Conferred God: Got cramped at the beginning

Chapter 1052 White Horse Sinks into the Lake
The rainstorm over Baima Temple was devastating.

Amidst the torrential rain turning into floodwaters, shrimp soldiers and crab generals, river patrol messengers, and others, each carrying the Dragon God's decree, were stationed in different waterways and ditches to guide the flood.

As a result, the floods caused by the torrential rains did not inundate farmland, destroy houses, or swallow any innocent people.

Under these circumstances, the people near the White Horse Temple, who were initially somewhat panicked, immediately calmed down.

Instead of seeking refuge in higher places, they carried out stools, climbed onto millstones, walls, and rooftops, and watched with great interest the precious jade that was swirling above the White Horse Temple.

As more and more dragon gods arrived, the torrential rain above the White Horse Temple grew increasingly fierce.

Seeing this scene, the Buddhist practitioners who rushed back were also filled with rage.

Everyone saw through the dragon's plan—this torrential rain, though it did not harm the fields or the crops.

The geology beneath the area where the White Horse Temple is located is becoming increasingly loose and soft under the erosion of this torrential rain.

The underground water veins, stirred by the torrential rain, slowly rose upwards as the dragons soared through the air.

Those dragons clearly intended to completely submerge the White Horse Temple, to forever sink one of the ancestral temples of Buddhism in the human world into the waves.

This is the White Horse Temple!

It is the ancestral temple of Buddhism!
If the White Horse Temple were swallowed by the waves—in the future, when the Buddhist community discusses the Dharma with others, those who discuss the Dharma will not need to say anything.

He only said one thing: your Buddhist ancestral temple is still in the water and hasn't been retrieved yet. Your Buddhist teachings can't even protect their own ancestral temple, so how can you talk about saving all sentient beings?
This would be enough to puncture the lungs of Buddhism, enough to end any debate on the Dharma.

"What should I do?"

"What should we do?" A group of old monks watched this scene with dismay, beating their chests and stamping their feet in frustration.

Meanwhile, the onlookers around them started chatting idly.

"These monks are definitely not good people." Someone said, without hesitation, regarding the torrential rain that covered the White Horse Temple but did not harm the surrounding crops as divine punishment for the temple. "Isn't this just a disaster?"

"What divine retribution? Isn't it just offending the Dragon God and being punished?" A few devout Buddhists tried to link this to personal grudges.

However, his words were clearly not very convincing.

"Nonsense," an old man retorted without hesitation.

"The Dragon God is not such a petty person."

"In the past, there were far fewer people who spoke disrespectfully to the Dragon God?"

"Are there fewer people secretly complaining about the Dragon God these days?"

"But which of the great dragon gods has kept these things in mind?"

"Over the years, which year hasn't been blessed with favorable weather and abundant harvests?"

"In my opinion, it's because those wicked monks did too many bad things and ruined the natural order, so the Dragon Gods came to punish them on behalf of Heaven." That's what the people who didn't believe in Buddhism all said.

In terms of reputation among humans, the dragon race's reputation is far, far better than that of the Buddhist community.

From the Qin and Han dynasties onward, in human legends, the dragon race gradually became intertwined with human royal power, becoming a symbol of emperors and possessing an innate sacredness.

Furthermore, the dragon race controls the wind and rain, and holds sway over water veins. Their relationship with the human world is extremely close, and any slight action they take will affect the human harvest.

At the same time, because Ao Bing was in charge of the most powerful part of the Heavenly Rules, these dragon gods who came to the human world were also given strict instructions and dared not act recklessly.

Especially not long ago, there was the matter of the Jing River Dragon King—although the Jing River Dragon King was dead, in order to appoint a new Jing River Dragon King, the human court personally stepped forward to publicize the matter of the Jing River Dragon King.

It is said that the Heavenly Emperor was misled and made a mistake in his annotations on the wind and rain. The Jing River Dragon King, who was in charge of the wind and rain of the Jing River, had to secretly change the amount of wind and rain so that the human world would not be harmed by the wind and rain. However, he was reported to the Heavenly Emperor and convicted of disobeying the imperial decree, and died on the Dragon-Slaying Platform.

Even his descendants found it difficult to inherit the power of the Jing River Dragon King.

