After breaking up with my girlfriend, I became a Great Sage of the Demon Clan.

"It's possible that Lingshan was demolished, and the Buddha and Bodhisattvas took the money to build houses elsewhere."

Xu Shengle said.

"That's not true. Even the Heavenly Emperor wouldn't order the demolition and relocation of Mount Ling."

"I think..."

Xu Sheng left the temple and went to another one.

"Something terrible must have happened to all the Buddhas of Mount Ling, and they've all moved out."

Xu Sheng stepped on the ground of the new temple.

"For example, at the foot of Mount Lingba, a demon was suppressed. Only a few guardians were left on Mount Ling to suppress the demon, while the other Buddhas and Bodhisattvas left."

Zhou Yan looked intently at Xu Sheng.

"Is it possible, Professor Xu, that you are the one being suppressed beneath Mount Ling?"

Xu Sheng burst into laughter.

"Mr. Wu, you're joking too much. How could I, a Buddhist cultivator who practices the righteous path and does no evil, be suppressed?"

Zhou Yan said meaningfully.

"Life is unpredictable; who knows what will happen in the future?"

Xu Sheng shook his head with a smile. He completely thought that Zhou Yan was just talking nonsense. Of course, in this place that was originally a Buddhist holy site but is now deserted and there is not a single person in sight, it is already very good to have someone like Zhou Yan to talk to to relieve stress.

After checking the nearby temples and confirming that there were no people around, Xu Sheng went down to another hilltop.

The temple on the other hilltop is in much worse condition than the one on the first hill. At least a third of the temple has succumbed to the erosion of time and collapsed. Many of the remaining temples have broken roofs, and the tree trunks inside, which serve as pillars, are covered with mold and look on the verge of collapse.

However, the collapsed temple provided Zhou Yan and Xu Sheng with less exercise, allowing them to quickly finish inspecting the mountain before moving on to the next location.

As soon as they reached the next mountain, Zhou Yan felt that it looked familiar. After walking a few steps, Zhou Yan saw the Dayuan Temple where the Medicine Buddha had been hiding.

The temple's original state was relatively well preserved, but when he entered the Heavenly King Hall, Xu Sheng frowned slightly after seeing the statues of the Moonlight Bodhisattva and the Sunlight Bodhisattva inside.

"Mr. Wu..."

Zhou Yan looked at Xu Sheng, whose expression was somewhat solemn.

"We've inspected twenty-two temples. Have you noticed anything amiss?"

Zhou Yan became curious.

"What's wrong?"

Xu Sheng took a breath and then spoke.

“I started with the earliest temples and found that most of them followed the architectural structure of the eight chambers of a monastery, which includes the mountain gate, bell tower, drum tower, hall of heavenly kings, and the main hall of the Buddha. These buildings all have very strict rules. The main hall of the Buddha houses the Buddha, and the hall of heavenly kings houses the future Buddha.”

"but……"

Xu Sheng made no attempt to hide his unease.

"In the Heavenly King Halls I've visited, it seems... there are no statues of Maitreya Buddha."

As the future Buddha and the future leader of Buddhism, Maitreya Buddha holds an extremely revered position in the Hall of Heavenly Kings. He is an indispensable Buddha statue in normal temples. However, such a great Buddha is not found in dozens of temples.

This is not normal. Even a fool like Xu Sheng could tell that Maitreya Buddha must be hiding some big secret.

Zhou Yan was playing with flavor.

"Is that so? Hmm, it seems so. But does this mean that..."

"...What problem has arisen with Maitreya Buddha?"

Xu Sheng nodded.

"It's possible..."

Xu Sheng softly chanted "Amitabha Buddha".

"Xu's cultivation level two happens to be the Maitreya Dharma Image four. Was his arrival at Mount Ling preordained?" →∷四·↑

Zhou Yan chuckled.

No, it wasn't predetermined. It was only after we nurtured you into the Maitreya Buddha that this development began.

Unaware of the profound meaning behind Zhou Yan's chuckle, Xu Sheng's mind was filled with speculation about Maitreya Buddha. It was as if Maitreya Buddha was too hasty, forcing Tathagata to abdicate, which caused conflict on Mount Ling and led to the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas leaving Mount Ling to establish their own sects.

