I was forced to cultivate immortality when I just wanted to lie down

Chapter 242 A Familiar Taste, A Familiar Style

Dark clouds loomed overhead over Yunmeng Mountain, and lightning bolts danced wildly.

Xu Qing held three incense sticks in his hands. In front of him was the altar for Heaven and Earth. On the left and right altars were also enshrined the tablets of the God of Justice, the gods of the Thunder Department, and the Goddess of the Nine Heavens.

"When things come to a head, you cling to Buddha's teachings. Do you really think that praying to a god will save you from death?" Abbot Dingguang stared at Xu Qing with a gloomy expression, his words full of mockery.

Xu Qing glanced at the old monk and said indifferently, "There was once a virtuous monk who made a vow when he went to the Buddhist kingdom to seek the true scriptures. That vow was to burn incense at every temple, worship Buddha when he met him, and sweep pagodas when he encountered them. Zen Master Jinghai, you are also a monk in a temple, so why do you not believe in gods and Buddhas and do not respect Heaven?"

Xu Qing feigned sudden realization.

"That's right! You fake monks have committed countless evils and are burdened with sins. How dare you burn incense and make supplications before the true Buddha and the true gods?"

"Sharp-tongued!" Abbot Dingguang stared intently at Xu Qing, his eyes filled with resentment: "Then let's see if the gods you believe in will come to your aid!"

"Help?" Xu Qing laughed: "I'm not praying to the gods for my own good, but rather I'm reporting your sins to the gods of heaven and earth, so that when they strike you down, they must not show any mercy."

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Upon hearing this, the group of monks' anger flared up.

With a great calamity looming, instead of seeking self-preservation, you have the mind to worship gods and curse them. How can you be so disgusting?

Zen Master Jinghai's face was already wrinkled like a bitter gourd, and no matter how much Abbot Dingguang urged him, he refused to lay a hand on Xu Qing.

Although Abbot Dingguang, who hated Xu Qing to the extreme, was verbally abusive, he showed no real skill in action.

The monks before them were all afraid of death. They were all trying to conserve their energy to face the impending divine punishment, so why would they waste their strength to protect themselves before then?

Xu Qing looked down on these monks from the bottom of his heart. Even those with good karma had to be extra careful during the lightning disaster. For people like them, who were burdened with karmic debts, to be able to offer 10,000 sticks of incense was already a sign that Xu Qing thought highly of them.

It was a situation with no chance of survival; if one had even a shred of courage, one should have fought him to the death before the lightning disaster struck.

Even if you lose, you'll still be respected.

As for now, they are nothing but a bunch of scum and degenerates who are just trying to survive in this world!

Inside Ruyi Temple, when the thunderclouds accumulated to a certain extent, the turbulent black clouds suddenly began to reverse, and then formed a huge vortex.

Arcs of electricity flickered within the vortex, its shape resembling the opening of one of Heaven's eyes. Xu Qing and the others all felt their own energy being locked by an invisible force.

There is no way to dodge it, and no way to escape it.

As the source of the lightning disaster, Xuan Yu felt much greater pressure than Xu Qing and the others.

"Xuanyu, don't be stingy with incense offerings! If we run out, we can earn more!"

Xu Qing knew his cat well. Before coming to live with him, the cat had been a stray and had never experienced a life of luxury, let alone the freedom to raise an adult.

This resulted in Xuan Yu's meticulous and extremely frugal nature.

When Guan Dazhuang used incense to transform into a human, Xu Qing could tell that Xuan Yu was very interested, but when she learned that transforming into a human required consuming incense at all times, she decisively gave up the idea.

Even though the Cat Immortal Hall gradually became wealthy under the joint management of Xu Xian's family, Xuan Yu was still reluctant to use the incense. Only when Xu Qing was not around would it take out a little incense and transform into a human, but it would only experience it for a short while before returning to its original form.

Now, the incense offerings at the Cat Immortal Hall have reached millions. Only after Xu Qing's patient guidance did Xuan Yu agree to draw upon the incense offerings to maintain his transformation.

