“There’s a considerable amount of incense offering power here in the Buddhist Kingdom. You can feel it even at the border.” The moment they set foot in the Buddhist Kingdom, the Everlasting Immortal Fairy sensed the faint presence of incense offering power, a sensation utterly different from that in places like Great Xia, where such power was absent.

Even at the desolate borderlands, incense offering power lingered. This signified that the Buddhist Kingdom’s heartlands were so saturated with incense offering power that it had overflowed to the periphery.

“I recall Big Senior Sister saying that the Buddhist Kingdom is filled with masterless incense offering power that has been accumulated over three hundred thousand years by devotees. To obtain this power, a monk must make a grand wish. Depending on the degree it was fulfilled, they can claim a portion of the power for cultivation.”

Unlike the divine Dao of incense offering in Great Qian, the Buddhist Kingdom’s incense offering power did not bind people. Of course, acquiring it was far more difficult as well.

“Old Lu, it looks like some people over there are being attacked by demon beasts.” Meng Jingzhou transmitted an auditory message to Lu Yang. The former was unable to speak as he was still blowing away sand.

“Then stop blowing sand and go save them!” Lu Yang withdrew his consciousness from his mental space. Using his spiritual consciousness, he saw a group of itinerant merchants under attack by demon beasts, and the situation looked dire.

