Techniques and Dao

Chapter 229 Blue Shirt Appears Again
This battle to protect the dragon veins, which spanned Eurasia, ultimately ended in the defeat of Klin's Magic Academy.

The dragon veins of Chang'an and Jinling were preserved. At the suggestion of Immortal Master Jueguang, Huasheng prepared to go to Jinling to meet with him.

Since the fallen angel had said at noon that the person who stole the Jupiter thread should have a similar aura to Hua Sheng, Mie Ying suggested that Jian accompany everyone back to Saint Pingning.

"I've asked my godfather, Fire Wheel Heavenly King, to use the power of the Holy Court to help investigate who this person with the similar aura to Hua Sheng is. This person must also be an orphan who came to Holy Peace from the mortal realm. This will not only clear Hua Sheng's name, but also give you an explanation to the Demon School. Although it can't change your defeat, finding out the whereabouts of the Jupiter Silk will be a satisfactory explanation."

As for Tai Shang Xiao Jun, under Sun Xiaoming's forceful "suggestion," he had no choice but to stay in Paris to watch HOPE's first global tour concert, a situation that Hua Sheng genuinely understood. Therefore, Tai Shang Xiao Jun opened the Xing Guang Mantra portal, helping Hua Sheng, Mie Ying, and Jian arrive in Jinling City.

After the group met in Jinling, Master Jueguang and Master Xuanwen decided to go to Chang'an to meet the injured Tianjizi, while Master Yuran stayed in Jinling to help repair the damaged city.

Due to his serious injuries, Master Ruokong needs to return to Daqian Temple as soon as possible, accompanied by the young monk Buxu.

In the end, Hua Sheng, Mie Ying, Jian, Master Ruo Kong, and Bu Xu set off to return together. Because Master Ruo Kong's magical power was insufficient, he was unable to use his magic to return to Sheng Ping Ning through the "second passage," and the group had to return via Hunyuan Path.

Hua Sheng supported Master Ruokong, blood seeping through his brocade robes and staining Hua Sheng's monastic robes. Seeing this scene, Hua Sheng was overcome with grief and asked:
"Abbot, can you still hold on? This... it's all my fault for dragging you into this."

Master Ruokong's lips had gradually turned white due to excessive blood loss. He took a deep breath, trying to regain some strength, and said, "The world is inherently cruel; living is suffering. That's why many people doubt whether people should even live."

Hua Sheng listened carefully to Ruo Kong's words.

Ruokong continued, “When disaster strikes, I step forward not just to save anyone, but to save the world’s goodwill toward life. And this goodwill is the hope that sustains people’s lives. If the world remains hostile and indifferent when people encounter suffering, what reason does such a world have to exist?”

Hua Sheng said, "But what if you lose your life..."

Ruokong interrupted him, slowly shaking his head and saying, "It's not important. What is my mere life compared to the lives of all living beings?"

Seeing Ruokong say this, Huasheng didn't know how to respond, and only hoped that he could be sent back to Daqian Temple to heal his injuries as soon as possible.

Before long, the group passed through the Hunyuan Path.

The moment they landed, they saw the devastation that had taken place where Bu Xu and the heavenly soldiers, including Wu Qu Xing, had fought.

After reading it, Mieying asked in amazement, "You just led a massive army to Jinling?"

"Just now it was just the child being naughty, and this humble monk failed to discipline him properly," Ruokong replied. "It is not appropriate to stay here any longer. I will report this matter to the Holy Court later."

As they were about to leave, they saw a blue figure crouching by the corner of the wall. Hearing the voice behind them, the man stood up. It was a middle-aged man in a blue shirt, holding an orchid in his left hand. Upon hearing the voice, the man planted the orchid in the ground, and instantly a patch of orchids sprouted from the ground.

The man stood among the orchids, watching the crowd.

Hua Sheng, if he hadn't looked at him, would have been fine, but once he did, he felt his blood rush to his head. The unease that had been weighing on his heart for so long almost instantly overwhelmed him.

The man in the blue robe had bloodstains on his chest, suggesting he too had suffered a serious injury. He was equally astonished to see the others, and pointing at Hua Sheng, he slowly said, "Even a demon dares to trespass on the Primordial Chaos Path? How has the Holy Peace Sect come to this?"

Mieying was also taken aback upon seeing this person and quickly said, "Hua Sheng is not a monster. But... Immortal, where have you been all this time?"

The man in blue ignored Mieying and kept his eyes fixed on Hua Sheng, shouting sternly, "If this demon is not killed, there will be endless troubles to come."

