Who is spreading rumors that my filial piety towards them has changed?

But it's best to just think these words in your heart. If you say them out loud, Zuo Qiuchi might get angry and really stop letting him hug her.

Zuo Qiuchi sat motionless on the bed, reaching out to grab the black Buddha relic on the ground. She enveloped the relic with her sword energy to prevent any further tricks or schemes against her. After repeatedly confirming that there were no hidden tricks, she withdrew her sword energy, but her mind remained clear, watching out for any spiritual disturbances.

"Did the relics from that forbidden pavilion in the sky escape? This Buddha statue looks really strange. I guess the demonic energy saw that you happened to look like this little kid and mistook you for the reincarnation of the Wisdom King."

Chu Mingkong glanced at the relic, then buried his head back in Zuo Qiuchi's breasts. His voice, muffled by the soft, fullness of her breasts, was deep as he said:

"However, we really have to be respectful and careful about Buddhist things. Even a sixth-level elder can be controlled so thoroughly."

"But the 'Joyful Meditation' mentioned by this demonic force seems to really work. Do you want to check if there is any 'Joyful Meditation' technique inside this relic? Try to sense it. If you fall for it, I will deal with this traitor."

Even if you're joking, could you please not look so serious? I'll take it seriously...

“It won’t work. The method that the demonic bodhisattva just mentioned is actually just transferring the Abyss wound on my body to someone else, instead of healing it. I cannot accept a woman I am intimate with bearing this kind of pain for me. If the Joyful Zen is only like this, then I might as well not practice it.”

As for the Demonic Bodhisattva catching his extreme Yin flames with his hand, Chu Mingkong felt it was more because Si Chunhua herself was a cultivator who had already touched upon the path of extreme Yang. Although she hadn't delved deeply into it, she was still able to resist his extreme Yin flames. Chu Mingkong hadn't actually used his full strength to create a fireball at that time.

All he wanted was to force that demonic bodhisattva to reveal her true colors and provoke her ferocity, so he only symbolically threw out a small ball of fire.

Strangely enough, this black relic possessed such a strong demonic aura that Chu Mingkong instinctively felt it was an extremely difficult entity to deal with. Yet, she seemed to have no real hostility towards him; she simply wanted to convert him.

So where is this demonic nature, this demonic aspect?

Chu Mingkong reluctantly released Zuo Qiuchi's beautiful body. He tried to penetrate the black relic with his senses, and then his expression turned strange.

The practice methods of the Joyful Zen are indeed incomplete. Only the "Art of Concentration" remains. To put it simply, it refers to the physical techniques of male and female postures during practice, including various rotations, twists, advances, retreats, openings, and closings.

The key was the divine thought within the relic, which transformed into the image of Zuo Qiuchi. When Chu Mingkong's perception probed into it, it was as if he were personally experiencing the maternal "Zuo Qiuchi" guiding him into a meditative posture for cultivation.

"What did you see?" Zuo Qiuchi asked with concern, while placing the heavy sword against his young apprentice's neck.

"Watch the movie, the main characters are you and me."

"???" Zuo Qiuchi didn't understand, but instinctively felt it wasn't something good, and asked threateningly, "What do you mean?"

Chu Mingkong's eyes were serious: "This relic slanders our innocent master and disciple, it's outrageous!"

Relic: "..."

With such a commotion here, people from the sect have already rushed over.

Chu Mingkong quickly put on his clothes and wrapped Si Chunhua in a blanket, barely managing to complete a hasty cleanup.

Qu Wuyue arrived with several elders who had not been affected. Her own elders appeared in Chu Mingkong's room late at night, disheveled, with strange expressions.

However, upon hearing that these elders had been secretly absorbing demonic energy to avoid affecting the sect's disciples and causing them to fall into demonic possession, Qu Wuyue felt disheartened.

She glanced at the black relic in Chu Mingkong's hand, then quickly exercised her authority as acting sect leader and instructed an elder:

"Please ask the elder to go to the forbidden pavilion to check the condition of the relic, and then seal off this mountain, forbidding ordinary disciples from approaching."

After explaining everything, Qu Wuyue bowed to Chu Mingkong and Zuo Qiuchi to express her gratitude and apology.

"In just one day, we have troubled our two benefactors to handle so many matters for our sect. We hope that Your Highness and the Giant Sword Immortal will not publicize this matter... In addition, besides the matter of concealing our whereabouts that Your Highness mentioned, is there anything else we can do to help?"

Chapter 146 Amplification (38/39)

Unconsciously, the burden placed on Qu Wuyue's shoulders became heavier.

Even the elders have fallen into demonic possession, which means that the sect can no longer rely on this relic, and cannot even keep the relic in the sect's sacred ground. Otherwise, in a few years, there is no guarantee that such a thing will happen again.

