Chapter 1038: Chapter 1032: The Buddhist Sects
“Back when the dynasty was newly established, and chaos erupted across the world, the worldly sects and immortal clans had long since erected domains in their respective territories when the Human Emperor drove the Wu tribe out of our borders.
They used their own methods to seek opportunities and break through their realms, much like the current situation of cultivators from all sides seeking their Dao paths in Deston Prefecture.”
Holy Monk Yidian recounted slowly.
“His Majesty employed iron-blooded methods.
The cultivators under his command, such as this poor monk, naturally had to suppress the world.
There were many mighty figures in the world who were already tyrannizing their respective domains, so naturally, they were unwilling to submit.
At that time, the world was in great chaos, bringing disaster to the common people.
Coming from a Buddhist background, this poor monk naturally knows exactly what kind of virtue the Buddhist sects possess.”
Holy Monk Yidian mocked,
“During chaotic times, they do not face the enemy, but in relatively peaceful eras, they emerge to collect the incense of the mortal realm.
Back then, none of the cultivators under His Majesty’s command made a move against the Buddhist sects. They didn’t understand the severity of indulging them.
His Majesty even believed that with the Buddhist sects around, the common people would have a bit more to rely on; after all, Buddhism promotes human benevolence.”
“Only I knew that if we didn’t strike against the Buddhist sects then, sooner or later, they would spiral out of control.
I exterminated the Buddhas all by myself, barging through the thirty-six prefectures of the world, suppressing the Buddhist sects everywhere.
I forced them into hiding, even making them shed their Buddhist skins.
From then on, there were no more Buddhist cultivators in the world who exploited the power of faith of all living beings.”
Li Jianning couldn’t help but yearn for that magnificent and turbulent era, finding it hard to imagine just how insane Holy Monk Yidian was back then.
He then said, “The Lotus Ferry Nunnery has emerged once more.
The Lotus Ferry Bodhisattva has collected faith for fifty years, and the incense of the three Bodhisattvas under her command has already reached our Azure Cloud Prefecture.”
“Hmph.” Holy Monk Yidian snorted coldly.
“If it weren’t for the incident at the Mountain of Esoteric Stratagems, how would the Lotus Ferry Nunnery dare to act so recklessly?”
Having spoken.
Holy Monk Yidian furrowed his brows and looked at Li Jianning.
“Do the elders of your clan want this poor monk to take action and deal with the nuns of the Lotus Ferry Nunnery?”
“We wouldn’t dare trouble the Holy Monk,” Li Jianning replied.
“The clan elders suspect that the Lotus Ferry Nunnery has a connection with Min Tiange.
Perhaps the Lotus Ferry Nunnery acting so recklessly is also an attempt by Min Tiange to flush out the Holy Monk’s traces.”
Holy Monk Yidian had dug out the Dao Seed within his body. To Min Tiange, who had planted the Dao Seed, this was a massive threat.
Min Tiange was definitely on high alert and surely wished he could hack Holy Monk Yidian into ten thousand pieces.
Li Jianning also knew that Holy Monk Yidian equally wanted Min Tiange dead. Otherwise, he wouldn’t dare step out of the Thunder Fire Demon Cave at all.
If he waited until Min Tiange reached the Mahayana realm, Holy Monk Yidian wouldn’t have a single path of survival left.
“We only hope the Holy Monk can assist my Li Clan in finding the location of the Lotus Ferry Nunnery.” Li Jianning took a deep breath.
“You want to find the Lotus Ferry Nunnery?” Holy Monk Yidian finally furrowed his brows.
“No matter what, that demonic hag Dairou is at the Body Integration realm. How could you possibly be their match?”
Seeing Li Jianning remain completely silent as he spoke.
Holy Monk Yidian raised an eyebrow. “Your Li Clan is also seeking Dao paths. You haven’t been established in the world for long, yet your ambitions are certainly not small.”
…….
The Golden Toad Divine Palace was still outside Highsun City.
In the three cities of Deston Prefecture, a large number of Void Refinement cultivators gathered in Sunfall City, protecting their logistical supplies.
The dying Yun Clan’s Old Ancestor, Yun Hongcai, had ultimately not come to the tightly sealed Sunfall City to steal, but everyone still didn’t dare to slack off.
A great battle was raging on the front lines, and protecting the supplies had become their primary task.
As soon as cultivators on the front lines died, cultivators from all over the world would come forward one after another to take their place.
At this time, the Li Clan kept their doors closed and did not go out.
That bastard Ba Siyu’s letter was delivered to the Li Clan again.
“Shameless!”
