Seeing Terence become serious, Shang Jianyao stopped "Haha-ing" and earnestly asked:
"What denomination are you from?"
"'The Order of Transcendental Spirituality.'" Terence said with a devout expression.
Jiang Baimian couldn't help but join the discussion:
"What are the differences in your beliefs with the 'Supreme Desire' sect? Uh, what kind of misinterpretations do they have regarding the teachings of the Cycle?"
Terence felt very comfortable hearing the second half of the sentence and revealed a slight smile as he said:
"We all believe that everyone possesses a spirituality that transcends everything. It is innate, a light hidden deep within our hearts."
"Is this the grace of the Cycle 'Mandala'?" Jiang Baimian had seen some descriptions of the doctrines of the "Supreme Desire" sect in the company's provided materials, but they weren't very detailed. Moreover, those materials didn't include an introduction to "The Order of Transcendental Spirituality."
"No." Terence shook his head.
He said both seriously and devoutly:
"God is the spirituality that transcends everything. God is called 'Mandala,' and God is in everyone's heart."
"Then aren't we all born as followers of 'Mandala'?" Shang Jianyao's face was full of "surprise."
Terence nodded in satisfaction, using the previous dogma to answer:
"God is in everyone's heart."
"God is in everyone's heart," Shang Jianyao responded without any restraint.
Then, he asked with great anticipation:
"Doesn't your order have any forms of prayer or salutation?"
He used gestures to emphasize his tone.
A blessing without a prayer gesture is incomplete!
Terence laughed, raised his right hand, and gently stroked his lips with his index and middle fingers.
After stroking, he blessed:
"May your spirituality transcend everything."
"May your spirituality also transcend everything," Shang Jianyao followed with the same action.
He looks like a follower of the 'Lord of Desire' 'Mandala'... Jiang Baimian muttered silently.
Terence continued to laugh:
"This is actually a gesture used during prayer, and it's also used in front of people who aren't very familiar, hehe. Although we're very familiar, you're not yet members of our order.
"We greet each other by kissing cheeks, which was also a form of etiquette in the Old World."
Still not used to it... Jiang Baimian brought the topic back to the right track:
"Continue."
The corpulent Terence took out a small object wrapped in tin foil from his pocket and slowly unfolded it.
Inside was a piece of dark brown chocolate.
After putting the chocolate in his mouth, chewing, and swallowing it, Terence half-closed his eyes and said very relaxedly:
"Everyone has a spirituality that transcends everything, but it's difficult to feel it, to see it, because we are always entangled in various desires: the desire for food, the desire to sleep with a 'prey,' the desire to compare, the desire to enjoy, the desire to communicate, the desire to be lazy, the desire to seek mental stimulation, and so on, and so on.
"These desires blind our eyes, envelop our hearts, preventing us from seeing and feeling the spirituality within us that transcends everything..."
As he expounded the doctrine, because he had his eyes half-closed, as if he were feeling that spirituality that transcends everything, he failed to notice Shang Jianyao's disappointed expression.
Shang Jianyao looked at the tin foil carrying the chocolate and regretfully withdrew his gaze.
Jiang Baimian tentatively asked:
"So, one needs to restrain these desires to allow the spirituality that transcends everything to emerge from the bottom of the heart?"
Honestly, she didn't think this was the idea of "The Order of Transcendental Spirituality," because Terence's figure and his previous performance both showed that he wasn't someone who restrained desires.
"No." Terence opened his eyes with a smile. "That's a mistaken perception of a heretical sect. They're called the 'Return Sect,' and they're active elsewhere. Ladies, don't restrain yourselves. Desires cannot be discarded; they can only be vented."
He seriously explained the idea of "The Order of Transcendental Spirituality":
"Desire cannot be eliminated. As long as you are alive and haven't become a vegetable, you will inevitably have desires.
"We must not fear it, but learn to correctly recognize it and treat it. Think about it, every time you have a satisfying sex, don't you enter a wonderful state of peace and clarity, no longer troubled by various desires, and have a feeling of being detached from reality?"
Shang Jianyao and Jiang Baimian were stunned.
They didn't answer, nor could they answer, with remarkably similar expressions.
Terence didn't expect them to tell him the answer to this question anyway, so he continued:
"That shows you have approached the spirituality that transcends everything. In some Old World documents, this is called 'Sage Time.' The name of my awakened ability is also called this, which shows that it has been recognized by the gods.
"Sage, the name alone tells you that he is very powerful, a person who can feel true spirituality. From this perspective, we have a way to see and dig out the spirituality in our hearts, which is to indulge our desires and vent them one by one. Then, in the ultimate tranquility and the ultimate detachment, feel and seek.