Chu Mingkong did want some kind of thank-you gift, but there wasn't much he wanted. Mainly, he lacked nothing, didn't care about material rewards, and didn't crave any sentimental gratitude. The other party's attitude of gratitude was already enough.

The most annoying thing about helping others isn't not getting a thank you, but that the other person takes your kindness for granted. Just like a while ago, he was busy trying to curry favor with the daughter of the wine merchant Zhang family; he was a typical example of someone who takes advantage of kindness.

However, for such a large sect, the worst thing is to owe someone a huge favor. Chu Mingkong temporarily offered a rosy promise, giving the other party a way out, and said:

"Senior Sister Qu is overthinking it. It's not that simple for me to ask you to conceal my itinerary. In the future, the Tianji Empire will inevitably have to collude with other sects to make things difficult for you. The favor I need from you actually involves a lot of issues. It may seem simple at first, but there could be a lot of trouble later. You don't owe me anything, so why should I thank you?"

Qu Wuyue understood and accepted Chu Mingkong's kindness. She inquired about the details of tonight's events and whether Si Chunhua's arrival after becoming possessed by a demon was intended to attack him.

Whether as a woman or as the acting sect leader, she had to figure this out. Si Chunhua fainted in Chu Mingkong's room without any clothes on. Although there was a sword strike from Zuo Qiuchi at the scene, there were no signs of a fierce fight. It was too abrupt.

Chu Mingkong had already prepared an explanation on their way here. He shifted the blame to Buddhism, sat on the bed, crossed his legs, and said indignantly:

"It must have been that monk Fadu from earlier that day who tricked us. It seems the seal wasn't completely broken, but he probably did something we don't know about. After the demonic energy leaked out, Elder Si Chunhua and several fellow practitioners tried their best to absorb it to prevent the disciples below from suffering."

In the end, Elder Si Chunhua completely fell into demonic possession. She came straight for me, and what she wanted to do was the same as what the monk Fadu did during the day—to lead me into Buddhism. She was also deceiving me by claiming to be some kind of enlightened king.

Fortunately, I possess boundless wisdom. After luring out that demonic force, my master directly and severely weakened it.

Of course, it wasn't completely shattered; it merely cleaved the demonic aura back into the relic with a single sword strike, preventing it from continuing to cause trouble.

Qu Wuyue found the deceptive claim amusing and, matching it to what she knew, jokingly remarked:

"As that demonic being said, Your Highness does indeed possess some resemblance to a Vidyaraja. Buddhism has many branches, which have also given rise to many Vidyaraja forms. Among the five great Vidyaraja forms in Esoteric Buddhism, there is a Vidyaraja form who brings forth three worlds, carrying flames on his back and wielding various weapons, proficient in all of them."

Chu Mingkong: "..."

Don't say that. The more you talk like that, the more I feel like I'm some enlightened monk.

One said I was the Elephant Trunk God, and the other said I was some kind of wrathful deity.

He didn't want to talk about this anymore, and instead said, "Since the elders who were unconscious are all safe and sound, let's put this matter behind us."

Just then, the elder who had been ordered by Qu Wuyue to investigate the situation at the Forbidden Pavilion returned. She said:

"The seal is intact, but the relic enshrined inside is missing. It should be the one in the room!"

Zuo Qiuchi asked, "What do you plan to do with this thing? Although I have never seen the original appearance of this relic, in my opinion, it should have originally had pure Buddha-nature. Unfortunately, the Buddha-nature is gone. Someone stole the Buddha-nature, leaving only evil and demonic nature in it."

Qu Wuyue nodded and said:

"Yes, originally this relic was a Bodhisattva, and this evil child was not there."

"Since this relic has already become like this, it's no longer appropriate to leave it in the sect. We need to find a place to seal it away to prevent it from causing harm to the sect."

Chu Mingkong said:

"If this thing is gone, you'll lose a crucial aid in your meditation practice. What will you do then?"

Qu Wuyue understood that losing this item would be a great loss to the sect, but what could be done? Things had come to this point, and they had to look forward.

Since this assistance is no longer available, one should rely on inner peace to enter that meditative state.

"Everything is as usual. If you think you can only cultivate by relying on external things, then you might as well find a sect that does not discriminate between men and women. For Xiaoxiang Qin Academy, the relic is a 'gain' and losing the relic's help is not a 'loss'. It probably shouldn't have existed in the first place. Now it's just about returning everything to its original state and cultivating on the same level as other sects."

Zuo Qiuchi gave her an approving look; Qu Wuyue's character was up to par to be the acting sect leader.

So much has happened tonight, and there are many things to deal with within their sect. It's not appropriate for her and Chu Mingkong, being outsiders, to stay any longer.