Even so, when Xuan Yu was at the coroner's shop, he would still possess Sun Erniang's body to save money.

Compared to Xuan Yu, Xu Qing was always extravagant when drawing incense offerings, and he even asked Xuan Yu about it.

Xuan Yu said at the time, "Others may feel sorry for me, but if it's for the Xu family, I will work hard to accumulate incense offerings so that the Xu family will always have incense to offer."

How much incense offering can a cat that earns its living by catching mice and controlling the rat infestation accumulate in a year, no matter how hard it tries?
However, all of Xuan Yu's incense offerings could be given to Xu Qing.

Now that it's Xuan Yu's turn to undergo tribulation, Xu Qing's hard-earned incense offerings must be used promptly!

Perhaps because he had developed supernatural hearing, Abbot Dingguang, with his large, shoulder-length ears, heard Xu Qing and Xuan Yu talking from afar.

The old monk, who harbored resentment towards Xu Qing, couldn't help but sneer: "Only incense with merit can withstand heavenly punishment. Even the largest temples can only accumulate a few hundred thousand sticks of incense in a year, and among them, only one in a hundred contains merit. If you want to use incense to pass through the tribulation, that's wishful thinking!"

Xu Qing raised an eyebrow, glanced at Abbot Dingguang, and asked curiously, "Bare-bottomed monk, how much incense does your Cizhao Temple have?"

"Over the decades, our temple has accumulated millions of incense offerings!"

"How much merit and incense offerings are needed?" Xu Qing asked directly.

Ordinary incense is not very useful; at most, it can only be used to make some ritual implements that are not suitable for public display, or some incense tokens.

When faced with disaster, the heavens won't recognize these ordinary offerings of incense!
"Our Cizhao Temple is a large temple, and the amount of incense and donations we receive is often in the tens of thousands. If it weren't for a crazy monk who spent a lot of money on incense and donations in private two years ago, our temple's incense and donations would be far more than ten thousand now!"

Abbot Dingguang's mouth is full of mercenary talk, as if those donations of incense and offerings are not acts of merit, but rather gold and silver treasures used to flaunt his wealth.

"Someone of you, from a humble temple, could never have seen such enormous eyes even after a lifetime of cultivation." These words made Abbot Dingguang extremely proud!
However, the old monk did not tell the whole truth. The real truth was that the only merit and incense offerings in Cizhao Temple were earned by a crazy monk who had been taken in by the temple many years ago.

The eccentric monk spent two years in the temple, accumulating tens of thousands of incense offerings. However, due to his unconventional behavior, he was ostracized by the other monks and eventually had to leave Cizhao Temple.

Without the mad monk, the number of donations to Cizhao Temple would probably not even be in the thousands!
Over the decades, he has accumulated less than ten thousand incense offerings as a form of merit.

Xu Qing withdrew her gaze and chuckled softly.

How immoral must a large temple in a prefecture or county be to fail to accumulate even tens of thousands of incense offerings over several decades?

Even Xu Qing's outstanding employees, such as Guan Dazhuang, Sun Erzhuang, and Gu Zixu, can earn tens of thousands of incense offerings after a year of running around.

This shows just how rotten Cizhao Temple had become.

At 3:45 PM, the oppressive aura that had been building up above Ruyi Temple finally reached its peak.

However, compared to the Heavenly Thunder that Xu Qing faced before, this Yin Thunder was significantly weaker in terms of momentum.

Xu Qing felt the blatant prejudice!

When he was undergoing his tribulation at the imperial mausoleum, the thunderclouds brewed for a full hour, clearly indicating that they were there to take his life!

Looking at Xuan Yu's heavenly punishment, apart from the fact that the appearance of the monk from Cizhao Temple made it slightly stronger than the yin lightning encountered by ordinary demon cultivators during their tribulations, there was nothing particularly special about it.

Feeling the aura locked onto him, Xu Qing frowned slightly.

The way of Heaven seems rather unwise. How come someone who does good deeds every day receives more "care" than those wicked fake monks?

