Before Yang Fuzai, the once arrogant Buddhist monks now held the posture of striking with their palms, their faces devoid of previous haughtiness and ferocity, replaced only by boundless terror.
Black flames ignited on his body.
Flames that mortals could not comprehend, flames that ordinary cultivators would wish to never encounter in their lifetime—Karma Fire!
What Yang Hong had given him were the karmic ties of his assistance to Buddhism; all good karma.
Once the Buddhist monks retaliated with evil karma, they would be directly engulfed by the Karma Fire due to the immense power of karmic retribution.
For Buddhist cultivators who had cultivated good karma, it would at most result in the loss of a few layers of cultivation. However, for those Buddhist cultivators who themselves harbored much evil karma, their fate would be as seen before them.
Before Yang Fuzai, he was directly burned to ashes.
"Master Yuanyin has been murdered by this demonic cultivator! Let's attack him together and kill him."
The already deceased Yuanyin did not alert the other Buddhist monks in Qingfeng Town. They merely assumed Yang Fuzai had used some evil art to kill his fellow disciples and immediately gathered allies to attack Yang Fuzai.
"No! Don't—
I am not a demonic cultivator, don't..."
Yang Fuzai's explanations and pleas did not stop the Buddhist monks; instead, they drew forth attacks of brilliant golden light and resplendent Buddhist Dharma techniques.
And then...
There was no then.
All Buddhist monks who had attacked Yang Fuzai turned into black torches!
"This... this... this is what Ninth Brother meant, that Buddhism cannot harm my Yang family?"
Yang Fuzai now understood the meaning of Yang Fuhou's words, that Buddhism could not harm the Yang family.
It was literally true!
Dare to harm a member of the Yang family, and you would be burned to ashes yourself.
"Now, let's see if Buddhism dares to be arrogant?"
...
"Heh heh~ The effect is not bad."
Hearing Yang Fuhou's excited report, Yang Hong merely nodded with a faint smile, saying nothing more.
Although he was somewhat surprised by the effectiveness of the Heavenly Oath, he was also astonished by the depth of the karmic debt owed to him by Buddhism.
Such a powerful karmic debt that it could directly burn low-level Buddhist cultivators to death in Karma Fire, he wondered how it had been incurred. It seemed to be more than just helping a hundred thousand Buddhist cultivators ascend.
Yes, it was indeed not simple.
Yang Hong himself did not know how much he had inadvertently helped Buddhism.
Setting aside the impact of a hundred thousand ascending Buddhist cultivators on the upper realm's Buddhism, even when Buddhism migrated the Taiyuan Realm, he inadvertently helped stabilize the spatial coordinates of the Taiyuan Realm. Then his grain seeds stabilized the hearts of the people of the Taiyuan Realm.
The Li Huo Flying Locust Disaster and the Devouring Gold Ant Disaster were both personally quelled by him, which was also an act of helping Buddhism.
There were also many other matters where he inadvertently assisted Buddhism. Although he often did not intend to help Buddhism, simply acting with a clear conscience, the final effect remained the same.
Yet, Buddhism had continuously made things difficult for him, Yang Hong. Apart from Bodhisattva Jing Kong reminding him about ascension, which could be considered an act of kindness towards Yang Hong, at other times, they had truly not been 'kind'.
The superposition of various karmic factors resulted in the consequence of the monk from Jietian Temple trying to attack Yang Fuzai and being burned by Karma Fire himself.
...
Yang Hong's 399th birthday banquet was held with much fanfare and yet simplicity.
On the fifth day of the tenth lunar month, all members of the Yang family who could make it to the Great Sui Imperial Palace, whether mortal or cultivator, gathered at the [Chizhi Wangwen Pavilion], totaling 6823 people.
Under the meticulous preparation of mortal chefs, 399 dishes were served one after another.
Everyone, like ordinary villagers, simply ate and drank together, celebrating a simple yet extraordinary birthday.
