Chapter 1591 - 764_2

Chapter 1591: Chapter 764_2

"I see."

Master Huiming nodded slightly, motioning for them to enter and talk:

"Since it’s Mr. Cheng’s friend, I naturally have no secrets..."

Before he finished speaking, a sudden chaotic sound of footsteps and loud shouts came from outside the courtyard.

A dozen Martial Monks holding white wax wood sticks fiercely rushed into the courtyard.

The chubby monk leading them was sweating profusely and anxiously shouted at Master Huiming:

"Abbott! We heard noise from the rear mountain courtyard, what happened? Where’s the perpetrator?"

"Amitabha, do not panic."

Master Huiming’s expression remained unchanged, his hands clasped, his tone naturally calm:

"Just now it was merely an exchange of Buddhist Law between me and a few guests who traveled from afar, an occasional realization, hence the commotion."

"The guests have left satisfied now, there are no perpetrators here. You all retreat and continue with your morning lessons."

Upon hearing this, Fang Cheng slightly raised his eyebrows, secretly muttering to himself.

So beating someone until their bones break is called "exchange of Buddhist Law," and forcing them to flee is "leaving satisfied."

This old monk lies with a straight face, truly worthy of being a High Monk practicing Great Brightness Zen.

The Martial Monks looked at each other.

They looked at the shattered and overturned courtyard tiles, and the obvious pit blown open by some energy.

Though full of doubt, they respectfully responded, carried their sticks, and exited.

Once the courtyard regained its tranquility.

Fang Cheng and Cheng Jiashu followed Master Huiming into Jingxin Residence’s guest hall, taking seats as host and guests.

In the corner, the red clay stove boiled water bubblingly.

A little monk approached with a tray to serve steaming hot tea to the three, then retreated to guard the door.

Fang Cheng took the teacup, gently blew away the floating tea leaves, and took a sip.

A faint bitterness slid down his throat, and the residual aura of killing in the courtyard dissipated with it.

He set down the teacup and looked up at the elderly monk to straightforwardly address the issue:

"Zen Master, not to hide anything. Some time ago, unusual changes appeared in my Spiritual Secret Realm."

"In the land I have created, a temple suddenly appeared out of nowhere. Inside, dozens of monks in gray robes live, repeating daily actions of sweeping, striking wooden fish, and chanting sutras..."

Fang Cheng, in a steady tone, narrated the abnormal situation within his Inner World:

"I tried to approach and converse, but regardless of how I communicated, they only clasped hands and replied with a few mechanical platitudes."

"They are like shells without self-awareness, only relying on the instinct of their past lives for activities. According to my guess, these monks should be the souls of the previous generation of Gufeng Temple monks massacred two thousand years ago."

"Thud."

Master Huiming’s hand, which was originally stringing the prayer beads, suddenly halted, the sandalwood beads clashing together with a crisp sound.

This High Monk, who remained unfazed in the face of catastrophes, now raised his graying eyebrows, surprise hard to conceal in his eyes:

"The remnants of this temple’s ancestors from two thousand years ago? How... how could it be? Mr. Fang, are you speaking the truth?"

"You must know, the crucial disaster that massacred the temple was caused by Jiang Chen himself, whoever fell to his hand had their soul sucked into the Magic Domain of the Corpse Mountain Blood Sea, eternally without rebirth. How could they appear in your Secret Realm?"

"Because that monster is already dead."

Cheng Jiashu interjected, interrupting Master Huiming’s shock.

He casually picked a Bodhi Seed from the fruit plate on the low table, leaned back against the chair:

"Back then I received inspiration from you, Zen Master, pursued the lead, and finally found the hidden true body of Jiang Chen in Ancient Locust Village of Cheng Family’s ancestral home."

"About a month ago, Fang Cheng personally intervened, executed that wicked Ghoul King, thoroughly suppressed his Magic Domain."

"With Jiang Chen’s Magic Domain shattered, those souls he devoured naturally were freed, re-entering reincarnation."

"Jiang Chen... is vanquished?"

Master Huiming murmured to himself, his parched lips slightly trembling.

He steadily eyed Fang Cheng, remaining silent for a full half a minute, seeming to digest this astonishing news.

