Chapter 732 - 733: The Honored Buddha’s Compassion

Chapter 732: Chapter 733: The Honored Buddha’s Compassion

Central Province, Wanhua Ridge.

"You sure have plenty of leisure time." Bai Xuanling stood with her arms crossed, her gaze sweeping over the surroundings. "Aren’t you worried about being tracked down? Those Celestial Demons are absolutely crazy about you — if they found out you weren’t at Tianyan Sect, they’d probably stop at nothing to kill you first."

Chu Xingchen sat in the chair Chen Baiqing usually occupied, his eyes gently taking in every visible corner of the sect.

Under the protection of the formation, not even a speck of dust had settled here.

Everything was unchanged, just as he’d left it.

Counting carefully, it had been over twenty years since they’d urgently relocated from Wanhua Ridge to Tianyan Sect.

In those twenty-plus years, Chu Xingchen’s cultivation had recovered to the peak of Integration, not far from the Mahayana realm.

His cultivation progress was naturally extremely fast — after all, his disciples’ cultivation wasn’t low either, and the feedback they provided was powerfully potent.

And the system seemed to have... enhanced this feedback slightly.

Chu Xingchen took a deep breath, feeling his spirit ease, then chuckled softly:

"It’s like that when you’re popular. But honestly, my danger isn’t really that great. Setting aside how terrifying you are — even just the possibility of those Celestial Demons regrouping and launching a surprise attack on me is slim."

"If they really could do that, I’d just trade my life for all of theirs."

"Besides, their ultimate goal isn’t to kill me."

"That’s why I let my disciples go out and travel under safe conditions."

"If we ever truly have to fight the Celestial Demons, the real main force won’t be me — it’ll be my disciples." ℯℯ𝘭.

Bai Xuanling glanced sideways, her tone ambiguous as to whether it was a compliment:

"You do see things clearly. You didn’t summon me all the way to Wanhua Ridge just to look at the scenery and reminisce, did you?"

Chu Xingchen tilted his head, asking curiously:

"What if I said I was?"

Bai Xuanling had been about to say she’d hang him from a tree so he could have a good look, but the words never came out.

Whether Chu Xingchen truly wanted to save the great tribulation in his heart, his actions and sacrifices were beyond question.

He’d already paid a sufficient price for this — there was no need to be too harsh on him.

Moreover, Bai Xuanling herself owed Chu Xingchen a great debt of gratitude.

When Chu Xingchen didn’t hear Bai Xuanling’s response, he grinned nonchalantly:

"Of course it’s not just that. The Small Vehicle Buddhist Teachings have already begun spreading in Southern Zhanbu Continent. My disciples’ relationship with Li Junzi isn’t exactly a state secret — the Buddhist sect can certainly find that out."

"Besides, most of my sect’s disciples are currently in Southern Zhanbu Continent. Runan isn’t stupid — if things feel halfway off and he suspects he’s being used, he might just decide nobody gets to come out ahead."

Bai Xuanling understood: "You invited Runan here?"

"That’s right." Chu Xingchen looked toward the sect’s entrance. "I’m taking an enormous risk coming here to talk with Runan. Isn’t that the epitome of sincerity? When Runan hears this, he’ll be moved to tears, won’t he?"

Bai Xuanling said dismissively:

"Purely superficial. What’s the difference between meeting at Wanhua Ridge versus Tianyan Sect?"

Chu Xingchen raised an eyebrow with a smile:

"The feeling is naturally different. Meeting at Tianyan Sect is about business interests. Meeting with him at Wanhua Ridge — that’s about trust and laying one’s cards on the table."

Bai Xuanling didn’t respond. Not for any particular reason — a streak of golden light had just arrived, concealed.

Chu Xingchen raised his hand slightly, and the sect’s grand formation opened at its gate. The golden light shot through, and Runan’s figure touched down.

"A day apart feels like three autumns — I’ve missed you terribly." Chu Xingchen stood and clasped his hands in greeting. "Fellow Daoist, I trust you’ve been well?"

Runan heard these cloying words and felt a bit uncomfortable deep down, a strangely odd sensation.

But he returned Chu Xingchen’s bow first, then nodded to Bai Xuanling on the side. Bai Xuanling lowered her eyes slightly — apparently that counted as a return of courtesy.

Though the politeness was lacking, given that this was Bai Xuanling and the world’s only living True Immortal, Runan naturally decided not to hold it against her. He smiled warmly:

"Thanks to Fellow Daoist’s help. But if there’s anything, we could have discussed it at Tianyan Sect. Coming to Wanhua Ridge seems rather dangerous."

Chu Xingchen gestured for Runan to take the stone chair across the table:

"With you here, danger naturally doesn’t apply. I invited the Honored Buddha here for two reasons — first, to apologize, and second, to ask for a favor."

