"Lingyang isn't a place to stay for long."
Seeing that Wu Ya remained unmoved, the old monk couldn't help speaking up.
"Have you not always wanted to go beyond this realm? Why not go with that True Buddha first..."
"If I stayed by that True Buddha's side, I might be better off here in Lingyang. If all the Buddhist sects in the great universe are like this, I'd rather not go."
Wu Ya gazed at the distant figure of the True Buddha, unable to hide his disappointment. He gathered his white monk's robe and silently recited Buddhist scriptures. After a long while, he closed his eyes.
"Master, there's no need to worry about me. You may leave. Though Lingyang has undergone a strange change, no one can take my life."
He had been born unable to leave Lingyang, but he was different from ordinary people by nature; whenever danger arose, he could turn misfortune into good fortune. Beneath his Buddha Eye, every killing intent lay exposed. His life would not be cut short in this battle.
At those words, Jingkong's eyes dimmed. In recent years, Wu Ya had grown ever more unfamiliar to him. That little monk who had once known nothing of the world seemed to have vanished completely into the past, his Buddha nature deepening with every passing day.
For cultivators of the Buddhist path, this was naturally a good thing. But to Jingkong, it left him feeling somewhat cold. He said no more, leaning on his monk's staff as he slowly walked away, his back forlorn.
Aside from Wu Ya, a small number of Buddhist cultivators had not gone to join the True Buddha. Unable to bear leaving this homeland of Lingyang, they had already resolved to sacrifice their lives and turn to dust before the earth-shaking