CHAPTER 752: 627 ZHU YOUMU SEEKS HELP BY ALL MEANS

The Zen Master Bai Mei previously had a string of prayer beads in his hand, which were the Muni Ding Guang Beads, and he gave them to Li Yingqiong.

He gave the Purple Gold Bowl to Chen Yan, and the Brocade Kasaya to himself.

Zhu Youmu remembered that his master had two divine eagles of spirit communication, one white and one black. The black eagle was also given to Li Yingqiong, but he didn’t know where the white one had gone.

He then asked, "Where is that white eagle now? After Master’s departure, I could only depend on it for companionship."

"The white eagle has already been properly taken care of by me. You just take care of yourself!" Zen Master Bai Mei instructed, "After I am gone, you must take your precepts as your master, diligently recite the Buddhist Scriptures, and cut back on cultivating Divine Skills! You are not allowed to seek another Daoist temple elsewhere; you must find a place on Stone Tiger Mountain to secretly cultivate for at least ten years. Within these ten years, you must not see any person. If you can achieve a pure and clear mind without a single thought of distress, there will be a time in the future for us to be reunited."

He knew that Zhu Youmu would certainly not follow the plan he laid out for the future; even if Zhu Youmu wanted to now, there would naturally be evil karma that would come knocking on his door in the future, causing him to stray from the path...

If everyone could walk the best path, everyone could succeed; it would not take a whole lifetime, but only half a lifetime to become a Buddha.

Unfortunately, the external demons are easy to vanquish, but the internal demons are hard to conquer; internal connections are easy to cut, but external connections are hard to resolve. Pressured by both internal and external influences and powerful karma, people are pushed towards the wrong direction.

The secular world is a boundless sea of karma; cultivation is like rowing against the current—advance two steps, fall back five. No matter how grand the initial intention, it’s still hard to avoid sinking in the end.

Knowing that more words would be useless, Zen Master Bai Mei did not dwell further. After finishing his final instructions, he prepared for rebirth.

Atong came over and sat cross-legged in front of him, resembling a disciple awaiting the Bodhisattva. In their minds, pure thoughts followed one another, every thought Amitabha Buddha. In a blink of an eye, Amitabha Buddha, leading thousands of Lotus Pond Bodhisattvas, came to guide the master and disciple.

Though they were the same Buddha and Bodhisattvas, due to different cultivation realms and karmic causes, the master and his disciple saw different things.

Zen Master Bai Mei, belonging to the top grade, saw the true forms of the Buddha and Bodhisattvas, countless and infinite, bringing the Vajra Lotus Platform to receive him.

When Zen Master Bai Mei ascended the Vajra Lotus Platform, he instantaneously saw the Buddha upon the blossom in the West and instantly became a Great Bodhisattva on earth.

Atong, who was of the middle grade, saw the manifested forms of the Buddha and Bodhisattvas. Amitabha Buddha gave him the Seven Treasures Lotus Platform. After ascending the platform, he was reborn in the Western land, where he would wait seven days to glimpse the Buddha and attain the First Fruit Sotapanna. He would have to go through half a kalpa in Nirvana to finally achieve the fruit of Arhat.

After they left, Zhu Youmu clutched his master’s Brocade Kasaya, feeling inexplicably heartbroken. His emotions were too complex now, with reluctance to part with his teacher, a sense of injustice that his master looked down on him, and a wave of exasperation... Various feelings intertwined, causing his face to be marked by changing expressions, and at the same time, he felt an indefinable sense of relief in the depths of his heart.

When his master was present, he was always in control, making him observe all kinds of precepts.

Now that his master had passed, he was the Sect Leader of this lineage; he could do whatever he wanted, no longer troubled by anyone else’s admonishments or control!

Turning his head, he saw Shi Pi the Elder.

Shi Pi the Elder had not left yet. He had witnessed Zen Master Bai Mei’s final instructions and the entire process of his ascension to the Pure Land, which had greatly shocked him.

He had some karmic connections with the Buddhist community and had once collected various Buddhist Scriptures to study. He had even considered taking Bai Mei as his master to fully convert to Buddhism and cultivate the correct fruit.

He had imagined that one day he would also be welcomed by Maitreya to ascend to the Pure Land...

Just as this idea towards Buddha began to brew, he saw Zhu Youmu’s very unkind look.

"Old demon! After the teacher and the two Divine Monks freed you from the Yin Demon attached to you and extinguished your Yin Thunder that was creating wrongful tribulations, why are you not leaving? Are you still here to seek revenge on me?" Zhu Youmu said coldly, "If you still have a bit of sense and good karma, immediately return to Divine Sword Peak, sincerely recite the Buddhist Scriptures, deeply repent your mistakes. If so, after ten years, remembering the connection you have with Buddhism, I’ll wear this Brocade Kasaya on behalf of my master to save you..."

Shi Pi the Elder interrupted him with a cold laugh, "What are you? I respected Bai Mei Monk with some regard, and you speak to me like this? You are not worthy!"

Zhu Youmu was enraged and ready to engage in a duel with Shi Pi the Elder on the spot.

Sitting on the Blood Lotus, Shi Pi the Elder flicked his horsetail whisk and quickly left, "You’re already one foot in the Demon Path and you don’t even know it! I see that you have a destiny with my Demon Cult. You might as well cultivate here in Stone Tiger Mountain, and after ten years, in remembrance of your connection with our cult, I will come on the Blood Lotus Calyx to save you..."

Zhu Youmu unleashed Great Sandalwood Buddha Light spanning the horizon to block his way and also threw a Vajra Giant Spirit Buddha Palm towards Shi Pi the Elder.

