We made you practice martial arts, and you've mastered the Great Golden Body?

Of course, this takes into account Fahai's current emaciated, stick-like physique.

"It seems I underestimated you." Shen Bailian looked at Fahai in front of him and remained silent for a long time before slowly withdrawing his slightly arrogant gaze and re-examining the seemingly ordinary but profoundly capable Master Fahai.

He shook his head helplessly and chuckled, then continued, "As expected of Master Fahai of Jinshan Temple."

Before today, or to be precise, a minute ago, his gaze and attention were more focused on the behind-the-scenes manipulators of the Heavenly Court and Buddhism.

These "ordinary people" in feudal society were always treated with a superior attitude.

But now it seems that Fahai saw right through his little scheme.

However, to be more precise, Fahai was not entirely clear about his specific purpose, but it was through a series of unexpected events that he confirmed his inner thoughts.

"How did you know?" Shen Bailian asked Fahai with great curiosity, his gaze earnest and questioning.

"Because of this continuous rain,"
If it weren't for the rain, I probably would have been devoured alive by the surviving residents beneath Jinshan Temple.

At this point, Fahai chuckled softly, a sound that seemed both helpless and mocking, the nuances of which were difficult to decipher.

Shen Bailian suddenly realized.

The heavy rains on the Jinshan Temple ruins have been falling for over ten days without any sign of stopping, yet the area hasn't turned into a mud pit yet.

This doesn't make sense.

Therefore, behind this torrential rain, there must be someone/god controlling everything.

Some people don't want Fahai's story to end so quickly.

With this simple explanation, things become very simple.

"However, although I don't know what you're planning, as a former friend, I still want to advise you: avoid getting involved in this mess if you can. Otherwise, it will be too late to regret it when you become someone else's watchdog."

Fahai's voice was hoarse and barely audible. He tilted his head back, letting the large raindrops pelt his face and wash away the rain.

These raindrops, hitting his face now, actually stung a little.

Therefore, it is easy to imagine what would happen to an ordinary person who dared to enter the mountains at this time.

As the saying goes, Heaven and Earth are ruthless, treating all things like straw dogs.

In this world, for the countless gods and Buddhas, because of the existence of the underworld, every intelligent being will enter the cycle of reincarnation after death.

Humans, as a representative of intelligent beings, are no longer a consumable material, but a reusable and recyclable "resource".

They are no different from straw dogs.

Therefore, from the perspective of the gods and Buddhas, Bai Suzhen's flooding of Jinshan Temple and causing tens of thousands of people to be displaced was not a big deal at all.

As long as those people's true spirits are not harmed as a result, everything will be fine.

The most important thing is the life or death of the person destined for this calamity. It would be even better if the person could continue to complete the corresponding tribulations.

"Thank you for reminding me." Shen Bailian's words were extremely sincere. He knew that Fahai was speaking from the bottom of his heart, not just as a polite remark.

However, he had reasons to take this risk and the means to do so.

If an ordinary martial artist dares to impersonate the person destined for tribulation, at best they will be condemned to eternal damnation, and at worst they will perish.

But Shen Bailian is not from this world, so even after death, he will not be summoned by the two underworld messengers, Ox-Head and Horse-Face, of this world.

"Actually, I already realized the problem when Bai Suzhen flooded Jinshan Temple," Fahai said to himself.

"Where did a mere thousand-year-old snake demon get such great abilities, such immense magical power, and so many magical artifacts? It's just a pity that by the time I realized it, it was already too late... far too late."

As he spoke, a self-deprecating smile appeared on his face, especially when he saw the graves in the rain, a deep sense of guilt welled up in his heart.

Non-vegetation, ruthless Practice makes perfect.

What's more, they are fellow students who have spent more than ten years together?

Although Fahai is usually a bit arrogant, he is extremely kind to his fellow disciples and their descendants; otherwise, he could not have become the abbot of Jinshan Temple at such a young age.

To become the abbot of Jinshan Temple, one must not only have an extremely profound understanding of Buddhism, but also meet extremely high requirements for the abbot's character.