After saying this, the man reached out to grab Hua Sheng. Since Hua Sheng was supporting Master Ruokong, he was unable to dodge. Seeing this, Bu Xu rushed forward to block him. However, Bu Xu was injured and his strength was greatly diminished. He was knocked to the side by the man's palm.

The man in blue continued charging towards Hua Sheng, but Jian unleashed the Star Rainbow Codex, instantly creating a magical barrier in front of him. The man grabbed at it with his bare hand, tearing a hole in the barrier.

Ignoring the crowd, the man in blue continued to shout at Hua Sheng, "Demon, don't you recognize this immortal?!"

Seeing the enemy's aggressive approach, Jane quickly repaired the torn magic barrier and shouted, "You Easterners are too outrageous! Why is it that wherever you go, it's always your own people fighting each other?!"

The man in blue continued shouting, "Speak! Don't you recognize me, Immortal?"

With that, the entire magical barrier was shattered by the man, and Jane was pushed aside by the blast. At this moment, Mieying rushed forward, shouting, "Immortal Immortal, help me quickly!"

A bolt of lightning appeared in the blue-robed man's palm as he raised his hand to strike at Mie Ying.

At this moment, Hua Sheng could no longer contain himself and roared, "Lan Caihe! I recognize you! Stop!"

For a moment, everyone's eyes were fixed on Hua Sheng.

Hua Sheng gritted his teeth and said, "At that time, I didn't know what had happened, and I didn't know how to explain it. But now I must take the monk back to the temple first, or it will be too late!"

Lan Caihe then recognized Master Ruokong beside him, and his face suddenly seemed to understand something. He said coldly, "I never thought that the abbot of the dignified Daqian Zen Temple would associate with such a demon. It seems that what Taibai Jinxing said was true. Entrusting this Zen Temple to an outsider will eventually become a great calamity for the Holy Court!"

After hearing this, Master Ruokong shook his head and sighed, "The magnificent fairyland of the five continents, the holy court where immortals gather, ultimately cannot accommodate a small temple."

Hua Sheng couldn't stand it and retorted, "Lan Caihe, you are also one of the Eight Immortals, how can you make false accusations! Do you know how much sacrifice the Daqian Temple has made for the world!"

Having said that, Hua Sheng couldn't contain himself and summoned the Golden Cudgel from the iron chain on his chest. The cudgel flew towards Lan Caihe. Lan Caihe used his magic to block it, but the Golden Cudgel was, after all, an ancient divine weapon, and Lan Caihe was knocked back two zhang (approximately 6.6 meters) for a moment.

Lan Caihe was shocked and exclaimed, "The weapon of the Victorious Fighting Buddha?! It's in your hands too!"

Hua Sheng snorted and said, "Sun Wukong lent this to me personally. Even though you are an immortal, you'd better not mess with us!"

At this moment, Mieying quickly stepped forward to block Hua Sheng, saying, "If Master Ruokong is injured, he needs to return to the Zen Temple as soon as possible. You take him away first. The three of us will hold off here!" Hua Sheng caught the rebounding golden cudgel and asked, "Mieying, can you hold off them?"

Mie Ying laughed, "Fool! You underestimate me? Be careful, my sisters will come out and teach you a lesson!"

Hua Sheng thought there was no time to argue now, so he decided to send Master Ruokong back to the Zen Temple first and then come back to deal with him. After thinking it over, he whispered to Mieying, "Lan Caihe is coming for me. After I leave, you must not linger in the fight. We will meet at the Zen Temple later."

Just as he was about to leave, he turned back to Mieying and said, "Mieying, don't get hurt."

A warm feeling rose in Mieying's heart. He smoothed his hair and replied, "Yes, be careful yourself too."

Hua Sheng then helped Master Ruokong and flew towards Hanshuzhou, only to hear the sounds of fighting behind them getting farther and farther away.

The two entered the airspace above the hub state, where the heavy snow had not yet stopped. Exhausted from several days of travel, coupled with the fierce wind and snow at night, Hua Sheng, who had been traveling continuously, felt breathless.

Fortunately, we were not far from Daqian Temple at this time, and it was not yet midnight. At this speed, we could easily arrive before the temple gates closed at midnight.

Hua Sheng turned to look beside him and noticed that Master Ruokong's face was pale. He immediately asked with concern, "Abbot, the wind and snow are too strong. Are you having trouble breathing because you're flying too fast?"

Master Ruokong nodded and said, "It seems that Immortal Lan did not pursue us. Let us land for a moment and allow this humble monk to catch his breath."

"However, the Zen temple is not far away. We'll arrive soon if we persevere a little longer."

