Longevity Chronicles-Chapter 611 - 399: Yuan Gong Inquires Tao Master about the Ignorant Monks in Steamed Buddha City

Chapter 611: Chapter 399: Yuan Gong Inquires Tao Master about the Ignorant Monks in Steamed Buddha City

Entering first sets the standard, deep-rooted and unshakable.

Regarding the captivating Buddha’s son and Bodhisattva before him, Tao Da felt a sense of profound understanding in the depths of his heart.

On the other side, while there was still time.

Tao Qian and Sister Yunrong leisurely strolled through Guangping City, step by step.

Pretending to be a Buddhist couple vain of reputation, yearning for fame, and amassing merit, they continually displayed their saintliness, casting spells to rescue those in difficulty.

"After this battle, all Demon and Evil Cultivators with a bit of influence around Guangping City have been eradicated by me,"

"With Li Fengxian, Qu Zhongyuan, and I (Gao Buxi) also leaving temporarily, a glimmer of life has emerged."

"I’ll first choose someone with leadership talents and, in secret, bestow a Secret Technique upon them, guiding them to lead the citizens to seek refuge with the Ancestor Dragon Society in the neighboring province."

Tao Qian’s arrangement was flawless and meticulously planned.

However, it was at this moment that Yuan Gong suddenly spoke up.

Tao Qian’s Second Master still dwelled on the previous matter of Tao Qian’s spiritual enlightenment, and coupled with the current situation, Yuan Gong couldn’t help but sense some ominous premonitions.

After pondering for a while, he now asked,

"Young man, now that the immediate troubles are over, you should be able to tell your master what kind of Dao path you actually seek."

There was no hiding the worry in Yuan Gong’s telepathic message.

Tao Qian found it a bit strange, but he responded candidly,

"Nothing else, for I have saved myself, and now I must save others."

"Coming from the mortal realm, and having witnessed all suffering, this world with tens of billions from the Human Clan, by right, should belong to the Human Dao."

"And yet, so many people, not only can they not control their own destinies, but they don’t even have the slightest strength to resist. Their lives are as insignificant as weeds, which should not be the case."

"This principle is wrong."

The last sentence Tao Qian articulated was extremely determined, leaving no room for negotiation.

Perhaps because of this talk on nature, Tao Qian thought for a moment and then said,

"The matter of the Ying Qingdi is preposterous, a play of fate."

"But those books he authored, they are not entirely without reason. Take the ’Immortal and Mortal Scripture,’ for example. Since all these Immortals, Buddhas, Demons, and Ghosts originated from the Human Clan, then the Human Clan ought to have some self-preservation strength."

"Be aware that water can carry a boat but can also capsize it. This is the simple truth."

Tao Qian was both answering and questioning.

At the same time, this allowed Yuan Gong to clearly hear his disciple’s heartfelt thoughts.

Sighing inwardly, he thought to himself:

"No wonder the Sect Master commanded me to reside in mountainous seclusion and diligently practice swordsmanship, forbidding me from descending lightly. The mortal world indeed carries poison, its truth undeniable."

"This good disciple previously intended to return to the Penglai Sea to cultivate, but now he has embarked on this path."

"Through the ages, the corpses of talents that have been buried on this path number not in the hundreds of thousands but surely in the tens of thousands."

"It seems my foolish disciple will also lay his bones among them."

Yuan Gong felt heavy-hearted, convinced that Tao Da was beyond saving.

However, considering he was his most satisfying and proudest disciple, and keeping in mind that Tao Qian was also Duobao’s beloved pupil, who was looked upon differently by Lingbao Tianzun as the true inheritor, perhaps there was another opportunity or path for him?

After some thought, Yuan Gong unceremoniously said,

"Young man!"

"Do you know that the distinction between immortals and mortals has persisted for many years? From ancient times until now, countless sages and great saints have proceeded one after another, yet even the Ancestor Dragon who created the ’Ancestor God Forbidden Technique,’ speaking from results, cannot be considered successful."

"Our Secret Demon Sect had an ancient ancestor known as ’Heavenly Killing Demon Lord,’ who also came from the Human Clan, and saw the Human Clan as the head of all life forms, believing that other races should serve the Human Clan, not causing chaos or resorting to cannibalism."

"These thoughts nonetheless earned him the title of a demon, due to his murderous nature. He saw the downfall of the Human Clan in beings such as Demons, Ghosts, Evil Spirits, Immortals, and so on... Thus he cultivated the Heavenly Killing Technique, seeking to create a slaughtering barrier, completely cutting off transcendence, severing the flow from the Source Sea, leaving only the Human Clan to rule this realm."

