Thanks for the invitation, I just entered the chat group after traveling through Under One Person.

Chapter 223 Chaos in the Human World
When the power gathered by this guy exploded and struck, Yi Qing actually solidified the entire space into an amber-like solid, and the twelve golden beams of light were forcibly frozen in mid-air.

At this moment, Lu Chen's three-pointed double-edged sword gathered divine power, transforming into a giant blade capable of splitting mountains, and slashed towards the main Arhat formation. Su Heng's purple lightning, Qing Yuan's Zen staff, and Lin Yuanfeng's power all simultaneously struck the same spot.
With a final, deafening roar, all twelve lotus platforms collapsed simultaneously. The merit paper ingots turned to ashes in the karmic fire, and countless translucent souls rose from between the lotus petals, drifting towards the points of light in the sky.

The bodies of the golden Arhats peeled away like tattered gold leaf, revealing the wild gods huddled beneath, which began to break under the dual strangulation of the resentment of the ghost realm and the heavenly lightning.

“Their methods of cultivation were modified.” Su Yun walked to the remains of the lotus platform at some point, his fingertip tracing a piece of unburnt merit paper, the names of believers on it gradually fading away. “True merit lies in the hearts of people, not in the greedy faith in the donation box.”

These wild gods believe they can build golden statues with incense money, unaware that even the 'Buddha-nature' within the relics is a defective product extracted from the souls of believers.

Yan Huan laughed and said, "Anyway, it doesn't matter to them or to Buddhism."

After these wild gods' "Arhat Golden Body" was broken, their true forms were revealed to be merely at the level of human immortals, much weaker than Zhang Zhiwei. Without their golden bodies, Zhang Zhiwei alone could defeat all twelve of them.

These beings were highly useful tools for Buddhism, and they themselves craved greater power through Buddhist means. However, they underestimated Buddhism's power of salvation, and their relationship quickly deteriorated from one of mutual exploitation to one of Buddhism's henchmen.

"Sigh~ It's just that those Taoist priests are all patriarch-level figures, so they don't dare to make a move and instead target us. It makes us look like we're weak." Yi Qing's figure reformed, showing no signs of weakness. He had no shortage of energy; his efficiency in absorbing the Qi of heaven and earth far surpassed that of the Six Treasuries Immortal Thief.

"So, do we still need to take action later? The founders of these two major sects are dignified and won't make a move, but those former wild gods probably won't be able to hold back." Su Heng appeared on the ground as if in a flash and said.

Su Yun glanced at Su Heng. As expected of a transmigrator with the same surname, he had quite a bit of a cheat code, but he still needed to cultivate on his own. Although he couldn't compare to the four major families in the novel world—Ye, Lin, Xiao, and Chu—the surname "Su" was still quite common.

Of course, there were quite a few people with the surname Lin among these time travelers. There were even more with the surname Zhang, that's because of the Celestial Master's Mansion.

"Big Boss, can we go out now?" the crowd asked, gathering around. Apart from Zhang Zhiwei, no one had any intention of dealing with these patriarchs. At their level, everyone was about the same, and you weren't actually avatars of those true immortals, so there was no need to be subservient.

"Huh?" Su Yun was taken aback by the question and said, "I didn't intend to imprison you. I just sealed off the natives of this place. You can leave anytime."

Su Yun's previous blockade merely modified the entire space of Fusang, adding the standard that the Fusang natives could not leave. It seems that Yi Qing and the others thought he had placed an invisible energy shield over it.

"It seems those patriarchs are coming. How about Master Zhang act as our exchange ambassador? What do you all think?" Before Yi Qing and the others could react, Su Yun saw Master Wang and the other Taoists descending on auspicious clouds and heading towards them, and spoke to the group.

In fact, before Master Wang and the others had even made a move, Su Yun saw a scene from the future. This wasn't due to his Fiery Eyes of Truth, but rather his current ability, described as "foresight." It's similar to the ultimate form of Observation Haki, which allows one to see future scenes.

This ability isn't very useful, or more accurately, it's not very useful in this world. It also can't be used in chat groups, as it prevents you from seeing the chat content in the "future view."

“I have no objection to this old Taoist.” Zhang Zhiwei’s eyes brightened slightly. As a junior in the Taoist sect, he had naturally long wanted to communicate and learn from these patriarchs.

It was a pity that their Celestial Master Zhang did not appear, otherwise he would have already stepped forward to greet them. As one of the four Celestial Masters of the Heavenly Court, Zhang Daoling, the founder of the Celestial Master's Mansion, naturally would not keep his avatar in the mortal realm forever. After completing his cultivation, he would return to his original body.

As they spoke, Master Wang and his entourage slowly approached, exuding an extraordinary aura and displaying the demeanor of grandmasters in every gesture. Master Wang's gentle gaze fell upon the group, and he smiled, saying, "My dear friends, it is truly fate that we meet today."

