Tales of Herding Gods

Chapter 254: The Root of the Trouble

Translator: Ninetales Editor: DarkGem

Fo Xin drew in a shaky breath. He had also broken through four heavens one after another, cultivating to the mental state of Surya. When he reached Marici Cloister, he couldn’t cultivate it right away, yet even so, it was enough for him to be called Fozi.

Didn’t this mean that Qin Mu also had the buddha heart and was no inferior to him?

If Qin Mu continue forward and broke through the mental state of Marici Heaven, wouldn’t it meant that this devil’s buddha heart was even stronger than Fo Xin’s own?

How could a devil have a greater buddha nature than someone who cultivates buddhism?

After coming to Marici Cloister, Qin Mu listened to the scripture, and not long later, flames of light came from his body.

Fo Xin’s mind was blown, and he became muddleheaded. Qin Mu, this devil, actually managed to cultivate to the fifth heaven in one go, which was the same aptitude as Ma Wangshen’s, the same kind of buddha heart!

How was that possible?

He was a devil! He was clearly a devil, so it should have been impossible for him to cultivate Rulai’s Mahayana Sutra!

Fozi Fo Xin composed himself. He was the monk with the highest aptitude and comprehension in the last hundred years and had the best buddha heart, so he had never expected to be surpassed by a devil.

Everyone came to Hariti Cloister, and Qin Mu was finally got stuck. He didn’t manage to cultivate the sixth heaven of Rulai’s Mahayana Sutra.

Fo Xin was dazed. Qin Mu had cultivated five heavens in one go, which was already the aptitude for becoming rulai!

‘If he converted to buddhism, master would most likely choose him as the next rulai…’ Fo Xin started to worry about his personal gains and losses. “I can’t let him become Rulai’s disciple, the next rulai can only be me!”

Once this thought was born, it could not be stopped.

“Fozi, I’ve heard that Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor came here once. How many heavens did he cultivate?” Qin Mu suddenly asked.

Fozi Fo Xin composed himself and said, “Imperial Preceptor’s coming here is something that happened a hundred or two years ago. I’ve heard from seniors in the monastery that Rulai had followed him then, and Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor had comprehended seven heavens in a short while.”

Qin Mu jumped in shock and shook his head. “As expected of the genius that appears once every five hundred years, I can’t compete with him.”

Old Ma was also astonished. “Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor actually managed to comprehend seven heavens in one go? Remarkable, if he entered buddhism, he would have become rulai, if he entered a Dao Sect, he would have become a Dao master, and if he had entered your Heavenly Saint Cult, he would have become the sacred cult master! Such a talent, there is no one who can compare with that!”

Blind also exclaimed in admiration, “Cripple was not treated unjustly by having his leg chopped off by him.”

Old Ma and Blind brought them through all levels of the twenty heavens pagoda, and two-three days passed without them noticing it. Qin Mu had listened to all twenty heavens of Rulai’s Mahayana Sutra once and had exclaimed in admiration at the exquisiteness of it all. They were no inferior to Great Educational Heavenly Devil Scriptures.

He had no intention of cultivating Rulai’s Mahayana Sutra, but he could use other people’s knowledge to improve himself. Rulai’s Mahayana Sutra was worthy for him to use as a reference.

Fo Xin looked at Qin Mu, and his gaze flickered. “Cult Master Qin’s aptitude isn’t bad as well. Cult Master, since our Great Thunderclap Monastery has shown our Rulai’s Mahayana Sutra to you, I wonder if little monk can browse your Great Educational Heavenly Devil Scriptures?”

Qin Mu took out a ball of thread from his taotie sack and said generously, “What harm is there? Anyone in our cult can learn Great Educational Heavenly Devil Scriptures, so there’s no problem even if it was taught to outsiders.”

He pulled onto the head of the thread, giving it a gentle pull. Instantly, countless words swarmed out and rolled into the sky.

Qin Mu didn’t hide anything and just showed the entire Great Educational Heavenly Devil Scriptures in front of Fo Xin.

