Hearing this, Yuankong did not hesitate. Golden Buddhist light erupted from his body.
Although the cultivation of orthodox Buddhism all manifested as golden light, which looked more or less the same to ordinary people,
it was not the case in the eyes of the Buddhist sect. As long as they were legitimate Buddhist cultivators, they could see the differences.
After all, Buddhist cultivators were also cultivators, and their spirit roots had to be distinguished; they could not be lumped together.
The cultivation of different Buddhist Principles would also cause the golden light to vary.
Among them, the differences in Buddhist cultivators' understanding of Buddhist Principles, when truly taking the mind as a state of cultivation, could be seen through the overflowing golden light.
At the very least, Wukong could distinguish Karma Buddhas and Secular Buddhas solely by their golden light.
The golden light of a Karma Buddha was an integrated whole, its aura heavy, with Buddhist heart sutras fused into their own cultivation.
It sounded far more confident when chanting Amitabha.
The golden light of a Secular Buddha was merely spiritual energy wearing a different skin. In Wukong's eyes, it didn't even count as being a Buddha at all.
Naturally, this Assimilation Promotion Ability of the Buddhist sect was top secret, known only to a few core figures.
As for who exactly knew, Wukong only knew of one person—Runan.
The secrecy level of this thing was too high. As a Buddhist Son, Wukong didn't know much about it.
He only knew that it required a huge price and was extremely picky about candidates.
Over the past millennium, countless Mahayana cultivators had yearned to join the Buddhist sect, but the number of those who ultimately stayed was pitifully small compared to those who entered.
Naturally, such restrictions were inevitable; otherwise, the foremost sect in the world back then wouldn't have been the Xuanqing Heavenly Sect.
The Assimilation Promotion Ability inevitably had side effects, but compared to those side effects, the concrete benefits of breaking through from Mahayana to Tribulation Transcendence were undoubtedly greater.
As a Buddhist Son, Wukong could perceive the subtle differences even more.
Yuankong revealed his golden light. Although his aura was weak, his Buddhist Principles were profound, and moreover… how could there be an aura of the Mahayana Buddhist Teachings?
Chu Xingchen stroked his chin, looking left and right, before turning his gaze to Wukong and asking:
"How similar is it?"
Yuankong also turned his head to look at Wukong.
Wukong naturally understood what Chu Xingchen was asking—how similar Yuankong's Mahayana Buddhist Teachings were to those of the Radiant Buddha.
Wukong observed for a moment and then answered truthfully:
"It's too immature… After all, the Radiant Buddha is the creator. Although his Buddhist Principles are deep, as if he had undergone bitter cultivation, there are also obvious traces of the original Buddhist sect. At most, it's only ten to twenty percent similar."
Hearing this, Yuankong probably understood his task somewhat—he was likely going to have to pretend to be someone.
But with only ten to twenty percent similarity, in front of a group of Mahayana cultivators, it was no different from being obviously fake at first glance.
Yuankong sighed lightly. He was afraid he couldn't help with this favor.
Just as Yuankong was feeling a bit regretful, Chu Xingchen's hand simply patted over:
"Not bad. You actually researched the thing I gave you to play with quite well. Being able to get ten to twenty percent similarity is really good. You haven't been slacking off!"
Yuankong looked confused. Seeing Chu Xingchen's genuinely pleased expression, he didn't know for a moment if Chu Xingchen was being sarcastic…
Wukong was dumbfounded, also clearly unable to tell if Chu Xingchen was serious.
"Why are you looking at me like that?" Chu Xingchen's gaze swept over the two, his face serious. "I can't have gone through the trouble of calling him here just to mock him to his face, can I? Am I that idle?"
Wukong took a deep breath and said:
"You plan to rely on him to deceive the Honored Buddha, to deceive those Tribulation Transcendence Buddhist cultivators who have mastered Mahayana Buddhist Principles? Don't even mention Runan; I can see through it at a single glance."
