Chapter 1046: Chapter 1040: The Fish Has Taken The Bait
Li Tianqi did not make a move.
The Buddha statue’s absorption of vital energy would only affect a few years of lifespan, and the statue was also protecting the village.
Doing anything extra would unnecessarily risk exposing his tracks.
Having figured out the Bodhisattva Weishu statue…
Li Tianqi headed toward another Buddhist temple. The temple was still filled with a continuous stream of People.
These People had peaceful expressions; if they just shaved their heads, it wouldn’t be an exaggeration to call them monks.
The believers of the Dusheng Bodhisattva.
At this moment, he saw the believers gathered together, numbering in the hundreds, surrounding a small bandit lair with only a dozen or so people.
The bandits were captured.
They originally thought these believers were from some village they had harmed coming for revenge, and that they were doomed today.
Yet, to their utter bewilderment, the believers simply demanded that they worship the Dusheng Bodhisattva statue.
In just three short days, the mountain bandits who once dared to even eat human flesh suddenly turned into great Samaritans who respected the elderly and cared for the young, switching to a vegetarian diet and chanting Buddhist sutras.
“The Bodhisattva statues of Dharma Master Hongzhen and Dharma Master Hongdan.”
Li Tianqi had been investigating for many years.
He pondered for a moment, “As for Nun Dairou’s Bodhisattva statue, it delivers rebirth. I’ve only seen them worshipping it, but its influence isn’t as massive as these two.
Something feels wrong.
And as for Dharma Master Hongjie’s Bodhisattva statue, I’ve never even seen it.”
As he muttered to himself, a hint of disgust flashed in Li Tianqi’s eyes.
It wasn’t as if he hadn’t done this sort of thing before. Back in Duskwild Prefecture, the three brothers also had a group of believers.
However, for the commoners of Duskwild Prefecture, let alone them, even if a demon was caught in the mountains, the commoners would worship it as a guardian deity.
Although none of them were good people, Li Tianqi was exceptionally disdainful of such methods of making fools out of ordinary commoners.
But at the same time, he couldn’t help but be horrified by the extent and speed of these Buddhist temples’ expansion.
Immediately after, he continued to wait.
This wait lasted until a new temple was built.
A farmer who had clearly starved to death suddenly opened his eyes and put on a monk’s robe.
A few days later, helpers were brought in from other temples, and a new yellow-clad Buddha statue was erected in Deston Prefecture.
The Buddha statue was expressionless, possessing an unyielding prestige without anger.
“…”
Li Tianqi looked at his niece Kuanghua’s Buddha statue. Although he had known about it for a long time, he still couldn’t help but bear a bizarre expression.
Bodhisattva Prowess.
The Bodhisattva passed down Buddhist martial arts to help the believers strengthen their physiques, but a price had to be paid all the same.
After the believers died, their corpses would rot at an extremely rapid pace, transforming into the spiritual energy of heaven and earth and flowing entirely into the Buddha statue.
“Found it!”
At night, Li Tianqi arrived at Li Kuanghua’s temple and pressed his hand against the Buddha statue.
In the past, whether it was the Bodhisattva Ward statue or the Dusheng Bodhisattva statue, he could only sense that a great deal of the sentient beings’ faith remained on them.
To avoid alerting the snake by beating the grass, he had never dared to make a move.
But on Li Kuanghua’s Bodhisattva Prowess statue, the faith of those sentient beings seemed to sense Li Tianqi’s presence.
It transformed into a wisp of Buddhist light that pierced through the clouds, heading toward Shadowfell Prefecture.
“By following this Buddhist light, we can find the Dusheng Nunnery.”
Right at this moment, Li Tianqi’s eyebrows twitched.
The arrays he had left around the Buddhist temple these past few days were showing activity.
“The fish has taken the bait.”
He hastily concealed his tracks.
…….
“Another new Buddhist temple and a new Bodhisattva statue have been built.”
Inside the temple of Bodhisattva Prowess.
Yun Hongcai appeared silently.
This old monster, who had lived for nearly fifty thousand years, could tell at a glance that there was something unusual about the Bodhisattva Bodhisattva Prowess.
Beside him, Heavenly Venerable Jiande had a look of disdain.
“Hahaha. In the past, weren’t the people of the Buddhist sect slaughtered by Holy Monk Yidian until they didn’t even dare to show their faces?
Using these underhanded methods makes them even worse than demonic cultivators.
