Just as the Great Divine Ability of the Mystic Sect was preparing to march west, the Two Saints of the West felt something strange from the chaos beyond the heavens. They quickly left the Buddha Domain, ready to hurry back to the Three Realms to rescue the Buddhist door.
However, before the two of them could set off, four transcendent figures arrived from the distance. The four visitors were the Four Saints of the Mystic Sect: Sanqing and Empress Nuwa.
The Four Saints, led by the Saint of Taiqing, abruptly appeared before the Two Saints of the West, blocking their path.
The Saint of Taiqing swung his dust brush, then gave a chuckling salute, asking the Two Saints of the West in a teasing manner, "My two Taoist friends, where are you heading?"
Where are we going? How could you not know where we are going? You’re playing dumb, aren’t you trying to annoy us on purpose?
Though the desire to punch the infuriating face of Saint of Taiqing was strong, Zhunti knew that he was no match for him. Hasty aggression would simply be humiliating.
Suppressing the anger in his heart, Zhunti forced a smile and replied:
"No major matter. A bit of disorder has arisen within our Buddhist sect due to differing ideologies amongst my disciples. My brother and I plan to help mediate to prevent conflict that could ruin the harmony within our sect."
Zhunti was trying to portray this incident as a simple internal conflict within the Buddhist door. As such, no matter what chaos ensued, it would be considered an internal affair and not related to outsiders.
At the same time, the Mystic Sect would have no grounds for intervening.
However, even if Zhunti made a solid case, why would the Four Saints of Mystic Sect allow him to have his way?
The Saint of Taiqing just laughed and said, "My two Taoist friends, don’t be in denial. The great catastrophe that has befallen Buddha Domain is unfortunate and unexpected, but you two must learn to accept reality and not act rashly."
A catastrophe? What catastrophe has happened to the Buddhist door that I don’t know about?
After hearing the Saint of Taiqing’s words, a bad premonition rose in Zhunti’s heart.
Next, before he could speak, the Saint of Taiqing continued, "Sumeru Mountain was originally the ancestral home of the Demon Sect. Your decision to leave the Tao there is extremely risky."
"The Spiritual Mountain being taken over by evil demons seems unbelievable, but if you think about it, there is reasoning behind it."
"The Demon Sect occupied Sumeru Mountain for countless years, who knows what they left behind? When you two were around, your presence protected the Spiritual Mountain."
"But after your departure, the Spiritual Mountain lost your protection. How could Duobao and his young disciples be a match for the high-ranking demons of the Demon Sect? Being manipulated and falling into the cycle of reincarnation is normal."
As soon as these words were spoken by Saint of Taiqing, even the Two Western Saints, with their vast wisdom, widened their eyes in surprise and looked at him.
They seemed to not believe that these words had come from the Saint of Taiqing. His words were absurd!
He was trying to cover for Jiang Chen.
Jiang Chen had only mentioned that the Spiritual Mountain had been breached and many Buddhas had fallen. However, he failed to mention where the evil demons came from and how they broke into the Spiritual Mountain.
Now, Saint of Taiqing had conveniently filled in these gaps. The one who had broken into Spiritual Mountain was none other than the arch-nemesis of the Buddhist door, a remnant of the Demon Sect.
Yes, the Demon Sect was strong, but the Spiritual Mountain was the original root of the same Demon Sect. Thus, the idea of them taking the Spiritual Mountain by surprise and retaking their ancestral root appears quite plausible!
If they hadn’t known the truth, the Two Western Saints might really have believed it. However, it didn’t matter if they didn’t believe it, because the Four Saints from the Mystic Sect did.
Inhaling sharply, the Two Western Saints still stared incredulously at the Saint of Taiqing.
Ru Lai and the others.. they’re dead? How come we didn’t know about it?
"Fellow Daoist, there might be some misunderstanding..." Zhunti opened his mouth, wanting to explain, but before he could finish, he was interrupted by the Saint of Taiqing:
"Ah, it’s understandable if you find Duobao’s fall hard to accept. It pained me greatly when I first heard the news."
"It was I who brought Duobao to the west, initially with the intention of securing a great fortune for him. Little did I expect it would actually cost him his life."
"Ah, if I had known this would happen, I would’ve kept him in the Mystic Sect. I failed Duobao!"
As he spoke, the grief on the face of the Saint of Taiqing seemed genuine, with no trace of disguise.
Contrary to the grief of the Saint of Taiqing, across him, Zhunti’s face had reddened from indignation.
Was the Saint of Taiqing cursing Duobao to die? Of course not, he deliberately mentioned Duobao’s alleged death to seize the opportunity for Duobao to fake his death and return to the Mystic Sect.
It was apparent from his title for Duobao. Referring to Ru Lai as Duobao and not Ru Lai, wasn’t he blatantly treating Duobao as a member of Mystic Sect?
The Saint of Taiqing had good intentions, but Zhunti would never allow it.
Not only was Duobao the master of Buddhism, the supreme amongst ten thousand Buddhas, but he was also the strongest under the saints with the rare level of the Great Perfection Quasi-Saint.
The western Two Saints had given up their position as the leader, giving all honor and power from the Buddhist door to Ru Lai Buddha, which made him the most powerful today.
After paying such a great price, they had nurtured this peerless expert. So the Saint of Taiqing thought he could just lure someone back to the Mystic Sect with a few words? Impossible.