After a few words:
"..."
Zhang Yao frowned tightly and remained silent for a long time.
Tongxing Arhat slowly lowered his palm and remained silent, as if waiting for his decision.
"...I have something to ask you."
After a moment of silence, Zhang Yao spoke:
"For the master to be willing to reveal such a cruel and heavy truth to others, he must be determined to change the world and seek external help."
"Forgive me to be honest, Mani Temple is as majestic as a mountain, so the master's efforts are probably just like a fly on a tree."
This is a very real problem:
If you want to change the world, it is useless to sit here and dream. You must take concrete actions.
But the power of Mani Temple is too terrifying. Not to mention one practicing Arhat, even ten practicing Arhats cannot overthrow this system of good deeds.
"The layman is right to be worried."
Tongxing Arhat looked calm and said slowly:
"Actually, I am not the only one who has been dissatisfied with the system of meritorious deeds among the golden Arhats who have been in charge of the Great Enlightenment Hall in the past dynasties."
"But due to practical problems, after they experienced a series of processes such as discouragement, pain, powerlessness, despair, and loneliness, they came to a great enlightenment, looked at the emptiness of all appearances, and integrated the true meaning of Kuji Bodhi."
"Among these arhats who hold the temple, there are not a few who have successfully accepted the empowerment of sentient beings' wishes and achieved the status of great arhats."
"oh?"
Zhang Yao's expression changed and he immediately understood the essence of these words.
Because I am powerless and know that I have no hope of changing the current situation, I have no regrets.
And the fact that the Taoist Arhat in front of him has been trapped by the knot for more than a hundred years proves that he has a way to overthrow the system of good deeds, or at least there is a glimmer of hope.
Ironically, it was this glimmer of hope that became his shackles.
"……etc!"
Seeing that Tongxing Arhat was about to speak again, Zhang Yao suddenly stopped him and said calmly:
"Master Tong, I am very grateful that you can share this with me."
"But I have never promised to help you realize your ambition, so I'm afraid it's better not to listen to some of your words."
Once you get involved in something, you can't get away from it.
The sentient beings in Mani Temple are indeed miserable, but this is not caused by Zhang Yao and has nothing to do with him.
Because of the opponent's deception, he became so passionate that he became the opponent's chess piece and pawn. This kind of person cannot even survive in the mortal world.
A body as small as his can't carry a behemoth like Mani Temple, so it's better not to participate.
"I can understand the concerns of lay people."
Tongxing Arhat smiled lightly and said:
"But the poor monk took the initiative to invite the layman to meet, so he was naturally well prepared."
"The poor monk is confident. I'm afraid it will be difficult for a layman to refuse the terms I offer."
"oh?"
Zhang Yao raised his eyebrows, revealing a hint of a smile but not a smile:
"Then I would like to see what conditions the master can offer."
Hearing this, Tongxing Arhat smiled slightly, reached into the sleeve of the monk's robe, took out a small metal bottle, and placed it between the two of them.
The small metal bottle is about the size of a palm, and its entire body is silver-white, engraved with dense dark golden lines.
"Ignore the conditions for now, this is my meeting gift to the layman."
"Whether it succeeds or not, whether the layman agrees or not, this thing belongs to the layman."
"this……"
Zhang Yao glanced at it and suddenly his expression froze.
Even through the tightly sealed metal vial, he felt the burning and faint tingling sensation on the skin all over his body, and almost immediately understood what was inside.
That was the treasure he dreamed of, and it was one of the cornerstones leading to the Nascent Soul Avenue.
"..."
Zhang Yao's face twitched and he spoke slowly, with a hint of dryness in his voice.
"Master, have you thought about it? Do you really want to give me this Buddhist treasure?"
He never expected that the precious golden paste, which he thought would take many years of hard work, was actually right in front of him at this moment - so close and so easily accessible.
He originally wanted to question Tongxing Arhat, how did he know he needed this thing and whether he had investigated him secretly, but when the words came to his mouth, something changed unknowingly.
"certainly."
Tongxing Luohan nodded and said:
"Monks don't lie."
"I will give this to you, layman."
While speaking, he reached out and pushed the metal vial closer to Zhang Yao.
"Hoo, hoo..."
After Zhang Yao took a few deep breaths, the restlessness in his heart was suppressed, his eyes were as calm as an ice lake, and his tone was calm:
"Thank you for your kindness, Master, but I can't take this thing without getting rewarded for your merits."
