Hurry up, hurry up!
Lu Feng rose from the ground and looked around, searching for his "promised reward."
He knew he had survived this supernatural disaster by sheer luck.
But the state Master Zhuogedunzhu had been in at the end still left Lu Feng shaken.
He knew Master Zhuogedunzhu had been right. What had happened just now was simply a Dharma Protector flying into a rage.
It needed things it liked, drinks and music, to calm it down.
The White Vajra beneath Jade Mountain, subdued by the great adept of Pingzan Vajra Temple, was a local Outer God.
It had always been exceptionally savage.
Even after being subdued and turned into a Dharma Protector.
It still required constant offerings and worship.
Only after those reached a certain level could its Secret Mantras be used.
In other words, through continual "empowerments" and "almsgiving," one gained access to higher levels of Secret Mantras.
If the "almsgiving" was insufficient, or something went wrong with the timing, then without a doubt, the Lama supporting it would also be implicated. One careless mistake, and even a Lama's life could be in danger.
Yet even so, Lamas were still far more exalted than Sutra Student Monks like them.
Because Sutra Student Monks like them did not even have a chance to become entangled with a Dharma Protector. At most, they were sacrifices, not even qualified to support a Dharma Protector. A Lama could at least wield Secret Mantras to protect himself; Sutra Student Monks had no means of protecting themselves at all.
It was just as people said.
Even if you wanted to kneel, you couldn't get your foot in the door.
Seeing Master Zhuogedunzhu leave and disappear into the distance.
Lu Feng stood up and took several deep breaths.
It was no illusion.
Lu Feng felt the warmth at his brow and navel flow throughout his body. The weakness fear had brought on had now vanished. He tried taking a couple of steps and found that his legs no longer trembled and his feet no longer ached.
He had regained his strength. With the blessing of his wise mind, Lu Feng quickly devised a plan.
He swiftly located the Tusi's silver vault.
Normally.
A Tusi's silver vault would be somewhere heavily guarded.
That heavily guarded place could not be too far from the fortified tower where he lived.
The silver vault of Gaqila Tusi's household took things to an extreme.
It was right inside the fortified tower where the Tusi lived!
Pushing open the wooden door of the Tusi's home and lifting the prayer flags inside, Lu Feng saw the Tusi lying within. His belly had been hollowed out, his intestines and guts spilled all over the floor. His death had been exceptionally gruesome.
Beside him was a palm-sized statue of the Goddess, now fallen on the floor.
It had cracked open.
Exposing the strange, writhing internal organs inside.
"..."
Lu Feng had no intention of investigating what was going on with the statue.
He recited a passage from the Diamond Sutra, then skirted around the place and found the entrance to the Tusi's silver vault.
It was a passage leading downward.
He took a still-burning torch from the wall and walked inside.
Descending the steps and finding the silver vault, Lu Feng pressed his palms together.
"Thank you for your alms, Gaqila Tusi! I will pray for your blessings."
Lu Feng pressed his palms together toward the silver vault and bowed, then slotted his torch into the wall beside it.
He opened the chests in Gaqila Tusi's silver vault one by one, searching for valuable treasures.
A Tusi lineage's silver vault was expanded over successive generations, with silver deposited inside-the accumulation of several generations.
Lu Feng had a clear goal.
He only wanted valuables worth around two to three thousand taels.
After all, based on Lu Feng's observations over the past ten years.
At Endless White Pagoda Temple, the minimum cost of an almsgiving was fifteen hundred taels, with highland barley porridge and copper coins distributed as alms.
Two thousand taels meant white rice porridge and copper coins.
Three thousand taels meant white rice porridge with sugar and raisins, along with copper coins.
Different almsgivings would leave different impressions of him among the other monks. There were quite a few cliques within Endless White Pagoda Temple, too.
Everyone preferred to follow wealthier monks in their cultivation.
Because a wealthier monk meant that the temple backing him had great influence and strength. Even after leaving Endless White Pagoda Temple, one could secure a relatively good place to end up.
