CH 154

Jing Yue had no spiritual energy and could only abolish Yi Wang’s practice through speech.

Yi Wang was very weak after that. Although Jing Yue hadn't experienced this before, he imagined it wouldn’t feel good.

He spent more than a year treating Yi Wang, but Yi Wang's meridians were also damaged. Jing Yue couldn’t refine any pills now, and could only bring Yi Wang around to look for medicine, which the hardships they went through were conceivable.

Fortunately, the two of them handed over the Frostcloud Sect recommendation letter to a very powerful rogue cultivator, who was willing to become the scapegoat and divert most of the attention away.

Even so, two mortals were still walking on thin ice when they wandered around the cultivation world, and they must be careful at all times.

It was not until four years later that Yi Wang finally returned to his best condition and started practicing again.

After half a year, Yi Wang succeeded in refining his body.

A day later, Yi Wang guided Qi into his body.

During this time, Yi Wang also asked Jing Yue why he had no cultivation as the founder of Frostcloud Sect.

Jing Yue didn't know how to answer and could only vaguely say that he had some restrictions when he came to advise Yi Wang.

Yi Wang didn't ask, but said, “Then when can you take me back to Frostcloud Sect?”

Jing Yue only said mysteriously, “When it's time to go, you’ll know.”

At that time, Yi Wang only gave him a thoughtful look and never asked about Frostcloud Sect again.

This time, Jing Yue stayed in the illusion for more than ten years, during which he taught Yi Wang wholeheartedly. Although not master and disciple in name, they were in reality.

Now that Yi Wang had reached the absolute level of the Qi Refining stage, he was only one opportunity away from Foundation Establishment, and his cultivation was on the right track. By right, Jing Yue had fulfilled his wish and could just ask Yi Wang to go to Frostcloud Sect to find his other self to take him as a disciple. But he was still worried because he didn't know if Yi Wang would let go of his prejudice and stop being paranoid.

Although they saw many joys and sorrows in the world along the way, Yi Wang kept his true thoughts hidden, neither questioning nor confirming, and even Jing Yue couldn't figure him out.

As long as he didn’t see Yi Wang letting go, he couldn’t let go of Yi Wang either.

On this day, the two came to a certain city west of the Bipolar World where the terrain was remote and few cultivators appeared.

Before entering the city, Jing Yue faintly sensed that something was wrong.

After entering the city, he saw that the rather prosperous town exuded dead air, not from evil spirits but from this land.

Yi Wang noticed his strangeness and asked, “Is there something wrong?”

Jing Yue, “The longevity of the land here seems to be shortened a lot.”

As the saying went, heaven and earth lived forever, but the earth didn’t refer to a certain piece of land, but a certain world. As far as it was concerned, the land had a life span.

When all creatures on the land were dead and no longer revived, the land would be dead.

After being reminded by Jing Yue, Yi Wang observed the surroundings carefully and found that there were few green plants in the city and the ground was dry and cracked, but the area they passed by was sunny and lush, which should not be the case.

Jing Yue, “The longevity of this land should have been tens of thousands of years, but according to my observations, this land will die completely within a few thousand years at most.”

Both felt strange and suspected that something had destroyed the fengshui here so they walked all over the town but still didn't notice anything unusual.

The sun was setting at this time so Jing Yue planned to stay in the city for a night and think about it tomorrow.

Just as he was about to find an inn, he suddenly heard a bell ringing. Immediately after, some merchants brought out a Buddha statue as high as a forearm from their shops, and some pedestrians and hawkers on the road took out smaller Buddha statues from their pockets and placed them on the ground.

They let the Buddha statues face to the west, knelt in unison, and kowtowed repeatedly.

Jing Yue exchanged a puzzled glance with Yi Wang.

Only a few people remained standing on the street, so Jing Yue asked a middle-aged man curiously, “Excuse me, what are they doing?”

Sarcasm flashed in the man's eyes but it wasn’t aimed at Jing Yue. He said, “You must be from out of town, huh?”

Jing Yue and Yi Wang nodded.

The man, “In Jingyang City thousands of miles away from us, there’s an eminent monk who is said to be the reincarnation of the Buddha. As long as anyone worships him devoutly and faithfully, the Buddha will satisfy all the wishes of believers. Later, the monk's ability spread to the city, and it was really effective, so more and more people in the city believed in him over the years.”

Jing Yue looked at the people making wishes in a low voice after kowtowing and wondered if a Buddhist cultivator was up to no good.

He asked the man, “Why don’t you worship? Don’t you believe it?”

The man sneered several times, shook his head, and left without saying anything.

As soon as the middle-aged man left, an old man stood up nearby. He held the Buddha statue, walked to Jing Yue's side, and said, “Don’t mind him. People like him who don't believe in or respect the Buddha will have retribution after death. The Buddha is really effective. The old lady of the Liu family has been bedridden for six or seven years. Since her son believed in the Buddha, she has gradually recovered.

The daughter-in-law of the Zhang family has been infertile for ten years, and since she believed in the Buddha, she has given birth to two children in three years. The Wang family…”

The old man quoted several examples in a row and his eyes gradually became frenzied. “You’re fated to be here, which means that the Buddha is guiding you and giving you the opportunity to serve him. If you worship him piously from now on, you’ll be blessed in the future.”

