Witch Wind

Chapter 379 The Unrighteous Clan (Part 2)

Deep within the Wanfo Leiyin Temple, one can see deceased monks sitting cross-legged in various places on the ground.

A small number of the monks have already turned into skeletons.

Some of the monks had bodies that shimmered with a faint glow, their skin as white as jade; these were highly accomplished monks who had achieved the golden body in Buddhism. No wounds were visible on their bodies, yet they passed away peacefully.

There are also a very small number of monks whose bodies have no flesh and blood at all, but are left as a seated skeleton.

These skeletons are gold and silver in color, like glass, and shimmer with a faint light.

This is at least the attainment of the Golden Immortal realm, a high-ranking monk who can be called a 'Bodhisattva' in Buddhism. After their passing, the flame of annihilation naturally ignites on their bodies, burning away their weakest flesh and internal organs, leaving only their skeleton.

In some places, not even a skeleton remained.

On the ground, only three to five, or even dozens, of relics of varying sizes and colors remained, each faintly containing a trace of Buddhist power.

This was left by a highly accomplished monk at the Taiyi realm, a 'great bodhisattva' who holds an extremely high position among Buddhist bodhisattvas.

When they passed away, the flame of annihilation within their bodies burned even more intensely, and their 'useless' physical bodies were burned even more completely. Thus, no skeletons were left behind, only relics containing all the profound Buddhist teachings they had learned in their lives, which remained in this world.

As for whether there are other highly virtuous monks with even greater spiritual attainments.

Hard to say.

Buddhist cultivators at the Great Luo Realm can even be called 'Buddhas'. If they pass away, some Buddhist techniques will cause the flames of annihilation to completely burn the corpses of these Great Luo Realm monks, leaving not even a single relic behind.

When this type of Buddha passes away, his entire body transforms into a long rainbow and completely dissipates into the world.

Everything they had came from heaven and earth. After their passing, they had no attachments, and all that they had was returned to this world... If there were such virtuous beings in the Wanfo Leiyin Temple, it would be completely 'empty' and 'nothing', and even Xing Tianli would find it difficult to detect whether they had ever existed.

In the main hall of Wanfo Leiyin Temple, eighteen prayer cushions are lined up in a row.

Inside the main hall, the statues of the Three Buddhas, shining with golden light, stood dozens of feet tall. These three Buddha statues were cast in pure gold, and the jeweled robes on their bodies were woven from black gold thread and inlaid with countless gemstones. Furthermore, a large number of pearls, giant clam shells, corals, and other treasures were strung on the robes, making them dazzling and magnificent beyond eye-catching.

Xing Tianli and his group were utterly astonished.

A pure gold Buddha statue tens of feet tall—this is quite a grand gesture. That's why people say the Buddhist community is incredibly wealthy and extravagant.

Moreover, Buddhism does not seem to be good at Taoist supernatural powers such as 'turning stones into gold'. They prefer to collect incense offerings and merits. The Buddha statues and all the halls and buildings in the temple, as well as the mountain gates and forests, are all obtained by monks through hard work and begging from believers.

In addition, the three enormous black silk robes worn by the Three Buddhas, each dozens of feet long, were inlaid with at least 100,000 thumb-sized gems and various treasures...

The incense at Wanfo Leiyin Temple must be extremely prosperous, and the monks must live a very high standard of living!
The Three Buddhas lowered their heads slightly, their eyes fixed on the row of eighteen prayer cushions. On the sixteen cushions, there were three to five relics the size of chicken eggs in the center, with faint Buddhist light and the sound of chanting.

The entire hall was filled with the Buddhist energy emanating from these relics; the powerful and majestic Buddhist aura almost solidified within the hall. These sixteen deceased monks must have all reached the pinnacle of Taiyi cultivation.

So, the two prayer cushions in the center were completely clean, without the slightest residue.

Here, two great monks of the Great Luo Realm should have passed away.

Xing Tianli walked slowly over, bowed to the two prayer mats in the center, and a soft sigh quietly drifted out from the air. On each of the two prayer mats, a wisp of dim golden light slowly rose.

A golden light revealed the figure of a gaunt, tall old monk with a pale golden complexion.

He stared blankly at Xing Tianli and said softly, "Fellow Daoist, have mercy... In this world, those winged people are a heartless race. Their descendants are inherently treacherous, cunning, and ruthless... You must not be bewitched or deceived by them."

