Chapter 107: Xuanhe

"Rumble!"

A thunderbolt struck from a clear sky, bringing neither wind nor rain. The Book Mountain Sect Master strode through the void, halting directly in front of Master Kongzhi. Their gazes collided across the vast expanse.

Infused with magical power, their invisible gazes transcended the rules of reality, taking on tangible might. The impact instantly triggered a drastic shift in the weather. The great sun hid within the sea of clouds, and the violent gales that should have raged fell perfectly still. Heaven and earth descended into a profound silence.

After a long silence, the Book Mountain Sect Master spoke first:

"A bodhicitta, a vajra body, the Honored Form Rank, and the unity of Brahman and the self... Just how much effort did the Brahma Nation expend to send an Awakened like you into the Eight Trigrams Furnace?"

Cultivation in the Brahma Nation differed vastly from the Immortal Gate's.

The Immortal Gate's Tribulation Transcending First Layer required the cultivation of four Immortal Dao traits. In the Brahma Nation, this stage was called Holding Precepts, and it cultivated four Awakened traits instead.

Those with shallow cultivation might think this was merely a difference in naming. In truth, the very foundations of cultivation between the Immortal Gate and the Brahma Nation diverged exactly here.

In short, the Immortal Gate cultivated 'Truth,' while the Brahma Nation cultivated 'Position.'

At this moment, gazing through his dharma eyes, the Book Mountain Sect Master could sense that while Master Kongzhi appeared to stand on the same level, the monk was actually situated at a much higher, more distant vantage point.

Such were the Brahma Cultivators. They forwent 'Truth' to cultivate only 'Position'—climbing to the Arhat Position, the Bodhisattva Position, and ultimately the Buddha Position within the Brahma Nation. The so-called 'Awakened' were Brahma Cultivators who had attained sudden enlightenment in Brahman principles, elevating their rank high enough to detach from reality and truly commune with the Brahma Nation.

"Truly disgusting," the Book Mountain Sect Master snapped. "You abandon Truth and rely on a false body to opportunistically steal profound power. Just looking at you bald donkeys makes me sick."

"Amitabha."

Master Kongzhi shook his head. "Benefactor, since you do not walk the Brahman path, how can you understand Brahman principles? If you wish to criticize this poor monk, you had best cultivate Brahman for three years first."

As his voice fell, the two pairs of eyes on Master Kongzhi's face opened simultaneously. His gaze, already infused with magical power, instantly gained another measure of profundity. Under that stare, the Book Mountain Sect Master felt as if he had suddenly plummeted to the bottom of a valley, while Master Kongzhi rose from the earth to look down on him from far above.

"Boom!"

In an instant, the winds and clouds converged, blooming into golden lotuses that orbited a towering, solemn Buddha statue. The sound of Zen chanting echoed endlessly.

A closer look revealed the Buddha statue actually possessed two faces and four arms.

The faces were divided between male and female, while the four arms respectively wielded the Treasure Sword, the Treasure Wheel, the Treasure Pestle, and the Treasure Parasol. These were four supreme-grade magical artifacts, equivalent to the Great Shun dynasty's demi-divine weapons.

The towering Buddha statue thus obscured more than half the sky.

Bearing the brunt of its presence, the Book Mountain Sect Master instantly felt the pressure multiply.

Below him, the Great Shun Capital was clearly affected as well. Many martial artists who had forged Divine Intent sensed the disturbance and raised their heads to the sky.

"What happened?"

"Has the sky grown a bit dark?"

"Strange..."

Seeing this, the Book Mountain Sect Master's expression changed wildly. He cursed internally, 'This bald donkey! Making a move without understanding the situation inside the Eight Trigrams Furnace...'

It would be one thing if this were anywhere else, but the Great Shun Capital—was this a place where one could just strike out at will?

He wasn't an ascetic monk on par with the Immortal Gate's Qi Refining practitioners. Did a mere Awakened truly think he could run amok here?

