Confucian and Taoist scholar

Chapter 738 Buddha Possession

Shi Hu immediately sensed something was wrong, so he quickly opened his mouth and swallowed the golden statue, then disappeared from the ancestral hall in the blink of an eye.

In the blink of an eye, Shi Hu returned to his cave and saw Lu Zheng chatting happily with his younger relatives. For a time, all was well.

An intuition told him that the warning signs of danger he had just felt did not come from inside Tiger Mountain, but from outside.

Beyond the mountains, an elderly man in a monk's robe stood high in the sky, his eyes piercing as he looked down at the earth.

The old monk's eyes flickered with a strange light as he murmured, "Truly a place where hidden talents reside, a good place indeed..."

He came from the Wei Kingdom and planned to choose a new sacred mountain for his cultivation.

Of all the mountains he had seen along the way, this was the only one that satisfied him somewhat.

With a thought, the old monk's vast divine sense enveloped the entire Crouching Tiger Mountain, carefully investigating the situation within.

In the mountains, Shi Hu suddenly realized that someone was watching him.

It was a brazen probing; the visitors clearly had ill intentions.

Shi Hu's heart sank. As the master of this place, how could he stay in his cave and tolerate such arrogance and rudeness?

Lu Zheng also sensed the anomaly, but did not take any immediate action.

Shi Hu's expression was rather unpleasant. He had just invited Lu Zheng over, and it seemed that trouble was also coming his way. He didn't know what was going on.

Shi Hu then said to Lu Zheng, "I'll go check on the situation."

Having said that, Shi Hu flew out of Wohu Mountain to sense the source of the thought.

Soon, Shi Hu saw an old monk standing high in the sky, quietly scrutinizing him.

Shi Hu frowned and asked, "Who are you, and why are you so rude, daring to intrude into my territory?"

The old monk looked at the stone tiger and chuckled, "It seems you must be the demon king of this place. Not bad, not bad at all, a Xuan-level tiger demon."

Upon seeing the stone tiger before him, the old monk revealed a satisfied expression.

The old monk paused for a moment, then said, "This place will be my sacred site from now on. You will become my mount and take refuge in Buddhism to cultivate and attain enlightenment!"

Shi Hu was stunned. Where did this old bald monk come from, daring to speak so arrogantly?

However, sensing the warning from the statue, Shi Hu did not dare to be careless or underestimate the old monk in front of him.

Shi Hu calmed himself down and said, "Master, you should find another place. I have no interest in converting to Buddhism."

He had no interest in practicing Buddhism, much less becoming anyone's mount.

Upon hearing this, the old monk said leisurely, "Following this old monk is your good fortune; don't be ungrateful..."

The old monk slightly raised his hand to cast a spell, and a golden magic seal instantly formed, directly suppressing the stone tiger.

Shi Hu was already on guard, but as soon as the magic seal was unleashed, he was overwhelmed by its aura and could not move at all.

The immense pressure forced Shi Hu to fall, crashing into the ground and creating a large crater with his handprint.

Upon hearing this, Shi Hu was greatly alarmed; the old monk before him was actually a powerful cultivator who had attained the Dao.

The mere release of a single aura of pressure was something he could not contend with.

The suppression from the power beyond his realm made Shi Hu feel powerless and quite frustrated.

This was the first time he had ever truly felt the power of a powerful cultivator.

Even the divine artifacts residing within his body were suppressed and rendered ineffective.

The oppressive aura surrounding him grew stronger and stronger, causing Shi Hu to lose control and kneel on the ground, letting out muffled roars like a wild beast.

In just a few breaths, Shi Hu transformed from human form into a large, striped tiger, exuding a strong demonic aura.

The old monk's eyes grew increasingly satisfied as he looked at the stone tiger's tiger-like form; such a powerful and mysterious tiger demon was quite dignified to have as his mount.

The old monk raised his hand again, about to leave a mark on Shi Hu.

"Very well, from now on you will follow me in cultivation. Now that you have entered the Buddhist order, you should also change your name. I will bestow upon you the Dharma name..."

Before he could finish speaking, the old monk paused, glancing slightly to one side.

Shi Hu felt the pressure on him lessen, so he tried to turn his eyes and follow the old monk's gaze.

There, Lu Zheng stood with his hands behind his back, his gaze calmly fixed on the old monk.

The old monk narrowed his eyes, sensing that the young man before him was somewhat unusual.

"A human cultivator? You seem to have Buddhist potential. Would you like to become my disciple?"

The old monk became somewhat interested in Lu Zheng's appearance.

Lying prone on the ground, Shi Hu thought to himself, "This old monk really dares to speak..."

Upon seeing Lu Zheng, Shi Hu immediately felt much more at ease.

Although he didn't know the old monk's background, he was aware of Lu Zheng's abilities and connections.

