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

Chapter 627 Luo Fu Becomes the Chosen One! The Free and Unfettered Demon descends to earth, posing as a pawn to bring pleasure to all living beings!
From Wang Taichang's perspective, the relationship between Luofu and Linghu was one of mutual affection.

All he needed to do was go along with the flow, fulfilling his broker-like role between the two parties, and incidentally, he could also find a cure for his son—a win-win situation.

After arriving at the villa.

Wang Taichang instructed his servants to make proper arrangements for the young master Wang Yuanfeng and the guest Zhu Erdan.

He himself took the initiative to come to the room where the spirit fox was enshrined with Luo Fu.

Upon entering, Luo Fu saw a portrait enshrined behind the altar.

The portrait depicts a lifelike white fox, radiating a subtle sense of compassion.

Wang Taichang took the initiative to introduce, "Immortal, this is the spirit fox I met back then."

As he spoke, Wang Taichang took out a stick of incense.

As the incense was lit, it was only a moment later.

Suddenly, the fox in the painting came to life and leaped out of the painting.

In the instant before landing, she twisted in mid-air and transformed into a woman wearing a long dress.

As soon as she appeared, the woman immediately bowed in the direction of Luofu and said, "The spirit fox greets the immortal."

Raising an eyebrow, Luo Fu asked, "A spirit fox?"

A hint of embarrassment flashed across the woman's face as she said, "You flatter me, Immortal. I am just a wild fox, and I have no name."

That's right, Xiao Cui's mother was actually just called Linghu, without even a proper name.

Nodding slightly, Luo Fu asked, "How did you know about me?"

Not daring to conceal it, the spirit fox frankly replied, "Reporting to the immortal, it is this."

As she spoke, the fox spirit turned around and presented a string of Buddhist prayer beads with both hands.

This was exactly what Luo Fu had done earlier: after failing to find the White and Green Snakes in the bamboo forests around Qiantang, he had casually placed the string of Buddhist beads belonging to the Spider Demon in a bamboo grove.

Unexpectedly, by sheer coincidence, the string of prayer beads did not fall into the hands of the White and Green Snakes, but instead attracted the spirit fox.

Luo Fu lost interest after just one glance at the prayer beads. He was now more concerned about whether this spirit fox had obtained the prayer beads by chance and was now betting everything on herself.
Luo Fu especially remembered that the spirit fox possessed a luminous pearl from the Heavenly Court, and that her current cultivation level was largely due to that pearl.

Even the fox spirit and her daughter were repeatedly hunted down by the Heavenly Thunder God for their luminous pearl.

Of course, this was the original background of Xiao Cui's story. But now, this story, which combines too many seemingly plausible but actually false stories, and the background of the entire Three Realms, is that a hundred years ago, the world underwent a great change, and all the gods and Buddhas of the Heavenly Court mysteriously disappeared.

So, given this turn of events, what about the luminous pearl in the fox spirit's hand? And what about the thunder god who was chasing him?
Luo Fu cut to the chase, asking, "Do you have a luminous pearl in your possession?"

After a moment's hesitation, the spirit fox decisively took out a bead that wasn't perfectly round. She said, "The rumors are wrong. This humble demon has no luminous pearl; what I have is a relic left behind by some unknown high monk after his passing."

Sure enough, the not-so-round bead in the fox's hand was indeed a relic.

Although relics come in various forms, the relics in the fox's hand are closer to the legendary Buddhist treasures.

Although its shape was not perfectly round, it shone with a faint Buddhist light, possessing even more powerful and refined Buddhist spiritual energy than the Buddhist beads left behind in Luofu.

Logically speaking, with such a relic in hand, the fox spirit shouldn't covet the Buddhist beads left behind by Luofu.

In Linghu's view, Luofu had traveled all over Qiantang, yet he could so casually toss away such a string of Buddhist prayer beads, which were meant to bring blessings to the Buddha.

This clearly means that Luo Fu possesses a magical artifact or legacy far more powerful than Buddhist prayer beads.

Whichever possibility it may be, it is something that the spirit fox has never seen before.

For orthodox cultivators after the great changes in the Heavenly Dao, especially since the Spirit Fox is an unorthodox cultivator, encountering an existence like Luo Fu is an opportunity they absolutely cannot miss, and it's possible that once they miss it, there will never be another chance.

Such a precious opportunity deserves a chance, even if it means risking everything.

Although Luo Fu did not personally handle the relic, he could tell that while it did contain a stronger Buddhist spiritual energy than the string of prayer beads from the spider demon, it was only slightly superior.

At best, the fox spirit and her daughter are just minor demons.

Let alone fighting against demons like Pudu Cihang, even the Tree Demon Granny could easily defeat them, mother and daughter. Even the flower-named demons in the murals have strength no less than that of the spirit fox.

