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

Chapter 606 In the Name of a Monk, Practicing the Path of Demons! The Myriad Flower Forest, a Fairyland Within a Painting!
The Mahaparinirvana Sutra, Volume 7; the Buddha Treasury Sutra, Volume 2.

All of these clearly record that when the Buddha suppressed Mara, Mara said that in the future Dharma-ending Age, there would be disciples of Mara who would wear monks' robes, corrupt the Dharma, and practice the ways of demons while bearing the name of monks.

This is a prophecy clearly recorded in Buddhist scriptures, and it has caused countless waves within Buddhism itself, not to mention other things.

At this moment, Luo Fu's words were almost tantamount to openly denouncing the Immovable Monk as a heretic, wearing monk's robes but corrupting Buddhism, and using the name of a monk to practice demonic ways.

Luo Fu's words made the monk Bu Dong's face stiffen.

“You jest, benefactor. The Buddha’s teachings are boundless; how could they be impersonated by evil demons and heretics? Do you perhaps think that my dilapidated ancient temple is unworthy of being a sacred Buddhist site?”

“That’s right.” Luo Fu nodded directly and said, “I also want to know what kind of monster you are. It’s one thing to impersonate a monk, but you even dare to use ‘Immovable’ as your Dharma name.”

"Alas, why can't you be like these three and obediently enter the world of the mural?" Monk Immovable sighed with compassion.

But his words undoubtedly confirmed Luo Fu's guess.

The moment the words left his mouth, the old monk, who had previously appeared kind and benevolent, instantly transformed. Though his features remained the same, they were now filled with a sinister and malevolent aura that sent chills down one's spine. He seemed like a completely different person.

His body exploded with a bang, instantly transforming from a kind-faced old monk into a swarm of strange flying insects.

Accompanied by the buzzing sound of insect wings flapping, a cloud of black insects tinged with scarlet, resembling a dark cloud, surged toward Luofu.

Luofu dared not be negligent.

After all, this swarm of flying insects was the first truly human-like opponent that Luo Fu had ever encountered, and it wasn't just an illusion; it was a genuine opponent capable of completely transforming into human form.

It should be noted that although the monsters in this world are very powerful, they are not without flaws. Even the Imperial Preceptor Pudu Cihang in the capital city is not able to fully transform into human form.

Of course, this is different from the direction that Pudu Cihang pursues.

Pudu Cihang's purpose is different from that of the White Snake and the Green Snake. The White Snake and the Green Snake cultivate to transform into human form and thus achieve enlightenment, but Pudu Cihang is the original form of a thousand-year-old centipede spirit, pursuing the transformation into a dragon.

These are two different paths.

It's impossible to clearly distinguish which is better.

However, in terms of strength, Pudu Cihang is undoubtedly a BOSS-level existence in the current world.

This unmoving monk, however, immediately revealed a portion of his true form upon making his move, clearly showing that he was holding nothing back.

The swarm of insects, like a dark cloud, was rushing towards them.

Terrifying lightning suddenly erupted around Luo Fu.

The crackling lightning made Luo Fu appear as if it were draped in a cloak of thunder. The flying insects that swarmed towards Luo Fu were struck by this lightning cloak the moment they approached, twitched, and then rose up in plumes of black smoke before falling to the ground.

In just one encounter, countless flying insects perished.

Even the swarm of flying insects appeared to have a significantly lower density.

Having suffered such a severe blow, the flying insect flew back and instantly reassembled into the shape of the Immovable Monk.

Compared to before, the Immovable Monk was now noticeably weaker, no longer possessing the rosy complexion, white eyebrows and beard, and radiant skin he had just had.

“Thunder magic.” The Immovable Monk gritted his teeth and said, “You are not a monk who has returned to secular life at all; you are a successor of the Taoist sect.”

Clearly, in the mind of the Immovable Monk, he had been deceived by Luofu.

The lightning gradually subsided, and although it was not as terrifying as before, it clung tightly to Luo Fu, enveloping him in a layer of chilling protection.

"What a swarm of flying insects." After this brief exchange, Luo Fu felt much more at ease.

It seems that this Immovable Monk's methods are nothing special. At least for now, as long as we don't alert the mastermind behind the mural, there is still no risk in taking him down in Luofu.

Who can blame them when this Immovable Monk is, at best, just like the female ghost of Lanruo Temple and Jing Yuanying Susu in the desolate manor, merely a tool used by behind-the-scenes demons and monsters to plunder blood and enhance their own strength?

