Inside the great hall.
Chu Xingchen wore a leisurely expression, his gaze sweeping calmly over Wu Kong, who sat across from him with an equally placid demeanor.
[Target: Kong Wu]
[Cultivation: Integration]
[Orange Tag: Acquired Buddhist Son]
[Purple Tag: Tracing Cause and Effect]
[Purple Tag: Superior Aptitude]
[Blue Tag: Buddhist Heart]
[White Tag: Righteous Heart]
[Black Tag: Acquired Buddhist Son]
[Does not meet disciple recruitment conditions]
Chu Xingchen hadn't encountered many Buddhist Sons in his time. Including Wu Kong, he had only seen three.
The other two were Yuan Kong, whom he had met at the very beginning, and the Radiant Buddha, who was a Mahayana Buddha.
Yuan Kong's Buddhist Son tag was gold in color, with the full designation: [Innate Buddhist Son].
The Radiant Buddha's golden tag read: [Buddhist Son, Self-Actualized].
Judging from the tags alone, [Innate Buddhist Son] was clearly the base form — one that should be capable of upgrading.
If one achieved what the Radiant Buddha had, perhaps the Innate Buddhist Son tag could be elevated as well. Such an upgrade likely represented acknowledgment rather than a mere increase in power.
But out of all three, only Wu Kong's Buddhist Son tag was orange, reading [Acquired Buddhist Son] — and it came with an additional black tag of the exact same name.
It was obvious enough. Wu Kong's status as a Buddhist Son likely had something to do with artificial enhancement rather than innate talent.
The system acknowledged that even this artificially produced Buddhist Son remained genuinely competitive, while simultaneously reminding Chu Xingchen that such power came at a cost.
That was probably why a single tag name appeared in two different colors.
Creating a Buddhist Son through artificial means was surely no simple feat. The difficulty would be extreme, and the price steep — otherwise, if every sect could produce them, even Acquired Buddhist Sons, the Buddhist Sect's power would already rank first in the world.
Having gone to such extraordinary lengths and paid such a steep price to create a Buddhist Son, the Buddhist Sect would naturally want to prevent all that investment from going to waste.
Installing a backdoor in their Buddhist Son would be a perfectly logical precaution.
Chu Xingchen considered all of this and settled on his approach for the conversation — regardless of what Wu Kong's true purpose was, he absolutely could not reveal the critical core information.
Whether Wu Kong chose to speak or stay silent in the future might not even be his own decision to make.
Regardless of whether the Buddhist Sect actually possessed the means to control Wu Kong, Chu Xingchen had to plan for the worst-case scenario.
Chu Xingchen's expression grew slightly more solemn as he studied Wu Kong. After a pause, he finally spoke.
"Since you were recommended by him, I'll answer what I can. Whether you believe it or not is your own affair."
"During the incident at Zhengyin Dharma Temple, our objective was never some Buddha being held captive by the Buddhist Sect. At the time, we suspected that what was imprisoned beneath the temple were remnants of the Great Calamity — Demons."
"Based on our intelligence, the purpose behind the Buddhist Sect's vast collection of Willpower is quite clear. The majority of it is likely being used to feed those Demons."
"We didn't find any Demons in the end. Instead, we released a Mahayana Buddha. His emergence must have significantly bolstered the Buddhist Sect's current strength."
"By that logic, your Buddhist Sect owes me an enormous karmic debt."
Wu Kong listened to Chu Xingchen's shameless words, his expression remaining perfectly calm.
"Do you have any direct evidence? After all, the Buddhist Sect may face marginalization, but it is still one of the Eighteen Immortal Sects. More than half of the Western Continent worships as Buddhist followers — the rationale for raising Demons simply isn't clear to me."
"In my eyes, this sounds more like an excuse."
Chu Xingchen's expression was languid as he raised his cup and clinked it against Xu Jin's beside him.
"You're getting a bit too bold for your own good. The only reason I'm speaking to you calmly at all is because of the person who recommended you — not because you're a Buddhist Son."
