Day and night tour

Chapter 473 I Became a Di Ting

“We Taoist disciples cannot tolerate any injustice. Those Buddhist people have never given up their desire to destroy our Jing Kingdom, so I naturally have to pay close attention to them.”

The incense-burning Taoist priest said indignantly.

"That's something to be hated for."

Zhou Xuan then asked the incense-burning Taoist priest, "Old incense burner, I, Zhou Xuan, practice the 'Nuo' ritual. One stick of incense is worth more than nine sticks of incense from other temples. Now, I've encountered a strange thing."
My incense sticks, after burning down the first eight inches, the flame at the tip stopped burning... or rather, it even showed signs of going out. Why is that?

The Taoist priest waved his whisk and said with a smile, "Zhou Housheng, you've put this old Taoist in a difficult position. The magician's shrine is quite secretive, and I don't know much about its mysteries."

"Oh, never mind then, I'll think about it myself."

Zhou Xuan immediately ended the conversation, but while he was deep in thought, he also glanced sideways at the incense-burning Taoist priest.

The ruler of time and space in the Well Kingdom turned his gaze to the Medicine Buddha once again.

The pharmacist, dressed entirely in white, seemed to captivate the hearts of the Taoist priests with every smile and gesture.

“Listen carefully, listen carefully.”

For no apparent reason, the word "Di Ting" came to Zhou Xuan's mind.

Zhou Xuan had his own little schemes, but inside the arena, things were in an uproar.

The "peony flowers" growing on the stage are about to bloom.
Finally, the four masters of the art of escape could no longer contain themselves, and the gourd-shaped Taoist priest, in full view of everyone, began to proclaim his origins.

"My name is Calabash Taoist, the supreme ancestor of the Dunjia Sect. Our Dunjia Mountain lineage has been shaken."

Dunjia Mountain is on the verge of destruction, so we are looking for ways to prolong its lifespan.

The solution we found was to use a person with great fortune to extend the life of our Dunjia Mountain.

Zhou Xuan, the chief scholar of Mingjiang Prefecture, was just such a person, so we came to the prefectural city to capture him..."

The gourd-wielding Taoist priest spoke in a very soft voice, but every word that came out of his mouth was crystal clear to the ears of the audience.
The audience immediately booed.

"Tch, something happened at Dunjia Mountain, so you come here to arrest our Master? When something happened to Mingjiang Prefecture, did we go looking for trouble with your Dunjia Mountain?"

"Exactly, they seize by trickery and force, and then act like they're the ones who are wronged."

"Ho~te!"

The sound of spitting echoed in layers, never ceasing. This meant that the actors and audience on the stage were actually in different areas; otherwise, the sheer volume of disgusted spitting would have overwhelmed the Calabash Taoist.

Viewers scoffed at the Calabash Taoist and the Dunjia Sect, not to mention supporting them; they even had the urge to skin the four masters alive.

Whether or not there is audience support within the stage is extremely important. With the support of the audience, Zhou Xuan's incense offerings and combat power have been rising steadily, reaching the level of sitting in the eighth and looking towards the ninth.

However, the Calabash Taoist, lacking the support of the audience, also underwent a strange transformation.

The eyes of the audience seemed to converge into an invisible hand, reaching into the bodies of the Calabash Taoist, the Purple Ox Taoist, and other sages, constantly rummaging and probing.

The Calabash Taoist felt that the flame of his incense offerings had been stolen by those invisible hands.

He was so shocked that his face turned pale.

In the fierce battle on the stage, the only thing the four Supreme Beings relied on to defeat Zhou Xuan was their cultivation and level of expertise.

Now that the incense offerings have been taken away, it is highly likely that at this critical juncture, one will fall from grace.

"Three junior brothers, focus your attention on the Laogong acupoint and calm your minds."

After shouting a rebuke, the gourd-wielding Taoist priest sat down cross-legged first, then focused all his attention on resisting the invisible hands formed by the "audience".

This resistance was not entirely without effect; at the very least, it slowed down the rate at which the incense offerings of the Fourth Priest were being stolen.