Even compared to the female ghosts of Lanruo Temple, the only advantage the monk Budong was that he could appear during the day. In terms of efficiency in providing blood and food for the manipulators behind the scenes, he was not even as good as the female ghosts of Lanruo Temple.

In this respect, it is not difficult to see that the true source of sustenance for the higher beings in this abandoned ancient temple is the painted murals.

Otherwise, the monk would not have gone to such lengths to try and draw Luofu into the mural, causing his soul to enter it.

It is certain that the Immovable Monk was merely the last line of defense for this mural.

Unless he encounters someone who doesn't fall for his tricks, like Luofu now, Monk Budong will never expose himself. Instead, he will continue to play the role of a kind-faced old Buddhist monk guarding this abandoned ancient temple.

"You monster! How dare you! It's one thing to impersonate a Buddhist disciple, but to even dare to call yourself the Venerable King of Light!" Luo Fu angrily rebuked.

The thunderous sound shook the already severely injured monk, making his body sway slightly, as if he would collapse again in the next moment and turn back into a swarm of flying insects.

It can only be said that Monk Bu Dong was truly at his wit's end; this is the price of underestimating Luofu.

If he hadn't easily revealed his trump card when he saw that Luo Fu was stubbornly refusing to fall for his tricks, he wouldn't have been able to take down Luo Fu in one fell swoop.

As a result, he ran into a brick wall. Not only did he fail to take down Luofu as he wished, but Luofu's lightning magic wiped out countless flying insects in an instant. This was equivalent to cutting countless pieces of flesh off the body of the Immovable Monk.

This blow was enough to severely weaken the foundation of the Immovable Monk.

Otherwise, he wouldn't have almost lost his human form after Luo Fu's shout.

"Wait a minute."

Seeing that Luo Fu looked ready to make a move at any moment.

The monk immediately said, "The souls of these three are trapped in the painted world. If you kill me, their souls will never be able to return to their bodies."

Luo Fu, however, remained unmoved.

In his view, the Immovable Monk has now fully demonstrated the qualities of a villain.

However, the method he used to threaten Luo Fu was rather clumsy.

Although Luo Fu was indeed a novice monk in a temple and could be considered to have grown up in Buddhism, his understanding of Buddhist concepts was actually quite limited.

He had no intention whatsoever of feeding the demon with his own body or sacrificing his flesh to feed the eagle.

As for the fact that he had traveled with Zhu Xiaolian before.

In Luo Fu's eyes, Zhu Xiaolian was merely a tool that allowed Luo Fu to come into contact with the mural.

In Luo Fu's mind, his role is similar to that of an NPC in a game. Which gamer would develop feelings for an NPC who unlocks the next chapter of their story?
Luofu is just like that.

In his eyes, Zhu Xiaolian was merely a guide for NPCs.

Facing the Immovable Monk who was using Zhu Xiaolian and the other two as a cognitive threat, Luo Fu simply smiled indifferently, and then slapped the Immovable Monk in the direction of his hand.

The giant hand, crackling with lightning, flew towards the Immovable Monk, and the dazzling lightning finally revealed a glimpse of the Immovable Monk's true form.

It was a gu (a type of ancient Chinese ritual vessel) shaped like a bowl!
Those flying insects that just flew towards Luofu were actually Gu insects cultivated by this Gu jar.

As Luo Fu wielded lightning as his mighty hand, wherever it passed, all the Gu worms instantly scattered to the ground amidst a series of crackling sounds.

The true form of the Immovable Monk finally fell into the hands of Luofu.

The moment Luo Fu grasped the Gu jar, a sudden realization dawned on him; he instantly understood that the Gu jar was indeed created using a Buddhist ritual implement.
Kapala bowl.

A Buddhist ritual implement made from the skull of a high-ranking monk is used in initiation ceremonies of the Anuttarayoga Tantra.

It's just a mystery why such a Buddhist artifact ended up in the hands of a demon, and was even cultivated into a Gu poison.

Ultimately, this led to the emergence of an anomaly: the Immovable Monk.

The moment Luofu grasped the kapala bowl, he immediately heard the monk Budong pleading for mercy in his ear.

"Master, Master, please hold back! Please hold back! Spare my life! I have finally had the opportunity to develop my mind. If you kill me today, I will never be reborn. Please spare my life, Master!"

The monk's plea for mercy immediately reminded Luo Fu of the spider demon who had been captured by the Zen Master Fahai.

Unfortunately, the spider demon truly received the blessings of the Buddha at Lingtai Mountain and diligently cultivated for over two hundred years, while this unmoving monk, fundamentally, was not a practitioner who had simply developed a mind after becoming a Buddhist ritual implement.

