Chapter 14: Seeking Opportunities at the Ten Thousand Buddhas Temple

“Daughter, why take a detour to the Ten Thousand Buddhas Temple?” Xie Shen was a bit puzzled.

Mo Lan smiled and said, “Just go where she says. It’s our daughter’s first time leaving home, what’s wrong with being a little curious?”

“It’s just like Mother said. I just want to go broaden my horizons. Whether it’s fun or not is secondary. In the future, when I chat with people, I can say I’m someone who has been to the Ten Thousand Buddhas Temple.” Xie Jiuniang batted her innocent large eyes and casually made up an excuse.

Mo Lan’s phoenix eyes were full of doting affection as she smiled.

After the family got far away from Yunmu City and confirmed no one was tailing them, they switched from a horse carriage to a flying vessel.

The flying vessel was a small boat, more than enough to accommodate the three of them.

The Ten Thousand Buddhas Temple was formerly a Buddhist Sect.

During the Buddhist Sect’s heyday, it was one of the top forces in the cultivation world. Later, when the demon race invaded, the Buddhist Sect served as one of the main combat forces. In the final decisive battle, the demon race was defeated, but almost all the Buddhist Sect’s powerful experts perished and their lineage nearly went extinct.

As time passed, the Buddha Sect gradually faded and became today’s Ten Thousand Buddhas Temple.

The main hall of the Ten Thousand Buddhas Temple was the former inheritance hall of the Buddhist Sect.

Every Buddhist cultivator in the cultivation world would make a pilgrimage here at least once in their lifetime.

It was said that once, a little monk suddenly had an epiphany while burning incense at the Ten Thousand Buddhas Temple.

From then on, he underwent a complete transformation and soared to great heights, becoming the renowned Deity Transformation stage Buddhist cultivator—Venerable Linyin.

In ordinary days, some cultivators would come here to tour and tempt fate for an opportunity.

At the foot of the Ten Thousand Buddhas Temple mountain was a small prosperous town with teahouses, inns, markets, and all kinds of shops. There were even dedicated personnel maintaining public order.

The Ten Thousand Buddhas Temple only opened on the 1st and 15th of each month. Currently, it was the 12th, three days before the 15th.

Xie Jiuniang spoke up, “Father, Mother, let’s head to an inn first.”

“Are you tired, daughter? Do you need to rest?” Mo Lan looked at the bustling and lively prosperous scene around them and couldn’t help but sigh, “It’s even more prosperous here than I heard.”

Xie Shen gazed up towards the peak of the Ten Thousand Buddhas Temple mountain, his eyes full of longing as he said, “Of course. No matter what, this place was once the old site of a major sect. For us cultivators, opportunities are hard to come by. If there’s a legitimate and relatively safe location, why wouldn’t we come here? Who knows, maybe I’ll burn some incense at Ten Thousand Buddhas Temple and be fortunate enough to receive the inheritance of a former Buddha Sect predecessor?”

“Is that what you’re thinking, Father?” Xie Jiuniang was surprised. “Oh, do you wish to become a monk and abandon your beloved wife? Does Mother know about this?”

Upon hearing this, Xie Shen was flustered. Like a startled cat, he hurriedly explained, “I don’t, I don’t! I was just making an analogy. Your mother is beautiful, wise, gentle and gracious. That I could marry her in this life is the blessing I cultivated over eight lifetimes…”

Mo Lan looked at him with a smile that wasn’t quite a smile.

The corner of Xie Jiuniang’s mouth twitched. Her father’s survival instincts were very strong.

Then her father was dragged away by the ear by her Mother, one lecturing and the other pleading.

This kind of scene had become all too common since leaving Yunmu City. Xie Jiuniang didn’t know before that this was how her parents got along in private. Their relationship was unbelievably good. Suddenly, she understood a bit her father’s final choice back when mother passed away…

They found an inn and rented an independent and elegant little courtyard.

Inside were two side rooms, a main hall, a tea room, a washroom, and a storage room. The courtyard had a small garden that was planted with some flowers, plants, and trees that were quite nice to look at.

This little courtyard was enough for them to stay in, but the price wasn’t cheap either.