As he spoke, he reached out and pushed the vial further away.
"Master, please take it back."
He does need the precious gold paste, but he must not be led around by others because of this thing. This is something he will never tolerate.
The talent of immortality is his greatest asset, which means that he always has a way out, instead of being chased by the knife of time hanging behind him like other monks, often unable to control himself.
"..."
Facing Zhang Yao's rejection, Tongxing Luohan was also surprised. He looked at him deeply, remained silent for a moment, and then whispered:
"It seems that if the layman is uneasy, the layman will not trust me... Then I will reveal a little bit."
"My plan is to strive for the right time, place and people. If everything is ready and I am 50% sure, I can destroy this good system and eliminate this eternal evil."
"From now on, what belongs to the Buddha belongs to the Buddha, and what belongs to all living beings belongs to all living beings."
"In this process, we are only dealing with the Golden Core cultivators. As for those great Arhats, they will not interfere."
"Is this true?"
Zhang Yao looked subtle, grasping the key points of the old monk's words, and asked:
"You have the support of several great Arhats? No, this is impossible... Could it be that they have some weakness or flaw that you took advantage of?"
"The layman is indeed a smart man."
Tongxing Luohan did not hide anything and said:
"Even the big sects that enjoy the benefits of Tianzhou will rise and fall, and they cannot escape the changes of the times."
"But in our Mani Temple, great Arhats have been sitting here for generations. They rely on the empowerment of sentient beings' wishes, and of course this comes at a price."
"Under normal circumstances, every time a great Arhat takes action, it consumes a huge amount of sentient beings' willpower, so they will try their best to avoid reducing their actions and focus on shock."
"Within the territory of the Mani Kingdom, the great Arhat, with the blessing of the will of all living beings, is far more powerful than the Yuanying Master of the same level, but if he wants to leave the Mani Kingdom, he will have to pay a huge price, thousands of Only three times this year.”
When Zhang Yao heard this, he immediately understood:
"So, for thousands of years, the Mani Temple has built this country like an iron barrel, but it has always been unable to expand externally, and its influence is limited within the country's borders."
"right."
Tongxing Arhat nodded and continued:
"And their biggest weakness is that every six Jiazi, the earth's turbid air will cause large-scale riots."
“The turbulence of the earth’s turbid air is the easiest time to destroy the balance between the turbid air and the willpower of living beings. This is also the time when the system of good deeds is most vulnerable and most likely to be destroyed.”
"Every time at this time, several great Arhats must join forces to act as the hub of the formation in the underground Buddhist hall of Mani Temple, and cooperate with the twenty-four demon points to suppress the turbid air. They cannot go out."
"If we take action at this moment, of course they won't be able to take action."
Zhang Yao felt something was wrong when he heard it halfway, but before he could stop him, Tongxing Luohan had already finished speaking.
"you……"
Zhang Yao was suddenly shocked and angry, staring at Tongxing Arhat, his tone became less polite, and he said with an ugly face:
"Old monk, are you going too far? Do you have to drag me onto your pirate ship?"
Some secrets cannot be known. Once you know them, you will never be able to escape them.
The riot of the earth's turbid air is almost the biggest secret of Mani Temple, which involves the safety of several great Arhats and the inheritance of Mani Temple's Taoism.
Knowing such a top secret, is it possible to still pretend that nothing happened? It is no longer possible to leave easily and comfortably.
"hehe……"
Tongxing Arhat was not angry and said with a smile:
"If the layman didn't have this intention, how could I continue to say it?"
Zhang Yao couldn't help but remain silent after hearing this.
Just as the other party said, after he learned that the great Arhat could not intervene, his mind had actually come alive. He had already begun to subconsciously weigh the risks and benefits, and then gave the other party the opportunity to set a verbal trap.
There is no way, the price offered by the old monk Tongxing is too high. The mere meeting gift is Baoxiangliu gold paste. How about the real conditions?
"Why……"
Zhang Yao sighed, with a hint of helplessness in his tone:
"Despite all the odds, I didn't expect that I would be trapped by an old monk like you."
As soon as he waved his sleeves and robes, he immediately stopped being polite and said directly:
"Let me join your plan, okay."
"But the premise is that I have a few key questions that you must answer clearly."
"Can."
Tongxing Arhat nodded and gestured:
"Excuse me, layman."