The feast, a flowing banquet, lasted for a full three days. Fortunately, the entire Taiyuan World was currently evolving, making it easier for ordinary people to become martial artists and possess stronger physiques.
Otherwise, many chefs might have been exhausted to death.
Yang Hong held a delicately carved little boy in his arms, using chopsticks to pick out fish bones for him to eat fish. To his right were several other little boys, holding bowls as large as their faces and devouring rice. The little girls to his left ate more elegantly.
The table where he sat had seen several batches of children already. Yang Fuhou, being a shrewd individual, knew that the 399-year-old Yang Hong had not yet had children, thinking he might like children, and thus arranged this.
Seeing these children with shared blood, Yang Hong was indeed very happy.
When he saw children he liked, he would even hold them and feed them, coincidentally clearing their meridians.
"Heh heh~ This is truly good."
"This is what it's like to be a family, and this family is a bit large, with quite a few people."
After the birthday banquet, Yang Hong, who had originally intended to depart for his next destination immediately, stayed at the Great Sui Imperial Palace. While playing with these children and enjoying the joys of family, he summoned the registered disciples of Qingfeng Mountain and the flower and tree spirits he had left behind in earlier years, giving them instructions.
"Gao Shi, Gao Lixin, you two have steadfastly guarded Qingfeng Mountain in Great Sui for over two hundred years. Very good, I am very pleased."
"It is Shi Shi's/Lixin's honor to serve Your Highness. Without Your Highness, we would be nothing. We would have long ago turned into a handful of dust."
Both of them had grown into stunningly beautiful young women. Especially Gao Shishi, who had been somewhat affected by the great change in the heavenly dao back then. Now, her every gesture exuded a charm that could captivate the world. Ordinary cultivators would prostrate themselves before her.
Falling under her pomegranate skirt.
As for Gao Lixin, she presented an image of an unattainable ice goddess. With the two standing together, they evoked a desire to conquer.
In the past century, Qingfeng Mountain had not been spared from the covetous gazes of other cultivators, and the main reason was these two women.
"Although you are my maids, you are also my disciples. Now, I formally accept you into the sect of my Qingfeng Mountain Villa, ranking you among the true disciples."
"Greetings, Master~ Greetings, Sect Leader."
Upon hearing Yang Hong's acknowledgment, both of them could not help but shed tears of joy and surprise.
They had always believed that His Highness and the Princesses had met with misfortune. They had only guarded Qingfeng Mountain Villa in Great Sui as a safe haven, without any other thoughts.
Never did they expect that upon seeing His Highness again, he would already be a peak Mahayana realm cultivator, the apex of cultivators on the Taiyuan Continent.
And he had given them an identity and a sense of belonging.
"Come forward, I will impart the cultivation methods to you."
"Yes~"
Yang Hong extended two index fingers and used the [Spiritual Light Transmission Method] to directly impart his cultivation insights over the years to them, as a reward for their years of steadfast guarding of Qingfeng Mountain and protecting the Great Sui imperial family.
Following that, under their astonished and shocked gazes, he waved his hand and set up a spiritual plant teleportation array, sending the two back to Qingfeng Mountain Villa in the Lihuo Plains.
Before leaving, he also handed them his Qingfeng Mountain Villa Sect Leader token as proof.
Yang Hong himself would not return for the time being. There were still two secret realms in Great Sui that could be utilized, and they should not be wasted.
He conjured a ninth-grade Moonlight White Tea tree into his likeness to continue staying in the Great Sui Imperial Palace and playing with the children. He himself then directly used a遁术 (escape technique) and quietly arrived at the southeastern coast of Great Sui.
Here stood a snow-capped mountain ten thousand zhang high, the very same great snow mountain that had imprisoned him for decades.
"This snow mountain, it's actually in Great Sui. Not too far from Qingfeng Mountain Villa."
"That secret realm seems very powerful. I wonder if it's enough for Yu Kewei and the others to ascend?"