He became the True Lord of Ten Thousand Laws starting from Liaozhai.

Liang Jing didn't know how to describe what he saw. Was this... a manifestation of Buddha?

If he is Buddha, why would he bother such a small place as Fangyuan City?

He is Buddha, so Buddha is right. Does that mean I, Liang Jing, am wrong? My management of Fangyuan City is substandard, so Buddha is here to punish me?

In an instant, countless thoughts popped into Liang Jing's mind. These were not his true thoughts, but rather the result of being affected by the deadly chanting, which had rendered his mind unable to defend itself.

Now we see the Buddha manifesting his true form again, with the sky filled with shimmering Buddha light and the sound of chanting coming from all directions.

Liang Jing finally became afraid. He realized that he was wrong and that his actions had angered Buddha, which was why Buddha was punishing him.

Liang Jing unconsciously wanted to kneel down, begging for Buddha's forgiveness.

But a flash of red light appeared between his eyebrows, and Liang Jing quickly regained his self-awareness, cold sweat pouring down his forehead.

"That was close! We almost fell for this wicked monk's trick!"

Liang Jing realized what was happening and merged himself into the golden incense statue, beginning to manipulate the enormous Dharma image.

This is the realm before supernatural powers, the Dharma Aspect Realm. Liang Jing has been immersed in this realm for many years.

This golden incense statue is the Dharma form he condensed. Or rather, almost all City Gods, as long as there are enough worshippers, can condense a golden incense statue to replace the Dharma form realm of cultivators.

What appeared before him was the golden statue of Buddha, who was saving all beings. It was as tall as his incense-burning golden statue, radiating Buddha light and possessing a solemn and dignified appearance.

If it weren't for that flash of red light between his eyebrows, he would have truly believed that this was the real Buddha.

"You wicked monk, prepare to die!"

Liang Jing no longer held back; he was willing to risk everything to prevent this evil monk from succeeding.

No matter how powerful a Dharma Aspect is, it's still just a Dharma Aspect; supernatural powers are ultimately just supernatural powers...

This is not something a mere Dharma Master can offend.

The golden statue of Buddha, the embodiment of salvation, merely extended a finger and touched Liang Jing lightly, yet Liang Jing felt an immense force strike him.

The golden statue behind him vanished into starlight...

Liang Jing was shot down and collapsed helplessly to the ground.

Pudu manifested as the dignified and solemn high monk he originally was, and he took small steps to Liang Jing.

Pudu smiled and said, "You have a lot of courage, daring to attack me."

"Heh heh, you wicked monk, what is your purpose in bewitching the people of my city?"

"It's alright to say it; you're just afraid I'll slaughter the people of your city, aren't you?"

"Hehe, don't worry, I'm not stupid enough to cut off my own supplies. You just need to willingly offer up your incense and divine power."

"I assure you, I will not harm a single hair on the heads of the people in the city. I am simply changing their faith."

"How wonderful it is to live in the Buddha's Pure Land of Ultimate Bliss."

After saying this, Pudu pretended to chant a Buddhist mantra.

He didn't understand Buddhist scriptures very well. In fact, the so-called death-reaping chants were just his random mutterings. Whenever a word came to his mind, that word would become the next chant.

Pudu was able to cultivate this supernatural power entirely thanks to the experience left behind by the relics back then.

After hearing what Pudu said, Liang Jing finally fell silent. A promise made by a cultivator with supernatural powers would definitely be kept, right? He was a cultivator with supernatural powers, a god-like figure, and it was impossible for him to break such a heavenly oath.

"Alright, I promise you, but you must swear an oath not to harm the people in the city."

Liang Jing gave up resisting. If a monk were to eat people, wouldn't that break the Buddhist precepts? Could he still be called a monk?

He is powerful; if he really wanted to eat people, he would have already started a massacre in the city. Why force him to show himself before coming up with this excuse?

In that instant, Liang Jing seemed to understand: if this demonic monk truly wanted to eat people, Fangyuan City would have been destroyed long ago...

Thinking of this, he finally felt relieved. It didn't matter if he died, as long as the people in the city could still live, that would be a good ending.

Pudu shook his head and refused Liang Jing's request. He said again, "You have no right to make demands of me, but I always keep my word. I wouldn't lie to someone as lowly as you."

