48 Stone Lions

  Chong Puzi and Shang Leng laughed coldly, Lin Xu stretched out his right hand with confidence, counting down one finger at a time, saying:

  "Hmph, let's not mention those far-off ones. Closer to us, there are Yiyang Puji Temple, Anzhou Pujie Temple, Chengu Pu Du Temple, Xiachai Puguang Temple, and Runan Putuo Temple. Monk Puzhi, don't tell me these temples have nothing to do with you!"

  In the broad sense of the Oriental pantheon, as the mainstream Buddhist and Taoist schools, everyone on the surface is in harmony, without the constant friction that existed when they first formed an alliance. However, as the saying goes, "people compete for a breath of air, Buddhas compete for a stick of incense," when it comes to believers and incense offerings, there is still a need to compete. The Heavenly Court, which worships the Three Pure Ones and Four Emperors as the highest deities, abandoned this remote realm after a decisive defeat, but the Buddhist school, which has a much broader territory than the Taoist school, was unwilling to accept the outcome of its failure, and some big shots are still planning to expand their influence in this realm.

  It can be imagined that if there is a suitable opportunity in the future, launching an ultra-large-scale divine technique to pull the entire piece of the world into the Western Paradise would not be entirely impossible.

  Considering this far-reaching plan must rely on the power of nature, and also needs auxiliary means, including Huacheng Temple in Jiufeng Town, the temples mentioned by Lin Xu are nodes of a large array diagram, all of which are buried foreshadowing for the overall plan.

  At this time, Puzhi and Shang heard the sound of color change, never thought that Lin Xu, a humble mountain god, actually saw through the profound meaning of the Buddha's arrangement method. However, for now, the other party is unlikely to turn against the Buddhist door because of this.

  In the endless void, there are countless extraterritorial demons and gods. They may descend upon this unprotected realm at any time, and when that happens, the living will be slaughtered without mercy. The gods themselves will also be dragged down with them. Although a local deity who has entered the Buddhist gate can only become a guardian deity under duress, their actual status is quite embarrassing. However, that's still better than falling into reincarnation and losing all prior knowledge.

  After careful consideration, Puji and Shang determined that Lin Xu's words were just a threat, and a faint smile appeared at the corner of his mouth as he said:

  "Amitabha! I, a humble monk, have only spent some time in meditation and cultivation in these temples, nothing more. It is not as Your Excellency has said..."

  Just admit it! Since he had the upper hand, Lin Xu didn't let Puji and Shang continue speaking, waving his hand to interrupt him, interjecting:

  "Alright, Great Master, I don't care about your connections with these temples. Now I need help, doesn't Buddhism emphasize saving all living beings? At this time when evil spirits are rampant, we need you to stand up and defeat the demons to protect Jiufeng Town. Getting rid of evil is a way to save people, no need to waste words!"

  Establish a wall of thousands, without desires then firm. Since there are desires, it is inevitable to be entangled by desires. Being caught off guard by someone, Master Puzhi couldn't muster up his usual bravado, he could only smile and say:

  "Amitabha! The Buddha's mercy is to save all living beings, it's a matter of course. The gods just need to be at peace."

  Having obtained Puji and Shang's promise, knowing that there were reinforcements in the rear to assist in defense, Lin Xu immediately laughed loudly and swung his sleeves as he left, his departure was indeed very cool.

  There is no love without reason in this world. Placing all hope on others is a very foolish act.

  Although Lin Xiu had been using all his tricks and tactics to lure in reinforcements from all sides, the ones he truly relied on were not these outsiders.

  One by one, the divine consciousness that had been lodged in the various incarnations that had been running around everywhere withdrew, and Lin Xu's true body, the Golden Body, opened its eyes. In his gaze, clear signs of fatigue could be seen; the Golden Body would not feel tired, but the mental energy and divine consciousness consumed by thinking would not decrease one bit. After resting for a moment, Lin Xu reopened his eyes wide, what he was about to do next was extremely important, requiring him to invest his greatest effort to ensure success.

  Taking a deep breath, he stood up and in front of him was a gigantic rock the size of a house. He walked forward, placing one hand gently on the surface of the rock, and then Lin Xiu began to focus his mind and quietly prepare himself.

  Shi Gan Dang is not a person's name, but rather a kind of strange stone. To be precise, it is a large stone that looks ordinary on the outside but is actually quite unusual.

  All things in the world have spirituality, and animals and plants with short lives are classified as biological. Observers can easily observe their spiritual growth through their birth, aging, illness, and death. Similar to dead objects like rocks, even after years of accumulation, they do not see them move at all, and even if they give birth to spirituality, it is difficult for observers to discover. Even if the spirituality of a stone is difficult to perceive, it does not mean that it has no spirituality. Assuming a piece of rock exposed to sunlight and rain is not violently destroyed, but only withstands the erosion of natural forces such as wind, frost, rain, and snow, it can at least maintain itself for over a thousand years.

  During this time, the stone gradually absorbs the essence of the sun and moon and the spiritual energy of heaven and earth, and its own latent spirituality will slowly grow.

  Those giant stones in the open air, if not destroyed by weathering and erosion, will have a chance to grow into natural spirits after a certain period of time. From then on, they can be called Shi Gan Dang, or Ling Shi, Shi Shen, from which they are distinguished from those ordinary stones with little spirituality.

