Wu Shattered Star River

Entering Buddha Light City, Jiang Han found the temples inside very peculiar. They were all small temples, each with a monk sitting inside, cross-legged in the hall,敲着木鱼(qiaozhe muyu - tapping the wooden fish), and chanting scriptures.

Temples were everywhere, and all the monks were chanting scriptures, but the scriptures they chanted were different. However, entering the city didn't feel noisy; instead, it felt peaceful and comfortable.

"This place is very strange!"

Jiang Han walked hundreds of feet inside, looked at dozens of temples, and muttered to himself.

In the center of the extremely dangerous God and Demon Battlefield, stood a city with one hundred and eight thousand monks, not eating or sleeping, without desires or demands, chanting scriptures day and night to deliver the souls of the dead.

Moreover, the city was surrounded by梵音(fanyin - Buddhist chanting), and countless residual souls from all directions turned into silk threads and continuously converged towards the city…

Such a bizarre situation would make anyone feel strange.

Yet, upon entering the city, everyone felt bathed in Buddha's light, and their hearts felt peaceful and serene. They all felt comfortable and content, as if they had returned to their own backyard, as if this place was everyone's final destination.

The more it was like this, the more Jiang Han felt strange, with a creepy feeling.

Buddha Light City had stood here for who knows how many years, these monks had been delivering the souls of the dead for who knows how many years, yet the higher-ups of the God, Demon, and Human races felt there was no problem? They didn't suspect anything?

Jiang Han looked at the monks sitting cross-legged with their eyes closed, chanting scriptures, and a thought emerged in his mind—either these monks of the 万佛堂(Wan Fo Tang - Ten Thousand Buddha Hall) were true saints, or they harbored a shocking conspiracy…

Reaching the center of the city, there was a huge temple, with two middle-aged monks standing at the entrance, wearing yellow kasayas.

They didn't feel like Human race; their noses and ears were very long, and their eyes had double pupils. It was unknown what race they were, but their battle strength felt quite good, probably comparable to Celestial Kings.

"Welcome, esteemed benefactors, to Buddha Light City."

A monk came up and bowed to Jiang Han and the others, then said, "Are you here to attend the Buddha Son Assembly? Please show your Buddha Tokens."

Jiang Han, Fairy Yinghuo, Hua Xun'er, and Qing Luan showed their Buddha Tokens. The long-nosed monk checked them and said, "Do you benefactors wish to stay in Buddha Light City for a while, or go directly to the Spirit Mountain Holy Land?"

"Go directly to Spirit Mountain!"

There was nothing in this city except temples, so staying here was meaningless. Jiang Han wasn't very familiar with the Buddha Son Assembly, so he thought of going over to learn more about it first.

"Very well, please follow me!"

The long-nosed monk led the group towards the temple. This temple was built very grandly and ornately, with faint Buddha's light shining on the walls, making people feel extremely comfortable inside.

The group didn't enter the temple but instead went up a vermilion staircase next to it to the top of the temple.

Here was a huge yellow platform with countless Sanskrit characters, which looked very profound. Four elderly monks sat cross-legged around the platform, and their realms were uniformly King-level.

"Please step onto the Buddha Platform, esteemed benefactors!"

The long-nosed monk cupped his hands, and Jiang Han and the others all stepped onto the Buddha Platform without hesitation.

The four elderly monks sitting around struck out streams of light, and the Buddha Platform suddenly shone brightly with Buddha's light, followed by a white light that engulfed Jiang Han and the others.

Before the teleportation, Jiang Han grabbed Jiang Li and gave her a soul-nourishing pill, fearing that her soul couldn't withstand the long teleportation distance.

What surprised Jiang Han was…

Although this teleportation took a long time, they didn't feel dizzy. They only felt illusory scenes appearing before their eyes, and they were constantly shuttling through the scenes.

After who knows how long, the scenes in front gradually became real, and they arrived at the foot of a large mountain.

"Hmm…"

When the scenery gradually became clear and real, the group found themselves standing on a plaza. Looking at the high mountain in front, they were all shocked.

The high mountain in front towered into the clouds. The entire mountain felt like a huge Buddha standing between heaven and earth, but upon closer inspection, the mountain was just an ordinary mountain, and the giant Buddha disappeared.