The old monk sighed softly, clapped his hands gently, and a surge of Buddhist light appeared in his palms. A jade box, about a foot long, six inches wide, and three inches thick, flew out from the faint Buddhist light and flew straight towards Xing Tianli: "This is the supreme secret of the Ten Thousand Buddha Thunder Sound Temple, the Great Buddha Thunder Sound. I trouble you, fellow Daoist, if you are destined, please pass on this classic text, so that the Ten Thousand Buddha Thunder Sound Temple will not lose its lineage."

Behind the jade box was a palm-sized brocade pouch woven with silver thread.

The old monk sighed softly, "In the brocade pouch are some treasures that I and my fellow disciples collected when we came to this world, treasures left over from the creation of the world... These treasures are good, but they are external things and cannot help our temple escape the calamity."

"Consider this a small reward for your contribution to the lineage of our temple."

"May Buddha have mercy... It's a pity I can never see my homeland again... This old monk, sigh, still wants a sip of strong liquor and a roasted dog leg." The old monk chuckled, and the lingering phantom vanished.

Liu Jing asked in astonishment, "Monk, can you still eat meat and drink alcohol?"

Xing Tianli sighed, took the jade box, and said in a deep voice, "A monk who eats meat and drinks alcohol is not necessarily a good monk. But a good monk who eats meat and drinks alcohol is often an extraordinary master."

"So, he ascended from his homeland of Kyushu to the planet Tailan, and then embarked on the Star Path from Tailan... He's from the same hometown."

Xing Tianli sighed with mixed feelings and looked at another golden light.

As the old monk's illusory image dissipated, the ray of golden light slowly bloomed, transforming into a circular halo about ten feet in diameter, within which various colorful images began to flicker.

This is Wanfo Leiyin Temple, and the monks, both young and old, and their past experiences.

The gaunt old monk and his seventeen fellow disciples were indeed fellow countrymen from the Nine Provinces who ascended to the planet Tailan. They attained enlightenment during the Han and Tang dynasties, and during a catastrophe of the imperial court's "suppression of Buddhism," they took the entire temple into the air and ascended to the planet Tailan.

At that time, Wanfo Leiyin Temple was just a small temple covering several hundred acres, with no more than a thousand monks in total.

Eighteen fellow disciples, extremely arrogant, led nearly a thousand disciples with cultivation levels ranging from Refining Essence to Qi Transformation to Refining Emptiness and Merging with the Dao, and even three large yellow dogs guarding the house, all ascending together.

On the planet Tailan, they encountered a Buddha.

A real Buddha whose name has been passed down in folk mythology for many years.

With the blessing of Buddhism, their cultivation deepened day by day. Thus, when Tailan Star was still under the rule of Emperor Xizong of Tang, the entire Wanfo Leiyin Temple left Tailan Star and, following the guidance of that Buddha, stepped into the vast starry sky to trace the footsteps of their ancestors.

At that time, the eighteen great monks of Wanfo Leiyin Temple were only at the peak of the Golden Immortal realm (two at the Golden Immortal level and sixteen at the Heavenly Immortal level). With such 'weak' cultivation, they stepped into the starry sky with fearless courage.

Following the guiding principles left by their ancestors, they journeyed through thousands of diverse worlds, each bearing traces of their forefathers and even the legacy of their respective sects. Along the way, they weathered numerous storms and perils, gradually strengthening the power of the Ten Thousand Buddha Thunder Sound Temple.

Golden Immortal, then Taiyi, then Daluo.

The number of disciples under his tutelage gradually grew from nearly a thousand to tens of thousands, then hundreds of thousands...

The eighteen old monks had the protective nature of mother hens, fearing that their disciples might suffer demonic calamities outside. They always kept their disciples by their side and did not even establish a 'downward temple'.

As they traveled, they lost their way in a stellar storm and plunged into this unfamiliar starry sky.

They had found a treasure land that had only recently been created and still retained a rich primordial energy. Moreover, the winged beings of this great world were so beautiful in appearance that they resembled the 'celestial beings' of the Six Realms.

When the Temple of Ten Thousand Buddhas arrived in this world, the winged people were in extremely poor condition.

In this world, winged people are not the dominant race.

At that time, the one who ruled this land was a burly, four-armed, incredibly strong, and archery-skilled innate spirit ape.

Within the halo, a large number of innate spirit apes appeared, hunting down the winged people and killing them in large numbers with bows and arrows. The men's flesh and blood were used as food, and their feathers were used directly as materials, either to make clothes or to make arrow fletching.

Even worse, these innate apes have an extremely strong interest in the females among the winged people.

The scenes were utterly horrific...

Two groups with incompatible appearances, yet no reproductive isolation.

