As early as when he accidentally entered the Shahong world, Jianchou had already understood the abilities of this "little wise monk" of the Xihai Zen sect, Le Kong. He could somehow pass the levels that others could not, and his luck was always outrageously good. Compared with him, her abilities and Xie Buchen's talents were not worth mentioning.
She actually didn't expect that Zen would bring Kong with him.
After a long while of reacting, he smiled and returned the greeting: "Junior Brother Liaokong, it's been a long time since we last met. It looks like your injury has healed?"
"Okay, okay, luckily I woke up."
Liaokong also participated in the last fight on the Snowland Temple. At that time, he did not want to see Chou and Xie Buchen fighting to the death in the face of a powerful enemy, so he opened the Sumeru Mustard Seed and took the two of them in. However, he did not expect that he would be ambushed by the demoness Jianchou, and ended up taking a blow from the Aquarius Dharma King. He was seriously injured and fell into a coma, and did not wake up for twenty years.
The last time Jianchou went to see him, he was still unconscious.
At that time, Monk Yichen said that Liaokong was out of danger and his injuries were not serious. He was just trapped in a maze because of the foul and evil energy from the treasure bottle, and it was unknown how long it would take for him to wake up.
Unexpectedly, not long after, I saw people.
After hearing this, Jianchou felt much more relieved.
Liaokong was afraid that she would worry, so he touched his bald head and explained, "I feel like I just had a big dream. Thanks to the Buddha's blessing, I didn't fall into a deep sleep. After I woke up, my cultivation level increased dramatically, from the Nascent Soul stage to the Out-of-Body stage. I still haven't recovered yet, and I don't know how to use this increased realm."
When the people nearby heard this, they all fell silent.
Twenty years ago, this young and wise monk Liaokong of the Xihai Zen Sect had only reached the initial stage of the Nascent Soul stage. Now, his realm has soared and he has reached the initial stage of the Out-of-Body stage.
If this gets out to others, wouldn't this little monk be beaten to death
Even Jianchou, whose cultivation progress was already incredible, couldn't help but feel a sense of emotion when he saw this, thinking that there are indeed some differences between people.
Zen Master Xuelang, on the other hand, was very calm.
He was one of the three great Zen masters, and his temperament was not like that of Abbot Wujiu and Monk Yichen, so he seldom cared about worldly affairs. However, he was considered a senior at this time and place, so he had to explain what needed to be explained: "Fellow Daoist Yangjin had already explained the whole story when he came to the Zen sect. Junior Brother Yichen brought back the Thunder Letter from the Star Sea and told us to bring Kong with us, so we brought him with us."
It was Master Yichen who specifically pointed out that they should bring them. Jianchou understood instantly and felt a lot more relieved. Firstly, of course, it was because of the arrival of Lekong, this extremely lucky star. Second, it was because Master Xuelang, who had the strongest cultivation and combat power among the three Zen masters, was also traveling with them.
The first time she met Zen Master Xuelang was in the back mountain of Xihai Zen Sect. She was returning from the Cinder Pool and Zen Master Xuelang was coming down the mountain. They met each other, but at that time she could not see through the other's cultivation level.
Even now, she still can't feel it.
This only proves one thing, that Zen Master Xuelang's cultivation is higher than her current level, and he even exudes a kind of roundness and understanding, which is vaguely similar to the feeling given by Zhenren Hengxu.
What is the level of cultivation of Zhenren Hengxu
If Jianchou remembered correctly, Zhenren Hengxu's name was ranked first on the eighth level of the Nine-Layered Heaven Monument in the West Sea Square. He was a truly powerful being with boundaries!
The strength of Xihai Zen Buddhism is indeed as Master Yichen said, with the most retained and the thickest accumulation.
When she thought of this, she couldn't help but think of the overgrown tomb of Qian Xiu on the riverbank of a tributary of Jiutou River in Yashan, and her heart gradually became depressed.
But at this time, Qu Zhengfeng had already started to negotiate with them about the situation in the Snow Region: "This time we have four powerful monks for a surprise attack, plus a young Master Lekong who should be quite useful, so it should be foolproof. I have already dispatched the monks from the Tomorrow Star Sea. We just need to find a suitable place in the Snow Region to set up a teleportation array, and then they will come to support us. As for Yashan, Fellow Daoist Jianchou, everything has been arranged. I wonder how the Zen Sect and the Old Secret Sect are doing?"
Dakini Yangjin has experienced too many things and is actually a taciturn person. Perhaps it is because she has seen the filth of the Snow Region before, so there is actually a bit of death in her eyes.
She is not familiar with anyone and speaks in a strange way.
