Told You I Can Turn Back Time
Chapter 231 - 169: The Emergence of Unique Skills

Chapter 231: Chapter 169: The Emergence of Unique Skills

Lin Xing felt a twinge of doubt in his heart, "Could it be that I was wrong in my suspicions? Is Da Guangming Temple truly leading people toward good? Can the people of Mirror World really be guided well?"

Lin Xing shook his head as countless memories of being attacked in Mirror World bolstered his judgement against such an idea.

"What exactly Da Guangming Temple is like, we’ll only know after observing more closely."

"It just so happens that on the way to She Shen Cliff, I can take a look..."

Next, the group left the village and upon reaching the outskirts, they saw vast expanses of uncultivated wasteland.

Lin Xing asked, "Does no one in the entire village cultivate the land?"

Dong’er shook her head with a complicated expression, "Who would farm when worshipping Buddha earns more money? Nowadays, everyone is worshipping Buddha; there’s no one left to farm."

Lin Xing puzzled, "If everyone is worshipping, where does the food and necessities come from?"

Dong’er replied, "The temple provides them. The devotees just buy what they need."

Just then, they heard ongoing clamor and cursing from behind.

Several fierce and aggressive men wielding spears and clubs were chasing after them.

Dong’er was startled by the scene and quickly pulled Lin Xing, running towards the outskirts, "Hurry! Run!"

Lin Xing, confused, asked, "Who are they? Why are they looking for you?"

As Dong’er was pulling Lin Xing, she hurriedly explained, "They are here to drag me back for more prayers! Hurry up, we’ll be in trouble if they catch us."

One of the burly men yelled, "You stinker! The master in the temple says you go to the toilet eight times a day and disappear even before it’s time, do you have any idea how many Buddha hours you owe?"

While running, Dong’er shouted back, "Whoever wants to pray should do it themselves! I don’t mind forsaking my salary!"

The burly man, heartbroken, argued, "At your age, you should treat the temple as your home and devoutly worship Buddha every day. I tried so hard to get you into the temple, and now you sneak out?"

Dong’er retorted, "If the temple is like home, shouldn’t I be able to come and go as I please?"

The burly man furiously shouted, "Obstacle to enlightenment!"

The men were clearly skilled in martial arts and ran quite fast, quickly gaining on the group, which terrified Dong’er.

But at that moment, unnoticed Sword Intent rose from the men’s clothing.

Immediately following several screams, the men were suddenly stopped by their clothes being violently pulled.

In the blink of an eye, Dong’er had dragged Lin Xing and the others away from their pursuers.

She patted her chest in relief and said, "We’re lucky to have shaken them off."

Lin Xing curiously inquired, "The ones just now, were they your family?"

Dong’er nonchalantly replied, "Yeah, the leader is my dad. He’s always either forcing me to pray more at the temple or pressuring my grandpa to endure for thirty years."

Bai Yiyi couldn’t help but interject, "You don’t even want to pray every day yourself, yet you suggested it to us?"

"The assistant at the temple in the village entrance said my aptitude for worshipping Buddha isn’t good." Dong’er explained, "I thought you might have the aptitude and could enjoy the blessings bestowed by the Great Bright Buddha."

The group of four quickened their pace toward the Da Guangming Mountains and managed to reach a mountain city before nightfall.

Dong’er introduced it, "This is Chuanfu City, passing through this city will take us to the main temple of Da Guangming Temple."

As they moved through the city, they found it eerily silent, only catching occasional devout chants.

In Lin Xing’s spiritual perception, nearly every household seemed to be silently worshipping Buddha, apparently having nothing else to do.

Looking at the deserted streets resembling a ghost town, Bai Yiyi couldn’t help but comment, "Da Guangming Temple is too harsh, don’t these people go mad from praying all day?"

She turned to Zhao Wanxi and asked, "Are the contemporary followers of Da Guangming Temple this obsessed?"

Zhao Wanxi shook her head, "I haven’t heard of such intense worship."

The group passed through the mountain city and over another mountain ridge, to behold a spectacular temple shrouded in layers of clouds and mist intermittently visible.

Waves of chanting Buddha Sound resonated from the temple, invoking in the listeners a rising reverence.

At the deepest part of the temple, a round of Buddha Light seemed to connect heaven and earth, radiating endless brightness and authority.

Bai Yiyi exclaimed in astonishment, "What is that?"

Dong’er, standing beside her, explained, "That is a ray of Buddha Light descended by the Great Bright Buddha. It’s said that since the Great Bright Buddha descended to this world, this beam of Buddha Light has lasted for eight hundred years."

Dong’er glanced at Lin Xing and continued, "That Buddha Light emanates from She Shen Cliff."

"Devotees who have worshipped for thirty years can be taken up to the Western Buddha Realm through this Buddha Light..."

"I’ll go and ask if we can enter the temple to look around today, it shouldn’t be a problem, just wait here."

Dong’er ran towards the grand gate of Da Guangming Temple, talking to a monk at the gatehouse and seemed to pull out some silver.

However, the monk appeared expressionless and coldly turned Dong’er away.

Quickly, a puzzled Dong’er ran back to Lin Xing and reported, "I don’t know what’s happening. The gatekeeper monk said the temple is sealed; now, except for the monks inside or listed devotees, outsiders can’t enter Da Guangming Temple."

Lin Xing frowned and looking at the distant Buddha Light, he wondered, "Is there no other way to enter?"

Seeing Dong’er shake her head, Lin Xing thought to himself, "Could it be that Da Guangming Temple has secretly relocated, hence they’re claiming it’s sealed?"

Just as Lin Xing was contemplating whether he should take this opportunity to sneak into Da Guangming Temple.

But within the majestic temple, an extraordinarily vast and powerful Buddhist chant suddenly arose.

