Unforgettable for the Rest of One's Life

Cangwu Kingdom.

Inside Miaoyuan Temple.

"In all things, one must actually learn to look on the bright side." Yun Li stood in the hall, looking at Wu Wang, whose hands were full of jade tokens and whose expression revealed unspeakable exhaustion.

"Although the current situation has slipped beyond your control, at least the reputation of Hinayana Buddhism has been spread. Now, even places we haven't preached in are voluntarily acting under the banner of Hinayana Buddhism."

"Hinayana Buddhism is now renowned far and wide, and you played an indispensable role in that. Weighing your merits against your faults, I'd say you actually came out ahead."

Wu Wang was already somewhat mentally and physically exhausted. The jade tokens in his hands right now were not front-line reports for him to manage, but rather full of questioning and confusion from his own Buddhas.

Runan had already somewhat broken convention by letting him preside over this major event. Now that something had gone wrong, the scattered Buddhas of the Buddhist sect naturally wanted to interrogate him about what exactly was happening.

Naturally, it wasn't completely devoid of good news.

Many of the jade tokens in his hands right now contained extremely harsh wording, questioning whether Wu Wang intended to completely ruin the Buddhist sect's reputation.

But no matter how severe the wording was, the Buddhist sect had not sent a single extra person, not even a supervisor.

It was obvious that Runan was bearing the pressure from the Central Continent's Buddhist sect for him, so these Buddhas could only send jade tokens to vent, unable to directly intervene in the matter.

While such trust warmed his heart, it also placed an immense amount of pressure on Wu Wang.

His Venerable Buddha trusted him so much, yet he genuinely couldn't come up with a single good plan to salvage the situation.

It was true that he wanted Hinayana Buddhism to become renowned far and wide, but not in this manner.

Nowadays, Hinayana Buddhism was almost directly synonymous with the word rebellion.

Many capitals that had not yet promoted Hinayana Buddhism had even begun to boycott the Buddhist sect, and numerous temples were being secretly suppressed.

Wu Wang cast a dark, resentful glance at Yun Li below, who looked quite relaxed and even had the free time to tease him.

As expected, the ideas conceived by an idiot could only lead people into a massive pit.

Even if he had done absolutely nothing in the beginning and just slept in the temple, the situation would probably be much better than it was now.

To think that a single idea could ruin things to this extent.

Wu Wang didn't entirely blame Yun Li. He also felt that since he had actually used such an idiot's idea, he too had to bear responsibility.

He took a deep breath and spoke as calmly as possible:

"You speak very well. Can you stop speaking now?"

"Naturally, I can." Yun Li nodded quite sincerely, then adopted a posture as if the grand trend of the world was entirely within his grasp, and chuckled, "However, I have one more plan that will definitely turn the current situation from danger to safety."

Yun Li's tone was rather enticing:

"Fellow Daoist, don't you want to hear it?"

"No." Wu Wang could no longer hold back. He glared coldly and said, "It would be best if you also disappeared from my sight."

Having suffered from a massive pit dug by an idiot like Yun Li, if he jumped into another one, he really might as well just die.

Hearing this, Yun Li shook his head helplessly, his tone filled with resignation:

"Sigh... you don't recognize good intentions."

Wu Wang didn't reply. Right now, he truly didn't even want to look at this jinx.

As Yun Li's footsteps faded away.

Wu Wang stored all the jade tokens in his hands back into his spatial ring. He had originally thought that the Buddhist sect's Buddhas might offer some ideas for this matter, but he hadn't expected them to offer nothing but empty rhetoric or interrogations.

It would be better not to look at such things in the future; they were useless apart from ruining his mood.

No matter how terrible the situation was, with his Venerable Buddha strongly backing him, Wu Wang naturally couldn't just give up and let things rot.

Wu Wang picked up the jade token transmitting information and looked at the scalp-numbing news inside.

It was either that various factions were preparing to suppress Hinayana Buddhism, or that the followers of Hinayana Buddhism were preparing to rebel.

