Chapter 382: Chapter 268: I’m the Buddha’s Son, How Could I Be a Demon Lord?

These guys were in a strange state of mind. Compared to the other monks, they seemed far more excited. The way they looked at everyone was no longer indifferent or peaceful, but filled with aggression.

’I need to stay away from them.’

Yang An subtly raised an eyebrow and, without a word, stepped away to the other side.

The monks from the Gami Courtyard stepped forward, each finding a spot to stand on the emblems surrounding the statue before closing their eyes one by one.

All eyes were on these twenty Shrine Seekers, watching them with intense focus.

Time passed quickly. In just a couple of breaths, several of them had a reaction.

A fist-sized ball of black energy appeared above each of their heads, coalescing to quickly form a small Buddhist Shrine.

The people in the crowd laughed openly.

This was because the Buddhist Shrines these Shrine Seekers received were all First Grade Spiritual Shrines, the lowest possible grade.

The grade of a Buddhist Shrine is determined by how many incense sticks are offered within it.

First Grade means there is only one incense stick.

A First Grade Spiritual Shrine granted them eligibility to participate in the Joyful Shrine Association, but what they could do was very limited.

Their faces fell with disappointment, their previous excitement gone as they returned to the crowd.

After the first round, a second group of twenty came forward one after another.

Time ticked by. The speed at which each person completed the Seeking Shrine ritual seemed fixed, requiring only two breaths.

The Gami Courtyard, the Buddha Worship Hall, and the Sacred Heart Institute—these three institutes of the Disciple Temple, which comprised the vast majority of the monks in the Great Virtue Temple—had all now obtained their Buddhist Shrines.

First Grade Spiritual Shrines were the most common, a fact inextricably linked to most of the monks having low Cultivation Levels or having only recently joined the Great Virtue Temple.

There was also a fair number of Second and Third Grade Spiritual Shrines, though they mostly appeared among those from the Buddha Worship Hall and the Sacred Heart Institute.

Among them, a small number of Fourth and Fifth Grade Zen Shrines even appeared within the Sacred Heart Institute.

With that, it was finally the turn of the Saint Buddha Institute.

As a place that only those with reincarnated bodies could enter, the Saint Buddha Institute was filled almost exclusively with various reincarnated Holy Children.

When the members of the Saint Buddha Institute began the Seeking Shrine ritual, even the previously rare Fourth and Fifth Grade shrines began to appear one after another, drawing gasps of admiration and envy from the crowd.

"As expected of reincarnated bodies. They must have accumulated a significant Demon Barrier in their past lives for it all to stack up like this."

When a Sixth Grade shrine appeared among the Saint Buddha Institute members, this envy reached its peak.

But when the first Seventh Grade Holy Shrine appeared, the expressions of many in the crowd changed instantly. The envy was gone, replaced by horror.

"A Seventh Grade Holy Shrine!"

"Stay far away from him during the Joyful Shrine Association! Don’t even get close!"

Yang An had been watching from the side and overheard the whispers from the crowd behind him.

The Holy Child who had obtained the Seventh Grade Holy Shrine was the reincarnation of a famous Bodhisattva.

’Is it really true that reincarnated bodies accumulate their Demon Barriers from past lives?’

Yang An suddenly felt his situation was even more precarious.

’I’m not even a real bald-headed Buddhist Cultivator to begin with. My chances of getting a Buddhist Shrine were already slim, and now they’re practically zero.’

’I know full well that my ’reincarnated body’ is a fake, just an illusion I created with a Technique to get by.’

’What reincarnated body? I don’t have one.’

’Looking at it this way, when it’s my turn to perform the Seeking Shrine ritual, I’m afraid I really won’t be able to get a Buddhist Shrine.’

Yang An grew more and more worried. But looking at the bustling crowd, he saw they had no intention of leaving. They were all waiting for the show.

The higher a person’s status, the later their turn, and the more they enjoyed watching this kind of spectacle.

’Dammit!’

Yang An suddenly felt the urge to back out.

"Seventh Grade! Another Seventh Grade Holy Shrine!"

Another cry rose from the crowd, and you could even hear the tremor in the speaker’s voice.

This wasn’t surprising.

Every time a high-grade Buddhist Shrine appeared, it meant someone had gained greater license to vent. Who knew what these people would do with that power?

The one who received this Seventh Grade Holy Shrine was another Holy Child with a famous past life.

By the time all the monks of the Saint Buddha Institute had received their Buddhist Shrines, a full thirteen reincarnated bodies had obtained Seventh Grade Holy Shrines, and one had even acquired an Eighth Grade Holy Shrine.

The entire crowd instinctively backed away. They were afraid.

Everyone from the Disciple Temple had now received a Buddhist Shrine. Next, it was the Abbots’ turn.

There was a considerable number of Abbots, and that wasn’t even counting the many who hadn’t returned because they were guarding Glazed Towers or temples in various State Territories.

And the Buddhist Shrines obtained by these Corpse Transformation Abbots were at least Fifth Grade, with the majority being Sixth or Seventh Grade.

After the Abbots came the Zen Masters. Yang An’s status was equivalent to that of a Zen Master, so when their turn came, his would be soon as well.

This was the main event. The Zen Masters were the temple’s upper echelon, the focus of everyone’s attention. Not a single person in the audience had left; they all stared, transfixed, at the center of the grounds.

Yang An felt an immense pressure weighing on him. He had, however, made up his mind. He would forfeit.

’To hell with the Joyful Shrine Association, to hell with Elder Zhuan Yu’s mission. It’s not like he said I absolutely had to succeed, just that I should do my best.’

’If I can’t even get a Buddhist Shrine, how am I supposed to complete the mission?’

’It’s better to just forfeit.’

One by one, the Zen Masters stepped onto the emblems and also began the Seeking Shrine ritual.

"Seventh Grade!"

"Eighth Grade!"

"Eighth Grade!"

"Another Eighth Grade!"

"Ninth Grade! Look! Someone got a Ninth Grade!"

Ninth Grade was the highest-level Holy Shrine. Obtaining one meant you could vent your Demon Barrier however you pleased.