Central Province, at the Heavenly Derivation Sect Mountain Gate.
The young śrāmaṇera from Inverted Hanging Temple rubbed his head as he gazed at the magnificent Heavenly Derivation Sect Mountain Gate, unable to hide the shock in his eyes.
Everyone said the Eighteen Immortal Sects stood a whole tier above the rest of the world. Just looking at this mountain gate, wreathed in immortal mist and surging with spiritual power, made that thoroughly convincing.
Most Buddhist sects in the world had branched off from Great Thunderclap Temple in Central Province and were indirectly under its jurisdiction.
After all, when it came to profound Buddhist teachings, Great Thunderclap Temple had Buddhist Children in abundance, with countless geniuses cultivating diligently within its walls.
Naturally, Buddhist temples established later could hardly escape Great Thunderclap Temple's influence.
But not every Buddhist sect was like that.
Inverted Hanging Temple in Central Province had not branched off from Great Thunderclap Temple, nor was it directly under its jurisdiction.
The reason was simple: if one traced its history back, Inverted Hanging Temple had been established not much later than Great Thunderclap Temple.
Although both practiced Hinayana Buddhism, even Hinayana Buddhism encompassed utterly different philosophies. Coupled with its early founding, this had allowed it to escape Great Thunderclap Temple's influence.
It stood as something of a lone tree in Central Province. Though it had gained freedom, it had also lost Great Thunderclap Temple's direct protection.
Of course, if they insisted on borrowing that protection, they actually could. After all, not everyone knew that Inverted Hanging Temple had no direct connection to Great Thunderclap Temple.
When traveling, they could still invoke Great Thunderclap Temple to bluff people who did not know the full story.
And because it lacked Great Thunderclap Temple's direct support, aside from its well-built temple and reasonably