If a person's character is substandard, even if they possess unparalleled strength, they will ultimately be abandoned by the world.

It does not comply with the requirements of Buddhist precepts and regulations.

"If you had to choose again, would you still try to capture Bai Suzhen and Xiaoqing, those two snake demons?" Shen Bailian asked earnestly, looking at Fahai who was reminiscing about the past.

"Yes! Of course I will!" Fahai replied without hesitation upon hearing the question. "However, if I were given another chance, I would definitely take advantage of the situation this time."

As he spoke, a faint light suddenly appeared in Fahai's gray eyes—anger, a raging fire of rage.

As the most outstanding disciple of Jinshan Temple in the past century, Fahai was not unaware of the overall situation of the world, and he also had his own views.

He used to think that with the Jinshan Temple as its backing, even if he caused a big problem and provoked those powerful demons with thousands of years of cultivation, it would not affect the temple.

Therefore, Fahai's attitude towards demons has always been to kill them if possible, and to suppress them if he cannot kill them.

His smooth sailing all along had made him lose his vigilance against demons, neglect the golden-haired beast beside him, and forget that there were divine beasts in this world.

Almost every great demon was a watchdog preordained by one of the myriad gods and Buddhas.

Do not provoke them easily.

The monsters in this world are simply impossible to eradicate completely.

However, no matter how angry Fahai was now, it was all in vain; he could only ruin his health with anger.

Because of the great battle that flooded Jinshan Temple, he was almost rendered a cripple, losing all his martial arts skills and having his meridians severed. The fact that he is still alive is entirely due to the powerful body nurtured by his profound Buddhist teachings.

It's not impossible for him to fully recover, but it would take a very long time, let alone seek revenge on those two demons, Bai Suzhen and Xiaoqing.

That's nothing short of daydreaming.

"But even if they were willing to give me another chance to regret it, I wouldn't accept it." Fahai suppressed his anger and whispered. His voice was very faint, further obscured by the torrential rain.

If Shen Bailian hadn't possessed the divine skill [Divine Sense], and hadn't been focused on Fahai, he would have almost never heard those words.

Shen Bailian understood Fahai's feelings very well.

Although Fahai was not a person of any importance to the gods and Buddhas, even his proud understanding of Buddhism was far inferior to the mount of any random Bodhisattva.

However, even within the mortal realm, Fahai is undoubtedly a peerless genius, one in a million.

Such people naturally possess their own arrogance.

There is no such thing as a free lunch, and Fahai was not unaware of this principle.

If he hadn't understood his own identity in the past, he would have definitely chosen to embrace the opportunity for revenge when it presented itself.

but now?

Ha ha!

Fahai can take revenge, but he will definitely not be like a clown or a pawn, at the mercy of all the gods and Buddhas. As for whether those gods and Buddhas will be angered and take any outrageous revenge against him, that is to say.

Fahai naturally had his own considerations regarding this.

As long as the laws of Heaven have not completely collapsed, the natural laws governing the operation of all things in the world will still exist. Naturally, the gods and Buddhas in the heavens will not directly impose divine punishment for such a trivial matter.

However, minor punishments are inevitable. For example, after Fahai dies, in his next reincarnation, he will enter the animal realm among the six realms.

Just like Pigsy from Journey to the West.

"I'll ask you one last time, are you sure you still want to be the one destined for this calamity? To be a pawn in the game of gods and Buddhas, to become an actor just to win the chance to become a god or ancestor?" Fahai continued to persuade him earnestly, "With your talent, even if you don't take my place as the one destined for this calamity, you can still cultivate to the realm of a terrestrial immortal and enjoy hundreds or thousands of years of life."

If, during this period, an opportunity arises, one might even be able to live as long as heaven and earth, cultivating oneself to become a true immortal, without having to take such a risk as to become someone else's watchdog.

Fahai's words carried a strong sense of advice; if Shen Bailian said she was unwilling, he could still consider Shen Bailian as a friend.

If Shen Bailian is willing, then after he repays the previous favor, if they meet again in the future, he will probably have to treat him as a stranger.

