Simultaneous travel: I am proving the great way in the heavens.

Chapter 537 The Fundamental Law of the Sage! For the Universal Salvation of All Beings, Namo Ruzhen Miaofa Buddha!

Even Luo Fu, who was in seclusion cultivating and single-mindedly improving his strength, had no idea that he would soon be driven by cause and effect to encounter the terrifying monster kingdom of Lion Camel Ridge even earlier than the Journey to the West team.

Although Luo Fu went into seclusion, his orders were perfectly carried out by the monks of Ruzhen Temple.

Within its sphere of influence, Ruzhen Chan Sect continued to consolidate its power, moving eastward until it reached the Kingdom of Zhu Zi. Although it preached in Zhu Zi and even established some small Ruzhen Chan temples, it did not expand aggressively, but instead quietly consolidated its influence.

In the north and south directions, the plan was implemented gradually, seemingly without fanfare, but steadily expanding.

In the West, it was inevitable that they would run into the monsters of Lion Camel Ridge. In contrast, in the East, Guanyin Bodhisattva personally descended and presented a celestial sword made by a saint of the Jade Void Palace of the Chan Sect as compensation for the temporary restraint of Luofu's expansion. Zhang Ziyang paid a visit and presented a whisk forged in the Eight Trigrams Furnace of Laozi.

On the Western side, the conflicts are particularly intense.

The three demon kings of Lion Camel Ridge are the mounts of Manjushri Bodhisattva and Samantabhadra Bodhisattva, and the uncles of Buddha Tathagata.

Even Lion Camel Ridge is a major part of the tribulations in Journey to the West, and this one obstacle alone accounts for four of the eighty-one tribulations in Journey to the West.

But as the conflict between Ruzhen Temple and Lion Camel Ridge escalated, neither the two Bodhisattvas nor the Buddha seemed to see it, letting the situation continue to develop without any reaction.

The monks under Luofu's command were just ordinary Taoists from Huanghua Temple. They could put up a fight against the minor demons of Lion Camel Ridge, but how many demons were there in Lion Camel Ridge?
There are over a hundred leaders, big and small, and the other minor monsters add up to forty-seven or forty-eight thousand.

This isn't a figurative number; it's a legitimate one, with a name and a label.

In other words, the demon king of Lion Camel Ridge had no intention of continuing to expand eastward.

Furthermore, thanks to the timely appearance of Guanyin Bodhisattva, Luofu issued an order to temporarily curb its expansion, thus preventing a large-scale conflict like the one between Zhenzong and Shituo Kingdom.

Otherwise, the sheer number of people alone would have been enough to overwhelm the newly established Buddhist sect, Ruzhenzong, in Luofu.

Even so, to the west of Ruzhen Temple, the battle between the monks with hair and the lesser demons of Lion Camel Ridge never stopped for a single day.

Although Lion Camel Ridge is a well-organized monster kingdom, the three great demon kings cannot completely control every monster.

Those nearly 50,000 named and registered monsters are one thing, but in this vast country, there are also many monsters who take advantage of the chaos. These are the main targets that the monks of Ruzhen Temple are fighting against.

Luo Fu, who was focused on his spiritual practice, was unaware of this.

Soon, a small group of humans who had escaped from the Lion Camel Kingdom arrived.

The True Zen sect is about to clash with the demons of the Lion Camel Kingdom in a truly massive conflict.

The border between the True Zen School and the Lion Camel Kingdom.

A group of more than ten people, dressed in rags, were fleeing in panic towards the east.

Behind these people were numerous monsters who constantly yelled and shouted, resembling three parts human and seven parts beast.

These monsters toyed with the humans like cats playing with mice. They had numerous opportunities to completely annihilate the human force, yet they refrained from striking, as if enjoying the humans' terror and panic in the face of death.

As they chased and fled, they were about to approach a temple that was clearly newly built.

A little demon suddenly said, "Leader, there's a temple ahead. Should we capture these people first and return to our cave to avoid alerting the enemy?"

"What's there to be afraid of? It's just a temple. Our Lion Camel Kingdom has three powerful kings. A mere human temple is nothing. I, the leader, will devour these people right here in this temple." As the leader of the demons, he clearly had a tiger's head that was not yet fully transformed.

His grin revealed a chilling murderous intent.

Since the leader had said those words, the monsters naturally became even more rampant. Amidst their strange cries and shouts, they gradually forced the clearly exhausted humans to the temple gates.

Just as the monster was getting closer, a loud shout came from inside the temple.

"You audacious fiend, how dare you trespass on the Ruzhen Buddhist Sect's sacred grounds!"