Left with no other choice, the dragons sought out the Human Emperor—and it was only through the Human Emperor's decree that the descendants of the Jing River Dragon King were able to inherit the power over the Jing River and continue to protect the region and ensure good weather and abundant harvests.

As a result of such events, it's easy to imagine how good the reputation of the dragon race was among humans.

Compared to the dragon race, Buddhism has a mixed reputation—and now, under the watchful eyes of everyone, the dragon god of the dragon race clashed with Buddhism, intending to flood the White Horse Temple.

Without a doubt, the mortals of this world chose to stand on the side of the dragons, believing that Buddhism had been struck by an insurmountable obstacle.

Hearing what the people were saying, the news spread like wildfire... Several old monks who were still in the sky were so angry that they spat out several mouthfuls of blood and fell from mid-air.

"Lord Yihe Dragon, do you dragons really want to break ties with our Buddhist sect?" An old monk carrying a Buddhist magic weapon soared into the sky.

The dragon god, who came from who knows where, also did not hesitate and, with his true form, swept up the endless wind and rain, lashed out with his tail.

These dragon gods, though they only inherited the power to summon wind and rain, and could not become one with the wind and rain, nor be omnipresent in the wind and rain—even so, the wind and rain still belonged to the dragon race.

Among those manifested Buddhist practitioners, there were also many at the Taiyi level, no less powerful than these dragon gods.

Even so, none of the Buddhist Taiyi masters, whose strength surpassed that of the Dragon Gods, could find any trace of the Dragon Gods in the storm.

The wind and rain were clearly visible to the naked eye, but when the dragon gods joined in, every raindrop became a mysterious force that obscured vision and interfered with perception, leaving the Buddhist experts powerless in both offense and defense.

In particular, the thunder rolling in the wind and rain, faintly visible and carrying the might of heaven, made these Buddhist experts extremely wary.

Among the Buddhist experts who rushed back, apart from those who were fighting with the dragon gods in the sky, another group went directly into the White Horse Temple, each unleashing their supernatural powers and spiritual treasures.

Or perhaps, some people are using methods to try to remove the moisture from the area, thereby weakening the wind and rain.

Even so, the terrain where the White Horse Temple is located is still sinking little by little—the underground water veins are rising little by little.

At this moment, within the White Horse Temple, not only was torrential rain pouring down from the sky, but underground water veins were also slowly rising to the surface...

Seeing this scene, some Buddhist monks, and even some with ill intentions, glanced at the shrimp soldiers and crab generals guiding the water flow in the ditches and the river patrol messengers, wanting to take action against these shrimp soldiers and crab generals, to convert them, so that the flood would spread, and thus make the dragon gods who were wantonly unleashing torrential rain more cautious.

However, the moment this thought arose, it seemed as if an incomparably chilling gaze, carrying the sharpest blade of light, swept down from the sky, landing on each and every Buddhist practitioner. Only then did these Buddhist practitioners vaguely remember that the Great Dragon God of the Dragon Clan, who embodied Heaven and Upheld Righteousness, was currently seated high in the heavens, atop the Execution Platform!

Its gaze encompasses the entire world!

His subordinates, the killing gods of the Arctic Exorcism Academy, have only just finished their rounds in this mortal realm, and are still staking out outside Xiniu Hezhou.

At this moment, if they dared to attack those shrimp soldiers and crab generals who were guiding the water flow, even if they made a move, thunder would strike or a killing star from the Arctic Exorcism Academy would fall from the sky!
The fighting here lasted for a day and a night.

The Buddhist and dragon clans, who were rushing to this place in an endless stream, suffered casualties on both sides.

But amidst the torrential rain and the strife, the ancestral temple of Buddhism in the human world, the White Horse Temple, was ultimately swallowed up by the waves under the precious jade stirred up by the dragon gods.

The area where Baima Temple was located completely sank, collapsed, and disappeared from the ground—the rising underground water veins submerged Baima Temple, and at the same time, a huge lake appeared in the collapsed area.

As the storm subsided and the dragon gods departed, the surging waters, guided by the aquatic creatures, returned to the various rivers and waterways.

At this moment, the Buddhist practitioners stood in a daze by the lake formed by the sinking of the White Horse Temple, amidst the questioning and disdainful gazes of countless ordinary people.

Nobody knows what to do now... As for going into the water to investigate, no one has the guts to do that.