"Amitabha, esteemed guest, why do you so boldly intrude upon our Da Guangming Temple?"

A male voice responded, "I am Yun Hezi from the Taihe Sect, and I have heard that your sect’s life-risking cliff possesses a peerless and unique technique that is about to emerge. I specifically came to witness it."

Upon hearing this, Bai Yiyi’s heart stirred, "The Taihe Sect? Isn’t that the Taishan Beidou just like Shi Lin Temple, currently one of the strongest among the nine major sects? Have they also come to Da Guangming Temple?"

Lin Xing slightly furrowed his brows, thinking to himself, "The Taihe Sect knows about the unique technique as well?"

"Amitabha, what the esteemed guest mentioned is a rumor mistakenly spread a hundred years ago. If you persist in entering the life-risking cliff, you must first become an official follower of this Buddha."

However, the man simply chuckled and said, "What if I insist on taking a look?"

"This Buddha cannot predict future events; you’ll only know once you try it..."

The next moment, the Buddhist light located at the life-risking cliff explosively spread out, and the entire world seemed to have violently shaken along with it.

A groundbreaking collision sound arrived.

Surging waves of energy shot straight into the sky, like an invisible pair of hands flapping back and forth the clouds in the sky, eventually revealing a patch of light blue.

And the clouds that had originally scattered through the mountains also disappeared in the violent waves, revealing the grandeur of the whole Da Guangming Temple.

At the same time, within Lin Xing’s psychic senses, a shadow launched out from the main gate of Da Guangming at an unimaginable speed, flashing several times and disappearing into the horizon in the blink of an eye.

Leaving only a voice echoing from afar.

"Great Bright Buddha, truly as renowned as said, but this time I am not the only one here; let’s see how long you can hold on."

Right after the shadow vanished, the spreading Buddhist light above the temple did not disappear but swept back and forth within Da Guangming Temple before slowly contracting and returning to its original state.

Lin Xing watched this scene, slightly furrowing his brows, myriad thoughts flooding his mind: "...Has the Sect Hierarch of the Xingxiao Sect not arrived yet? Or is he also hiding somewhere?"

He recalled the noise of the encounter that just occurred and quietly estimated, "Was it the Great Bright Buddha who made the move just now? This combat power... it seems neither sneaking in nor breaking in is going to be easy."

Beside him, Dong’er was utterly astonished and said, "Someone dared to intrude into Da Guangming Temple?"

The magnitude of the fight just now had surpassed anything Dong’er had seen or heard before, leaving an expression of shock on her face.

Lin Xing, however, grabbed her and headed back towards the direction of the mountain city.

Along the way, Dong’er continuously marveled at the battle she had just witnessed, her agitated emotions seemingly taking a long while to calm down.

It wasn’t until they returned to the mountain city that Dong’er’s emotions somewhat settled down, and she turned to Lin Xing apologetically, "We weren’t able to enter the life-risking cliff, should I return the silver to you?"

Lin Xing, however, shook his head and said, "You’ve also had a hard time leading us up the mountain all this way; keep the silver. Besides, there are some things I still want to ask you."

Dong’er immediately smiled upon hearing this, "Are you hungry? Let me treat you to a meal."

With Lin having something on his mind he wanted to ask, he nodded in agreement.

As the group approached a food stall, they could hear quarreling from afar.

They saw a youth outside a food stall, shouting and cursing at the stall, "Don’t you darn increase the food prices again? Didn’t you just raise them recently?"

The stall owner shrugged, "The food prices are set by the temple. Buy it or leave."

The youth complained, "It’s increasing daily, monthly. All the salary I earn in a year is spent on food and drink; how can I save money to get married?"

Despite his complaints, the youth, seemingly worried about missing the Buddha time for prayer, eventually bought two bread rolls from the food stall, biting into a roll as he hastily left.

Lin Xing glanced inside the food stall, slightly raising an eyebrow upon realizing prices here exceeded those outside by far.

He couldn’t help but ask, "Why are they so expensive?"

Dong’er helplessly shrugged, "Everyone earns more, spends more."

Dong’er casually ordered three dishes, which cost over ten taels of silver.

Lin Xing sat at the table, asking Dong’er, "Besides becoming an official follower, is there another way to enter Da Guangming Temple?"

Curious, Dong’er looked at Lin Xing, recalling the conversation she had heard outside Da Guangming Temple, and asked, "Are you here for some unique technique, like that man?"

Lin Xing replied, "Don’t worry about what I’m doing; just let me know if there’s a way to get into Da Guangming Temple, and I can give you silver."

Dong’er shook her head repeatedly, saying, "I am an official believer of Da Guangming Temple; how could I—"

Lin Xing stated, "Five hundred taels."

Dong’er replied, "Seeing you, I knew you were sincere in seeking worship, so there might be a way—as a temporary believer."

Lin Xing asked, "What does a temporary believer do? How long does it take?"

Dong’er explained, "Only those who pray sincerely and earnestly are counted in Buddha time."

"However, not everyone is always sincere in their prayers. Some might appear to have prayed for nine hours, but in reality, only achieve five hours of Buddha time. This shows four hours weren’t sincere enough."

"Therefore, some places, although they pray daily, fail to complete the required Buddha time for the month... this is the monthly requirement for praying sincerely. So, they end up needing to spend money temporarily hiring people to help their families pray."

"Temporary believers are counted day by day but can be entered into the temporary registry of the temple, and they should also be able to visit the life-risking cliff..."

While the two conversed, suddenly, a drum sound echoed.

The very next moment, the mountain city seemed to come alive instantly. Numerous men, women, and children all burst out of their doors, racing towards the food stalls scattered around the town.

Just a moment ago, the food stall where Lin Xing was had been empty except for them, but the next moment, it was bustling and crowded with people.