Chapter 348

Chapter 348: The Little Buddhist Nation

As the Morning Rooster Dao Soldiers emerged, the red sun rose, creating an unstoppable momentum.

The cunning ghost creatures smelled a hint of pure Yang energy, so they dared not approach, but ultimately, they could not resist the temptation to capture Li Hui, cleverly drawing near under the guise of deception.

In an instant, the victor would live and the vanquished would die!

Li Hui stood calmly, and suddenly, a charred corpse fell to the ground with a "thud."

It was dead. Even if it wasn’t a Ghost Fox, it was equivalent to one—being the ghost creature that the Morning Rooster Dao Soldiers could easily overcome, it met a clean and thorough end.

Outside the camp, the corpse dragon crashed to the ground, having lost the source that sustained its existence.

“Burn the bodies and purify this place,” Li Hui sighed softly. After all, he wasn’t a Ghost Fox; the Morning Rooster Dao Soldiers needed to be cultivated slowly after exhausting their uses.

“Understood!” Having experienced such peril, everyone regarded Li Hui with even greater esteem. However, by morning, the ghost mist not only remained but grew denser.

“What should we do?”

The sky darkened, indistinguishable from night, filled with the sinister energies of ghosts. Occasionally, haunting cries echoed, swirling in the air, sending chills down one’s spine.

Last night, they obtained a trophy—a three-foot-tall gilded Buddhist pagoda. Even with Li Hui’s Buddhist powers and the silver snake bracelet in hand, he could not utilize the Buddha Treasure, so he handed it to Yan Jinglun for safekeeping, knowing that ghost cultivators used such things to deceive others.

Li Hui made a decisive call: “Forcefully fly out.”

Everyone mounted the eagle’s back as Huang Shiqin whistled and they began to ascend. Just two hundred zhang into the air, an immense pressure enveloped them.

“Go!” Li Hui swiftly unleashed the Cloud-Brush Dragon Claw Technique without any hesitation. A dragon claw, half an acre in size, appeared one after another, shaking off the pressure and collapsing it like a house of cards; everyone witnessed the inner sect’s leader displaying the might of half a year of hardship for the first time.

“Impressive!” Yan Jinglun exclaimed, finding no hope of victory against such strength.

Li Changtian pondered briefly, shook his head, and unwaveringly believed that others’ paths did not suit him.

With the Cloud-Brush Dragon Claw Technique carving a path, the eagle rose to an altitude of a thousand zhang. However, to their surprise, ghost mist still lingered at that height.

This boy was tiring even for Li Hui.

Yuan Xiao Zhuo and Peng Xiaoqing took over, both invoking Dao arts as they continued upward with booming sounds. Each person took turns attacking, and once they reached fifteen hundred zhang, they finally escaped the ghost mist, finding sunlight and clouds.

“Is it really this high?” Everyone was astonished.

Next came something even more terrifying; the ghost mist was endless and boundless. After flying eight hundred li, they finally overcame the mist area. Everyone looked stunned, unable to imagine how they could have traveled such a distance on the ground.

Jing Tian Tong sighed, "This is a great calamity—this is a great calamity for our Wutu Continent!"

“Isn’t this just a minor disaster?” Luo Shaofeng said hesitantly, but merely an hour and a half later, they encountered the vast ghost mist once again.

Flying out another eight hundred li, they could only speculate how many villages and towns had fallen to disaster; it seemed the ghost mist, once generated, could shroud the area for eight hundred li.

Daliang appeared to be worse off than Dalong! After flying for three days and nights, they finally escaped the ghost mist upon their second rest, seeing crowds of people in the direction of the official road; a large group of refugees were migrating.

“Look over there!” Jing Tian Tong pointed into the distance.

Everyone, being extraordinary, used their full vision and saw temples draped in golden light slowly advancing, with dark energy rising from the ground like waves, each temple standing at intervals.

“The Daliang Buddhist Sect reacts swiftly and has already begun to set up isolation zones!” Yan Jinglun said, pounding his fist. “It’s infuriating that the Dalong Buddhist Sect has been fighting constantly and has yet to take any action.”

