Just like that, peaceful days joined the three people, one dog, and one boar at the temple deep in the wilderness.

Li Qiye did his thing - chopping and burning firewood then chanted in front of the wall painting.

Fan Bai turned out to be the most diligent, always training hard after being taught “Buddha Bowing”.

She repeated the training ten thousand times a day with full focus and not a moment of relaxation.

The old attendant understood right away why Li Qiye chose this girl. As long as she kept this up, she would be able to fly up the nine firmaments. Li Qiye was right, she would be able to exceed him.

Unfortunately, the peace was quickly broken tonight. The hills were quiet and the beasts had entered a deep slumber.

However, a powerful force emanated across the entire region. The old man noticed it right away and appeared before the gate.

Both Lil’ Black and Lil’ Yellow also got up and stared in the same direction.

“Boom!” Once the ripples reached a certain level, a beam shot straight at the sky and illuminated the area, adding a snow-white hue. The beasts became alarmed right away and rushed out of their lair. Others hid deeper within.

The old man’s brows furrowed as a result. Meanwhile, Lil’ Yellow barked a few times before going back to sleep.

Lil’ Black did the same thing. It returned to its garden and grumbled a few times before dozing off.

“Looks like a bit of trouble.” The old man stopped looking.

“No big deal.” A nonchalant voice answered him.

The attendant was startled and would have unsheathed his blade if he didn’t recognize Li Qiye’s voice. The guy was standing next to him and he had no idea when.

He smiled wryly as a result. In all of the south, only three to five people could approach him undetected. This would allow them to have the upper hand, perhaps assassinating him in a few moves.

There’s always a higher mountain and a better man - he was aware of this phrase but Li Qiye made it so apparent.

“Go to bed early, it looks like we’ll have a fun show soon.” Li Qiye smilingly said but the old man became afraid.

There was something different about his tone. The old man knew that it wouldn’t be a “fun show”. Those blind enough to cause trouble would find their blood flowing on the ground.

He didn’t care too much though since if they wanted to court death, that’s their own issue. Only a few more bones in the mountains.

Others also took note of the commotion from the wilderness, especially Buddha Emperor Plateau that was the nearest here. The powers there became alarmed.

The plateau was an auspicious ground with massive territories consisting of one-third of the holy ground, perhaps even vaster. It was heavily contested as well.

Eighty to ninety percent of the strongest clans and sects were located here. Thus, it had the most authority and wealth.

There were more than a hundred grand cities or so, each spanned for ten million miles. Some were built on peaks connected by wondrous bridges, others inside the valleys…

One would be sure that this area was the most magical and prosperous in the southern West King. It also had five main divisions virtually capable of representing the entire holy ground. All five were naturally alarmed from this divine light.

In Duality Academy, the powerful teachers woke up. The students also got out of their bed and climbed up the nearest peak for a better vantage point.

“Where’s that place?” A young student pointed at the illumination.

“Myriad Beast Mountains.” An older one recognized that direction and said: “Yes, that’s definitely it. It’s deep in there.”

“That’s the most dangerous area of the plateau, right? Chaos primal beasts reign that area.” The students have all heard of it.

“More than that, a teacher told me that there are high-level heaven beasts, even the kings.” One of them said.

“Yes, there are several kings there, even Heavenly Sovereigns want to stay away from them.” An older one added.

“That place is large and the majority of high-level heaven beast kings are sleeping, it’s hard to meet one.” Someone who has been there before said: “It requires luck to meet one, or at least that’s what a teacher told me.”

The students from the academy all talked about this event.

Duality Academy was the largest and strongest learning institution in all of southern West King. It belonged to the division named Metropolis. [1]

It was the largest of the five and had a vague definition. Anything not belonging to the other four divisions would be considered a part of Metropolis Division. The capital included the nobles and dynasties of Buddha Emperor Plateau along with other sects.

Its main representative was the academy. Whenever there was a big change in the holy ground, especially the changing of a dynasty, the academy would speak for Metropolis. It had produced plenty of renowned geniuses across the generations.

In Divine Ghost Division, numerous sects became startled as well. They all stared towards Myriad Beast Mountains. The spectating ancestors had a serious expression.

Divine Ghost was among the strongest of the divisions, made up of numerous races. However, the majority belonged to two races - Blood and Ghost. Despite the diverse demographic, these two races maintained solidarity through bonds and power. The entire division always rallied together to deal against intruders.

“A high-level beast king moving?” One expert speculated.

“No, there’s no dreadful beast aura. It might be a treasure.” An ancestor shook his head.

“We should go take a look.” The expert responded.

“Let the juniors scout, it’s a good opportunity for training.” The ancestor ordered.

“Yes.” The expert agreed and went to carry out the order.

***

On the other hand, the strongest division, Heavenly Dragon, didn’t have a big reaction.

This region had countless temples and monks. Very few monks bothered to come out to take a look at the light.

“Amitabha.” They simply chanted and stopped paying attention.

Heavenly Dragon Division was often called Heavenly Dragon Temple instead. They were decisively the strongest force in the holy ground, consisting of 88,000 temples and 800,000 high monks. No other powers could stand against them.

Remember, all four dao lords of Buddha Holy Ground had a Buddhist background. Thus, the dao of Buddhism permeated across the land.

There was a popular phrase - one can see a temple every eight steps. This might be an exaggeration but it showed the popularity of Buddhism.

Moreover, Heavenly Dragon Temple has always supported Sacred Mountain. It could be considered a part of Sacred Mountain.

1. This name requires further context too.