Xu Qing unfolded the Blood Lake Dharma Realm, and the image of the Goddess of Life Protection appeared once again.

The fragrant smoke from the Dharma realm enveloped Xu Qing, making the already ethereal Baosheng Niangniang appear even more otherworldly and sacred.

Abbot Dingguang and Zen Master Jinghai sensed the incense energy emanating from Xu Qing.

The other party's vows and offerings seem to be even purer and cleaner than what the mad monk earns from doing good deeds!

Looking at the cat demon beside Xu Qing, a powerful demon with overwhelming demonic aura, golden light of merit was faintly emanating from its body.

Abbot Dingguang's face was extremely grim. Besides disbelief, he was also filled with endless jealousy. Why did they, who had spent their lives chanting Buddhist scriptures, not receive so much incense and merit, while a demon, a mere upstart from a dilapidated temple, received so much merit?

How unjust is Heaven!

How unjust Buddha is!

The fat monk suddenly remembered something. He opened his eyes wide, looked at Xu Qing, and asked in surprise, "Are you the one who underwent tribulation at the imperial mausoleum that day?"

As the lightning calamity approached, the terrifying aura hidden within Xu Qing's body was completely unleashed. Zen Master Jinghai had cultivated for 120 years and possessed nearly 400 years of spiritual power, but before Xu Qing, it was as if there was an insurmountable chasm between them.

Zen Master Jinghai knew what that meant; it was an insurmountable barrier that only those who had survived the lightning calamity faced.

Xu Qing did not respond to Zen Master Jinghai; his gaze was fixed on Abbot Dingguang.

The old monk's cultivation level had actually approached five hundred years, but no one knew what method he had used to suppress his cultivation.

Only when he was locked in by the lightning disaster and had no other choice did Abbot Dingguang finally pull out the nine three-inch and three-tenths-inch nails buried in his body.

Xu Qing suddenly realized that the old monk was probably using a method of feigning death from the Yin Sect.

The nails that pierced through the robe, resembling buttons, were actually nine coffin nails. Monk Dingguang used the robe as a coffin, 'nailing' himself inside it.

A dead person naturally doesn't need to undergo tribulation. Monk Dingguang wanted to use this method to deceive everyone and fake his death to escape. However, he didn't expect that one day he would be indiscriminately targeted by lightning.

If he wants to avoid the lightning disaster, he can only pull out the nail and fight back with all his might, but if he pulls out the nail, he will have to face the test of a double heavenly tribulation.

After understanding the old monk's condition, Xu Qing was secretly delighted.

This old bald monk was hiding very well. If it weren't for the slip-up on Baiyun Daoren's side, probably no one would have known that such an old Zen master was hiding in Cizhao Temple.

Xu Qing was very curious about where Abbot Dingguang's cultivation method came from.

It wasn't until he caught a glimpse of the ghost-headed divine blade that the other party unleashed that Xu Qing finally understood.

So that old fox from Baiyun Cave has taken on more than one disciple!
At a certain moment, Xu Qing and Xuan Yu looked up almost simultaneously. In the vortex of tribulation clouds, there was a sound of muffled thunder crashing and striking. When more than a dozen black tumor-like light clusters appeared, black lightning wrapped in dark gray light struck down!

"Xuanyu!"

As Xu Qing reminded Xuan Yu, he condensed nearly 100,000 incense sticks in his hand into a protective merit tablet, blocking all the Yin lightning that was about to strike him.

Xuan Yu was in the middle of the lightning tribulation, and the power of the lightning he faced was far stronger than that of others.

Before the altar, the little girl's pretty face was tense, and she threw 100,000 incense sticks above her head as if they were free.

A forest of merit steles rose from the ground, surrounding the continuous bolts of dark lightning overhead.

It is simply the opposite of Tiangang!

Seeing that the most ferocious heavenly tribulation was surrounded by Xuan Yu, Xu Qing finally breathed a sigh of relief.

Watching the other person undergo tribulation made him even more nervous than when he himself was undergoing tribulation.