Afterward, the old monk clasped his hands, lowered his head, and chanted a long Buddhist title.

Upon raising his head again, the shock in his eyes had transformed into profound compassion, his voice carried added traces of profundity:

"Do you know, Mr. Cheng, Mr. Fang, how Master Fa Zhi, the abbot of Gufeng Temple two thousand years ago, and the seventy-two Protective Monks, ultimately met their end?"

Fang Cheng’s eyes flickered, awaiting the continuation.

"The world assumed they were massacred unitalaterally by Jiang Chen."

Master Huiming shook his head, his gaze shifting to the distant rolling mountains outside the window, speaking solemnly:

"In fact, it wasn’t the case. Ancestor Master Fa Zhi’s cultivation reached the heavens, and seventy-two Martial Monks could form the Arhat Formation, even if the court rallied thousands of troops, they couldn’t easily confine them."

"Relying solely on Jiang Chen’s abilities at the time, he could not deal with Ancestor Master Fa Zhi alone, let alone wipe out the entire Gufeng Temple."

"The true calamity, in fact, originated from the Otherworld..."

Saying this, Master Huiming placed the sandalwood prayer beads on the low table with a sigh:

"You should know, the old site of Gufeng Temple was not an ordinary domain, there existed a spatial rift connecting to the Otherworld."

Upon hearing this, Fang Cheng and Cheng Jiashu nodded with confusion.

Seeing Master Huiming not directly explaining the issue of the souls, but instead talking about Gufeng Temple’s geographical secrets,

the two remained silent, not knowing his intent but quietly listening.

"That spatial rift has long spilled demonic qi outward. To ordinary people who touch it, death is certain. But for cultivators with resilient will, if they can withstand erosion and refine it, instead it provides great benefit to cultivation."

Master Huiming’s expression turned solemn, facing the curious gazes of the two, narrating a long-hidden secret:

"Over two thousand years ago, Shen Zhao Ancestor chose Gufeng Temple as a place for deep cultivation, eventually attaining nirvana here, to build the entrance to the relic and suppress the spatial rift, while honing their Buddhist heart with demonic qi."

"Afterwards, over hundreds of years, the spatial rift expanded and the demonic qi leaked from inside grew denser, occasionally resulting in black rain."

"Beasts within surrounding forests contaminated became twisted and mutated, even demons attempting to crawl through the rift."

"By the generation of Ancestor Master Fa Zhi, he decisively retreated with the Protective Monks to guard the entrance to the relic on the rear mountain, chanting as a formation day and night, never leaving the edge of the rift."

"However, the message about the spatial rift somehow reached the court. Emperor Mingde at the time, trusting slander, recklessly sought longevity, ordered Gufeng Temple to hand over control of the relic entrance."

"Understanding the disastrous consequences of the imperial court meddling with the spatial rift, Ancestor Master Fa Zhi defied and refused, ultimately angering the Emperor."

"Jiang Chen commanded a large force to besiege Gufeng Temple, attempting to forcibly seize control over the spatial rift."

"Upon stepping into Gufeng Temple’s Underground Palace Array core, he was spotted by a Demon God of the Otherworld, selected as a vessel for divine descent."

"Jiang Chen, enticed and manipulated, raised a butcher’s knife against the temple monks, initiating a massacre of flesh and blood throughout the ancient temple. With each person killed, his sanity further eroded, until he completely became a puppet of the Demon God."

"Should the Demon God fully descend, Jiang Chen would transform into a true Ghoul King, by then, perhaps no one in the world could stop this devastation."

"Faced with the boundless magic power and terrifying presence infiltrating from the Otherworld, the ancestors knew if they retreated, humanity would be utterly destroyed."

"Thus, they formed the decisive formation, willingly fed the demon with their flesh and lives, and cultivation transformed into shackles, forcibly trapping Jiang Chen’s shell.

"For these two thousand years, the ancestors’ remnants constantly tangled with Jiang Chen within the Magic Domain, forcing the monster to slumber most of the time, preventing havoc upon the world, thus severing the opportunity for the Demon God’s descent."

"So, even after death, their will never ceased resistance, until today, two thousand years later."