Chapter 527: Slaying Demons

On the day Wang Chen made her suggestion, Lin Xun moved into Wang Chen’s courtyard along with Goudan.

Wang Chen lived alone on a mountain peak, which was quite quiet and secluded, with no one else to disturb her.

Compared to the mountain peak Lin Xun had stayed on before, this was countless times better.

Furthermore, because Lin Xun had moved into Wang Chen’s courtyard,

Wang Chen could cook for Lin Xun every time she prepared a meal.

Wisps of cooking smoke rose from Wang Chen’s courtyard.

The mountain forest, which was originally as quiet as a fairyland, now held a slight touch of the mundane world’s warmth.

Not only that.

When Lin Xun and Wang Chen sat together to eat,

for a moment, there was a feeling like that of a married couple between Lin Xun and Wang Chen.

During the time he lived in Wang Chen’s courtyard, Lin Xun and Wang Chen attended morning and evening prayers every day without missing a single session.

This actually quite surprised Complete Tranquility.

In Complete Tranquility’s view, with Lin Xun and Wang Chen living together, it would have been good enough if Wang Chen showed up even once.

But Lin Xun and Wang Chen didn’t seem to have let it go to their heads.

Lin Xun actually knew that the Old Monk likely already knew he was living in Wang Chen’s courtyard.

However, the Old Monk didn’t say anything, acting as if he hadn’t seen it.

Since the Old Monk was turning a blind eye,

there was no need for him to go and say anything more to the Old Monk.

It was enough that they both understood the situation.

Complete Tranquility knew Lin Xun acted with propriety and wouldn’t do anything inappropriate to Wang Chen.

Lin Xun truly just wanted to find Wang Chen to help him with his studies.

The real kind of study help.

Every day after morning prayers, Wang Chen would explain the scriptures to Lin Xun.

Lin Xun would listen very intently every time.

And truth be told,

listening to Wang Chen’s explanations, Lin Xun felt it was far easier to understand than looking at the annotations of those scriptures himself.

But well, there was no helping it; Lin Xun really wasn’t that interested in Buddhist scriptures.

Even though Wang Chen explained them in an extremely easy-to-understand way,

as Lin Xun listened, he would start to doze off.

It was like having a Chinese teacher who was a famous master from a top high school,

yet the moment you attended her class, you’d find yourself getting sleepy.

It was just one of those things.

Then, when Lin Xun became dazed and felt he really couldn’t listen anymore,

Wang Chen would always very considerately stop her lesson for Lin Xun.

Every time this happened, Wang Chen would let Lin Xun rest his head on her lap.

Lin Xun initially refused.

But Wang Chen was extremely persistent.

Especially since it seemed like Wang Chen would cry if he didn’t take the lap pillow.

With no other choice, Lin Xun could only rest his head on Wang Chen’s lap.

After gently patting Lin Xun to sleep, Wang Chen would open a scripture and delve into the Buddhist classics.

Originally, the Buddhist Path Convention didn’t hold much attraction for Wang Chen.

In fact, many things held no attraction for Wang Chen.

However, Big Brother Lin said he wanted to see her perform well.

Since that was the case, she shouldn’t let her big brother down.

She would work hard to make her big brother proud of her.

As for Goudan and the small beast, the Dream-Eating Tapir,

they were basically together every day.

Except Lin Xun felt that the look Goudan gave the Dream-Eating Tapir seemed a bit off.

How should he put it?

It was like a pervert seeing a peerless beauty who had just stepped out of a bath.

Except Goudan didn’t seem to be after the Dream-Eating Tapir’s beauty.

After all, Goudan and the Dream-Eating Tapir were both genderless beings; there was nothing to be after.

Lin Xun felt Goudan was simply lusting after the Dream-Eating Tapir’s body.

Goudan’s eyes always carried a hint of aggressive color.

As an ancient Divine Beast, the Dream-Eating Tapir naturally knew this red coal ball was lusting after its body.

But since this red coal ball hadn’t actually done anything to it,

the Dream-Eating Tapir gradually began to relax slightly.

In the garden, Goudan and the Dream-Eating Tapir, two strange species, constantly chased and played with each other, looking extremely harmonious.

Soon, the day of the Buddhist Path Convention arrived. Countless Sects and temples participated together; it was a grand ceremony for both the Buddhist Path and Daoism.

Seeing so many monks and Daoist Cultivators participating in this Buddhist Path Convention together, Lin Xun found it quite spectacular.