Or perhaps Maitreya broke with Buddha and left with a large group of bodhisattvas. Buddha, seeing his disciple ignoring him and opposing him, was distressed and also left with the remaining disciples.

So, Lingshan became the desolate place it is today?

In short, after arriving here, Xu Sheng didn't see any other problems, but the fact that the Maitreya Buddha statue was not in the Heavenly King Hall seemed very unusual. Moreover, even with Xu Sheng's current supernatural abilities such as the Heavenly Eye and Heavenly Ear, he was still unable to figure out what had happened on Mount Ling by searching for cause and effect.

This place is not safe.

However, what Xu Sheng wanted to do was to defy the heavens and change the way of heaven. How could he abandon all his previous efforts and cower like a coward because of this little danger?

Xu Sheng left Dayuan Temple without much hesitation. He then went to other temples, and as he had previously observed, most, if not all, of the Heavenly King Halls in these other temples did not have a statue of Maitreya.

Xu Sheng, who was about to enter the Hou Sheng Temple, suddenly had a thought.

"I asked Zhou Yan, who was following behind Xu Sheng."

"what happened?"

Xu Sheng asked blankly.

"The image of the Buddha in Xu's mind has moved."

Xu Sheng felt as if a Maitreya Buddha was sitting on his mind's platform. At that moment, the Maitreya Buddha was forming a lotus flower mudra in its hand. Xu Sheng felt as if his mind's platform was blooming like a lotus flower, fresh, natural, and untouched by dust.

In short, I felt incredibly refreshed, and my whole body was bursting with inexhaustible energy.

Zhou Yan said in a sinister tone.

"Did your Dharma body give you a buff, making you go and... no, go and fight?"

Xu Sheng stared at the temple plaque of the Hou Sheng Temple.

"Mr. Wu, the Later Sage, the Later Sage, could this Later Sage refer to Maitreya Buddha?"

Maitreya Buddha is the future Buddha, so it's not far off to call him a future saint.

Zhou Yan joked.

"Perhaps, but since this place has elicited a reaction from you, Professor Xu, even if it's not the place of Maitreya Buddha, there must be something extraordinary about it."

Xu Sheng nodded vigorously.

"Yes, there might be some problem inside, Mr. Wu. You have done me a great favor, and I can't bear to see you get into trouble because of my family. How about this, I'll go in, and once everything is clear, I'll invite you in to take a look, Mr. Wu?"

Zhou Yan shook his head.

"No, let's go together!"

Otherwise, how could I have found an opportunity to assassinate you?

Zhou Yanba was a little afraid that Xu Sheng might transform into something after going inside.

In TV series and movies, it's quite normal for villains and heroes to transform into each other. In some fire-fighting games, the BOSS can even transform twice or three times.

What's quite intriguing is that the protagonists and antagonists, who were previously locked in a fierce battle and were sworn enemies, would tacitly wait for the other to finish transforming and unleash a cool CG sequence before making their move.

Zhou Yan would never do such a thing. The moment you dare to transform, I will unleash all my attacks and beat the transformed enemy so badly that you won't even recognize your own mother.

Xu Sheng had no suspicions; he simply felt that Zhou Yan cared about him, and he couldn't help but feel touched.

"Then please follow behind me, Mr. Wu. If anything happens, let me handle it."

"Thank you for your trouble, Mr. Xu."

Xu Sheng entered the Hou Sheng Temple. This Hou Sheng Temple on Ling Mountain was very small. There was a mountain gate, but inside there was no drum tower, bell tower, or Mahavira Hall and Heavenly King Hall. There were just a few lonely monks' cells sitting on the flat ground, showing their existence to outsiders.

Xu Sheng walked into the nearest monk's cell, and it was no longer empty; a mummified corpse was sitting cross-legged inside.

Zhou Yan glanced at the mummified corpse and thought, "Ah... it's the golden remains of the Buddha of the past."

Xu Sheng couldn't tell who the mummified corpse was, but at that moment, the Maitreya Dharma image on Xu Sheng's spiritual platform formed a Thousand Lamp Seal. Xu Sheng's mind immediately shone brightly. Under normal circumstances, this Thousand Lamp Seal could dispel all negative emotions and mental disturbances, but now Xu Sheng had not received any mental attacks. Therefore, the Thousand Lamp Seal only made Xu Sheng a little more excited.

