Above the Great Dao

Chapter 1265 594: Peerless Talent

The Mud Bodhisattva watched as Chen Shi and the Black Pot walked away, his face slightly darkening as he gazed toward the sky.

"The Thunder Department merely seals without sending anyone into Feng'an County. It is evident they want to trap me and the person causing the Great Dao Contamination within Feng'an County. Anyone attempting to leave will be incinerated by the Pure Yang Divine Mirror. Clearly, the Thunder Department does not want Feng'an County to become my incense territory."

He turned and left, his form disappearing to evade the approaching Zhang Xian and others.

Chen Shi and the Black Pot quickly made their way to the temple of Mahasthamaprapta Bodhisattva. As they walked, Chen Shi said, "The Buddhist sect, like the Taoist sect, follows the path of the Immortal Dao, seeking immortality and transcendence. However, the Buddhist sect also follows the path of the Divine Dao, gathering incense and faith. Mahasthamaprapta Bodhisattva establishing his temple in the Thunder Mystery Province likely infringed upon the interests of the Thunder Department. So the people of the Thunder Department didn't intervene, instead shirking responsibility, leading the Heavenly Court to dispatch us novice Heavenly Soldiers to investigate this matter."

"Woof!" The Black Pot said.

"You're right. The gods of the Thunder Department just want to watch Mahasthamaprapta Bodhisattva's orthodoxy crumble without damaging everyone's harmony, so they didn't take action."

Chen Shi speculated, "There are likely three forces in open and covert conflict here. One is the Western Heaven, two is the Thunder Department of the Heavenly Court, and three is the immortal who orchestrated this act. Two forces are overt, one is covert. However, the immortal who laid down the Great Dao Contamination still left a trace."

As the saying goes, 'A man relies on clothes, a Buddha relies on gold adornment.' Mahasthamaprapta Bodhisattva's temple is exceptionally luxurious, splendid and magnificent. The temple covers a vast area, with three sections in the front yard, four in the back, subdivided into seven courtyards in the east and west, each with a treasure hall, housing the Golden Body Bodhisattva.

These treasure halls enshrine golden body statues of various Arhats, Vajras, and Venerables, and also have a Scripture Pavilion, Martial Preparation Temple, and outside the temple, there are Disciple Residences.

Chen Shi arrived at the accountancy room and grabbed a monk accountant, who had also turned into a mud figure but luckily survived.

"The temple of Mahasthamaprapta Bodhisattva has a total of ten thousand six hundred disciples."

The Mud Monk said, "Tens of thousands of acres of fertile land, forty-five Immortal Mountains, seventy-eight rivers, and numerous mines, smelting factories, pottery kilns, alchemy rooms, carriage and horse shops, weapon workshops, wharfs, markets, and gold and silver shops under the temple's name."

Chen Shi frowned and asked, "Though your temple has many disciples, can you cultivate so much land? Can you manage so many industries?"

"Naturally, we cannot manage them."

The Mud Monk laughed, "So we leave the fertile lands to tenant farmers to manage, hire laborers for the mines, and earn money from these people. We disciples do not engage in production, we merely recite scriptures, worship Buddha, and cultivate ourselves in purity."

Chen Shi frowned deeply, "You do no work at all?"

"Not at all. We patrol the mines, supervise tenant farmers, and review accounts to prevent deception from below. If we have spare time, we ferment some fertilizer, water flowers, tend to the grass, drink tea, and enjoy the moon – all forms of cultivation."

Chen Shi waved his hand, signaling him to leave.

The Mud Monk hurried to leave, but in his haste, he stumbled over the Black Pot's leg and fell into pieces.

The Black Pot cast an apologetic glance and retracted its leg.

Chen Shi pretended not to see and did not reproach.

Human and dog continued to search the temple, where many mud monks gathered, watching them in secret.

In most of the treasure halls, the enshrined Bodhisattvas, Vajras, and Arhats were also alive, watching them with vigilance, ready to question them had they not maintained their Physical Bodies.

These Bodhisattvas, Vajras, and Arhats, though their Golden Bodies were broken, were still enveloped in Divine Power, retaining considerable strength.

Chen Shi moved aside a Vajra blocking the way and walked forward, shouting, "Heavenly Soldier Camp on duty, irrelevant personnel disperse! Dare to obstruct, or be slain!"

The Vajra glared angrily, whispering, "Since when has the Heavenly Soldier Camp become so domineering?"

The Black Pot had already approached him, and from its towering stance, gazed down, so that the Vajra lowered its head, avoiding its gaze.

The Black Pot withdrew its gaze and followed Chen Shi.

Chen Shi looked around, seeing that the most significant and incense-filled place was the central Mahana Bo Palace.

The human and dog approached the incense burner in this palace, which was over two zhang long and four chi wide, with a dome above, blackened by smoke and fire, filled with fragrant ash and unburned incense remnants.

The Black Pot searched through the ash, finally finding amongst countless remnants an incense stick burned down to an inch.

"Is this the incense that ruined the Mahasthamaprapta Bodhisattva's Golden Body?"

Chen Shi examined the incense remnant, sensing an unusual force within—a force of an exotic path. This dark force was outside of the Yin Yang Dao, which was likely why even the Yin Yang Dojo couldn't handle it.

"However, there's another familiar force..."

Chen Shi was somewhat surprised as he carefully sensed the other subtle, nearly imperceptible force within the incense remnant, not easily concealed from him, as he had sensed similar force in many Divines.

"Is it the Incense Fire Divine Dao? No, it's not quite... this contains the Immortal Dao but seems to be an Immortal Dao evolved from the Divine Dao! Strange, strange..."

He hesitated for a moment and lit the incense remnant.

The incense remnant glowed with a scarlet flame and burned steadily, yet the fragrance did not drift toward Chen Shi but in another direction.

This incense was offered to the Mud Bodhisattva, naturally wafting towards the Mud Bodhisattva's location.

Amidst the fragrance, the dark force suddenly amplified, and simultaneously, the faint Divine Power also expanded several times in strength!

Chen Shi smiled, indeed it was the Immortal Dao, not the Divine Dao.