When Fo Xin saw the first sentence of Great Educational Heavenly Devil Scriptures, his expression changed. He felt the ideals before him clashing with buddhism’s ideals. As he looked over and saw the Seven Writings of Creation, he couldn’t help frowning. “This is truly the technique of a devil cult, there’s no compassion in it at all. All it’s teaching is evil skills! Cult Master, put it away, this little monk can’t look at this!”

Qin Mu was bewildered, but did as asked and retrieved Great Educational Heavenly Devil Scriptures, which were still a ball of thread.

At this moment, a monk suddenly hurried over and spoke in a low voice to Fo Xin. The message astonished its recipient, and he saluted the group while remaining calm and collected. “Three benefactors, it’s already late, so may the three of you return back to your rooms to rest.”

Blind yawned and said, “We’re guests so we shall comply with whatever’s convenient for the host. Mu’er, Old Ma, let’s return to our rooms to rest.”

The three of them walked out of the pagoda, and Blind suddenly said, “Just now, the monk told Fo Xin that the crown prince of Eternal Peace Empire came to request an audience with Old Rulai.”

Qin Mu was stunned. Eternal Peace Empire’s Crown Prince?

What was he doing by coming to Great Thunderclap Monastery at this time?

What scheme was he playing by requesting an audience with Old Rulai?

Blind’s ears twitched, and he said, “Fo Xin had the monk lead Eternal Peace Crown Prince to Hall of Great Strength while he went to Thousand Buddhas Pagoda himself to inform Rulai… He entered Thousand Buddhas Pagoda, but I can’t see or hear what’s happening inside it. Rulai has come out and told the monks around to do their best to chant the incantations, suppressing Li Tianxing.”

Old Ma’s expression changed slightly, and he said in a hurry, “How could the buddhist skills of those monks suppress Li Tianxing? Rulai is careless, the thousand buddhas in the pagoda are dead, so even if their energy can be excited by the incantations of the monks, it won’t be enough to suppress Li Tianxing! Quick, to Thousand Buddhas Pagoda so that Li Tianxing won’t escape!”

The three of them immediately hurried towards the golden peak, but Qin Mu was much slower than the others. When he passed by his room, he saw the dragon qilin still lying asleep, and the old monk beside him still reciting scriptures for him.

“Fatty Dragon!” Qin Mu hurriedly shouted out, and the dragon qilin woke up and ran over, leaving the old monk behind.

That old monk shouted out angrily, “Brute, no wisdom at all!”

Qin Mu jumped onto the dragon qilin’s back and said, “Head to the golden peak at your fastest speed!”

“But Cult Master, you haven’t given me anything to eat these days.”

“Head to the golden peak as fast as you can, and I’ll give you two buckets!” Qin My immediately told him.

The dragon qilin was instantly motivated and dashed toward the golden peak in a frantic rush.

Inside the Thousand Buddhas Pagoda, there were corporeal bodies of the previous Rulais, while outside there were monks sitting on the roof as well as by the windows and door. They chanted buddhist incantations to excite the corporeal bodies of old Rulais.

Through those corporeal bodies, the incantations transformed into texts with forms which were like huge dragons that flew to and fro, surging into the heart of Granny Si’s brows to suppress and refine her heart devil, Li Tianxing.

These last couple days, Old Rulai had personally led all the monks in using the buddha nature hidden in the corporeal bodies to suppress and refine Li Tianxing. The effects could already be seen by how Granny Si was waking up more and more frequently due to Li Tianxing’s primordial spirit having been weakened by a lot.

This was why Old Rulai had been at ease to leave, handing the task over to the monks. After all, there were so many corporeal bodies of the previous Rulais to keep watch.

Yet at this moment, Granny Si’s pupils became incomparably dark, and she chuckled. A voice that was brimming with seductiveness came from the pagoda, and it was like a lover whispering sweet nothings beside one’s ears. That voice tunneled into the monks’ ears, into their hearts, and instantly, all the monks’ buddha hearts were thrown into chaos as devils were born within them.