After those hands disappeared, a layer of cold sweat broke out on the Calabash Taoist's forehead.

Once he was sure those hands wouldn't reappear, he finally breathed a sigh of relief and focused his mind to check his level within the secret realm.

"Thank goodness, thank goodness, at least there are still nine incense sticks left."

The Calabash Taoist sighed.

The four of them were originally at the level of more than nine incense sticks, but now that their incense offerings have been taken away by those hands, their level is almost at the level of nine incense sticks.
If they hadn't focused their minds and put up a stubborn resistance just now, perhaps they would now be reduced to "eight incense sticks."

If they were still at the Nine Incense Sticks stage, they would have the strength to fight Zhou Xuan, relying on their cultivation level.

But once they fall to the level of eight incense sticks, their fate will not be better than that of Zhao Jinjia in Huangyuan Prefecture—that master of the Escape Technique was cut in two, armor and all, by Zhou Xuan's sixteen techniques.

"My Nine Incense Sticks are no longer stable; they have returned to their state before the advancement ceremony."

After checking his incense offerings for a while, the Purple Ox Taoist burst into tears.

To advance from eight incense sticks to nine incense sticks, a promotion ceremony is required. However, when the promotion ceremony is initiated, one can already be considered a nine-incense stick, but—this is a pseudo-nine-incense stick. The true strength is still quite far from that of a true nine-incense stick.

"what about you?"

The gourd-shaped Taoist looked at the red-clad Taoist and the banana-shaped Taoist.

"We all held the line of the Nine Incense Sticks."

"Very well, three nine-stick incense sticks and one pseudo-nine-stick incense stick, together they should be enough to deal with Zhou Xuan."

The Calabash Taoist looked as if he had just survived a tribulation; his body was covered in cold sweat and he was utterly exhausted.

He made a hand seal to regulate his breathing, while also looking at the Medicine Buddha Bodhisattva of the Buddhist Kingdom with a hint of pride.

Just now, when the gourd-shaped Taoist priest introduced himself, the five styles of the Buddhist Kingdom had now become four styles.

The four discussed among themselves that if the truth they were about to tell touched upon the secrets of the Buddhist Kingdom, they would choose to commit suicide to protect the Buddhist Kingdom's weaknesses from being revealed to the people of the Well Kingdom tonight.

While this might reflect the toughness of the Buddhist people, more importantly, these four Buddhists understood that if they exposed their weaknesses, they would all die anyway.

Moreover, their disciples in the Buddhist kingdom will all be involved in the purge plan.

“Medicine Master, if the Buddhist Kingdom’s plan to invade the Well Kingdom on a large scale is not considered a secret, then the truth we are about to tell will not reveal any of the Buddhist Kingdom’s secrets.”

The Medicine Buddha nodded and said, "If that's the case, then we shouldn't commit suicide easily. We should preserve our strength, and even if we die, we should still take a big bite out of Zhou Xuan."

The other three nodded as well.
The Medicine Buddha Bodhisattva continued, “Look at those people from the Dunjia Sect. After being booed by the audience in Mingjiang Prefecture, their cultivation levels will be reduced. The cultivation levels of the four of us were originally one level lower than that of the Dunjia Supreme. If they are reduced to the Eighth Revolution Golden Body, we will be fish meat that Zhou Xuan can slaughter at will.”

Not only did the Supreme Master of the Dunjia Sect know Zhou Xuan's unique characteristic—unrivaled among those of the same realm—
Medicine Buddha also understands this point.

In the Buddhist Kingdom, the golden body is cultivated, and a single turn is equivalent to an incense stick in the Well Kingdom. The Buddhist Kingdom's people who have undergone eight turns are now at the mercy of Zhou Xuan, who is now approaching ninety.

Therefore, having their spiritual realm stripped away was a punishment that Bhaisajyaguru and the others could not accept.

"Pharmacist, what should we do?"

"Don't worry, I have a way... However, to intimidate my junior brother, you must be prepared to die for the Buddhist Kingdom."

"As ordered."

The King of Awe said this.