"The Buddhist Sect is cranking out Buddhist Sons like they're scattering beans — you can practically count them on both hands now."
"Everyone sitting here is the sole core disciple of a top-tier Immortal Sect."
"If we're being proper about status, you ought to be standing at the door talking to us."
Wu Kong's eyes lowered slightly. Though Chu Xingchen's words were harsh to the extreme, they weren't wrong.
If Wu Kong died, the Buddhist Sect would certainly avenge him — but not at all costs. If Xu Jin or Yu Yang Daozi died, on the other hand, the killer would face the relentless pursuit of a top-tier Immortal Sect that would stop at nothing.
Across all five continents and eight directions, there would be nowhere to hide.
Even anyone remotely connected to the killer would be utterly eradicated, body and soul reduced to ash.
A Buddhist Son was not the Buddhist Sect's final bottom line. But a core disciple was.
Seeing that Wu Kong offered no rebuttal, Chu Xingchen sighed softly and spoke again.
"Evidence isn't something you're qualified to see. As for whether you believe me — I couldn't care less. After all, the entire cultivation world already knows one thing: a Buddhist Son belongs to the Buddhist Sect."
"You asked your question, and I answered. Fair is fair — now I'll ask you. If the Buddhist Sect truly is raising a calamity, what would you do?"
Wu Kong raised his eyes to meet Chu Xingchen's probing gaze.
"My Buddha is merciful. Naturally, I would shield the world from disaster."
Chu Xingchen pressed further.
"Even if the Buddhist Sect that raised you could produce evidence proving those Demons had repented, seeking only a chance to survive? Even if they could guarantee that the Buddhist Sect's Willpower techniques could control the Demons, and personally promised you that those Demons would never cause trouble again?"
"Would you believe they could lay down their butcher's blades and attain Buddhahood? Would you show mercy to Demons — Buddhist Son?"
Wu Kong fell into contemplation. After a long moment, he spoke.
"Mercy must not be extended to the wicked. A calamity is a calamity. If the Buddhist Sect is truly without selfish motives, then the information should be made public. Silence means hidden intentions."
"In my heart, Buddha does not save Demons."
"Even if there is a one-in-ten-thousand chance of redemption, I would not gamble on that chance."
Chu Xingchen raised an eyebrow slightly.
"You've got decent convictions. If the day ever comes to tear down that Great Thunder Sound Temple..."
"Rotten things deserve to be torn down." Wu Kong cut in, his tone hard as iron.
Chu Xingchen pondered this for a moment, then retrieved a jade slip containing intelligence on Dong Gua's movements and tossed it to Wu Kong.
Bai Qing's encounter with Dong Gua last time hadn't produced ideal results. They may have extracted some information, but Dong Gua was still wandering around the Eastern Victorious Divine Continent.
He hadn't left the continent, hadn't made contact with any suspicious figures, and hadn't returned to his base of operations either.
He wasn't seeking death, but he wasn't going back either.
He was even touring around the countryside with that Masked Pig.
It was unclear whether Dong Gua genuinely didn't know how to reach his headquarters, or whether his wariness simply hadn't faded yet.
This particular lead had been half-dead for a while now. Since a monk had conveniently shown up, it made sense to toss it his way and let him work it over.
Whether Wu Kong ended up probing their side for information or merely serving as a warning to the enemy, the outcome would be useful.
If he was genuinely seeking answers, there might even be an unexpected bonus.
In a sense, it was making productive use of otherwise wasted resources.
Chu Xingchen spoke.
"The Dong Gua mentioned inside is a Demon we've confirmed through investigation. You can approach him posing as a mole within the Buddhist Sect's own ranks. What intelligence you gather depends entirely on your skill — we won't provide any support."
"If you're serious about this and actually obtain useful information, remember to share a portion with me."
"However — if Dong Gua ends up dead at your hands."
"You'd better pray to your Buddha that you never cross paths with any of the three of us for the rest of your life."
"Because not even your Buddha will be able to protect you."
"Those are my words."
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