At dawn, the sky was delicately white.

In a city about five hundred miles distant from the Mountain of Mind and Heart, the sound of chanting had already begun to echo.

Unlike the stone buildings of Great Zhou which rose and fell in clusters, each building here exuded a faint incense smoke, accompanied by soft chanting to praise the compassion of the Bodhisattva Arhats.

This is the everyday life of the Buddha Country's common people, where all believers wake up early, perform their morning rituals, recite scriptures, and offer incense in reverence to the Buddha.

People further away might slack off, but in this place only five hundred miles from the Mountain of Mind and Heart, all are devout believers; slackers find it difficult to reside here for long.

Those who finished their morning rituals earlier took to the streets, joining their palms in greeting when meeting others, reciting the Dharma names of the Bodhisattva Arhats they worship, and exchanging pleasantries. Then, they talked about recent interesting events or significant matters.

For instance— a Daoist had intruded upon the Mountain of Mind and Heart.

"Zheng!"

The sound of a sword suddenly resonated in the air, and then a Sword Light descended onto the street, revealing the silhouette of a Daoist.

In an instant, everyone around stopped moving, eyes wide, staring at this Daoist who seemed so out of place in the Buddha Country.

Especially for an elderly man standing closest, who was just vehemently discussing this very matter with an old friend, expressing indignation at the Daoist who disrespected Buddha, only to have a Daoist suddenly appear.

His wide eyes were locked onto the Daoist, his devotion overpowering his awe for cultivators, and he was about to curse aloud.

But before the devout believers could express their anger at the irreverent, the melodious sound of a flute arose, bringing everyone on the street back to calmness, and they resumed their previous activities.

The idle resumed chatting, the tradesmen continued trading, just as before, as if the Daoist had never appeared.

Not just here, but throughout the entire city, everyone who saw that Sword Light forgot what they had seen.

The surroundings became lively once more.

As for the young Daoist, he showed no sign of surprise, strolling unhurriedly towards the sound of the flute, arriving at the largest temple in the city.

The people he passed by treated this out-of-place Daoist as if he were invisible, and even the welcoming monks of the temple gave no reaction to him.

He proceeded directly to a small courtyard within the temple.

In the courtyard stood a man in a black robe playing a long stone flute. He slowly turned around to face the approaching figure, his dark pupils displaying a mysterious gleam, and the tune of the flute changed.

From melodious to urgent, the surrounding scene warped, the serene small courtyard of the temple was about to be replaced by a great hall, as if the world itself was altering.

"Zheng!"

The sound of the sword once again resonated at this moment, the sword at the Daoist's waist vibrating loudly, and the transforming scene was cleaved as if by an invisible sharp sword, shattering in an instant like fragmented glass.

The man in black was shaken as if struck by thunder, the flute sound abruptly stopped, and blood already stained the corner of his mouth.

"Moluo Sword Manual, not bad."

Taibai True Monarch said lightly: "It's a pity that your mastery of this skill is not entirely due to your own ability but relies on the Emperor Demon's divine skills, lacking purity."

The Emperor Demon, also known as the Heavenly Demon, is one of the Four Demons spoken of in the Buddhist tradition, a subordinate to the Heavenly Master of Transformation, best at disturbing the human heart, hindering the roots of goodness and the Buddhist Law, its divine skills and the Moluo Sword Manual complement each other well.

And in this era, all the Emperor Demon's Dao Fruit has been gathered by the Fire House Buddha Hell, those who can accommodate this Dao Fruit are all from the Fire House Buddha Hell.

The man in black, upon hearing these words, showed a trace of unwillingness, lightly wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth, and all his injuries healed in short order. He put away the stone flute, slightly bowed his head as a gesture of respect, and said: "Buddha Hell Tower's Double Shadows, greets Taibai True Monarch. Yet, I wonder how the True Monarch knew to find us here?"

Taibai True Monarch's purpose was too direct, coming all the way without hesitation, making even Lou Shuangying unsure of where a trace had been revealed.

"No need to search, this poor Daoist just randomly chose a nearby city to reveal myself."

Taibai True Monarch said lightly: "Heading east in the Buddha Country, your Fire House Buddha Hell wouldn't pass up this opportunity, and yesterday, when I single-handedly broke into the Mountain of Mind and Heart, you were bound to investigate nearby. This poor Daoist only needs to show up and fear not finding you all."

As long as Taibai True Monarch reveals himself, the people of the Fire House Buddha Hell will automatically come to see him, because Taibai True Monarch is also an enemy of the Awakened.

And it was indeed the case.

Lou Shuangying was choked by such blunt words, never expecting the truth to be so simple, not that the other party sought them out, but that he himself had led them to him.

One of the four Great Asura Kings of the Fire House Buddha Hell, surprisingly made such a rudimentary mistake this time.

Simultaneously, it exposed the urgency of the Fire House Buddha Hell.

However, Lou Shuangying, being an old hand in the Jianghu, though he had shown some of his cards, did not panic, but calmly said: "Can I assume that the True Monarch wants to cooperate with the Buddha Hell?"

"Indeed," Taibai True Monarch did not beat around the bush, directly stating, "The Awakened does not emerge, the Tathagata does not leave seclusion, this poor Daoist wants to force the Awakened to emerge, as do you. At least for now, we can collaborate."

The Awakened does not emerge, the Tathagata does not leave seclusion.

From just this single sentence's order, it is clear that Karma Tathagata back then was slightly at a disadvantage. His condition of not leaving seclusion was that the Awakened should not emerge, whether they would return to the world depended on the Awakened.

Yet it is unknown what power this single promise holds, capable of ensuring that Karma Tathagata would not actively break the promise and leave seclusion himself.

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