The Alliance's Purpose in the Buddhist Sect
"Jiang Liu, what are you thinking about?" Li Qiaoyun suddenly appeared at the entrance of the small courtyard where Jiang Liu lived.
During Jiang Liu's time as governor of the city, whenever Jiang Liu was in the city, Li Qiaoyun would always come to see Jiang Liu, using all sorts of excuses.
Jiang Liu shook his head and said nothing. Li Qiaoyun, unwilling to give up, continued to pester Jiang Liu, saying, "How could there be nothing? Just tell me! Okay?"
Jiang Liu, unable to get through to the persistent questioning, could only casually reply, "It's still about the war with the Ji Family, so please stop asking."
"Oh! In that case, let's not talk about it. The weather is nice today, let's go for a walk and relax!" Li Qiaoyun said, her eyes darting around.
"Alright, if you want to go out and clear your head, go ahead! I still need to practice my skills!" Jiang Liu said dismissively.
Upon hearing this, Li Qiaoyun immediately became unhappy, glaring at Jiang Liu as if Jiang Liu had bullied her.
However, Jiang Liu wasn't buying it. He turned and walked towards the training square. Although the training square here was smaller than the one in Yunzhou, it was still sufficient.
Jiang Liu began cultivating by circulating the Saintly Sky Art. Soon, Primal Qi Storm were generated and poured into Jiang Liu's body.
Seeing that Jiang Liu was ignoring her, Li Qiaoyun stomped her foot angrily and walked out of the courtyard.
Jiang Liu then began to focus on his cultivation. Because the Ji Family's actions were unclear, Jiang Liu dared not wander into the mountains, so he could only cultivate here.
In Kun Province, at the Great Buddha Temple, in the Great Hero Hall, the five contemporary Grandmaster of Buddhism— Xuan Kong, Xuan Wen, Xuan Jian, Xuan Zhi, and Xuan Xing —are all gathered together for a meeting.
The Great Buddha Temple is the orthodox Buddhist temple in the world. All Buddhist disciples obey the orders issued by the Great Buddha Temple, which is why the Buddhist sect is such a large sect.
Xuan Wen Xuan Kong, Abbot of Great Buddha Temple, and also the head of the Buddhist sect. Xuan Jian, Abbot of the Damo Hall Great Buddha Temple Great Buddha Temple. Xuan Jian, Abbot of the Discipline Hall of Dafosi Temple. Xuan Zhi, Abbot of the Transmission Hall of Great Buddha Temple. Xuan Xing, Abbot of the Technique Repository of Great Buddha Temple.
These five people represent the highest level of the entire Buddhist sect. Of course, there are other branch temples of the Buddhist sect, as well as martial artists with the strength of Grandmaster, but they all obey the orders of the Great Buddha Temple.
The Xuan Kong convened this meeting today is to clarify some events that have occurred in Buddhism recently, and to explain some matters.
In particular, some unpleasant rumors have already spread from the branch temples below. Xuan Kong needs to suppress them and prevent them from spreading further.
"What is the matter of Jiekong in Yunzhou?" Master Xuan Kong asked first.
It seems that the evil deeds that Jiekong has committed over the years can no longer be concealed, and have already spread to Kun Province, affecting the purity and well-being of Buddhism.
Xuan Jian replied, "Senior Brother, the Yunzhou branch temple had been secretly colluding with Corpse Valley. But this was probably due to a momentary lapse in attention, because the one colluding with Corpse Valley is the White Saint Society."
"As for joining forces with the White Saint Society Sect, it was done according to my senior brother's instructions, so..."
Xuan Kong nodded, interrupting Xuan Jian to continue, and said, "I asked about Jiekong's adultery with women. He went too far. Tell him to tone it down."
"Yes, senior brother, I will have the Yunzhou branch temple keep an eye on it," Xuan Jian replied.
Xuan Zhi then asked, "Senior brother, now that the Lotus Sect has accepted the Ghost School into the alliance, what should we say?"