Several figures with their hair in buns but dressed in monks' robes rushed out of the temple in an orderly formation.

Upon seeing these monks with their hair still attached, the group of demons froze in place.

The leader, who had a tiger's head, asked in a surprised tone, "Are you monks or Taoists? Taoists wear their hair in a bun, and monks wear monk's robes. You two wear both hair in a bun and monk's robes, neither monks nor Taoists. What is your origin?"

No wonder the tiger-headed monster was so surprised, because Luofu had issued an order to stop the Ruzhen Temple from expanding further.

For example, the Zhenzong faction did not actually have any open conflict with the tens of thousands of demons in Lion Camel Ridge. In fact, they were in a state where neither side knew the other.

Previously, the disciples of the Ruzhen Zen sect mostly faced nameless minor demons.

This time, however, marks the first real conflict between the two sides.

"Ruzhen Buddhist Temple? We're finally saved!!" A young boy, whose appearance, though ragged and disheveled, still betrayed his young age, burst into tears. He led a group of survivors and knelt before the monks with their hair still intact.

"Master, save us! We are the surviving citizens of the Lion Camel Kingdom, which has been occupied by three unknown demon kings. Our people are pitiful; less than one in ten survived, all becoming food for those monsters!!"

The moment the boy opened his mouth, he startled the monks of Ruzhen Temple.

Indeed, even in Xiniu Hezhou, a place teeming with monsters, nothing so horrifying had ever happened before.

The monsters actually occupied an entire human nation, and even devoured all the people of that nation, leaving less than one-tenth alive.

This is understandable, as the monks of Ruzhen Temple are ignorant and uninformed.

In the Three Realms, even cultivators only know about the small area within their own territory. Apart from those powerful beings, the transmission of information is actually very slow.

Despite being neighbors, Ruzhen Temple, apart from Luofu Temple and even the seven spider demons, were unaware that their western neighbor, the Lion Camel Kingdom, had been transformed into a living hell several years ago.

Although the monks who claimed to be survivors of the Lion Camel Kingdom could not believe their words.

But there's a monster in front of us, and it's clearly a monster that wants to eat people.

From any perspective, these monks with long hair had no choice but to prioritize saving these people and either kill or drive away the monsters. They then turned to the survivors of the Lion Camel Kingdom for help, a group of people who couldn't distinguish between monks and Taoists.

These monsters, however, didn't take them seriously at all.

The monsters of Lion Camel Ridge are truly terrifying. Whether it's the strength of the three great demon kings or the fact that Lion Camel Kingdom has completely become a monster kingdom, these monsters no longer have any sense of awe.

"You neither monks nor Taoists, quickly hand over our prey, or else I'll..." The little leader of the demons subconsciously glanced at the newly built Zen temple. In his eyes, he really couldn't tell whether it was a Taoist temple or a Buddhist temple, so he simply said, "Whether you are Taoists or monks, in short, if you don't hand over our prey, then you can all become our blood food. I also want to taste what the flesh and blood of you cultivators taste like?"

"presumptuous!!"

It can only be said that the monsters of Lion Camel Kingdom truly opened the eyes of these monks of the True Sect.

The development of Ruzhen Temple was in full swing, and its sphere of influence expanded without encountering any obstacles. Even the Kingdom of Zhu Zi could only temporarily abandon its expansion in order to consolidate its foundation.

Within this area spanning hundreds or even thousands of miles, they had never seen this arrogant monster before.

The two sides disagreed on a single word and immediately started fighting.

The vast majority of monks at Ruzhen Temple practice the Dharma of controlling desires and emotions.

It cultivates both oneself and the seven emotions of others; this is the fundamental method of Luofu, the wondrous method of the Golden Body, which only a very few people can practice.

This is understandable. Although Luo Fu can cultivate the Golden Body Technique very quickly, it is necessary to first understand how unfathomable Luo Fu's background is. He is an existence that is no less than Sun Wukong.

On Lingtai Fangcun Mountain, Sun Wukong's Great Celestial Immortal Technique is a method that combines the three teachings and can be considered a special skill that only he can cultivate.

The wondrous method of the golden body of Luofu is directly derived from the Bodhi golden body, the fundamental Dharma of the sages.

There is no clear distinction between the two sides in terms of strength or weakness. However, in terms of potential, there is no doubt that Luo Fu's Golden Body Technique is superior.

There are simply too many cultivators in Buddhism who practice the Golden Body technique.

Even the current leader of Buddhism, the World Honored One Tathagata, possesses the most powerful technique of a sixteen-foot-tall golden body.

On the contrary, Sun Wukong's Great Celestial Immortal Technique is more suitable for him.

