[Year Forty-Eight, Age Sixty-Six.]
[You and Zhen Pin crossed a great river called "Heavenly Sand" and entered the territory of Xiliang.]
[Xiliang has three countries.]
[These three countries are rather special; they are religious theocracies.]
[They have kings, but the kings are puppets or mascots; the real power lies with the religion behind the state.]
[The Vajra Temple that Zhen Pin yearns for is one of the Eight Pillars. Although it counts as a religious power, it does not control a nation and leans more towards being a martial arts sect.]
[The national power of these three countries is all quite average, and their conflicts run deep, with each calling the others heretics.]
[So, even though the Central Plains are currently a chaotic mess, these three small nations are only busy fighting amongst themselves, not thinking of sticking a foot into the Central Plains fray.]
["Old Monk, which is the most unorthodox cult in your Xiliang?"]
["That would undoubtedly be the Sacred Flame Cult. These heretics worship fire. Their initiation ritual involves burning their entire bodies, truly mad."]
["Good, that's good!"]
["That's good?"]
["No, I mean, these heretics must be purged! Show me the way, I'll go dispense heavenly justice!"]
[Zhen Pin is a native of Xiliang. Although he began wandering the world in middle age, he is still quite familiar with everything in Xiliang.]
[For an ordinary person, finding the Sacred Flame Cult would not be easy. After all, it's an unorthodox organization. Even in the generally unorthodox Xiliang, it belongs to the underground, without an open mountain gate.]
[But Zhen Pin is experienced; he has a way.]
[Zhen Pin led you to one of Xiliang's three great religious nations, the Kingdom of Wutu.]
[Here, you continued westward, arriving at a border city named Wulanba.]
[The cultural customs of Xiliang are very different from the Central Plains, somewhat resembling the Western Regions during the Tang Dynasty back in your homeland on Earth.]
["To endure the burning pain of their injuries, members of the Sacred Flame Cult all must have a type of pill called 'Cooling Tonic'. Because the demand is too great, buying from other alchemists isn't cost-effective, so they learned to refine it themselves."]
[Zhen Pin brought you to a medicinal field trading market outside Wulanba city.]
[There is a Spiritual Vein here, along with a large area of terraced fields, planted with all kinds of spiritual herbs.]
["The raw material for the 'Cooling Tonic', 'Fire-Transforming Herb', is sold here. Members of the Sacred Flame Cult will disguise themselves as ordinary people to come here and purchase 'Fire-Transforming Herb'."]
["So that's it! I remember you said that people in this cult all burn their skin. We just need to find someone with burn scars on their face, and they're most likely a Sacred Flame Cult member!"]
[Then you saw veils all over the streets.]
[Wearing headscarves and veils when going out is a custom of the Xiliang people.]
["Ah, this... Old Monk, can I just tear all their veils off?"]
["In Xiliang, that is a great disrespect. This medicinal field belongs to the Heavenly Sound Sect. This sect is a first-rate power in Xiliang; neither of us can afford to provoke them."]
[However, Zhen Pin had a way.]
["Benefactor, the center of your brow is dark, as if a bloody disaster approaches. This humble monk can read your fortune to avert this disaster. Might you be willing to remove your veil for me to observe?"]
["Yes, yes, yes! Master, you absolutely must resolve this disaster for me!"]
[You couldn't help but give a thumbs up.]
["Brilliant!"]
[This was using magic to defeat magic!]
[Xiliang people generally believe in religion. No matter which one they follow, they believe in these supernatural things.]
[Saying someone's brow is dark would get you cursed as a charlatan in the Central Plains, but in Xiliang, it gets taken seriously.]
[You followed his example.]
["Fair lady, the center of your brow is dark, as if a sign of great misfortune approaches. This old man can read your fortune to avert this disaster. Might you be willing to remove your veil for me to observe?"]
["Old lecher!!"]
[The fair lady ran off in a flash, leaving you alone and bewildered in the wind.]
["Old... I admit, what did I do to be a lecher?"]
[Zhen Pin walked over and laughed, "Benefactor Chen, do you not know the principle 'clothes make the man, gold makes the Buddha'?"]
["I understand it today."]
[Zhen Pin sported a bald head, wore a Kasaya, and held a monk's staff.]
[Never mind if his Kasaya was tattered, or that he privately drank wine and ate meat without any taboos.]
[Others, seeing his appearance, would at first glance think he was a genuine monk.]
[After a plain and unadorned process of elimination, Zhen Pin finally found a suspected target.]
[This was a middle-aged man. He was sneaky, wearing a veil, his face covered with scars from burns.]
["Master, how should I resolve this bloody disaster?"]
[The burned-faced middle-aged man was still asking sincerely.]
["Amitabha. Then it requires my senior brother, Zhen Chen, to help the benefactor."]
[Zhen Pin stepped aside, and you walked out from behind him.]
[You had shaved your head bald and draped a tattered curtain you found from somewhere over yourself, impersonating a Kasaya.]
["Amitabha, benefactor. You only need to honestly answer a few questions for me. This disaster is not difficult to resolve."]
[There was no choice; when in Rome.]
[Xiliang has many religions. Impersonating a monk is the lowest-cost way for strangers to understand.]
["Please ask, Master."]
["Are you a believer of the Sacred Flame Cult?"]
["This..."]
["Do not hesitate! Do not delay! Do not lie! You must heed the answer from your heart! The gods... the Buddha is watching from above!"]
["I dare not deceive the Master. I have indeed recently joined the Sacred Flame Cult. However, the world has many misunderstandings about the Sacred Flame Cult. I hope the Master will not expose my faith."]
["Rest assured, I... this humble monk's mouth is the tightest. Second question: Does your Sacred Flame Cult have any pills, secret arts, or the like that can allow someone to break through realm bottlenecks and advance their cultivation?"]
[Zhen Pin, standing to the side, frowned slightly upon hearing this.]
[Probably thinking, 'So you're looking for the Sacred Flame Cult to break through a realm. I really thought you wanted to purge heretics.']
[The middle-aged man thought for a moment.]
["I haven't been a member long, but I have heard. If a believer of our cult encounters a bottleneck in their martial cultivation, the cult will assist their breakthrough through the 'Ten Thousand Flames Devour the Heart' art."]
[Your face lit up with joy.]
[As expected, unorthodox practitioners have many tricks!]
[Then, you casually spun him a tale.]
[Things like going home and drinking a bit of Guanyin clay, bowing in a certain direction, not going out on the first or second day of the month, and so on.]
[These kinds of lines would hardly fool anyone in the Central Plains, but they work quite well in Xiliang.]
[After all, how normal could the brain of someone who burns their entire body to join an unorthodox cult be.]
[After the middle-aged man bought the ingredients for the Cooling Tonic, you and Zhen Pin secretly followed him.]
[Zhen Pin already possessed Spirit Condensation realm cultivation. He has spiritual sense and could see through this person's realm—merely Spirit Gathering realm. So, the two of you following behind, he couldn't detect it.]
["Old Monk, are the people in this Sacred Flame Cult powerful?"]
["Their doctrine is not worth mentioning."]
["Who's discussing faith with you? I'm talking about their martial arts level."]
["Average. Decades ago, they were a first-rate power in Xiliang, once rivaling the Vajra Temple.
Later, something happened—no one knows what—and all the elites and high-ranking members died, leaving only some small fry to barely pass down the doctrine.
Now they barely count as a third-rate power. I'm afraid they don't even have anyone at the Golden Body realm anymore."]
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