"Eventually, he failed, and the disaster that befell our Secret Demon Sect was partly due to the trouble this ancestor left behind."

"You have astonishing talent and some wisdom, but you are still far from those sages."

"What can you do?"

"I’m afraid you don’t even understand the crux of the problem."

Tao Qian took the rebuke in stride, with not a hint of shame visible on his face.

His mind, surprisingly, was exceptionally peaceful.

The next moment, upon finding a temporary leader in the city originating from the slums yet possessing unexpected charm, a trace of joy flickered in his eyes.

After casting a spell to plant the idea of leading the citizens to seek refuge with the Ancestor Dragon Society, Tao Qian finally replied to Yuan Gong,

"Master Yuan, this disciple does not yet know how to save the world’s people. I only plan to roll around in this mortal world, while seeking enlightenment and alleviating suffering. As my cultivation grows and I see more, I will slowly gain some insights."

"However, as for what lies at the heart of the Human Clan’s downfall, I do have some conjectures."

"Immortals, Demons, Buddhas, Devils, Alien Strange Objects, Extraordinary Source Power... none of these are the real reason."

"The true gate lies in that iron rule."

"Iron rule? The necessity of a price for cultivation? What crux could that be?"

Tao Qian’s unexpected answer took Yuan Gong by surprise.

His interest piqued, he asked back.

The next moment, a hint of an unusual look flashed in Tao Qian’s eyes, as his gaze wasn’t fixed on Guangping City before him, nor on this world.

He seemed to be looking beyond this realm, into the Outer Realm, into the endless, all-encompassing Great Abyss Origin Sea.

With absolute certainty, he telepathically responded,

"The cost of cultivation isn’t the issue."

"The real problem is that the price is too high, so high that every cultivator from the Human Clan ends up losing their humanity in the end, turning against their own people."

"The weak, once they step onto the path of cultivation, are no longer human, only transformed into Demons and such."

"The strong, the higher their cultivation, the less human they become, and the greater the harm they cause."

"Cultivation shouldn’t be this way, yet in this realm, it is inevitably so."

Yuan Gong had anticipated many possible answers from Tao Qian, but this one was indeed rare.

At first, when he heard it, Master Yuan immediately wanted to retort.

But soon, it was as if he had been enlightened, and after the statue trembled a few times, it fell into silence, with only some murmurs coming through:

"Cultivation has a price, this is the ultimate principle of the Heavenly Dao, the supreme rule; where could there be a mistake?"

"However, the calamities that befall the Human Clan are mostly self-inflicted, those world-ending disasters, the slaughtering of the Human Clan by Great Demons, the ambition-driven madmen, all come from the Human Clan themselves."

"If there were a way to completely sever the path of cultivation, wouldn’t the Human Clan then be free from disaster?"

"No, they’d die even faster, as any casual Outer Realm Evil God that intrudes could annihilate the world."

"Moreover, these paths of cultivation like Immortals, Buddhas, Demons, heterodoxy, etc., all originated from the dark and ignorant times when the Human Clan, to survive amidst countless Deceitful Objects and Evil Spirits, each generation desperately groped for answers. If not for these paths, the Human Clan would have been annihilated during barbaric times."

"Is this, going back in circles again?"

"Unless there is a way to lighten the price for all Cultivators?"

"But is there? If there really were, I’m afraid the sages would have discovered it long ago..."

Tao Qian, however, hadn’t expected that he’d actually entangled Master Yuan with just a few words.

With a sense of irony, he could only hurriedly transmit a message to interrupt:

"The crux of the matter lies at the source, which has already become a Dao circle that no one can untangle; thinking more is useless."

"Master Yuan, don’t worry, do you not know me, Tao Qian? I’m not that kind of reckless person."

"Even if I wish to save people, I take a cautious approach, like I feel that rebuilding the ’Ancestor God Forbidden Technique’ is also a secure path; at the very least, it can grant the Human Clan in this realm another two thousand years of respite."

"In addition, concerning the matter of cultivation, I will first ascend to the higher levels. Who knows, I might be able to Peep at the Truth of secrets...?"

Master Yuan originally wanted to persuade Tao Qian not to indulge in wishful thinking, to either honestly return to the Penglai Sea to cultivate or to compete with others for the position of revival leader within the Secret Demon Sect.

However, after the exchange, he couldn’t help but ponder and question the ironclad laws of the Cultivation World that had been propagated for ten thousand years.

He had no idea why Tao Qian had those thoughts; they were different from ordinary people.

For one thing, the soul of Master Tao was not from the Human Clan of this realm; in his previous life, he had heard of another worldview of cultivation, even though he knew that might well be a mere fantasy.