Even within Buddhism, with its numerous practitioners cultivating the Golden Body, it doesn't mean that the Golden Body Technique of Luofu has no barriers to entry. On the contrary, the Golden Body Technique of the True Zen Sect is a method that only those with exceptional comprehension can enter, but progress is incredibly difficult. It imposes extremely stringent conditions on aptitude, comprehension, background, and many other aspects.

Those who cannot reach that level will progress extremely slowly, or even make no progress at all, even if they barely get started.

On the contrary, Luofu Temple, through its practice of the Wrathful King Dharma, developed the Seven Emotions Controlling Method, which became the mainstream practice of Ruzhen Temple.

This is also because, as a practitioner of the Golden Body Wonderful Method, Luofu, the Buddha of True Wonderful Method, has no time to preach the Great Way and expound the Dharma to his disciples every day.

The seven spider-like monks, who also practiced the method of controlling desires through the seven emotions, were quite responsible. This resulted in the fact that although the method of seeking the Dao through law was simple to enter, progress was not satisfactory. The method of cultivating by utilizing the seven emotions of all living beings has become the mainstream practice at Ruzhen Temple.

Controlling the seven emotions and desires, although a method for immortals to seek the Dao through magic, is closer to the evil and demonic practices. Once one enters the path, progress is extremely rapid. Even if one cannot achieve complete enlightenment of the dual cultivation of bliss and emptiness, as long as one can stabilize one's mind, one's magical power can be rapidly improved.

For a time, these monks from Ruzhen Temple were actually fighting the monsters from Lion Camel Kingdom to a standstill, and even seemed to be evenly matched.

Although progress on the Earth Immortal Path is rapid, especially the Seven Emotions Controlling Desires method under the Luofu Sect, it can be considered a special, fast-track method.

However, it is not without its drawbacks, namely its severely insufficient battery life.

It's important to know that in the Journey to the West world, endurance is one of the key indicators of a cultivator's strength.

Just like Sun Wukong, as a Taiyi Golden Immortal, his combat endurance is completely bug-level. Almost from the moment he embarked on the journey to the West, either Sun Wukong was truly unable to defeat any monster, or no matter which monster he faced, if he fought on, the final victor would inevitably be Sun Wukong.

Because Sun Wukong seems to have locked in his stamina, he has never experienced a lack of magical power or feeling tired.

In this respect, the number of monks with hair still attached at Ruzhen Temple is clearly severely insufficient.

As time went by, the monks, whose endurance was insufficient, soon began to show signs of decline.

The demon leader, keenly aware of this, was overjoyed. With a roar, he continued fighting the monk with the long hair while also encouraging his lesser demons.

"Haha... You ignorant and reckless creatures, daring to try and obstruct my Lion Camel Kingdom, then you shall become our prey along with these animals!!"

Clearly, they were no match for these monsters, so the monks of Zhenchan Temple, who still had their hair, made a decisive move.

With a wave of his hand, the leader condensed his seven emotions and magical powers into a large net, blocking the way for the group of demons. He then urged, "Quickly, I'll buy you some time. Quickly take some survivors and inform the Buddhist sect about the Lion Camel Kingdom."

A monk who can pioneer a region must not be an indecisive person.

Moreover, this is in Xiniu Hezhou, a place teeming with monsters.

Upon hearing this, the other monks instantly understood their meaning. Without even uttering a word of advice, they tacitly led the survivors of the Lion Camel Kingdom and fled the battlefield, heading towards the Ruzhen Temple.

Of course, the Ruzhen Temple they visited was a true Buddhist temple belonging to Luofu, a temple that was transformed from the former Huanghua Temple by the Buddha.

Besides Ruzhen Temple, which serves as the main base, many newly established temples have also adopted the name Ruzhen Temple.

The temple enshrines the Buddha Namo Ruzhen Miaofa, who is revered as the most revered, and his seven great spider-like monastics.

Of course, other Buddhist leaders are also enshrined, but at most they can only be enshrined in side halls or similar places.

The moment these monks led the survivors of Lion Camel Kingdom to escape, the Seven Emotions Net that had blocked the demons was instantly and violently torn apart.

Sensing that he had no chance of escape, the monk remained calm, clasped his hands together, and said, "The white lotus has appeared, the Bright King has descended, the true and wondrous Dharma is here to save all sentient beings, Namo True and Wondrous Dharma Buddha!!"

"What kind of 'True and Wonderful Dharma Buddha'? You're asking for death!!"

Seeing that the survivors and monks of the Lion Camel Kingdom had been lost, the tiger-headed monster grinned angrily and pounced straight at the monk who had stayed behind to cover their retreat.

(End of this chapter)