Zhang Zhiwei stepped forward and respectfully bowed, saying, "Esteemed Ancestors, I am Zhang Zhiwei from the Celestial Master's Mansion. I have long admired your name and am deeply honored to meet you today." Ancestor Wang looked Zhang Zhiwei up and down, his eyes showing admiration, "You young man, your cultivation is solid. You truly deserve to be an outstanding disciple of the Celestial Master's Mansion."

Zhang Zhiwei wanted to find out information about the wild gods, so he asked, "The situation is complicated now. I wonder what the patriarchs think about what will happen next?"

Master Wang frowned slightly. "The struggle between the Dao and the Dao has always been rife with undercurrents. And these wild gods who attempt to gain power through unorthodox methods are ultimately going astray. Now that the scheme to sever the connection between heaven and earth has been resolved, various forces are eager to make their move, and I'm afraid a great upheaval is unavoidable."

At this moment, Master Li, who was standing next to Master Wang, slowly spoke up: "Fellow young friends, the opening of the Severed Heavenly Connection will not only affect the world of the extraordinary, but also the mortal world. As cultivators, we should take on the responsibility of protecting it."

Protecting? Everyone glanced at Su Yun inadvertently. This world had managed to create such a commotion thanks to him constantly fanning the flames. It was already quite good that he was quietly watching the show and not suddenly doing anything drastic.

Zhang Zhiwei nodded in agreement, "Master Li is absolutely right, but given the current unclear power dynamics, we must proceed with caution. By the way, what is the attitude of all the masters towards those wild gods?"

Master Sun, wielding a long sword, was the most decisive: "Those who cause cholera, kill!"

As Master Sun finished speaking, his longsword, already drawn three inches from its sheath with a dragon's roar, cast a glint of light that made the karmic fire on the ruins of the lotus platform flicker: "Back then, when the Emperor severed the path between humans and gods, it was out of fear that these wild gods would use the power of faith to wreak havoc on the human world. Now they have descended to the mortal realm again, donning cloaks to suck the souls of humans. How is this any different from before?"

“Fellow Daoist Sun is right, those who cause chaos should be killed,” Patriarch Liu said with a light laugh, though his words carried a chilling aura.

In front of the Guanyin Temple on the Jianghuai Plain, worshippers are bowing and praying to the newly sculpted "Compassionate Bodhisattva". The gilded statue has mantras formed from karmic fire hanging from its earlobes, and with each stick of incense it consumes, its pupils glow with a faint blood-red light.

In the shadows of the temple corner, a figure draped in a kasaya was crushing a soul between his fingers, kneading the translucent specks of light into the donation box.

This is a technique of "stealing by borrowing merit" learned from Buddhist scriptures. It uses illusions to make believers think that donating money can avert disaster, but in reality, their souls have already been dissected and exposed.

At the same moment, in the "Eastern Peak Emperor Temple" atop Mount Tai, a mountain spirit with a green face and fangs transformed into an old man with a white beard, stroking the head of a pilgrim and stealing a wisp of spiritual power.

The paving stones beneath his feet were engraved with a distorted "True Form Map of the Five Sacred Mountains." For every ten portions of faith he absorbed, he could borrow three more portions of the earth's vein power from the stones of Mount Tai. In the villages at the foot of the mountain, young and middle-aged men had been dying suddenly one after another, and tiny stone fragments were embedded in their temples, a sign of the backlash from the earth's vein power.

In front of the Mazu Temple in Lingnan, fishing village girls are tying wooden plaques inscribed with their wishes to the wrists of this "Empress of Heaven." The knuckles of the lacquered red wooden carvings are entwined with the tentacles of a sea monster; for every wish for marriage and children absorbed, a wisp of essence is drawn from the girl's brow.

The wild god altered the "Record of the Heavenly Queen's Manifestations," turning "protecting the country and sheltering the people" into "stealing essence to replenish the soul." In the pile of rocks behind the temple, the translucent essence is being refined into a "spiritual pearl" that can control the wind and waves, allowing it to stir up storms at sea.

Thirteen stupas suddenly rose from the ground at the Shaolin Temple. The "Arhats" enshrined inside were actually puppets sculpted by wild gods from living souls. The stupas were covered with the Shurangama Mantra written upside down, trapping pilgrims who came to the mountain to pray in a "Buddha-seeking illusion." Each trapped person would see the scene they most desired.

On the shores of the Slender West Lake in Yangzhou, a student lamented his academic setbacks before the statue of the "God of Literature." A cunning glint flashed in the statue's eyes, and with a flick of its sleeve, the student "saw" himself become the top scholar in the imperial examination.

These chaotic scenes were all presented to Su Yun, but these guys were not as reckless as they were in ancient times, which meant they had become much smarter.

(End of this chapter)