The veins on Li Tianqi’s forehead bulged as he crushed the jade slip sent by Ba Siyu to powder.
“Back then, he helped Bi Shihu and the Yun Clan, trying to harm our Li Clan members in Deston Prefecture.
Now that the front lines lack troops, he wants our Li Clan to help him break through the borders? Screw his grandmother’s bear!”
“He even said he wanted to marry his disciple to Xinnian as a concubine to show mutual trust.
That disciple of his is at the Divinity Transformation realm, already nine thousand years old, and has one foot in the grave!”
Beside him, Li Xinnian looked as if he had been struck by lightning.
Li Yunbing pondered for a moment.
“We can just find an excuse not to go. Our Li Clan came to assist; Ba Siyu cannot control us.
As for Ba Siyu, this man is scum, but he is a Body Integration mighty figure. The matter of a marriage alliance can be considered…”
“Yunbing Ancestor?” Li Xinnian tilted his head, his face contorted.
“The Old Drunkard has followed our Li Clan for many years and can be considered half a Li Clan member. If he agrees, it’s also feasible.”
Hearing Li Yunbing’s words, Li Xinnian’s suspended heart finally settled.
Not to mention, for the sake of the clan’s interests, the Yunbing Ancestor might actually do such a thing.
“We can’t meddle in other matters; the most urgent task is to drag out Yun Hongcai.”
Seeing Li Xinnian’s frightened appearance, Li Yunbing laughed secretly.
Back when Kuanghua and the others were in the Thunder Fire Demon Cave, they were also badly frightened by him.
Thinking of the juniors, Li Yunbing’s expression turned solemn. “And bring back Kuanghua.”
“The Old Ancestor is protecting Kuanghua.”
Li Tianqi said in a deep voice, “It’s just that the Lotus Ferry Nunnery is truly too hidden.
They spread their faith in the mortal world. The disciples of the Lotus Ferry Nunnery appeared out of nowhere in the world, scattered everywhere.
The only thing we know is that a total of 180,000 nuns walked out from the Lotus Ferry Nunnery, starting from the Shadowfell Prefecture, wandering as ascetics in all directions, and building Buddhist temples one after another.”
“Even with Soul Searching, we can’t find any memories regarding the location of the Lotus Ferry Nunnery from any of their minds.”
Li Changyao said, “On the contrary, we’ve already grasped a lot of intelligence regarding Yun Hongcai and his two friends.
This was also obtained from the case files of the Immortal Suppression Division.”
“Back when Yun Hongcai was out gaining experience and roaming the world, the entire Yun Clan relied on his thievery to accumulate their foundation and become an immortal clan in the Shadowfell Prefecture.”
“In those days, whenever someone was careless, their treasures would be stolen by Yun Hongcai, who was at the Nascent Soul realm.
Wherever secret realms or the ruins of ancient cultivators were opened across the land, Yun Hongcai’s figure could be seen, reaping the spoils without lifting a finger.”
“Being able to do all this was also largely thanks to his gang of scoundrel friends.”
Li Changyao channeled her Spiritual power, and two portraits appeared before her: a bearded man and an enchanting woman.
The information of these two entered everyone’s eyes.
“Assassin, Gou Shu.
After this person reached Void Refinement, he discarded his name. The world calls him Heavenly Venerable Jiande.
He once acted together with Yun Hongcai, specializing in doing things to attract others’ attention, like murder and arson, plotting the grand scheme to create favorable conditions for Yun Hongcai to steal.”
“Over these past few decades, Heavenly Venerable Jiande has been working for the secluded Yun Hongcai, secretly stealing the treasures of the two cities.”
She pointed at the woman in the other portrait.
“Fairy Tinglan, born in a cultivator’s pleasure house.
This woman cultivated a mastery of illusion arts, charm arts, and disguise arts.
I heard that many female cultivators work for her, hiding within various factions to provide her with intelligence. She is also the source of intelligence among the three of them.”
“The three of them helped each other. Back in the day, even with mediocre aptitude, they used these methods to step by step reach the Nascent Soul, Divinity Transformation, and even the current Void Refinement realm.”
“But starting fifty thousand years ago, the dynasty was already under the control of factions like the Immortal Suppression Division.
Divinity Transformation cultivators couldn’t show themselves, and Void Refinement cultivators went into hiding.
The three of them were noticed by the Immortal Suppression Division and had to hide their names and identities.”
“Now, all three of them are nearing the end of their lifespans. To seek a Dao path for breakthrough, they will only be even crazier than before.”
The clan members carefully reviewed the intelligence on the three, all frowning.
Especially Li Tianqi. The things these three did, he was familiar with.