It cost eighty-eight spirit stones per day, and that was just for an ordinary mortal courtyard without any spell formations. Back in Yunmu City, even one spirit stone was considered expensive.

Mo Lan felt her heart ache as she paid the hefty fee begrudgingly, heeding her daughter’s request to rent it for three days.

Forget it, forget it. They already had a family fortune of 500,000 spirit stones.

She didn’t know her daughter’s purpose for coming here, but a mother knows her daughter best. Since her daughter was unwilling to say anything, she and her husband decided to pretend ignorance. During the three years they were away, they didn’t know what their daughter had gone through, causing the once innocent and joyful child to mature abruptly, yet also seeming to carry some burden as she forged ahead…

Whenever Mo Lan thought of this, she was filled with regret.

She really hated the Main Branch, they were all no good!

Xie Jiuniang was unaware that her occasional abnormalities had already caught her parents’ attention, and that the Main Branch had conveniently been saddled with a huge blame pot.

Over the next two days, to the couple’s astonishment, their daughter, who usually spent every second either studying or cultivating, started roaming around from early morning. She seemed particularly fond of wandering around the street stalls in the market area.

She would browse through every single stall.

The peddlers found it unsurprising, thinking she was looking for bargains like many others.

No matter how the hawkers promoted their wares or boasted to the extreme, Xie Jiuniang’s willpower was formidable and she never bought anything.

Xie Shen couldn’t make heads or tails of it. “Daughter, what are you looking for?”

Xie Jiuniang sighed, “My opportunity. Why haven’t I encountered anything that instantly captures my heart and makes me want to buy it?”

Aren’t I the heavenly dao’s favored child?

It was said that the destined child gathered the great fortune of the world in their body and could often pick up ancient treasures every few steps. Now that it had changed to her, she had already walked for two days…

And there wasn’t even a fart!^[1]Nothing at all!

It was true that relying on others wasn’t as good as relying on oneself.

Xie Jiuniang deliberately came to the Ten Thousand Buddhas Temple during this period, aiming for the opportunity that Lin Wangchen obtained in her previous life.

On the early morning of the third day, Xie Jiuniang woke up early and went to offer incense together with her parents while treading up the steps with reverence in her heart.

The Buddha Sect perished for the sake of saving mortals, and the sacrifices of countless predecessors should not be forgotten—they were truly virtuous beyond measure.

Finally, they reached the summit.

In the midst of lush green mountains, a magnificent Buddhist palace stood tall and majestic, towering over the heavens and earth.

In the vast plaza before the grand hall, at the center, was an enormous golden bell surrounded by an ocean of people.

The sun hadn’t risen yet, but there were already so many people?

Xie Shen’s tall frame stood like an iron tower, protectively shielding his wife and daughter. Mo Lan said she wanted to buy incense and candles.

Xie Jiuniang suddenly said, “Father, Mother, there are too many worshippers. Let’s not squeeze through the crowds. We can explore the areas around the temple first.”

“All right, it doesn’t have to be the first incense offering. Any time is fine.” Mo Lan was now completely a daughter’s slave,^[2]Daughter’s Slave: It’s a hyperbolic way of saying the mother spoils and caters to her daughter’s every desire, used to criticize or make fun of extreme parental indulgence. going along with whatever her daughter said.

Xie Jiuniang pretended to wander around the Ten Thousand Buddhas Temple, but subtly led her parents towards the rear mountain, until they reached a small pond.

The pond water was shallow and crystal clear.

Standing on the bank, one could clearly see the tiny pebbles at the bottom, occasionally catching a glimpse of a darting silver minnow.

In her previous life, Lin Wangchen mentioned obtaining a palm-sized golden Buddha statue from this small pond. He was a Golden Core cultivator carrying out a sect mission when he encountered pursuit from a Nascent Soul demonic cultivator. Rumor had it that he only managed to preserve his life thanks to this Buddha statue.

She didn’t know the specific time and he didn’t say in detail how he obtained it. He only mentioned the small pond.

Xie Jiuniang used her spiritual sense to search but found nothing.

That couldn’t be right. Could this golden Buddha statue be able to evade spiritual sense probing?

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