“Hold on!” an old monk shouted out sternly. “Don’t listen to her voice!”

Just as he said these words, a beautiful face popped out from the pagoda and smiled sweetly at him. A devil was born in that old monk’s buddha heart, and the wheel of buddha rays behind his head dimmed. He then fell from the pagoda.

“This is bad!”

Another old monk chanted out the many names of buddha before raising his two fingers to stab his eyes, planning not to see Granny Si’s appearance. With resolution, he dug out both of his eyes, but then gentle laughter reached his ears, tunneling into his buddha’s heart and making it itch.

That old monk gritted his teeth and stabbed his ears, piercing his eardrums so he couldn’t hear her voice.

The old monk’s head was covered in blood as he loudly chanted buddhist scriptures, exciting the corporeal bodies of the previous Rulais that were in the pagoda. Since he couldn’t see and hear, he wasn’t aware of the monks falling off from the pagoda and crashing loudly against the floor.

Suddenly, he felt a soft and slender lily-white hand that had the perfect temperature caressing his face and his bald head.

The body of the old monk trembled, and the buddha rays behind his head suddenly dispersed. He fell from Thousand Buddhas Pagoda as well.

Qin Mu pushed the dragon qilin to rush to the golden peak only to see all the monks falling off and crashing into the ground. Old Ma and Blind broke through to chase after Granny Si who had already escaped the suppression of Thousand Buddhas Pagoda.

The speed of the three of them was extremely fast, and they disappeared in a flash. Even the dragon qilin could only watch the dush behind them, having no way to catch up.

Qin Mu was stunned. “You guys…”

The golden peak was in a mess, and Old Ma and Blind had both rushed away, leaving him to sit by himself on the back of the dragon qilin.

The youth was stunned for a moment, then said resentfully, “I wonder if Great Thunderclap Monastery will be willing to let me, this Heavenly Devil Cult Master, go. It’s not a good feeling to be in the enemy’s camp without any elder to support you…”

Just as Old Rulai sat down in the Hall of Great Strength, thinking to chat with Eternal Peace Crown Prince, a monk came rushing in to report, “Revered One of the World, Li Tianxing has escaped!”

Stunned, Old Rulai shook his head. “I’ve underestimated him. I thought that as an upright devil cult master, he would find it disdainful to learn the art of charm; never would have I expected that he would still have tricks up his sleeves. Since I can’t suppress and refine him, let Heavenly Devil Cult Master leave the mountain.”

Eternal Peace Crown Prince was astonished. “Heavenly Devil Cult Master is in Great Thunderclap Monastery? Is he the palace grandee of my imperial court?”

Old Rulai nodded in agreement. “It’s him.”

Eternal Peace Crown Prince was delighted. “Buddha, this person is Heavenly Devil Cult Master, one who did much evil, so he can’t be let off. Why don’t we just rid this world of that evil on this mountain?”

Old Rulai shook his head. “He had a favor to ask from me by coming up the mountain, so I had him stay. However, since I couldn’t do what he requested, I will have to allow him to leave the mountain. Our Great Thunderclap Monastery cannot act like a devil.”

Eternal Peace Crown Prince still wanted to say more, but Fozi Fo Xin got up and said, “Revered One of the World, I shall send Cult Master Qin down the mountain.”

Old Rulai nodded and looked towards Eternal Peace Crown Prince. “Crown Prince, this old monk knows your intentions for coming and also knows what you are planning. It’s because this concerns all living things under this world that this old monk had come over in a hurry and let Li Tianxing take advantage of this. You should have met Teacher Poor and the rest, right?”

Eternal Peace Crown Prince nodded. “They can’t handle my father, so we earnestly request Buddha to lend a hand.”

Old Rulai smiled. “His Majesty’s Nine Dragons Monarch Technique has already been cultivated to its maximum, so there are indeed not many people who can handle His Majesty, but this old monk is one.”

At this moment, Fozi Fo Xin came to find Qin Mu. “Cult Master Qin, Revered One of the World ordered me to send you down the mountain.”