It can be said that the spirit fox is the worst among all the strange cultivators that Luo Fu has encountered so far.

Even if they encountered Quanzhenzi, it's likely that neither she nor her daughter would escape unscathed.

However, this leads to one intriguing situation.

If the fox spirit mother and daughter are so weak, then what exactly is this so-called Heavenly Thunder God who is chasing them?

While thinking, Luo Fu said, "I see. It seems that you have a lot to do with this relic to have achieved your current level of cultivation."

"Your Highness has discerning eyes," the spirit fox flattered without batting an eye.

"So, your cultivation also relies on this relic?" Luo Fu asked curiously.

"I dare not deceive the immortal." The spirit fox denied Luo Fu's guess and explained, "When I obtained this relic, I also obtained a fragmented inheritance, which is a method to refine the power of the seven emotions and six desires, to control desire with desire, and to achieve the dual cultivation of desire and emptiness."

Luo Fu was unaware that in the Journey to the West world, Luo Fu, who originally came from a Taoist temple, unexpectedly became the Buddha Ruzhen Miaofa of Buddhism, and the most crucial teaching passed down among his disciples was the method of controlling the seven emotions and desires.

In this world, however, the spirit fox presented Luo Fu with a flawed method that had a similar but completely different purpose.

As if to prove herself, the spirit fox reported the incomplete manual to Luo Fu without hesitation.

Luo Fu quickly realized that something was wrong with this method.

According to the spirit fox, this fragment of the Dharma was obtained by her and the relic together. The concepts of the seven emotions and six desires, using desire to control desire, and the dual practice of desire and emptiness are all taken from Buddhist doctrines.

However, the fragments of the Dharma teachings spoken by the spirit fox were filled with Taoist cryptic language.

Even though it was just a fragment, Luo Fu was certain that it was definitely a Taoist tradition and had absolutely nothing to do with Buddhism.

The Taoist tradition and the Buddhist relics were obtained by a fox demon.

Such an unbelievable hodgepodge, the more Luofu thought about it, the more something seemed off.

The method was so incomplete that Luo Fu couldn't determine which lineage it belonged to, but he was certain that it was definitely not an orthodox path, but rather closer to a system of incense and deity worship.

In this world, even without the great upheaval of a hundred years ago, the practice of incense and deities is still considered one of the mainstream lineages.

This is, after all, the place where the gods and deities of heaven and earth reside.

Even after the great changes in the world, the practice of incense and deities has not truly broken away from the mainstream. Take Pudu Cihang, for example. He transformed into the imperial advisor of the court, intending to devour all the civil and military officials and absorb the nation's fortune to transform into a dragon. This can be considered an alternative form of the practice of incense and deities.

Faith and devotion are the core of incense and religious practices.

Normally, this method of controlling desires through the seven emotions should be about subduing one's own restless mind. However, the fragment in the fox spirit's hand takes a different approach, absorbing the seven emotions of all living beings to control one's own desires. It has a flavor of a free-spirited demon descending to earth to create pleasures for all living beings.

But what's strange is that the spirit fox went astray with the incomplete text.

Even Luo Fu didn't know whether to say she was lucky or unlucky.

Hesitantly looking at the spirit fox, Luo Fu was pondering how to explain the true meaning of this incomplete text.

A sudden flash of inspiration struck him, and he came up with a wildly imaginative idea.

Of course, it wasn't aimed at the spirit fox, but at Wang Yuanfeng and Zhu Erdan.

Incense and religious practices have a unique nourishing effect on the soul, even surpassing that of the physical body.

However, the practice of offering incense and worshiping deities is inherently intertwined with the beliefs and thoughts of all beings, which makes it the easiest way to sway people's minds.

One wrong move and you could easily go astray or even become possessed by evil spirits. In more serious cases, you could even lose your sense of self to the beliefs and thoughts of others.

However, while it has serious drawbacks, the incense and deity path is one of the very few methods that can restore the soul.

Wang Yuanfeng and Zhu Erdan were both mentally deficient because of something missing in their souls, which led to one being foolish and the other being idiotic.

If we take them as our guiding principles, build a temple to absorb their incense and faith, and use this to nourish their souls, we might actually be able to help them recover.

However, it is inevitable that using incense and religious practices to restore one's soul will inevitably cause irreversible changes to one's nature.

But for two people, one obsessed and the other foolish, a change in personality might not be a bad thing.

In an instant, a way to help Wang Yuanfeng and Zhu Erdan recover came to mind.

Luo Fu then looked at the spirit fox with a meaningful expression.

skillful.

What a coincidence.