In comparison, he believed that Lu Zheng was capable of dealing with this person.

Lu Zheng stared at the old monk and slowly said, "Are you Wuwang from the Dawu Temple, a sect of esoteric Buddhism?"

The old monk looked slightly surprised upon hearing this and said, "You know me?"

He had been living in seclusion for many years, but he never expected that this young man would recognize him so easily.

Lu Zheng smiled slightly and said, "Someone mentioned you to me before, saying that you..."

Lu Zheng stopped speaking halfway through his sentence.

Wu Wang, unable to contain his curiosity, pressed on, "What did you mean by that, this humble monk?"

Lu Zheng said unhurriedly, "When the orthodox Buddhist sect appears in the world, many monks will disregard the orthodoxy and rebel against the Buddhist sect of Wei. Among them, some powerful figures were mentioned, including your name."

Lu Zheng knew a lot about the various Buddhist sects in the Wei Kingdom.

The information was not only provided by Prince Yuan Tao and others, but also secretly revealed by some Buddhist statues in the Garan Temple.

Therefore, when Lu Zheng saw the monk in front of him, he quickly recognized the monk's identity and background.

Wu Wang was startled. The young man in front of him was talking about a lot of information, and someone who could access such topics was definitely not an ordinary person.

He had initially thought this young man had some connection with the esoteric Buddhist sect, which was why he knew his identity.

As it turned out, the other party didn't regard him as a high-ranking Buddhist monk at all, but rather as a Buddhist traitor who had fled there.

"who are you?"

Wu Wang's expression darkened slightly as he looked at Lu Zheng warily.

After all, the other party was right. He was worried that he would be purged by the suddenly appearing orthodox Buddhist sect, so he fled from Dawu Temple in Wei to the Northern Region, preparing to find a good place to cultivate again.

With the Wei Kingdom undergoing rectification efforts everywhere, he felt that at least in the next few years, the Wei court would not be able to spare any attention to specifically target those Buddhist monks who had fled the Wei Kingdom.

But things didn't seem to go as he expected.

Lu Zheng smiled faintly and said, "Since you don't know me, there's no need for you to know me."

“A Buddhist traitor who fled from Wei to this place dares to be so arrogant. This place in the Northern Region will not tolerate someone like you being so presumptuous. You really don’t know the immensity of heaven and earth.”

Hearing Lu Zheng's words, Shi Hu felt his blood boil. He himself would not have dared to speak so highly of a Dao-seeking expert.

In an instant, Lu Zheng's entire body radiated golden light, releasing a powerful aura. Under the impact of this aura, the pressure on Shi Hu lessened somewhat.

Buddhist aura? Shi Hu was astonished; he discovered that the aura Lu Zheng was releasing was also Buddhist...

Moreover, it seemed to have a purer Buddhist aura than that of the old monk.

This made Shi Hu wonder if he was hallucinating.

Wu Wang's expression changed slightly, but he did not immediately choose to leave.

He was, after all, a highly respected monk, so it was impossible for him to be so frightened that he would run away as soon as he saw someone daring to attack him.

"So we're kindred spirits. You're quite young, junior. May I ask which school you studied under?"

Wu Wang spoke slowly, and seeing this, he was not too worried. How profound could a young man's Buddhist teachings be?

He assumed that Lu Zheng might be from a major Buddhist sect in the Wei Kingdom, which was why he dared to speak to him like that.

Lu Zheng said coldly, "A fellow practitioner? I am your Dao destroyer."

A golden mark in Lu Zheng's hand shimmered with light, its rays shooting straight into the sky.

The next instant, a golden light descended from the sky and enveloped Lu Zheng.

An even more powerful aura instantly enveloped the area.

But behind Lu Zheng, a phantom image the size of a small mountain appeared.

Upon seeing the golden phantom, Wu Wang was immediately shocked.

He had never seen such an illusory figure before, but he sensed a powerful Daoist aura emanating from the very origins of Buddhism and Taoism.

"Buddha...Buddha..."

Wu Wang was shaken; his intuition told him that the Buddha behind the young man was none other than the Buddha himself.

How could this be... A huge wave of disbelief surged in Wu Wang's heart. He couldn't believe that someone could actually invite the Buddha.

Faced with such a Buddha image, Wu Wang felt his entire body and soul momentarily freeze.

In the blink of an eye, Lu Zheng and Wu Wang disappeared into the air.

The strange phenomenon of the Buddha that had appeared in the sky also disappeared.

Shi Hu finally felt no pressure and transformed from a large, striped tiger into human form.

He stared blankly at the spot where Lu Zheng had disappeared, momentarily dazed, as if in a dream.

"Buddha? That's Buddha? Isn't he a Confucian scholar...?"

Shi Hu murmured softly, his face full of incomprehension.