"Then I will explain to those people from Mingjiang Prefecture where we came from."

After discussing and reaching a conclusion, Bhaisajyaguru Bodhisattva and the others no longer hesitated and strode towards the center of the arena.

“You pigs and dogs of the Kingdom of Jing, listen up!”

The Medicine Buddha was very arrogant and said loudly, "I come from the Buddha Kingdom. Our Buddha Kingdom is the overlord of the starry sky. It was, it is, and it will be in the future."

"Go to hell! Did your parents even teach you manners? You pigs and dogs of the Buddhist Kingdom!"

"Go to hell with your domination! Our great Jing Kingdom boasts beautiful mountains and rivers, a picturesque landscape. You bunch of ignorant Buddhist pigs who've never seen the world, do you even deserve to come and occupy it?!"

"I'll take your grandma's place."

Ignoring the overwhelming insults, the Medicine Buddha said, "What does your Well Kingdom have? Nothing more than gods in the heavens, and those celestial beings who have disappeared for many years. Oh, and those four ignorant celestial venerables and those two wills."

The people of Mingjiang Prefecture present had only heard the legends of the Jing Kingdom, and knew that there were high-ranking gods and the nine great gods. They had never heard of the higher-ranking Heavenly Venerables or the Will.

However, according to the order of precedence in the Medicine Buddha's words—the last sentence mentions the Heavenly Venerable and the Will—even the most obtuse audience can understand that the Heavenly Venerable and the Will are above the gods. The Medicine Buddha said, "The gods of the Well Kingdom merely possess divine status, while our Buddhist Kingdom has thirty-three heavens..."
In the Thirty-Three Heavens, each heaven has a Realm Lord. The Realm Lords of the top thirteen heavens are all at least at the Heavenly God level, and some of the higher-ranking Realm Lords are even comparable to the Heavenly Venerable of the Well Kingdom.
Above the thirty-three heavens dwells our Buddha.

The Medicine Buddha Bodhisattva sneered, "The Buddha's power is unparalleled; he is the most powerful will in the entire starry sky."
With his left hand, he could grasp the sun and moon; with his right, he could flick his fingers and the stars would shift; with a single flower, a world would emerge; with a single leaf, a kingdom would be created.

He possesses boundless Buddhist wisdom; by ascending to a high vantage point, he can see the past and future lives of all things and beings.

Her words were spoken using the voice of the Medicine Buddha; there was not a trace of Buddhist solemnity in her voice, only a sense of seduction and incitement.
In her voice, the people of Mingjiang Prefecture seemed to truly see the thirty-three heavens that soared into the starry sky, with a Buddhist realm lord seated cross-legged on each heaven.
The colossal statue, rising from the thirty-three heavens, exerted such overwhelming power that the common people could hardly breathe.
Moreover, they also saw a pair of eyes deep within the thirty-three heavens.

His left eye radiated boundless compassion, while his right eye pulsated with thunder and lightning.

Those eyes became the final straw that broke the camel's back, suffocating the audience in Mingjiang Prefecture.

A suffocating sense of terror constantly grew within the theater.

Upon hearing it, Zhou Xuan knew that the Medicine Buddha's voice contained a "ruthless trick."

He sneered, thinking to himself, "Does my stage even allow a Buddhist like you to rise to power?"

After saying that, he pushed his perception to its limit, and the "Day and Night Dual Souls" immediately appeared behind him.

The Day Soul is primarily for killing and destruction, while the Night Soul is primarily for protection.

Zhou Xuan pointed his folding fan towards the audience, and the Night Soul instantly teleported there, taking on the form of a giant in the air, cascading down its moonlit silver light.
Each beam of silver light, like a loving mother, enveloped the audience, then gently vibrated, scattering soft sound waves to soothe their fear.
The Sun Soul transformed into countless golden rays, each ray exploding in the air and condensing into Zhou Xuan's thunderous roar.

"Medicine Master, if the Buddha you speak of is truly omnipotent, able to see the past and know the future..."

