some information on her. She's currently doing well, so there's nothing to worry about."
"Well, if you say so, it should be fine"
I explain to Jeon Myeong-hoon what we need to do.
"I'll rescue Kim Yeon. You go rescue Hyun-seok Hyung-nim...I mean, the Chief. He's in the True Devil Realm right now, and the Grand Cultivators of the True Devil Realm should currently be pushing against the Human Race. He should be retreating so assist Hyung-nim's retreat as quickly as possible."
"How quickly?"
"There's a high probability that the Black Dragon King Hyeon Eum will call upon something to descend into the True Devil Realm. Do it as quickly as possible before he enters. Of course, I can handle the Black Dragon King if he arrives, but...better safe than sorry."
If the Black Dragon King doesn't come, there's no need for Azure Tiger Saint to sacrifice himself.
"Well, got it. I'll do that."
"Good, then I'll rescue Kim Yeon in a little while. Hong Fan, come with me for a moment. There's something I need to confirm with you."
"Hm. Yes, understood."
After asking Jeon Myeong-hoon to rescue Oh Hyun-seok, I take Hong Fan out of the basin.
"Follow me."
Paatt!
Using the ground-shrinking technique, I take Hong Fan towards the place where the woman from the Grand Nirvana Temple had fled earlier.
Paatt, paaattt!
How many dozen li do we cover?
I finally detect her presence.
The woman from the Grand Nirvana Temple had used the Earth Escape Technique to hide about two hundred li away from the battlefield between me and the Grand Cultivators.
Kuguguk―
I use attraction force to pull her out from where she's hiding underground.
"Hiiiieeeeek! Seniors! Please spare me! Even if you turn me into a pill, my cultivation in Buddhist Family Methods won't help in increasing your realm!"
"..."
As soon as she's pulled to the surface and see us emitting attraction force, she collapses and screams in terror.
Her reaction is vastly different from the boldness of the previous life's Tae Yeol-jeon.
I look at Hong Fan and ask.
"Hong Fan, what do you think of this woman?"
Hong Fan strokes his beard as he looks at her, then glances up at me with a puzzled expression.
"Hmm, she's a woman that smells. It seems she doesn't wash."
"..."
"...? Ah, I apologize. Is Master perhaps considering taking her as a concubine?"
Shaaaaaa―
I feel a chill run down my spine for some reason.
Hong Fan's reaction has changed.
"...Hong Fan."
"Yes?"
"Don't you have any other thoughts?"
"Hmm...she seems to have cultivated some kind of Buddhist Family Method, and the spiritual power of that method looks a bit unusual."
"..."
He seems completely uninterested.
Hong Fan is treating her like an inanimate object.
"No, not that...when you look at this woman...do you not feel anything like wanting to marry her or suddenly confessing your love?"
I ask, observing Hong Fan closely.
However, Hong Fan responds with a rather dumbfounded expression.
"M-Master...no matter if it is your will...marriage is a significant event in life, so..."
"...Aren't your views on marriage different from those of humans since you're a centipede demon?"
Upon hearing that Hong Fan is a centipede demon and our conversation about marriage, the woman from the Grand Nirvana Temple turns pale.
"S-Seniors, I don't know which part of me is appealing, but I do not have any confidence in satisfying a centipede demon senior. P-Please, let me go!"
Her reaction is also different.
In the previous life, even though she didn't accept Hong Fan's courtship, she still blushed and felt a flutter in her heart.
However, this life's her is genuinely terrified and repulsed at the thought of marrying a centipede demon.
And Hong Fan, seeing her expression, frowns as if he also finds her displeasing.
"...I apologize, Master. Even though I am a centipede, having spent so much time with you, I have been greatly influenced by the Human Race's concepts. And above all...the smell is too off-putting. Even if you told me to eat her..."
"Hiiee, hiieeeek! Please don't eat me!"
"...Even if you told me to eat her, the smell would make me spit her out. Master, you don't really intend to marry me to her, do you...?"
Hong Fan and the women of the Grand Nirvana Temple look at me with desperate eyes.
"Seniors, I am a committed single, and I have decided not to get married! Besides, as you already know, my body is smelly and I'm very lazy. I can't even do anything!"
"...Master...you may find it funny coming from a centipede, but I really want to make a loving connection and get married...so that one is a bit..."
I nod, holding my head.
"I understand. I wasn't telling you to get married."
"Th-thank you, Senior!"
"Thank you, Master!"
Only then do the two bow to me with joy.
"...Well, since we're here anyway...show me some of your Buddhist Family Methods."
"Buddhist Family Methods?"
"Yes. The ones left in the Grand Nirvana Temple."
"Oh! As it happens, I brought all my possessions with me during the natural disaster, so I have them right here!"
She uses the Earth Escape Technique to pull up a bundle from underground.
'...How poor must you be to not even have a storage scroll?'
I click my tongue as I watch her packing her belongings into a bundle like a mortal from the lower world, without even a common storage magic artifact.
It seems that everything she owns is in that small bundle.