Secondly, the soul of Master Tao was indeed Abnormal; it seemed that the ultimate truth did not quite apply to him, or should it be said that its effect was not so severe?

Because of these, he had given rise to such fanciful ideas.

However, as he said himself, he had merely entertained the notion and had not recklessly acted on it.

"Ha, I’m not in the Ultimate Happiness Realm, nor have I undergone Daoist Transformation, even less a Tribulation Immortal; what is a mere Cavernous Mystery?"

"To do great things, one must be a big shot first, plain common sense."

Tao Qian murmured to himself in his heart.

Meanwhile, on one hand, he gently held the Bodhisattva’s gentle hand of his sister Yunrong, while on the other, he continued taking action, utterly disregarding the strange looks from the civilians within Guangping City.

It was only because the civilians had received his favor that they did not spit on him for his blasphemous act.

...

At dawn, two Monster Demons returned, both wearing an unsatisfied look on their faces.

Clearly, neither the excrement from Immortal Crane Mountain nor the Turtle Essence Dew from the Blood Nest Water Mansion had satisfied them.

On the other hand, Gao Buxi, though still pale and lifeless, was in a great mood.

He reached into his personal treasure bag and pulled out a small treasure. With a surge of Mana, it instantly transformed into a massive flying boat made entirely of White Jade Spirit Stones.

"This treasure is the ’Feathered Demon Boat,’ a unique artifact of the Gao Family."

"It can travel thousands of miles a day, and today we can reach the border of Qiantang Province, Daguan County, where my Gao Family’s forces are stationed."

"Gentlemen, please."

As Gao Buxi finished speaking, they saw in front of the flying boat dozens of Snake Demon sculptures with wings, ferocious faces, and bodies covered in green scales come to life.

Once everyone was aboard, these monsters let out shrieks and began pulling the flying boat toward Qiantang Province.

Conveniently,

This flying boat had just traveled around a hundred miles.

A cloud scroll came flying from the direction of Qiantang Province, shooting into the boat. After Gao Buxi read it, he excitedly shared while whipping the Snake Demons to go faster:

"Hurry, hurry, the good news has been moved up."

"The Devil Concubine Yuan Mingzhen is actually trapped at the old site of Han Mountain Temple, a major Buddhist sect in Qiantang."

"Two warlords, unable to resist the Devil Concubine’s temptation, have started fighting prematurely at the mountain’s base. Early this morning, it turned into a river of blood. The cloud scroll says the river beneath Han Mountain Temple, called the ’Ming King River,’ has been blocked by corpses and cut off, and the rest of the warlords and major Demon Sects are also eager to act."

"Cheng Arhat and Master Kongchan of the Demon Buddha Temple have sent messages urging my great-grandfather to hurry."

"To conceal our movements, they have borrowed a hidden path for us, allowing us to pass through the ’Steamed Buddha City’ and directly enter the heart of Qiantang, waiting for those fools to fight it out. Then, my Gao Family will reap the benefits as the fisherman watches the snipe and the clam."

"Let’s change course to Steamed Buddha City."

After issuing this command,

Remembering the strange name of the city and seeing the Wu Gou Buddha Son and Miao Yin Bodhisattva from Buddhism present,

Gao Buxi felt a bit showy.

With a chuckle, he said to Tao Qian and the others:

"You two come from the South Sea, so you must be quite unfamiliar with Qiantang, let alone the story of Steamed Buddha City."

"Do not rush; I shall enlighten you."

"It’s hardly a secret; it involves a dispute between two major Buddhist sects."

"Previously, the Great Governor of Qiantang Province was Cheng Arhat, backed by Han Mountain Temple."

"This man’s mind was corrupted by power, and he turned against Han Mountain Temple, which allowed the Demon Buddha Temple to seize the opportunity."

"That night, the two temples clashed, and although Han Mountain was not as strong as the Demon Buddha Temple, it was not far behind, especially using the terrain to its advantage, theoretically able to hold out for months."

"Who expected that the Demon Buddha Temple had a ruthless individual who bet a debating of scriptures with the monks of Han Mountain, discussing the matter of disaster relief and problem-solving?"

"It’s unclear how that monk managed it..."

"In the end, he actually built a city-large steamer, invited the monks of Han Mountain inside, and turned their flesh and blood into minced meat, steaming them into buns, distributing them to the civilians of Qiantang."

"Thus, the monks of Han Mountain won the scripture debate but lost their lives."

"Hahaha... truly a group of stupid monks who chanted till their brains turned to mush."

ps: Two consecutive updates, begging for a monthly ticket.

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