The Kalpa of Destruction

"Master, everyone knows you are broad-minded and easygoing, and wouldn't take this to heart. But what we're worried about is that if word gets out, outsiders will only accuse us of being impolite and arrogant. Even if we explain that it was your idea, they will still question why we don't know how to be humble."

The one speaking was his apprentice, Zhao Jiaren. Only he, as the rightful apprentice, could speak these honest truths. Others would rather pretend to be confused and be misunderstood than dare to speak out. Otherwise, as Zhao Jiaren just said, even if Si Ming didn't care, many people would use this as a reason to attack him and try to drag him down from his current position.

As a disciple whom Si Ming casually took in when he first came to the Barbarian Continent, Zhao Jiaren's cultivation has now reached the level of Quasi-Grandmaster, giving him the confidence to speak in this hall.

Compared to Ying Zhou, Xia Guanxue, the Si Clan sisters, and others, Zhao Jiaren has not yet broken through to the Spirit Transformation, which seems quite mediocre. However, this is actually the normal rate of progress for a genius.

In just five or six years, he transformed from a sickly scholar with no strength to a Quasi-Grandmaster in the martial arts world, something that an ordinary person could never achieve.

Zhao Jiaren's talent was actually outstanding, but his path in martial arts was just too smooth. As the only disciple of the alliance leader, he had no shortage of Higher Vehicle Cultivation Method, rare heavenly materials and earthly treasures, or even famous teachers to guide him. Although Si Ming rarely gave him pointers, there were plenty of people willing to curry favor with him.

A smooth path in martial arts isn't always a good thing. While one might grow rapidly in the early stages of accumulation, when encountering the bottleneck of the Spirit Transformation, the lack of tempering can prevent finding an opportunity for breakthrough. If Zhao Jiaren doesn't experience hardships or encounter any extraordinary events in the future, his achievements in martial arts may come to an end.

Don't be fooled by the fact that everyone around Si Ming has advanced to the Nascent Spirit Transformation as easily as water flowing into a channel. Both Murong Qing and Xia Guanxue have experienced numerous hardships. These hardships have given them enough martial arts inspiration, thus illuminating the path to becoming a Spirit Transformation Grandmaster. If they only have talent but lack tempering, their path to Nascent Spirit Transformation will still be a long way off.

"The rigid social norms are deadly. Fine, I won't make things difficult for you."

Si Ming sighed, too lazy to dwell on such trivial details any longer. He sat down first, then gestured for everyone else to sit down as well.

"Thank you for the seat, Alliance Leader!"

There were about twenty people present, and they all seemed to have rehearsed this countless times, spontaneously clasping their hands in a fist and bowing in salute before sitting down in unison.

In addition, Yu Shuying and Si Jingyu sat on either side of Si Ming, while Hongdou was still sleeping in Si Ming's room. Hualiu took her place. Si Huaruo watched Si Jingyu's back with gritted teeth, but there was nothing she could do.

When Si Ming first arrived in the Barbarian Continent, Si Jingyu had already established her persona and made her known everywhere. Now everyone in the Barbarian Continent knows that she is the first wife of the leader of the Heavenly Martial Alliance. Even though Yu Shuying has now taken over the actual affairs of the Heavenly Martial Alliance, she has not been able to take over this position. Ultimately, the first impression is too important. Although Si Huaruo insists that this is a conspiracy that Si Jingyu has planned for a long time!

Ying Zhou and Xia Guanxue stood on either side as guards. The former was indignant about the identity assigned to him, while the latter didn't seem to care much and pretended to be resting with her eyes closed. However, no one would underestimate the two of them, after all, the aura of Grandmaster was undeniable, and the news that the two had slaughtered the Monster Race at the entrance of Glazed Temple had already been relayed back.

Wu Xiu had no interest in being a background character for Si Ming. Instead, she pulled her apprentice Murong Wu aside for an impromptu lesson. Since she was already there, she wasn't in a hurry to go back. Besides, the Heavenly Martial Alliance had suffered many injuries this time, and a practical lesson was more valuable than a hundred theoretical lessons.

Si Ming sat on the leader's throne, looking down at the assembled talents below. Among the twenty or so people, there were five Grandmaster and the rest were all Quasi-Grandmaster. This strength was among the top-tier organizations in the Sea Continent. He was immediately filled with boundless pride and wanted to wave his hand and shout, "Heroes rise and fall with the times!"