  Huoshan is a vast mountain range composed of a series of east-west trending mountains centered on the highest main peak, Tianzhu Mountain. The mountainous area covers tens of thousands of square kilometers. In such a vast range, countless giant rocks are exposed under the scorching sun. Even if purely calculated by probability, the number of spiritual stones in Huoshan is quite considerable. Lin Xu faced a situation like a fire burning his eyebrows, leaving him no time to think twice.

  In desperation, Lin Xu turned his attention to those natural spirits known as Shi Gan Dang, who were silent and few in words.

  The ancient saying goes: "Flowers can express words and should be used for many things; stones cannot speak and are suitable for people."

  Shi Gan Dang, a natural spirit born of heaven and earth, has simple thoughts and few desires. According to the recruitment principle of General Qi Jiguang, who prioritized selecting loyal and honest people, Shi Gan Dang is undoubtedly the best source of soldiers under heaven, which is also why Lin Xu valued the Shi Gan Dang tribe.

  According to legend, before the mysterious and wonderful collapse of the Honghuang world, humans were still in a state of complete ignorance, in a primitive state of confusion. The demonic tribe, with its wild nature, was too lazy to be bound by divine duties, so at that time, most of the earthly positions on the land were held by the natural spirits of the Shidangan tribe. As a result, humans living in ancient times still vaguely remembered their ancestors' faith and worship of giant stones, subconsciously believing that all exposed massive monolithic rocks had incredible abilities and possessed miraculous disaster-relieving powers.

  Later, humans who awakened to spiritual wisdom gradually entered the civilized era. In order to pray for the disaster to subside, they simply erected stone tablets in front of their homes and doorways, carving the name "Stone Dare to be" on them, thereby intimidating evil spirits and ghosts.

  In this regard, Lin Xu's relationship with the Hoshan gods and the Shidatang is quite close after all. They are in the same line of work! However, he was not confident that he could persuade these single-minded natural spirits to do as he wished. To put it bluntly, when facing a wise life form that he had never interacted with before, even if Lin Xu thought his eloquence was good, he didn't dare boast that he would definitely succeed, and could only say that he would try his luck.

  "What...do...you...want?"

  With one hand pressed on the giant stone, Lin Xu tentatively extended a thread of his divine sense to touch the possible divine sense of the Stone Daren. After some effort, his divine sense received a slow and sluggish inquiry that made people want to fall asleep.

  At the sound, Lin Xu's depressed spirit was shaken, and he hastily said:

  "Heh heh heh, let's discuss this, I'd like to hire you as the general of the Huo Mountain Temple, what do you say?"

  "...... will be ...... army?"

  The foolish have great wisdom, don't think that Shi Gan Tang is transformed from a stone, really thinking that others are stupid, the Shi Gan Tang clan is famous for being wise and pretending to be foolish.

  As for this invitation that Lin Xu wasn't very confident about, after a period of uneasy silence, a response suddenly came. Shi Gandang replied extremely quickly, but his tone was still slow and frightening:

  "......Alright."

  With mixed feelings of expectation and unease, Lin Xu was like being struck by lightning when he heard this reply, and couldn't help but ask back:

  "Uh, you agreed so quickly?"

  "......right."

  Dealing with these slow-moving stone statues, other issues can be ignored, but their slow and unbearable speech speed makes the communication process between both parties a painful experience.

  This time was no exception. It wasn't until Lin Xu had exhausted himself that he finally understood what Shi Gan's idea was like.

  Due to historical reasons, it can hold positions in the Diqi system, which is an honorary title for any Stone Dare.

  Originally, most of the world's land gods were taken on by the most excellent individuals from the Shi Gan Dang tribe. Although it is rare to relive the glory of the past today, the Shi Gan Dangs still take pride in their responsibility for maintaining the operation of heaven and earth that their tribe has undertaken.

  Before coming here, Lin Xu had prepared N copies of the speech, which added up to more than 100,000 words. The topic was set from complaining about the benefits and harms to appealing to justice, and then to threatening and tempting with underhanded tactics, using every possible means. Who would have thought that this matter could be easily settled with just two sentences? It really made people feel like they had been punched in a cotton ball, but since the other party had agreed to the request, Lin Xu wouldn't be stupid enough to show off his eloquence again. He sulkily pursed his lips and got up to hurry to the location of the next target.

  Stone Guardians are not the kind of spirits that like to gather and live together. Even if they acquire the ability to move freely in their later years, they generally prefer to stay in one place and not budge. Ordinary outsiders can't tell just by looking at them whether those **large rocks commonly seen in the mountains are actually Stone Guardians or not.

  Birth, aging, illness and death are natural laws. Trying to defy them is going against the will of heaven, and heaven will naturally eliminate those who refuse to be controlled.

  Humans, known as the spirits of all things, still have to go through three disasters and six tribulations on their way to cultivation. The innate spiritual beings are even more difficult to cultivate, and they will be subject to even stricter tribulation numbers. Roughly calculated, it can be said that there is a small tribulation every 500 years, a big tribulation every 1,000 years, a great tribulation every 3,000 years, and a fatal tribulation every 10,000 years. All those who fail to pass the tribulation will immediately turn into a puff of smoke and disappear, regardless of how much Taoism they had cultivated before. In fact, it is precisely because of this that the Shidandang tribe has obvious signs of discontinuity in its clan structure due to this natural selection method.