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

Touching this sealed part could very likely destroy the person's soul, which is a form of self-destruction in the sense of secrecy.

The underworld has corresponding methods to deal with this situation, but success cannot be guaranteed.

"That smiling Buddha comes from the Azure Demon Capital in the Heavenly Realm, which is also the Heavenly Demon Clan. This smiling Buddha came to this world as a sacrificed pawn, in exchange for not being able to return to the Heavenly Realm, to assist their faction's actions in the Jianmu."

"What is Jianmu?" Zuo Donglu asked, her gaze occasionally darting to both sides as she observed this unfamiliar country.

"It would be better if the master explained this to you, but generally speaking, Jianmu is like a corridor, a passage, and the Dao Gate manages Jianmu." Black Impermanence's understanding of Jianmu only goes this far.

"The Daoist sect manages the Jianmu tree? I've never heard Nongyu mention that." Zuo Qiuchi leaned against the window, her bright eyes reflecting the scenery of the Naihe River.

The banks of the Naihe River are somewhat...lively.

Groups of departed souls strolled slowly along the riverbank, lining up to wait to cross the Bridge of Helplessness.

On the other side of the Bridge of Helplessness, a woman wearing a cloak and concealing her face sat beside an old well. She kept taking water from the well and giving it to "passersby" to drink.

Judging from their clothing, these souls were probably the civilians who were tragically affected by the turmoil.

Because of its lack of cultivation, its soul is extremely fragile. After becoming a dead soul, it was unable to retain its self-awareness and is now nothing more than a numb and lifeless puppet, silently following the invisible guidance to complete the final journey of the River of Helplessness.

Bai Wuchang sensed their confusion and temporarily stopped explaining, instead saying:

"These are commoners of the Sword Dynasty, and there is no way to bring them back to life. Although the master could erase their memories and make them members of the underworld, the master only had the witch over there feed them water to erase the memories of these commoner souls, and then let them scatter back into the world."

Ah, I thought the master had finally taken an interest and was willing to accept the underworld and take good care of this place...

These two ghost messenger girls clearly didn't understand this unnecessary action.

Functionally speaking, these commoner souls are indeed useless in the underworld, but they can add some power to the underworld. This is a divine kingdom, and a divine kingdom with more people becomes stronger.

However, it would be somewhat redundant to make these commoners travel all the way to the underworld to erase their remaining resentment and then let them disperse on their own.

They could have left them with the Sword Dynasty, and they would have dispersed eventually, but because of their resentment, it would have taken longer to dissipate.

Chu Mingkong, however, could understand Ba Sheng's grandmother's thoughts to some extent.

These civilians who suffered sudden misfortune and died unjustly will still have their resentment lingering in the Sword Emperor Dynasty. Bringing them here to erase their memories and let them return to the world as soon as possible, freeing them from being bound by pain and hatred in the mortal realm, can also be considered a form of salvation.

As for Grandma Basheng not making these commoners part of the underworld, Chu Mingkong felt it was only natural.

She herself was someone who was forcibly kept in this world by accident, so why would she forcibly keep others in the underworld?

Before the Black and White Impermanence could finish discussing the torture, the sedan chair had already arrived at its destination.

"As for the rest of the details, you can ask the master yourself."

Chapter 118 How should this debt be settled?

Upon seeing this dignified and noble young woman, Chu Mingkong instinctively wanted to chat about something else, but with matters concerning the Heavenly Realm weighing on his mind, he went straight to the point.

"Grandma, on the way here, the Black and White Impermanence told me about the Smiling Buddha and his Heavenly Demon Clan, who are plotting against the Jianmu. What exactly is the Jianmu?"

The woman with long, light golden, wavy hair stood up, gestured for the younger women to sit beside her, and said:

"Jianmu is a passage connecting the Heavenly Realm and this world. Although it is described as a passage, it is actually a world in itself. You can think of it as a secret realm."

Chu Mingkong pondered to himself that he had always regarded the secret realm as a "copy" rather than a place that was a self-contained little world, and it was more appropriate to understand it as a kind of divine kingdom.

"Mm," he nodded in response.

"The entrance to this world from the Jianmu tree is the Heavenly Gate within the Kunlun Daoist sect. Once inside, you'll find a riot of flowers, birdsong, and the Jade Pool. When I first passed by there, I was surprised that the Daoist sect had secretly hidden such a back garden. From the Jianmu tree, walk all the way to the end, and the exit at the other end is the Heavenly Realm."