But then I thought about it, and it seems that the leaders of large organizations in martial arts novels never have a good ending, and the more ambitious they are, the worse their fate is. For example, Yang Dingtian, the leader of the Ming Cult; Hong Antong, the leader of the Mystic Dragon Cult; Shangguan Jinhong Hong, the leader of the Golden Coin Union; and Xiong Ba, the leader of the World Society Xiongba...

So Si Ming swallowed his ambition again. Dominating the world was nothing compared to practicing martial arts and having girls. Besides, he was already the leader of the martial arts alliance, and the Glazed Temple and the Evil-Slaying Sword Sect owed him a lot of favors. Their attitude was almost obedient to him, so what more could he ask for?

Si Ming's gaze swept over the five Spirit Transformation Grandmaster one by one. As for Tyrant Saber Dai Wen, he was naturally the ace fighter of the Heavenly Martial Alliance. Before joining the Heavenly Martial Alliance, he was already a famous sword Grandmaster in the martial arts world. After receiving guidance from Si Ming and being forced by circumstances, he was pulled into the Heavenly Martial Alliance by Yu Shuying.

Kou Feng of the Mysterious Sword Sect Kou Feng and Xue Huang of the Mount Huang Sect were both veteran Quasi-Grandmaster before joining the Heavenly Martial Alliance. They were just one step away from becoming Nascent Spirit Transformation. Later, with the guidance of Si Ming and exposure to Higher Vehicle martial arts, they finally took that step after accumulating enough experience.

Ximen Chou, the Evil Dao master of Ghost Fort Castle, joined the Heavenly Martial Alliance in order to wash away his bad reputation. He worked extremely hard and eagerly took on tasks every day. After Yu Shuying took over, he became her loyal lackey. Since Yu Shuying didn't care much about morality, the two hit it off immediately.

Shen Wumian was the last one to surprise Si Ming the most. He remembered that Shen Wumian was a representative of the Aristocratic Clan and had fought with Si Shuiyun. He never expected that Shen Wumian would not only join the Heavenly Martial Alliance but also advance to the Spirit Transformation and become one of the Heavenly Martial Alliance's most prominent figures.

Enemies turned into subordinates; Si Ming could only lament the unpredictability of life.

Just as Si Ming was secretly lamenting, Yu Shuying began to handle the affairs of the Heavenly Martial Alliance. First, she listened to the reports from her subordinates, then she issued various alliance policies, adjusted the types of missions to be carried out, and provided compensation to those who sacrificed their lives in this battle...

Si Ming treats others as background figures, but in reality, he is the biggest background figure. The title of Alliance Leader is just that—a title. He doesn't even know how big the Heavenly Martial Alliance's territory is, how many members it has, or how much income it generates. Asking him to make decisions would be like asking him to be completely clueless.

Some people were initially worried that the Alliance Leader's wife's "hen crowing at dawn" behavior might incur the Alliance Leader's displeasure, leading to conflict between the two sides. They wondered which side they should take and how they could benefit from the situation. However, after observing for a while, they noticed that the Alliance Leader had a detached expression and immediately realized that he genuinely didn't care about these things and was happy to leave it to his wife. So, they all abandoned their extraneous thoughts.

It wasn't until Yu Shuying used Secret Voice Transmission remind him, "The court assembly is over, we should head to Glazed Temple," that Si Ming snapped out of his daze. He suddenly had the illusion of being back in college listening to gibberish, as if he were carrying a cell phone in his hand.

Si Ming looked up and found the room completely silent. Although the meeting had ended, everyone remained motionless, seemingly waiting for his instructions.

After thinking for a moment, Si Ming waved his hand and said with great magnanimity, "Meeting adjourned!"

"I feel like people are more respectful of me than before. They look at me like they're looking at a Buddha statue in a temple. Is it just my imagination?"

As Si Ming left the hall, he thought his unreliability would make everyone look down on him, but to his surprise, the group treated him with utmost respect, as if he were receiving a divine decree.

Yu Shuying sighed and said, "You need to have a clear understanding of your status in the martial arts world. You defeated the Spirit King, slew the Beast King, saved the monk and the swordsman, and now you've easily defeated the Corpse King and defeated the Spirit King again. You've saved the martial arts world of the East, South, and West once more. Any one of these achievements alone would be enough to make you a pillar of the martial arts world and a savior of the martial arts community. Not to mention all these achievements combined, you're not just famous now, you're practically as famous as the sun shining on all living beings."

