Xiao Feng's arrival had not affected daily life on Little Mountain Peak.
Leng Qingsong was repairing the roof.
Chen Changsheng was tinkering with who knew what in his room.
Bai Feiyu was still standing on a branch, showing off.
Hu Tutu was still flying around on her Paper Crane.
The only difference was the boy carrying slabs of bluestone along the cliffside walkway-Xiao Feng, who was repairing it.
Everyone has something to do, which means I have nothing to do.
Ouyang sprawled in his recliner, holding a book and dozing off.
Everything in the little courtyard seemed so peaceful.
Only the occasional boom of ceremonial cannons from Azure Cloud Peak disturbed his sweet dreams.
As the Sect Grand Competition drew closer and closer,
the sects invited to watch the event arrived at the Azure Cloud Sect one after another.
Whenever a sect arrived, ceremonial cannons thundered on Azure Cloud Peak.
Streaks of light flashed across the azure sky from time to time, more than ten times as numerous as usual.
The entire Azure Cloud Sect was extraordinarily busy.
Little Mountain Peak seemed to have been forgotten.
Suddenly, a Buddhist chant that resounded through heaven and earth came from Azure Cloud Peak.
Buddha Light filled the sky above Azure Cloud Peak, a bastion of Daoism, as though a Buddha were expounding the Way.
Ouyang took the book off his face and looked toward Azure Cloud Peak in astonishment. "What's going on? Have the monks come storming up the mountain?"
Standing on his branch, Bai Feiyu looked toward Azure Cloud Peak and shook his head. "Someone seems to be debating the Way on Azure Cloud Peak. It appears Buddhism has produced an extraordinary reincarnation of a Buddha."
"A reincarnated Buddha? The legendary Buddhist Holy Son?" Ouyang's interest was immediately piqued.
Two years ago, he had heard that Buddhism had produced an extraordinary Holy Son.
Legend had it that the moment this person entered Buddhism, he prompted the Buddha Ancestor's golden statue to speak and bestow a name upon him.
Foundation Establishment in one year, Core Formation in three, and Nascent Soul in five.
His cultivation advanced at a downright monstrous speed.
At just eighteen, he had debated the Way with eighteen abbots of the Great Spirit Mountain Temple, the Buddhism Holy Land, without yielding an inch!
With such a person in its ranks, Buddhism was poised for a great resurgence!
Judging by this spectacle, Ouyang had initially thought the people outside really knew how to blow their own trumpets. Now, though, it seemed their claims were pretty close to the truth. This fellow really had something.
Just as Ouyang was considering whether to go watch the fun and see which unlucky fellow was being used as a stepping stone,
Seven peals of a bronze Bell Chime suddenly rang out from Azure Cloud Peak.
The Bell Chime was far-reaching without being shrill, yet it easily reached the ears of everyone in the Azure Cloud Sect.
It was the sect's Summoning Bell!
Seven peals meant that every disciple on every peak had to go to Azure Cloud Peak for a meeting.
Ouyang also called it the Reinforcements Bell.
It meant trouble had come to the sect-every peak, round up your people, fast!
Ouyang sat up in his recliner and said with interest, "Come on, let's take a look. The last time the Reinforcements Bell rang, it was over which peak Xiao Bai would join. We've got a show to watch today."
Leng Qingsong and Bai Feiyu flew off on their swords.
Chen Changsheng followed close behind with Xiao Feng, who could not fly on a sword.
Hu Tutu and Ouyang sat on the Paper Crane, trailing leisurely behind.
Everyone from Little Mountain Peak set out, leaving only a Tibetan Fox to guard the place.
After all, chances to watch a juicy spectacle were rare in the dull years of immortal cultivation.
When they reached the foot of Azure Cloud Peak, a sea of people was already packed in shoulder to shoulder.
There were more than a thousand Inner Disciples altogether. Aside from those in secluded cultivation, everyone who could come had come.
The moment Ouyang arrived at Azure Cloud Peak, he saw Ling Feng getting beaten.
Tsk, is there any justice in this world?
Every time someone has to take the fall, it's old Ling. They pick on him because he's good-tempered and the sect master's disciple.