Everyone says Lu Zheng is a Confucian and Taoist cultivator, yet he casually invited the Buddha's true meaning? Shouldn't he have invited a Confucian or Taoist sage? Was what happened just now reasonable?

Shi Hu suddenly felt that he understood nothing about this world anymore.

Shi Hu rubbed his eyes and carefully searched his surroundings with his divine sense, but found no trace of Lu Zheng or the old monk.

"Could it be that the oppressive aura I felt earlier caused me to hallucinate?"

Shi Hu shook his head, almost wondering if something was wrong with him.

Recalling the scene just now, Shi Hu felt a sense of powerlessness deep in his heart. Faced with a powerful enemy, he was completely unable to resist in the slightest, which deeply affected his mind and body.

If Lu Zheng hadn't been here, he would probably have become someone else's mount, and his clansmen wouldn't have had a good life either.

Thinking of this, Shi Hu couldn't help but feel very glad he made that decision.

……

Wu Wang felt a sudden blur before his eyes, followed by a burst of golden light that was so bright it made it impossible for him to open his eyes.

He quickly used his divine sense to check the situation and found himself in a golden space, surrounded by pure Buddhist energy and the sound of Buddhist chants echoing endlessly.

As a Buddhist monk who had reached the Dao Inquiry Realm, Wu Wang felt extremely uncomfortable, and even the power he had cultivated was somewhat out of control.

A tall, phantom image of Buddha stands in the space.

Wu Wang could vaguely see Lu Zheng standing in the center of the illusory figure, staring at him with a cold gaze.

Lu Zheng held the Taiping Codex in his hand, and the codex rippled, instantly filling the golden space with another aura.

When the breath came into contact with Wuwang, an even more violent fluctuation occurred.

Wu Wang frowned, a bad feeling rising in his heart.

Without further hesitation, Wu Wang softly chanted a Buddhist mantra, and his entire being suddenly filled with overwhelming power, determined to destroy this space.

However, when the power of the Wuwang (a force of nature) struck the golden space, it was as powerless as hitting cotton, and its power slowly merged into this world, thus reinforcing the space.

Seeing this, Wu Wang's expression turned rather unpleasant. Was this the terrifying power of the Buddha?

Wu Wang never expected that after cultivating Buddhism and Taoism for most of his life, he would never see the true Buddha, but upon meeting him, he would have to confront the Buddha. This seemed absurd to him.

Lu Zheng said calmly, "Having seen the Buddha, how dare you be disrespectful?"

Wu Wang remained silent with a gloomy face. He now suspected that Lu Zheng was actually sent by the orthodox Buddhist sect of Wei Kingdom to purge the monks who had defected from the sect.

Therefore, he was unwilling to surrender without a fight.

The Buddha is dead; before him lies only a thought. Once he breaks free from the constraints of space, who can do anything to him?

Wu Wang tried to calm himself down and attempted to find a breakthrough in this space.

On the other side, Lu Zheng raised his hand and grabbed, and a stream of energy surged from the Taiping Codex, followed by the gathering of golden Buddhist energy.

A longsword formed by the intertwining of two powerful auras appeared.

Holding a long sword, Lu Zheng actually broke away from the Buddha's illusory image and headed towards Wuwang.

"Good timing!" Wu Wang's eyes flickered, feeling that this young man dared to be so presumptuous as to approach him.

Unconsciously, Wu Wang moved with his thoughts, his momentum like a rainbow rushing towards Lu Zheng.

The two moved at incredible speeds, like two dazzling beams of light colliding.

The next instant, Wu Wang's figure appeared in one direction.

His momentum had waned somewhat, his chest heaving rapidly, and he found it difficult to calm down.

Just now, he felt countless powerful forces enveloping him, trying to completely annihilate him.

Fortunately, he was strong enough to withstand the attack at his own expense.

While remaining on high alert, Wu Wang searched for Lu Zheng's whereabouts and soon found him.

Lu Zheng stood there unharmed, still holding a long sword, his aura even stronger than before.

"How is that possible!" Wu Wang's eyes widened in disbelief.

He felt that Lu Zheng had invoked the Buddha's spirit, and with the force of the collision just now, neither his body nor his soul should have been able to withstand such powerful pressure. He should have either suffered severe injuries or died out.

However, seeing Lu Zheng acting as if nothing had happened was completely beyond his comprehension.

If it were anyone else, they would probably have perished just as Wu Wang predicted.

However, Wu Wang was unaware that Lu Zheng's strength was already quite formidable, and this was not the first time Lu Zheng had used the power of the Saint, so his ability to withstand such power far surpassed that of others at the same level.

Moreover, Lu Zheng was already protected by the power of the Buddhist and Taoist origins, so the impact he just experienced could not harm him at all.

On the contrary, Wu Wang was constantly suppressed and attacked, his power dwindling with each use, and he had to struggle to avoid the backlash from the Buddha's teachings. (End of Chapter)