Chapter 190 The Tide Turns

The turbulent and vast Huai River flows into the sea. Above the dragon head of the Eastern Dragon, transformed from the pure, divine-era Huai River, sat a man wearing a simple mask, his golden eyes scanning the horizon. His aura intertwined with the river's pulse, immeasurably vast.

The scene paused at this point.

Lingering on those golden eyes.

"This is the Buddha's enemy?"

"Indeed… the Buddha's enemy, an outer demon of this age. The brothers and disciples of the Guanyin Temple have all witnessed the true form of the Bodhisattva, appearing in a demon-subduing aspect, descending into the mortal world to subdue the outer demon. The brothers all chanted scriptures, assisting the Bodhisattva, but alas, the outer demon's demonic flames were overwhelming. My disciple's cultivation was insufficient to subdue him."

"I see… So what do you plan to do?"

"Contact the true inheritors of Buddhism, dispatch a vast number of disciples, spread throughout Shenzhou, to find that outer demon without fail. Then, we will use Buddhist teachings to suppress and convert him. The Abbot received a dream from the Guanyin Bodhisattva, instructing us to suppress him beneath our Guanyin Temple. Thus, we have come to the Jiangnan region."

"Are you his match?"

"Although the outer demon's arrogance is rampant, we have obtained relics from the Ancestral Hall for protection. Only Buddhist elders who have cultivated great divine powers can manifest relics. With the protection of the relics, what fear is there of a mere outer demon?"

"Oh? One last question, are you a person of Shenzhou?"

"Yes."

"But the online rumors say that person is clearly an ancient Shenzhou water god, so why call him an outer demon?"

The young monk grew agitated, saying, "Amitabha, our Buddha once said that in the Dharma Ending Age, a heavenly demon will descend to bewilder sentient beings. Only the Buddha of the Final Kalpa can break the kalpa of the Dharma Ending Age. Precisely because he is an outer demon, he is deluding the people of Shenzhou. We must…"

*Puchi.*

The sound stopped abruptly, the stench of blood thick in the air.

A palm had directly pierced the monk's heart.

The young monk opened his mouth, spitting out a mouthful of blood, and then fell. A youth withdrew his hand, his face sharp, his eyes keen, with yellow-brown vertical pupils.

The old monk, who had been restrained beside him, was splattered with blood. His eyes were tearing apart as he roared, "Demon!!!"

The youth wiped the blood from his hand and said, "Demon?"

"Before being cultivators of different sects, you should first be creatures of Shenzhou."

"But it seems you have forgotten that."

"Even this flesh… smells foul."

His tone was cold and disgusted.

The old monk was both grieved and terrified. Yesterday, he had seen the Huai River entering the sea, and the Abbot had said that the person was the Buddha's enemy. He had brought his disciple to the Jiangnan region, but as soon as they contacted the White Cloud Temple, they were captured and interrogated by this youth.

The other party was actually a demon.

And he was stronger than any demon he had ever seen, so powerful that he seemed like a legendary god.

He was filled with grief and helplessness, and could only silently chant demon-subduing scriptures, muttering about heretics and demons.

The youth, who had taken the name Zhao Xiu, sat cross-legged in front of the old monk, flipping through the scriptures as he said indifferently:

"You are weaker than me, why do you dare call me a heretic and a demon?"

The old monk could not help but feel anger rise in his heart. He opened his eyes and rebuked, "Heresy and demons are not a matter of strength! Even if this old monk is far weaker than you, you are still a demon! This has nothing to do with strength!"

Zhao Xiu's yellow eyes were indifferent as he said, "Wrong. Beings are born between heaven and earth, with neither inherent righteousness nor evil. If there is no standard defining what is the righteous path, then naturally there is no heresy or outer path. You haven't even seen this clearly, yet you claim to be born into the righteous path and cultivate? What have you cultivated?"

The old monk's momentum faltered, and then he rebuked, "Killing and taking lives, harming others' cultivation, is that not a heretical path?!"

Mountain Lord Zhao Xiu retorted, "When wolves devour sheep, are the wolves heretics?"