The mountain released a faint Buddha's light, filled with a mysterious aura, making people yearn for it and feel an impulse to prostrate themselves in worship.

It seemed that this mountain was a sacred place in the world, inhabited by saints, holy gods, and holy Buddhas.

A group of monks stood near the plaza. After Jiang Han and the others observed for a while, a long-nosed monk in a black robe said, "This old monk is Hong Ren, welcome esteemed benefactors to the Spirit Mountain Holy Land!"

Jiang Han and the others swept their gazes over and found that this long-nosed old monk's realm felt unfathomable, suspected to be Emperor-level.

He glanced at Bao Ji, who nodded slightly, and Jiang Han confirmed that this Hong Ren was indeed Emperor-level.

He bowed and said, "This humble one is Jiang Han, greetings, Master Hong Ren."

"Greetings, Benefactor Jiang!"

Hong Ren nodded with a smile and turned his gaze to Hua Xun'er, Fairy Yinghuo, and the others, saying, "Are these female benefactors Benefactor Hua Xun'er, Benefactor Yinghuo, and Benefactor Qing Luan?"

"And this should be Benefactor Hua Zeyu, and this is Benefactor Bao Ji, right? As for the other two female benefactors, this old monk doesn't know their names, please forgive me."

Hong Ren actually knew everyone's names. Jiang Han was secretly surprised. Weren't these monks supposed to be detached from worldly affairs? How could they be so knowledgeable about them?

He and Yinghuo were one thing, but he even knew Hua Zeyu, Hua Xun'er, and Bao Ji?

Everyone bowed to Hong Ren, who said, "You benefactors are all honored guests. Bodhisattva Guangning has issued a decree, instructing this old monk to personally welcome you and prepare separate rooms for you. Please follow me up Spirit Mountain."

"Thank you, Master!"

Although he was full of vigilance towards the Ten Thousand Buddha Hall, Jiang Han naturally wouldn't put on a bad face since they were so polite. The group followed Master Hong Ren towards Spirit Mountain.

The road up Spirit Mountain was paved with bluestone slabs, but each bluestone slab had Sanskrit characters on it, releasing a faint Buddha's light. So walking on it, everyone felt a strange rhythm, making them particularly comfortable.

The road was a winding mountain road. After turning a circle, the group found that there were actually many buildings behind the plaza. However, they didn't look like cities but rather like villages, clustered here and there, stretching as far as the eye could see.

All the villages had temples, and these stone temples had pointed spires, releasing a faint Buddha's light.

Looking from afar, the scene was very grand, as if they had come to a kingdom of Buddha.

Hong Ren saw the group's gazes turning to the distant villages and said with a smile, "Originally, the area below Spirit Mountain was a desolate land. Later, more and more believers moved here to live, bathed in Buddha's light, and slowly built many villages. Now they are building more and more, and there are already tens of billions of believers living nearby."

"Hmm…"

Jiang Han and the others saw that the villages stretched endlessly. They originally thought that having hundreds of millions of people was already good, but they didn't expect there to be tens of billions?

How many villages were there then? Probably tens of millions of miles from here were all villages, right?

Hua Zeyu looked at it for a few moments and frowned, "With so many believers and so many villages, doesn't the Ten Thousand Buddha Hall unify management? These villages are built in a disorganized manner. With so many believers, won't there be trouble?"

"Buddha says: All beings are equal!"

Hong Ren put his palms together and bowed towards Spirit Mountain, then said, "All beings have the right to choose, and all living beings are equal. Where they build their villages is their freedom. Why should we restrain them?"

"Rather than restraint, it's better to educate them. They are all devout believers of Buddha, and they are all kind people. They all follow Buddha's decrees and never cause trouble, so there have been no disturbances for so many years."

"Hmm…"

Jiang Han's heart trembled. Tens of billions of people, without anyone managing them, and yet there were no disturbances? Was Buddha's decree so powerful?

If it were the Heavenly Court, let alone tens of billions of people, even tens of thousands of people, if there were no strong army to manage them, it would probably be chaotic and messed up? There would probably be crimes and all sorts of things happening every day, right?

A word from Buddha is worth more than a thousand troops!

Some of the vigilance that Jiang Han had just dispelled reappeared. Why did this Ten Thousand Buddha Hall feel like a super large cult to him? All the believers seemed to have their souls controlled…