Zhou Wuji had already come down from the high platform, but tens of thousands of people were still kneeling and praying, refusing to get up.
For everyone present, what had just happened was too shocking; they were completely absorbed in it and unable to pull themselves away.
Seeing everyone's expressions, Xinru, who was about to go on stage to give a sermon, sighed softly.
With Zhou Wuji's teachings preceding him, no one listened to anything he said when he went on stage again.
However, he couldn't refuse to go on stage and preach the law.
Whether others listen or not is their business, but whether he speaks or not is a matter of reputation for Dragon Elephant Temple.
If you're afraid of losing face and don't go on stage, you'll only become more ridiculed and leave yourself a laughing stock!
Puren, with his round eyes and broad face, said in a deep voice, "We were caught off guard by Zhou Wuji's use of such evil methods. We lost the argument but there was nothing we could do about it."
"However, such tricks will be useless when it comes to the debate. As long as we can defeat Zhou Wuji, this Dharma assembly will be a great victory!"
The head of the Puren Arhat Hall is also a third-rank expert, or Vajra according to Buddhist terminology.
This person has always been assertive and has never liked preaching or spreading Buddhist teachings.
Xinru nodded slightly. "That's what I think too."
Zhou Wuji Zhou Wuji indeed win in preaching and spreading the Dharma, which also brought his influence to its peak.
The more this is the case, the higher the prestige gained from defeating Zhou Wuji will be.
Whether you're an ordinary person or a powerful cultivator or a wealthy and influential person, ultimately it all comes down to strength.
The power of preaching and expounding scriptures is great, but ultimately it cannot compare to the strength of one's cultivation.
Xinru has this kind of awareness, one will not feel uncomfortable about going on stage to give a sermon.
Xinru ascended the high platform and chanted Buddhist mantras, attracting many believers to join in chanting "May Buddha have mercy."
Compared to the earth-shattering spectacle just now, it seemed sparse and the difference was too great.
Zhou Wuji glanced at Xinru monk Xinru from below the stage. The monk was indeed as beautiful as a woman, dressed in flowing white robes. In terms of appearance, he was only slightly inferior to Zhou Wuji.
However, the monk's brows and features exuded a effeminate air, which made him lack a certain imposing presence.
The Xinru recited the Diamond Sutra, a fundamental Buddhist scripture. His voice was gentle and soothing, and he explained the meaning of each verse clearly and thoroughly, possessing a unique charm that comforted people's hearts.
True Person Li Yiyang of the Lesser Yang Sect exclaimed, " Xinru has a thorough understanding of the scriptures and has practiced the Thunder Sound Orthodox Method to a level as gentle as music, able to subtly permeate people's hearts without them even realizing it. This is truly remarkable."
"Unfortunately, encountering Junior Nephew Zhou's unique method of transmitting the Dharma, he could only suffer a humiliating defeat—"
Zhou Wuji cupped his hands in greeting. " True Person flatter me, Master. It was just a sudden inspiration, nothing special."
"Only with the help of the Palace Master can I activate the Dharma Form's operation and transformation, thus truly awe-inspiring and subduing people's hearts—"
The starry sky image on the giant water mirror, including the final transformation of starlight into the image of the Northern Emperor, was all created by the Secret Method activated by the True Person Zhihua.
As everyone knows, the Water Mirror Technique cannot be faked. However, there are quite a few things to consider when using the Water Mirror Technique.
Zhou Wuji, after all, possessed the wisdom and experience of his previous life and knew some basic photography techniques.
His Water Mirror Technique had reached perfection; by capturing images from certain special angles, he could make the divine form of the True Person Zhihua appear incredibly enormous.
As for the background music, it's simple. He used the Clear Heart Universal Goodness Incantation and the Buddha's Light First Appears from his previous life, both of which are classic film and television scores with mature melodies.
Although his performance with the flute was somewhat lacking, his True Qi was abundant, and he played high and middle notes steadily with the jade flute, which was sufficient for his needs.
Zhou Wuji naturally wouldn't explain the details to outsiders, only giving a vague overview.
This world is, after all, backward; it has never seen a combined form of light and sound for communication.
The effect of using a giant water mirror to transmit scriptures and preach the Dharma is a thousand times greater than that of preaching.
Zhou Wuji also understood that this world was only lagging behind in these aspects, but people weren't stupid.