This Buddhist Path Convention was divided into three parts.

In the past, there was usually only one part.

Which was the Disciples of the Buddhist and Daoist houses sitting together to engage in a five-day debate on the Dao.

One would pose a question, and the other would resolve it, debating back and forth until one side could no longer answer and conceded.

But now, this Buddhist Path Convention had undergone significant changes.

The first part of the Buddhist Path Convention was now’Slaying Demons’.

The so-called Slaying Demons,

as the name suggests, involved the Cultivators of the Buddhist and Daoist houses subduing Demonic Beasts.

To see who could subdue more Demonic Beasts within the same time frame.

Of course, this first round of’Slaying Demons’ wasn’t about going to some forest of Demonic Beasts.

Furthermore, in the eyes of Buddhist Cultivators, if those Demonic Beasts didn’t actively harm them, they wouldn’t take action.

Let alone killing just for the sake of a competition.

Therefore, this first part of Slaying Demons was actually held within an illusion.

This illusion came from a bead brought by the Daoist Heaven Sect.

This bead was named the Heaven-Deriving Bead.

The Heaven-Deriving Bead could release countless illusions of Demonic Beasts.

The lowest Realm among them was the Cave Mansion Realm, while the highest could reach the strength of the Immortal Realm.

And this Heaven-Deriving Bead was a Magic Treasure created entirely to increase the Disciples’ combat experience.

Among the monks and Daoists participating in the Buddhist Path Convention,

there were five thousand monks in total, all of whom were direct participants in the convention.

And there were also five thousand Daoists.

As for the other tens of thousands of people, they were there to observe and witness this grand ceremony.

“Fellow Daoists, when you enter the Heaven-Deriving Bead, please exert your strength to the fullest. I believe all of you will surely achieve the best results.”

With those words, an Elder tossed the Heaven-Deriving Bead into the sky.

The Heaven-Deriving Bead began to shatter.

Finally, a distorted Void Gate appeared in the sky.

Behind this Void Gate was the illusion manifested by the Heaven-Deriving Bead.

All living things inside were illusory and non-existent.

Moreover, even if one was killed inside, they wouldn’t lose their life; they would merely be expelled from this Secret Realm.

One could say this Secret Realm was like a virtual world in an online game, yet it was extremely realistic.

Not only did it allow Disciples to experience the boundary between life and death, but it also provided excellent combat for Cultivators to gain experience.

One by one, the Cultivators flew into that great gate.

At the same time, over a dozen large images appeared above the square.

These images were like large screens broadcasting a live stream.

Looking at these images, Lin Xun was momentarily stunned; he hadn’t expected the Buddhist Path Convention to have such an operation.

Lin Xun, who was watching from the sidelines, naturally didn’t participate in the convention or enter the illusion.

After all, Lin Xun was currently just a minor monk.

Moreover, if Lin Xun were to enter this illusion, there was a possibility he might expose himself.

If his identity were exposed, it would definitely be a case of losing more than he gained for Lin Xun.

However, standing on the grounds and watching Wang Chen and the others, Lin Xun’s mind couldn’t help but wander, thinking about how he should stir up trouble, like whether he should pull some small tricks on that Buddhist Son.

But on second thought, he let it go.

After all, many Abbots and Sect Masters had come for this Buddhist Path Convention.

Their Realms were not low.

Under so many watchful eyes, if he were to pull any small tricks, he would definitely be discovered.

This meant that in this first round of competition, Wang Chen could only rely on her own strength.

Inside the Heaven-Deriving Bead, as everyone gradually found their footing, Demonic Beasts suddenly pounced out without warning.

The Realm of the first wave of the Demonic Beast tide wasn’t high and was quickly dealt with by the participating monks and Daoists.

But this was just the beginning.

The big ones were yet to come.

Following that, more and more Demonic Beasts pounced toward the monks and Daoists.

The Realms of these Demonic Beasts also gradually increased.

They even possessed a bit of intelligence, knowing how to coordinate with each other and surround their targets.

Under the continuous assault of the Demonic Beasts, people were killed one by one.

Upon being killed, they turned into a beam of light, spilling out from the Heaven-Deriving Bead’s illusion and finally landing on the grounds in reality.

They all clutched the spots where they had received fatal blows in disbelief.

They felt as if they had truly been killed, yet they were still alive; this feeling between life and death gave them much to reflect upon.

