118: Chapter 118 Old Stories of the Buddhist Temple

"Om Ma Mi Ba... Mou Mi..." Bursts of Sanskrit chanting seemed to approach from afar. A light gradually rose, growing brighter and brighter, so much so that even closed eyelids could not block out the brilliant radiance.

Zhao Feng opened his eyes, and before him was a magnificent, golden hall. In front of a glistening golden Buddha statue, a group of monks in yellow robes sat cross-legged on the ground, the sound of wooden fish clacking rhythmically, the Sanskrit chants ethereal and distant.

The hall was spotless. Inside were monks in yellow robes, and outside were monks in gray robes. There were about a hundred monks in total. Amidst the chanting, the hall became increasingly solemn and sacred, and the golden body of the Buddha statue appeared even more compassionate.

Liu Xuan was also awakened by this scene. She rubbed her eyes, walked over, and asked, "Where is this? Where did these monks come from?"

Zhao Feng watched her walk over, and the hay they had slept on and their luggage gradually disappeared. He immediately realized that this was an illusion.

"Be careful." Zhao Feng pulled Liu Xuan over, eyeing the monks vigilantly.

Those monks seemed not to see the two of them. Although they passed by them, it was as if they could not see them at all.

Liu Xuan playfully waved her hand in front of one of the monks, but the monk remained oblivious. It was as if the two of them were inside a massive holographic movie.

Zhao Feng watched the monks coldly, his heart filled with vigilance. Both his super vision and super hearing told him that this was completely real.

He snorted softly, and the strange symbol between his brows shimmered with spiritual light as an eye capable of seeing through all things appeared.

But the monks remained monks, the hall remained the hall; everything was so real.

Zhao Feng inwardly cursed, but there was nothing he could do. He had to remain vigilant and wait to see what would happen. Even if there were real danger, he could activate his terrain modification ability or try to create an animal capable of seeing through illusions to break the situation. However, he was personally interested in the destruction of the Buddhist temple and wanted to discover some clues within it.

The chanting continued for a long time before it finally stopped.

Among the yellow-robed monks, an old monk sitting at the very front slowly stood up, turned around, and said, "Fellow monks, although Mount Ling has disappeared, we, as monks, must continue the spirit of compassion and take it as our duty to subdue demons. We must absolutely not let that Demon Lord Leiming succeed! Fellow monks, our Guanghua Temple would rather be a shattered jade vessel than a whole tile."

"Namo Amitabha!"

"Namo Amitabha!"

...

Although the old monk's voice was intense, his emotions were incredibly calm, as if he had completely disregarded his own life and death.

"Master Guangji, the demon army is approaching!" A monk in gray robes rushed into the hall and said, pressing his palms together.

"All monks of the temple, follow me to meet the enemy!"

A group of monks followed Master Guangji out of the hall and stood on the steps. Zhao Feng and Liu Xuan also followed; anyway, they could not be seen, so there was nothing to worry about.

The monks who had originally been doing their lessons also held wooden staffs, standing in various positions, looking at the sky with solemn expressions.

Liu Xuan pointed at the sky, trembling slightly, and said, "Benefactor, look, it's a Yao Beast!"

In the sky, an incredibly large black eagle flew over with its wings spread. Clouds rolled, blocking out the sun, and the tall trees in the temple were whipped so hard they whistled, appearing as if they were about to collapse.

Behind that black eagle was an endless expanse of black clouds, with banners fluttering within them, and faintly, countless armies were roaring with strange sounds.

Suddenly, the black eagle transformed into a man in black.

The man stepped on the black clouds and laughed out loud.

"Old monk Master Guangji, why do you insist on throwing an egg against a rock? If you do not surrender, all the monks in your temple will be turned into blood food."

"Amitabha. Demon Lord Leiming, why say more? Even if the Righteous Path no longer exists, for us, it is merely passing into Nirvana. If I do not enter Hell, who will?"

Master Guangji remained unmoved, pressing his palms together as he spoke.

"What a fine old monk, I admire you! Even large Sects like the Five Elements Sect live under the tyranny of the demon kingdom, yet I did not expect you, Master Guangji, to be so resolute. Since that is the case, I will see you off." Demon Lord Leiming sneered coldly.

"After today, your Buddhist Sect will be history; it actually makes me, this demon lord, feel quite troubled." Demon Lord Leiming waved his hand, and countless demon armies surged forward from behind him.

Master Guangji sighed in a low voice, "I did not expect the thousand-year Legacy of our Guanghua Temple to be buried just like this. Heavenly Dao, what has happened to you?"

Immediately, his long eyebrows twitched, and he transformed into a wrathful Vajra. "Today's battle will let these demons know that our glorious Human Race cannot be easily insulted! Disciples, form the Arhat Formation! Namo Amitabha!"

"Whoosh!" The group of gray-robed monks shifted their positions, holding their staffs at eyebrow level, and arranged themselves into a strange formation. As their Buddha Power circulated, blinding golden light burst forth from the center, forming a strange symbol.

Zhao Feng's Heavenly Eye clearly saw the circulation of that Buddha Power, and he could not help but let out a soft "Oh?" This Buddha Power was indeed different from Spiritual Qi. Spiritual Qi only contained pure Spiritual Qi and Mental Energy, but within this Buddha Power, besides those two, there were extremely tiny scripture characters jumping about. How was this achieved?

Liu Xuan suddenly tugged on his sleeve and exclaimed, "Benefactor, look, look! These monks are amazing!"

Zhao Feng withdrew his thoughts and looked at the monks. He saw that those gray-robed monks, stimulated by the symbol in the center, had their bodies covered in a layer of gold leaf that shone as brilliantly as gold.

"Hmph, Arhat Golden Body, this is actually somewhat interesting!" Demon Lord Leiming snorted softly, "Little ones, charge!"

Various weird-looking demons let out all sorts of roars and charged toward the Arhat Formation composed of the gray-robed monks.

"As for you, let me experience the Dharma Body of Bodhisattva Guanghua."

Demon Lord Leiming transformed back into the black eagle, turning into a stream of light as he lunged over.

"Amitabha!" Master Guangji whispered the Buddhist chant, and countless golden rays suddenly shot out from his body, forming a tall phantom image of a Bodhisattva around him.

That Bodhisattva had compassionate features, wore a jade-white Dharma crown, and held a green branch in hand. Amidst the endless golden light, the branch had already swept toward Demon Lord Leiming.

"Playing tricks! A mere Body Integration Buddhist Practitioner dares to be presumptuous!" Demon Lord Leiming sneered disdainfully, his two claws, glowing with black light and carrying infinite demonic power, slammed into the phantom branch with a bang.

"Namo Amitabha! One day, the Buddha said, 'I have six desires and seven emotions; how should I deal with them?' The Bodhisattva replied, 'With vast Dharma power, transform them into the Realm of Six Desires and the Realm of Seven Emotions...'"

Those old yellow-robed monks did not take action, but instead began to chant the "Namo Guanghua Bodhisattva Vow Sutra." As they chanted, the scriptures suddenly transformed into countless golden, glittering characters that converged upon the Dharma Body of Bodhisattva Guanghua.

The branch seemed to be turning from virtual to real, and it struck Demon Lord Leiming's sharp claws with a bang.

Infinite Buddha Power and demonic power collided, whipping up an endless hurricane. The hall could not bear the burden; the thick beams groaned and creaked, the tiles rattled, and the attached Buddha Power trembled, appearing as if it were about to break.

A blow evenly matched!

The monks and demons fought incessantly, but Zhao Feng, the outsider, had made a new discovery.

"Truly marvelous!"