The great doors of the Tai Miao were closed once more. The immense evil energy was also sealed within the forbidden palace.
Concurrently, in response to the rebellion in Bozhou, the imperial court began dispatching divine soldiers and demon generals. For these newly incorporated divine soldiers and demon generals, who had just arrived in Shuntian and had not yet showcased their capabilities, this was an excellent opportunity to gain recognition.
They all believed it was merely an assault on a mortal warlord.
With the prestige of the Great Ming dynasty bolstering them, even as civilian gods or demon generals, they would not be overly fearful of firearms. Moreover, how many firearms could a mere rebel army possess?
However, the requirements issued by the court were somewhat peculiar.
"No mortals are allowed to participate?"
"Isn't this excellent? It gives us an opportunity to perform, and if we don't deploy the main army, no one will snatch our credit."
Although many civilian gods and demon generals did not understand why such a notice was issued, requiring them to bring only divine soldiers, ghost soldiers, and demon soldiers to suppress the rebellion, they were pleased to avoid the competition for credit and potential suppression. If the mortal armies from outside were absent, it would prevent such issues.
Foreign armies were never fully trusted by the internal forces. Perhaps this suppression of the rebellion was the court's way of testing the sincerity of these demons and civilian gods, and to gain higher status, they had to seize this opportunity.
At this moment, Yang Yinglong, far away in Bozhou, was unaware that he had become the target of countless gods, ghosts, and demons, his prominence now comparable to that of Tang Monk's flesh.
Shuntian began to stir with hidden currents.
Meanwhile, Ji Xiang's investigation into the South China Sea seemed to have come to a standstill.
This was because he could no longer see anything.
Someone had intervened, which made Ji Xiang feel a wave of nausea.
Although he had long known that the allegiance of the Dharma Sect was far from simple. After all, it was when the ghost of Buddha appeared in the South China Sea that the Dharma Sect came to pledge allegiance, followed by the unrest of the Esoteric Buddhism in the north. All of this seemed to be an internal struggle within Buddhism. However, now it involved the erasure of the future, implying the involvement of someone at the Heavenly Heart realm.
"Is it a great Buddha from the Esoteric Sect, preparing to intercept me?"
Ji Xiang sensed that this matter was not good. However, the Heavenly Heart realm should not have rotated yet. Before that, even if a Buddhist Heavenly Heart from the Inner Mountains and Rivers intended to seek revenge on him, they should not have passed the obstacle of Vajra Wisdom King.
Of course... there had been instances of the Great Teacher himself descending to the mortal realm in the past. Therefore, if a certain Heavenly Heart, eager for revenge, truly descended to the human world, even for a moment, he would not be able to withstand it.
Thus, before heading to the South China Sea, Ji Xiang had made two sets of preparations.
These two sets of preparations were measures taken in addition to the "reinforcements" arranged by the Celestial Master and Emperor Wanli.
If nothing unexpected happened, Emperor Wanli's reinforcements might not be of much use. After all, according to the secret reports received by the Celestial Master and the Emperor, the Dharma Sect was not only connected to the ghost of Buddha but was also colluding with the Frankish missionaries, bribing provincial officials, procuring firearms, recruiting Japanese ronin as guards, and simultaneously abolishing local laws.
In the tenth year of Wanli, the bribery incident occurred, but it was only clearly understood now. At that time, the Portuguese had unilaterally elected a chief judge and implemented Portuguese law in Macau, bribing the officials sent to investigate. The reports received at the time stated that "everything is normal."
This was clearly an attempt at territorial division and colonization.
The Franks, a collective term for Portuguese and Spanish, were both "sea barbarians," outsiders from the Western Sea. Their desire to build their own castles and establish colonial outposts here was no longer a secret.
Using Haojing Ao as their base, they had even constructed an extremely solemn and magnificent cathedral.
St. Paul's College. This was established as early as the forty-fourth year of Jiajing, and it only became widely known to the world with the northward movement of missionaries during the Wanli era.
After more than thirty years of operation, the faith and principles of Catholic missionaries had taken deep root in Haojing Ao. This college not only housed Christians from China but also from Japan, the Southern Seas, and the Western Seas.
This was also the first Western college on this vast land of the Far East.
"The waters of the South China Sea are deep, not only with the many cultivators of the Dharma Sect, but also with Buddhism, Esoteric Buddhism, and perhaps even the former Biyou Palace and Yuan Emperor might appear. Now, we must also guard against the magic of Catholicism."
"Therefore, only here might there be some clues."
"This is the first preparation."
Ji Xiang stopped.
The ruins of the Dongyue Temple, now a Catholic church, Ji Xiang had deliberately come here before leaving Shuntian.
The Kobayakawa family, who had defected from Japan, had already gone to the Forbidden City. Matteo Ricci served as the introducer, and the priest named Francisco Varechio was also accompanying them. The matters they were to discuss with the court naturally concerned important intelligence within Japan.
"Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva, as I journey to the South China Sea, you must protect me. I have even specially asked the Emperor to bestow a new honorary title upon you."
Ji Xiang touched his brow. The voice of the Great Vow Vajra reached him, naturally expressing his gratitude. With the backing of the Great Ming's national power, his recovery speed had increased significantly. Once Ji Xiang ascended to immortality, he could use the Ghost Grass Paper to open the gates of Samsara. With the assistance of the Great Deliverance of the Fallen Heavenly Venerable, his true form could break free from the Six Realms.
