To be honest, as an inquisitor, Duanmu Huai considered himself battle-hardened and widely experienced.
But... a group of people setting fires, another group chanting sutras, another group worshiping Buddha, and yet another group performing erotic dances... well, he really had never seen anything this deranged.
"Whoa, whoa, whoa!!"
As the brazier in front of the Buddha statue erupted, the bigwigs behind it cried out one after another, while the monks in front chanted louder and louder. Accompanied by their chanting, the flames in the brazier gradually rose higher, transforming into a huge door that appeared before everyone!
Immediately afterward, swirling flames filled the entire temple hall and exploded in an instant!
Then, a miraculous scene appeared inside the temple hall. Countless stars, suns, galaxies, and universes emerged and flickered one after another. One could see the existence of advanced civilizations. They ruled entire planets, conquered star systems, and ventured into space. Then---like moths flying into a flame, they charged toward the Great Old Ones burning in the depths of the dark universe!
The entire scene rapidly zoomed in. Everyone watched helplessly as that mass of flames in the void drew closer and closer to them... Then, in the next moment, everything vanished completely.
The temple hall, which had been illuminated by candlelight and firelight, also became pitch-black at that moment. After a while, the flames lit up again. The old monk, meanwhile, had his head lowered as he knelt on the floor.
"It's not enough, it's still not enough... We still aren't qualified to enter that great Pure Land...!"
"Ahhhhh... how could this happen..."
"Why? Could it be that our devotion still isn't enough?"
"..."
Looking at the old monk's grief-stricken expression and the dejected appearance of the bigwigs below, Duanmu Huai, who was standing outside and watching the show,