However, he had to admit that his opponent had clearly received the secret transmissions of the Brahma Nation and was an official Brahma Cultivator. Although he was the high and mighty Book Mountain Sect Master in Great Shun, within the Immortal Gate, he wasn't even an outer sect disciple. At his core, he was just an independent cultivator. If they truly fought, he was clearly no match for the monk.

"There's no other way..."

With that thought, the Book Mountain Sect Master immediately drew a stick of incense from his sleeve and ignited it with magical power. "I respectfully invite the Ancestor to descend to the lower world, smite evil, manifest righteousness, and reveal the Law!"

His words had barely fallen.

Suddenly, a gentle breeze carrying the thick scent of incense swept across the vast sky, catching Master Kongzhi's crushing, mountainous gaze.

"...How unexpected."

The Book Mountain Sect Master twirled the incense and blinked. In the span of that simple opening and closing, the spiritual sense and will contained within his eyes underwent an earth-shattering transformation.

"Amitabha."

Seeing this, Master Kongzhi pressed his palms together, instantly retracting all his profound phenomena, and smiled. "After so much trouble, I have finally managed to invite Benefactor Xuanhe to arrive in person."

Daoist Xuanhe!

This Immortal Gate disciple, who guarded the Eight Trigrams Furnace from the outside, had actually used the Book Mountain Sect Master's incense to project a portion of his consciousness inside!

"Benefactor, your method is truly profound."

Master Kongzhi said in a faint tone, "The Daoist name of all three generations of Book Mountain Sect Masters has been Xuanhe. This must be your medium for descending to the lower world this time, Benefactor. Thus, while the Book Mountain Sect Master appears to be three different people, they are all actually you. No wonder you haven't made a single mistake smuggling magical artifacts for five hundred years."

"..."

The Book Mountain Sect Master—or rather, Daoist Xuanhe—darkened his expression slightly. "To know so much... it seems you slipped in even before I began guarding the furnace."

"There is no need for Benefactor to trouble yourself over that."

Master Kongzhi said easily, "At the very least, I am thoroughly familiar with how you use your position for private gain, smuggling magical artifacts and laundering dharma currency."

"If Benefactor wishes to fight this poor monk to the death right here and drive me out, I would be more than happy to make your affairs public... Great Cultivator Mingyou does not have much time left; his immortal lifespan is nearing its end. Moreover, you are not his True Transmission. Once this matter is exposed, I'm afraid it will be very detrimental to you, Benefactor."

"When that time comes, even if you survive, Benefactor,"

"you will certainly be transferred away from the Eight Trigrams Furnace. And without your status as the furnace-guarding disciple, I'm afraid you won't get a share of that Child of Destiny either."

The moment those words came out, Daoist Xuanhe knew things were bad.

'This bald donkey came prepared.'

Before coming here, he had thought discovering the traces of a Brahma Cultivator was a coincidence. But looking at the situation now, this bald donkey had likely exposed his traces on purpose to invite him over!

"...Speak plainly."

After a moment of silence, Daoist Xuanhe also withdrew his magical power and said coldly, "How did you know about the Child of Destiny? Do you want a piece of the pie too?"

"Naturally."

Master Kongzhi nodded. "The fate of a Child of Destiny is incredibly vast. If one can claim a portion of it, the benefits to one's future cultivation go without saying."

"Beyond that, this poor monk also hopes to send more fellow disciples to this Eight Trigrams Furnace to spread our teachings and demonstrate our dharma. After all, as Benefactor knows, the Brahma Nation has always been destitute. We cannot compare to the wealth of the Immortal Gate, nor do we possess such an efficient treasure furnace dedicated entirely to artifact refinement."

"You greedy bald donkey!"

Daoist Xuanhe ground his teeth. "You want me to turn a blind eye and sit back while you smuggle your people into the Eight Trigrams Furnace? This crime is even greater than smuggling!"

Smuggling magical artifacts and reselling Immortal Gate assets... to put it bluntly, it was just business as usual. Everyone was doing it, which meant it was as if no one was doing it.

But colluding with Brahma Cultivators was entirely different.

This was a matter of allegiance.

Not only did the two sides rely on different cultivation systems, their core philosophies were worlds apart. There was almost no possibility of coexistence—otherwise, the Immortal-Brahma Sword Battle wouldn't exist.