"Hiss~" Shen Bailian gasped upon hearing this, his brows furrowing slightly.

Fahai seemed to have misunderstood him. Fahai seemed to think that he was the one who had to take this calamity in order to take a shortcut, to curry favor with those immortals and gods, and directly become an immortal.

He was about to explain, but then he changed his mind and gave up.

Because it's meaningless and unnecessary, and their conversation here might be being listened to from afar.

Although this was just Shen Bailian's intuition, there was no concrete evidence to prove it.

Fahai's actions, though seemingly unintentional, unexpectedly explained why he wanted to be the one to face this calamity.

"I'm sure." Shen Bailian was naturally overjoyed and nodded, giving Fahai an answer without hesitation.

With someone helping to cover for him, and it being the current person destined to face the calamity, it saves him the trouble of explaining his motives.

As expected of Fahai, even though he's about to retire, he can still contribute his remaining energy.

"Hmph!" Shen Bailian's expression naturally did not escape Fahai's observation, especially his answer, which was almost without any hesitation, which made him quite regretful.

Before this, he thought that Shen Bailian was also a martial artist with pride.

But now?

In the end, he was still bewitched by the idea of ​​becoming an immortal and lost his mind.

But becoming a god is not such a simple thing, or in today's terms, it is simply impossible, not even the slightest chance!

Immortals are not unattainable figures for the people of this world. Taoist sects, Buddhist sects, and even the royal family all worship immortals and gods.

Ordinary people yearn to become immortals, unaware that the natural divine positions between heaven and earth were already perfected after the Great Tribulation of the Investiture of the Gods.

Later cultivators who wanted to become gods either became vassals of the Heavenly Court or Buddhism, or subordinates of the righteous gods. If humans were lucky, they could even become heavenly soldiers and generals; if they were demons, they could basically only become mounts.

Even the Dragon Clan, the royal family of the demon race and the protagonist of the once invincible martial world, has now been judged by the righteous path to be a demon.

Yongzhen is the gateway to the South China Sea whirlpool.

"Alright." Fahai felt very sorry for Shen Bailian's choice, but he was helpless, after all, it was Shen Bailian's own choice.

Of course, the most important thing is that even the Golden-haired Hou in its prime could only barely fight Shen Bailian to a draw, let alone him now.

He was practically a useless person.

Furthermore, for some reason, Fahai felt that Shen Bailian's strength had improved by more than just a little bit compared to a month ago.

He was very curious about which cultivation system the other party followed, and why their strength was improving at such a rapid pace and magnitude.

Of course, Fahai wouldn't ask that question; it would be too presumptuous.

Among cultivators, cultivation systems, techniques, and specific strength levels are all taboo and should not be inquired about lightly, even by the closest of friends.

"From now on, you will be the 31114th disciple of my Jinshan Temple. Be well-disciplined and free from madness." Fahai said this simply and accepted Shen Bailian into his fold.

The procedures of tonsure and apprenticeship were completely omitted.

"It's that simple?" Shen Bailian was a little confused. This was too simple, wasn't it?
“Of course.” Fahai ignored Shen Bailian and looked at the tombstone in front of him. His eyes were filled with sorrow. He said in a low voice, “Now, apart from those disciples who have gone out, Jinshan Temple is basically left with only a few big cats and small cats. Moreover, since your intention to join my Jinshan Temple is not pure enough, there is no need to go through any formal ceremony.”

Besides, wouldn't it be better for you to keep things simple? Becoming an immortal requires severing all worldly emotions, otherwise the consequences will be endless… After all, you're not the nephew of that celestial being.”

"Go ahead. With your strength, suppressing Bai Suzhen and Xiaoqing, those two snake demons, under Leifeng Pagoda will be a piece of cake."

"Alright, take care of yourself." Shen Bailian gave Fahai a deep look, then stopped talking nonsense and soared into the sky without hesitation, leaving the Jinshan Temple ruins shrouded in rain.

And in the Putuo Mountain, which stretches for hundreds of thousands of miles.

"Is this enough?" (End of Chapter)