Chapter 912: Ordinary Disciples

Lingqing Star, Da’en Temple

Lingqing Star is under the control of Blue Star. Although there is no unified central organization or power center, orders come from one place, and the laws in each governor’s district are consistent.

However, after the Buddhist sect regained control of Lingqing Star, it returned to its original state, where various temples control certain areas and govern themselves.

Da’en Temple is currently one of the most important temples on Lingqing Star. They originally came from Lingkong Star and held a status there similar to that of Foyin Temple in Lingfa Star.

At this time, inside Da’en Temple, Lv Junyu is reporting his work to the high monk Ci’en. Lv Junyu is the lay disciple personally promoted by Ci’en and is the head of the lay disciples. He currently oversees all secular affairs within the Da’en Temple’s area.

"Lv Junyu, you should not be an ordinary disciple; you should be a core disciple of my Da’en Temple. If you wish, I am willing to protect you as my child of Buddha."

After listening to Lv Junyu’s report, Ci’en said once more. He valued Lv Junyu highly and had tried many times to bring him into the Buddhist faith, even offering him the status of a child of Buddha. A child of Buddha is extraordinary and is trained according to the true teachings of Buddha.

"Master, it is not that the disciple is unwilling to enter the Buddhist faith, but nowadays, in Lingqing Star, it is easier to spread the teachings of Buddhism in the secular world than within the faith…"

Lv Junyu shook his head and declined again, his reasons being quite convincing.

Ci’en sighed, feeling it was a great pity. In his eyes, Lv Junyu was a great talent; he was not only handsome and gifted but also kind-hearted and knowledgeable about Buddhist teachings. He understood them thoroughly, even better than some Buddhist cultivators in Da’en Temple. It would indeed be a shame to let such talent remain in the secular world.

"Master, this is the situation at Da’en Temple. The internal conflict has been resolved, and now we need to deal with external threats…"

Lv Junyu continued to speak, guiding Ci’en against Buddhism, as he was actually a spy for Blue Star.

Lv Junyu’s ancestors were among the first group of brilliant cultivators from Blue Star, from the same era as Lin Liyan. However, his ancestors had bad luck and died in the first battle when Buddhism attacked Blue Star. In that battle, all eighteen adult members of the Lu family perished.

Because of this, the women and children of the Lu family were treated with kindness. By the time of Lv Junyu’s father, they voluntarily registered to migrate to Lingqing Star. Later, Liang Long plotted to eliminate Xia Qingshan, anticipating that Lingqing Star would fall, so he chose to leave a group of people behind as spies. Young Lv Junyu volunteered.

When Liang Long withdrew from Lingqing Star, Lv Junyu stepped forward to calm everyone down, accepting the rule of the Buddhist order and becoming their most favored helper.

In the years that followed, Lv Junyu did many things for the Buddhist order and used his charm to make friends with several high-ranking monks, ultimately earning the appreciation of Ci’en.

It was also under the influence of people like Lv Junyu that Ci’en decided to make changes in the Buddhist order; in this regard, Lv Junyu deserves much of the credit.

Now that the changes in the Buddhist order are complete, the conflict between open-minded Buddhist cultivators and conservative Buddhist cultivators has reached a peak, and those who came to report to Ci’en today are actually here to inform on others.

Rebels within the conservative Buddhist group are everywhere, but they could not defeat the Buddhist order and were harshly suppressed. The remaining forces entered the territory of Da’en Temple, where the conservative Buddhists boldly entered to capture the rebels, resulting in many deaths and injuries among the people within Da’en Temple, including some lower-ranking Buddhist cultivators.

"Junyu, I have already talked about this with Senior Brother Xuan Fa, but Senior Brother Xuan Fa is also unable to do anything about Qingliang Temple, as their strength is even greater than ours."