"It's alright, the mountain gate won't close for a while, so we'll be gone in no time. Let's rest for a bit and then set off."

Hua Sheng thought that Ruo Kong's body was weak and that she shouldn't rush him. Seeing that there was a mountain pavilion below where she could sit temporarily, she descended.

The pavilion sits atop the mountain, with a plaque bearing the three characters: Phoenix Pavilion. On a clear day, the pavilion must be a place of breathtaking beauty.

Hua Sheng entered the pavilion and blew away the snow on the ground and benches. She then chanted a spell and conjured several curtains around the pavilion, which provided some shelter from the wind and snow on the mountain. She also conjured a bonfire on the ground, and the mountain pavilion instantly became a warm and comfortable simple hut.

He helped Master Ruokong sit down in a chair. He left a slit in the curtain, using the gap to observe the situation in the sky. He kept an eye out for Lan Caihe to see if he would catch up, and also made sure not to miss the approaching Mieying and Buxu.

After sitting for a while, Ruo Kong's face regained some color. Hua Sheng was relieved to see this, and thinking of what had just happened, he couldn't help but sigh, "I never imagined that the Holy Court would be so distrustful of Zen temples."

Ruo Kong smiled helplessly and remained silent, seemingly not intending to bring up the matter of Hua Sheng being called a monster earlier. At this moment, they had all become "enemies" in the eyes of immortals like Lan Caihe.

Thinking of this, Hua Sheng felt that his friendship with Ruo Kong had deepened, and continued, "Are there really so many barriers between the Immortal Realm and the Buddhist Realm? Why are they so wary of each other? This is completely different from the legends I heard when I was a child. In the stories, when Sun Wukong wreaked havoc in the Heavenly Palace, the Jade Emperor still sought out the Buddha."

Master Ruokong took a deep breath and said, “Benefactor, there is actually no grudge between immortals and Buddhas. When Lan Caihe said that I am an outsider, it did not mean that they do not believe in the Tathagata or the Zen temple. He was only referring to me alone.”

Hua Sheng was puzzled by this and asked, "Why does the Holy Court suspect you, Abbot?"

Instead of answering, Master Ruokong asked, "Huasheng, when you arrived in Shengpingning, were you addressed with a certain word?"

Hua Sheng pondered, this awakening memories of when he first arrived in Shengping Ning, and replied, "An ant?"

Ruokong nodded and said, "That's right. Mole ant."

Hua Shengdao said, "I understand. Many people in Shengpingning do not want people from the mortal world to come in. They believe that this will be like ants destroying a dam, and one day it will bring disaster to Shengpingning. But isn't this a rule that the Holy Court set long ago?"

Ruokong shook his head and said, “No, you are mistaken. The rule of taking in orphans from the mortal world has not been in effect for long, only for a short period of thirty years. Moreover, you may not know that this rule was established by Avalokiteshvara Bodhisattva under pressure from the Holy Court.”

Hua Sheng had never heard of the origin of this protection ordinance before, so she asked, "Why would Avalokiteshvara Bodhisattva do this? Is it to relieve suffering and distress?"

"The Bodhisattva did this not for himself. It was because the Buddha of Sandalwood Merit asked him for help, because the Buddha of Sandalwood Merit found a dead baby in the mortal world who had Buddha-nature. He wanted to save the baby's life, because he himself had once been an orphan."

Hua Sheng listened quietly to Master Ruokong's narration.

Ruokong continued, "But you know that Saint Pingning moved to the East Sea to avoid mortals. Therefore, according to the sacred rules, no outside mortals are allowed to move here."

"You won't even give face to someone like Tang Sanzang, the Buddha of Merit?"

Ruokong said, "Of course the Holy Court has a reason to refuse. Because once an exception is made, not only the Buddhist realm, but also the immortals of the celestial realm will use all sorts of reasons to bring countless people to Holy Peace. You know that everyone may have connections in the mortal world, and everyone has selfish motives."

"That's true. So what happened to Avalokiteshvara Bodhisattva later?"

Looking into the distance, Ruokong said, "In the end, Guanyin Bodhisattva used his influence to pressure the Holy Court to revise the Holy Rules. Even conditions such as being a minor and having both parents deceased were set based on this child's circumstances."

Hua Sheng gasped, "A sacred rule was created just to save a baby? Then this extraordinary child is..."

Upon hearing this, Hua Sheng immediately understood.

Ruokong looked back at Huasheng and said, "You are right, benefactor."

He slowly said, "The Buddha of Sandalwood Merit saved the baby and took him as his disciple. Many years later, the first mole ant that came to Shengpingning grew up. He became the abbot of Daqian Temple."

(End of this chapter)