Beside the Eight-Treasure Merit Pool.
Scattered followers of the Buddhist Sect silently cleaned up around the pool.
Strictly speaking...
For cultivators and demons, even after death extinguished their cultivation, their flesh had long since been tempered by spiritual energy. It would never rot and stink, much less cause plagues among mortals.
Even so...
Severed limbs and mangled bodies littered the ground, flesh and blood strewn everywhere.
Leaving them so openly displayed beside the Eight-Treasure Merit Pool was, ultimately, rather unsightly.
Not to mention that the corpses themselves were worth a considerable amount.
Naturally, they could not simply be left lying beside the pool.
An unknown amount of time passed.
Everyone's hands stopped at once. Then, instinctively, they raised their eyes toward the sky.
High overhead...
An immense White Jade Lotus Throne silently swept across the heavens.
Pure radiance flowed around the throne. Though it seemed to move slowly, it covered half the sky in the blink of an eye.
"A Bodhisattva has arrived..."
Among the crowd...
Some sharp-eyed older followers recognized the distinctive white lotus and immediately cried out in delight.
But they quickly shut their mouths and silently lowered their heads.
Wherever the white lotus passed, vast banks of white clouds froze into ice, cascading down before them like a hailstorm.
Such uncanny weather proclaimed, plain as day, the fury brewing within the being seated upon that lotus throne.
Many exchanged glances, worry rising in their eyes.
A perfectly good Repayment Gathering had ended in a hasty retreat, leaving a complete mess behind...
With the Bodhisattva so furious, today's affair would likely be difficult to settle peacefully...
Inside the spacious hall...
The atmosphere was decidedly awkward.
Apart from the dozens of figures standing below with their hands lowered...
The three figures seated above appeared to share the same