Chapter 1825: The Matter Of Jeweled Fang (I)
Chapter 1825: The Matter Of Jeweled Fang (I)
Yet only waves of sobbing filled the golden hall. The black-robed monk's words left the assembled monks bewildered, unable to understand, while streaks of golden light continued to overlap in the sky and descend one after another.
Fachang ascended the steps before the hall.
There were many factions within the dharma realm. Some pursued the ancient ways, while others embraced new arts. This Maha had held fast to his old convictions as he defended the dharma realm's interests, pleasing neither side. Even within the dharma realm, he often stood alone. When he entered the great hall, his face was covered in cold sweat.
Although Fachang was not particularly close to Guangchan, the loss had been suffered by the entire Great Mahayana Dharma Realm!
Guangchan has been killed by the southerners!
The thought chilled him from head to toe. He bowed down beside Kongshu, stricken by grief and horror. "Young ancestral master!"
Kongshu continued to stare at the damaged statue, remaining silent for a long time.
Fachang hurriedly swept his sleeve, throwing out all the monks who were wailing and sprawled across the hall, then shut the doors tightly. Candlelight sprang to life, and the clamor was sealed outside.
Only then did Fachang kneel on the floor and sob, "Young ancestral master, what are we to do?"
Only then did the monk Kongshu turn his head and sigh. "What are we to do? When Li Jieyi answered the call and went south to take another's life, he should have foreseen this day! How can someone plot to take another's life yet expect his own to be spared?"
Sweat poured down Fachang's face. Stubborn as he was, he could no longer spare any thought for arguing with Kongshu. He merely lowered his eyes and said, "But... Even if his death was the consequence of his own actions... What about Jeweled Fang?"
Even setting aside the wider world and Buddhist cultivators as a whole, which senior figure in the Great Mahayana Dharma Realm did not know of their Realm Lord's designs on the Golden Land? At its narrowest, this was a matter of Guangchan losing his life. In the broader picture, someone had schemed to undermine a major undertaking of the Great Mahayana Dharma Realm!
When Kongshu remained silent for a long time, Fachang could only grit his teeth and say, "Our lives count for little, and our cultivation is shallow. We cannot fathom such momentous affairs... much less discern Heaven's will. I only wish to ask you, young ancestral master... what exactly has happened to Jeweled Fang?"
"Contact has already been lost. What else is there to say?"
Kongshu's reply left Fachang speechless.
Losing contact with a Golden Land was nothing new. A more recent example was [Qinling Golden Land], whose origins were even more illustrious than Jeweled Fang's! It had once been the seat of a figure who had brought together the highest achievements of both the Devil and Buddhist Daos. Although a single utterance from the Emperor of Wei had blasted straight through it, the riches left within were still staggering!
This Golden Land had been the sharpest of blades in the hands of the Wrathful Dao, its fearsome reputation known to all. After the Wrathful Dao collapsed overnight, Qinling's renowned Dao lineage could sense only a single, meager Merciful One position. Neither their own Realm Lord nor the great figures of the other Daos could do anything about the hidden [Qinling Golden Land]. Even now, the situation remained unchanged.
The monk understood how devastating the loss of contact was. He could only sob, "The Patron has never concerned himself with such matters... I only fear this will anger the Realm Lord. Among the Five Peaks, they will blame Jeweled Fang, and the calls to march south will grow louder and louder...
"Now we will be unable to restrain the other Daos, and even we will be drawn into it... How much more bloodshed will we be responsible for!?"
Seeing how distraught Fachang was, Kongshu shook his head. "Things may not be quite that bad."
He looked up at the face of the [Undefeated King of Brightness], and said quietly, "When Great Wei still stood, the Emperor of Wei and the kings of Guanlong's Six Surnames often feasted in [Central Ridge Imperial Park], where white qilins were kept. When Wei fell, the Shangguan Family opened [Central Ridge Imperial Park], and the white qilins fled one after another. Most, however, met their ends at the hands of great cultivators. One reached Clear Understanding Terrace, where the abbot of the time named it [Undefeated], hoping it would achieve great things.
"Later, when the [Undefeated King of Brightness] attained his rank, this white qilin was given to him as a mount. Both ultimately perished. What few know, however, is that this elder white qilin escaped and made its way back to [Clear Understanding Terrace]. It died there, but not before leaving behind a number of statements."
Fachang paused, then raised his eyes to Kongshu and said in alarm, "Then the truth behind the Emperor of Liang's fall into the water back then... Clear Understanding Terrace..."
Kongshu fell silent for a moment and cast Fachang a warning glance before continuing, "This elder passed away in meditation among the mountains. Its final words were: The successor to Jeweled Fang shall be a descendant of the cicada king. It dissolved into endless heavenly light and Radiant Fire, leaving a relic on the terrace in the shape of a white cicada, called the [Undefeated Jeweled Fang Stone].