The old monk could not answer and could only say, "For the sheep, yes."

Zhao Xiu said, "Then, for all the beings in the world, humans are the evil."

The monk said, "Therefore, we are vegetarian."

Mountain Lord said indifferently, "Indeed, that is thanks to Emperor Liang Wu."

The monk was speechless.

Mountain Lord said, "Then, for humans, which is evil, the sheep or the wolf?"

Mountain Lord paused, then frowned and asked, "Then, when sheep graze and cause the grasslands to degrade and disappear, leading to the starvation of living beings, are sheep considered heretical? And when wolves devour sheep, allowing humans to survive, are wolves evil, or are sheep evil?"

The old monk was unable to answer.

Zhao Xiu flipped through the records and said, "It's very simple. When the sheep are raised by humans, then the wolf is evil. When the sheep damage and affect the interests of humans, then the sheep are evil. Everything is based on the human race, at least in the lands of Shenzhou. For spirits and demons, eating humans is an evil deed, but hunting other living beings is natural."

"For thousands of years, the cultivators of this land have almost defaulted to this rule."

The old monk paused slightly, then whispered, "Then aren't you a heretical demon!"

"Killing and taking lives, harming a monk's cultivation."

Zhao Xiu raised his eyebrows, his imposing aura causing the old monk's heart to tremble. He was unable to speak. Mountain Lord said indifferently:

"Killing is a heretical path, harming your cultivation is a heretical path? Ruining a monk's cultivation is an outer path?"

"You have some nerve."

"The scriptures and Buddhist texts don't say that."

"I see that in your so-called Righteous Dharma Esoteric Sect of Buddhism, those who kill can become heavenly gods, those who eat humans can become Dharma protectors, the sacrificial bone implements, and that auspicious heavenly Dharma protector, because her own child did not believe in the Buddha, she skinned him alive and made him into a saddle. Yet you venerate her as a great Dharma protector?"

"In my opinion, the so-called Buddhism is simply that those who are enemies with you are Buddha's enemies, and those who are benevolent to you, even if they are murderers, can become Dharma protectors and heavenly gods. It is extremely laughable. Where did this Dharma come from? It is so petty…"

Mountain Lord's eyes were filled with indifference and displeasure. He threw away the records and said:

"You are people of Shenzhou, you know this rule, and you are protected by this rule."

"But do you know why this rule came about?"

"Let's not talk about ancient times. In the era I know, a Daoist priest wielded a sword and pierced through a shamanic god system, annihilating that ancient god system with his own strength, wiping them out from the lands of Shenzhou. Only then did he establish the so-called Three Heavens Righteous Dharma. The gods they sacrificed to were similar to this Esoteric Sect."

"Do you want to guess, if that Daoist priest were still alive, would he wield his sword and slaughter this so-called Pure Land clean?"

The old monk's expression was somewhat unsightly as he said, "This monk is not of the Esoteric Sect."

"What exactly are you trying to do by saying all this…"

Mountain Lord said, "Nothing else, just a feeling in my heart, a rare moment to speak frankly."

"Zhang Daoling, ah, he never expected what would happen today, right? I am his enemy, but at least we share one view. When he expelled the Six Heavens Ghost Gods, there were no demons causing chaos in the entire Shenzhou, even those like me were the same."

"When I was young, the Central Plains was in the Spring and Autumn Period. When the Xiongnu of the Western Regions invaded, the various states would cease fighting and first defend against external enemies. I never imagined that later generations would be so treacherous, believing in foreign evil gods, yet calling the ancient gods of Shenzhou demons."

Mountain Lord reached out and, under the monk's horrified gaze, grabbed the relic rosary from his hand.

Then, with an indifferent expression, he slightly curved his fingers and crushed all the relics.

Then, rays of Buddhist light emerged and were shattered by Mountain Lord. What remained was a trace of vast divine aura. Mountain Lord held onto this divinity, swallowed it into his stomach, and said, "I said a lot, I originally thought I could get some learning from you descendants, but alas, it seems that only Chan Buddhism is worth taking from what Buddhism has to offer."