There was no helping it.
Endless White Pagoda Temple could not support every monk for his entire life-especially those at the bottom.
Nor could monks spend their whole lives doing odd jobs.
They would grow old eventually, and they needed to survive.
Even those who had left worldly life behind still had to make a living.
So if Lu Feng wanted to rebuild the Dharma Lineage, followers were absolutely indispensable. Right now, he was all alone, with only his shadow for company.
Because he was a poor student monk.
He was neither a Lama nor wealthy.
No one paid him any attention at all.
But to complete the ancient scroll's task, he actually needed to start consciously working toward that goal now.
He needed more than the status of a Lama.
He also needed a sufficient core of followers.
Lu Feng searched carefully through the silver vault.
He searched the Tusi's silver vault for valuables that were portable, retained their value, and could be resold.
And he really did find several chests of treasures.
"Thank you, Gaqila Tusi."
Lu Feng repeatedly thanked the generous Gaqila Tusi.
Beneath the torchlight.
Inside this open chest.
The many treasures dazzled Lu Feng's eyes.
Of course, within this silver vault.
There were also many tralpa serfs and craftsmen who had died inside.
He could tell that a Malevolent Ghost had once occupied this place, even though it was already gone.
Many mutilated corpses remained here, with no possibility of transforming into undead.
There were even some monks from a nearby small temple.
Lu Feng found several large bags on these corpses and hurriedly stuffed them with treasures for offering to the Buddha from the chests in the Tusi's silver vault.
These so-called treasures for offering to the Buddha were the hard currency of the Secret Dharma Region.
They were treasures used to support senior monks.
Some could also be offered to Buddhas, bodhisattvas, and Dharma Protectors.
Whether Dzongben Nobles, Tusi lineages, or temples, all needed these items.
These items came in many varieties, but every kind shared one characteristic.
They were exceptionally expensive.
Sometimes, there would even be a price but no supply.
Even with silver in hand, one could not buy them.
One had no choice but to exchange other things for them.
Among the treasures in this chest, for instance, there were many things Lu Feng had only heard of and never seen.
Today was his first time seeing them, broadening his horizons.
Inside, he found "Tibetan Incense," "Coral Prayer Beads," "Amber Prayer Beads," "Golden-thread Nanmu Prayer Beads," "Cloisonné Cockscomb Wood Prayer Beads," "gold bowls," "silver pagodas," the "Eight Treasures Scripture," "goldthread," "safflower," and other items.
He knew little about the value of such important treasures as Tibetan Incense, Golden-thread Nanmu Prayer Beads, and the "Eight Treasures Scripture."
But he knew very well what the other things were worth.
Their value definitely exceeded three thousand taels of silver.
Perhaps even more.
He slung these saddlebags over his shoulders without the slightest reluctance to leave.
He knew that the things remaining in the silver vault, the things he could not carry away, did not belong to him either.
They were all mere worldly possessions.
He climbed out of the silver vault.
He began heading toward Endless White Pagoda Temple.
There were still six days until the scripture debate. He could not waste even the slightest bit of time on anything else.
Before coming to the official stronghold.
He had not felt certain of his chances of passing the scripture debate.
But now, he knew that missing this chance truly meant waiting another year!
This time, his success in the scripture debate was all but assured.
He would definitely succeed.
Because he had the money for almsgiving, and the ancient scroll was helping him too.
Before, carrying so many things, there was absolutely no way he could have returned to Endless White Pagoda Temple in just one midday and afternoon.
But now, he had the blessing of the Human-Skin Ancient Scroll.
After walking the whole way.
He had actually only worked up a little sweat.
There was no sensation of his lungs blazing as though on fire!
On the road, he opened the ancient scroll and took a look. Beside the Dead Person Chang Ghost was a lifelike image of a kindly Tiger Granny.
Beneath it, a duration was written in double-hours.
Lu Feng did the calculation.
It meant twelve days!
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