Shi Pi the Elder laughed heartily, and from within the Blood Lotus Calyx, he shot out thirteen streams of Demon Light, forming a blood-colored light banner around himself. After a few flashes across the sky, he disappeared from sight.

Zhu Youmu looked down on the evil heretics, and Shi Pi the Elder’s provocation made him itch to immediately go to Divine Sword Peak and stir up a storm. However, Zen Master Bai Mei had just told him he needed to cultivate in seclusion on Stone Tiger Mountain for ten years; even with his hatred of Shi Pi the Elder, he still could not leave for the moment.

Moreover, after his duel with Shi Sheng, several of his Magical Treasures had been destroyed, so he knew that with his current abilities, it would be very difficult to win against Shi Pi the Elder in a duel.

He had just witnessed the Technique Divine Power of Shi Pi the Elder. Without the suppression of the Seven Treasures Golden Banner, Li Hong and the others were simply no match for the Great Demon. His own Mana was still not as strong as the Old Demon’s. Although he knew many Buddhist Demon-suppressing Great Techniques, which could counter the various Spells of the Old Demon, at most he could only protect himself. Not only was victory out of reach, but even gaining an advantage was difficult.

He decided to follow his master’s advice and continue his Cultivation in the second half of Stone Tiger Mountain for ten years. During this period, he would devote himself to the study of all kinds of Demon-suppressing Spells and refine several Demon-suppressing Treasures. After ten years, it would be time for him to leave the mountain and clean up the world, sweeping away all the evil!

He had always felt that Zen Master Bai Mei was too compassionate towards those Evil Demons. This included Zen Masters like Tian Meng and Zun Sheng, and even Master Fen Tuo, he thought that they were too lenient.

They clearly possessed the Demon-suppressing Great Technique, yet chose not to use it... In truth, he admired the style of the Absolute Venerable from years past. He had discussed this matter with Jiang Xuejun, and both of them disapproved of their elders’ excessive compassion.

Violence should be met with violence! Those Evil Demons must be made to pay a bloody price, to be completely erased from the world!

These thoughts, when his master was still around, he approached with extreme caution, knowing that his master, possessing great Wisdom, could sense all his thoughts and feelings.

Now that his master was gone, he could finally think freely, and even act!

Although he could not leave Stone Tiger Mountain, he could send someone else.

Zhu Youmu used the Buddhist Heart-Light Sensing Great Technique to contact his good friend, Jiang Xuejun.

Since her master’s Ascension, she had become the leader of Miao Zhen Temple, Cultivating alone in Dongting Mountain.

She had also foreseen a great calamity in the future, which would be quite difficult to surmount. She had been preparing for this upcoming Tribulation for years.

Her method of preparation was to cultivate even stronger Spells and refine even more powerful Magical Treasures.

Her character was such that, regardless of Heavenly Tribulation or Human Tribulation, as long as her own strength was enough, she could overcome anything. If she couldn’t, it was simply because her strength was insufficient.

Thus, over the years, she had cultivated many Magical Treasures, some of which Yan Yingmu had previously discouraged her from refining, but she had done so anyway.

In recent years, Mahayana Venerable Sikong Zhan, who was also on Dongting Mountain, had a new disciple who offended her.

She had long held a grudge against Sikong Zhan, so she went straight to his door, killed more than twenty demon followers.

Not even Sikong Zhan, with his wives and beautiful sisters, could defeat her together, and in the end, he was driven away by her and fled overseas.

She too harbored the ambition to sweep away all the world’s demons. Her master had always stopped her, simply saying that if others did not offend her, she should not offend others and to ordinarily refrain from creating killing karma.

Now, with her master Ascended, she could finally carry out her ideals, starting with the demons and evil spirits around her, clearing out all the peripheral and left-handed paths of Jiangsu and Zhejiang, killing and driving away until it was much quieter than the years before.

When Zhu Youmu contacted her, she was on the lakeside, leading a group of Plant Spirits in practicing Arrays.

On her Dongting Mountain, there were plenty of thousand-year-old plum and willow spirits.

Plant Spirits were harder to cultivate than animal ones, like Merfolk Jin Xunu, who could acquire formidable Mana and the ability to fly through the skies and escape underground in just five hundred years.

But for plants, a thousand years was required to possibly gain some spiritual awareness; and even then, it was only possible for Spiritual Objects like Purple River Grass and Lingzhi. For common peach and willow trees, even after a thousand years, at most they could induce some illusions in nearby people or, while someone was asleep, enter their dreams.

Since her master’s Ascension, Jiang Xuejun found Miao Zhen Temple, and even the whole of Dongting Mountain, to be lonely.

So, she used Magic to enlighten the thousand-year-old tree spirits of the mountain, transforming them into young men and women. They would do menial tasks in the Daoist Temple, and when she had time, she taught them some Spells and trained them to coordinate in practicing Arrays.

However, what was initially exciting gradually became boring.

Just when she was at her most listless, Zhu Youmu appeared out of nowhere using the Manifestation of Buddha Light.

Jiang Xuejun lit up with joy at the sight of him, "How did it go with the three families hunting down Shi Pi the Old Demon?"

"The three Divine Monks were soft-hearted, and with the interference of the Evil Dragon’s descendant, the mission was ultimately not completed."

Zhu Youmu briefly recounted the events, and upon hearing it, Jiang Xuejun became indignant, "I wanted to go at the time, but you insisted I shouldn’t! If I had been there, how could those demons and ghosts be so rampant!"

Zhu Youmu also regretted, "I thought the same, but Master Zun Sheng insisted on persuading him with Buddhist Law rather than force; what else could be done? But now they have all Ascended, and Zen Master Tian Meng will soon. When the time comes, we’ll join forces to clean up those Evil Demons thoroughly! However, there is an urgent matter at hand that I need you to attend to, and it’s urgent!"