Whenever someone comes kicking down the door, old Ling always takes the first beating.
Isn't that just bullying an honest man?
Unfortunately, everyone else had already taken the good spots. There was nowhere decent to watch the fun.
Ouyang gave Leng Qingsong a meaningful look. Understanding immediately, Leng Qingsong cradled his sword and headed toward the best vantage point.
Atop a high boulder, a dozen or so disciples from Questioning Sword Peak stood with swords in hand, watching with relish.
With their strength in numbers, the disciples of Questioning Sword Peak had managed to seize such a fine spot.
Want to fight? Have you asked our dozen swords first?
Just as they were enjoying the show, someone came to ask their dozen swords.
Dressed in black, Leng Qingsong leaped onto the boulder and coldly spat out two words: "Get down!"
A disciple who had never seen Leng Qingsong before immediately flew into a rage. This brat really had no sense! He started to draw his sword.
But someone beside him pressed down on his sword hilt and murmured a few words.
The disciple who had been about to draw his sword immediately shrank back. He glanced fearfully at Leng Qingsong, then slunk off the boulder with his senior brothers and jumped onto a rock occupied by Heavenly Evolution Peak.
"Get down! Want to resist? Have you asked our dozen swords first?"
The Heavenly Evolution Peak disciples stared at the overbearing disciples from Questioning Sword Peak, furious but not daring to speak.
Little Mountain Peak secured the best viewing spot. Ouyang sat lazily on the large rock with Hu Tutu in his arms, watching what was happening in the arena.
Bai Feiyu stood on his left, Leng Qingsong on his right, and Xiao Feng a little farther back.
As for Chen Changsheng, the moment he saw the scene before him, he frowned and retreated behind every last spectator.
In the arena, a youth with a gleaming bald head sat cross-legged, rays of Buddha Light radiating from his body as words poured from his mouth like a cascading river.
Tender grass sprouted from the boulder beneath him, and flowers bloomed beneath his meditation cushion.
Opposite him, Ling Feng sat cross-legged on the ground, his brows tightly knitted. He wanted to speak but did not know how to refute him. Under the suppression of the Buddha Light, even his own true essence was pinned inside his dantian, unable to move.
"May I ask, senior brother-the Dao is fundamentally Buddhism. Do you have any objections?" the bald youth in yellow kasaya robes suddenly demanded.
With his Dao heart damaged, Ling Feng spat out a mouthful of blood. Bracing himself against the ground with one hand, he looked weakly at the bald youth.
His already handsome face had taken on a sickly cast from the damage to his Dao heart.
Panicked cries rose all around him.
"Senior Brother Ling Feng, admit defeat if you can't go on!"
"Senior Brother Ling Feng, even if you lose, we'll always love you!"
"Senior brother, come to my room tonight. I'll heal your injuries!"
His face filled with righteousness, Ling Feng offered the bald youth a slight cupped-hand salute and said weakly, "Junior Brother Hui Zhi, your insight is profound, and I am dull-witted. But I still maintain that Buddhism is Buddhism, and the Dao is the Dao. I am not alone upon my Dao!"
Blood trickled from the corner of his mouth again when he finished, but not a trace of wavering showed on his resolute face.
The disciples nearby whose Dao hearts had briefly been led astray lowered their heads in shame.
Looking at the steadfast Ling Feng, Hui Zhi sighed as well and returned the salute. "Brother in the Dao, your strength of will is unlike any I have seen in my life. You have my admiration as well."
This monk really knew how to handle people. Even after winning, he gave his opponent a graceful way out, immediately earning the goodwill of everyone around him.
As for how his debate had damaged Ling Feng's Dao heart, they all forgave the youth on Ling Feng's behalf.
But Ouyang, munching on an apple, looked at the bald youth's status panel with surprise:
Name: Hui Zhi (Buddhist Holy Son-false) Cultivation: Nascent Soul, ninth level Root bone: 9 Charm: 9 Luck: 9 Buddhist aptitude: 11 Exclusive skill: Buddha Is My True Self
That "false" following "Buddhist Holy Son" inside the parentheses was very intriguing indeed.
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