No matter how Jiang Che thought it over, he could not figure out how the instance's story would unfold.
Old Dreams of Willow Source had at least laid a fierce conflict out in the open. One careless move could have killed him.
But Little Hidden Temple? A new temple, a good monk, a chatty little novice, lovely mountains and clear waters, peaceful days-it felt like there wasn't a damn thing going on...
Surely he hadn't been summoned here just to eat vegetarian meals?
As his thoughts wandered, a rustling suddenly came from outside the window.
Rather than alarmed, Jiang Che was delighted!
Finally!
He rose silently, held his breath, and opened the door a crack to peer outside. A faint golden light rippled outward in layer upon layer like waves on water, centered on the main hall, whose lamps had been lit at some point. It enveloped the entire little temple.
Beyond that golden dome, black energy as thick as ink churned ceaselessly, all of it held outside.
Demonic energy?!
Why was there demonic energy here?
Hadn't the Haze Approach Demon Calamity happened in Xianxi Year Twenty-Two? According to the transmigration preface, the current time inside the instance was Xianxi Year Fifteen. There were still seven whole years before the Demon Calamity erupted. Where had this demonic energy come from?
The golden light was easy enough to explain. It had to be Master Chunji's doing.
Jiang Che was genuinely surprised, and thoroughly confused.
There was no point overthinking it. He simply pushed the door open and headed toward the main hall.
Inside an instance, he could afford to be a little reckless. There was no need to fear death. At worst, he would lose some Transmigration Energy, which was still better than staying in his room and learning nothing.
He had already prepared himself to gain nothing from this run, seeking only to gather enough information for his next transmigration.
The main hall's doors opened with a push.
Inside, three Buddha statues stood in solemn splendor-the very same three he had seen in reality. Only now, all of them were intact, and the central statue still had its head. Master Chunji knelt on a meditation cushion before the Buddhas, chanting sutras. That pale golden light radiated from him, passing through the walls.
Beneath the central Buddha statue's lotus pedestal lay a sword, tightly bound in layers of golden light and pinned under its base.
The blade was pitch-black from end to end, wreathed in ink-like demonic energy.
Jiang Che recognized it!
It was the Demon Sword the True Demon had pulled from the Buddha statue's chest, the one that had nearly killed him with a single slash, and that Steward Wei had finally wrapped in talisman paper and carried away!
The Demon Sword that would attract the True Demon fourteen years later in reality and become its mainstay had already been here fourteen years earlier?!
At the very first sight of it, a longing rose in Jiang Che's heart without warning. As though compelled by unseen forces, he actually stepped toward the lotus pedestal...
"Guard Your Mind!"
The sharp shout rang like a mighty temple bell, a thunderous rebuke striking him squarely over the head!
Jiang Che shuddered violently and snapped awake, his back drenched in cold sweat!
In that brief instant, the Demon Sword had actually drawn him in!
Before the Buddhas, Master Chunji had opened his eyes. His chanting grew louder, every syllable ringing in Jiang Che's ears, until the sinister fire in his heart was completely suppressed.
Only after finishing an entire passage of scripture did Master Chunji speak. "It was my fault for disturbing your rest, benefactor. But this evil object suddenly erupted tonight, and I must suppress it."
"Master, this... what exactly is going on?" Jiang Che steadied himself and asked, "Where did this sword come from? And where did all this demonic energy covering the mountain come from?"
Master Chunji sighed, but explained nonetheless:
"I came from White Dragon Temple, traveling east to put the Buddha's teachings into practice. When I reached Haze Approach, I found its mountains and waters lovely, its people simple and honest. I had intended to stay for a while, only to discover this evil object in the bamboo grove."
"I do not know who abandoned it here. The demonic nature within this sword shares its origin with the Demon Abyss. If left alone, it will connect with the Demon Abyss day and night. As the years accumulate, the day will come when the earth veins can no longer bear it. The earth will quake and the mountains will shake, giving rise to a Demon Calamity. So I erected an altar here and suppressed it beneath the Buddha's pedestal. I decided I might as well settle here too."
"I had calculated that it would erupt in a few more days. I did not expect it to lose patience today."
"It was never my intention to drag you into this without cause, benefactor. However, I have protected the entire temple with the Golden Blossom Protective Boundary, so you need not worry. Once we make it through tonight and suppress it again, all will be well."
Jiang Che had to be grateful for one thing: Master Chunji had not linked his arrival to the Demon Sword's sudden eruption today, then casually slaughtered him as an unstable element.
Heaven and earth could bear witness-this truly had nothing to do with him!
Rather than his arrival triggering the Demon Sword's rampage, it was more likely that the sword's rampage meant something major would happen tonight, which was why an instance had formed and he had transmigrated here.
At the same time, he believed this had to be the central conflict of the instance.
One monk, one sword, and a Demon Calamity hanging in the balance. Unlike Old Dreams of Willow Source, this did not seem to involve a complicated web of relationships. As time passed, the conflict in this instance would naturally reveal itself.
Of course, Master Chunji might be lying.
A compassionate face concealing a sinister plot-plenty of stories were written that way.
But he was inclined to trust this monk.
So far, there had been no indication that anything was wrong with Master Chunji.
He had also seen this Demon Sword with his own eyes in reality. Moreover, the one inside the instance had an intact blade, its demonic energy concentrated rather than dispersing. It was clearly more powerful and more complete than the one the True Demon had wielded.
The Demon Calamity the master had warned of had indeed happened in the future.
Everything lined up.
There was no need to multiply entities unnecessarily. Piling on suspicions was wrong unless new evidence appeared.
Even if he really wanted to be suspicious, he should wait until this run yielded poor results or the other party revealed some flaw, then verify it on his next visit.
Yet Jiang Che still seemed to face the same problem: how was he supposed to involve himself in the instance's central conflict?
If suppressing the Demon Sword was the heart of the instance, and even Master Chunji, whose strength was equivalent to the Qi Refining level, had to strain so hard, what could a minor Embryonic Breath cultivator like him possibly do?
Stand beside him and keep watch?
Did he even need that...?
Just then, a sudden change erupted!
Beneath the Buddha's pedestal, the Demon Sword began struggling violently, forcing the golden light binding it to flicker!
Master Chunji's expression changed. He sat back down on the meditation cushion, formed seals with both hands, and chanted rapidly.
At the same time, Jiang Che saw a change outside the hall.
Beyond the dome of light, the churning demonic energy no longer merely battered against it. It began condensing into shapes, becoming corpse-like monsters one after another, howling as they charged at the golden dome.
The instant they struck it, the Demon Monsters crumbled to ash. But each time one was destroyed, the golden dome trembled slightly with a soft sound.
"Master, is this a problem?"
Master Chunji briefly paused his chanting to answer, "The Golden Blossom Protective Boundary is meant to provide protection. Every Demonic Beast that charges into it is delivered from suffering by me on the spot. Though it does expend a little magical power, these are all hastily condensed from demonic energy. They are no cause for concern."
No sooner had he finished speaking than the sounds outside the hall suddenly came as thick and fast as a downpour!
More and more monsters condensed from the demonic energy, swarming in a black mass from every direction, seemingly without end.
"...What about now?"
Master Chunji: "..."
Just then, the hall doors burst open with a bang. Puxin rushed in in a panic, one shoe slapping loosely against his foot, shouting as he ran:
"Master! Master! This is bad, this is bad! That scoundrel's up to no good! It's pitch-black outside, all Demon Monsters! I told you he was a bad man! The moment he came to our temple... uh... benefactor, you're here too..."
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