Looking at the formation protecting the Vajra Bodhi Fruits, Lu Ming stepped inside without hesitation.
Just after Lu Ming stepped inside, a figure flashed, and Ye Fan's silhouette appeared there as well.
It turned out that after leaving the Ancient God Clan's base, Ye Fan had begun searching for Lu Ming and the Qingshan Sect.
He first went to the Eastern Province, only to find that not only was the Qingshan Sect nowhere to be found, but Lu Ming had vanished as well.
Even the Xinghe Dynasty and the Demon Emperor had disappeared.
At the same time, he understood why the Patriarch of the Ancient God Clan and the others didn't believe him.
As it turned out, all the factions and people he had asked them to investigate had vanished!
Unable to find the Qingshan Sect and Lu Ming, Ye Fan went directly to the Central Province to search, but he still came up empty-handed.
Eventually, he wandered all the way to the Western Province, and to his surprise, he actually spotted Lu Ming.
Just as he was preparing to slap Lu Ming to death from the shadows, he saw Lu Ming sneakily put on a stealth magical artifact.
Observing the fluctuations in the rules closely, he discovered that Lu Ming had actually snuck into the Ancient Buddha Sect.
He was incredibly curious about what Lu Ming was up to.
So, he followed him inside!
He had just glanced at the Vajra Bodhi Fruit tree inside the formation.
A loud shout suddenly rang out:
“Audacious thief! How dare you trespass in our Ancient Buddha Sect!”
Turning his head, Ye Fan saw two Unity-stage Vajras glaring at him with wide, furious eyes.
Ye Fan furrowed his brows, a cold glint flashing in his eyes.
Aren't they just getting in the way?
With a flash of his body, he reached out and grabbed both of their necks.
“Crack!”
Squeezing with force, Ye Fan snuffed out the breath of the two Unity-stage Vajras.
Then, he also stepped into the formation.
...
After Lu Ming entered the formation, before he could even begin to break it, he found that the scenery before his eyes had changed.
He appeared inside a grand hall. Before him sat a benevolent-looking old monk, sitting cross-legged and watching him.
Lu Ming was startled, not understanding what was happening.
As it turned out, this formation was called the Myriad Hearts Buddhist Debate Formation. It was not a typical trapping, killing, or defensive formation.
The core of the formation was debating Buddhist teachings and discussing the Dao.
Anyone who entered the formation would immediately be pulled into a debate.
Furthermore, it did not require you to debate yourself; instead, you had to choose the Buddha in your heart to break the formation.
The benevolent old monk before him was not a real person either.
He was a debate avatar manifested from the accumulated aspirations of ten thousand Buddhas within the formation.
Lacking a fixed physical body, his sole purpose was to confront those who entered and debate Buddhism with them.
Upon receiving the prompt from the formation, Lu Ming's lips twitched.
He didn't know which absolute genius had designed this formation, but it was truly incredible.
“Amitabha. Benefactor, please choose the Buddha in your heart to debate the Buddhist Dharma with this Buddha!”
Lu Ming raised an eyebrow and confirmed once more,
“As long as it's the Buddha in my heart, anyone is fine?”
The old monk smiled and nodded.
“Indeed!”
This was the first time Lu Ming had ever seen such a method for breaking a formation!
But that wouldn't stop him from showing off his skills!
Lu Ming's eyes flickered. Debating Buddhist Dharma?
Suddenly, the talkative mouth of a certain fair-skinned monk popped into Lu Ming's mind.
As Lu Ming sketched the thought in his mind, Tang Sanzang—the notoriously talkative monk from the Journey to the West—appeared in the grand hall.
Lu Ming opened his eyes and looked at Tang Sanzang, who looked exactly as he had imagined.
He couldn't help but twitch his lips. When it came to debating Buddhist Dharma, he felt there was no one more suitable than this man.
If this monk didn't talk the opponent to death, it would only be because he had an off day!
Pointing at Tang Sanzang, Lu Ming said to the old monk,
“The Candana Merit Buddha, Tang Sanzang!”
“Amitabha. This poor monk, Tang Sanzang, hails from the Great Tang in the East. Greetings!”
Just as Lu Ming's voice fell, the phantom of Tang Sanzang actually solidified completely.
He wore a Jinlan Kasaya that shimmered with brilliant light.
