“We… spent… three days… here… while outside… no, it was… a month?”
As she watched Xu Qi’an slowly slice through space, the nine-tailed fox spoke.
The two of them weren’t moving quickly, but compared with Desolation, who advanced one step at a time with solid footprints, they already held every advantage.
“Probably…”
Xu Qi’an paused, then said:
“I’ve suddenly thought of a question.”
The nine-tailed fox patiently waited for him to finish, then replied:
“What question? Also, why aren’t you looking at me?”
“It takes the better part of a day just to turn my head. Too tiring.” Xu Qi’an gave a plain and simple reason, then said:
“It’s hard to believe. How did a god-demon with such powerful spiritual essence die?”
Shifting space required his complete concentration, and it was closely tied to what he could see. If Xu Qi’an wanted to shift a certain patch of space, he had to see it with his own eyes.
If he turned his head to look at the nine-tailed fox, then the space he shifted would be in her direction, and that would throw off their course.
The nine-tailed fox thought for a moment, then answered:
“The power possessed by every Beyond-rank is impossible to measure. This god-demon who controlled the laws of the world might not necessarily have been that strong. If Desolation were trapped in this sort of domain and used its innate divine power to devour everything, do you think the law of slowed time in this space could still be maintained?”
Xu Qi’an said nothing more and accepted her explanation.
Bored out of her mind, she instead grew interested in talking, and said softly:
“The Jianzheng said that at the centre of Gods and Demons island lies the key to the first great catastrophe. Do you think the meaning of this island’s existence was to store that thing?”
Xu Qi’an immediately corrected her:
“‘Store’ isn’t the right word. Who stored it?”
Seeing the silver-haired demoness fall into thought and stay silent, he let his thoughts wander and continued:
“But your idea is worth thinking about. Why is this island in the Guixu? Where did the thing on the island come from? Why did it make gods and demons slaughter one another? And why were the first and second great catastrophes different?
“Where exactly did the change between the two catastrophes lie?”
The nine-tailed fox shook her head.
“Perhaps only by seeing that thing will we understand everything. The Jianzheng said that once we see it, we’ll understand it.”
Xu Qi’an let the topic pass. As he teleported with the nine-tailed fox in tow, he said:
“Lately my mind hasn’t been settled. I don’t know if it’s just my imagination, but I keep hearing things by my ear.”
“Hearing things?” The nine-tailed fox was startled.
“I keep hearing bursts of Buddhist chant, and someone is always calling me the Supreme Buddha,” Xu Qi’an said in a deep voice.
…
The silver-haired demoness felt he was lying to her again.
…
The capital, the Tower of Noble Spirit.
“It’s midsummer.”
Wei Yuan, with frost at his temples and refined, handsome features, sat behind the desk. He glanced at the crimson-robed old man opposite him and smiled.
“It’s time to draw in the net.”
Zhao Shou, dressed in crimson robes, sat upright with official cap on his head, no longer carrying his usual unrestrained air of loose hair at the temples. He nodded and said:
“Passing messages and organising personnel both take time. Drawing in the net now will weaken the Buddha’s fortune just before the Buddhist Dharma Assembly. How many believers has the Mahayana Buddhist sect in the Western Regions gathered?”
Wei Yuan openly gave away confidential intelligence:
“According to the last report sent back, among the common people of the Western Regions, those secretly believing in the Mahayana Buddhist sect had already exceeded three hundred thousand.”
As for now, there would only be more.
“Three hundred thousand…” Zhao Shou drew a sharp breath. “How could there be so many?”
Wei Yuan shook his head and said:
“If Her Majesty heard you say that, she’d invite you to take a walk through the Ministry of Revenue’s silver vaults.”
Zhao Shou frowned, not quite understanding.
Wei Yuan then explained to him tactics such as “join the faith and get silver” and “bring along friends and family to join and you’ll get a share of silver too”. For the sake of secrecy, only he and Huaiqing in court knew of this matter. Even the Minister of Revenue and his vice ministers didn’t know.
Because the silver hadn’t gone through the Ministry of Revenue, but through the border markets in the north and south.
Of course, that excluded the people doing the work on the ground.
“No wonder the Minister of Revenue has been privately complaining that the silver can’t be collected, and keeps submitting memorials impeaching the officials in charge of those three border markets, only for them always to be suppressed by Her Majesty.” Zhao Shou suddenly understood.
Wei Yuan took a sip of tea.
“The strongest force in the world has always been silver. Add to that Arhat Du’e’s efforts over the last two years, and three hundred thousand believers isn’t that many.”
Apart from those two reasons, the characteristics of Mahayana Buddhism itself, which made it suited to preaching and spreading, were also crucial.
