I Can See Your Combat Power

Chapter 918: Chapter 212: Illusion

Human thought is always limited by one’s own understanding, and most of the time, what’s called ignorance is simply because one cannot break out of their shackles.

Perhaps in Dongzhi’s eyes, the world is synonymous with Hyderabad, so the departed holy woman would naturally be reborn in Hyderabad as if this wilderness were an existence independent of the world.

Therefore, he could take it for granted that the petals under his feet were the legacy of reincarnation and believe in it without any doubt.

But Tang Luo, who had traveled tens of thousands of miles alone, truly knew how vast this world was, and being well-versed in the martial path, he understood what the bare minimum guarantee to cultivate a high-level warrior was.

Even an ordinary person engaged in strenuous labor, if they could have spiritual food and spiritual rice every day, living a long and healthy life of a hundred years would be an effortless matter, so Tang Luo certainly didn’t believe in the reincarnation and passing away of the holy woman; dying so early was certainly not a good end.

With such thoughts in mind, the duty of the holy woman seemed quite intriguing. Tang Luo stroked his chin and assessed the exceptionally graceful holy women in front of the temple before asking Dongzhi casually, “Are there holy women who never received the favor of the guardian deity and then left the temple?”

...

“The guardian deity loves all believers. How could he not like the holy woman!” Dongzhi asserted, “Every holy woman will receive the reincarnation care of the guardian deity, it’s just a matter of duration. Amei’s previous life was a lotus, pure and flawless. She is certain to receive the love of the guardian deity!”

It’s really hard to argue with blind believers. Tang Luo turned his head to look at several masters in front of the temple. Apart from Keluda whom he had already met, he had not seen the others, and the gaunt old man standing in the middle of the temple was the implicit leader, with more than 90,000 spiritual power.

This was the limit that Asura battle tactics could reach. The old man was so tormented by the Blood Fiend that he was withering away, not long for this world. Although he had the highest cultivation, how much real combat power he retained was a question.

As for the monk soldiers lined up on either side of the temple, Tang Luo did not even take them seriously. The only thing he was somewhat wary of was the Divine Array in the temple, but with a pair of eyes that could see the flow of spiritual power, breaking the array was not a difficult task. On the whole, even if the temple did not open, he could meet the Asura God Statue in his own way.

Tang Luo, who always preferred to prepare for the worst, settled down and quietly watched the monks “perform” on the stage.

Today’s protagonist, without a doubt, was Master Keluda from Ned City, the newly-ordained deity who couldn’t bear to see his followers die in the blizzard and went against the protecting deity by using thunder as his method, to carve out a thousand-mile heavenly path for those who had come for the pilgrimage.

With each “eye-witness” pilgrim speaking, the image of Master Keluda grew even more towering in the eyes of the believers.

And Dongzhi, standing in a corner of the temple square, was translating the content spoken by the followers on stage to Tang Luo with a fanatic enthusiasm on his face, “This is the Dejan family. They came for the pilgrimage from the tribal village of Gavara in the east. They set out in spring and walked for a whole year but got trapped in the snowfield. Just when the entire family was in despair, a column of thunder swept from east to west, and in the stormy sky, the image of the protecting deity appeared—that was exactly Master Keluda’s face!”

“Oh.”

“This is the Kunala family. They came from the Rahar tribe in the south, started their journey in autumn, and were also trapped by the blizzard in the mountains. If not for the divine thunderous path, they would have been trapped and died on the Karla snowfield. They too saw Master Keluda’s Dharma Aspect!”

“Heh.”

“Here they come, here they come!” Dongzhi, who was responsible for the explanation, suddenly became excited and pointed at a few ascetic monks, saying, “Look, my lord, they are the Babas of the Vitas Temple, they are truly great virtuous ones! Renouncing the offerings from the Feitian Clan, they devote themselves to seeking Buddha, willing to accumulate the suffering of nine lifetimes into one, possessing great determination and spiritual power!”

Following Dongzhi’s pointing finger, Tang Luo glanced at the ascetic monks, who at most reached the peak of mortal transformation, turned his head away with an expressionless face. Even though he didn’t want to put on an air of superiority, he couldn’t muster any respect for a group of martial artists over thirty years old who were still lingering in mortal transformation.

After all, the Feitian Clan were the true rulers of Vimazhita originally; if they truly wished to cultivate, how could they have not started to accumulate the Spiritual Power necessary to break through the mortal transformation at their age? They might be dressed in tattered clothes, but with smooth and plump skin, they hardly looked like genuine ascetics.

On the contrary, the few ascetic monks he saw in Hyderabad, despite having even lower cultivation, were truly knowledgeable about spiritual cultivation and compassion. But those people should still be on their pilgrimage in the Wilderness now, unable to participate in any kind of festival here.

The truly devout monks wander, while nobles in torn robes receive the worship of millions of followers. This bizarre and absurd scene made Tang Luo very uncomfortable, and he said indignantly, “How much longer will the festival last, and when will the temple open?”

Dongzhi, immersed in the sacred celebration, shuddered at Tang Luo’s impatient tone and stuttered, “Pl…please wait a little longer, my lord. After the selection of the temple maiden, the Asura God Statue of Master Koluta will be invited into the temple. Then the temple will open, and the followers will worship the new god. Please, just wait a while longer.”

The temple festival, held once every three years, always follows the same process, with the only difference this year being that Saint Monk Jiuda has completed all his spiritual cultivation at the Krahos Temple and is about to leave. And Master Koluta is the new abbot sent by the Vitas Temple from the holy city to take over.

If someone else were to take over, the followers in Hyderabad would have been wailing and grieving, but faced with the infinitely compassionate Master Koluta, the followers had nothing but devout respect.

Gods are venerable and not to be profaned. In the temples of Vimazhita, those responsible for the daily maintenance of the statues must be pure virgins. Even the monks’ approach would displease the deities, thus the temple initially recruited many women for this task.

But the nature of human desire is ultimately difficult to control, and some of the monks with shallow cultivation could not help but lose their restraint upon seeing the young and beautiful girls, leading to many scandals. Therefore, the temple later had dedicated temple maidens to handle these matters.

They devote their lives to the gods and thus cannot marry. They all reside within the temple until they accumulate enough merit to reincarnate.

And the temple maidens differ from one another. On Vimazhita, there are two temples: Vitas Temple in Nedra city, worshipping the God King Rahu Asura, and Krahos Temple in Hyderabad, worshipping the God King Krala Qientaro Asura.

At the temple festival held every three years, not only is a temple maiden chosen for Krahos Temple, but also for Vitas Temple. And nearly every maiden dreams of advancing into the holy city to serve the God King Rahu Asura.

As the majestic music sounded, candidates for the temple maiden, dressed in splendid attire, filed out from the side hall and stood in a row facing countless believers.