Countless female winged beings became pregnant with the bloodline of the innate spirit apes. Their petite bodies could not provide enough nutrition for these naturally powerful bloodlines. Therefore, these innate spirit ape bloodlines would often drain all the life essence of the female winged beings after three months to nourish themselves, and then directly break free of the mother's womb to be born. Such behavior is nothing short of demonic.

Then, the compassionate monks descended from the sky. They used thunderous methods to subdue the demons and monsters. After nearly three thousand years, they finally wiped out the Primordial Spirit Ape Clan.

These winged people were indeed handsome and cute, and obedient.

In particular, their singing voices are clear and melodious; when they sing Buddhist chants, it's as if birds in the Pure Land of Ultimate Bliss are singing.

They were also extremely skilled at collecting various fresh flowers and fruits, and blending all sorts of exotic spices and perfumes to offer to the Buddha...

Their respectful attitude towards the monks who had saved their families was like that of the most devout fanatics.

The monks were in high spirits.

Moreover, this world had just been created, and on the central continent, among the surrounding stars, and in countless blessed lands and grotto-heavens, the abundant innate primordial energy was quite beneficial to their cultivation. In many of these blessed lands and grotto-heavens, innate spiritual materials were simply laid out there, allowing the great monks to pick them at will.

In particular, in some extremely precious places such as the "root of dragon veins" and "earth's acupoints", the two most powerful old monks even went through great risks to obtain several genuine innate spiritual treasures!

It is pitiful that the eighteen most accomplished monks of Wanfo Leiyin Temple attained enlightenment during the Han and Tang dynasties.

Heh, back in the Han and Tang dynasties, the entire land of Kyushu was so depleted by the older cultivators that even a single dog hair carrying a trace of innate energy had been completely plundered. The younger generation of cultivators simply didn't have the materials to forge a decent immortal artifact!
Back in the land of Kyushu, even the two most powerful old monks could only carry two bronze shovels to chop people!
Cough, cough, two dignified celestial beings couldn't even refine a single artifact for a human immortal. They could only spend tens of thousands of catties of copper ingots to extract hundreds of catties of refined copper essence, barely managing to refine two magic weapon-grade hand shovels.

The same thing happened on Tyran.

The Kyushu Grandmasters who arrived first thoroughly searched Tailan Star from head to toe, inside and out... leaving them not a single hair.

As they stepped into the starry sky, the Buddha who had stayed behind on the planet Tailan saw that these monks were really too pitiful, so he took out two Taiyi Buddhist treasures from his pouch and gave them to them for protection.

The Wanfo Leiyin Temple, relying on only two Taiyi Buddhist treasures, has been cautiously traversing the heavens.

But in this world, they can actually 'pick up' innate spiritual treasures at will—this world is destined for me!
Therefore, Wanfo Leiyin Temple decided to treat this world as its fundamental place.

They brought in a portion of the descendants of Kyushu to settle in this realm.

These descendants of Kyushu multiplied and thrived in this world. Under the mediation of the great monks, these descendants of Kyushu lived in harmony with the Winged People, helping and supporting each other.

The flame of civilization was passed down little by little from the descendants of Kyushu to these winged people.

They learned to use fire, to mine, to cultivate the land, to forge metals, and to fight...

The high monks treated the descendants of Kyushu and the Winged People with compassion, equally.

As the number of descendants of Miao people in Kyushu increased, many promising Buddhist practitioners emerged from among them, and thus, Wanfo Leiyin Temple gradually grew stronger... In addition to the main temple of Wanfo Leiyin Temple, branch temples were built one after another in famous mountains and rivers and blessed lands throughout this world.

The number of disciples among the senior monks grew, and gradually, the number of Buddhist practitioners in this world reached millions, tens of millions, and even hundreds of millions...

Not only on that central continent, the Ten Thousand Buddhas Thunder Sound Temple established 360,000 branch temples.

Around the mainland, on hundreds of thousands of stars, branch temples of the Wanfo Leiyin Temple were successively built.

At that time, the whole world was filled with the sounds of chanting and the radiance of Buddha's light; it was truly a blessed land.

Winged people cannot practice Buddhism.

They are handsome, gentle, and obedient, but for some reason, they are unable to practice Buddhism. They cannot even master the most basic introductory techniques.

So the monks taught these winged people some of the three thousand unorthodox cultivation techniques passed down among the Miao immigrants from the Nine Provinces. Well, these unorthodox techniques were easy for the winged people to learn, and the more unorthodox the techniques were, the faster they could cultivate them.