At least demonic cultivators act openly, unlike their fake compassion that hides malicious intent.”
“Bodhisattva Prowess… Boss, you were familiar with Shadowfell Prefecture and the Dusheng Nunnery.
Inside the Dusheng Nunnery, there is the old demoness Dairou and three other old monsters, but you never mentioned a Bodhisattva like this.”
Fairy Tinglan added,
“However, Boss, you truly had remarkable foresight to target the Dusheng Nunnery all those years ago.
In these times of chaos, they can collect faith, and each of them possesses the aptitude to break through to the Body Integration realm.
It is absolutely urgent to make a move against them now; otherwise, given their outrageous cultivation speed, we will lose our chance entirely.”
“Mhm.”
Yun Hongcai said in a deep voice,
“Finding their location won’t be difficult. We’ve been stealing the incense offerings hidden in their Buddha statues these past few days precisely to drive them into a frenzy.
They are already extremely cautious, recalling their faith back to the Dusheng Nunnery every day. As long as we follow the direction of the faith, we can locate them.”
Heavenly Venerable Jiande said, “With our strength, we can at most fight the three Dharma Masters. We are still no match for the old demoness.”
“The Azure Cloud Li Clan!”
Yun Hongcai’s voice was deep and low.
Hearing this, Heavenly Venerable Jiande and Fairy Tinglan furrowed their brows slightly.
Yun Hongcai continued, “The Azure Cloud Li Clan will seek revenge for the slightest grievance. I have deeply experienced this over the years.”
The two Daoist friends smiled bitterly; they had experienced it too.
Following Yun Hongcai to seek opportunities over the years, they had been hiding here and there like rats crossing the street.
This was simply because the Hall of Heavenly Principle · Shadow Division and the members of the Li Clan were madly tracking them down.
Once you provoke the Azure Cloud Li Clan, they will truly hunt you down to the ends of the earth.
“Regarding what happened at the Shadowfell Prefecture borders back then, they won’t let a single one of us off. Bi Shihu was ruined by their hands.”
A hint of dread flashed across Yun Hongcai’s eyes.
“What a pity,” Fairy Tinglan sighed.
They had long heard about the incident at Highsun City.
The Azure Cloud Li Clan had plotted against and slaughtered the Wu tribe, and Bi Shihu was killed as collateral damage.
In Fairy Tinglan’s view, for people like them pursuing the Dao path, defying heaven to change their fate inherently justified using any means necessary.
Bi Shihu’s extreme caution and profound scheming were rare abilities; only such people were qualified to snatch opportunities.
Unfortunately, he ultimately fell one move short and was murdered by an aristocratic immortal clan like the Azure Cloud Li Clan.
“The Azure Cloud Li Clan similarly won’t let the Dusheng Nunnery off the hook. Their investigation hasn’t stopped over the years.
As long as they learn the location of the Dusheng Nunnery, they will charge in like madmen to slaughter them.”
Yun Hongcai looked at the Bodhisattva statue ahead.
“I suspect that the people of the Azure Cloud Li Clan have also noticed these Buddha statues but lack the means to find the Dusheng Nunnery’s location.
Furthermore, the fact that I stole the Dusheng Nunnery’s incense offerings has definitely fallen into the Azure Cloud Li Clan’s intelligence network.”
“We can tamper with this from the shadows, leading the Li Clan along our path to attack the Dusheng Nunnery, allowing us to reap the benefits.”
“The Li Clan?” Fairy Tinglan had a strange expression.
“Are they a match for the old demoness of the Dusheng Nunnery?
They destroyed a Half-Step Body Integration expert, which is indeed impressive, but the old demoness of the Dusheng Nunnery is at the true Body Integration realm.
If they dare to go, it’s a dead end!”
“You’re wrong.”
Yun Hongcai smiled.
“The Azure Cloud Li Clan has no choice but to go. Moreover, I suspect the missing Crown Prince Fei Heng is being manipulated by the Dusheng Nunnery.
After Holy Monk Yidian vanished without a trace, gaining the Crown Prince’s support became crucial for the old demoness to restore the glory of the Buddhist sect.
Once the Li Clan learns of this, they will definitely send word back to the Imperial Capital. The Li Clan is different from us; they have backers.”
“…”
After the three of them left, Li Tianqi waited a full seven days before he dared to emerge from underground, where he had concealed his tracks.