"Our way of prayer is to indulge the desire of that moment. If you want to have sex, find someone to sleep with. If you want to smoke, have a pack. If you want to drink, have a good drink. If you want to eat sweets, don't think it will damage your body. If you want to eat meat, try to satisfy your needs. If you want to beat someone, do it without hesitation..."
This might lead to sudden death... or being beaten to death... Jiang Baimian didn't dare to say all the words in her stomach.
She instead asked:
"What does the 'Supreme Desire' sect think?"
Terence's expression became serious again:
"They actually believe that various desires and the spirituality that transcends everything are inseparable; you are in me, and I am in you; it is the other side of the gods.
"How is that possible?
"Therefore, they believe that as long as various desires are ignited and brought to a boil, one can feel and grasp the spirituality that transcends everything from them."
Jiang Baimian suddenly understood:
"In other words, you think that desire is an obstacle to seeing one's own spirituality, and venting is just the most reasonable and effective method, while they think that desire is also sacred?"
"Yes." Terence said in a deep voice, "They are blaspheming the gods."
If this is blasphemy, and the Cycles really exist, the fact that they haven't been destroyed shows that 'Mandala' still recognizes their ideas to some extent, or simply doesn't care about these inexplicable things... Jiang Baimian responded in her heart.
Seeing that Terence had finished speaking, Shang Jianyao couldn't wait to ask:
"What is your communion?"
Terence laughed:
"It's something that can satisfy a certain desire, a certain addiction, such as coffee, red wine, or a special beverage left over from the Old World. Only a few factories can still produce it now."
As he spoke, Terence stood up, walked to a refrigerator in the living room that had a very Old World style but was relatively new, opened the upper door, and took out two bottles of dark liquid.
Then, he used an object to get some ice cubes from the freezer compartment below.
He quickly sat back across from the coffee table and had Aug bring three glass cups from the kitchen.
With a "poof" sound, Terence pried open the lids of the two bottles of black beverage and poured the liquid into the cups.
Gurgling sounds were constantly produced, and coffee-colored bubbles were endlessly rising from the black beverage in the cup.
The last step was to put in the ice cubes, allowing them to soak in the liquid.
Raising his right hand and gently stroking his lips with his index and middle fingers for a while, completing the prayer, Terence picked up a cup and virtually toasted Shang Jianyao and Jiang Baimian:
"You can drink it."
He then slightly raised his head and heartily drank the black beverage in the cup, with a satisfied expression on his face.
Shang Jianyao did not hesitate to return the toast, then took a large gulp of the iced liquid.
A few seconds later, he lowered the cup with only a small portion left, looked at the beverage bottles on the table, and sincerely nodded:
"Your denomination is very good."
Isn't this just Coke... Jiang Baimian, although she hadn't eaten pork, had seen pigs walk. Suppressing her expression, she took small sips of the beverage.
That refreshing feeling, that unique taste, made her quite satisfied.
After sharing the communion, Terence raised a question:
"How did you guess directly that I was from the 'Supreme Desire' sect? Have you had contact with them before?"
"Yes." Jiang Baimian answered frankly, "Our friend in the Wild Grass City was scammed by a woman named Christina. She's suspected to be from the 'Supreme Desire' sect, suspected."
"The one from the Hunter's Guild?" Terence suddenly understood. "She's considered a relatively active suspect. Don't rush to take revenge on her. The 'Supreme Desire' sect has deep connections at the high levels."
"So that's how it is..." Jiang Baimian didn't expect to obtain such unexpected intelligence.
After handling the people around Terence and confirming that "Reasoning Clown" could loop for a period of time, Shang Jianyao and Jiang Baimian, along with Aug, left Stern Street 25 and got into their jeep.
"First City really has a large number of Awakened and various religious organizations are everywhere, either openly or secretly." Jiang Baimian sighed as she drove, "This also indirectly shows how strong 'First City' is. It can actually suppress the situation and prevent any major chaos in the city for so many years."
Shang Jianyao looked at the road ahead and sighed:
"Now Little Red is here..."
"Don't always badmouth Little Red!" Jiang Baimian laughed.
............
First City, inside the Hunter's Guild hall.
Bai Chen, Long Yuehong, and Genava, who hadn't received news from Han Wanghuo, returned here from the second floor.
Suddenly, Long Yuehong pointed to a place and said:
"That, isn't that the vice president of the Hunter's Guild in Wild Grass City, called, called Christina?"
Bai Chen and Genava followed his gaze and saw a blonde, blue-eyed woman in her thirties.
Apart from her rough skin and slightly large pores, the woman wearing a white shirt and blue striped cloth pants could really be said to be very attractive, making one directly think of bed.
She was none other than Christina, the former vice president of the Hunter's Guild in Wild Grass City.