"Not worshipping incense, only cultivating oneself, the Vajra body, the Lapis Lazuli mind, already has the aura of the Daoist sect."

"However, for me, I still need to thank your ancestor, Zhang Daoling established the prototype of the Heavenly Court. I originally thought that only the Earth Deity path remained, but I did not expect that there would be other turning points."

The old monk was stunned.

Mountain Lord stood up and said indifferently, "The power of my Shenzhou can only be obtained by the people of my Shenzhou."

"This… is the rule."

Mountain Lord flicked his sleeves, and the old monk immediately groaned, collapsing on the spot, dying and his soul extinguished.

Mountain Lord glanced at the video and said, "If only I had been born three thousand years earlier."

His voice paused slightly, then he slowly said, "It's not too late."

……………………

Yingtian Prefecture, Jiangnan Province.

Meng Chengji received the news. He was a wealthy merchant in Jiangnan Province. In the past, he had also sought jade talismans from the White Cloud Temple. Today, he heard that the White Cloud Temple had a special wealth-attracting jade talisman to give away, only seeking the construction and mining rights of the surrounding mountains. This merchant knew the White Cloud Temple's methods and did not think there was any value in those barren mountains.

So he rushed to the White Cloud Temple.

But when he arrived, he found that there were many merchants who had arrived.

All the major wealthy merchants who had had relationships with the White Cloud Temple in the past had arrived.

After all, there was only one wealth-attracting jade talisman. The abbot placed the jade talisman on the table, emitting a refreshing feeling that made people feel refreshed. Obviously it was the real deal. Everyone was excited. Meng Chengji also kept bidding, but the highest bidder always made him feel like it was a kind of bidding.

But he didn't think much about it.

He didn't think he could grab the jade talisman.

But the White Cloud Temple always had other effective talismans.

Now that a large estuary has appeared in Shenzhou, and there must be a large number of business opportunities along the thousand-mile river. These merchants are always sensitive, like sharks smelling blood. This time, it was also because of this reason that they all came to the White Cloud Temple for the wealth-attracting talisman.

Anyway, it was just a few barren mountains.

The old Daoist priest living at the foot of the mountain frowned when he saw the luxury cars and merchants coming and going.

He regretted a bit that he had stayed here. This time, he received a commission from the old Celestial Master of the Celestial Master Dao to come here, but he didn't see his friend, but he had almost seen the White Cloud Temple. A copper smell was coming at him. If it wasn't because he hadn't seen his friend for a long time, the old Daoist priest would have run away with two armor talismans.

The main reason was that the old man couldn't save face.

He thought about it, sighed, and planned to write a letter to the little guy he knew to pass on a message.

He would say that he would probably go to see him within a month. If he didn't go, then you, the Wei family kid, should quickly come to the White Cloud Temple, make up an excuse, say you have something to do, and get the old Daoist priest out of here, this copper-smelling place is about to suffocate people to death.

Alas, it was a bit inconvenient.

Should he prepare a mobile phone?

While writing the letter, the old Daoist priest saw the mobile phones of the passing tourists and suddenly felt a sense of being behind the times.

………………

Zhao Xiu easily and secretly obtained the mining rights to several mountains.

He said he was going to hold a ritual.

After expelling all the ordinary people, the true Daoist priests of the White Cloud Temple went over. Zhao Xiu also invited the old Daoist priest who came because of the Celestial Master Dao, but the old Daoist priest was originally very lazy and didn't like the luxury cars and wealthy merchants coming and going this day, so he declined.

Zhao Xiu had a very real regret on his face.

He didn't force it, but led the Daoists up the mountain. The White Cloud Temple was a famous sect with a long history, and his every move was very much in line with the requirements of the ceremony. Although he didn't have a talisman identity and didn't dare to connect to the Heavenly Court system, he still had the precious records left over from the past, which still made the ceremony effective.

He summoned the natural spirits of the nearby mountains, as well as the existences known as mountain spirits.

Those mountain spirits were all satisfied when they saw this rare sacrifice and offering, and then said:

"Little Daoist, you have summoned us here. What is your request? Speak."

