In Zhang Boduan's eyes, the strategy Zhao Jiuling had laid down for the Taoist Alliance was much like Shaolin Temple's former recruitment of lay disciples.
All along, both Shaolin Temple and the Zaohua Taoist School had followed an elite path, and they were actually somewhat averse to such matters.
However, Zhao Jiuling had been right about one thing: no matter how useless those people were, they could still bolster the Taoist schools' prestige. Moreover, the Taoist schools did not have as many strict precepts as the Buddha Sect, so there would be far fewer conflicts among themselves.
Zhang Boduan still asked with some concern, "What about Lotus Zen Monastery? Does the Domain Lord have confidence in defeating them?"
Zhao Jiuling shook his head. "No confidence. Lotus Zen Monastery's foundations run far deeper than you imagine—its history is even older than Shaolin Temple's.
"But you needn't worry about Lotus Zen Monastery. The path they seek is different from ours. Lotus Zen Monastery will not involve itself in Jianghu's disputes. Other than when they need to recruit disciples, when have you ever seen the monks of Lotus Zen Monastery enter the world?
"In the past, Buddha had several thousand disciples. His foremost disciple once asked Buddha whether cultivating Buddhism to its utmost limit would allow one to surpass Buddha.
"Buddha said that he himself was the utmost limit. So long as one possessed great resolve, every Buddhist cultivator could become the next Buddha.
"But Buddha's foremost disciple said that he did not wish to become another Buddha. Thus, what he contemplated was only his own Zen, and what he comprehended was only his own Dao.
"From then on, Buddha's foremost disciple abandoned Buddhism for Zen, severed himself from the Buddha Sect's lineage, and neither entered Buddhist temples nor followed their ways. Instead,