"Um……"
Zhang Yao pondered for a moment before speaking cautiously:
"First question, how did you know that I need Baoxiang Liujinjing? Have you investigated me?"
"Hahaha……"
Tongxing Arhat laughed and said:
"Ancestor Qingxu, who is famous in the southwest, still needs to be investigated deliberately? Who doesn't know that you are the 'Celestial Master' who refined the formation into the body and inherited the Taoist tradition of the Five Elements Sanren?"
"To be honest, the Five Elements Sanshi was very famous back then. Before his death, his skills were scattered everywhere, and our Mani Temple also collected a copy."
"I see."
Zhang Yao nodded slightly and asked a second question:
"Can you confirm that those great Arhats will 100% not interfere during our operation?"
We can't be careless about this issue, otherwise they will die miserably.
"Of course."
Tongxing Arhat nodded affirmatively and said:
"The great power of the great Arhat is given by the will of all sentient beings. Once the system of good deeds collapses and the will of all sentient beings dissipates, they will fall into the realm and become inferior to the golden elixir."
"When the turbid air riots, they will be the first to bear the brunt and are destined to be unable to escape because they have a huge amount of willpower."
"If they want to take action forcefully, it will lead to an imbalance of will power and turbid energy, and the system of good deeds will collapse immediately, which will save us time."
"So that's it..."
Zhang Yao pondered for a while and then said:
"You have been planning for so long and you said you have a 50% chance of winning. You should be confident."
"How are you going to deal with the more than a hundred golden-bodied Arhats in the Mani Kingdom? They are all beneficiaries of the system of good deeds, and there is no way they will watch you destroy all of this."
"I certainly took that into consideration."
Tongxing Luohan said:
"Don't worry, the window to take action will be very short, only a quarter of an hour."
"Once this time is delayed, it will be done; therefore, most of the golden Arhats from major Buddhist temples are too late to rush to support."
"As for the golden Arhat in the Mani Temple, the poor monk has his own way to deal with it; the ones who really need to be dealt with are those who sit in the twenty-four demon caves."
"Especially those foreign Golden Elixir monks. As long as the senior management of Mani Temple is willing to raise a price at the critical moment, they will definitely come to ruin our important affairs."
"I see……"
Zhang Yao nodded slowly and asked the last key question:
"You said before that the Mani Kingdom has fallen into the never-ending cycle of the battle between good and evil. The people have been reduced to animals that provide the power of wishes. The evil people are deliberately brought into being and the good people suffer pain and torture."
"This is the knot in your heart, and it is also the root of Mani's disease."
"But I have to admit that as long as the problem of turbidity cannot be solved once and for all, this is the relatively least expensive way to suppress it."
"At least on the surface, many people in the Mani Kingdom are still living in peace and prosperity."
"If you use your method to cause the system of good deeds to collapse...then what will all the sentient beings in this world do if the evil disaster occurs again?"
"Amitabha."
After reciting the Buddha's name, Tongxing Arhat opened his mouth and said:
"Destroying the system of good deeds does not mean giving up the will of all sentient beings."
"Back then, I lived in Tianzhou and learned another method of condensing the will power of all living beings from the Nine Heavens Alliance."
"With the blessing of the will of all living beings, the spiritual energy of heaven and earth does not have to suppress the turbid energy. It can also choose to annihilate each other with the turbid energy."
"From now on, the Kingdom of Mani will become a spiritual desert with no spiritual energy, but at the same time there will be no more demonic disasters. Buddhism will only become a belief, no longer aloof, manipulating the dispute between good and evil, and treating all living beings as pigs and sheep. "
"Whether it is good or evil, it will be limited to the human world; the fate of all living beings will also be left to themselves."
He lowered his eyebrows and clasped his palms together:
"Let what belongs to the Buddha return to the Buddha, and what belongs to all sentient beings return to all living beings. This is the greatest vision of this poor monk in this life."
"……All right."
Zhang Yao sighed and said:
"I have to say, old monk, your ambitions are really big enough."
"I'm afraid it will be very difficult to complete this step... How much time do we have?"
Tongxing Arhat whispered:
"Thirty-seven years to go."
"Is there only so much time left?"
Zhang Yao frowned and continued to ask:
"What about the helpers? It can't be just you and me, right?"
Tongxing Arhat's expression remained unchanged and he said:
"Of course not... At present, besides you and me, there is another one."
(End of chapter)