The cities in the Buddhist Kingdom were far apart from one another, and the sprawling deserts provided ample hiding places for demon beasts. Every year, senior monks traveled the Buddhist Kingdom to eliminate them, but the demon beasts’ numbers were too large, and they were too adept at hiding. There was no end to them.

~~~

“Forget the goods! Prioritize survival!”

“As if anyone doesn’t want to survive!”

“Old An, if there’s really no other way, just take the others and go. I’ll cover the rear!”

“Nonsense! You think you can handle these sand wolves?”

The camels trembled before the sand wolves that reeked of blood. Some fled with their cargo, and others cowered on the ground.

The itinerant merchants had walked the jianghu and were trained in martial arts. They drew their scimitars and fought desperately. But how could they be a match for these ferocious sand wolves?

Sand wolves were the demon beasts that itinerant merchants dreaded the most. An encounter with them would mean a one-in-ten chance of survival.

Suddenly, a sand wolf seized an opening and leaped, tackling Old An to the ground.

Old An braced his scimitar against the sand wolf’s claws, but the sand wolf was too strong, and Old An slowly lost ground in this contest of strength.

“Old An!”

Just as despair set in, a stern voice rang out like thunder.

“Vile beasts, cease your rampage!”

Amid the swirling yellow sand flew a figure resembling a living Buddha. His two fingers were pressed together, and behind him was a halo symbolizing the realm of great perfection in Buddhist cultivation.

The halo suddenly dispersed, transforming into countless sword qi that pierced the sand wolves’ skulls with deadly accuracy.

Another adept formed a fist seal, unleashing a golden swastika fist imprint that shattered the sand wolf’s brain.

Old An shoved the dying sand wolf aside and hurriedly kowtowed. “Thank you for saving our lives, great masters.”

The others snapped out of their shock and also knelt to thank the two adepts.

Lu Yang landed and smiled. “Benefactors...all of you, there's no need for such formality. We, senior and junior brothers, just happened to pass by and simply lent a hand. Please rise.”

Meng Jingzhou walked over, shooting Lu Yang a sidelong glance. “Simply lent a hand?” Are you referring to your grandiose display of countless sword qi?

Lu Yang shot back a glance. And you using Arhat Fist against a bunch of Basic Qi Training demon beasts is any better?

With the combined efforts of the two cultivation experts, they were fortunate to slaughter the sand wolves to the last.

“Great masters...”

“Just call me Meng Jingzhou. This is Lu Yang, my junior brother.”

“Ah? Y-you two are Buddha Scion Meng and Sword Immortal Lu?” Old An and the other itinerant merchants never imagined their rescuers were the legendary Meng Jingzhou and Lu Yang. They grew visibly excited.

These are legendary figures. Even in the Great Xia, few have seen them. To think we ran into them here in the Buddhist Kingdom.

This must be what Buddhism calls fate.

“That is us.” Meng Jingzhou kept a straight face, struggling to fake the aloof demeanor of an otherworldly expert. I mustn't let these itinerant merchants think that I’m happy just because of their reactions.

Through their conversation, Lu Yang learned that Old An’s name was An Hu and that he was the leader of the itinerant merchants. They had brought a batch of solar lamps from Great Xia, hoping to explore if there would be a market in the Buddhist Kingdom. They hadn't expected to encounter sand wolves here.

“Oh, you're also heading to Kaihuang City? Uncle An, if you don't mind, could you take us along?” Lu Yang thought, Indeed, good deeds are rewarded with good fortune; talk about perfect timing.

“That would be wonderful!” An Hu and the others were overjoyed. If word spread that they traveled with these legendary figures, it would earn them great prestige among their fellow itinerant merchants.

Besides, with these two around, there will certainly be no danger on the road.

Then, on the way to Kaihuang City, An Hu and the others encountered: a Great Perfection Qi Training sand wolf king seeking revenge, the infamous Foundation Establishment Desert Thief Trio, a Golden Core diabolic monk who had fallen into the diabolic path and sought to prove his Dao through slaughter; and a Nascent Soul Lady White Bone born from a pile of corpses, sucking people's vital essence every night.

“You ordinary folks have it quite tough as itinerant merchants,” Lu Yang remarked with emotion. The enemies we encountered along the way were nothing to Old Meng and me, but it would have been catastrophic for Old An and the others.

“Actually... most itinerant merchants go their whole lives without ever encountering a sand wolf.”

As for the sand wolf king, Desert Thief Trio, and whatnot, those were mere legends. And the diabolic monk and Lady White Bone were beings they had never even heard of.

Lu Yang and Meng Jingzhou sat on the camels. It was their first time riding one, and they found it rather fun.

Strapped to the camels’ sides were the spoils they had collected on this journey: sand wolves’ pelts, the sand wolf king’s hides, the Desert Thief Trio’s storage rings, the diabolic monk's golden core, and translucent white bones...

None of these held any value to Lu Yang and Meng Jingzhou. For example, the combined spirit stones inside the Desert Thief Trio's storage rings didn't even amount to what Lu Yang could earn in a day. The storage rings also contained keys to some secret domain. But upon browsing the texts he brought from the scripture library, Lu Yang learned that the secret domain was meant for Foundation Establishment cultivators, who entered to gather herbs and concoct pills to increase their probability of forming a golden core by two-tenths.

The diabolic monk carried a human skin scroll detailing the False Core method. Condensing a false core could let one rival a Basic Golden Core cultivator, but it was at the cost of never advancing further.

The two considered giving all these items to An Hu and his group, but then thought better of it. With how dangerous the Buddhist Kingdom is, there may be frequent cases of murder for robbery. Old An and the others won't be able to protect this many valuables.

In the end, they decided to leave them only the sand wolf pelts.

“Great masters, are you here to attend the Buddha Bathing Festival?” An Hu struck up a conversation along the way. Through our interactions, I've realized that the two great masters are indeed as described in the stories—amiable and without airs.

“Yes, we were invited by Kaihuang Temple.”

“That’s amazing.” An Hu and his companions were delighted. With these two masters attending, the festival will definitely be livelier. 𝗳𝗿𝐞𝕖𝘄𝗲𝕓𝗻𝚘𝚟𝕖𝐥.𝚌𝕠𝕞

“To be honest, we weren't familiar with Kaihuang Temple before receiving their invitation. It was only after they sent the invitation to us that we learned of their existence.”

An Hu smiled. “Great masters, it's no surprise you haven't heard of it. Perhaps it's because Kaihuang Temple changed its name. It wasn't always called that.”

“What was it previously called?”

“Erlitun Temple.”