The First Lackey Under The Empress

That same night, under the cloak of darkness, a group of monks returned to the main gate of the Shenlong Temple.

"Master."

The gatekeeper monk pressed his palms together, respectfully looking at the white-robed monk leading the group.

The monk Bianji nodded with a smile, stepping into the temple and heading towards the rear hall.

The other monks followed, carrying some preaching tools in their hands.

— Tonight, after the Dharma assembly concluded and the dignitaries from the capital who had been invited left, this group of monks began the cleanup and finishing touches.

Monk Bianji, who appeared to be in his thirties, with gentle and handsome features, a composed demeanor, and elegant speech, walked along the temple path with clear eyes like a baby's beneath his slightly sparse eyebrows.

Each monk along the way stopped and saluted, and he returned their greetings with a smile, showing no one any neglect.

"The Master treats us so kindly, unlike those steward monks, each with a stinky face, too lazy to pay attention to people."

A young novice monk praised in a low voice.

Drawing agreement from those around him.

All the monks knew that Bianji was a legendary figure.

It was said that long ago, he had followed Master Xuanyin to listen to scriptures.

It was just that at that time, Dharma Master Xuanyin had not yet entered the "Celestial" realm, nor had he served as the abbot of Shenlong Temple.

At that time, there were also two elders vying for the new abbot position, the leader of the Great Yu Buddhist community, and Xuanyin was not the one with the greatest chance of winning.

It wasn't until that year that Xuanyin went into the mortal world alone, traveling around the Great Yu Dynasty to preach.

Lecturing to ordinary people, walking through the mortal world, experiencing all kinds of worldly affairs, to refine a Buddhist heart.

Many talented disciples followed Xuanyin, wanting to walk and sleep with Xuanyin.

During this period, there were countless hardships.

When thirsty, they drank morning dew; when hungry, they begged for vegetarian meals.

Often sleeping in the wilderness, the disciples couldn't bear the hardship, and perhaps they didn't want to bet on Xuanyin, so they left one after another.

Only a few lonely people persisted in following.

At that time, Bianji, who was just a novice monk, was not outstanding among the remaining few.

In terms of cultivation wisdom, he was far inferior to the Dragon Tree Bodhisattva, who was praised by the previous abbot as having a rare Buddhist heart for a thousand years, and who could understand the main theme of the opening chapter of the most obscure 'World Honored One's Treasure Sutra' after only reading it for one night.

In terms of perseverance, he was also inferior to the Great Pure Master, who had been sitting in the banana forest for ten years, unmoving, thinking hard about a question from his master, and finally broke through in a rainstorm, surpassing thirty years of effort.

But when Xuanyin finally walked to the West Pass Corridor and wanted to leave the country to go to the ancestral home of Buddhism in the Western Regions.

In the end, the only one who chose to follow and successfully returned alive with Xuanyin was Bianji.

According to the vividly descriptive soldiers guarding the gate:

At that time, Master Xuanyin had entered the Celestial Realm and become one of the strongest people in the world.

And he forcibly snatched two boxes of scriptures from the hands of the Western Regions Buddhist community.

At that time, those two boxes were carried by Bianji with a carrying pole.

And at this time.

Bianji, who had finished his preaching, walked alone to the outside of the main hall at the back of Shenlong Temple.

"Dong, dong, dong..."

The door of the main hall was very wide, with ten carved wooden doors lined up side by side, showing how magnificent the space inside the hall was.

Now the doors were all closed.

Bianji walked from the far left to the right, slowly pushing open the first door.

Candlelight shone out from the hall, and it could be seen that the most eye-catching thing in the magnificent and wide hall was a huge golden statue of the World Honored Buddha.

The compassionate eyes looked down.

And on the long row of offering tables, which were equally imposing, were thirty-two thick yellow incense sticks, as thick as a baby's arm.

Under the offering table, there was only one lonely old monk.

His back was to him, facing the Buddha statue, gently tapping a large wooden fish with his eyes closed.

The old monk was wearing a brown monk's robe, not tall, even a little short.

His appearance was not very good-looking, and his expression was solemn and stern, faintly fierce.

But on closer inspection, it became compassionate again.

And at this time, the huge, downward-looking statue of the Buddha became the angry eyes of a Vajra.

"Master, today is the Ullambana Festival Dharma Assembly.

This disciple has returned after preaching, and I have come to tell you about it.

The rest is nothing special, but there are two things that are quite interesting."

Monk Bianji pushed open the first door, but did not go in.

Instead, he stepped forward and continued to push open the second door, but the abbot Xuanyin in the hall seemed to have no reaction.

"The first thing concerns that female Majesty.

Her Majesty was originally in seclusion and should not have appeared, but she still came.

I think that this is undoubtedly the Great Yu royal family showing goodwill, which is not surprising.

As you said, our Majesty's foundation is not stable, and her cultivation lacks a key step, so her foundation is not very strong.

In the eyes of that Majesty, the Tianshi Mansion and Shenlong Temple are probably like the 'Li Party' and the 'Qingliu Party' in the court.

After all, they must check and balance each other, so that the emperor's mind is most at ease."

Bianji stepped forward and pushed open the third door.

He paused and smiled:

"As for the other thing, it is quite interesting, and it is related to that Zhao Du'an.

This person has risen to fame recently, and this disciple has occasionally paid attention to him.

Because the Golden Slip of the Tianshi Mansion seems to be very close to him.

Last time, this disciple also took advantage of the invitation of Sun Lianying, the supervisor of the Baima Division, to take a look at him, and he was indeed different from the rumors.

