Dingguang Joyful Buddha

Otherwise, he would have been exposed on the spot!

Originally, Jiang Zhe had thought that being exposed was no big deal. At worst, he could fight the old ox and roast him afterward!

But now!

Mount Hua?

Who was on Mount Hua?

The Third Holy Mother!

The Jade Emperor's niece!

Well, well!

The Long-Eared Dingguang Immortal behind this old yellow ox had picked a fight with the Jade Emperor's whole family!

First, he went after the beloved Weaver Girl, then his niece, the Third Holy Mother...

They weren't just tugging at fairies' skirts. They were tearing the skin off the Jade Emperor's face and plucking away the Heavenly Court's fortune!

To suppress the Heavenly Court, Buddhism was really going all out.

"You are the most loyal believer in my Buddha. You won't be short of benefits in the future, so be good and do as I say." The old yellow ox looked at the devout Jiang Zhe with satisfaction and smiled, narrowing his eyes. "Tonight, watch your senior brother closely and learn from what he does."

"Here! This is a cultivation technique I, your master, obtained by a stroke of luck. Cultivate it diligently, and in the future, you can serve as a boy attendant at my side."

As he said this, an indescribably lecherous gleam flashed through the old yellow ox's eyes.

The sight made Jiang Zhe's stomach churn.

Damn it! A yao is a yao!

Men or women, meat or vegetables, he doesn't care!

Just you wait! If I don't roast you into beef jerky tonight, I'll take your surname!

Even so, Jiang Zhe took a deep breath and forced down his anger.

Calm down.

First, the timing isn't right.

In broad daylight, out in full view of everyone, people were coming and going through the village.

With the power of Samadhi True Fire, if he failed to hold back and accidentally let a wisp loose, he might well create a miniature Flaming Mountain on the spot. The earlier experiment had used only the power of a single wisp of flame, so he had controlled it freely, but having to hold back in an actual fight would be courting death.

Second...

Jiang Zhe lowered his eyes.

He was also curious about what sort of show this old yellow ox intended to put on for him.

From what the ox had said, the Buddhist Order's schemes involved far more than just the Weaver Girl! There was the Third Holy Mother, and more who had yet to show themselves...

Was the Buddhist Order now determined to pluck the Heavenly Court's fortune clean and damage the Jade Emperor's prestige?

Interesting.

He wanted to watch this grand show and see just how far the hand behind the scenes could reach.

"Thank you, Master."

Jiang Zhe respectfully accepted the cultivation technique with both hands.

The moment it entered his hands, however, his heart tightened slightly.

The pages were ice-cold. The instant his fingertips touched them, countless threads as fine as gossamer seemed to burrow through his skin and into his soul!

Samadhi True Fire silently circulated through his meridians, burning through those threads without a sound.

Jiang Zhe's face betrayed nothing, but inwardly, he sneered again and again.

What a fine cultivation technique obtained by a stroke of luck.

How is this a cultivation technique? It's clearly a leash tied around a dog's neck!

If he had really been a defenseless mortal, once he put on that leash, he would probably have slaved away for the old ox until the day he died.

The ox was certainly confident in his Buddhist Universal Salvation Technique.

And no wonder! After two exposures to the Buddha light, in the ox's eyes, he was nothing more than an ordinary man with a handsome face and a slightly scholarly air. How could he have withstood the brainwashing of an immortal's methods?

If Samadhi True Fire had not guarded his mind, he might really have fulfilled the ox's wishes by now and become a loyal dog of the Buddhist Order, wagging his tail.

"Tonight, I, your master, will show you how to trick a fairy into your hands."

The old yellow ox stood with his hands behind his back, the smile on his face growing wider. "It will be the greatest honor of your life."

Yet as he finished speaking, a trace of jealous resentment involuntarily flashed in his eyes.

The fairies in heaven...

Even after cultivating all this time, he did not dare so much as dream of them.

But because of his yao body, no matter how magnanimous the Buddhist Order was, it would never be his turn to lay hands on the Heavenly Court's pearls.

