Esoteric Buddhism: To live as king in America

The shard of mirror in her pocket began to heat up again, but Mian dared not take it out to look at it at this moment.

Mian had tested Ain and Sherry, but they seemed unable to see the writing on the mirror shards, only thinking that Mian was admiring herself in the mirror.

However, at this moment, facing the unknown "Matt" before her, Mian could not feel at ease taking out the mirror fragments to obtain information.

Therefore, faced with Matt's invitation to form an alliance, Mian, who had neither memories of the past six months nor much information about the Celestial Church, naturally couldn't judge whether Matt was sincere or not. He only vaguely sensed that the person before him possessed unfathomable strength, far surpassing even Org in power.

Mian naturally remembered the scene in the vision he had seen earlier, where the strange man with the horizontal pupils, corresponding to Matt, tried to pull out a dagger. He knew that Matt's current talk of an alliance, whether true or false, was simply a response to Matt's misjudgment of Mian's strength and influence.

If Mian were to reveal even the slightest flaw at this moment, all that awaited him would be a desperate fight to the death with the man before him. All Mian could do was cooperate with his performance.

Having figured this out, Mian immediately feigned composure and coldly snorted, saying:

"That's rare. I thought all the brave souls in the nudist religion were dead."

This was indeed a very aggressive statement. But having already confirmed that the other party wouldn't get angry over such a thing, this statement, which actually contained little substance, became Mian's sharpest spear for probing information about the other party.

Just as Mian had expected, Matt showed no sign of indignation. He simply stroked the spiral sword in his hand and smiled as he said:

"The Celestial Cult is a vast and powerful force, like a giant spider web; once you're caught in it, it's hard to escape. No matter how dissatisfied I am with the treatment they give us thugs, I'm ultimately powerless to change the situation despite my determination to kill them... until I met you, my sir. You not only did such things in the Celestial Cult's stronghold, but you also possess such strength and power. I believe that if we cooperate with you, perhaps our chance to turn things around has arrived."

In this episode, Matt reveals his true identity for the first time: he is a henchman of the Celestial Cult.

Whether it's serfs rising up and singing praises, or ambitious individuals seizing power, this identity seems to offer a space for opposing nudism. But in the end, it's nothing more than empty talk from the other side, perhaps just a trap deliberately set to attract attention.

With that in mind, Mian decided not to dwell on the identity the other party had presented, but instead to use new questions to control the pace of the conversation while probing for new information.

"After saying all this, do you really know what I did in the nudist religion?"

Mian deliberately made his tone somewhat sarcastic, because sarcasm is usually the privilege of the strong. And Mian wanted to maintain his image as a strong person in Matt's mind.

And this statement seems to have successfully achieved Mian's desired goal.

"Of course, I know exactly what you've been doing at the headquarters of the Nativity."

Matt Lang said in a loud voice:

"You stole the sacred artifact of the Celestial Church, causing great losses to those old men in the upper echelons of the Celestial Church and making the whole church very noisy. Even if there were unexpected factors involved, I have to admire your abilities. What's more, you still chose to come here despite being wanted by the Celestial Church."

Mian raised an eyebrow, then asked with a smirk:

"Oh? You've come here... So you know what I'm here to do?"

Matt quickly waved his hands and said:

"No, no, no, how would I know what you're here for? It's just that the Donna Hotel next door is home to the Celestial Church's Metropolitan of Freedom and countless Celestial Church security forces. And you, who just offended the Celestial Church, have just happened to appear here. Considering that you just stole the Celestial Church's sacred relic, I dare to speculate that you wouldn't be planning to enter the Donna Hotel to disrupt the Celestial Church's upcoming Ascension Banquet, would you?"

An ascension banquet?!

Upon hearing the word "ascension," Mian immediately recalled the unparalleled fervor still emanating from Org's face, now devoid of skin, the night before.

The so-called ascension to godhood and ascension to immortality—could it be that the higher-ups of the Celestial Church are planning such an ascension ceremony in hopes of reaching the heights of godhood?

A thousand thoughts raced through her mind, but Mian remained calm and simply said to Matt:

"I'm not as powerful as you think. I do have a grudge against the nudists, and I do want to get into the Donna Hotel, but to be honest, I don't know how to do it right now. I'm just exploring."

As always, she tells a lie by piecing together a truth that will never be detected, a method that Mian is adept at.

He didn't know what impact this so-called ascension would have on him, and naturally had no interest in interfering. His arrival here was purely coincidental. But since the other party, who actually possessed greater power, wanted Mian's actions to be associated with the Celestial Cult, then Mian had to find a way to cater to their wishes.

This is for my own safety, and also for Sherry's and Lisa's safety.

"I am not an ascendant, nor am I a god. If you have come to test my next move, then let me tell you this plainly—even if I do not know whether I will succeed, even if I do not know how to destroy all this tangled mess, I will not back down. I will uphold my vow forever and ever."

Mian quietly imbued the Star Sword in his hand with the attributes of a true sword, then swung it forcefully and set it aside. The three decorative swords on the sword rack snapped in response, as if demonstrating a certain determination.

Matt showed surprise at Mian's actions for the first time. But he quickly suppressed that surprise, which eventually turned into a soft chuckle.

"My opinion of you has changed again, Mr. Mian. But if you're having trouble infiltrating the Donna Hotel, then you should definitely work with me."

Matt's tone was much more relaxed and sincere than before; he spoke as if he were genuinely discussing a collaboration.

"We're targeting the same person. You have manpower and strength, but lack intelligence on the Naturists. I, on the other hand, have been operating within the Naturists for many years and am lacking a strong external force to help me achieve my goals. We can definitely join forces."

"Words are meaningless; how can I trust you?"

"It's very simple."

Matt snapped his fingers and then extended his right hand to Mian.

"I will express my sincerity to you and the forces behind you. It will start with the Donna Hotel."