Seeing how effective this method was, experts from all schools naturally followed suit.
Everyone knows this trick now. Even if he has some experience with audio-visual distribution methods, he shouldn't expect to easily crush others in this area.
He wasn't too concerned about that; as long as he could win this time, that was enough.
The other True Person agreed with Zhou Wuji's explanation. Although this method was novel, it was not difficult to learn.
Li Yiyang was quite interested in Zhou Wuji, and he warned him, "The monks will definitely want to defeat you in a debate, so you should be careful."
"Thank you for the reminder, True Person."
Zhou Wuji then asked, "I've heard that Xinru has already comprehended the Prajna Dharma. I wonder what its intricacies are?"
Li Yiyang smiled and said, "The Buddhist teachings are very different from ours. Their Third Rank Vajra requires the concentration of the Heart Wheel, so that it can turn at will and change infinitely."
"To comprehend Prajna is to gain a preliminary understanding of the wonders of the mind; it is the first step in consolidating the Heart Wheel— "
The Buddhist community widely accepted disciples, and their cultivation methods spread far and wide.
Li Yiyang was also Third Rank True Person, and had a good understanding of Buddhist teachings.
In the Dharma debate at the Jingyang Dharma Assembly, it doesn't really matter whether the Daoist sects win or lose, but we can't let Dragon Elephant Temple win.
This Jingyang Dharma Assembly was somewhat awkward, Xinru Dragon Elephant Temple stood out, clearly overshadowing the other sects of Daoism.
The Lesser Yang Sect has no geniuses, and Li Yiyang knows that his sect has no chance of winning the Dharma Assembly, so he is willing to give Zhou Wuji a few pointers.
No matter how much the Daoist sects fight, it's an internal matter within the Daoist sects, and we can't let the monks benefit from it.
Leng Yiming, Zhang Zhichun, True Person Zhihua all listened attentively.
At their level, they all had some understanding of Buddhism, but they were not as knowledgeable as Li Yiyang.
Hearing Li Yiyang recount the details of the Fourth Rank and Third Rank Buddhist practice was quite enlightening.
As the True Person chatted idly, the eyes of their many disciples were mostly fixed on Zhou Wuji.
Many disciples were not qualified to step forward, and seeing Zhou Wuji, who was of the same generation as them, chatting and laughing with several True Person, they couldn't help but feel envious and jealous.
Especially Lu Wuyuan, who always considered himself the number one among the Wu generation in the Upper Court, but today Zhou Wuji stole the show.
He was filled with jealousy, yet he was powerless to do anything about it.
Hearing Li Yiyang praise Xinru Xinru's prowess, Lu Wuyuan. He'd wait until he defeated Xinru and won the championship, then he'd see what these people had to say.
Ruby Xinru, standing on the platform, finished reciting a passage from the Diamond Sutra, but she still received a lot of applause.
The sermon and the transmission of the Dharma have come to an end. The full moon is now high in the sky, and it is almost midnight.
The Northern Pole Sect sent a Zhiyuan preside over the ceremony to commemorate the deceased, and the crowd went to the riverbank to release lotus lanterns.
The river here is calm, and hundreds of lotus lanterns are cast into its deep surface, their lights quickly drifting away with the current.
People knelt by the river in silent prayer, and some sensitive individuals wept uncontrollably.
After the ceremony concluded, the Jingyang Dharma Assembly entered its final stage of Dharma discussion.
The atmosphere at the scene became lively, with even drums being played to cheer people on.
The sound of drums pounding excited those who had been up all night.
The monks of Dragon Elephant Temple also chanted incantations and performed rituals to bless the high platform.
The layers of Vajra Incantation also caused the entire platform to radiate a faint golden spiritual light.
The first cultivator from the Lesser Yang Sect to step onto the stage was only twenty years old. He first demonstrated a set of Swordsmanship on stage.
His movements were fluid and graceful, the longsword in his hand gleaming with Cold Light.
After a set of Swordsmanship was practiced, the common people could only see the flash of the sword and not the swordsman, and they couldn't help but cheer loudly.
A young cultivator practiced a set of Swordsmanship and told the audience that his cultivation was shallow and that he had come to the Dharma assembly to ask his teachers for guidance.
Immediately, a cultivator from the Pure Yang Sect stepped onto the stage, saying he wanted to learn from their superior skills.