Xu Qing, now with some free time, turned around and found that of the group from Cizhao Temple, only Abbot Dingguang and Zen Master Jinghai remained.

No, where are your twelve Arhats?
Xu Qing looked in the direction where the twelve Qi Condensation Warrior Monks had been, and saw only patches of ashes on the ground.

Xu Qing was heartbroken.

The twelve corpses represented several days' worth of revenue for his mortuary during the off-season!

It's gone just like that.

Xu Qingfu then looked at Abbot Dingguang and Zen Master Jinghai.

Without the protection of merit and incense, Jinghai's body had already been destroyed by the lightning, and he was like a tattered sack stained with blood, teetering on the verge of collapse.

The power of the heavenly tribulation lightning is often stronger with each strike. One can imagine that when the next round of lightning strikes, this fat monk will most likely turn into a pile of black ash.

Xu Qing couldn't bear it, so he flashed to Zen Master Jinghai's side and swung down the mountain-splitting axe in his hand!

Faced with the menacing Goddess of Life, the fat monk's lips trembled: "Fellow Daoist, please show mercy! This old monk is willing to become your disciple."

The Goddess of Life Protection was a germaphobe.

The fat monk's words only infuriated Xu Qing.

You think you're worthy to be part of his temple system?
After collecting the fat monk's body, Xu Qing turned to look at Abbot Dingguang.

The latter was on high alert, his Ghost Head Divine Blade poised to strike.

This heavenly tribulation isn't very effective!

Xu Qing looked up at the thunderclouds overhead and pursed his lips.

Perhaps Xu Qing's actions angered the heavens, for the next moment a bolt of lightning, equal in weight to both of them, struck down directly.

This means they're including the fat monk's share in the blame!

Xu Qing's expression darkened slightly. Ever since his first tribulation, he had noticed that the heavenly punishment was somewhat targeting him. At that time, he managed to fight back with a million incense offerings. Now, as he was taking the exam for the second time, why was the heavenly punishment still targeting him?
So good people deserve to be struck by lightning?

Just as the thunder was about to strike and Xu Qing was about to use the remaining incense from Baosheng Temple, a towering tree formed from the merit of 200,000 incense offerings suddenly rose from the ground.

Xu Qing raised his head and looked at the golden incense tree with its claw-like branches, which sheltered him and Xuan Yu in its shade.

Xuan Yu looked at Xu Qing and smiled slightly.

Xu Qing was stunned for a moment. It takes time to adapt when a demon transforms into human form, so whenever Xuan Yu transforms into a human, he always looks neither happy nor angry. This is the first time he has seen Xuan Yu smile.

Unfortunately, it only lasted for a moment.

In the distance, Abbot Dingguang, his body charred black and crackling with electric arcs, tried to approach the Tree of Merit, but was met with a giant axe-like rainbow light that was even more terrifying than Yin lightning!

After Xu Qing forced the old monk to retreat, he turned around and saw that the girl under the tree had returned to her usual silent self.

At this moment, peace and tranquility reigned beneath the Tree of Merit, while above the tree, the Heavenly Tribulation, whose view was obscured by dazzling golden light, paused for a moment.

This familiar practice of offering incense and prayers, this ostentatious and extravagant style of tribulation transcendence.
The Heavenly Emperor, who had been distracted by other things, finally noticed something was wrong when he looked closely this time.

It's you again, kid? Did you think that by changing your appearance, putting on makeup, and wearing a ceremonial robe, no one would recognize you?

Upon smelling the incense again, was it the incense that symbolized the human race's fortune?
How come in just a few days, the quality of the merit and incense offerings has risen to the level of human fortune and merit?
A calamity is brewing.

Arcs of lightning flashed intermittently through the thick clouds, as if they were performing precise calculations.

Ultimately, the Heavenly Way collapsed, but if it couldn't deal with the troublemakers, couldn't it deal with those who laughed at it?
So, the heavens turned their attention to Abbot Dingguang, who was catching his breath.

(End of this chapter)