"There are always loopholes to exploit."

Master Kongzhi smiled slightly. "For example, Benefactor's predecessor. He also discovered my traces, yet he covered it up and did not report it. Now, he has long since retired successfully."

"I won't say anything, and he won't say anything. So who would know that I sneaked into the Eight Trigrams Furnace during his tenure? People will simply assume that after you took over the position, you failed to guard the furnace properly and allowed me to slip in... Benefactor should understand this logic without my reminder."

Daoist Xuanhe naturally understood.

'As long as I pass this hurdle and finish dealing with the Child of Destiny, I can step down as the furnace-guarding disciple. When the time comes, I'll naturally find a newcomer to replace me.'

'By then, even if these Brahma Cultivators are discovered,'

'That will be the newcomer's problem.'

'It will have nothing to do with me.'

This sort of thing couldn't be investigated up the chain. If they investigated him, wouldn't they have to investigate his predecessor? And if they investigated the predecessor, wouldn't they have to look into the one before that?

And the furnace-guarding disciple before that was now a Qi Refining practitioner!

So, no matter how deep the investigation went, the person currently in office would always be the one to take the fall. This was an old rule of the Immortal Gate, and Daoist Xuanhe couldn't be any clearer on the matter.

"...Master and disciple."

Having thought this through, Daoist Xuanhe made his decision. "I will share a portion of the master-disciple affinity with you, but in exchange, you must do something for me."

Master Kongzhi spread his hands. "Please speak, Benefactor."

"The Child of Destiny is now suspected to have karmic ties to both the Demonic Dao and the Martial Dao. If you want a share, you must eradicate these troublesome connections from him."

"Benefactor's meaning is...?"

"I have already prepared a demonic tribulation to sever his demonic karma. As for the martial karma, I will leave that to you."

Daoist Xuanhe said coldly, "A demonic tribulation will make the Child of Destiny hate the Demonic Dao to the bone. Once he falls into a life-and-death crisis, you will step in to save him and take him as your disciple. At that time, you can conveniently cripple his martial arts. After you've claimed your share, send him up Book Mountain."

In just a few words, he had laid out the arrangements perfectly.

"Excellent, excellent."

Master Kongzhi smiled slightly. "This matter is simple. However, a single demonic tribulation is a bit too small in scale. This poor monk also has a martial tribulation prepared here that can add flowers to the brocade."

"A martial tribulation?"

Daoist Xuanhe was taken aback. He pinched his fingers on the spot to calculate, and then realization dawned on him. "Ranked third on the Armament Manual, possessing a bound supreme-grade magical artifact with the potential to become a true magical treasure."

"He is quite the talent. He can be put to good use."

Saying this, a smile also surfaced on Daoist Xuanhe's face. "May I ask for Fellow Daoist's dharma name?"

"This poor monk is Kongzhi."

"So it is Master Kongzhi!"

Daoist Xuanhe looked incredibly warm, as if he hadn't been the one angrily cursing 'bald donkey' just moments ago. He smiled. "Then I will trouble the Master to exert more effort going forward."

"Amitabha."

Master Kongzhi similarly returned the smile.

...

At the Immortal Gate, before the Eight Trigrams Furnace.

Daoist Xuanhe opened his eyes. The smile on his face had long since vanished, leaving only a deep, icy chill. 'Bald donkey, threatening me with my secrets?'

'He really is tired of living.'

'But this works out perfectly. I was just worrying about how to deal with the Child of Destiny's martial karma. Now that someone has taken the initiative to handle it, it saves me the effort.'

'To think he actually dared to volunteer to take charge of some martial tribulation.'

'This way, even if that fierce person inside the furnace goes berserk, the unlucky one will be the bald donkey. It will have nothing to do with me... I might even be able to borrow a knife to kill.'

At this thought, Daoist Xuanhe relaxed once again.

It wasn't a big problem!

As long as his core plan—the Child of Destiny—didn't run into issues, the entire situation wouldn't escape his control. No matter what the process entailed, the outcome would remain unchanged!