Unexpectedly, he even has the talent to govern the country… This is strange.

If he didn't not understand Buddhist principles, I would almost think that he had received the 'World Honored One's' empowerment, and that's why he was enlightened…"

Bianji slowly pushed open the doors one by one alone.

The outside of the hall became brighter and brighter:

"Master, I know that your spirit is wandering in the heavens, leaving only a body here, but please give me a reply.

You said, is our Majesty suddenly going into seclusion this time because she has gained some understanding?

Is she one step closer to the real Celestial Realm?

As you said, it is better for her never to break through, otherwise, some patterns will be broken, and it will not be easy for my Shenlong Temple to use the power of the court to complete the long-cherished wish of 'East-West Convergence'…

Well, it's better not to break through…"

As Bianji spoke, he had already pushed open the last door, but the sound of the wooden fish in the hall suddenly stopped.

"Eh?"

Bianji turned his head to look in the direction of the palace, frowning slightly.

He heard a low dragon roar.

Inside the Buddhist hall, Abbot Xuanyin opened his eyes, as if sensing something.

After a moment, he closed his eyes and said calmly:

"The dragon vein is disturbed, don't be impatient."

Is it just a disturbance?

Because of the Zhongyuan Night?

Or… has the Empress really made progress?

Bianji was silent, frowning without saying a word.

…

Inside the Tianshi Mansion, in a small courtyard deep inside.

The mysterious banyan tree's crystal-clear leaves rustled.

Suddenly, in the canopy, a human-like face faintly appeared, quietly looking towards the palace.

"Master, what is calling?"

Jin Jian, a girl with delicate features, unfocused eyes, and a somewhat dull look, sat cross-legged at a table, looking around blankly.

Beside her, the old Tianshi, tall, with long and narrow eyes, wearing a dark god official soft robe, held a jade slip in his hands, also quietly looking into the distance.

After a moment, he frowned slightly and shook his head:

"It should be the dragon energy is restless, is it related to the celestial phenomena…"

He was a little uncertain, because the entire imperial city had powerful restrictions that isolated outside prying.

Although he could forcefully break it, that would mean turning against the court.

"Oh."

Jin Jian got an answer and didn't care anymore.

Anyway, that thing just called out once, and it wasn't very loud.

If it weren't for the sharp ears and eyes of cultivators, they might not have heard it.

She shared gossip with great interest:

"Master, then I will continue to tell you about the excitement of Zhao Du'an's event in the Zhaiyuan tonight…"

Zhang Tianshi said with a smile:

"Okay, tell the teacher carefully."

…

Inside the secret room.

Zhao Du'an only felt a splitting headache, as if a huge stick was brutally inserted into his brain, accompanied by violent stirring.

He cried out in pain, but all the sounds were perfectly isolated by the secret room.

Zhao Du'an fell to the ground, holding his head, the blood vessels on his skin bulging out, looking particularly terrifying.

In a trance, he seemed to "see" the golden, illusory-eyed "Dragon Soul" condensed from smoke circulating in his meridians, as if inspecting a new home.

Then, after picking for a long time with considerable disgust, he finally drilled into his dantian qi sea and gently coiled up.

Like a cat, he fell back into a deep sleep.

It's just that in his sleep, every breath he takes will swallow the qi in Zhao Du'an's body and spit it out again, but it is several times purer.

The pain receded like a tide.

After an unknown amount of time, Zhao Du'an slowly climbed up, with a dazed look on his face.

"No…"

He looked at his hands, and then touched his lower abdomen, feeling the powerful and continuous power slowly pumped out from his dantian.

He vaguely had a premonition that with this thing, he seemed to have turned on the automatic hanging mode, constantly breathing and cultivating every moment.

At the same time, there was a vague sense that as long as he encountered a life-threatening danger, he could awaken the "God" in his body… at an unknown price.

"Did I swallow the god made by Lao Xu?"

"That's not right… Wasn't it written on the stone platform that it requires the Celestial Realm… I am just a mortal…"

"Also, isn't this thing prepared for the royal descendants? Isn't there any bloodline requirement? Can you swallow it just by practicing this inheritance? Can't you see that I am not from your Xu family?"

Zhao Du'an was in a mess in the wind, with a strong sense of unreality.

He increasingly suspected that something was wrong with him.

The Martial God Diagram was different from others, and it is now the same.

"Heh, but think about it for the best, after all, there is no need to worry about whether to hand it over.

Now it is impossible to hand it over even if I wanted to."

Zhao Du'an smiled self-deprecatingly, and suddenly thought, I wonder if Zhenbao can detect the abnormality on his body.

What if she checks his body like last time in the sedan chair…

*gulp*.

He swallowed his saliva, a little headache, what should I do if this thing is discovered?

The Empress asks: How is my family's baby in your stomach?!

Zhao Du'an: Actually… This subject can also put this subject's baby in Your Majesty's stomach…

He shook his head, throwing the strange thoughts out of his mind.

Zhao Du'an was sneaky, and after confirming again that there was nothing in the secret room, he hurriedly took advantage of the time buff of the Zhongyuan Festival, activated the formation, and escaped from the palace.

…

"Whoosh!"

Under the stone bridge in the capital city at night, Zhao Du'an broke out of the water, looking up at the waning moon in the sky, blowing the night wind, feeling like a dream.

…

Inside the palace.

Xu Zhenguan, dressed in white, stood on top of the Yuan Ancestral Temple, her divine sense covering the entire imperial city, her face blank:

"It… disappeared again?"

After a moment of silence, she sighed.

Dragon Soul… in the end…

Is it… still my illusion?