Chapter Forty-Six: The Blissful Buddha

“Su Ye, what exactly happened on Lanyin Mountain? Why is Ning Caichen nowhere to be seen?” Qu Zhang immediately inquired when he saw Su Ye descending from Lanyin Mountain.

“Ning Caichen and Nie Xiaoqian have both departed for the Underworld,” Su Ye replied with a soft sigh. He briefly recounted to Qu Zhang the events that had transpired on Lanyin Mountain, though he carefully omitted the part about summoning the underworld emissaries with the Spirit Summoning Incantation.

“How did you come to be here, Brother Qu?” Su Ye asked in a gentle tone.

“I came to find you today to deliver the materials needed to restore the Fire Sun Mountain’s barrier formation. Yet, before I could even enter Lanyin Mountain, Little Li informed me you were there. Given my ties with Ning Caichen, I chose to wait here instead of going up.”

Qu Zhang sighed, but he did not linger long on the matter of Ning Caichen. He soon moved on to ask Su Ye when he intended to travel to Fire Sun Mountain to repair the sealing formation.

“Leave those materials at Cloudspring Mountain for now. Once my injuries have healed, I’ll head to Fire Sun Mountain and restore the seal,” Su Ye replied, his face still pale—a testament to the severe wounds he had received in his earlier confrontation with the Tree Demon Matron.

“There’s no rush. That demon flood dragon won’t be able to break free anytime soon. You should focus on your recovery,” Qu Zhang replied, satisfied with Su Ye’s resolve, and did not press the matter further.

“There is one more thing I must tell you: The Pure Bliss Buddha’s faith now flourishes in Dongling Commandery. His influence has already overtaken the entire region and is beginning to spread into our own Changxiang Commandery.”

A shadow of heaviness crossed Qu Zhang’s face. Ever since his last communication with the city deity of the commandery, their contact had grown more frequent. The matter of Pure Bliss Buddha was brought to his attention by the city deity of Changxiang, who had bid Qu Zhang to closely monitor the situation in Jinhua County and prevent the spread of the Pure Bliss Buddha’s followers.

“The Pure Bliss Buddha’s influence has taken Dongling Commandery? Didn’t the city deity, the Daoist and Buddhist sects there attempt to stop him?” Su Ye’s expression grew grave.

City deities of the commandery are at least of the sixth rank, and both the Daoist and Buddhist sects that preside over a commandery would have masters of at least the same level. For the Pure Bliss Buddha to occupy all of Dongling and extend his reach into neighboring Changxiang, his power must be truly terrifying.

“The Pure Bliss Buddha hails from the Jin Hai Chan Temple in Dongling. He was a prodigy not seen in a hundred years, but after attaining the sixth rank, he turned to the demonic path and created the Pure Bliss Sutra. With that scripture, he drew all of Jin Hai Chan Temple’s monks into the demonic way.”

Jin Hai Chan Temple was the leading Buddhist temple in Dongling, with two sixth-rank monks—one the master, the other the uncle-master of Pure Bliss Buddha. Both men trusted him deeply, which allowed them to be so easily led astray.

After Pure Bliss Buddha gained control over all the temple’s power, he did not act rashly. Instead, he gradually devoured the strength of all Buddhist cultivators in Dongling. Then, he began constructing temples to Pure Bliss Buddha throughout Dongling, spreading the Pure Bliss Sutra and amassing followers at a furious pace.

The greatest impact fell upon the city deities of Dongling. Their cultivation depended upon the power of incense and prayer, and as Pure Bliss Buddha’s congregation grew, it sharply diminished the deities’ strength. By the time the city deities realized the threat, it was already too late. By then, the Pure Bliss Buddha had reached the fifth rank—none in Dongling could stand against him.

“What’s most terrifying about Pure Bliss Buddha isn’t merely his fifth-rank cultivation, but that he’s turned the city deities and Daoist cultivators of Dongling into his own followers,” Qu Zhang said, his voice weighted with dread.

Once someone becomes a follower of the Pure Bliss Buddha, they lose all independent thought and become nothing more than his puppet.

“The entire Dongling Commandery has fallen to him—doesn’t the imperial court care?” Su Ye asked, frowning.

“The court now has no strength to deal with such minor matters. The Prince of An in Jiangnan and the Prince of Jing in the Northern Deserts have each raised their own armies and no longer heed the court’s orders. All imperial power is concentrated on Jiangnan and the north; they have no resources left for the likes of Pure Bliss Buddha.”

Qu Zhang sighed softly. For them, a fifth-rank master wielding power over an entire commandery was terrifying. Yet for the grand scheme of the court, one commandery was of little consequence. Pure Bliss Buddha, being only fifth rank and not among the top three ranks, would not draw imperial attention. He was cunning, and it was precisely because he understood this that he chose now to expand his strength.

“Don’t be overly concerned, Brother Qu. If the sky falls, taller men will hold it up. The Daoist and Buddhist sects in Changxiang will not stand idly by—they will devise a countermeasure,” Su Ye said with a reassuring smile.

The Pure Bliss Buddha’s strength was far beyond their reach. Worrying would change nothing. The most important thing now was to remain calm and focus on strengthening themselves.

“Let us hope so,” Qu Zhang replied with a helpless sigh. Having delivered his message, he did not linger further at Lanyin Mountain, but immediately returned to Luoxing Mountain.

After Qu Zhang left, Su Ye returned straight to Cloudspring Mountain and began to tend to his wounds.

Time slipped by, and in a flash, a month had passed.

By then, Su Ye had fully recovered. After refining the materials Qu Zhang had brought, he wasted no further time and set out at once for Fire Sun Mountain.

The distance from Cloudspring to Fire Sun Mountain was not great, and Su Ye arrived in short order. Not much had changed since his last visit, but the sealing formation that bound the demon flood dragon had suffered further damage. Clearly, the creature had grown stronger and was soon to reach the eighth rank.

Upon his arrival, Su Ye inspected the sealing formation, then immediately began extracting the materials he’d brought and integrating them into the barrier.

Roars of fury echoed from within Fire Sun Mountain—the agitated cries of the demon flood dragon. Though it could not see what was happening outside, it sensed the formation restraining it was being reinforced, and its rage was boundless.

Yet, since the demon flood dragon had not yet reached the eighth rank, and with the power of the sealing formation restored, Su Ye had no reason to fear it. Calmly and methodically, he continued his repairs, unfazed by the beast’s outbursts.

After venting its anger for a while, the demon flood dragon gradually fell silent.

“The sealing formation is restored. As long as that demon flood dragon does not ascend to the eighth rank, it will never break free,” Su Ye murmured, a faint smile playing across his lips as he finished his inspection.