Both men switched to wooden swords and began sparring on the stage. At first, they were quite polite, but after several dozen moves, their Swordsmanship gradually became more formidable.
The crowd watching the spectacle grew increasingly excited, with many shouting and cheering loudly.
Several young men also stood there, judging their abilities. They were all martial artists, among whom the brothers Zhang Shiqi and Zhang Shiying were particularly skilled.
After listening to them for a few moments, Leng Wuyou knew that these people had a lot of practical experience and could talk about combat in a very knowledgeable way.
However, her words always contained a tendency to belittle the Daoist sect, which made her somewhat unhappy.
She actually knew that the Zhang Household had only a so-so relationship with the various sects of Daoism, but was extremely close to the Dragon Elephant Temple.
There are, of course, many reasons for this, which unconsciously led the Zhang Household to favor Dragon Elephant Temple.
Leng Wuyou didn't want to stay any longer, so she told Zhang Qingning and left.
After Leng Wuyou left, the young masters' chatter subsided considerably.
Seeing this, Zhang Qingning sneered. These guys were trying to show off by constantly belittling the Daoist sect and trying to win Leng Wuyou's favor. He wondered what they were thinking!
The two people sparring on stage were actually just performing; they weren't really trying to determine who was better. That's why the competition was so lively, but they never really came out on top.
The real method of debate, however, involved each faction drawing lots to pair up, with the two winners then competing in order after the first round.
Sixteen people from the five Daoist sects plus Dragon Elephant Temple participated in the debate and sword duel.
Because Jingyang Upper Court is the host, it has always been the presiding authority for Dharma assemblies, which is why four people were able to participate in the assembly.
After the performances on stage ended, the first group to compete took to the stage.
Lu Wuyuan was unlucky; he drew the first lot, and his opponent was Xinkong from Dragon Elephant Temple.
The tens of thousands of onlookers didn't actually recognize the two people on the platform.
All the experts were aware of the two men's prowess and were keenly interested in this battle.
Lu Wuyuan was once known as the number one expert of the Wu generation in Jingyang Upper Court, and Xinkong was also a genius of Dragon Elephant Temple. He had condensed the True Wheel of the Dragon Elephant Prajna Art, and was said to have the power of Dragon Elephant in every move.
This battle is bound to be extremely fierce.
Holding the wooden sword, Lu Wuyuan first cast Golden Light Spirit Incantation on himself, then reached out and brushed the wooden sword, casting Seven Stars Profound Gang Incantation on it.
This spell can condense the Law Power the Seven Stars into a wooden sword, making it as sharp and tough as steel. It can also unleash the power of Xuan Gang, making it an extremely powerful spell.
Xinkong also silently recited mantras, bestowing upon himself the Vajra, Dragon Elephant, and Divine Movement Speed mantras.
The Buddhist practice combines incantations and martial arts. Xinkong was already tall, and after being blessed with incantations, his body shone with a faint golden light, making him appear even more imposing.
He gripped a six-foot wooden stick, let out a loud shout, and swung it Lu Wuyuan.
Lu Wuyuan dared not take the attack head-on. He retreated while urging the Northern Dipper Heavenly Pivot Yin Thunder. He had long ago refined the Five Viscera Temple, which could store more than ten Thunder Method. Even when used temporarily, it was quite powerful.
As the lightning struck, Xinkong swept his staff horizontally, causing the lightning to explode. Xinkong paused slightly before continuing his charge towards Lu Wuyuan.
Upon seeing this, the cultivators from various sects of the Daoist sect who were preparing to go on stage all changed their expressions slightly.
The Northern Pole Sect's Yin Thunder Method is renowned throughout the world, and Lu Wuyuan is known as the number one among the Wu generation. This monk withstood Lu Wuyuan's Thunder Method without any apparent abnormality, demonstrating his formidable strength.
Seeing that Lu Wuyuan destined to lose, True Person Zhihua said to Zhou Wuji, "It all depends on you."
"This monk is truly formidable! I imagine Xinru must be even more so!"
77
Zhou Wuji said with a complicated expression, " True Person, can pass on the Fourth Rank Tianshu Sword to me, I will surely win this battle!"
True Person Zhihua glanced at Zhou Wuji and suddenly found the boy rather repulsive.