"Tianyin Temple is not merely temple gates, nor merely scriptures and incense."
"What you are kneeling before is not this poor monk, but the backbone left behind by the old abbot—the inheritance of our patriarchs, who have suppressed demons for thirty thousand years."
"By accepting the Buddha Bone, this poor monk has accepted this responsibility."
"If anyone comes to seize Tianyin Temple's possessions again, they will have to step over this poor monk's body first."
Those words were not long.
Nor were they adorned with any flowery rhetoric.
Yet the disciples of Tianyin Temple felt their chests grow hot.
They had been stifled for far too long under the pressure of Great Thunderclap Temple.
Now that the new abbot had spoken those words himself, the breath that had long scattered from the temple finally gathered once more.
"Greetings, Abbot!"
The voices rang out even louder than before.
Rujie stood upon the mountain path, the Buddha Bone before his chest flowing with radiance.
The Tiger-Taming Arhat dharma image emerged behind him and bowed its head toward the entire Tianyin Temple.
Old monk Huiming wiped at the corner of his eyes.
Master Huixin also softly recited a Buddhist invocation.
Chen Changqing looked at Rujie and, for once, did not tear him down.
This monk was usually unreliable.
But when it truly came time for him to step forward, he had never retreated.
Three days later.
Before Tianyin Temple's Mountain Gate, the incense offerings were far more flourishing than they had been days earlier.
News of Great Thunderclap Temple's retreat had already spread.
Xuanku had been defeated.
Wuchen had been crippled.
And Chen Changqing had even casually taken the Demon-Suppressing Bowl with him.
Many branch temples in the Northern Region had originally been prepared to switch allegiance, but after hearing these events, they