Zhao Xiu, dressed in a Daoist robe, said, "Please lend me something."

The mountain spirit, who looked like a little old man with a white beard, was surprised: "Lend something? Lend what?"

"The clear spirit of the mountains."

The mountain spirits, who were gathered from the clear air of this mountain, were stunned. Suddenly, a chill arose in their hearts. They were about to run away, but they found that this place had already been sealed by talismans. Daoist priests in Daoist robes surrounded them, expressionless. The wind blew, and their facial skin and Daoist robes trembled together.

The mountain spirit was greatly frightened: "You…!"

Down the mountain.

The old Daoist priest was scratching his head and cheeks, writing a letter, thinking about how to maintain his face as a senior.

So that kid from the Wei family wouldn't laugh at him.

Suddenly, his movements stopped and he looked up.

In his ears, he could vaguely hear a low tiger roar, which made people feel fear in their hearts.

Zhao Xiu returned to his original appearance, but his eyes turned brown-yellow. The mountain spirits within a radius of hundreds of miles were all swallowed by him. His face was flushed, and the spirituality of many mountains conflicted with each other, but he was suppressed by the trace of divinity he had swallowed before. His Daoist bun fell apart and blood dripped from the corner of his mouth.

He originally planned to grow quietly, but when he saw the God of the Huai River, he knew there was not enough time.

Mountain Lord returned to the White Cloud Temple and looked at his statue: "Heavenly God ah…"

After a long time, he suddenly smashed the statue.

Sealed for two thousand years, first abandoning his physical body, then abandoning the mountain god, and finally, not even a trace of incense remained.

His face was pale and blood dripped from the corner of his mouth. Mountain Lord sat on the ground, leaning against the Three Pure Ones statue. After a long time, he suddenly burst out laughing:

"Wang Jvjun, I have repaid your ten years of incense with two thousand years. As for the tricks you left behind, a great man born in this world should fight hard. Even if he dies, he should be the enemy of the world. How can he still be a deity and have his life and death controlled by others?!"

Then, he pointed to the Three Pure Ones statues next to him and shouted:

"You three, come and drink with me!"

……………………

Shen Jifeng took time out of his busy schedule to send the mobile phone to Wei Yuan's museum.

But when he went, he saw that Wei Yuan was wearing a black glove with five fingers exposed on his right hand, and asked in surprise: "Um... Curator, it's summer, why are you still wearing gloves?"

Wei Yuan's face remained unchanged and said, "I have a wound."

Shen Jifeng suddenly realized and said, "Do you want to try our newly developed elixir? It's very good for treating external injuries and won't leave any scars."

Wei Yuan: "........."

What exactly are you guys researching?

After politely declining Shen Jifeng's kindness, Wei Yuan finally managed to send her away. On the back of his hand was a talisman that stretched the entire length of his palm, and it also had Zhang Daoling's mark on it. Wei Yuan didn't want anyone to see it.

He picked up the mobile phone, which was said to be an enhanced version, and turned it on.

He tried it and it was indeed easier to use.

He originally planned to send it over like this, but suddenly thought of the increasingly popular fan art online. Now it has developed a series of fan fictions including but not limited to Wuzhiqi, Wuzhiqi and the Turtle Mother, Wuzhiqi and Sengqie, Wuzhiqi and Dayu, etc. If He saw it, he might go crazy.

Wei Yuan turned on the mobile phone, silently downloaded a software, and then...

"You have opened the youth mode."

"Please associate with a parent's mobile phone. Only the parent account can operate to exit the youth mode."

Wei Yuan was silent for two seconds.

Then he took out his mobile phone.

"The parent's mobile phone has been bound..."

ps: I'm stuck... today's chapter is 4,400 words... consider it a day off (bow)

Happy Labor Day everyone (blessings from a writer who still has to work on Labor Day)

Thank you for the alliance leader of Tomato and Lemon, thank you very much...

Adjust the state, it is difficult to write when I am stuck, and I have insomnia again, lying in bed with my eyes open, and I can't fall asleep even after changing seventeen or eight postures, that feeling is almost crazy, so I will update it slowly...