At this moment, he only replied: "My old sect has been fighting with the new sect for twenty years. The strength has been severely damaged. Several Dharma Kings have fallen. I am the only powerful cultivator left. Now the remaining ordinary cultivators are living in the Zen Sect. Once a surprise attack is launched, more than 300 cultivators above the Jindan level will all come."
The Snow Region was originally the territory of the Tantric Sect, but the New Tantric Sect was so powerful and irreconcilable with the Old Tantric Sect that they left to avoid disaster. If this surprise attack really wiped out the New Tantric Sect, the Snow Region would naturally be handed over to the Old Tantric Sect.
Yangjin raised her head and looked at the continuous shadows of the snowy mountains.
"In this battle, my old friend has staked everything on this. If he cannot survive, he will die."
The struggle between the old and new secret agents has been going on for a long time. Jianchou and others have heard about it a long time ago, and they also know that they have reached a life-and-death situation. After hearing Yangjin's words, they felt quite heavy.
Zen Master Xuelang was as calm as before.
The turmoil in the world seemed to be nothing to him, and even when he spoke, there was no emotion at all: "The Zen Sect has to prepare for trouble at the Ghost Gate of Dongji, and may have to attack at the same time as the Snow Region, so only one-third of the force was sent to the Snow Region. However, hundreds of people are above the Nascent Soul stage, and with the remaining forces in Xinmi, combined with the manpower you have dispatched, it should be enough to deal with it."
"Then what remains is how we plan." Jianchou pondered for a moment, and then took the initiative to ask Yangjin, "Senior Yangjin has been in the Snow Region for a long time and knows the Snow Region best. Do you have any suggestions or plans?"
"Let's talk as we walk."
Yang Jin didn't want to waste time here, so she identified it and pointed out a direction for everyone. Then she spread out her five fingers, and a palm-sized snow-white conch appeared in her palm. With a push of her spiritual power, it spread out a two-foot-long soft white light.
"Now the entire snowy region is covered with formations. We are entering from the outside world and may be known to them. Therefore, please stay within the light of my conch shell when you move forward. It will not be too late to retreat once you have entered a place with people in the snowy region."
Everyone did as they were told.
Jianchou had seen a similar conch shell when he went to Jiyuyu last time, but it looked more gorgeous than Yangjin's, but it did not have the snow-white luster and lustrous feeling of Yangjin's conch shell.
I think this should be a common magical weapon in the snowy area.
Yangjin was in the middle, Master Xuelang of the Xihai Zen Sect and Liaokong were on the left, and Jianchou and Qu Zhengfeng were naturally on the right. The five of them took advantage of the night to go deeper into the snowy area.
Halfway through the journey, Yangjin told them about the current situation in the Snow Region.
"The Xinmi Dharma King now has only two left, the Treasure Bottle and the Treasure Seal. You should have seen the strength of the Treasure Bottle Dharma King before, so it's nothing. But the Treasure Seal Dharma King holds the Houtu Seal in his hand, and he is very powerful. He is one of the variables of our trip. The other variable is the Holy Son who has disappeared for more than 20 years. The Holy Son originally stood on the side of my Old Mi many years ago, but now he can't be found. There are rumors that the people of Xinmi have controlled the Holy Son, so he can't show up. But I don't think that's the case."
Holy Son Jiye!
This was undoubtedly another name that left a deep impression on Jianchou, but she was still a little confused after hearing Yangjin's last words, so she asked, "Why do you think the rumors are untrue, Senior Yangjin?"
"The Holy Son is a son of Buddha for hundreds of generations, and he is not an ordinary person. Xinmi went through untold hardships to summon him from the cycle of reincarnation. Several Dharma Kings in their prime were unable to resist his power and suffered great losses at his hands. Only then did my Old Secret have the opportunity to compete with Xinmi and fight for a long time."
When Yangjin talked about that Buddhist disciple, she felt complicated, but she couldn't hide her worry.
"If the Holy Son could be controlled by them, he would not be the Holy Son. But he has not appeared for a long time, so something must have happened. You are from the outside world, so you may not know that although the Snow Region is large and there are many factional struggles, most of the real ordinary believers originally worshipped the Holy Son. But later, Xinmi went against the grain and worshipped the evil Buddha, which weakened this part of the believers. It is said that the Holy Son relies on the power of incense and faith to survive, and no one knows what his current situation is."
As she spoke, she dropped the topic and instead explained in detail the rules and power distribution of all aspects of Snowland Xinmi, as well as the speed with which they would provide support if a real fight broke out.
To sum it up in four words: quick victory.
If a surprise attack turned into a protracted war, the monks from the various temples surrounding the mandala temple might rush over to besiege it. Secondly, their whereabouts would be leaked, allowing them to tip off Jiyu and allow Jiyu to prepare in advance. The loss would outweigh the gain.
The group of five walked and talked along the way, and soon they arrived at a small town before dawn without anyone noticing.