Did he ever foresee that Xunbo the Great Heavenly King would be killed by me, Nuo God, and Blood Well Heavenly Venerable three hundred years from now?

Did he ever foresee that the first wave of monks who landed in Jing Kingdom would be wiped out by my hand, Zhou Xuan?

Did he ever foresee that the Mother of a Hundred Ghosts, a top-tier warrior of the Buddhist Kingdom, would be eternally imprisoned in my secret realm?

Zhou Xuan's words were extremely domineering. He had personally participated in every matter he mentioned, and there was not a single lie mixed in. Naturally, he was full of confidence and there was no room for doubt.

With the soothing voice of the Night Soul and the rebuke of the Day Soul, two voices that resounded throughout the theater woke up all the audience members.

The sense of fear that had filled the entire room just now had completely vanished.

"That's right. If the Buddha is really that powerful, how come so many talented people in your Buddhist Kingdom died at the hands of Master?"

"Doesn't that mean that the Great Master's strength is even above that damned Buddha you mentioned? So much so that even your Buddha couldn't deduce it?"

Once the people are awake, the "momentum" generated by the Medicine Buddha who almost took the initiative will completely disappear.

Knowing that her momentum had been completely waned, she still tried to salvage some face and said, "Zhou Xuan, you are difficult to deal with, but comparing you to the Buddha is like comparing a grain of rice to the bright moon."

"You Buddhists all compare the Buddha to a grain of rice? Is he really that small? He's at least as big as a cockroach, isn't he?"

"..." Medicine Buddha.

Li Changxun and Yun Ziliang burst out laughing on the spot. Having spent so much time at the Zhou family's ritual shrine, they knew all too well how venomous Zhou Xuan's tongue could be.
Compared to face-to-face duels, Zhou Xuan excels more in verbal sparring.

"Alas, if I had the clumsy tongue of the Medicine Buddha, I would never have argued with the Master. It would have been utterly humiliating."

But the Medicine Buddha was not convinced, and she wanted to exaggerate the Buddha's power.

"The Buddha created the world in seven days. During these seven days, he performed sixteen Buddha postures, five of which are: Vajra Receiving Posture, Heavenly King Awe Posture, Medicine Buddha Pounding Medicine Posture, Vajra Subduing Demon Posture, and Heavenly King Holding Pagoda Posture."

These five Buddha postures, illuminated by the sun and moon in the Buddha's realm, appear in the sky every night.
In the Buddhist kingdom, there are five people with congenital disabilities: either like me, born with white skin and hair, or born with eye diseases or tuberculosis.

The five of us, having attained enlightenment under the starry sky and comprehended the five Buddhist postures, became the realm lords of the Thirty-Three Heavens.

Medicine Buddha Bodhisattva, Amitabha Buddha, Vajra Bhadra, Vajra Subduing Demons, and Pagoda-Bearing Heavenly King.

Upon hearing this, Zhou Xuan finally understood why these five people from the Buddhist Kingdom were called the Five Forms of the Buddhist Kingdom. It turned out that they were "realm lords" who had attained enlightenment through the five forms of the Buddha.

"The mere five Buddha postures are enough to give rise to five realm lords, which shows the power of our Buddha Lord."

"This is pretty average."

Zhou Xuan, never one to back down in a verbal exchange, sneered, "You say Buddha created the world in seven days? Others may not know what your Buddhist kingdom looks like, but I do. It's a place of swamps, flames, sand, and poisonous water, almost like the dirtiest garbage dump in the Well Kingdom."
So what if that disgusting, dilapidated country created something in seven days? Prioritizing quantity over quality? They just built a garbage dump?

"As for your five styles, they sound like divine skills. You'd better explain your origins clearly. I really want to see if your Sixteen Styles of the Well Kingdom are made of paper."

At this point, Zhou Xuan suddenly smiled slyly and said, "Let me see if you five are more resilient than the monks of Baoshan Temple."

Once, during the floods of the Mingjiang River, Zhou Xuan lent the Mountain and River Map to a Taoist priest.

