“Without that old dog making trouble, plus the moves I made afterward, I smoothly gained the recognition of the elders, forcing the Abbot to give way to me! Finally, I became the leader of the Buddhist Sect in the Eastern Domain, the one everyone reveres and worships in meditation!”
As he spoke, Xuyun felt an overwhelming sense of achievement, like he was back in the day when he succeeded the Abbot’s position, being flattered by the monks.
“Under my leadership, the Hanging Temple is thriving! As long as the surface work is done well, no one will know the truth. The Hanging Temple is the foremost holy place of the Buddhist Sect, and I, Xuyun, am the true holy monk, the one closest to the true Buddha’s meditation!”
“But now…”
Xuyun glared fiercely at Ye Junlin, shouting, “It’s all your fault! Why did you expose me? If you had conditions, you could have just mentioned them! Why escalate it to this level?!”
“I’ve worked so hard to get here step by step, and you ruined it all! Completely wrecked it!!”
The other two were in shock, like it was the first time they truly recognized this old partner after all these years.
“Stubborn and unrepentant.” Ye Junlin sneered, raising his hand to slap him again.
Smack!
Xuyun’s mouth bled, his other cheek swelling up, looking like a big pig’s head.
Now it was symmetrical!
“Beast! Master had high hopes for you, and this is how you repay him?” Elder Longxiang exclaimed angrily.
“Ridiculous! Just because you perform the same moves in the Buddhist Sect, if you succeed, you get rewarded, while I’m nitpicked! Every time I give my all, I can’t gain his recognition! Even when I strive to become the top of the three saints of the Hanging Temple, I can’t get a single good word from him!”
“That old dog will forever hold a grudge against me and will always look down on me! So why should I respect him?!”
Xuyun’s forehead bulged with veins, his tone harsh.
“You little punk!” Elder Longxiang was so furious his heart spasmed, taking a moment to regain his composure, “Qingjing, you go tell him!”
Elder Qingjing’s eyes were red, “Xuyun, you’re wrong, terribly wrong! Master has always favored you the most!”
Xuyun was taken aback, sneering, “Qingjing, at a time like this, don’t try to deceive me!”
Elder Qingjing sighed, “What good would it do me to trick you? Remember when you first showcased the Dharma Palm in the Bamboo Grove? Master and I were watching from afar; he personally said you were the most gifted disciple of the Hanging Temple he’d ever seen. It’s just that you get too eager for quick success, and will likely go down the wrong path if you don’t refine your character.”
“At that time, Dragon Elephant and I were so envious because Master had never given such a high evaluation to anyone else.”
“Later, Master began to focus on cultivating you, wanting to help you build a solid foundation, which is why he was so strict.”
Xuyun laughed bitterly in rage, “Ha! You think saying that will make me believe you? Remember that time at the Sect Competition when I finally clinched first place but was suspected of cheating? My reward was canceled, and I was sent to the back mountain to reflect! Where was Master during all this?!”
That was the most humiliating moment for Xuyun when he became a Nascent Soul cultivator.
The feeling of being unprotected and becoming the sect’s laughingstock stayed with him even now.
Elder Qingjing said, “Sigh, Master was on a mission at that time, and it was a perilous one. When he returned heavily injured and heard the news, he was furious and confronted the council of elders, even threatening to die if they didn’t investigate!”
“The sect later compromised, and during the deep investigation, they found that Elder Wuzhi had been stirring trouble, aiming to protect his little nephew to take your spot as the first. Mainly, he thought Master would never come back, which is why he dared to do all this.”
“You know the outcome of the punishment; they were all stripped of their powers and expelled from the Hanging Temple. I only learned about the details later from the Abbot, but Master never mentioned it in front of us since it didn’t weigh on his mind.”
“As for the other elders who knew back then, they wouldn’t dare tell anyone; it was a scandal within the Hanging Temple, and they feared causing a bad influence.”
Boom!
Xuyun felt struck by lightning, his mind buzzing.
A wave of panic began to surge in his heart as he repeated, “Impossible, you must be lying to me!”
Elder Qingjing shook his head, “I can open the sea of consciousness; you can check the memories of the past. This is something the Abbot himself disclosed.”
“Xuyun, Master really cared for you. Didn’t you notice the rewards you received in the sect were more than those of your peers at the same level? That’s because Master secretly added them; this is something I overheard when the Abbot was talking with Master.”
“I thought you would eventually grow, but it turns out while your strength improved, your mindset twisted, and you became even better at deceiving yourself, walking an irrecoverable path.”
Elder Longxiang shouted angrily, “Ungrateful wretch! Now you see just how much the Master cared for you, huh?! The irony is, he doesn’t even know that his most beloved disciple has committed unforgivable sins! You’re the one who destroyed the future of the Hanging Temple!”
“How could this be? What have I done…” Xuyun’s heart felt like it was being ripped apart, tears streaming down his face as he trembled, grief etched in his expression.
“Why? If I had known earlier, I wouldn’t have made such a grave mistake. It’s not my fault, it’s not my fault…” Xuyun muttered, like he was possessed, still evading the truth.
“You’re just making excuses!”
Ye Junlin couldn’t take it anymore, kicking Xuyun in the face, then joining with the other two clones to kick him mercilessly, as if a gang of street thugs was beating up an old man.
“Your Master has become increasingly indifferent because he’s disappointed in you! Even if you achieve greatness, in his heart, you’re still just a morally corrupt piece of trash!”
After a brutal beatdown,
Xuyun looked utterly pitiful.
At that moment, having learned the truth, he was filled with agony, just like how Master saw him—someone who was eager for quick results and easily swayed to extremes.
Even becoming the Abbot didn’t change that.
He treated the visitors as pigs to deceive, creating a perfect image in public, reaping the power of incense without caring about the world’s suffering, only focused on immediate benefits, having completely tossed aside the purpose of the Hanging Temple.
“You’re right. I truly am a sinner of the Buddhist Sect. I’m the one who led the Hanging Temple into the abyss…” The old monk laughed and cried, looking like a madman.
“Abbot!”
At this moment, the remaining disciples and elders of the Hanging Temple had lost all fighting spirit, kneeling on the ground, crying out in sorrow.
Hong Qianye had planned to kill them all, but upon hearing Ye Junlin’s voice, she had to restrain herself.
“Sigh, why bother?” Li Wujie lamented.
After a while,
The old monk gradually stopped crying.
Now sitting cross-legged, he fixed his gaze on Ye Junlin who held the sword, his expression complex: “Ye, you are the strongest opponent I’ve faced; I won’t plead for you to spare me. I deserve death, but before I die, I want to tell you a secret message, hoping you can prepare in advance. It’s my last redemption.”
“Speak.”
“The Immortal Realm is likely to be destroyed soon.”