It was quite a coincidence, as Jianchou had been there before.
The last time she and Xie Buchen came here, they complained at the inn in this small town, and then they met the little girl named Sang Yang. She was chosen by the Xinmi monks who were selecting concubines for the temple to pretend to be a concubine and enter the temple.
But Jianchou never expected that when he revisited the place, he would find such drastic changes. The town, which was a little run-down but at least peaceful and harmonious, was now in a mess and desolate.
People walking on the street feel like they are walking in a ghost town.
There was no one around except the five of them. Some doors of houses and shops were open, some were closed, fallen leaves were blown by the wind on the streets, tables and chairs in some shops were visibly broken, and blood was occasionally seen in the corners.
After walking a few steps, they discovered something unusual.
Qu Zhengfeng stopped beside a pool of dried blood at the corner of the street, lowered his head and stared carefully for a long time, then said: "It's already an empty town. There are traces of fighting, but the cultivation levels are not very high. It's more like a fight between low-level cultivators and mortals. There's not much blood, and not many people died. They should have been captured. The majority of the rest seem to have left on their own."
They didn't know what this meant.
After seeing the situation in the town and hearing Qu Zhengfeng's rather confident judgment, Yangjin's expression changed.
But she didn't speak immediately. Instead, she led everyone and quickly went to the next town.
One.
One.
Another one.
There was no one! Every town was empty, every city was empty! It was as if there were people living in the town one moment, and they disappeared the next moment.
With each town she passed, Yang Jin's face turned paler. When she reached the thirteenth city, one of the ten largest cities in the Snow Region, she could no longer walk and collapsed. Her beautiful face was like a blank sheet of paper, revealing a kind of desolate despair.
"They started..."
It’s such a huge snowy area, and we’ve already gone at least halfway deep into it, but we can’t find a single living person, not even a corpse. It’s really creepy!
Everyone noticed that Yang Jin looked unhappy, but they didn't bother her at first.
However, now I have to ask: "Senior Yangjin, what exactly happened?"
"Holy Sacrifice..."
Yangjin stood in this empty city, looking deeper into the snowy area, with a mocking smile on her lips and tears welling up in her eyes.
“They’re crazy.”
Jianchou had been practicing for less than a hundred years, and even though he was knowledgeable, he had never heard of the word "holy sacrifice". However, Master Liaokong and Zen Master Xuelang, who were both from Buddhist sects and had close connections with Xinmi, frowned.
Even Qu Zhengfeng couldn't help but reveal a hint of horror in his eyes.
Although he had nothing to do with Buddhism, he had practiced it for a long time and had personally experienced the war between the Yin and Yang worlds. He had seen the scene of the holy sacrifice with his own eyes.
However, at that time, there were only a few hundred people. Now, the entire Snow Region, regardless of whether they were cultivators or ordinary people, were all involved!
Zen Master Xuelang had the highest level of cultivation. He looked at the Snow Region Holy Mountain, whose outline could be seen in the distance. He had obviously realized the seriousness of the situation. He did not bother to explain and just said, "Let's go to the altar first. The incident should have only happened two days ago, so we may still be able to catch up."
The mandala is a holy city in the snowy region, located at the foot of the holy mountain. When people stand in the city, they can look up and see the snow-white temple.
Jianchou had also been to this place.
Although she didn't know what this "holy sacrifice" was, she could tell from the looks of the other people that the news of this incident would be bad news for everyone and would not be a good thing.
On the contrary, this was a bad thing that even Zen Master Xuelang was afraid of, and it was a very scary thing.
Throughout the journey to the mandala, Jianchou was thinking about the word "holy sacrifice" in his heart. However, when he climbed over the last high mountain and saw the scene with his own eyes, he was still shocked and stood still, unable to move.
The sharp mountain wind from the snowy region blew everyone's clothes.
The five people all stood on this high cliff, looking down, and no one could say a word.
On a vast ice field, there are solitary snow-capped peaks on three sides. The Holy Mountain is the one in the middle. A magnificent temple is built on the top of the mountain, which is a masterpiece of gods and ghosts and is ingenious.
The huge mandala lies at its feet.
Looking down from a high place, the streets and buildings of this city perfectly formed the "mandala" pattern depicted in the Buddhist scriptures, which should have been a metaphor for the supreme enlightenment of Buddhism, but in the eyes of everyone at this moment, it was a chilling evil spirit!
Countless people who had disappeared in the many towns in the Snow Region appeared here, in the center of the altar, on every street, in every square. There were too many of them, densely packed like a tide, filling up the gaps in the entire city...
Even outside the city gate, there were people everywhere!
At a glance, there's no end in sight.
Everyone knelt on the ground, as if they had lost consciousness long ago, with their hands clasped in front of their chests, and through their cracked lips that had not had any food or water for several days, they were still chanting unknown Buddhist scriptures.
