"It's an imitation Brahma Heaven Pagoda and Great Confucian Calligraphy!"
Some of the passengers were remarkably knowledgeable and recognized the treasures Enlightened Zhi Buddhist Son and Wang Bian had just used.
The Brahma Heaven Pagoda was the sacred treasure that suppressed the lineage of Mount Sumeru's Buddhist Sect. It was said to weigh as much as a small world, incomparably heavy. If hurled with full force, even Tribulation Transcendence cultivators would not dare receive it head-on. There were further rumors that it could shatter space itself, allowing its holder to travel through space at will.
Though the Great Confucian Calligraphy did not hold the same status as the Brahma Heaven Pagoda, it was still a genuine Immortal Artifact possessed by the Confucian Sect. So long as one wrote a character upon it—for instance, "freeze"—the calligraphy could immobilize someone. If one wrote "battle," it could transform into a Confucian Dharma Protector and fight. There were also characters such as "speak," "urgent," and "flee," among others. The room for manipulation was enormous.
Of course, both were Immortal Artifacts. The Buddhist Sect and Confucian Sect would never allow their younger generation to bring out the real things; they had merely given them imitations for protection.
"Even imitations are already incredibly powerful. Even if they cannot compare to the genuine articles, they are still Dao Artifacts!"
Everyone was deeply astonished. Dao Artifacts were immensely precious. Even if they sold everyone aboard the ship, they could not afford so much as a corner of one.
The Nine Provinces divided treasures into four tiers. The first tier was Spirit Artifacts. Basically every Foundation Establishment cultivator could own one. Their power was not great—at most, they were sharper and sturdier than ordinary weapons, with few supernatural properties.
The second tier was Dharma Artifacts. Nascent Soul Cultivators could afford one by spending half their family fortune. Naturally, they were more powerful than Spirit Artifacts. They could communicate with a cultivator's will and be controlled from afar. At this stage, they could already develop faint intelligence and automatically help their cultivator fend off enemies.
The third tier was Dao Artifacts. Forging one was exceedingly difficult, requiring a cultivator to possess profound comprehension of "Dao." Examples included the Great Zhou Royal Family's Time Dao, Mount Sumeru's Space Dao, Meng Chun's Dream Dao, and so on. Moreover, the materials capable of bearing "Dao" were extremely costly. Few Spirit Transformation cultivators could afford them; generally, only wealthy Body Integration Cultivators could produce such resources.
The fourth tier was naturally Immortal Artifacts. No one in the Nine Provinces could forge Immortal Artifacts. Of the existing Immortal Artifacts, aside from the Yin-Yang Heaven Seal, which the Dao Ancestor had refined before ascending, all the rest had been brought from the Immortal World to the Nine Provinces by immortals of the past. Their numbers were exceedingly scarce, only a handful.
Among Immortal Artifacts, the most famous were naturally the Dao Sect's Yin-Yang Heaven Seal, the Buddhist Sect's Brahma Heaven Pagoda, and the Confucian Sect's Great Confucian Calligraphy.
"The Great Confucian Calligraphy really is an imitation, but the Brahma Heaven Pagoda..."
Pure Heart Saintess hesitated and turned her gaze toward Jiang Li, seeking an answer.
She also possessed a Dao Artifact called the Twelfth Grade Green Lotus, so she knew Dao Artifacts fairly well. Yet she had always felt that the Brahma Heaven Pagoda did not resemble a Dao Artifact.
Jiang Li nodded, equally puzzled. "You weren't mistaken. This Brahma Heaven Pagoda is the genuine one. Mount Sumeru Old Buddha values this new Buddhist Son so highly that he dared let him bring something like this out?"
How could the passengers truly understand Immortal Artifacts and Dao Artifacts? They had merely assumed that no sect would genuinely let disciples take out its treasure of suppression, and thus believed that Enlightened Zhi Buddhist Son and Wang Bian held imitations.
In truth, Wang Bian did indeed hold an imitation, while Enlightened Zhi Buddhist Son held the genuine article.
It was simply that Enlightened Zhi Buddhist Son's realm was too low for him to fully wield the Brahma Heaven Pagoda's power. Yet if he truly encountered danger, the pagoda would automatically defend him and slay his attackers. Even Integrated Body Realm Cultivators would meet their end in bitter hatred if they encountered it.