It was easier for the common folk at the bottom to accept.
Zhao Shou was pleased, but also frowning.
“Have we underestimated Mahayana Buddhism’s power to spread? If Mahayana Buddhism is established as the state religion, then given time, it will bloom all across the Central Plains and be impossible to restrain.”
Wei Yuan wasn’t the least flustered. He smiled and said:
“Mahayana Buddhism is different from the Buddhist sect of the Western Regions. It won’t produce powers at the level of Bodhisattvas and Buddha. Besides, what Mahayana Buddhism believes in is Du’e, and the Supreme Buddha Xu Ningyan.”
Zhao Shou thought for a moment, then felt reassured.
The lack of top-tier powerhouses meant it could be restrained, suppressed, and its development limited.
And because its object of faith was Xu Ningyan, Mahayana Buddhism would remain within controllable bounds and wouldn’t become a tiger nurtured into a threat.
Wei Yuan continued:
“The reason I invited Great Scholar Zhao here today is to discuss with you how to relocate those three hundred thousand, or perhaps even more, people from the Western Regions into the Central Plains.”
This was a vast undertaking. Escorting them alone and the arrangements afterwards weren’t something ordinary forces could handle. Only a dynasty like the Great Feng had the corresponding national strength.
Holding his teacup, Zhao Shou said slowly:
“Last year’s cold disaster and the Yunzhou rebel army had a great impact. The Central Plains still haven’t recovered their vitality. The population has sharply fallen, and fields lie fallow. Though it pains one to see it, at this moment it happens to be an opportunity.
“The Great Feng has enough land to settle the believers of Mahayana Buddhism.
“But a large-scale migration will definitely cause a stir. It’s best if they head east in batches. As for grain, midsummer is already here, and the autumn harvest isn’t far off, so we needn’t worry about being unable to feed these people.”
In addition, those from the Western Regions who migrated to the Central Plains could become an important labour force, exactly what the Great Feng needed at present.
Wei Yuan added:
“They must be moved into the Central Plains before the Buddhist Dharma Assembly.”
After that, the two of them discussed in detail the regions in which to settle the Mahayana believers, how to send them east in batches, how many men would be needed as escorts, route planning, and so on.
At the end, Zhao Shou proposed:
“Tell Wang Zhenwen about this later. As the empire’s patcher, no one can match you in terms of the bigger picture. But when it comes to details, Wang Zhenwen is far better than you.”
Wei Yuan smiled and nodded, then suddenly asked:
“Will the fortune of this Mahayana Buddhism belong to Xu Qi’an?”
Zhao Shou pondered, then said:
“Since it is the state religion, the Great Feng gets one portion, Du’e gets one portion, and Xu Ningyan alone takes eight.”
The Dean sighed and said with some envy:
“When you trained that little Bronze Gong back then, did you ever imagine things would come to this today?”
The moment Wei Yuan heard this, he at once set down his teacup, folded his hands into his wide sleeves, and said lightly:
“Li Miaozhen once said something:
“‘Just do good deeds, and ask not about your future.’
“As far as I’m concerned, it’s the same.”
His smile was plain, his gaze gentle, but Zhao Shou could clearly feel the pride hidden in Wei Qingyi’s eyes and tone.
Look how pleased with yourself you are… Zhao Shou, ever the model of a teacher, expressionlessly took a sip from his teacup, then hissed.
“This is old tea, isn’t it?”
Wei Yuan was taken aback. He lowered his head to look at the teacup, then corrected him:
“This is the first batch of new tea Mu Nanzhi planted this year. Xu Ningyan specially sent it over before going out to sea.”
Zhao Shou put on a “puzzled” expression.
“But I remember that after Xu Ningyan married Her Highness Lin’an, the Flower God stopped planting tea. Erlang mentioned it to me while chatting, making fun of his elder brother. Oh, perhaps I remembered wrongly.”
Wei Yuan: ”…”
…
The Western Regions. The sky was so blue it intoxicated the heart, and white clouds hung quietly at the horizon.
The towering and majestic Ananda mountain range stood beneath the blue sky and white clouds, as if it had existed since antiquity.
On the wilderness at the foot of Ananda, believers from the various city-states and kingdoms of the Western Regions moved towards the holy mountain, kowtowing once every three steps.
They were incomparably devout. Their faith stood above everything, including kinship and respect for their rulers.
In the Western Regions, divine authority stood supreme above all. Kings were no more than puppets, and the nobility were servants beneath divine authority.
The common people living in the Western Regions could fail to respect their kings, and they could be disloyal to nobles, but they could not be without faith.