Thousands and tens of thousands, hundreds of thousands and millions!
Countless tiny voices gathered together and strangely condensed into one force between heaven and earth. It was mysterious and obscure, grand and broad, impacting people's eardrums and echoing in everyone's heart.
They believed that even if they stood on this high cliff and shouted, no one below would hear their voices.
It's not because they're too quiet—
It is because all these believers who are kneeling on the ground and chanting devoutly have become walking corpses without their own consciousness!
Above each person's head, a thin golden line emerged, like the green smoke that rises when an incense stick is lit, converging towards a formation in the sky that has the same pattern as the underground mandala!
The color of the golden thread changes as the altitude increases.
It was pure gold at first, but the further up you went, the more the gold faded, and was replaced by a blood-red that was so eerie that it was frightening!
The entire formation in the sky was dyed red by these countless golden threads!
The snow-white temple of the past, under the reflection of this eerie and terrifying formation, no longer has its former purity and cleanliness, but instead reveals a bit of hideous evil!
In a trance, Jianchou actually felt that what was entrenched on that high place was not a lifeless temple, but a giant monster that was gradually awakening and was about to devour its prey!
“It has already begun.”
Yangjin's voice became somewhat weak, and the huge formation in the sky was reflected in her eyes, making her clear eyes turn blood red.
"Unless the Holy Son appears again, no one can break this formation or this sacrifice..."
At this point, how could Jianchou not understand what this so-called "holy sacrifice" was
It is clearly an attempt to forcibly gather the power of all believers' incense and candles, and circulate it through the formation. By then, whether it is to open the Yin-Yang Gate or to borrow power from one's own body, an extremely terrifying result will be achieved!
But those who participated in the holy sacrifice will probably become a pile of dry bones.
Dakini Yangjin had been in the Snow Region for many years, so how could she not understand these methods of Xinmi? And after she said this, neither Qu Zhengfeng nor Zen Master Xuelang refuted it, which proved the thorny nature of this so-called "holy sacrifice".
Although Jianchou was familiar with formations, the one in front of her was more than just a formation. It gathered the devout power of countless believers. It was easy to break the formation, but to break this power, even if there were ten of her, she might not be able to do it.
At this moment, he frowned tightly.
"The Ghost Gate of Dongji has been moving frequently, and the Snow Region is launching a holy sacrifice at this moment. They must have bad intentions and want to do something in the next two days." She could almost smell the smell of a storm coming, so she asked Yang Jin, "The Holy Son Jiye has mysteriously disappeared without a trace. It can be seen that Chou has heard in the past that the Holy Son is the son of Buddha, immortal and indestructible. As long as the power is enough, a sacrifice can be held to invite him out of the reincarnation of a hundred generations and come to the Snow Region. I wonder if Senior Yang Jin knows the method to invite the Holy Son to come again?"
"It's useless." Yang Jin smiled bitterly, almost without any hope. "Little friend Jianchou doesn't know that there is a time limit for the Holy Son to come to the Snow Region. The closer to the time limit, the weaker the power. But before the time limit is up, unless he dies, he cannot return to the reincarnation of a hundred generations, and naturally there is no way to invite him out. Now the Holy Son is just missing, and the time limit has not yet arrived. Even if I know the method of inviting sacrifices, I can't invite the Buddha's Son to return to the Snow Region. Moreover, the Holy Son of each generation is a new Holy Son. The Holy Son who is invited again may not be the current Holy Son who supports the Old Secret."
"Is there no way to find it or pass it on?"
Jianchou was really unwilling to accept this. Seeing that the grand holy sacrifice in the mandala below was still going on, he guessed the plans of the Xinmi monks who were colluding with Jiyu in the temple. He felt a murderous haze in his heart that could not be dispelled.
Yangjin was silent for a long time before she shook her head in self-mockery. "There is no definite method. There is only a saying that has been passed down for thousands of years, saying that there are gods living in the holy lake, and it was the gods who gave birth to the Holy Son. If you see the gods, you can find the Holy Son. But it's just a rumor. I have lived in the temple for hundreds of years and have never seen any gods of the holy lake appear. Let's think about how to stop Xinmi's plan now..."
Holy lake
Jianchou could not hear what Yangjin said next. Only the sentence "If you see the gods, you can find the Son of God" kept circling in her mind, and finally gathered together like flowing water, condensing into the holy lake under the moon in the past -
That dreamlike scene.
She was quiet for a long time, and such quietness, at this moment, seemed so unusual.
Yangjin didn't know what was wrong with her and called her.
Jianchou blinked, turned his gaze to look at the dakini with tears in her eyes, and said slowly, word by word: "What if I have seen this deity, and there is a way to make her appear?"