"True Immortal?"
Hearing this voice and the seductive power within it, Yang Hong immediately became wary, and the Scarlet Lotus Karmic Fire in his mind began to stir.
"Amitabha, Venerable Jialuo Ye, I ask for a moment of your face and spare them this once."
A middle-aged monk, dressed in a grey linen robe, with a calm and serene aura, an ordinary appearance but radiating warmth, suddenly appeared before Yang Hong, separating him from the group of monks lying on the ground.
"Greetings, Master."
Seeing this monk, who possessed an extraordinary temperament yet bowed to him with respect, Yang Hong returned a single-handed Buddhist salute.
When others were stronger than you and also polite, Yang Hong naturally wouldn't put on airs.
"The Buddha-nature and Zen intent on your person are exceptionally strong, making you most suitable for cultivating Buddhism. I wonder if you would be willing to take me as your master.
By the way, my Buddhist cultivation is not as refined as that of a Venerable, but my magical power, according to the immortal sects' calculations, is already at the late stage of a True Immortal.
As long as you become my disciple, I will impart all my knowledge to you, be it Daoist or Buddhist techniques!"
Golden light flashed in Jialuo Ye's eyes, and before Yang Hong could say anything, he was already trying to take him as a disciple.
"I apologize, I already have a master, and my master has ascended to the Immortal Realm. I regret to disappoint you, Master."
Yang Hong refused without a second thought.
The golden light in the Venerable's eyes was too obvious; he couldn't possibly not see it. That golden light must have been a probing spell, and the Venerable must have seen his destiny or merits, hence his eagerness.
"You can rest assured about this, young friend. I have some influence in the Immortal Realm. As long as you become my disciple, I will help you resolve matters with your master in the Immortal Realm."
"I apologize, but Yang Hong is not one to betray his master, be unfilial, be indecisive, or be a scoundrel. Yang Hong, having taken a master, would never switch allegiances, even unto death."
"..."
Jialuo Ye's face twitched. He hadn't expected Yang Hong to be so audacious, to insult him indirectly with such ferocity. And he couldn't refute him, as Yang Hong's words held the moral high ground.
"Which great True Immortal is your master? Do I perhaps know them?"
"Oh~ His name is Song Yu. You probably don't know him."
"Song Yu? There are at least eight hundred thousand, if not a million, Song Yus in the Immortal Realm. Does your master have a Daoist title?"
"He is not a Daoist; he is a Sword Cultivator. He doesn't have a Daoist title."
Yang Hong knew the monk was trying to probe his background, so he decided to mix truth with lies.
Jialuo Ye was filled with helplessness. His eyes were cultivated from one of the five divine insights of Buddhism, the "Buddha's Eye," and he practiced the "Merit Spiritual Eye," which specifically sought out merit.
Just a moment ago, with a single glance, he had almost been blinded by the intense golden light of merit radiating from Yang Hong. That's why he was so eager to take Yang Hong as a disciple to share in his merit.
However, he dared not use force. He feared being burned to death by the vast merit itself!
Cultivators who practiced merit the most feared harming those with greater merit than themselves, as it could lead to them being burned to death by karmic backlash.
And Yang Hong, to him, was a massive source of merit that would inevitably lead to backlash!
Yang Hong couldn't see through all the intricacies, but he could tell that Jialuo Ye was wary of him. His initial worries completely dissipated, and he spoke again.
"Venerable Jialuo Ye, I will give you face. I do not want their lives, nor their storage rings. However, you must give me some form of compensation to appease me.
After all, as you can see, my Qingfeng Villa has been utterly devastated."
"You dare—"
Tong Yuan, who had just climbed up from the ground and stood behind Jialuo Ye, was about to retort when he was silenced by a calm glance from Jialuo Ye, not daring to say another word.
Jialuo Ye looked around. The grassland had only been slightly damaged. Such a situation could be fully repaired by any ordinary immortal sect within a month.
Yang Hong was clearly trying to extort him!
But now Buddhism was in the wrong, and Yang Hong was indeed somewhat special. His sect could only accept this loss.
In fact, Jialuo Ye somewhat regretted stepping forward to intervene. If Yang Hong had simply killed Tong Yuan and the others, it would have been better!
That way, Yang Hong would have incurred great karma with Buddhism, and when he made his move later, he would have had far fewer scruples.
However, Jialuo Ye didn't know that Buddhism actually owed Yang Hong a great karmic debt!
At this moment, all he wanted was to leave this place quickly. So, after a moment of thought, Jialuo Ye took out a fruit from his storage ring.
As this fruit, no bigger than a thumb, appeared, a red, cherry-tomato-like fruit, the surrounding spiritual energy immediately became active, and traces of fire-elemental Dao charm emanated.
"Young friend, this is an upper-realm immortal fruit, the [Blazing Fire Vermillion Fruit]. It has great benefits for cultivating fire-elemental techniques. Consider it our sect's apology."
"Good! I forgive Monk Tong Yuan for his rudeness and mistakes."
Seeing an immortal fruit that could not exist in the lower realm, Yang Hong agreed to a truce without hesitation.
Well~ this couldn't really be called a truce; it should be called blackmail.
"Heh heh~ You are truly straightforward, young friend. Then we shall take our leave."
Seeing that a single [Blazing Fire Vermillion Fruit] had resolved the karma with Yang Hong, Jialuo Ye was a little surprised. However, to avoid further complications, he immediately proposed to depart.
"Oh~ Venerable, walk slowly. Would you like to have a cup of tea before you go?"
"No~ I still have many matters to attend to, so I will depart now."
Without giving Yang Hong a chance for false pleasantries, Jialuo Ye flicked his sleeve and used a technique similar to "Sleeve Universe," drawing Tong Yuan and the other monks, along with the flying boat, into his sleeve.
Then, he soared into the sky and vanished.
Yang Hong stared blankly in the direction Jialuo Ye had left, falling into a state of self-doubt.
"Fellow Daoist, you are truly ruthless, to have even scared away Venerable Jialuo Ye. If this matter were to spread, I fear you would become famous on the Taiyuan Continent."
"No, Fellow Daoist, you would become famous in both the Immortal and Buddhist realms of the upper world!"
Seeing Yang Hong's dazed state, Patriarch Zhaoyang, who had just recovered from his own shock, approached and whispered in amazement.
As he spoke, he also set up a soundproof barrier around them. He dared not let anyone else hear his words.
He understood that if Venerable Jialuo Ye found out he was gossiping, his soul would be scattered.
"Is Jialuo Ye very famous? You seem to fear him?"
Hearing Patriarch Zhaoyang's words, Yang Hong finally snapped out of his daze and turned to ask him.
"Heh heh~"
Patriarch Zhaoyang chuckled, glanced around, and then whispered into Yang Hong's ear.
"Smiling Bodhisattva, Black-Hearted Venerable, Treacherous Scoundrel – these all refer to the same person. He is the most vindictive, has cultivated karma-based techniques, and is most adept at secretly manipulating karma threads, killing people invisibly.
Therefore, that immortal fruit you received was not so easily obtained!"
"Hmm~ Thank you for the reminder, Fellow Daoist."
Hearing Patriarch Zhaoyang's warning, Yang Hong's heart tightened, and he became twelve times more wary of Jialuo Ye!
Yang Hong was not afraid of direct confrontation. Although his true qi cultivation had just recovered to the first level of Body Integration, his physical body had been tempered by both heavenly tribulations and divine punishment. He himself didn't know how strong it was.
However, attacks like karma threads were something he had never even heard of. But just by hearing the name, he knew how strange and terrifying they must be.
Using karma to trap and kill you without your knowledge – can you not be afraid?