Ci’en said that Qingliang Temple, which comes from Lingshui Star, is the top Buddhist temple of Lingshui Star. During the battle for Lingfa Star, they supported it together with Lingshui Star but ultimately faced a great defeat. The surviving monks of Qingliang Temple are more than those of Da’en Temple.

"Master, are we really going to be bullied like this? The laws of the secular world have serious standards; in front of the law, everyone is equal. Even noble officials must appear equal on the surface, so that the people can truly accept it."

Our Da’en Temple collects taxes from the people and must take responsibility for them; safety comes first. If there is no safety, the consequences will be very serious.

"Nowadays, the people are very angry. They have been waiting for Da’en Temple to set an example. If Da’en Temple does not speak up, they will take matters into their own hands. The master knows that the people now are not like those from hundreds of years ago; they have many workers and engineers. With a little change, even a battery can unleash great power."

Lv Junyu said he was not making a threat but was truly ready to act. If Da’en Temple does not step forward, people will organize to fight back. Household robots can be modified into war machines. If a low-level Buddhist cultivator cannot be defeated, how could they overcome the powerful ones?

"Junyu, can’t you stop them?"

"Master, people’s hearts are united. Besides, the Buddhist community also has powerful protectors. If we only let ourselves be hit and do not fight back, this pent-up anger will grow stronger over time, and when it erupts, it will be much harder to handle."

"Sigh, Lingqing Star is not a kind place."

"Master, Lingqing Star is chaotic, with a single planet and dozens of top Buddhist sects. It is truly unsuitable for us. If there is a chance, we should find other planets to live on."

"This…"

Lv Junyu’s words stirred something in Ci’en. Although Da’en Temple originated from Lingkong Star, their teachings actually came from the Tianbei Star Domain. After their defeat, they had returned to the Tianbei Star Domain and found their ancestral home.

Now Ci’en was very troubled by the chaos in Lingqing Star. Such disorder was rare in the Buddhist community, and the ignorance of conservative Buddhist cultivators made Ci’en feel frustrated.

"Junyu, I ask you, if, I mean if, we leave Lingqing Star, would you come with me?"

"Of course."

"Why would you be willing to?"

"Master, in the vast Lingqing Star, among the many top Buddhist temples, only you are the most open-minded. If you leave, and I stay, I can already predict my terrible fate. It’s not that Junyu is afraid of dying, but our family depends on me for life, and there are many others who rely on me…"

"So how many people do you think at Da’en Temple are willing to follow us and leave together? Is it possible?"

"Master, it’s impossible to take everyone with us; that’s hundreds of millions of people. But I can take the key people, and we can replicate Da’en Temple’s projects in other areas."

Lv Junyu immediately said that taking hundreds of millions of people is impossible, even for Blue Star, which is a big challenge. However, taking a few hundred thousand people is quite easy. With those hundreds of thousands, even if we reached a primitive society, we could quickly enter the industrial age.

"I understand, this is just a hypothetical situation. You can go now; I will talk to Senior Brother Xuan Fa."

Ci’en nodded and then let Lv Junyu go. After he left, Ci’en fell into deep thought.

On Lingqing Star, the strength of their Da’en Temple is now only at a medium level. Several conservative Buddhist cultivators are stronger than them, and the most important thing is that Xuan Fa’s attitude is unclear; he does not openly take sides, which makes Ci’en feel disheartened.

Ci’en has talked to Xuan Fa many times. The situation of Buddhism in the Tiannan Star Domain is very bad; they are the only ones left on their planet. If Buddhism cannot reform and become stronger, they will eventually be taken over by enemies. For the sake of Buddhism, they should support their own reforms.

Xuan Fa initially agreed to support him, but when the conservative Buddhist cultivators came after them, Xuan Fa began to waver, which made Ci’en feel even more disheartened.

Feeling disheartened, and unable to defeat the conservative Buddhist cultivators, Ci’en began to consider retreating. It would be better to go to other Buddhist worlds to recover and build strength, and then come back stronger.