After hearing this, Liang Jing nodded. Yes, a single finger shattered his two-hundred-year-old golden body. There's no need to waste so much breath on such a person; if he wanted to kill someone, he would have done so long ago.

Liang Jing had resigned himself to his fate. He sat cross-legged on the ground and began to disperse his internal energy...

Pudu nodded in satisfaction when he saw that Liang Jing was so sensible.

"Hehe, that's for the best."

After saying that, he closed his eyes and made no further sound.

Liang Jing's consciousness quickly began to fade, and in that instant, he reviewed his entire life...

Liang Jing died without any unusual signs.

Pudu looked at the large mass of incense energy in front of him and almost couldn't help but laugh out loud.

People like the City God have always been like this, never understanding the true use of the power of incense offerings, perhaps because they lack the corresponding refining techniques.

Such pure and immense power, if absorbed by him, could completely restore a divine ability, because he has the corresponding refining method.

"What a pity, they haven't mastered it even after hundreds of years."

Pudu chuckled and withdrew his clone that was chanting sutras in place. Every bit of magic power he could save was worthwhile. Before withdrawing the clone, he implanted a thought into the minds of all the mortals.

The souls of mortals are weak, and they can be easily manipulated by weaving memories or thoughts into them.

The thought that came to mind was: "The city has just suffered a great disaster. Monsters attacked the inner city, and this high monk stepped forward in the time of crisis to save the people of the city."

"The people want to cast a golden statue for the eminent monk and offer incense day and night!"

After doing all this, Pudu sat cross-legged on the spot, focusing on absorbing the incense and divine power left behind by Liang Jing after his death.

He truly kept his word and did not harm a single mortal, whom he viewed merely as a tool for harvesting faith.

It's just that the Ten Thousand Great Gods don't have such creatures, or perhaps it's not very useful for the demons of their Ten Thousand Mountains to worship them.

This is what makes the human race special, and it's why they are so popular in this world. This is Pudu's idea.

When everyone awoke, they realized that something big had happened in the city, but they couldn't remember the specifics. All they could remember was that the high monk in front of them was the one who had saved their lives!

When all the people saw the Pudu ceremony, they spontaneously knelt down and murmured words of gratitude to the high monk for saving their lives.

Pudu was pleased to hear this and smiled. Anyone would be happy to hear praise, and he was no exception.

It's only a matter of time before the incense and divine power left behind by Liang Jing are refined.

......

Within the Deng residence, Deng Youwen, due to her unique circumstances, was not bewitched, nor was she detected by Pudu; this was due to the special nature of her body.

The rest of the Deng family were bewitched by the life-threatening chants of the Pudu, and they all ran out into the street to join the procession in reciting the scriptures.

Zhou Yuan, however, said that it was a high-ranking monk giving a sermon, and that it was a blessing for these people to hear such a sermon.

Although Old Master Deng had some doubts, these were the words of his old friend of many years, who was also the Director of the Imperial Observatory. In this regard, his words were certainly very credible.

However, no matter how she looked at Grandpa Zhou from behind Grandpa Deng, Deng Youwen felt that something was off about him.

When Zhou Yuan first arrived at their home, Deng Youwen immediately noticed the decaying aura emanating from him.

However, this is something that no one else can see except Deng Youwen. Zhou Yuan has a heavy aura of death on him, and Deng Youwen can always smell a pungent, unpleasant insect smell on him.

His intuition told him that something was definitely wrong with Grandpa Zhou, or that he was hiding something from him.

Is it really a high-ranking monk preaching outside?

Deng Youwen didn't know, she just felt that things were not so simple. Why had all the servants in the house gone out, and even her family members? The entire Deng mansion was empty except for her and her grandfather.

Oh wait, there's also Grandpa Zhou Yuan right in front of me.

Grandpa Deng believed Zhou Yuan's words, and since the three of them had been resting in the hall, Deng Youwen couldn't give her grandfather a hint.

She was very distressed until Old Master Deng suggested taking a walk in the backyard, at which point Deng Youwen finally had a chance to look outside.

Deng Youwen saw that in the City God Temple, there were two golden figures taller than the pavilion, and one of them looked very much like the Buddha statue. Moreover, the golden figure opposite the Buddha statue looked especially like someone she had seen before.

However, she forgot exactly who it was.

When she saw this scene again, she wanted to pull her grandfather to look over as well, but before she could call him, one of the golden Dharma images had already turned into fragments and disappeared into the world.