Only humans could do such a thing.

Humans! The living beings favored by heaven and earth.

This world, along with the immortals and gods above and below, favored them.

Even in their Spirit Mountain, from the Buddhas at the top to the bodhisattvas below, who didn't give humans priority when taking disciples and passing on their teachings?

Hmph... why?

Jiang Zhe took in all those dark thoughts, his lowered lashes concealing everything.

He did not spare the old yellow ox another glance. He merely turned his head slightly and looked toward the horizon.

The Great Yang was climbing the mountaintop inch by inch.

Daytime would soon be over.

And tonight...

Deep in Jiang Zhe's pupils, a tiny flame quietly flared to life, then quietly went out.

He suppressed the urge to act right now.

Dealing with an old yellow ox was not difficult. The hard part was figuring out the methods behind him.

How the Joyful Buddha Dharma bewitched people, how the Conversion Technique laid its traps, just how deeply the Buddhist Order's threads were buried! Tonight was a free chance to observe it all.

Only after seeing it with his own eyes could he avoid it in the future.

Besides, he had something he could bargain over.

"System, this is Yang Chan we're talking about!" Jiang Zhe said inwardly, his tone just like a regular customer haggling at a counter. "The Third Holy Mother, the Precious Lotus Lantern-she's a major figure in heaven and earth! Once the Weaver Girl job is done, shouldn't you give me the Yang Chan job too?"

[Quest generation condition: triggered by a karma node]

[The host's current karma has not reached Mount Hua. This quest cannot be generated yet]

"You're like a tube of toothpaste-you only give a little when squeezed." Jiang Zhe curled his lip.

Still, at least the system hadn't ruled it out completely! His karma hadn't reached it yet?

That meant once he really got involved, there could be a big job waiting for him down the line.

He put the thought aside and made a guiding motion with his fingertip.

Whoosh! Samadhi True Fire leaped from his palm like a layer of flowing gold, enveloping the entire cultivation technique he had obtained by a stroke of luck.

The paper curled, blackened, and crumbled in the flames. Tongues of fire licked between every word, sparing not even the fibers in the pulp! He burned it thoroughly, leaving not a single loose thread behind.

But then!

Just as the ashes were about to go cold, a glimmer of gold suddenly flashed in the fire!

Jiang Zhe's pupils contracted sharply, and he closed his hand. The fire died and the ashes scattered, leaving a golden page as thin as a cicada's wing lying quietly in the pile of ash. Its edges were completely intact, and it gave off a warm luster.

It withstood Samadhi True Fire?!

Jiang Zhe's heart skipped a beat.

His fire had burned essence, Qi, and souls, and even the old yellow ox's yao Qi feared it! Yet now it couldn't reduce a single page to nothing?

He suppressed his surprise and suspicion and picked up the golden page.

It was warm to the touch, and it felt rather like a living thing.

[Remnant Page of Conversion, personally written by Dingguang Joyful Buddha]

[Anyone who wears it close to their body for years will be steeped in Joyful Buddha Power day and night, unknowingly becoming a believer before the Buddha]

[Recyclable · merit returned: 100]

For some reason, Jiang Zhe recalled what the old yellow ox had said!

"You're rather handsome. You should meet the venerable one's requirements too!"

The venerable one...

Dingguang Joyful Buddha?

Jiang Zhe raised a hand and touched his face without thinking.

It felt a little cold.

Now he finally understood what the old yellow ox had meant when he said he had invested far more effort in Jiang Zhe than in the Cowherd.

He, Jiang Zhe, was handsome, had a scholarly air, and was human...

He had been carefully selected by that Buddha to be shaped into another piece.

A better-looking chess piece, meant specifically to lure fairy maidens.

Being handsome really was a crime.

"Recycle it." He pressed the golden page into his palm, his voice flat.

[Recycling successful · merit +100]

"If I recycle this thing, Dingguang Joyful Buddha won't be able to trace it back here, will he?" he asked casually, sounding unconcerned.

[Recycling is settled directly through the Great Dao and does not involve the karma of the myriad worlds]