Jing Yue just smiled. “I see, thank you for letting me know.”

Seeing his perfunctory attitude, the old man sighed ruefully and stopped talking to them.

As soon as the old man left, some believers nearby looked over. Jing Yue and Yi Wang were immediately on alert, but those people didn’t do anything in the end.

Due to this turn of events, the two of them didn't intend to stay in the city but wanted to go to Jingyang City to have a look.

They had no destination in the first place so they could go wherever they wanted.

In the next few days, they walked across three cities in a row. The further west they went, the more prosperous the towns were, and the more followers of the Buddha.

But Jing Yue found that the closer to Jingyang City, the shorter the life span of the land. He was almost sure that the longevity of the land had a lot to do with the so-called ‘Buddha’s reincarnation’.

More than ten days later, they finally reached Jingyang.

As soon as they entered the city, it was full of incense. There were obviously more believers in this city than they had seen before. Almost every household believed in Buddha, but the lifespan of the land here was only 500 years.

In other words, in 500 years, only the dead would remain here with no living things or creatures.

In the evening, the two found an inn to stay in. The waiter was very enthusiastic. In fact, as long as the Buddha wasn’t involved, the people here were no different from other towns.

The waiter, “Do you want to go back to your room to rest or have some food first? The Qingcang Mountain is right behind Jingyang, so the ingredients we forage from the mountain are the freshest.”

Jing Yue, “Serve us some signature dishes then.”

Waiter, “Sure.”

As soon as the two sat down, they heard the familiar bell ringing. They had heard it many times along the way and knew that the bell would ring once in the morning, noon, and evening, reminding the believers that it was time to worship.

Sure enough, the shopkeeper held out a statue of Buddha from under the counter, and the diners and travelers in the shop followed suit.

Everyone knelt. Only Jing Yue and Yi Wang sat at the table, looking very conspicuous.

“You two…”

At this time, the burly man at the next table suddenly roared, pointed at Jing Yue's table, and said, “The time has come. Why aren’t you two kneeling? Don’t you believe in the Buddha?”

As soon as he finished speaking, everyone looked over unkindly.

Jing Yue was stunned. Although they met many believers along the way, no one chastised them in the face even though they were dissatisfied with their attitude.

Seeing that Jing Yue and Yi Wang didn't respond, the burly man said angrily, “Hey, I’m talking to you!”

Jing Yue, “We’re just passing by.”

The burly man directly interrupted Jing Yue. “This place is blessed by the Buddha. Since you entered Jingyang, you have also received the favor of the Buddha. How can you not repay the favor?”

Everyone else seemed to agree, and some even got up from the ground and tried to pull Jing Yue, but before they could touch Jing Yue, they heard a muffled sound, and they were thrown to the door by Yi Wang.

“You!”

Everyone in the stop glared at Yi Wang, but Yi Wang sat steadily, his expression indifferent. “I’ll kneel to heaven and earth, and…” He glanced at Jing Yue and quickly changed his tone. “Anyway, you can believe whatever you want, but why force us to believe it too? I’m sure the Buddha doesn’t like forced believers.”

His words made the burly man even angrier, and he stood up abruptly, “How dare you disrespect Buddha?”

Yi Wang, “How am I disrespectful? Are you saying that everyone in the world must serve the Buddha or it’s deemed disrespectful? Even true Buddhas and Bodhisattvas will not do this. Besides, can’t you tell that I’m a believer in Daoism?”

The burly man sneered, “I don't care who others believe, but since you dare to come to Jingyang and appear in front of me, hmph! You have to kneel whether you like it or not!”

He signaled with his eyes, and several burly men around him stood up, trying to push Jing Yue and Yi Wang to the ground.

Some people in the inn showed sympathy, some gloated, and more took it for granted.

Boom!

Jing Yue slammed the table hard. His face darkened and he stared at the burly man.

Although he didn't speak, his sternness was as overwhelming as the mountains and seas, daunting everyone.

His aura as a Daoist-Master was fully unleashed. Even without the power to match, his gaze was enough to fool others.

At least, these burly guys were fooled. There was only one thought in their minds—this was a true expert!

They looked at Yi Wang and then at Jing Yue. They thought that the first person didn't look weak, but he was very respectful to this Daoist. From this point of view, the Daoist's ability was likely to be stronger!

The burly guys dared not act rashly for the time being, but they were too embarrassed to give up. Seeing their difficulty, the innkeeper wisely persuaded them, “Everyone, the auspicious time is about to pass, so let’s not delay the Buddha’s worship.”

The burly man who was the most excited before snorted coldly, cursed them for their ignorance, and knelt with his companions again, bowing to the west.

They paid homage to the Buddha devoutly, and no one noticed that Jing Yue secretly flexed his hand. Mortals were really fragile. His hand had gone numb just by slamming the table.

He had performed the ‘dagger eyes’ many times before, and with this move, he and Yi Wang successfully avoided a lot of trouble.

Jing Yue glanced at Yi Wang subconsciously, and the other party's eyes were also stained with a smile, softening his stern face a little.

But suddenly, Yi Wang's eyes changed, and at the same time, the burly man's screams sounded.