Several months slipped quietly by.
That day, an oppressive atmosphere hung over Lotus Platform Hall in Lesser Cold Temple.
Drafts swept freely through the hall, making the candle flames flicker between light and shadow.
The dim yellow light fell across the Buddha statue's face, looking uncannily like a layer of horrifying bloodstains, enough to make anyone's skin crawl.
Inside the hall, more than fifty monks, all at the rank of Foundation Establishment Bhikkhu or above, either sat upright at the front or gathered in groups.
Some still had traces of the scorched earth outside the island caught in the folds of their kasayas.
At the highest lotus seat, the place of honor that should have belonged to Abbot Huan Chan was now occupied by the Discipline Abbot, Dharma Master Su Xin.
She wore a sheer monastic robe and, viewed from a distance, appeared somewhat dignified and solemn.
Yet a closer look revealed a faint, alluring charm in her eyes and brows, as though an enchantress who bewitched all living beings had entered the Buddhist order.
Even in monastic robes, she could not conceal the myriad charms in her very bones, blooming alone with a peculiar allure within that sinister Buddhist hall.
Thud!
A dull impact burst through the hall like a thunderclap, instantly shattering the deathly silence.
Dharma Master Guan Lian abruptly rose from the front row, moving so hastily that tea splashed from the celadon cup in his hand and spread into a wet patch on the floor.
Lesser Cold Temple had six Golden Core cultivators in total.
One had reached peak Golden Core, one was at the late Golden Core stage, two were at the middle Golden Core stage, and the remaining two were at the Golden Core early stage.
Dharma Master Guan Lian was the expert at