"The Radiant Buddha was a legitimate Buddhist Buddha in the past. The Buddhist sect couldn't possibly not recognize him."
"Even if he cultivated the Mahayana Buddhist Teachings, is a Buddhist Son, and counts as having a successor, he did not leave his name in the Great Thunder Temple. The current Great Thunder Temple can simply choose not to recognize him."
Chu Xingchen looked at Yuankong as if studying something, and casually replied at the same time:
"I'm not asking him to talk to Runan face-to-face… We'll keep a distance of a hundred and eighty miles, add a few Tribulation Transcendence cultivators to mix up the auras, and set up a grand array to isolate the auras."
"Just appropriately reveal a bit of the Buddhist sect's essence aura. As for whether it's real or not, I only have one sentence to tell you."
Wukong asked in a daze, "What sentence?"
"In this life, it all depends on acting skills!" Chu Xingchen looked at Daoist Yuyang. "Later, Wukong will paint a portrait. Since illusions won't work, we'll use makeup to fix him up."
Daoist Yuyang nodded in agreement.
Yuankong touched his own face and said uncertainly:
"They are at Tribulation Transcendence and I am at Golden Core. Can I really deceive people?"
"If I knew how to produce the Buddhist golden light, I would go up and act it out myself." Chu Xingchen reached out and knocked on Yuankong's head. Finding it echoed much clearer than before, as if he had become smarter, he added,
"Don't worry. When the time comes, I will transmit my voice to you. Just say whatever I say."
"Whether it succeeds or not is my business."
"Oh…" Yuankong nodded in understanding.
Seeing that the two seemed to have really reached an agreement, Wukong asked again:
"Can this really work?"
Chu Xingchen looked at Wukong and said:
"Human effort determines the outcome. Besides, just as you said, belief is a very subjective matter."
"No matter how unlike it is, as long as someone recognizes it, isn't that enough?"
Looking at Chu Xingchen's confident expression, Wukong finally bowed slowly and said:
"Then I'll leave it to you."
"Consider it done." Chu Xingchen reached out to help Wukong up. "Since you are willing to help me this time, I naturally owe you a favor."
Seeing that the main business was mostly settled, Daoist Yuyang turned his gaze to Donggua and said:
"This demon is still alive. Why did you bring this thing along while fleeing for your life? Wouldn't it be better to just bury it casually?"
Hearing this, Donggua's expression stiffened, and she quickly put on a flattering smile.
She was no longer a lone wolf now, nor was she the Donggua who had walked a dark path all the way to the end.
Now that the Demon Lord's message had returned, it might not be impossible for her to turn the tables and become the master in the future.
The corners of Chu Xingchen's mouth curled up:
"Cui Hao told me that this demon has reformed and has a lot of intelligence to hand over. For such a good demon, we must treat her well. Say less about casually burying her; it's easy to hurt a demon's heart."
"Your name is Donggua, right? Cui Hao said a lot of good things about you. It's rare for me to see him say good things about someone."
"Since he opened his mouth to ask me, as a master, I naturally have to agree."
"Naturally, if you turn out to be a traitor, don't blame us for skinning you and taking your bones apart."
Donggua nodded her small head rapidly.
Daoist Yuyang curled his lip. Now he also knew that Chu Xingchen was setting a trap for this demon:
"Do as you wish. When do you plan to go? It seems there are fierce conflicts on Huang Miao's side."
Chu Xingchen replied, "Naturally, the sooner the better. We'll make preparations today and take him to chat with Runan tomorrow."
Yuankong, who was using his innate divine ability to observe Donggua, was stunned upon hearing this. He turned his head to look at Chu Xingchen and said:
"So fast? Aren't you going to give me time to learn about her movements and habits or something?"
Chu Xingchen patted Yuankong's head again and said:
"As long as you don't pick your nose, do handstands, or bark like a dog, it's fine. What habits and movements do you need to learn?"
"People are really hiding with their lives on the line now. Where is the time to let you learn what movements and habits?"
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