According to the information extracted from the Laughing Buddha's soul, the Heavenly Demon Clan is plotting to seize the treasure land of Jianmu. The fact that the Queen Mother of the West and Yao Ji of the Daoist sect haven't emerged since entering the Heavenly Gate is likely related to this!

Sure enough.

Having overheard the Black and White Impermanence mention something, Chu Mingkong had a feeling it would be like this, but he never expected that the changes in Jianmu would actually come from forces in the Heavenly Realm.

Information about Tianmen has been cut off for so long, but it seems that there are finally some clues again.

"What methods did this smiling Buddha use to scheme against the Taoist sect after 'descending to the mortal realm'?"

“We can’t get any information out of him.” Ba Sheng shook his head slightly. “This involves the core techniques of the Heavenly Demon Clan, which are difficult to interrogate and would damage the Smiling Buddha’s soul. We can only put it aside. But a mere Smiling Buddha is no match for the Queen Mother of the West and the others. The Smiling Buddha is just here to deal with the foreshadowing laid by the ancestors of the Heavenly Demon Clan.”

"Hmm? Foreshadowing?"

"When the dragon vein of the Heavenly Kingdom was buried with that demon egg, the old Heavenly Demon in charge of the matter also plotted on the Jianmu tree at the same time. However, the Taoist sect was too powerful at that time and could not do anything about it. They could only secretly leave a hidden hand. It was not until recent years that the Heavenly Demon Clan sent a smiling Buddha down to pick up the old Heavenly Demon's plan and coordinate with the Heavenly Demons in the Jianmu tree to deal with the Queen Mother of the West and Yao Ji."

The events surrounding the Demon Egg were from the same period, which is an ancient matter from the founding of the Heavenly Pole Empire, suggesting that the planning had been going on for quite some time.

However, for the lifespan of the Heavenly Demon Clan, it may not be very long.

Zuo Qiuchi had a great fondness for the Daoist sect, which was a case of loving the house because of the dog; he extended his affection for Yun Nongyu, the beautiful pillow, to the Daoist sect as well.

She anxiously pressed for an answer:

"Ancestor, with the Heavenly Demon Clan involved so much, the Queen Mother of the West and Yao Ji are isolated and helpless. Could something have happened to them inside?"

Knowing about the engagement between the Zuo sisters and Mingkong, Ba Sheng interjected:

"You and Donglu can address me as you would Mingkong, there's no need to call me 'Ancestor'... The situation in Jianmu should still be at a stalemate, otherwise the Heavenly Gate on the Daoist side wouldn't be tightly closed, but would have been directly broken open by the Heavenly Demon."

However, it would be difficult for us to offer assistance. The construction of that Heavenly Gate dates back to an unknown time, and the techniques used are extraordinary, beyond the comprehension of later generations. It would be very difficult to break through the Heavenly Gate and enter. If we really wanted to help, we would probably have to take a detour from the Heavenly Realm to enter the Jianmu Tree.

Is this another example of nested logic?

To properly reach the Heavenly Realm, one must pass through the Jianmu tree behind the Heavenly Gate, but the Jianmu tree is impassable, and the Queen Mother of the West and her companions need external assistance.

They had to take a detour from the Heavenly Realm to enter Jianmu, and could not provide support from the Daoist side.

But how do I enter the Celestial Realm?

I wonder if, using the method given by the system girl, after entering the Heavenly Realm, I can switch my focus to Jianmu to provide support and check on the situation inside.

If possible, then we could open the Heavenly Gate and let his girls all enter the Heavenly Realm.

However, there is still one problem—

Zuo Donglu and Chu Mingkong's thoughts met; they had both thought of the same thing and spoke up:

"Grandmother, I see that those people from the Celestial Realm come to this world with great ease. Why is it so difficult for people from this world to get to the Celestial Realm? They even have to cross the Jianmu Tree."

Of course, Zuo Donglu also knew about how the Heavenly Demon Clan's actions had triggered a backlash of lightning.

She was only saying that crossing the two domains was easy; whether there were any costs was something to consider afterward.

At least for now, they don't even have the chance to go to the Heavenly Realm and experience the consequences.

Ba Sheng gently shook his head:

"That's an even more ancient matter. We'd have to ask why there's a division between the two realms to understand why they're so unequal. But if we could meet the Queen Mother of the West, she would probably know something about it too."

"Grandma, weren't you curious about this back then?" Chu Mingkong looked at his dignified yet beautiful grandmother, who was the only one in the room who had been to Jianmu.