Now, nobody cared about what Hinayana Buddhism actually preached anymore.

Nowadays, outside, Hinayana Buddhism could be used to justify I won't have food tomorrow, so I'm going to rob some, or it could mean Are kings and nobles born any nobler than us?

It was an excuse to attack someone you disliked, a reason to fight to the death, a moral high ground, and a catchy slogan to attract participants.

It was no longer about propagating the Dharma, or spreading Buddhist scriptures about truth, goodness, and beauty.

Under such circumstances, it was no longer something that could be resolved by Wu Wang standing in front of people, chanting Amitabha a few times, and urging them to turn back.

Even though he was a Buddhist Son, it was highly likely he would be labeled a fake monk for going against their interests.

Today's Buddhist sect and temples had already lost the ability to persuade people to turn back and stop everything. It seemed they could only wait until the fury of both sides burned out before finding an opportunity.

But if they truly waited until this fury burned out and rivers of blood flowed.

It would be far, far too late.

Right now, the only option seemingly laid before Wu Wang was to reveal his cultivation and use Buddhist Sanskrit chants to pacify them.

But even if he truly disregarded everything and did that, it would only treat the symptoms and not the root cause. It would be entirely meaningless, merely delaying the inevitable.

At this moment, what Wu Wang had learned in the Buddhist sect was already proving inadequate. As a Buddhist Son, his cultivation talent was naturally top-tier, and he was extremely intelligent when it came to ordinary matters.

But facing this unprecedented grand trend... he ultimately lacked experience.

Wu Wang was naturally anxious in his heart, but time would not slow down because of his anxiety.

Rather... it seemed to pass much faster because of it.

Wu Wang felt as if he had only spaced out for a moment. It was clearly daytime, but when he looked again, the bright moonlight was already shining.

He slowly let out a sigh, then shifted his gaze toward the door.

"As expected of the Buddhist sect, you people really love a lively scene." Li Yingling's voice reached Wu Wang's ears first, and only then did her figure appear at the doorway. "Just one pilot zone is already this lively. If we had really rolled it out comprehensively like you all suggested back then, it would probably have resulted in true devastation and worldwide chaos."

Chen Baiqing followed behind Li Yingling, her gaze locked onto Wu Wang.

Seeing this, Wu Wang stood up. He didn't try to shift the blame by saying this was Yun Li's brilliant idea. He first bowed in greeting, then spoke:

"Why has Fellow Daoist Li come?"

"Would I dare not come?" Li Yingling sneered. "Are you underestimating the magnitude of what you've done? Now every immortal sect knows that it was my master and your Venerable Buddha who jointly promoted Hinayana Buddhism."

"Now that you've botched things up like this, do you think it's only your Buddhist sect's reputation that's ruined, and my master's doesn't count?"

"Your Buddhist sect's prestige and reputation might already be at rock bottom so you don't care, but my master cannot accept that."

"If you think my presence is a hindrance, you only need to publicly declare that everything happening now is the fault of the Buddhist sect and has absolutely nothing to do with my master. I will pack up and go home right this instant."

Wu Wang did not reply, forcing a slight smile onto his face.

Although Li Yingling's words were full of interrogation and blame, it was also very clear—compared to the useless interrogations from his own Buddhas, she was obviously here to clean up his mess.

Only with shared interests can there be trust.

For Chu Xingchen to entrust such a major task to Li Yingling meant that at the very least, she was no fool. Moreover, during their last conversation, Li Yingling had left a very deep impression on him—she was an absolutely formidable opponent.

Wu Wang pondered for a moment, a gentle smile appearing on his face as he said:

"I imagine Fellow Daoist Li hasn't come all this way just to mock me. I wonder if you have any solutions?"

Li Yingling's eyes were sharp as she said coldly:

"Naturally, it is to pacify both sides. I specifically brought people with me just to clean up your mess."

"In the future, you had better repay this favor properly!"

Wu Wang breathed a sigh of relief:

"If this matter is resolved, Fellow Daoist Li's great favor..."

"I shall never forget it for as long as I live!"