Upon seeing the light of day again, he was already drenched in cold sweat.
“If you’re so good at guessing, with abilities like that, why are you a thief?”
Li Tianqi wiped the cold sweat from his forehead, his expression equally grim.
After obtaining the clues Kuanghua left behind, his first thought on how to deal with the Dusheng Nunnery was exactly to send the information back to the Department of Immortal Suppression.
His thoughts had been predicted with deadly accuracy.
And… the clan was indeed doing exactly what Yun Hongcai had said.
…
The Imperial Capital, Heavenly Palace.
Li Chang’an permanently resided in the Imperial Capital.
He was different from the others in the clan. Once one enters officialdom, it is as deep as the ocean.
The clan was backed by the dynasty, and with such a massive family estate, someone needed to monitor the world’s trends within the imperial court.
He also needed to represent the clan, securing a place in the court to mediate with the dynasty’s factions.
A century passed like a day, and Li Chang’an had grown increasingly accustomed to life in the Imperial Capital.
Cultivating, attending court, playing music for the concubines in the rear palace, meeting the nobles and leaders of major factions in the Imperial Capital, or drinking tea with Min Youguo in the Heavenly Prison.
Today, after the court was dismissed again, Li Chang’an familiarly stepped out of the court, exchanged pleasantries and laughter with the nobles, and headed straight to the Department of Immortal Suppression without stopping.
“Lord Wu.”
Wu Neng was still the same.
Seeing Li Chang’an arrive, he acted as if he had completely forgotten the scene where Li Chang’an had threatened him all those years ago.
He smiled faintly, cupped his hands in greeting, offered Li Chang’an a seat, and ordered tea to be served.
“Chang’an, it’s rare to see you come looking for me. You wouldn’t visit the Department of Immortal Suppression without a reason.”
“It’s about the Crown Prince.”
Li Chang’an also acted as if nothing had happened.
Having stayed in the imperial court for a long time, Li Chang’an knew that none of the people here were good birds.
Here, there were no overnight grudges—only sudden hidden arrows and people kicking you when you were down.
If something happened to you, everyone would come to stomp on you; if your backer was big enough or your faction was extraordinary, everyone had to treat you with a pleasant face.
“What?” Hearing Li Chang’an’s brief words, Wu Neng’s expression changed. “He’s coming back?”
Crown Prince Fei Heng had disappeared for fifty years.
To cultivators, this was a very short time. But for the imperial court, it was extremely long; fifty years was more than enough time for many things to happen.
The position of the Crown Prince remained unchanged, the Imperial Protectors Guard had left the Imperial Capital, and the Department of Immortal Suppression still executed its usual power.
However, there were many factions in the Imperial Capital, and just as many imperial bloodlines.
The Heavenly Secrets Pavilion was already making arrangements to support a new young master to the throne.
Once Fei Heng returned, it would trigger another storm.
“He’s in the Dusheng Nunnery.”
Li Chang’an didn’t hide it.
This man Wu Neng was quite despicable, but Li Chang’an also knew that, as a loyal dog of the Zishu family, at the very least, Wu Neng would not harm the Crown Prince.
“The Dusheng Nunnery… The Dusheng Nunnery…”
Wu Neng stood up and paced back and forth in front of Li Chang’an.
He didn’t doubt Li Chang’an’s words. Wu Neng knew about the Azure Cloud Li Clan seeking revenge in Deston Prefecture after Li Tianyue’s death.
If outsiders heard this, they would definitely suspect that the Li Clan was using the Department of Immortal Suppression for revenge.
But Wu Neng didn’t think so.
The Azure Cloud Li Clan was sinister and ambitious; Wu Neng was crystal clear about that.
But business is business; at the very least, they wouldn’t use this kind of matter to exploit him.
He immediately stared fixedly at Li Chang’an. “Has your Li Clan informed the Imperial Protector’s Guard about this?”
“No,” Li Chang’an answered truthfully.
While Wu Neng breathed a sigh of relief, he asked, “Why? The Imperial Protectors Guard has experts in Deston Prefecture, while I am far away in the Imperial Capital. Why tell me?”
“…”
Staring at Wu Neng for three seconds, the words “Because you’re the Imperial family’s dog” nearly slipped out of Li Chang’an’s mouth.
Instead, he said, “The situation in the Imperial Capital is complex, and the Crown Prince trusts you, my lord.”
—
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