"Those words... saved a descendant of this line of the Undefeated King of Brightness. At the time, that descendant was hiding among the Tao Family. To escape the turmoil of war, the whole family had adopted the surname Tao, and passed themselves off as members of the Tao Family.
"Guangchan was a direct descendant of his line. When Li Jieyi studied the Immortal Dao, he was actually a secret disciple of an old Daoist Master from the [Pavilion of Seeking Purple]."
Fachang could hardly believe what he was hearing. "The [Purple Terrace Profound Pavilion Sect]? The Dao lineage of the Lesser Yang Devil Monarch?"
More cold sweat broke out across his face as he belatedly understood.
"...Li Jieyi could indeed have become a disciple of the [Purple Terrace Profound Pavilion Sect]. He was a member of the Tao Family, after all. Back then, I heard that Bai Ziyu had humiliated him, and he could not bear the insult after just a few words. So this was part of the reason. After all, as a disciple of the [Purple Terrace Profound Pavilion Sect], which holds Buddhist cultivators in the greatest contempt, he was ultimately forced to enter our Buddhist Dao..."
A somewhat complicated expression crossed Kongshu's face. "Only his master belonged to the [Purple Terrace Profound Pavilion Sect].
"As his cultivation gradually reached a bottleneck and he could not pass the Purple Mansion Threshold, his master also died. He then met a great figure of our Dao and paid homage to the [Undefeated Jeweled Fang Stone]. Thus he entered the Buddhist Dao and opened [Jeweled Fang]. But the affair was far less glorious than it seemed..."
The black-robed monk let out a quiet sigh. "And he... was far too ambitious when he first entered the Buddhist Dao. He even secretly entertained the idea of turning to the Devil Dao. After all, in the eyes of these Immortal Dao cultivators... the Devil Dao is at least the counterpart to the Immortal Dao. That would still be better than sinking into the Buddhist Dao.
"With that plan in mind, he insisted on refining a dharma body of unsurpassed beauty, refusing to settle for a hastily made one. Yet he also feared that refining it would take too long, leaving him without formidable combat strength in the meantime. So he chose the head of a past sage from Jeweled Fang Golden Land to use...
"It was precisely because of his actions and divided loyalties that [Jeweled Fang Golden Land] offered him little recognition. Aside from his own Maha position, the additional positions it granted him were pitifully few.
"The great figures were actually dissatisfied with him over this, but they had no one else they could use. So they pretended that they intended to reclaim Jeweled Fang and find someone else... With that pressure hanging over him, he had no choice but to head south in desperate search of opportunities."
Fachang breathed a sigh of relief and replied, "May the Revered One bless us... May the Revered One bless us... Then this should not be such a bad thing. The [Undefeated Jeweled Fang Stone] is still in our hands. Though contact with Jeweled Fang has been lost for now, the day will come when it returns..."
He relaxed, looking relieved at their good fortune. Kongshu, however, wore a complicated expression as he replied, "You are mistaken..."
Fachang raised his eyes as the black-robed monk continued, "The Seven Dharma Forms do not necessarily need Guangchan, but losing him is a terrible blow to the dharma realm... The Seven Dharma Forms still hold leverage over Bright Yang. With Guangchan, our dharma realm could support him in counterbalancing the Seven Dharma Forms and retain a say in the matter. Now Guangchan has fallen, and he has no descendants in the Tao Family. We have already lost that say!
"Once the Compassion and Great Desire Daos make their moves in succession, achieve gains, and exert pressure through Mount Dayang...
"Doesn't the Great Desire Dao still have someone of the Bright Yang bloodline in its hands? If they elevate him to prominence, with no one like Guangchan left among our mountains... we may eventually have to place the greater interests first and bring out the [Undefeated Jeweled Fang Stone] for them all to use. What belongs to our dharma realm alone will become a treasure divided among the Seven Dharma Forms..."
The black-robed monk was truly remarkable. Intelligent and unbound by dogma, he had worked out almost the entire course of future events on his own.
Fachang was speechless. He knelt blankly on the floor for a long while before gritting his teeth and saying, "Guangchan... Guangchan... Greedy and wicked, he never cultivated his heart at all, yet his ambitions knew no bounds... Now he has ruined everything!"
Kongshu neither agreed nor disagreed. He merely helped him up and sighed. "Whatever else he was, he was a Maha of the dharma realm. Send someone south to where his remains lie and bring back a piece of his dharma body, so we can enshrine it..."
Fachang nodded silently, while Kongshu simply smiled. "You need not worry... The one who should be most worried now is Ch'i Lanyan. As for Jeweled Fang..."
The monk's expression was calm, with a thoughtful look in his eyes. "It will eventually reach the hands of the one it belongs with."