Runan sat down. The stone table wasn’t large, and the distance between them was barely a meter — far too close for cultivators, especially Tribulation Transcendence cultivators.

Suppressing the slightly strange feeling, Runan kept his expression calm:

"Then let’s take them one at a time."

Chu Xingchen sighed lightly: "First, an apology on behalf of my eldest disciple. Her reason for choosing Southern Zhanbu Continent as the trial site was that Tianyan Sect has many locations under its jurisdiction there. Starting from Tianyan Sect’s territory would be more convincing to other sects."

"This reasoning isn’t exactly wrong, but she also had her own agenda."

"In Southern Zhanbu Continent, there’s a Confucian cultivator named Li Junzi who is now trying to implement the new policy. But the policy has hit resistance, so my eldest disciple planned to leverage the Buddhist sect’s promotion of Small Vehicle Buddhist Teachings to assist Li Junzi."

Runan pondered for a moment, then seized the key issue:

"What impact does this have on the Small Vehicle rollout?"

Chu Xingchen sighed softly: "Naturally it would elevate one while diminishing the other — denigrating the Buddhist sect. If you’ve been paying attention, you’ll notice most of my disciples have gone to Xuanwu Kingdom in Southern Zhanbu Continent, planning to help Li Junzi implement the new policy."

"My eldest disciple felt I’d been put at a disadvantage, so she wanted to recoup the loss from this."

"I failed to keep my disciples in line."

Runan thought for a while, then asked: "So it’s already started?"

"Not yet," Chu Xingchen immediately replied. "I reprimanded my eldest disciple. For various reasons, implementing the new policy isn’t easy — after all, those who coerce people scatter, the policy vanishes."

"So, this is what I’d like to ask the Honored Buddha’s help with."

Runan’s eyes were calm as he looked at Chu Xingchen:

"I agree."

Chu Xingchen was taken aback — he hadn’t expected Runan to agree so readily, without even asking what the favor was.

Runan saw Chu Xingchen’s slightly stunned expression and felt a bit more at ease. He gazed up at the sky and said quietly:

"It’s been a long time since I’ve had anyone follow me around, and a long time since I’ve had a genuine conversation with anyone. What’s said today, I’ll forget once we leave Wanhua Ridge. Consider it repaying the debt of you stabilizing my Buddhist sect."

"When you first proposed pushing the Small Vehicle, I found it rather odd. The Buddhist sect has always had excellent intelligence — as the Honored Buddha, I never dare fall behind on this. And you, the Child of Heaven, I’ve been watching especially closely."

"Looking at it now, your desire to push the Small Vehicle was a pretense — your real goal is helping Li Junzi achieve the Sub-Sage realm."

"As for the Small Vehicle... I know in my heart it probably won’t succeed."

"Regardless of how things play out, I’ll push through the objections and keep driving it forward. My only hope is that this world can truly gain another Sub-Sage."

Runan finished speaking, his gaze warm as he looked at Chu Xingchen, his voice steady:

"I am a Buddha who rose from the Buddhist Son to the Honored Buddha. The compassion in my heart is no less than yours, Child of Heaven’s Fortune."

Bai Xuanling furrowed her brow slightly, feeling that Runan’s expression bore a suspicious resemblance to someone else’s look when they were about to con someone.

Her gaze instinctively turned to Chu Xingchen beside her.

Bai Xuanling reflected for a moment.

Mm...

There was no other way to describe it — they were exactly the same.

[

Dear Readers,

I hope you are doing well. Things are genuinely tough right now, and I need your help to keep going.

My financial situation is the worst it has ever been. Despite this, I am still posting multiple high-quality, human-polished Chapters every single day. I love doing this and do not want to stop, but I cannot do it alone for much longer.

If you enjoy the story, please consider supporting the release schedule to unlock massive advanced Chapter buffers:

$6 Tier

* Read 20+ Chapters Ahead (High-speed daily updates!)

$8 Tier

* Read 40+ Chapters Ahead

* Access to exclusive character images

$10 Tier (Best Value)

* Read 60+ Chapters Ahead

* Access to exclusive character images

* Access to Patreon Community Chat

Special Note: Every tier receives 150 Chapters across all fics per month! On top of that, these Chapter counts are guaranteed minimums—because of my rapid update schedule, you will often get even more!

Important: If you are on iOS, please subscribe via your web browser (Safari/Chrome) instead of the Patreon App to avoid Apple’s 30% fee and payment delays.

Even a small contribution or sharing my work makes a real difference. Thank you from the bottom of my heart for keeping these daily releases going!

Support Here: [patreon.com/Alex_Cruise]

]