"Little friend, rest assured. This humble monk will do his utmost. The Esoteric Sect is nothing. If I recover my magical power, I possess the Three Virtues Secret Treasury, the Seven Meanings of the Earth, and immeasurable wondrous Dharma. Why should I fear them?"
Great Vow Vajra's tone was slightly arrogant, but this was not him boasting. It was precisely because Ksitigarbha himself was a powerful being in Buddhism who presided over life and death, making him a natural counter to those who specialized in reincarnation and death arts, such as the Esoteric Sect. In fact, the Esoteric Sect even had statues and scriptures of Ksitigarbha's original form, and many within the Esoteric Sect practiced Ksitigarbha's arts.
You use my methods to attack me?
Great Vow Vajra was quite confident about the journey to the South China Sea.
"Even if this humble monk cannot deal with the foreign Catholic magic, dealing with the Esoteric Sect is not a problem. As long as no Heavenly Heart directly descends, I can break all sorts of curses and killing techniques with a single thought."
"However, you now have the power of a nation as your support, plus the prestige of the Great Ming, making it the power of two nations. There should be no one in this world who can match you. Even if a flying immortal were to descend, there would be no need for fear. Do you truly need to be so cautious?"
Great Vow Vajra said this. In his opinion, Ji Xiang could ascend at any moment and enter the Heavenly Immortal realm. At that point, he would be truly invincible in the mortal world. Even the pseudo-immortal Xu Fu would likely not be Ji Xiang's opponent, and the Celestial Master would be inferior by more than seven parts, as the Celestial Master's immortal body was merely one of the many immortals.
The Dharma Sect in the South China Sea, although seemingly powerful, even if they allied with cultivators from the Inner Mountains and Rivers, if the Heavenly Heart could not descend, it would be like a free-for-all. No matter how many tricks they had, they would be useless. In Great Vow Vajra's view, a being like Ji Xiang could communicate with the Great Fulu Realm above and had even visited the Yellow Springs Underworld in Japan below. He had truly "searched the heavens and probed the earth," experiencing everything from the sky to the ground. What else could he fear?
Ji Xiang communicated with Great Vow Vajra in his heart, and at the same time, he pushed open the church doors.
What greeted him were no longer the gloomy energies. The many grand halls of the past had long since turned to ashes and ceased to exist. The wooden carvings and clay sculptures of the gods had also been destroyed or moved out of the imperial city's boundaries.
The mountain gate of the church still retained a Chinese style, but upon closer inspection, one would notice that the vibrant oil paints on the gate depicted not flying birds or divine generals, but the Virgin Mary looking downwards.
Inside, on the site where the Dongyue Temple had been completely dismantled, a gray cathedral had been erected.
And not far from the cathedral, one could see vegetable patches, but these patches were not planted with ordinary vegetables.
They were planted with bright red tomatoes and golden sunflowers.
With the arrival of Western missionaries, these foreign elements had also taken root in this distant land.
"With Brother Ye's abilities, the formation beneath the church should still be able to hold, right?"
Ji Xiang looked at the ground. Beneath the church was the teleportation array that the Yin World Immortals had used to come to the human world. Now, it was completely covered by the main structure of the church.
As for the temple plaques and inscriptions written by Emperor Yingzong, they had long been destroyed by Emperor Wanli, who had been driven to mental breakdown by the fear.
"The temple plaques and inscriptions were all destroyed, yet the malevolent lord remains unliberated. It is clear that the root of the restraint was not in these inscriptions at the Dongyue Temple. It makes sense, how could such important things be so easily broken by destroying a temple?"
"At most, this place was a stage, or a medium, for Yingzong to perform his divine and ghostly arts, not the source of his magic."
The priests inside saw Ji Xiang lingering at the church entrance. They noticed that Ji Xiang's attire resembled that of a Taoist, but he was wearing black clothes, which puzzled them.
The priests who could appear here were basically graduates of St. Paul's College and were fluent in Chinese, as the college also had a dedicated academy for teaching Chinese.
Therefore, upon seeing the black Taoist robes, they were utterly bewildered.
However, one of them seemed very familiar with such matters and whispered:
"I have read historical records from the Yongle period of the Ming Dynasty. It is said that the Imperial Advisor at that time was a monk, but he did not wear a kasaya and also wore black clothes."
Upon hearing this, the other priests seemed to suddenly realize something.
"So that's how it is."
"Understood. Wearing black clothes as a religious figure here symbolizes high status and authority."
They were sizing up Ji Xiang, perhaps wondering whether to proselytize to him, while Ji Xiang was already walking towards them.
Although he appeared to be a youth, he exuded a great sense of danger. When those dark eyes fell upon them, a thought immediately flashed through the minds of all the priests.
This person is dangerous.
"The scriptures of the West are filled with profound mysteries. I have read some of them and have benefited greatly. I also have some understanding of Christian arts, and I have always wondered if, by deciphering their wonders, I could also write the Book of the Heavenly Lord."
"However, the scriptures brought by Matteo Ricci were too few, and my comprehension was insufficient... Have you gentlemen heard my name? This humble Taoist is Beiji."
Upon hearing this Taoist title, the priests naturally became familiar with it, and their eyes immediately lit up.
Seeing them fall into his trap, Ji Xiang immediately said familiarly:
"So, gentlemen, please do not be nervous. I have come here to borrow your scriptures to read."
Ji Xiang smiled cheerfully, appearing harmless, but he deliberately emphasized:
"Preferably the original versions."