Lin Xun focused his attention on the Buddhist Son, Wang Chen, and Mo Wenwen.

Mo Wenwen held a whisk, and with every flick of it, Demonic Beasts would be annihilated.

She walked through the Heaven-Deriving Bead’s illusion as if she were taking a stroll in a courtyard.

The Daoist charm around her constantly circulated, even carrying a hint of the world’s majesty.

Behind Wang Chen, Buddhist light surged.

Golden lotus flowers after another swirled around Wang Chen’s body.

Whenever a Demonic Beast approached Wang Chen, intending to attack her, a Buddhist lotus would always strike that beast.

Or a Golden Bell Shield would cover Wang Chen from all angles.

No matter how fierce the attack, they couldn’t break through Wang Chen’s defense.

Since Wang Chen’s Divine Beast could also be brought into the field,

the Demonic Beasts slain by the Sibuxiang were also credited to Wang Chen.

What Lin Xun hadn’t expected was that the Dream-Eating Tapir, which was bullied by Goudan all day, actually possessed such formidable strength.

The Dream-Eating Tapir stood up, transforming into a giant beast five or six meters tall.

Then, with a swing of its trunk, a swath of Demonic Beasts would fall.

Lin Xun’s brow twitched slightly.

He recalled how Goudan used to ride on this Dream-Eating Tapir and bully it.

To be fair, Lin Xun felt the Dream-Eating Tapir was just humoring Goudan and didn’t want to lower itself to the dog’s level.

Otherwise, Goudan might not have been its match.

As for that Buddhist Son,

his strength was indeed no joke.

To be able to compete with Wang Chen and have such a grand reputation, how could he be weak?

He wasn’t weak at all; this Buddhist Son’s strength was very formidable.

Three Arhats appeared behind him.

And each Arhat radiated ten thousand zhang of light.

Not only that, he sat high atop a golden lotus.

To his left was an Azure Dragon, and to his right was a White Tiger.

He looked incredibly fierce, just short of shouting, “Prodigy, I want you to help me with my cultivation!”

If he remembered correctly, this Buddhist Son was actually only a little over two hundred years old.

But now, this Buddhist Son was already in the Middle Stage of the Jade Purity Realm.

It could be said that as long as no major accidents occurred, this Buddhist Son would definitely be able to step into the Ascension Realm in the future.

Half an hour passed, and in that illusion, Wang Chen and the other two had already defeated an unknown number of Demonic Beasts.

As more time slipped away, various debuffs were applied to them.

This was another formidable aspect of this illusion.

The longer you stayed in this illusion, the more severe your loss of physical strength would be.

Moreover, your Realm would be sealed even more heavily.

Finally, after half an hour had passed, no matter how much of a Genius Wang Chen and the others were, they now showed a slight posture of fatigue.

Another incense stick’s time passed, and because Wang Chen’s Realm was the lowest, she was eliminated after defeating several Jade Purity Realm Demonic Beasts.

Next, the Buddhist Son was eliminated.

Finally, Mo Wenwen was eliminated from the illusion.

Although in the final result, Wang Chen killed the fewest Demonic Beasts among the three and stayed inside for a relatively short time,

Wang Chen was only in the Nascent Soul Realm, the lowest Realm and the youngest among the three.

Moreover, the final results were calculated by points.

So Wang Chen would receive some bonus points.

In the end, with one hundred points as a perfect score,

in the first round of competition, Mo Wenwen received a high score of 99, while Wang Chen got 95, and the Buddhist Son got 97… Although Wang Chen’s score was the lowest among the three, no one looked down on her.

After all, Wang Chen’s Realm and age were right there.

Wang Chen definitely had a promising future, and the point gap wasn’t large.

Lin Xun looked at these scores and rubbed his chin.

If Mo Wenwen took first place, then so be it.

In any case, as long as that Buddhist Son didn’t exceed Wang Chen in the final results, it would be fine.

If it looked like that Buddhist Son might exceed Wang Chen in the final results,

he felt it would be necessary to consider using some small means to help Wang Chen.

Though it was a bit risky, when it was necessary, Lin Xun still leaned toward taking risks.

After the first round of Slaying Demons came the second round of Asking the Dao.

The second round of Asking the Dao was similar to the ocean encountered in the Rootless Secret Realm.

Both were tests of the strength of one’s Dao Heart.

Complete Tranquility of the Ten Thousand Buddhas Sacred Land took a treasure pagoda from his sleeve and tossed it into the air.