Longevity, starting from being a chicken raising servant-Chapter 1618 - 114 Buddha Kingdom Changes_2

Chapter 1618 -114 Buddha Kingdom Changes_2

“What a pity that back when the Great Flood reached this place, Martial Uncle Cijue also happened to enter Nirvana, and everyone was overwhelmed with their own struggles…”

As he spoke of this sorrow, he seemed to recall the harrowing scenes of the Great Flood in those days, his expression darkening momentarily.

Upon hearing this, Wang Ba could not help but feel a sense of wistful yearning.

The Wuzhe Assembly was not about wearing no clothes, but about discarding all concerns and passionately debating one’s own perspectives. Here, no one cared about the rightness or wrongness of what was said, only the joy of speaking one’s mind freely, without fear of punishment or recrimination.

Monk Kings would sit and discuss the Dharma alongside laymen and ordinary monks. This reflected the openness and peaceful atmosphere of this place in the past.

Of course, as with all things, there were pros and cons. Perhaps it was precisely because of the lack of conflict that the monks here became complacent in their cultivation and were not adept in fighting arts.

When faced with upheavals, their past laxity made them vulnerable to collapse, finding it difficult to rally again.

The two descended one after the other into the ancient city below, each filled with their own reflections.

The citizens within the ancient city, seeing Wang Ba and Zhao Jie descend from the heavens, were so astonished that they knelt and paid homage.

Yet their faces showed little fear; some even displayed curiosity instead.

Zhao Jie inquired aloud, and to his delight, he discovered that the language these people used, although slightly different, allowed for normal conversation.

Through a series of questions, the two gleaned a general understanding of the situation in Xituo Continent over the years.

It turned out that during the Great Flood, the monks of Xituo Continent were divided due to differing beliefs, with some leaving and some staying. Those who left joined cultivators from Tupi Continent and Daosheng Continent to journey eastward across the seas to Fenglin Continent.

This triggered a prolonged conflict between the cultivators of the Three Continents and Fenglin Continent.

However, a portion of the monks, feeling guilty for being unable to take their fellow countrymen with them, sacrificed themselves to become Buddhas, blocking the floodwaters to buy time.

Others built boats, gathered food, and led mortals in the struggle for survival.

In such circumstances, Xituo Continent was eventually submerged by the Great Flood and sank into the sea, though a small number of its ordinary citizens managed to survive.

After drifting on the sea for a long time, the monks seemed to succumb to an invisible force, dying one after another in seated meditation.

It wasn’t until the monks had completely perished that the Xituo mortals, who had survived, drifted, endured, and multiplied on the sea for nearly two hundred years, finally witnessed the sea retreating and revealing the land.

They left their boats, returned to the ground, and came back to the erstwhile Buddhist city where their ancestors had lived.

Like Daosheng Continent, as spiritual energy dwindled, many of the dharma teachings left behind by the monks became useless. As time went on, the once great Buddhas and Monk Kings gradually faded into legend.

Fortunately, however, the monks had taught them written language and scriptures while on the boats. Thus, Xituo Continent’s civilization was not completely severed. Though divine skills and miracles no longer existed, the texts that were passed down continued to educate the people. Drawing on the lifestyles of their ancestors, they settled in the former Buddhist nations, long stripped of their Buddha’s Light, and carried on living.

“So you’re saying that not long after the Great Flood broke out, the spiritual energy here already began to dissipate…”

Wang Ba keenly noticed this detail.

Zhao Jie’s expression grew slightly tense:

“If we calculate it this way, it would have been more than seven hundred years ago when the old monk had yet to break through to Class V.”

The two exchanged a glance, each discerning the gravity in the other’s eyes.

Neither had expected that the depletion of spiritual energy—which persisted until today—had already begun over seven centuries ago.

Suddenly, Zhao Jie seemed to recall something, and his expression changed slightly:

“Moreover, I remember that among those who decided to stay behind, there were several Martial Uncles of the Ci generation. They, too, were Class V…”

Wang Ba’s face instantly grew solemn as he sensed the pervasive but not overtly strong pulling force in the surroundings. Previously dismissive of it, he now became alert and spoke in a low tone:

“Could it be that these seniors, while saving mortals, exhausted their mana and could not replenish it with spiritual energy, leading to their realms deteriorating and succumbing to old age? Or perhaps this external force truly drained all their mana…”

Zhao Jie shook his head and said:

“Though cultivation resources in Xituo Continent were not abundant at the time, they couldn’t have been exhausted so quickly. I fear the latter possibility is more likely.”

At these words, both Zhao Jie and Wang Ba’s expressions grew even heavier.

They, too, were Class V cultivators. If this unseen pulling force could drain the mana of the Ci-generation monks, it might very well happen to them as well.

With this in mind, Zhao Jie, who had initially intended to linger here a while longer, lost all interest. After using a small amount of mana to improve the physical health of the citizens in this Buddhist nation, he didn’t even bother visiting the site of his former Buddhist kingdom but instead led Wang Ba directly toward the location of the once Great Wheel Buddhist Nation.

The further northward they traveled, the clearer the golden, glass-like light at the horizon became.

Yet what weighed on their hearts was the fact that the mana-absorbing force grew stronger with each step.

“It seems the root of the Three Continents’ spiritual energy depletion lies in that direction.”

While swiftly scanning the city below with his spiritual sense to inspect changes over the years, Zhao Jie made this judgment.

Wang Ba remained silent. Reaching this conclusion was not difficult; the key was understanding why this situation had arisen.

“The Truth Membrane Eye at the source of the Great Flood is also located there. Could it be that…”

“That place is the Great Wheel Buddhist Nation!”

At that moment, Zhao Jie suddenly stopped and, pointing into the distance, spoke with a trace of complexity in his tone.

Wang Ba also abruptly halted, raising his gaze to look into the distance.