The seemingly immovable monk's true form is a kapala bowl, but it is not a ritual implement of Tantric Buddhism. Rather, it is a special demon that only developed a mind after the kapala bowl transformed into a gu (a type of poisonous insect).

Although he was well-versed in the lineage of Tantric Buddhism, at his core he was merely manipulating Gu worms.

Luo Fu simply ignored the monk's pleas for mercy.

However, it was just as he was preparing to erase the mind of the Immovable Monk, completely shatter his three souls and seven spirits, so that he would never be reborn.

A sudden, unseen impulse reminded Luo Fu that now was not the time to completely kill the Immovable Monk.

After all, the mural is still there.

The Immovable Monk clearly has a mysterious connection with the aunt in the mural. Although they are not exactly bound by life and death, if one is eliminated, the other will definitely sense it.

Luo Fu's target this time is the Painted Wall; why would he risk losing more than he gains?
The Immovable Monk is currently under Luofu's control. He can be killed at any time, so there's no need to alert him now.

The giant lightning hand slowly retracted.

The leaping lightning, as if transformed into silken threads, wrapped layer upon layer around the kapala bowl that had become a poisonous concoction, completely sealing off the Immovable Monk's soul.

Seeing that Luo Fu had indeed not killed him, the Immovable Monk said with delight, "Thank you, Master, for sparing my life."

This unmoving monk clearly understood why Luo Fu had spared him.

Without Luo Fu needing to press him, he proactively confessed, "Master, this mural is an illusionary magic treasure. There are restrictions within my soul, so I dare not say more. I hope Master will be careful."

"An illusionary magic treasure?" Luo Fu was genuinely curious, as he had never encountered such a treasure before.

After all, the illusionary realm itself is a special path that is easy to stray from.

Although the upper limit of this path can even reach the level of Buddhism's inversion of truth and falsehood, and the transformation of illusion into reality, reaching this point is extremely difficult, and it may even easily degenerate into illusionary techniques or other deceptive methods.

Of course, illusion techniques are invaluable for spreading the Dao, since ordinary people with mortal eyes have no way of distinguishing the illusion techniques created by truly powerful cultivators.

The illusionary techniques of powerful cultivators are a complete informational blow to mortals.

Ordinary people can perfectly simulate the myriad phenomena of the world through their five senses and six consciousnesses, just as cultivators and powerful beings can perfectly simulate them.

However, this theoretical upper limit is actually extremely rare among cultivators, whether in Buddhism or Taoism. On the contrary, the Tantric school uses this kind of illusionary mental manipulation more often.

They're always up to some elaborate, exaggerated act, like a living Buddha has descended upon them.

Without the monk's instigation, Luofu finally began to observe the so-called mural with his divine eye.

At just one glance, Luo Fu couldn't help but frown.

To outsiders, the walls of this dilapidated ancient temple are adorned with lifelike murals.

But in his eyes, this so-called mural was just like a layer of wallpaper covering the wall, and not just any wallpaper, but a complete giant painting pieced together from these Thangkas.

It should be noted that Thangkas are also ritual implements of Tantric Buddhism, and are made from human skin.

Even for an adult, peeling off a piece of skin would only yield one or two square meters, but the mural in front of me covered an entire wall.

Especially for ritual implements like Thangkas, not just anyone can use them; there are extremely strict conditions, and even a high chance of failure.

This exacerbates the problem, as the number of Thangkas needed to create such a large mural would be enormous.

In Luofu's view, covering such a wall would probably require at least several hundred Thangkas, as not just anyone's skin could be peeled off to make a Thangka.

If we include the number of failed and unusable murals, such a massive mural would probably be made up of at least a thousand human skins.

The lifelike figures on those murals, each one a complete soul!

Just like Zhu Xiaolian, Hou Xia and his servant, and the mountain bandits, after their souls were absorbed into the mural, their images naturally appeared on the mural.

But compared to the world in the murals, there are many fairies in the world. To be precise, each of these fairies is actually an extremely special demon soul.

Using special techniques, these demonic spirits were all trapped within the Thangka, creating a fairyland within the painting, a forest of myriad flowers.

Just like the Tree Demon Granny, although she also devours blood and souls, she would not kill off the female ghosts under her command in a desperate manner.

The same principle applies to the demonic spirits in the world of Painted Skin.

These demonic souls and the living souls of Zhu Xiaolian and the other two are completely different concepts. The former are tools for collecting living souls, while the latter are the prey that were lured in.

(End of this chapter)