The Śrāmaṇera Yuankong led the four of them into the Side Hall of Chanwood Temple.
During the temple fair, the main hall was fully open to the public, but devotees were not allowed into the Side Hall. Its primary purpose was to leave space for honored guests.
There were no other monks in the room, and Yuankong brewed the tea himself.
After taking her seat, Yaoqin asked, "Are you Chanwood Temple's Yuankong?"
"Have you heard of me, benefactor?" Yuankong asked, sounding puzzled.
Yaoqin nodded. "Chanwood Temple's Buddhist Child-you have some measure of fame, at least. But why haven't you begun practicing Chanwood Temple's Dharma Method?"
Yuankong poured the brewed tea for each of the four before explaining:
"The abbot said the time hasn't come yet."
Yaoqin nodded slightly. He was not her disciple, after all. A little curiosity was enough.
Li Yingling did not care in the slightest about Buddhist Children or any of that. She hurriedly asked out of curiosity:
"Young Monk, doesn't your abbot feel a little... holding that thing up?"
Yuankong heaved a sigh:
"He's the abbot, so naturally, he has the final say. If I had the final say, the abbot would be locked up today."
Chu Xingchen nodded in agreement:
"Yes! The Buddhist Child makes an excellent point. I also think our sect should establish a Disciplinary Chamber specifically for locking up those disobedient, rebellious disciples."
Li Yingling, the foremost rebellious disciple, voted against it:
"Master, you can't put it that way. Winning people over with love is the true way within a sect."
As she spoke, the foremost rebellious disciple shot a look at Li Xingtian, the second rebellious disciple.
Li Xingtian promptly pretended to lower his head and drink his tea, ignoring the signal from his senior sister.
"All right, you can discuss your sect's affairs yourselves later." Yaoqin looked toward the door.
The Side Hall's door faced the broad open space in front of the temple entrance, where the abbot was holding the plaque aloft.
No one was allowed to stand on this side either, so Chanwood Temple's specially invited guests could watch everything clearly with an unobstructed view.
It had to be said that, in its treatment of honored guests, Chanwood Temple did not act like a temple at all. It was more like an organization fawning over its superiors.
Yaoqin withdrew her gaze and sat upright. "When does today's Waterwood Dharma Assembly officially begin?"
"In about another hour, I believe." After finishing with the tea, Yuankong stood and pressed his palms together. "I'm leading my martial nephews in chanting today, so I can't stay long. Please make yourselves comfortable."
Yaoqin inclined her head slightly.
Only after pressing his palms together and bowing to everyone in the room did Yuankong withdraw.
Chu Xingchen put away his joking expression and took a small sip of tea before saying:
"This Buddhist Child is rather interesting."
Yaoqin sounded surprised. "Oh? You can tell?"
Chu Xingchen remained perfectly composed. "When have I ever misjudged anyone?"
Faced with that statement, Yaoqin really could not argue. Chu Xingchen's judgment of people was uncannily accurate. Even at a first meeting, he could swiftly see through to a person's true nature.
And he had never been wrong, as though he could read what others were thinking.
Yaoqin gently waved her jade fan. "Then tell me, what's so interesting about that Buddhist Child?"
"An Innate Buddhist Child," Chu Xingchen said solemnly.
Li Yingling had been eagerly waiting to hear what brilliant insight her master had to offer, but those words instantly killed her interest.
Yaoqin likewise paid it no mind and turned her gaze back toward the door.
He was already the temple's Buddhist Child. Saying that was nothing but taking off your pants to fart.
Seeing their indifferent expressions, Chu Xingchen said no more and simply took another sip of Chanwood Temple's distinctive bitter tea.
It had to be said: this bitter tea was really fucking bitter.
Naturally, Chu Xingchen had used the system to inspect Yuankong's attribute traits.
[Target: Yuankong] [Gold trait: Innate Buddhist Child] [Purple trait: See Through Illusion] [Blue trait: Intelligent] [Blue trait: Compassionate heart] [Black trait: Cultivation-impaired constitution] [Meets disciple recruitment requirements... biu... biu----] [Does not meet disciple recruitment requirements.]
This Śrāmaṇera Yuankong really was rather interesting. That gold trait alone was worth its weight in gold.
The other traits looked quite good too. Most astonishing of all, the system had actually glitched for a moment.
He met the requirements, yet did not. Presumably, the problem lay with that black trait, cultivation-impaired constitution.
Had the system judged that I'm currently incapable of solving this problem?
Cultivation-impaired constitution...
It probably was not that Chanwood Temple refused to let this Śrāmaṇera cultivate. More likely, he simply could not cultivate at all.
After a moment's thought, Chu Xingchen suddenly spoke:
"I think today's wish power is definitely intended for Yuankong."
Yaoqin glanced over and explained:
"A Buddhist Child of the Zen Grove Office is recognized by Central Province. That status alone allows him to undertake a Zen Pilgrimage through the Central Province Buddhist Temples to cultivate. Wouldn't Wish Power Cultivation destroy his own future?"
Chu Xingchen clicked his tongue twice. "That's a shallow view. You can't see through to the essence."
Yaoqin gave a disdainful laugh:
"Oh? Does the great immortal Chu have some evidence I don't know about?"
Chu Xingchen grabbed Li Xingtian's shoulder beside him. "A man's unfailingly accurate intuition."
At the same time, he stretched out his foot and kicked Li Yingling lightly in the shin.
Li Yingling froze for a moment, then caught the look her master was giving her. Understanding dawned, and she began playing along:
"Master, it's a woman's intuition that's accurate."
Chu Xingchen looked scornful. "Seems neither of you is convinced. Why don't we make a bet?"
"Yaoqin!" Li Yingling grabbed Yaoqin's arm beside her. "My master is being far too arrogant! Put him in his place!"
After a moment's thought, Yaoqin said, "All right... what do you want to wager?"
"How about spirit stones? If I lose, you won't owe me those spirit stones anymore. If you lose, you pay double. What do you think?"
At those words, Yaoqin's gaze turned suspicious.
How could Yaoqin not understand Chu Xingchen's temperament by now? Before, he had treasured even a single spirit stone, unwilling to spend it.
How could he now risk so many spirit stones betting against her on something with such seemingly slim odds?
Could he have some inside information?
But that was impossible.
Chanwood Temple had kept these invitations extremely discreet, inviting only the branches of a few Central Province sects.
Most of those branches had split off from Central Province sects and served simply as intelligence departments keeping tabs on other provinces.
After all, high-level secret realms occasionally appeared on other continents as well. Securing information first naturally put them a step ahead.
Most importantly, maintaining these branches cost nothing.
Zen Grove Buddhist Temple could also be considered a branch of the Central Province Buddhist Temples.
And it had only managed to invite those few sects by using wish power as its selling point.
Surely it would not invite the sects with such fanfare, only to have them watch Zen Grove Buddhist Temple destroy its own Buddhist Child?
Wouldn't that be an utter joke?
Chu Xingchen ought to understand that reasoning too. Why exactly was he so confident?!
Forget it. It's only a few spirit stones.
If she really got to watch Chanwood Temple destroy its own Buddhist Child, the money would be well spent.
After all, competition in Central Province was fiercer than on the other continents. One fewer Buddhist Child among the Buddhist Sects was good news for every other major sect.
That was especially true for Yaoqin's sect.
Yaoqin nodded in agreement. "All right. I accept."
Before you continue