He casually tossed the prayer beads into the bamboo groves around Qiantang, seemingly indifferent, but it's undeniable that Luo Fu did hope that the beads would fall into the hands of the White and Green Snakes.

Unexpectedly, by a twist of fate, he fell into the hands of the spirit fox. Through a series of coincidences, he ended up being regarded as a lifeline by the Wang Taichang couple.

What's more, Luo Fu didn't know how to restore Wang Yuanfeng and Zhu Erdan before, but coincidentally, this spirit fox had a method that could restore the soul.

Even if this method is only a fragment, Luofu has accumulated the wisdom and resources of more than ten heavens and worlds. Even a mere fragment can be used to create a new method specifically for restoring the faith of Wang Yuanfeng and Zhu Erdan.

All of this seemed so coincidental, as if it had been deliberately arranged.

However, Luo Fu did not believe that anyone in this world could arrange his fate.

Unless... unless it's like Yan Chixia's suicide before, a destiny or cause and effect driven by the will of Heaven.

The cataclysmic change in the world's order a century ago was itself filled with incomprehensible irrationality; logically, it seemed to have been caused by a sudden external force.

Even if the great changes of heaven and earth are predetermined, the power of the righteous path will not vanish in an instant.

In the demonic path, beings like Pudu Cihang, the Black Mountain Demon, and the Tree Demon Granny, along with the abandoned manor and the alligator dragon beneath the ancient well, symbolize the rise of the demonic path.

Therefore, figures like Yan Chixia, Fahai, Zen Master Baiyun, and Zhi Qiu Yiye represent the last glimmer of the righteous path's power.

Originally, this afterglow was destined to dissipate like smoke as the Tao declined and the demons rose. Even if there were occasional relapses, it would eventually follow the general trend of the Heavenly Way and return to its predetermined course.

However, the emergence of Luofu made it an unshakable core.

If he leans towards the demonic path, then the righteous path will naturally vanish quickly; if he leans towards the righteous path, then the last bit of fortune of the righteous path will passively converge on Luo Fu.

In a world without extraordinary powers, this convergence of fortune would manifest as countless righteous cultivators, whether actively or passively, uniting around Luofu, ultimately unleashing an overwhelming force.

However, in a world dominated by extraordinary power, where the size of a group not only cannot determine everything, but is even vulnerable in the face of absolute power, both the righteous path and the demonic path will perish in the face of Luofu.

Logically speaking, if Luo Fu stands on the side of the righteous path, then the decline of the demonic path is normal. However, in this world where extraordinary powers exist, the rise and fall of one side often presents an illogical situation.

Ultimately, a century after the great changes in the world, the fortune of the righteous path was no longer sufficient to counteract the decline of the righteous path and the rise of the demonic path.

Therefore, the fortune that was originally distributed among Yan Chixia, Fahai, Zen Master Baiyun, and others will be concentrated on Luofu alone.

This will naturally lead to the inevitable defeat and demise of these pillars of the righteous path.

In this process, more and more coincidences will occur.

To put it bluntly, Luo Fu will become the chosen one of this world, and regardless of his own wishes, all sorts of opportunities will converge on him in a frenzy.

The same applies to magical artifacts; Jing Yuanying, Su Su, the demons in the painted wall, Nie Xiaoqian, and others will also actively or passively converge on Luofu.

In this situation where the Tao is declining and the demons are rising, and the righteous path is decaying, apart from Luofu possibly being able to break free from the arrangement of so-called destiny, everything else is merely an undercurrent within the realm of fate, each with its own destiny.

Whether it's magical artifacts, spiritual roots, secret techniques, or even Nie Xiaoqian, the demons in the painted wall, Su Su, Yan Chixia, Fahai, and Zen Master Baiyun... in the face of such a mighty torrent, they are all just chips, large or small, in the opposition between the Tao and the demons, between good and evil.

During this period, all sentient beings are transformed into objects, without distinctions of strength or weakness, male or female, beauty or ugliness, etc.

All that matters is how to add weight to one's own stance, ultimately causing the balance of good and evil to tip once again.

In such a fateful arrangement, he is the only one who can possibly escape everything and transcend destiny and cause and effect.

The uniqueness of Luofu is evident at all times.

He himself has felt his own specialness more than once.

Before the current trend of the Way declining and the Demonic Way rising is truly reversed, Luo Fu himself is also a relatively large weight on the scales of good and evil.

Or rather, it is a special carrier that can multiply the mass of weights.

Each special weight, when in his hands, can exert a weight far exceeding its inherent mass, ultimately forming an absolute advantage and reversing the overall trend of the Dao's decline and the Demon's rise.

Even if he had noticed it, Luo Fu couldn't change it given his current cultivation level.

Because what causes all of this is not some self-aware entity, but a law, a way.

(End of this chapter)