"I'm not curious. I'm only curious about what kind of opponents exist in the Heavenly Realm. There will always be things I don't know in this world. Time has hidden many things from the past, but they are not necessarily worth exploring. I must restrain my desires."

That's definitely something Grandma Basheng would do. If it were him, Chu Mingkong, regardless of whether such experiences would be of any use, he would satisfy his curiosity first.

Ba Sheng continued:

"However, even for the people of the Heavenly Realm, coming to this world via the Jianmu Tree is the best choice. Otherwise, they would encounter the shackles of heaven and earth that appeared that day. When I entered the Heavenly Realm via the Jianmu Tree, I could freely use my strength without any restrictions."

The difference lies mainly in the official route versus illegal border crossing.

If we're talking about restrictions, there are some. The Queen Mother of the West only allows Basheng to operate in the Heavenly Realm for one year.

Another useful piece of information was gleaned from the Smiling Buddha: his revenge against Chu Mingkong.

That demon egg was extremely important to the Heavenly Demons of their Jianmu branch, so important that damage to the egg could enrage the Smiling Buddha to the point of impulsiveness, causing him to drag his clansmen to deal with him.

Perhaps when Chu Mingkong (his wife Yuehe) smashed the demon egg, he unknowingly helped the Queen Mother of the West and Yao Ji in the Jianmu tree.

This is all the information that has been extracted from the Laughing Buddha so far. Whether more can be uncovered depends on luck.

"What about Wu Yiling?"

Ba Sheng clearly didn't take Wu Yiling seriously; she gave a light snort.

"It's just a defeated enemy sent here to seek revenge. Jianba Mountain wants to directly seize the results of the Two Elements Chaotic Soul Formation from me. If that formation is really completed, all the sword intent will be condensed into a divine sword."

This divine sword comes with a powerful array comparable to a sword domain. Even people from the Heavenly Realm would be lost under its influence. What a pity.

Therefore, there's nothing worth digging up about Wu Yiling from Jianba Mountain.

It's simply that they were beaten by Ba Sheng back then and didn't dare to fight back. After her influence had almost completely disappeared, Jianba Mountain secretly came down to do something, ostensibly to seek revenge on her descendants.

Ba Sheng said it was a pity about the Yin-Yang Chaos Soul Formation, but his attitude was quite frank; it was a failure.

To accomplish anything significant, one needs nine parts effort and one part luck, and that one part luck is indispensable.

Sometimes you can succeed with less effort, as long as you have enough luck. But sometimes you can do your best with all nine parts of effort, but if you lack that one bit of luck, you will still fail.

This is the meaning of "Man proposes, God disposes".

Chu Mingkong recalled the civilian souls he had just seen, scratched his head somewhat dejectedly, and asked:

"Grandma, do you think this matter should be blamed on some members of the Rakshasa Society, or on the Heavenly Domain forces to which they belong?"

If we're talking about the Rakshasa Society, then naturally the Buddhist sect would also be included.

This smiling Buddha claims to be from the Heavenly Demon Clan, but he clearly knows the details of the Buddhist abbot in the Rakshasa Society. It cannot be said that there is no Buddhist influence involved.

Chapter 119 Let's Set a Small Revenge Goal First

Regardless of whether the Buddhist sect has any powerful figures above it (in the celestial realm), its feud with Chu Mingkong is already irreconcilable.

Even if you send several female bodhisattvas over, they still can't reconcile.

Although Chu Mingkong did have connections with some people in Buddhism—but only with the Asura King, which didn't count as a connection with Buddhism, and the Asura King's attitude towards Buddhism was rather ambiguous—Chu Mingkong had seen far too many people around him suffer misfortune because of Buddhism.

There were so many that Chu Mingkong couldn't recall a single positive impression of them.

The earliest instance of the ambush on Master's precious treasure involved a bald Buddhist monk. Later, under the guise of slaying demons and monsters, they recklessly trespassed on the Xiaoxiang Qin Academy's territory. Still later, during the Xiling Martial Arts Competition, the Buddhist sect also got involved...

Even now, there are still queues on the Bridge of Helplessness.

Of course, if you really want to calculate it, he does have a grudge against the Asura King, but it hasn't developed to a particularly serious level yet. But a grudge is a grudge, and it can't be ignored, which is unfair to the Asura King!

There will be opportunities in the future to gain some advantage over the Asura King.

As for Buddhism as a whole, there is no possibility of reconciliation.