Holding a Nine-Ringed Tin Staff, his entire body radiated boundless Buddhist light.
Lu Ming froze. Why did he get the feeling that this Tang Sanzang was actually a real, living being?
But then he shook his head, thinking he was overthinking it.
This was just a fantasy based on a TV show. How could it possibly be real?
At this moment, the old monk manifested by the formation was also slightly stunned, his eyes filled with confusion.
Who is this Candana Merit Buddha? I've never heard of him.
Putting his hands together, the old monk spoke, his voice resonating like an ancient bell:
“Amitabha. This venerable one has never heard of a Buddha such as yourself.”
Tang Sanzang put his hands together with a smile and said with a serious expression:
“Amitabha. This Buddha is an outsider! As the saying goes, the Buddha from afar is better at delivering people!”
“Do not look down on this Buddha, and do not think of bullying me just because I am from the outside...”
“Let me tell you, whether you are a human or a Buddha, you cannot bully newcomers... There is no distinction between local and foreign Buddhas; only by keeping all living beings in one's heart can one attain the true nature of reality...”
Lu Ming and the old monk watched as Tang Sanzang, hands pressed together, babbled on and on without stopping.
Lu Ming's lips twitched. He really was as talkative as expected!
The old monk also frowned slightly. I think I only said one sentence!
Finally, the moment Tang Sanzang paused his relentless chattering, the old monk quickly cut in:
“Since the benefactor regards the Candana Merit Buddha as the true Buddha in his heart, this Buddha shall boldly debate him!”
As the old monk spoke, he looked at Lu Ming.
There was a trace of resentment in his eyes, as if to say, Where did you find such a chatterbox of a Buddha?
Lu Ming pretended not to understand and simply nodded repeatedly.
“Yes! I invite the Candana Merit Buddha to debate the Buddhist Dharma with you!”
Seeing the Candana Merit Buddha opposite him about to open his mouth again, the old monk hastily said,
“A Buddha is proven by great perfection, free from suffering, hardship, delusion, and attachment, thereby attaining the right fruit. Candana Merit Buddha, you are so talkative and chatter incessantly. How can you be considered a Buddha?”
This question was extremely tricky, pointing directly at Tang Sanzang's flaw.
But in the next instant, Tang Sanzang slowly raised his eyes, his voice gentle yet echoing throughout the entire grand hall:
“You, the local Buddha, are mistaken.”
“This Buddha is not obsessively talkative. It is out of reluctance to see all living beings sink into oblivion that I perform compassionate debates and open the dharma eye...”
The old monk's brows furrowed slightly.
“To speak without end means the distinctions in your heart have not been severed. Being unable to let go of the foolish beings of the mortal world is an attachment, and attachment is an obstacle. How can you speak of great perfection?”
Tang Sanzang slowly took a step forward, every word he spoke causing a golden lotus to bloom on the ground:
“The thousands of words from my mouth are all meant to deliver others, not to disturb the mind with delusions. Though my body performs countless speeches, my heart is free from greed, desire, anger, and resentment. I do not exhaust active deeds, nor do I dwell in inactive stillness...”
As Tang Sanzang spoke faster and faster, golden lotuses spat from his mouth one after another.
Inside the hall, the boundless golden light surged violently, and the Buddhist light rumbled.
The old monk's gentle and compassionate expression instantly froze, his eyes filled with shame and embarrassment.
He felt as though his insights from countless years of cultivation had been thoroughly torn to shreds.
With no ground left to stand on, he wished he could find a crack in the floor to crawl into. He actually felt as if he had desecrated the Candana Merit Buddha.
His lips trembled several times, but he could not utter a single word of rebuttal.
“Sadhu... The words of the Candana Merit Buddha have filled this old monk with shame. Only now do I realize how narrow-minded I have been.”
Before his voice could fade, the old monk's body turned into a fading phantom.
Starting from his toes, he gradually dissolved into nothingness, and the illusory barrier binding Lu Ming in the hall shattered with a bang.
At the same time, Tang Sanzang's figure also began to slowly dissipate.
Meanwhile, Lu Ming seemed to hear Tang Sanzang curl his lips in disdain and mutter:
“Talked you to death, didn't I!”
Lu Ming wondered if he had misheard!
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