It was somewhat similar to what he and his two brothers did back in the day, although there were differences.
His three brothers mostly dug up people’s ancestral graves or robbed them directly.
Thinking for a moment—peers understand peers—Li Tianqi said,
“They won’t leave Deston Prefecture. Deston Prefecture is where the opportunities lie, especially the war between humans and the Wu tribe.
It’s the perfect time for them to snatch opportunities. For people like them, whether it’s the Wu tribe or their own compatriots, they won’t hesitate to strike.”
The clan members looked at Li Tianqi with strange expressions.
Li Tianqi, thick-skinned, continued without a change in expression,
“They are nearing the end of their lifespans, but the more it’s like this, the calmer they will be.
Since Yun Hongcai is stealing the supplies of the two cities, and he is at the Half-step Body Integration realm, if he wanted to break through, he would have done so long ago.
Once he reaches Body Integration, he wouldn’t act so cautiously. So I guess he probably hasn’t reached the Dao Glimpsing stage yet.”
“Then the logistical supplies of the two cities…” Li Changyao couldn’t help but admire Li Tianqi’s professionalism.
Li Tianqi said in a deep voice,
“He stole them for Fairy Tinglan and Heavenly Venerable Jiande.
Those two are at the limit of the Void Refinement realm. Usually, people like them help each other the most because they know that without any one of them, it would be extremely difficult to coordinate their actions.
For them, balance is also very important. Only in this way can they avoid being jealous of each other and trust each other with their backs.”
“Then, they will find a Dao path for Yun Hongcai. Only then can they grow together.”
“So they will definitely target a certain faction or a certain person in Deston Prefecture, seeking an opportunity from them.
Thus, as long as we find the Dao path Yun Hongcai wants to break through to, we can find them.”
The clan members fell silent.
The experts of the world all hide the Dao within them.
Apart from their closest confidants, rarely does anyone know their Dao path, unless it’s an expert like Ba Siyu, who had already revealed his trump cards long ago.
However, they were pursuing a different realm. It was also to avoid being plotted against by petty people and to keep trump cards in reserve.
The Body Integration realm is strong, but not impossible to deal with.
Back then, the clan and the Zhao Clan joined forces to exterminate the Zhao Clan’s Old Ancestor.
With their current cultivation base, they also understood that the Zhao Clan’s Old Ancestor was hard to kill because the other party was already at the Dao Integration stage, even Half-step Mahayana.
As long as there are enough Void Refinement experts, they have the power to fight a Half-step Body Integration cultivator.
Coupled with the existence of the Old Ancestor, let alone a Half-step Body Integration, even a Dao Glimpsing realm mighty figure, they would dare to challenge.
The only trouble was that Yun Hongcai knew how to hide, and so did the Lotus Ferry Nunnery.
“If Yun Hongcai’s Dao path was devouring Spiritual power or eating people, he would have broken through to Dao Glimpsing long ago.” Li Yunbing said in a deep voice.
“The last time we met in the Ancestral Space, Father said that the Sword Venerable tried to break through four times, and all four times someone had already occupied the Dao.
Perhaps Yun Hongcai also tried to break through, but that Dao was already occupied by someone else. Then his Dao is…”
Hearing this, the clan members looked at each other. Thinking of Yun Hongcai’s constant thievery, their eyes all widened.
“It’s stealing!”
“Using stealing as his Dao. Stealing supplies… what else does he want to steal?”
“Stealing people!”
In the Ancestral Space, seeing his descendants gradually gaining comprehension of the “Dao,” Li Wei nodded in gratification.
At this time, whether it was him or Li Dalong in the Netherworld, they were both slowly gaining comprehension in the direction of the “Dao.”
Li Yaoqing’s pills, distributed one after another, had long since allowed their cultivation bases to reach the peak of the Void Refinement realm.
Li Wei began to examine the “Traits” of his descendants’ entire lives, gradually gaining many insights.
Perhaps these were exactly everyone’s Dao paths.
In the purgatory lava lands of the Netherworld, Li Dalong had already entered Hell Layer II: The Rending Vows.
In hell, Li Dalong sat cross-legged.
Xu Cuihua, transformed into a nine-tailed demon fox, sat cross-legged beside him.
On Li Dalong’s body, his traits lined up in a row.
[Working Hard to Improve], [Wild Boar Killer], [The Hope of the Entire Village], [Late Bloomer]… all the way to his later [Heaven-Piercing Coffin Corpse Driver], [Half-Zombie], and [Lord of the Blood Sea].
Weren’t these traits the very “Dao” that Li Dalong had walked throughout his life?
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