However, fighting against the dragons in the wind and rain already put them at a disadvantage, putting them at a great disadvantage.

If they were to actively go into the water and fight the dragon gods of the dragon race, wouldn't they be courting death?
"What should we do now?" An old monk opened his eyes, his face full of confusion.

—For them, the biggest blow was not just that the White Horse Temple, the ancestral Buddhist temple, had sunk into the waves.

But this happened in full view of everyone, right before the eyes of countless people!
Where is Baima Temple located?

It's right next to Luoyang!

Although Luoyang is no longer the capital, it remains an extremely important metropolis in the Central Region—comparable to the capital.

This place is home not only to countless ordinary people, but also to many prominent families and high-ranking officials, all of whom have gathered here.

And if the White Horse Temple were to sink into the waves right before their eyes, what would these people think?
Today, this has happened in full view of everyone; tomorrow, it will spread throughout the world!

For ordinary people, their impression of Buddhism was secondary.

But what will those aristocratic families and high-ranking officials think after they find out about this?
So many people have turned to Buddhism and embraced its teachings?

why?
Isn't it just about seeking protection and peace of mind within Buddhism?

But if they knew that the Buddhist sect couldn't even protect its own ancestral temple—the White Horse Temple, the ancestral temple of the Buddhist sect, was sinking into the waves right before the eyes of these many Buddhist disciples…

Then who would still believe in Buddhism?

Who would still choose to become a Buddhist monk?
How much more difficult will this add to the transmission of Buddhist teachings?

Thinking of these things, the Buddhist practitioners felt waves of pain in their heads.

There was no consensus within Buddhism on whether or not to convert the dragon gods—many Buddhist disciples believed that it was unnecessary to humiliate the dragon race in this way at this time.

However, the Buddhas of the Great Thunder Temple were not of one mind, let alone the monks of these human temples.

Among those many Buddhist temples, there will always be people who don't take the dragon race seriously.

There will always be people who can't resist taking advantage of this grand Buddhist movement to convert those dragon gods and turn them into Dharma protectors.

As for the dragons' resistance—the power of Buddhism is undeniable, so how much strength do the dragons in the human realm have to resist?
Therefore, when they took action, these Buddhist disciples did not consider the consequences at all.

Only then did the disciples of the White Horse Temple, a Buddhist temple in the ancestral homeland of the people, begin to feel a little regret.

Who could have imagined that the dragon race's response would be so violent and so ruthless?
You should know that the White Horse Temple is separated from the Huai River by thousands of mountains and rivers!

The Huai River is the source of this calamity—this calamity is meant to determine the ownership of the Huai River.

Who could have imagined that, under such circumstances, the dragon gods of the Huai River would abandon the Huai River altogether, cross thousands of mountains and rivers, and come specifically to flood this ancestral temple of Buddhism on earth?
After that brief moment of regret, some Buddhist disciples couldn't help but feel a little bit of secret joy.

Even within Buddhism, there are disputes—disputes that originated at the Great Thunder Temple and spread to the human world.

Every temple in the world wants its own temple to surpass others and become the foremost in the legal system.

However, the White Horse Temple and the Fahua Temple naturally possessed a profound sense of righteousness from the Buddhist community in this regard.

Especially the White Horse Temple.

This place was established in the human world when Buddhism was still known as Brahmanism—its existence has been a constant throughout the development and evolution of Buddhism.

Countless people who founded the temples that have appeared in various parts of the human world came from Xiniu Hezhou, passed through the White Horse Temple, rested there, and then went to various parts of the human world to establish their businesses.

In such a situation, if one wants to compete for the first place in Buddhism, and for the legitimacy of Buddhism—who can compete with the White Horse Temple?

But now—the White Horse Temple has sunk…

Does that mean the location of the White Horse Temple has been given up?

Amidst the surge of various thoughts, a monk's voice suddenly rang out.

“When we converted those dragon gods earlier, we chanted scriptures around their water palaces.”

"Now that the White Horse Temple has sunk here and turned into a great lake, will the Dragon Court send a Dragon God to guard this place?"

"Let's repeat our old trick, sit together here, and convert the dragon god who stayed behind, then have him carry the White Horse Temple out. What do you say?"

The monk said.

(End of this chapter)