And their faith belonged only to that supremely exalted Buddha, the one and only since time immemorial.
Especially when they gazed into the distance and saw that towering, majestic holy mountain, the reverence in their hearts only deepened, and their devotion only grew stronger.
According to the people living near Ananda, not long ago the holy mountain had been jointly attacked by the Yao of the Southern Marches and experts of the Great Feng from the Central Plains. The commotion had been so great it could be clearly heard dozens of li away.
Holy Mountain Ananda had almost been razed to the ground.
But now, with their own eyes, they could see that the holy mountain was completely intact, standing in silence between heaven and earth.
The only proof was that the summit of the holy mountain was now bare of snow and no longer looked like a white-haired old man.
On a plain far away from Ananda, beneath a bodhi tree, Du’e, dressed in a red-and-yellow cassock, sat cross-legged with palms pressed together, gazing at distant Ananda.
A middle-aged monk stood at his side with palms together.
The middle-aged monk had the typical appearance of a man from the Western Regions, with a rounded face. If Xu Qi’an were here, he would recognise him as Monk Jingchen, the one who had clashed with him during the Buddhist contest.
“Master, a message has come from the Great Feng court.”
Du’e gave a slight nod.
Jingchen continued:
“The Great Feng plans to carve out a separate territory of two thousand li in the northern parts of Leizhou and Chuzhou for our Mahayana Buddhist faith to dwell in, and will provide one year’s grain. Al-Asura and the Earth Sect’s Daoist Jinlian, both beyond-mortal, will station themselves in the Mahayana Buddhist sect to guard against retaliation from the Bodhisattvas.
“Also, on the day of the Buddhist Dharma Assembly, the female Emperor has agreed to issue an edict conferring state religion status upon the Mahayana Buddhist faith.”
To confer state religion status upon Mahayana Buddhism was equivalent to giving the Mahayana Buddhist sect a legitimate name. Fortune would thereby gather and be stripped away from the Buddhist sect of the Western Regions.
Arhat Du’e gave a slight nod, rather satisfied.
Jingchen paused for a moment, then said, “But the Great Feng has one condition. The migration must be completed before the Buddhist Dharma Assembly.”
Arhat Du’e pondered for a moment, then nodded.
“We shall proceed according to their requirements.”
Monk Jingchen acknowledged him and showed a few traces of a smile.
“For Mahayana Buddhism to flourish right under the noses of the Bodhisattvas, the Great Feng court truly has done everything it could. Master, you were right. We may not trust the Great Feng, but we can trust Silver Gong Xu.
“No, the Supreme Buddha.”
Without the Great Feng court handing over silver when silver was needed, and supporting them at any cost, it would have been very difficult for Mahayana Buddhism to develop so quickly in such a short time, to spread among the suffering common folk, and to show a trend like sparks starting a prairie fire.
Du’e said flatly:
“The eyes of the Bodhisattvas have never rested on the dust.”
The dust referred to the common folk at the bottom.
“Has Xu Ningyan still not returned?” he asked at once.
“No news.” Monk Jingchen shook his head.
Arhat Du’e frowned slightly and sighed.
“I only hope that when he returns, he will already be half-step Martial God.”
With the proper matter concluded, Monk Jingchen looked towards distant Ananda and unconsciously lowered his voice.
“Master, wasn’t the holy mountain destroyed?!”
At these words, Arhat Du’e’s expression turned complicated, and he said:
“The Buddha is the holy mountain, and the holy mountain is the Buddha.”
What does that mean? The Buddha has become a mountain? Monk Jingchen knit his brows tightly.
…
After several days of shifting space, Xu Qi’an and the nine-tailed fox finally saw a gigantic monster appear ahead. Its body was as huge as a mountain, its fur black, with a goat-like frame, and six curved horns on its head like thorny brambles.
Desolation!
They had finally caught up with Desolation.
Farther away than Desolation, a pillar of light shot into the sky.
The thing the Jianzheng spoke of, the thing symbolising the great catastrophe… Xu Qi’an and the nine-tailed fox both felt their spirits lift and their heartbeats quicken.
At the same time, Desolation, who had been slowly walking ahead, suddenly stopped, then “slowly” turned its head.
One man, one fox, one god-demon. Six eyes met.
Desolation’s expression changed visibly, like someone who had discovered a treasure, only to suddenly realise that two others had come from behind to snatch food from a tiger’s mouth.
And just at that moment, right in front of It, Xu Qi’an slowly completed one short-range teleportation.
A spatial artefact… Desolation’s golden pupils abruptly contracted.
…
Author’s PS: There was a bug in timesetting. It has now been corrected. The ratio between this domain and the outside world is 10:1.”
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