Buddha Spirit Sect

Biodata

Power Progression

Background and History

Earlier Reputation

A thousand years before the main events, the Buddha Spirit Sect was well known, although it was not considered a major sect. In the present, it maintains an extremely low profile and has limited relationships with other sects 4 34.

Its most famous member is Wu Fei, an orphan whom Jingguan took in as a disciple during childhood. His Innate Exquisite Heart—a flawless state of mind that produces no inner demons—is said to be exceptionally rare even across tens of thousands of years 1 36.

Gathering and Inheritance Tomb

The sect initially sent only disciples to the Heavenly Sword Sect’s gathering because Jingguan was away and its elders needed to guard the sect. At Sword-Seeking City, Meiji attacked Wu Fei, drawing further attention to the Buddha Son and his exquisite state of mind 1 4.

Jingguan subsequently rejoined the delegation and helped the other Mahayana cultivators open the ancient inheritance tomb. Only Golden Core and Nascent Soul cultivators could enter; the Buddha Spirit Sect waited until nearly everyone else had gone inside before following 6.

After the expedition, the participating factions agreed to allow annual entry for selected Golden Core and Nascent Soul disciples. Wu Fei returned with valuable resources and handed Mysterious Lightning Wood over to the sect 21 22.

Clear Heart Village Investigation

When killings were reported in Clear Heart Village, Jingguan entrusted the investigation to Wu Fei. Kuzheng and the accompanying disciples reassured the villagers, while Wu Fei examined the ancestral hall and discovered its plaque was made from life-extinguishing wood. He also told the villagers that the sect had secured the settlement with a spirit array 23.

The investigation led Wu Fei into a mysterious space beneath the village. There, an unseen Buddhist chanter helped stabilize his failing Exquisite Heart and supplied a token resembling the sect’s life tablets 25.

Heavenly Dao Assembly

Jingguan brought the sect’s delegation to Flame Spirit Mountain aboard the Empty Cicada Flying Boat after unusual activity caused the Heavenly Dao Assembly to begin ten days early 27.

When Jing Fanyu was exposed as Devil Venerable Yin Fan, Wu Fei publicly defended him. Jingguan supported his disciple’s judgment, and the assembled Buddha Spirit Sect disciples echoed the principle of delivering all living beings. This placed them at odds with Heavenly Sword Sect leader Cang Xiao, who threatened to kill Wu Fei alongside Yin Fan 28 29.

Wu Fei then entered the Flame Spirit Realm with Yin Fan voluntarily, despite widespread accounts describing his departure as an abduction. Later, Fu Hong reported that Jingguan was absent from the altar where other sect leaders and Devil Venerables had gathered against Yin Fan 29 38 40.

Organization and Members

• Jingguan — Sect leader and Wu Fei’s master. He instructs the disciples, represents the sect at major gatherings, and participates in opening the inheritance tomb’s array 6 27.
• Wu Fei — True Disciple, Buddha Son, and successor. His special position and dependable judgment earn him authority even over some disciples senior to him 1 2 20.
• Kuzheng — A disciple who accompanies Wu Fei on expeditions, assists the Clear Heart Village investigation, and helps plant spirit medicines after the inheritance expedition 1 22 23.
• Kushi — A disciple who refines Youth-Preserving Pills and carries a substantial supply of spirit pills. His pill sales help fund the sect 3 4.
• Kusi — Identified as the oldest disciple in the inheritance expedition’s group. He reassures Kuzheng that Wu Fei’s unexplained absence must concern important business 20.
• Elders — Remain behind to guard the sect when necessary and attend council discussions with Jingguan 4 21.

Teachings and Customs

• Delivering all living beings: Jingguan invokes this principle to defend Wu Fei’s association with Yin Fan rather than condemning him solely as a Devil Cultivator 29.
• Buddhist cultivation: Practitioners cultivate through Buddhist teachings. They may eat meat, drink alcohol, and take dao companions, although they generally have few desires 1.
• Desire is not entirely absent: The disciples become visibly excited at the prospect of obtaining an ancient inheritance despite following a comparatively peaceful cultivation path 6.
• Quiet and restraint: During the Heavenly Sword Sect gathering, the disciples occupy a secluded bamboo courtyard and rarely venture outside 3 4.
• Uniforms: Most disciples wear white Buddhist robes. The initial delegation’s collars and cuffs bear mist-blue patterns, while Wu Fei’s patterns are pale gold 1 49.

Grounds, Resources, and Equipment

Sect Grounds

• Purple-Leaf Bodhi Tree — A ten-thousand-year-old tree. Wu Fei offers to make Jing Fanyu a new strand of prayer beads using material from it 7.
• Cleansing Pool — A pool associated with the Purple-Leaf Bodhi Tree. Wu Fei describes watching a sky full of stars while soaking there; the pool and tree also appear in the inheritance cave’s illusions 11 13 14.
• Council hall — Where Jingguan and several elders question Wu Fei about resources taken from the inheritance grounds 21.

Finances and Supplies

• Youth-Preserving Pills — Kushi’s pills earn Spirit Stones needed to keep the impoverished sect running 3 8.
• Mysterious Lightning Wood — Wu Fei donates wood recovered from the inheritance grounds. The surviving stock there is ten thousand years old or younger, and the species is otherwise extinct in the cultivation world 22.
• Spirit medicines — Kuzheng reports that the recovered spirit medicines have been planted after the expedition 22.
• Empty Cicada Flying Boat — An extremely fast Spirit Artifact deployed by Jingguan. Its construction and operation are expensive, so the sect reserves it for important occasions 27.
• Life tablets — Made from soul-nourishing jade and marked with an engraved swastika. The token obtained beneath Clear Heart Village shares their shape and material but lacks the engraving 25.

Unresolved Historical Connections

• The chanter beneath Clear Heart Village: Wu Fei suspects a sect connection because of the figure’s Buddhist knowledge and the token resembling a life tablet. Yin Fan later suggests that the chanter may be one of the sect’s seniors 25 34.
• Lu Feiyuan: Although he remembers once being a Buddhist cultivator, he has no memory of the Buddha Spirit Sect. His use of its tea-brewing technique leads Wu Fei to suspect that he is a former senior whose sect-related memories were deliberately erased 33 34.
• The Silent Dust Pearl: Wu Fei’s natal artifact fits a formation in the mysterious space associated with Lu Feiyuan and Yun Huai. Their remnant souls subsequently enter the pearl, strengthening Wu Fei’s suspicion that these discoveries concern both the sect and his own origins 35 36.

Notable Quote

“We Buddhist cultivators have always sought to deliver all living beings.”
— Jingguan, defending Wu Fei’s decision to stand beside Yin Fan 29