Early morning.
The sun had just risen, the sky clear for ten thousand miles.
At this moment, Huazhen Hall was surrounded by several layers of formation rituals. Pale golden streams of light surged up from the earth, illuminating the clear sky. The Taidao Sect cultivators each held their positions at the formation's key points, standing ready for battle.
Outside Huazhen Hall, a lavish and expansive platform had already been set up.
Huang Miao of Xuanqing Heavenly Sect and Tianyan Sect's Supreme Elder Chen Xiao had also arrived early and taken their positions. Each of them was accompanied by a fellow Tribulation Transcendence cultivator, who sat guard beside the main seats.
In addition, three Tribulation Transcendence cultivators from Taidao Sect had also returned to hold the fort.
At present, the Three Sects had a total of seven Tribulation Transcendence cultivators stationed at Huazhen Hall.
In terms of numbers, it seemed like they had a slight edge over the Buddhist Sect.
But if it was a secret-technique-enhanced Secular Buddha, then in the eyes of these legitimate Tribulation Transcendence cultivators from the Eighteen Immortal Sects — cultivators who had painstakingly advanced through bitter cultivation — those Mahayana-stage Secular Buddhas could only count as — an upgraded, evolved version of the Mahayana period.
They didn't count as true Tribulation Transcendence. Only those Karma Buddhas were considered worthy in their eyes.
If it really came to a fight, with the formation's boost, they wouldn't necessarily fall to the losing side.
"Many thanks for the effort, Senior Elders." Chu Xingchen flew up to the platform and cupped his fists toward the Tribulation Transcendence Supreme Elders who had already taken their seats.
Xie Lingyu followed at Chu Xingchen's side. She didn't speak, but she also cupped her fists in greeting alongside him.
Chen Xiao was Tianyan Sect's Supreme Elder. He had been in closed cultivation for quite some time, but he still recognized Xie Lingyu. He had once owed a favor to Bai Xuanling as well.
Before setting out, he had also learned the full details from Lu Xuan, understanding just how important Chu Xingchen was to Tianyan Sect nowadays, as well as the relationship between Chu Xingchen and Xie Lingyu.
There was no need to say much about Xie Lingyu — she was an outstanding disciple of their own sect, and her master Bai Xuanling was a righteous and loyal person to boot.
Chu Xingchen was, in a sense, half a member of Tianyan Sect.
And how could he be someone who put on airs? He would naturally support his own juniors.
A hint of a smile appeared on Chen Xiao's face. "You've done well. Before coming, Bai Xuanling praised you several times over. Seeing you today, you're truly a dragon among men, and a perfect match."
Chu Xingchen quickly cupped his fists and replied,
"Senior is too modest. You all are the timeless legends of this world, your fame stretching far and wide — you leave this junior in awe."
The Tribulation Transcendence cultivator of Taidao Sect nodded calmly in response.
The matter with Chu Xingchen from before had been clarified. After his fall, Taidao Sect had also conducted joint research. At the very least, what Chu Xingchen had done back then was the right thing, and Bai Xuanling seemed to have paid a great price for it.
A top-tier Tribulation Transcendence cultivator unable to act — if you really tallied up that loss, it might well exceed the cost of losing the initiative in Western Niu Continent.
Huang Miao's gaze swept over Chu Xingchen, then moved on to Xie Lingyu. After a moment's thought, she spoke up.
"The other day was a misunderstanding. I hope you'll forgive it."
Xie Lingyu immediately cupped her fists and replied, "It's fine. It was just a misunderstanding."
Hearing the exchange, Chu Xingchen turned an inquiring gaze toward Xie Lingyu — what happened?
Xie Lingyu's eyes lifted slightly — just a small misunderstanding.
Chu Xingchen chuckled and nodded. Cui Hao was at Xie Lingyu's side — if she had truly suffered a big loss, Cui Hao would have filed a report to him yesterday.
It was probably just a minor misunderstanding. Huang Miao was rather proud — at least she would never show weakness in front of Bai Xuanling — yet now she was willing to apologize first. And she was a Tribulation Transcendence cultivator of long-standing reputation, so that showed plenty of sincerity.
Huang Miao nodded lightly, then asked, "Runan is coming today. Has the Radiant Buddha arrived?"
Chu Xingchen turned his gaze toward the main hall.
"Isn't he here now?"
Huang Miao looked over and saw an elderly monk walking toward them with a rather casual demeanor — he even walked like some kind of hooligan.
Wukong walked beside the old monk, talking nonstop, going over all the precautions.
Cui Hao was on the other side, also talking without pause, reassuring Yuankong that everything would go smoothly.
The two of them each said their own things without interfering with each other.
Yuankong stood in the middle, nodding along and responding to both sides at the same time.
High-ranking monks these days act like this?
No wonder Runan called him an Evil Buddha.
He was indeed quite unusual. Chu Xingchen sent out his divine sense and discovered that this high monk was only at Golden Core cultivation. Then he understood the situation.
A Tribulation Transcendence cultivator, no matter how imprisoned and restricted, could never have lowered his cultivation to Golden Core. This was clearly an act.
Huang Miao roughly understood Chu Xingchen's thinking and asked,
"Can it work?"
"That depends on the other side."
"You're not actually expecting Runan to cooperate, are you?" Huang Miao asked with a strange look.
Chu Xingchen smiled but didn't answer.
Yuankong walked up onto the platform, his gaze sweeping over the cultivators with their extraordinarily deep auras. He first offered a slight smile, then quickly walked to Chu Xingchen's side and asked in a low voice,
"I've more or less memorized everyone."
Chu Xingchen nodded and praised him, "Very good. You really are a Buddha Son — sharp as ever."
"No…" Yuankong shook his head slightly, his expression somewhat worried. "When I agreed yesterday, my heart was still calm. But now that I know Runan, the Honored Buddha, is truly coming, I've gotten a little nervous."
"The closer the time gets, the more nervous I feel. Thinking carefully about it, I'm nothing more than a discarded Buddha Son from the Central Continent…"
Chu Xingchen reached out and patted Yuankong's shoulder, cutting him off.
"Nobody's asking you to go fight him. Even if the act falls through, it won't matter. I'm the one taking the fall. You just go up there and play the part. I used to handle this kind of thing alone, but this time I'm giving the opportunity to you. You just enjoy it."
"If I'd asked Cui Hao to do this, forget about being nervous — he would have been so excited the night before he couldn't sleep a wink."
Hearing this, Yuankong turned to glance at Cui Hao beside him.
At this moment, Cui Hao was being extremely cooperative, putting on an expression of agonizing loss, as if he'd missed out on a million spirit stones. His envious gaze was locked tightly on Yuankong.
The look was convincing, the eyes sincere.
Yuankong used his life-bound divine ability to probe, yet even he couldn't tell whether Cui Hao's feelings were genuine at this moment.
Then again, that was the truth of it.
Yuankong took a deep breath, found it didn't help at all, and then thought for a moment before suggesting,
"Usually for big occasions like this, there's a rehearsal. When I was at Chanlin Temple and they held the Water Forest Dharma Assembly — that kind of grand event — we would always rehearse beforehand."
"After the rehearsal, everyone would have peace of mind."
Chu Xingchen nodded in strong approval.
"A very good suggestion."
"So you agree?"
"No."
"If you don't agree, why are you nodding?"
"Because I'm not rejecting your suggestion — it's that we don't have time to rehearse anymore."
As Chu Xingchen spoke, he gestured for Yuankong to look to the east.
There, under a clear blue sky…
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