Chapter 1023: The Great Buddha Temple, the Thousand Buddha Group

Before the arrival of the Evil Emperor, Happy had no intention of fighting with anyone from the First-Class Hall or causing any conflicts!
This was certainly not because Happy was afraid of the suddenly aggressive First-Class Hall, but because there was really not much time left. To avoid complications, when facing the First-Class Hall’s spies, Happy used the tactic of disappearing by changing into ordinary equipment and putting on a new mask, thus getting rid of those annoying eyes and ears.
After all, he didn’t have any prominent gang symbols on him, and he hadn’t revealed his true identity from the start…
Walking past several spies who were looking around, Happy calmly mixed into the crowd and quickly left the city.
…
The Great Buddha Temple.
An abandoned temple from ancient times.
From the outside, it looked extremely dilapidated, reduced to ruins, but inside, there were thousands of Buddha statues of various sizes.
Thousands of statues, lying or sitting in different poses, were vivid and solemn, scattered throughout the depths of the temple.
Strangely enough…
Although it was already in ruins, once one approached these statues and saw their lifelike postures and mudras, it felt as though one could hear some divine Buddha chants from afar!
The deeper one went, the more one seemed to be surrounded by countless Buddha chants, giving the impression of entering a paradise in the West to receive divine teachings and baptism.
It evoked a sense of sincere devotion and solemnity from the bottom of one’s heart…
“This is the Great Buddha Temple.”
It was Happy’s first time here. Even before reaching the deeper areas, he already felt an unprecedentedly mysterious atmosphere and took a deep breath in awe.
Walking among the Buddha statues, Happy dared not be careless. With a solemn expression and gentle steps, he moved carefully, fearing to disturb the countless deities meditating around him!
Shi Zhi Xuan suffered from personality splits, sometimes good and sometimes evil. Most of the time, he chose to seek enlightenment among the thousand Buddha statues in the temple, hoping to use external forces to suppress the evil thoughts in his heart. So, as long as one went to the center of the thousand Buddha statues, they could find Shi Zhi Xuan.
Silently, he entered the central area of the thousand Buddha statues…
Among the statues, there were some damaged ones—some with severed heads or half their bodies destroyed by powerful forces—but the statues still retained their compassionate expressions, showing a steadfast resolve to sacrifice themselves without being disturbed by the outside world.
“…”
Moving further in…
On both sides, completely destroyed remnants began to appear!

Some only had the lower halves of Buddha statues left, while others were completely destroyed, reduced to piles of ruins scattered everywhere in disarray.
“It seems we’ve arrived,” said Kai Xin, becoming more vigilant as he scanned the uneven Buddha statues ahead.
There was no sign of Shi Zhi Xuan!
Kai Xin walked gently around the central area of the thousand Buddha statues, then, suddenly inspired, turned back and stopped in a relatively spacious open area…
Taking a deep breath, he stopped searching further.
Not long after, a slightly sighing voice came from behind one of the nearby Buddha statues:
“You’ve come to the Great Buddha Temple looking for me, haven’t you?” A voice filled with an inexplicable sense of authority and mystic power reached his ears. Kai Xin couldn’t help but think to himself: Truly worthy of being Shi Zhi Xuan—having mastered the “Yijin Jing” to such a degree, yet still able to approach so silently without being detected.
Just as he was about to speak, a cold, feminine wind suddenly blew from another direction among the thousand Buddha statues…
The Dark Queen’s uniquely charming voice echoed faintly above the statues: “Hmph! I told you… Shi Zhi Xuan! Even if you don’t want to kill, even if you hide in the Great Buddha Temple seeking peace and liberation, these so-called disciples of the righteous sects won’t forgive the killings you’ve committed. No matter where you go, they’ll find you.”
Kai Xin was slightly shocked.
He had only come to find Shi Zhi Xuan; he never expected the elusive Dark Queen Zhu Yu Yan to happen to be in the Great Buddha Temple as well…
It seemed he had unfortunately stumbled into some kind of narrative task!
Frowning, Kai Xin quickly realized something was wrong.
This task was definitely not initiated by him. It was likely he had merely stumbled upon a task triggered by someone else…
Probably just as the Dark Queen came to summon Shi Zhi Xuan, Kai Xin, unfortunately, wanted to use Shi Zhi Xuan’s power to comprehend the “Xishui Jing” for himself.
“How did you get here?”
Shi Zhi Xuan stepped out from behind the Buddha statue, his tone calm and his demeanor gentle, like a refined and mild middle-aged man.
At this moment, Shi Zhi Xuan hardly resembled the leader controlling the eight demonic sects!
Kai Xin was slightly surprised.
At the same time, he marveled at the wonders of the Great Buddha Temple…
The Buddha chants filling every inch of space truly subdued the tyrannical and evil side of the Evil King!
With that thought, Kai Xin suddenly frowned.
“We can talk about our matters later. First, I need to kill this Shaolin disciple.”