"Then let's set off tonight. Should we throw this relic into the Abyss when we return to Xiling? That would save us the trouble of sealing it."

Zuowuyue did not refuse the other party's kindness: "That would be wonderful! The sect has many internal affairs to attend to, and it would be inconvenient to keep our two benefactors here!"

Zuo Qiuchi and Chu Mingkong, master and disciple, fled overnight with the relic. Chu Mingkong wanted to wait for Si Chunhua and the others to wake up before leaving, but he had to consider other people's feelings, so it was best to leave first.

It's moisturized!

"Master, how did this thing manage to slip out? Wasn't the seal already reinforced?" Chu Mingkong held the relic in his hand and played with it.

Zuo Qiuchi thought back for a moment and also found it strange. The seal had indeed been repaired, but the current situation could only mean...

"Perhaps that wasn't a seal at all, but at most a concealed divination seal. The formations inside the Forbidden Pavilion were mostly used to spread Buddhist nature throughout the sect. Originally, when the Buddhist nature was still present, this relic was harmless, with Buddhist nature suppressing demonic nature. But later, the Buddhist nature turned against it, and the Forbidden Pavilion started to have problems. The aura emanating from the Forbidden Pavilion was now only demonic."

So that forbidden pavilion is just a megaphone... ugh, a loudspeaker, right? Before, it was spreading the Great Compassion Mantra; now it's spreading ** (illegible).

However, if it weren't for this black relic, those elders probably wouldn't have had such a strong desire to use the jade technique, Chu Mingkong wouldn't have been so filial, and consequently, his "wallet" would be empty, making everything difficult.

From this perspective, Chu Mingkong still owes Xiaoxiang Qin Academy and those elders, as he was the only one who benefited from the whole thing.

Wait, an idea suddenly popped into Chu Mingkong's mind.

"Master, do you think that if a person with a particularly sage-like and clear mind sits in the Forbidden Pavilion, could they spread that sage-like state of mind outwards, like the original relic?"

"Theoretically, it should be possible, but it's very demanding. Being confused or bewildered is not the same as having a wise mind. How can one attain a wise mind so easily?"

Chu Mingkong nodded; he had an idea.

A red-quality bell... shouldn't be too difficult to get the Sage's Mindset, right?

Chapter 147 This is a magical artifact! (39/39)

When Chu Mingkong and Zuo Qiuchi arrived at Xianzhen Pavilion, it was already dawn.

As dawn breaks and roosters crow, people can be seen returning home under the stars and moon in the fields. While others are getting up in the morning, it is only the beginning of their rest.

When Chu Mingkong came last time, he had already instructed Qingse to prepare a carriage and horses for him to go to Baihu Plain. The carriage and horses were secondary; having a guide was the key.

This time, it was Qingse herself who came to greet the master and disciple.

"You two have finally arrived! I thought Your Highness was going to cancel your trip and settle down in the fairy-like Xiaoxiang Qin Academy to help the cultivators open up the 'Great Dao'~ But Your Highness, you seem even more youthful than before?"

Next time, I should call Jinyu over for you to meet, let the two of you have a banter contest, and see who gives in first.

Chu Mingkong knew she was referring to his body shrinking, but he didn't want to argue with her any longer, so he waved his hand and said:

"Stop with the useless pleasantries. Lead me to your room; I have important business to discuss!"

Qingse was a woman of action; Chu Mingkong's serious demeanor meant it must be something urgent. As an auction house merchant, she was well-informed, and although only a day had passed, she already knew about the trouble caused by the Buddhist sect at Xiaoxiang Qin Academy.

"Please come with me."

Zuo Qiuchi is someone who doesn't need to consider the atmosphere; she speaks her mind directly.

"Why didn't you use a clone to greet us this time?"

Qingse said irritably:

"If I use a clone, the Sword Immortal Venerable and His Highness the Crown Prince will probably pretend to be confused again, tearing and picking at me with their fingers. How could I possibly withstand that!"

Having said that, she led the way. Qingse's gait was extremely alluring and seductive, like a cat's walk; at first glance, it appeared dignified, but upon closer inspection, it was charming and sexy. She had already completed the high-heeled shoe pattern that Chu Mingkong had given her last time, and had even worn them.

Following behind her, I could see Qingse's steps. Her fitted red and black cheongsam accentuated her full hips, and as she crossed her legs, her hips swayed with each step.

Zuo Qiuchi reached out and patted it, saying happily:

"These clothes and these steps are great; they feel incredibly soft and springy, yet powerful!"

Chu Mingkong also wanted to go and film, but his legs and arms were too short. Several times he got close but just touched the edge before Qingse moved out of his attack range.