Lin Fang merely smiled and shook his head, "I am used to being a free spirit and have no plans to stay here any longer."

"That’s truly a pity. With your stature as a Fellow Taoist, you might have caught the eye of the Taoist Master, and who knows, you might have skyrocketed to great heights," Great Immortal Hu Li said with considerable regret.

"Big Brother, let’s not speak further. Since everyone has their own aspirations, why should we force others?" Great Immortal Lu Li couldn’t help but speak up from the side.

"Let it be, let it be. It seems you are quite resolute, Fellow Taoist, and I will not press you any further."

As the group parted ways and Lin Fang and others had gone far, Great Immortal Lu Li finally voiced his complaint: "Big Brother, what were you thinking, inviting this young man to join us? If he really gains favor from the Taoist Master, won’t we have to share a portion of our awards with him?"

Great Immortal Hu Li sighed slightly upon hearing this and turned to look at his two brothers before slowly saying, "How difficult it is to earn the Taoist Master’s favour! You both should also understand the strength of the Buddhist Sect. If we have a master like him to assist us, our chances of success will be much greater."

However, it was clear that Great Immortal Lu Li did not agree.

Meanwhile, as the group who left the National Master Mansion walked along the roadside, Little Fox asked Lin Fang with some puzzlement, "Big Brother Lin, why didn’t you agree? That’s the legendary Taoist Master! If you truly gained his favor, you would surely ascend to great heights."

Even a minor demon like Little Fox had heard tales of the Taoist Master, showing just how deeply ingrained Daoism is in people’s hearts.

Lin Fang let out a soft sigh and said, "This venture is akin to trying to snatch chestnuts out of the fire, and I am certain that they will not succeed."

What seemed like a simple conflict between Buddhism and Taoism, Lin Fang nevertheless sensed something amiss. The shadow of Heavenly Court was everywhere, whether it was Cold Dragon or Summon Wind and Call Rain, Lin Fang even suspected that these three demons had been tricked by Heavenly Court into becoming pawns in the rivalry between Buddhism and Taoism.

When Buddhist Sect’s retaliation arrived, it would smoothly direct the blame toward Daoist Sect, thus sparking the conflict between Buddhism and Taoism.

The relationships among Buddhist Sect, Daoist Sect, and Heavenly Court seemed complex and intertwined, entangling their future conflicts that would dominate the changes in the Three Realms.

Since that day, Lin Fang and his companions rarely found themselves some leisure time, after all, Tang Monk and his disciples were marking every step and were too far behind Lin Fang and his group. The road was fraught with hardships and many demons obstructing the way, thus it would yet take some days before reaching the borders of Chechi Kingdom.

During this opportunity, Lin Fang took advantage to sort through his gains. After all, he had seldom had a moment to rest on his journey. Journey to the West loomed over them like a vast net descending from the sky, and he needed to tread carefully to avoid becoming collateral damage.

During this time, Gu Zhongtong experienced pain and pleasure. White Ape was indeed a strict master, but not a qualified teacher.

His method of teaching his disciple was always the same: combat, equally matched combat.

Every day, White Ape would make Lin Fang restrain his power to match that of Gu Zhongtong and then begin a contest of swordsmanship. As expected, every time Gu Zhongtong would end up battered and bruised. Fortunately, Lin Fang had mastered some healing spells that could heal injuries; otherwise, Gu Zhongtong’s physical condition would hardly sustain such intense training.

While Lin Fang continued his practice of cultivation, he also took some time to refine the Glazed Pagoda with Samadhi True Fire.

The power of this treasure gradually revealed itself, and it would surely become a magical treasure that would enable him to overpower his enemies. Therefore, he was unwilling to delay even slightly, refining it daily.

As his refinement deepened, flame patterns began to emerge on the body of the pagoda, making the entire treasure appear even more mysterious.

Lin Fang gently exhaled. He could feel that with the appearance of the flame patterns, a huge fireball seemed to have formed in the lower space of the pagoda, resembling the sun.

In the future, when he captured enemies inside the pagoda, he could choose to burn them with flames instead of slowly trapping them to death. Moreover, this flame was a combination of Samadhi True Fire and True Sun Fire, and it would grow stronger over time.

Meanwhile, outside the monastery wall in the Chechi Kingdom, a massive movement to destroy Buddhist temples began. Numerous temples hidden among the mountains and forests were uprooted, and many monks were forced to renounce their vows. Large statues of Buddha were toppled to the ground, marking a calamity for the Buddhist Sect.

"Amitabha Buddha!" In a forest, an old monk spat blood. Behind him stood several young monks, all of whose faces were filled with terror.

In front of them stood two people in green-robes, holding wooden staffs entwined with a venomous snake that was hissing, their eyes coldly fixed on them.

"This old monk is not bad at all. He actually managed to hurt us brothers," the two strange men let out an eerie laugh, like owls in the night.

"Amitabha Buddha, our Dharma Strict Temple lives a secluded life, devoted to the study of Buddhist law every day. Why do you undertake such cruel acts, patron? Are you not afraid of being blamed by Buddha?" the old monk stabilized the tumultuous energy in his chest and gasped.

"You can only blame yourself since the Buddhist Sect offended the State Preceptor. In the Chechi Kingdom, having offended the State Preceptor, don’t expect to find a foothold. As for Buddha, we believe in The Venerated Way of the Three Pure Ones, not whatever Buddha you speak of."

Upon hearing this, the old monk’s face showed a sorrowful expression as he sighed, "Was it not just a dispute over rain seeking? Why must the State Preceptor bear a grudge and insist on exterminating our Buddhist Sect?"

"Haha, we can’t know the affairs of great people. Don’t blame us brothers for being cruel; blame yourself for choosing to be a monk!"

"Big Brother, why waste words? Kill them, loot the treasure, and let’s go back. I didn’t expect these temples to be this rich. Those Buddha statues are actually inlaid with real gold. We should plunder more temples quickly, or we’ll miss out," urged the man beside him.

With a gesture of their snake staffs, countless venomous snakes surged out from the woods, rushing towards the monks.

At this moment, the old monk was too weak to fight any longer, and these young monks were too scared to retaliate after seeing the terrifying snakes.

Despair appeared on the old monk’s face as he sat cross-legged, leading the young monks to chant Buddhist scriptures in low voices. The chanting echoed through the forest, seemingly with magical power that soothed their frightened souls, calming even the most frightened young monk, who began to chant earnestly.

"These monks indeed have something about them, what a pity!" remarked the people in green-robes sentimentally.

Just then, a loud shout came from the sky: "Evildoers with trivial skills, daring to show off in front of the Buddhist Sect!"

No sooner had the voice faded than a monk dressed in a kasaya descended from the sky.