"Still, relying so heavily on treasures at such a young age is no good. Are these two true disciples of their sects really unable to deal with a wild demon that can fly?" Jiang Li felt some concern for the Nine Provinces of the present day.
"It isn't only those two. Other cultivators are the same. They would rather bankrupt themselves to buy a treasure, then use it whenever they met an enemy. They cannot truly temper themselves. Only when one is strong oneself can one be truly strong."
Pure Heart Saintess stammered in defense, "Because... because treasures really are useful. How can you expect everyone to be like you, leaving your Great Halberd to gather dust without ever using it?"
"I understand all that. It's just... sigh..."
Jiang Li still wanted to say something, but seeing Pure Heart Saintess's aggrieved expression, he did not continue.
At this moment, the Eagle Demon was still being tormented by the two of them. It felt itself becoming devoutly Buddhist one moment and brimming with righteous energy the next. Its mind was about to split apart.
As Enlightened Zhi Buddhist Son and Wang Bian's voices grew louder and more absorbed, they forgot their surroundings entirely, focused only on converting or enlightening the Eagle Demon.
Hearing the two men's voices, the passengers were drawn in and swayed unsteadily into two groups.
One group gathered behind Enlightened Zhi Buddhist Son, worshipping the Buddha with complete devotion and chanting sutras in unison. They felt that their lives were steeped in sin, took out all their money to offer to Enlightened Zhi Buddhist Son, and swore to keep doing good deeds in hopes of being reborn into a better life.
The other group gathered behind Wang Bian, gaining a deeper understanding of devotion to household and country. Once they returned, they would surely exhaust themselves for their nation or sect, serving until death.
"I remember the Buddhist Sect and Confucian Sect not being this sinister, right? They even forcefully brainwash people?" Pure Heart Saintess had never seen anything like this and found it somewhat terrifying.
"They're only being brainwashed for a while. Once those two stop muttering, the brainwashing will be lifted as well." Jiang Li had seen much and knew this was a common occurrence in the Buddhist Sect and Confucian Sect.
The Buddhist Sect's and Confucian Sect's scriptures had powerful brainwashing effects. If one did not have a firm grasp of the scriptures and recited them carelessly, it was easy to cause mass brainwashing.
There had once been a Buddhist Sect eminent monk who chanted scriptures as he walked, immersed in their words. By accident, he brainwashed the believers of an entire small town. In the end, the monk walked across the surface of the Eastern Sea, and those people followed behind him. But because they could not swim, they all drowned in the Eastern Sea.
Once the eminent monk realized he had committed a grave mistake, he resolved to walk down the dark road to the very end and entered the Demonic Path.
Mount Sumeru Old Buddha could not bear to act, so he had no choice but to ask Jiang Li to help execute him.
That eminent monk had been the previous Buddhist Son, the man Daoist Qingyu had once secretly loved.
Jiang Li rose to his feet. "Still, we need to intervene. These two children's 'methods' have strayed from the orthodox path. They may enter the Demonic Path."
The Eagle Demon hurriedly shouted, "Hey, hey, hey! Are you people from the Buddhist Sect and Confucian Sect, or are you an evil cult? Is there really such a thing as forcibly changing other people's thoughts? Look behind you! Look behind you, hey!"
Enlightened Zhi Buddhist Son and Wang Bian had long been secretly competing, seeing who could convert or enlighten the Eagle Demon first.
Then the Eagle Demon saw one of the two people in the corner rise and swiftly walk over to Enlightened Zhi Buddhist Son and Wang Bian, delivering each of them a hand chop to the top of the head.
"You two little fools, wake up! You've gone down the wrong road. Keep going and you'll enter the Demonic Path!"
Enlightened Zhi Buddhist Son and Wang Bian suddenly came to their senses. Seeing the two crowds behind them, guilt filled their hearts. They hurriedly dispersed their Mana, allowing everyone to return to normal.
"You are..." The two looked respectfully at Jiang Li, grateful that he had awakened them.
"Jiang Li."
Enlightened Zhi Buddhist Son and Wang Bian's eyes widened.
The Eagle Demon's eyes nearly bulged out of their sockets. It had merely acted on a whim and tried to rob someone. How had it not only encountered a Buddhist Son and a Confucian Sect disciple traveling the world, but even Human Emperor Jiang?!
Was this good luck or bad luck?
Before you continue