Among these winged people, there are those who are called emperors and royalty.

In the legends of the Winged People, the Imperial Clan originated from a sage who created the world with trillions of wings on his back. He perished during the creation calamity, and his heart disintegrated, transforming into the progenitor of the Winged People. This lineage, with its exceptional talent, is the Imperial Clan.

As for the royal family, they are a race born from the essence and blood of the sage who created the world; they are the royal family.

Then there are the gentry, who are a race formed from the flesh and blood of the sage who created the heavens.

Finally, there were also the common people, those ethnic groups that were hatched from the arms of the sage who created the world.

They also include the lowest-ranking slave tribes, who are said to have sprung from the legs of the sage who created the world. They are born to use their bodies and their labor to support the upper echelons of the imperial family, royal family, gentry, and commoners.

Among the winged people, the caste system is strictly divided, but there is some truth to it.

The great monks passed on three thousand unorthodox cultivation methods to the Winged People. Among the Winged People's imperial clan, some geniuses rose up... One day to enter the Dao, ten days to become an Earth Immortal, a hundred days to attain the Heavenly Immortal Dao Fruit, and thirty years to become a Golden Immortal!

Such terrifying cultivation speed delighted the senior monks, who then appointed these prodigies emerging from the imperial clans as outer guardians of the Ten Thousand Buddha Thunder Sound Temple. They enjoyed extremely high status and great power. The senior monks of the Ten Thousand Buddha Thunder Sound Temple even went to great lengths to forge powerful magical artifacts exclusively for these prodigies.

This world is, after all, the homeland of the Winged People.

Their population far exceeded that of the immigrant Kyushu descendants; their population was more than ten million times that of the Kyushu descendants. When the unorthodox methods spread among the winged people, as the natives of this world, they received the blessing of the Heavenly Dao. They practiced these unorthodox methods that were perfectly suited to them, and their efficiency was frighteningly high.

Even the slave race with the worst aptitude can attain the Heavenly Immortal Dao Fruit in an average of three to five hundred years!
This efficiency was astonishingly fast for the descendants of Kyushu.

Thus, Wanfo Leiyin Temple has developed in this world for tens of thousands of years—the number of outer disciples of Wanfo Leiyin Temple is more than a thousand times that of Buddhist disciples!
Among those imperial winged people, there were also experts at the Great Luo Realm.

Soon, the number of these winged beings at the Great Luo level exceeded three hundred.

They also practiced a large number of unorthodox formations, various vicious forbidden spells and incantations, and countless other techniques.

On that day, Wanfo Leiyin Temple held a grand Ullambana Festival ceremony, where countless Buddhist practitioners, descendants of the Kyushu people, and Winged People chanted Buddhist scriptures, performed rituals to liberate the souls of the deceased, and prayed for the well-being of all beings.

On that day, all the Buddhist cultivators were simultaneously poisoned by a deadly poison, an unpredictable poison that even two Buddhas at the Great Luo Realm could not cure.

Well-prepared, the heavily armed Dharma protectors took to the air, meticulously divided into various armies, and attacked the branch temples of Wanfo Leiyin Temple, slaughtering the Buddhist disciples.

Meanwhile, 1,200 winged immortals joined forces to besiege the main temple of Wanfo Leiyin Temple.

One thousand two hundred Great Luo!
The Winged People, right under the noses of the two Great Luo monks, managed to develop 1,200 Great Luo beings, while the Ten Thousand Buddha Thunder Sound Temple only had 300!
Three hundred and one thousand two hundred.

Two old monks, nearly at the pinnacle of the Great Luo realm, could suppress three hundred rebellious Great Luo Winged people with a mere flick of their wrists.

However, with 1,200 monks... and the two old monks also suffering from an unpredictable and deadly poison... the protective array of Wanfo Leiyin Temple was breached, and countless disciples were slaughtered. Helpless, the two old monks could only expend their last bit of strength to forcibly transport the dilapidated Wanfo Leiyin Temple into the void to evade the winged people's search.

The light flickered for a moment, then exploded with a 'pop'.

That's how it is.

Many years have passed, and the Wanfo Leiyin Temple, which had vanished into the void, has lost its ability to disappear and reappeared in the human world. Two winged human forces have launched a great battle to seize the Wanfo Leiyin Temple.

Xing Tianli, in order to investigate the past of the headless little monk, came here under the guidance of the astrologer.

“This clan is wicked…they should be executed.”

The halo of light dissipated, and an aged, hoarse voice echoed in the hall: "He should be executed... He should be executed..."

(End of this chapter)