The golden giant that resembled the Buddha statue also vanished into the world.

"They're all gone. What happened all of a sudden?"

Deng Youwen was very flustered. It seemed that things outside were not as simple as Grandpa Zhou had said, just a simple sermon by a high monk? How could such a coincidence happen?

However, Grandpa seemed a bit obsessed, constantly talking to Grandpa Zhou and not even paying attention to her.

Grandpa usually adores her. Even if the guests are very important, he won't ignore her or even say a word to her.

But today, Grandpa's condition was off, and many of his behaviors were completely opposite to his usual ones.

Today, Grandpa was noticeably more irritable and spoke very quickly, as if he was in a hurry. Moreover, she couldn't understand a word of what the two of them were talking about.

But in the end, Deng Youwen seemed to understand.

"Old Deng, don't say I don't care about you. Let me tell you, a legendary figure has come to your Fangyuan City today."

"It's Master Pudu outside. He studies Buddhism and understands many profound Buddhist principles. If you can hear him preach, that's something that many people will never have the chance to do in their entire lives."

"On my way here, I encountered a powerful demon and almost lost my life. It was thanks to this high monk that I was saved."

"Otherwise, my life would have been devoured by monsters long ago, leaving not even a trace..."

At this point, Zhou Yuan even seemed quite relieved, as if the situation at the time was really as he described.

However, Zhou Yuan wasn't saying this to Old Master Deng, even though Old Master Deng was protected by auspicious purple energy.

But Zhou Yuan had been using the Soul-Snatching Chant continuously for so long in order to completely bewitch Old Master Deng's mind, and now he had achieved his goal.

Deng Che was completely bewildered by what he said. No matter what he said, Deng Che would believe it without reservation. But why didn't his brother's good granddaughter react at all?

As Zhou Yuan was thinking, he unconsciously looked in Deng Youwen's direction and made eye contact with her. When Deng Youwen saw Zhou Yuan's murderous gaze, she was so frightened that she didn't dare to come near the two of them.

"Hehe." Zhou Yuan chuckled, afraid that he might frighten Deng Youwen. His brother's granddaughter's situation was somewhat special; should he go back and report to his master first? Or...?

Zhou Yuan only pondered for a moment before making a decision: first, hand Deng Che over to his master, as he was the tonic his master needed; as for Deng Youwen, everything would be left to his master to decide.

Thinking of this, Zhou Yuan couldn't help but laugh out loud. He felt that he had made a very wise decision. If his master saw that he thought this way, he would definitely give him more blood food.

At that time, you can further improve your cultivation level.

"Ahem, Old Deng, let me tell you, I've already made arrangements with this eminent monk. If we return to Fangyuan City, I will definitely take you to see him."

"I refused when the high monk wanted to give a private sermon. I was waiting for you, which is why it has been so long. I was worried that the high monk might not even remember me now."

Thinking of this, Zhou Yuan pretended to feel a great sense of regret.

"However, my actions have displeased the high monk. Hey, I missed a great opportunity because of you. You have to come with me today no matter what."

"Perhaps a high-ranking monk would say something more if he saw someone like you or me, right?"

"Perhaps there's still a chance. Sigh, Old Deng, come on, come on, come with me."

After Zhou Yuan finished speaking, he pulled Deng Che and started to walk out of the mansion.

"Alright, alright, Lao Zhou, Lao Zhou, I'll go with you. I also want to see the eminent monk in person. I wonder what he looks like..."

Deng Che's consciousness was already somewhat confused, and the things he said were completely different from his usual character.

Deng Youwen finally understood that her grandfather must have been under some kind of sorcery, otherwise he wouldn't have turned into this state!

In a moment of anger, she blocked Zhou Yuan's path and said, "Grandpa Zhou, what have you done to my grandfather? He would never say such a thing!"

Zhou Yuan was taken aback. He hadn't expected his good friend's granddaughter to be so sharp, or rather, so perceptive, that she could actually see through some clues.

However, Zhou Yuan didn't want to waste any more time here. He wanted to quickly complete the task assigned by his master and then collect some rewards to use for cultivation.

"Look at what you're saying, Wen'er. I'm only doing this for your grandfather's sake. It's a once-in-a-century opportunity to have a highly virtuous monk personally preach the Dharma. If the monk hadn't only allowed my brother and me to go, I would have really wanted to take you with me..."

......