fantasy novels Chapter 45 The Palace of the Flesh
Chapter 45 The Palace of the Flesh
Jia Si has already mastered the second level of Qi cultivation, and can now refine almost all the first-tier low-grade talismans in the "Complete Collection of Talismans".
Among these talismans, the most powerful is the Fire Separation Talisman.
Fang Qi led the paper figure out to the courtyard and pointed at it with his finger.
hum!
Blood mist burst forth from the paper figure's surface, and in an instant, a harmless little monk emerged from the mist.
"Take all of these."
He stuck three Fire-Separating Talismans onto the little monk.
"fry!"
Bang bang bang!
The little monk was instantly swallowed by the fire dragon.
The firelight reflected in Fang Qi's eyes. With a wave of his hand, a water dragon washed away the fire dragon on the little monk's body, and the little monk was completely unharmed.
"The paper dolls controlled by blood essence are not strong in attack, but their bodies are impervious to water and fire. However, when combined with talismans..."
......
Yinhuang Temple, also known as the Mountain God Temple.
This temple is located on Wuzhi Mountain, north of Tianjin. Due to years of disrepair, it has long been abandoned.
But three months ago, the temple was suddenly bathed in a golden light, and the air on Wuzhi Mountain was filled with the fragrance of sandalwood, resembling a sea of clouds. Moreover, the sound of bells rang out from the temple.
How could such strange phenomena occur in a dilapidated temple?
So that very day, wave after wave of people climbed the mountain to investigate.
To everyone's amazement, the once desolate temple had been completely transformed into a magnificent and imposing temple.
Upon entering, the temple was bustling with incense and Buddhist scriptures were swirling around the beams, but there wasn't a single monk to be found.
Such a bizarre event immediately made it into the Tianjin Morning and Evening News, and the next day it sparked unprecedented heated discussions in Tianjin.
Some say it was the manifestation of a mountain Buddha, others say it was the work of demons, and still others say it was a great philanthropist secretly doing good deeds.
Regardless of the discussions, more and more people are climbing the mountain to worship at the temple, and the temple is always bustling with worshippers.
The temple's incense offerings truly reached their peak this morning, on the first day of the month.
"What? Monks have appeared in the mountain god's temple?"
"A monk draped in a kasaya, bathed in Buddhist light??"
"Let's go! It must be a divine intervention! Let's go offer incense!"
The mountain trails are packed with people from dawn till dusk, and the heat remains intense.
Even some who initially doubted whether the mountain god temple was artificially renovated lined up out of curiosity, wanting to enter the temple and see what the so-called monks were all about.
Many prominent figures from Tianjin also went to join the fun.
"Sister, does Buddha really exist in this world?"
Zhou Yin and Zhou Wei, escorted by a group of guards, stood in line halfway up the mountain.
"Buddha? Ridiculous!" Zhou Ge, who had studied in Japan, scoffed from the back of the line. "If Buddha truly existed, our Eastern country wouldn't have suffered so many calamities in the past century!"
"If Buddha had a compassionate heart, he wouldn't have watched as Western ironclad warships blocked the country's borders, and various warlords fought amongst themselves, resulting in countless deaths and injuries!"
"Brother Zhou is right."
Behind them, Cheng Ting and Cheng Fujun expressed their agreement.
"However, regardless of whether gods or Buddhas exist, we should always have a sense of awe." Cheng Fujun put his arm around his wife and smiled.
He had worked his way up in the business world since childhood and never believed in gods or Buddhas, but his wife did, so she came and could also see for herself who this so-called monk really was.
The long queue slowly moved upwards until night fell, and Zhou Wei, Cheng Fujun, and others finally saw the new temple.
Cheng Fujun accompanied his wife to burn incense and pray at the front temple, and then followed the procession toward the inner mountain.
"There is a temple dedicated to the flesh body in the inner mountain, and that monk practices in the temple."
The large group continued climbing the mountain and arrived at the back temple.
The Hall of the Corpse was resplendent in gold and bathed in Buddhist light. Inside, there was no Buddha statue, only a monk meditating and chanting sutras.
Before the monks, rows of devout men and women knelt, their humility and piety extending from inside the temple to the mountain path outside.
Cheng Fujun's wife held incense and performed a kneeling bow.
"Thank you, Buddha, for bestowing upon me a child."
Cheng Fujun and Cheng Ting listened from the sidelines, feeling strange.
He had a son at the age of thirty, not by the grace of Buddha, but by the miraculous elixir of Mr. Fang Qifang.
However, Cheng Fujun loved his wife very much, so he also knelt down in obeisance.
Zhou Yin, Zhou Wei, and the others were not so devout. Instead, they bypassed the crowd and strolled around the Hall of Flesh and Blood.
While it was called a casual stroll, we were actually exploring.
And there are actually quite a few people like them.
But the monk who was meditating and chanting scriptures ignored him, did not stop him, and did not even open his eyes to look at him.
Some bold individuals approached monks under the guise of seeking Buddhist teachings, but the monks ignored them.
Some of the more radical ones reached out and touched the monk, seemingly trying to confirm whether the monk was real or not.
In an instant, this aroused public outrage.