Huang Shiqin shook her head: “Daliang reveres Buddhism and is known as the Little Buddhist Nation; many royal descendants have become monks, creating a different atmosphere than that of the Dalong royal family.”

“Too many Buddhists isn’t necessarily good!” Xia Tianguan said, “Temples tend to occupy numerous industries; over time, they can divide the royal power. This is how Daliang is—government orders cannot be passed on locally, and many Buddhist sects act like the court; many great monks do not engage in production and only oppress the people.”

Just then, Buddhist sounds echoed: “Esteemed patrons, please forgive us; our temple has made great investments. Anyone passing this path must have their Merit Box approved.”

Well then! An open request for tolls.

If Li Hui and the others had come earlier, they might have passed through, but now there were layers of barriers; even flying through the air would meet with restrictions. Entering any Daliang city required additional merit points, unless they directly flew past Daliang.

After resting for a night, the next day, they approached the checkpoint. Yan Jinglun wobbled his bald head and stepped forward to grab a fat monk, asking, “Brother, how many points do we need? We are in a hurry, and our pockets are light.”

“Oh? You don’t have a precept scar on your head? From which temple did you become a monk?” The fat monk glared: “Go, form a line; the Merit Box was made by the master, and the amount charged depends on the person."

Before long, Li Hui and the others understood what "depends on the person" meant.

Whoever dressed better, especially if they encountered someone wearing clothes made of rare materials who appeared particularly wealthy, caused the Merit Box to jingle loudly.

Others were fine, but someone favored lavish clothing, and the fat monk laughed joyfully, pointing at the digits on the Merit Box: “This gentleman clearly has the appearance of great wealth; you need to pay three hundred money symbols.”

“How much?” Yan Jinglun shouted.

“Are you deaf? Three hundred money symbols!” The fat monk strutted, having tampered with the Merit Box to inflate the amount sixfold.

Li Hui smiled; not to mention three hundred money symbols, he couldn’t pull out even one right now, nor did he have the dragon scale gold in physical form. The Geng Gold, which was more precious than dragon scale gold, was plentiful, but he intended to use it to nurture the Azure Sky Jade Symbol Sword.

“Master, are you insulting me? I haven’t carried money symbols for a long time; those are for low-tier cultivators, mere scrap paper, too stiff even for basic necessities.”

Hearing this, the fat monk’s face registered surprise as he hurried over, serving, “Noble sir, please come forward. It would be beneath your dignity to mingle with this rabble.”

Yan Jinglun fumed; was he calling him rabble?

“As a noble sir, if you wish to offer incense money but lack money symbols, Miao Jade is also acceptable!” The fat monk offered warmly, knowing that without money, no one could pass through.

“No, Miao Jade is too expensive; if your temple has it, I could exchange for some.” Li Hui said with a slight smirk. “But thinking it over, let’s skip it; my time is limited. This Merit Box is far too small; I plan to donate a batch of medicinal materials to your esteemed temple. For however many Merit Boxes you bring, I will fill that many, alright?”

“Is this true, sir?” The fat monk rejoiced inwardly, pondering his good fortune, realizing he had caught a big fish. No, a major benefactor.

“True. You are backed by the entire Daliang Buddhist Sect; do you think I would lie?” Li Hui stood with his hands clasped behind him, not wanting to create further problems, but the fat monk’s excessive actions sparked an idea in his mind about the Merit Box.

“Wait, little monk will return shortly.” The fat monk dashed off faster than a rabbit, and in next to no time, he brought a whole bunch of little monks, each carrying a Merit Box.

“Not enough, go get more!”

“Understood, noble sir, please wait!”

Li Hui waved his sleeve, tossing in bundles of spiritual materials into the Merit Box, simultaneously advertising: “Everyone, we are cultivators from Dalong engaged in the medicinal materials business. We will be in Shijia City in five days; merchants in need of materials may come to discuss.”

As soon as he finished speaking, the Fortune Ascending Talisman burst forth, and Li Hui’s heart swelled with joy: “Good! Today, I’ll buy some fortune and see what the Little Buddhist Nation has to offer!”