Chapter 842 Kalpa of Destruction

Yu Shuying was not exaggerating. Si Ming's reputation had indeed reached an inhuman level. He was practically a living legend, a walking immortal. The monks of Glazed Temple had already fabricated a story for him about "the reincarnation of Buddha Rōcana," including how many tribulations he had experienced, how many times he had reincarnated, and how many merits he had accumulated.

Aside from Glazed Temple, countless shady religions have claimed the titles of their own deities as his. If it's a cult, they would give Si Ming the identity of a great demon.

When Si Ming arrived at Glazed Temple, he noticed that all the monks would respectfully put their hands together in prayer and bow while chanting "Namo Louzhi Buddha Rōcana the Majestic" when they saw him. He finally realized this clearly.

To be honest, it feels pretty good to be worshipped like a god. Even someone as carefree as Si Ming couldn't help but get a little carried away by the praise. Fortunately, he had been warned by Murong Qing during the National Martial Arts Tournament about the lesson of being carried away, and the unique properties of the Glazed Pure Body could reflect all distracting thoughts, which was enough to make him reflect on himself.

Even if one were to become complacent, one should wait until becoming the world's number one master before becoming complacent. As a martial arts fanatic, Si Ming had already set a goal for himself. Before reaching that goal, he still had enough self-control to keep himself grounded and avoid flying into the sky.

Therefore, by the time Si Ming reached the main hall of Glazed Temple, he had regained his composure.

Yu Shuying had been keeping an eye on Si Ming the whole way, originally intending to remind him to guard against arrogance and complacency, and not to lose himself. But seeing his expression now, she knew she had worried for nothing, so she smiled and said, "It seems you really are different from before. You've grown in more than just your cultivation over the past two years."

Si Ming knew what she was talking about and laughed, "Actually, the reason they admire me is because distance makes the heart grow fonder, especially the people of the Heavenly Martial Alliance. Because I rarely manage the affairs of the Heavenly Martial Alliance, they can retain a good impression of me. If I stayed in the Barbarian Continent for a long time, meddling in everything and using my reputation to run a one-man show, even if they admire me the most, they would still harbor resentment."

It's like the gods and Buddhas in a temple. They are high above, doing nothing but accepting incense offerings from the crowd, so naturally the crowd will worship them. But if they were to manifest incarnations and stay by the believers' side every day, constantly reminding them that "cultivation is like rowing against the current; if you don't advance, you fall behind," "You need to catch up on your homework after the holiday," "It's time to go to bed," and "You must get up early for work on time or you'll be late," then within a month, all the believers would leave, and even the most fanatical believers would convert.

"Namo Glazed Medicine Buddha, although the Alliance Leader's words are simple and straightforward, they contain a truth that we should all reflect upon. We must not be deluded by illusions and falsehoods. Remember, all conditioned phenomena are truly deceptive and illusory, lasting only a momentary illusion, used to deceive ordinary people."

Upon hearing Si Ming's words, Abbot Fahong couldn't help but praise him.

Si Ming rolled his eyes and said, "Abbot, we've been through thick and thin together. You wouldn't be trying to flatter me like that, would you? I was just making a casual remark. Don't overinterpret it."

"Not at all. It's just that with the Alliance Leader's current level of attainment, every word and action is in harmony with the Dao, and every gesture exudes Zen-like wisdom. Even a casual remark contains profound truths. The Alliance Leader, being in the mountains, naturally cannot perceive these mysteries. But when we look at the high mountains from afar, we only see swirling clouds and mist, appearing and disappearing, as if a true dragon is hiding within. Naturally, we feel that it is unfathomable and dare not underestimate it, lest we offend the dragon's might."

"Is it really that exaggerated? Does that mean even eating and drinking will have a Zen-like quality?"

"Drinking tea is Zen, eating is Zen, chopping wood is Zen, even defecating and farting is Zen. Walking, standing, sitting, and lying down are all Zen. Zen principles are Buddhist principles, Zen path is the Way of Heavenly Dao. To see one's true nature in this moment and become a Buddha in this instant is the highest state of Zen." The abbot spoke without any restraint, not even censoring his words about defecating and farting.