But the man didn't stop at all; instead, he became even more excited.
Before they could even touch him, a golden light suddenly appeared around the monk, blocking the man from entering.
"Buddha's light!"
This scene inspired even more people to kneel in devout worship.
However, in the crowd, there was one person with piercing eyes, who was secretly glancing at the monk.
Thus, as night deepened and the stars filled the sky, most ordinary people had already descended the mountain due to the frequent appearances of demons on the mountain, and a few only dared to offer incense at the front hall before hurriedly descending the mountain.
After some investigation, Zhou Yin, Cheng Fujun, and others came to a conclusion.
"Rebuild the road to the mountain, set up incense-selling points and stalls along the way, so that incense will burn continuously and money will flow in."
Zhou Yin and Cheng Fujun, two prominent businessmen, had the same idea and immediately went down the mountain to prepare for the matter.
After the departure of the dignitaries, only one person remained in the Hall of the Corpse.
The man first bowed three times to the monk, then circled the inside and outside of the hall several times to make sure no one was around before returning inside with a respectful expression.
"By the Great Protector Huangtian, I am Ma Sanli, a Yellow Turban Qi Warrior under the Great Protector Jueqing."
Ever since the mountain god temple unexpectedly "manifested its power," he has been investigating it every day under the guise of climbing the mountain to offer incense.
After so many days, Ma Sanli was completely certain that the mountain temple here must have been built by one of the Yellow Heaven Great Protectors of his Yellow Heaven Esoteric Sect!
With such a thriving incense offering, it's impossible to use it all up with just one great protector.
Therefore, he acted as a go-between for his master, namely the Great Protector Jueqing.
However, the monk in the cassock remained unmoved, his eyes still tightly closed.
"I have come on the orders of my master to discuss the matter of the incense offerings at the mountain god temple with the Great Protector Huangtian. The temple is so prosperous that I rarely see it in Pingshan. My master thinks that the Great Protector cannot use up so much incense, so he would like to purchase some from the Great Protector."
The various great protectors of the Huangtian Esoteric School are independent of each other. For example, the Huangcheng Temple was the temple of Master Jueqing, the great protector of Ma Sanli. However, it was destroyed, resulting in the current extinction of the incense offerings of the great protector Jueqing, who can no longer provide resources to the Esoteric School.
Seeing that the place was thriving with worshippers, they sent Ma Sanli to test the waters.
But the monks in the hall continued chanting sutras with their eyes closed, offering no response.
Ma Sanli knew that the Grand Protector held a high position and would most likely not speak to a mere errand boy like him. Since the message had already been delivered, he bowed deeply and then went down Wuzhi Mountain to report back.
The hall was empty when two figures emerged from the shadows.
"Mr. Fang is truly a prophet; the Yellow Heaven Secret Sect actually dared to take the risk of coming here to investigate."
Xu Helin's brows furrowed, and a fierce glint flashed in his eyes.
He originally thought that building the temple was a way to lure the snake out of its hole, a tactic reminiscent of "protesting too much here." He figured that since the Huangtian Esoteric Sect had just had one of its Huangcheng Temples destroyed, they would probably cower and not dare to come here.
Unexpectedly, this cult, defying all odds, actually sent people to investigate.
So good!
He will repay his daughter a thousandfold for the suffering she endured in the Huangtian Esoteric Sect!
However, this time it was clearly just a small fry, so there was no need to take action.
But something happened that secretly alarmed him.
Xu Helin looked at the monk on the altar; he was so lifelike, no different from a real person.
"Mr. Fang, how do you... um, master this art of paper figures?"
Before the question could be finished, there was a commotion outside the hall.
Fang Qi and Xu Helin exchanged a glance and disappeared into the darkness.
"Buddha, let me make this clear first—I do not believe in you."
The sound echoed in the spacious hall, carrying a frivolous and deliberately nonchalant tone.
"The monks of the East only chant sutras for salvation, and the warriors of the East only clasp their hands and bow, saying 'Thank you for your courtesy,' and 'We'll stop here when we've reached our goal.'"
Zhou Ge, the swordsmanship genius of the Zhou family, flicked out a crisp, disdainful sneer. "Swords have no eyes; a duel is a matter of life and death. Who's going to stop after a brief exchange?"
He took a step, his leather shoes tapping on the blue bricks with a thud.
"The Japanese swordsmanship is about one strike to kill, there is no second strike. They don't cultivate their body or their inner energy, they only cultivate one thing—killing!"
Fast, accurate, and ruthless. Ten times better than those fancy tricks from the Eastern Kingdom.
He tilted his head slightly, as if he was thinking seriously. "I studied in Japan for three years. The master at the dojo said I was so talented that even the Japanese were jealous."
When he mentioned the word "jealousy," he smiled, a smile that was both smug and callous.
"So you see, I don't need to worship you at all. My sword is fast enough. On this land of the Eastern Kingdom, those so-called geniuses can't even touch the hem of my robe..."
Except for that guy named Fang Qi!
A night breeze blew through the hall, causing the candlelight to flicker and Zhou Ge's shadow on the wall to sway.
He paused, then suddenly lifted the hem of his suit jacket and knelt down on one knee.
He knelt down decisively.