As she rummages through the bundle, she pulls out three jade slips that are worn and frayed from use.
"..."
I examine the jade slips with a stiff face.
'They're different.'
These methods are different from the Buddhist Family Methods I learned in my past life, which could be cultivated up to the Integration stage.
These ones are methods that reach their limits at the Grand Perfection Nascent Soul stage.
Of course, names like the Seven Brilliances Kings remain the same.
The Golden Body Heavenly King, Red Bead Extinguishing Heavenly King, Lapis Lazuli Protecting Heavenly King, Silver Basket Heavenly King, Tridacna Vast Cold Heavenly King, Obsidian Demon Heavenly King, along with the concept of the Future King.
And the symbols they represent match the explanations given by Tae Yeol-jeon.
But I find something odd.
"Hey, what happens to the Seven Brilliances Kings after they save all sentient beings?"
"Ah...are you referring to the Seven Brilliances Kings? That...what was it...?"
Seemingly unable to recall the content of the Buddhist Family Methods she learned, she scratches her head in thought.
As I frown, Hong Fan threatens her in front of me.
"Do you not see the Master is curious. Speak quickly."
She shrinks and speaks as if she just remembered.
"Hi-Hiieek. I apologize. The Seven Brilliances Kings, after saving all sentient beings, are said to shed their forms within the lotus."
"Shed their forms within the lotus? What happens next?"
"After that...there's no further transmission..."
"...What is the relationship between the Future King and the Seven Brilliances Kings?"
"Um, I'm not sure..."
Crack―
As veins bulge on my forehead, she speaks with a tearful face.
"S-senior! It's not that I can't remember; I really haven't learned it! In the first place, the Future King is merely a symbol personifying future hope and doesn't hold a significant place in Buddhist Family Methods! Well, depending on the region, there are stories passed down that the Future King is the master, disciple, or relative of the Seven Brilliances Kings, or that they have no relation at all...but these are all baseless. There's not much interest in the relationship between the Future King and the Seven Brilliances Kings. We just regard them as Heavenly Kings dedicated to their respective domains."
"...No relationship, you say?"
"Yes, that is what my master taught me..."
"..."
Then why did Tae Yeol-jeon speak to me with such certainty about the Future King?
"Are these all the methods of the Grand Nirvana Temple?"
"Yes."
"Are there any methods that can reach the Integration stage?"
"Pardon? Haha, if there were, wouldn't I have already become a Grand Cultivator? Ah...I apologize. I didn't mean to be sarcastic to you, Senior."
She scratches her head and jokes, but quickly bows her head and shrinks back as Hong Fan sends a cold glare her way.
"These are all the methods passed down in the Grand Nirvana Temple. I've never even seen any methods that reach the Integration stage..."
"...Alright, I understand. I need these Buddhist Family Methods for my study, so may I take them?"
"It would be an honor, Senior! It would be great if a cultivator of your high realm could master them. And...uh...perhaps..."
"And?"
"If possible...could you accept me as your...disciple...?"
At those words, Hong Fan clicks his tongue and waves his hand.
"Master, in my opinion, this woman is smelly, seems to lack talent, and doesn't have the will. You should not accept her."
Receiving Hong Fan's annoyance, she prostrates herself flat on the ground.
"I apologize! I have overstepped my boundaries! Th-then, since you're taking the Buddhist Family Methods...if you could at least mention that you got them from our Grand Nirvana Temple...ah, please forget it. Now that I think of it, it seems presumptuous as well."
Crack—
Hong Fan, seemingly angry, lets out a breath of poisonous energy.
"Master, because you show mercy, this woman keeps trying strange things through you. Despite being lazy, untalented, and smelly, she is cunning and shameless in this manner."
At Hong Fan's continued words, she looks like she is about to faint.
"It might even be better to kill her."
It seems her attempt to use me to promote the Grand Nirvana Temple has seriously offended Hong Fan, who rarely shows such anger.
"...Enough. Don't do that."
I wave my hand.
Though I don't like her trying to use me, I'm not angry because it seems she is trying to revive the Grand Nirvana Temple.
"I will speak well for your Grand Nirvana Temple, so don't worry. And this is payment for the Buddhist Family Methods."
I throw her a storage magic artifact filled with spirit stones, and she prostrates herself in gratitude.
I head towards the Heavenly Human Island with Hong Fan, carrying the Buddhist Family Methods.
I plan to go to Kim Yeon.
'...The eight Grand Cultivators became seven, and the eight fairy tales became seven as well.'
The two events are related.
I grit my teeth.
'Just what is going on..?'
I glance at Hong Fan, who is following me.
Today, I am certain from the way Hong Fan treated her.
Hong Fan didn't love the nun.
He was infatuated with 'the entity that possessed that woman.'
Just who is the entity that impersonated Tae Yeol-jeon, and why did Hong Fan go mad, even defying my orders to confess his love?
And, if I had practiced those Buddhist Family Methods that reach the Integration stage given to me by that being, what would have become of me?
With these complex thoughts, I head towards the Mad Lord.
***
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