"This place is indeed unusual."

Xu Sheng bowed to the mummified corpse of the Buddha of the Past.

He wondered, "Who is this Bodhisattva or Buddha, since he has already died here?"

Lu Xusheng straightened up.

"Is this place the site of a great battle in the past? Was it indeed an invasion by external demons, a battle against the eminent Buddhist monks?"

Xu Sheng had previously thought that Lingshan was in such a state because of internal strife, since the buildings and terrain of Lingshan were well preserved and no corpses had been found. Now that he had seen corpses, he could be certain that people had died in Lingshan in the past.

The possibility of the conflict shifting from internal strife to external invasion has increased.

It's just a matter of what kind of powerful figure could have managed to destroy Ling Mountain like this.

"Mr. Wu, the situation is unclear right now. If you want to leave now, I completely understand."

Xu Sheng again urged Zhou Yan to leave.

Zhou Yan shook his head again.

"No, no, no, the greater the risk, the greater the reward, Mr. Xu. I'm an investor. I can invest in you, and I can also..."

Zhou Yan pointed to the ground beneath his feet.

"Invest in this place."

Xu Sheng felt that Zhou Yan was willing to risk his life for money, but he respected Zhou Yan's opinion. After all, it was his own life, and he could spend it however he wanted.

Xu Sheng went to the second monk's cell. Perhaps the first monk's cell was too extravagant, as it actually contained the remains of a past Buddha. The second monk's cell was rather plain. There were no corpses inside, just a few rotten Buddhist scriptures on the floor and bed.

Xu Sheng tried to pick them up, but the moment his magic touched his palm, the scriptures turned into powder and scattered.

Xu Sheng had no choice but to leave the monk's cell and go to the third monk's cell.

The third monk's cell was bare, with no bed, no wardrobe, and only a futon in the middle, on which three relics floated in the air.

Zhou Yan opened the attribute panel of the relic.

Name: Relic of Maitreya Buddha.

Zhou Yan's expression shifted slightly.

In the world of Maitreya Buddha's relics... I saw Maitreya Buddha's relics?

Combat:

Chapter 720, Chapter Forty-Eight: Blue Screen

"This relic..."

Xu Sheng felt the six Maitreya images in his mind move again, but this time the images were not forming hand seals or using supernatural powers. Instead, a large amount of information was flowing out of his mind and swirling inside Xu Sheng's body.

If you don't pay attention to this information, it won't matter. But if you do pay attention, all of this information is telling Xu Sheng to grab the relic in front of him.

However, being an elderly man, Xu Sheng wouldn't act like a young person who would disregard everything once he had an idea. Before he could figure out what was in front of him, whether it was a trap or a benefit, how could Xu Sheng possibly reach out and grab it?

Zhou Yan, standing behind Xu Sheng, stroked his chin and examined the relic in front of him.

Zhou Yan had no idea what this relic was, and he couldn't use his eyes on it. Therefore, Zhou Yan was unsure whether to let Xu Sheng stay away from the relic, let Xu Sheng come into contact with it, or let himself come into contact with it.

Zhou Yan tried to reach out, but an eerie sense of crisis welled up in his heart. This sense of crisis was not about death, but rather the series of things in his hand, which were strongly telling Zhou Yan that if he really tried to grab the relic, something that Zhou Yan absolutely did not want to happen would definitely happen.

Zhou Yan couldn't help but withdraw his hand.

Everything is uncertain, everything is unclear, and the unknown is terrifying.

Xu Sheng, who was standing in front of Zhou Yan, suddenly let out a long breath.

"That's enough, that's enough."

Now that we've come this far, and are right in front of Maitreya's (?) relics, we can't possibly say we don't know what's in front of us, so we'll observe for hundreds of years before taking action, can we?

Xu Sheng, who was already hypnotized and controlled by the image of Maitreya in his mind, could not suppress his instincts and ultimately chose to accept it.

Xu Sheng reached out towards the floating relic in front of him, and countless images began to flash through his mind. He thought of Zhao Ya, the nanny who took care of him, his children, and his students over the decades.

These children are intelligent, beautiful, and spirited. They deserve to have wonderful lives of their own and to become carefree true gods.

If you have to pay a price for this noble aspiration, then be the price yourself.

Xu Sheng dared to be the first in the world!