The Taoist priest, wielding the power of the "Nine Prefectures of the Well Kingdom" depicted in the landscape painting, slaughtered most of the monks in the Buddhist Baoshan Temple.

Zhou Xuan suddenly brought up this matter, partly to dampen the arrogance of the Medicine Buddha.
Secondly, it was also to test the "incense-offering Taoist priest." He glanced at the priest while speaking.

The old Taoist priest remained frowning, carefully observing the Medicine Buddha's every word and action, showing no interest whatsoever in the "Baoshan Temple" mentioned by Zhou Xuan.

"As expected, as expected, I have truly become Di Ting."

Zhou Xuan already knew perfectly well that this suddenly appearing Taoist priest was not a real Taoist priest; he was a fake, a counterfeit.

But don't be fooled by the fact that this "incense-offering Taoist priest" is a fake; the level of incense offerings he receives is genuinely high.
Zhou Xuan believed that even ordinary gods could not move freely in Zhou Xuan's arena.

This also reminded him of the "True and False Monkey Kings" segment from the TV series "Journey to the West" in his previous life, where Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva asked Di Ting to listen and tell which of the two Monkey Kings was the real one and which was the fake one.
Di Ting heard it, but dared not speak out, because the fake Monkey King's abilities were almost identical to the real Monkey King's, and Di Ting could not afford to offend him.

"I have become Di Ting."

Zhou Xuan remained silent and did not take the initiative to expose the "incense-offering Taoist priest" as a fake.

The Medicine Buddha was very curious and asked Zhou Xuan, "How do you know about Baoshan Temple?"

The Buddhists have always believed that the massacre was carried out by the Taoist priest alone, without the involvement of anyone else.

Zhou Xuan gave a cold laugh: "Guess where the old incense burner who slaughtered Baoshan Temple came from?"

"Where did it come from?"

"That's my tattoo. My tattoo has a name—'Ten Thousand Miles of Rivers and Mountains, Town of Buddha'."

"Once the deathmatch begins, I'll naturally let you see this tattoo and feel the weight of my Jing Kingdom's vast land."

As soon as Zhou Xuan said this, the bone fangs around him flew up and created the Mountain and River Map out of thin air.

Beneath the vast landscape of the nine prefectures of the Jing Kingdom, a Buddha statue is discreetly suppressed.

The imposing presence of the tattoo immediately drew thunderous applause from the audience, sweeping away the gloom that had been cast by the Medicine Buddha.

"Master, suppress those sons of bitches from the Buddhist Kingdom!"

"The town needs to be pacified. Let's first listen to the Medicine Buddha introduce himself."

Zhou Xuan gestured for the audience to calm down.

The Medicine Buddha sighed again; she knew that her plan to use bewitchment was no longer viable.

“Mingjiang Prefecture is Zhou Xuan’s home turf. I really can’t compete with its aura.”

Having exhausted all his tricks and unable to win over the audience, the Medicine Buddha had no choice but to honestly introduce himself.

She said helplessly, "We are the five masters of the Buddhist Kingdom, and also the last five realm lords of the Thirty-Three Heavens. We came to Mingjiang Prefecture because of the pills Zhou Xuan is going to refine tonight, and the blue and red fish on his body."

Since I am called the Medicine Buddha, I have an extremely high understanding of all kinds of medicines. The Golden Elixir of Jing Kingdom is also a kind of medicine.

Zhou Xuan nodded. These Buddhist people were indeed robbing pills and blue-red fish, but—how did they get into the Well Kingdom? That hasn't been explained yet.
At this moment, the holy eye in the sky above the theater became Zhou Xuan's mouth stand-in.

It questioned the Medicine Buddha in a sinister tone: "How did you enter the Kingdom of Well?"

Zhou Xuan was very interested in the answer, but he was more concerned about the performance of the Taoist priests at this moment.

He secretly glanced at the Taoist priest offering incense, and he could actually detect a hint of "nervousness" on the old priest's face.

The Taoist priest, burning incense, stared intently at the Medicine Buddha, his Adam's apple bobbing slightly. He seemed very anxious about the Medicine Buddha's next answer...

(End of this chapter)