"Xuan Zhi, do you know why I agreed to unite with the White Saint Society Sect and also agreed to ally with the Lotus Sect?" Xuan Kong asked rhetorically.
"Please enlighten me, senior brother!" Xuan Zhi said, and the others listened attentively.
"Our Buddhist sect has been suppressed by the three sects for too long. Now that we have a rare opportunity, we just need to wait quietly and we can overthrow the three sects. In this way, our Buddhist sect will be able to return to its peak sooner or later," Xuan Kong said with a gloomy face.
"But wouldn't joining them make it even easier to expose us?" Xuan Jian asked.
Xuan Kong glanced at Xuan Jian and continued, "If we don't join in, it'll be easier for us to be exposed. Besides, think about it! If we keep refusing to act, how can we maintain our prestige? How can we weaken the three sects?"
"But after fighting for so long, the three sects haven't been weakened!" Xuan Wen said.
"This is because the alliance is not strong enough yet. Once the alliance becomes stronger, the ambitions of the people in the alliance will naturally swell."
"At that time, we will face off against the three sects, and we only need to accumulate strength so that we can control the alliance," Xuan Kong said.
Xuan Zhi said, "So that's why Senior Brother agreed to form an alliance with the Lotus Sect. I suppose that's why he doesn't oppose the Daoist sect joining the alliance now!"
Xuan Kong nodded and said, "As long as it can strengthen the alliance, I will not object to any force that wants to join now."
"However, the Great Qian Imperial Family should not be underestimated! Although they are temporarily suppressed by the three sects, the situation would be very different if the Martial Prohibition Hall had not rebelled over the past few decades," Xuan Wen said.
Xuan Kong said with a gloomy face, "I want to guide the royal family to break ties with the three sects and cause them to clash again. Only then will we have a chance to eliminate the three sects and the Great Qian Imperial Family together."
Xuan Wen, Xuan Jian, Xuan Zhi, Xuan Xing all nodded in unison, indicating that they understood.
Xuan Kong instructed, "You must remind the branch temples below to be careful and not to go too far in some things, lest someone find a handle against us. We cannot allow our Buddhist sect's thousand-year-old reputation to be ruined in an instant."
"Yes, senior brother, I will remind them to be careful. Tell them to keep things confidential in the future and not to leave any survivors," Xuan Jian replied.
Xuan Kong nodded and said, "Our biggest goal now is to strengthen the influence and power of our Buddhist sect. Therefore, all of you junior brothers should cultivate diligently and advance in rank as soon as possible, so that we will no longer have to suffer from the wrath of the three sects."
"Yes, senior brother, we will." Everyone replied solemnly.
Xuan Kong waved his hand and said, "Relax, don't be so serious. If you have any questions about cultivation, feel free to ask, and we can discuss them together."
"Senior brother, I have encountered a bottleneck in my practice of Joyous Meditation. I hope you can give me some guidance." Xuan Wen asked first.
"Joyous Meditation! You should ask Xuan Xing for advice on this. He has been practicing this for the longest time and should be able to help you," Xuan Kong said after a moment of contemplation.
Afterwards, the group discussed the bottlenecks they had encountered in their cultivation.
After discussing the practice methods, the group further discussed ways to persuade ordinary people to believe in Buddhism.
The meeting lasted for several hours before it ended, and it unified the thinking at the top level. From then on, the entire Buddhist community would take these as its guide for development.
This Buddhist meeting will further stir up the turmoil in the martial arts world of the Great Qian Jianghu, pushing the conflict between the Lotus Sect's alliance with the aristocratic families and the royal family to a climax, thus leading to the emergence of the Three Sects.
Ultimately, this achieves the Buddhist sect's goal of causing the three sects and the Great Qian Imperial Family to fight to the death, thus allowing the Buddhist sect to profit from the conflict.
But no matter how well the Buddhist community plans, will they really get what they want?