The Dark Queen’s voice rushed closer!
The Lingbo Microstep was activated.
Kai Xin silently moved half a zhang away.
Hiss!
A fierce claw wind swept past the spot where he had just been almost simultaneously, leaving three shocking grooves in the ground…
“Huh?”
A slight gasp of surprise came from the Dark Queen in the air:
“Lingbo Microstep… You’re from the Xiaoyao Sect… No, it’s you, this little guy—the lay disciple from Shaolin I met at Mantuo Villa.”
Ten meters away, a gust of wind swept up dust as the Dark Queen’s figure appeared, her face showing a hint of surprise as she stared at the young man who had dodged her attack: “You ruined my plans at Mantuo Villa. I still haven’t settled accounts with you. What are you doing here at the Great Buddha Temple now…”
Faced with two of the most ferocious master-level figures from the demonic sects, Kai Xin showed not the slightest sign of panic or unease. Instead, he calmly brushed dust off the corners of his clothes and bowed with clasped hands: “It’s Master Zhu. My apologies.”
“Hmph. I didn’t expect that after just a few months apart, you’d already reached the state of returning to simplicity. No wonder I couldn’t immediately recognize your aura just now… With no trace of aura at all, it’s truly rare for Shaolin to have such a young master like you!”
“Master Zhu, you’re too kind.”
Kai Xin smiled slightly: “If not for Master Zhu’s mercy at Mantuo Villa, allowing me to practice the Lingbo Microstep by chance, I wouldn’t dare be so bold in front of these two great masters from the demonic sects. In fact, I owe you my gratitude.”
“Hmph!”
The Dark Queen sneered: “So young, yet so sharp-tongued. If not for you tricking me last time, how could that wench have burned the secret map of the Langhuan Blessed Land!”
Amid the Dark Queen’s icy and murderous praise, Shi Zhi Xuan, the Evil King who stepped out from behind the Buddha statue, also scanned the young man with a surprised gaze, as if trying to reevaluate him—someone who had dared to enter deep into the Thousand Buddha Realm alone.
After all…
In the martial world, there were but a handful of people who could embarrass the Dark Queen!
“Master Zhu, you’re wrong. Lady Wang burning the map of the Langhuan Blessed Land was a righteous act. Even I truly admire her for that!”
“Hmph. Back then, you escaped by pretending to be a master from the Murong family. This time, I’ll see how you manage to get out of my grasp!”
“Master Zhu, this is a peaceful place of Buddhism. It’s not appropriate to commit violence. If you must fight, please don’t do it here…”

“Shi Zhixuan, you are one of my sect’s members, yet you choose to defend those bald fools… Don’t you find it absurd? Don’t forget—this Great Buddha Temple was originally destroyed by our sect’s predecessors working together.”
“…”
Shi Zhixuan frowned slightly.
After speaking, the Dark Queen ignored his words entirely and vanished from where she stood…
Almost the moment the Dark Queen moved, Happy dragged behind him a series of elusive afterimages, dodging her rapidly approaching body. With a calm tone, he said, “I am a Shaolin disciple and do not wish to fight you in this peaceful Buddhist place. If Senior Dark Queen truly wishes to teach me, I am willing to meet her outside the temple…” By then, his voice had carried dozens of meters away…
“Hmph!”
The Dark Queen’s figure, like a misty veil, tightly surrounded Happy’s agile movements, her tone icy:
“That’s not up to you to decide!”
In an instant, two more Buddha statues had parts shattered by the Dark Queen’s palm wind, with the broken pieces rolling to the ground.
“Not necessarily!”
Happy laughed loudly and suddenly turned, swinging his sword!
Whoosh!!!
The heavy black iron sword shot through the air, precisely meeting the Dark Queen’s unpredictable form.
Bang!!!
Masters at the peak of the Mythical Realm would never retreat in the face of an opponent’s attack—their pride wouldn’t allow it, especially on the first strike.
The Dark Queen’s palm wind suddenly grew even more terrifying, like a giant black ghost face, colliding violently with the black iron sword in midair!
Boom!!!!
A loud explosion! Intense gusts of wind, like visible shockwaves, swept out from the center of their clash.
Dirt flew everywhere…
The Buddha statues trembled!
Both were thrown back by a powerful force.
Back at Manduo Villa, Happy could still withstand the Dark Queen’s attacks for a while; now, with his mastery of the Yi Jin Jing, his defense had greatly improved, and his damage reduction effect had increased by 10%, making things even easier for him!
With a push off the Buddha statue’s shoulder, he flew dozens of meters into the air effortlessly; the Dark Queen, on the other hand, was so enraged she felt like vomiting blood.
She had been so confident in keeping Happy inside the Great Buddha Temple, only to find that his strength had improved terrifyingly!
The power contained within the black iron sword was incredibly formidable!
Hit by such a powerful force, even the Dark Queen couldn’t neutralize it instantly, resulting in a brief pause.

Noticing that the former had already left its attack range, Yin Hou bit down with its silver teeth. Ignoring Shi Zhi Xuan standing by, it soared out with a dark gaze toward the outside of the Great Buddha Temple!