Even though we had already left the Li Luo Realm, there were still many temporary hunter cabins by the shore for cultivation, and occasionally one could see quite skilled martial artists entering and exiting the mystical forest ahead.
From time to time, you could also see medicine gatherers with baskets full of herbs, or hunters hunting exotic beasts.
This place has even formed a small market, where merchants from Lijiang City continually purchase rare mountain treasures.
When hunters bring out some rare items, they often cause quite a stir.
The two continued on their journey, and as they traveled deeper into the primitive forest, human traces became increasingly scarce. By the time Lu Ren could see only towering trees, some ancient tree species could even be over ten thousand years old, with trunks reaching into the clouds and crowns covering the sky, each tree potentially supporting a small ecosystem.
Such towering trees were seen almost everywhere.
There were no human traces to be seen, only exotic beasts surviving under the cruelest laws of survival.
Lu Ren and Xuanzang sped along the branches, and with the operation of Ten Earth True Qi, Lu Ren could accomplish feats unimaginable without True Qi.
His body, weighing a ton, felt as light as a feather under the his Ten Earth True Qi’s mystique.
Often, just a light toe tapping on the leaves for leverage would allow him to glide hundreds of meters with the wind.
The two hurried along, hunting mountain beasts to fill their stomachs when hungry.
Finally, after a month, they arrived at the Buddhist Sect’s habitation.
Looking at the endless flat plains before them, the golden waves of wheat swayed with the wind, rolling wave after wave into the distance.
In the fields, green-robed monks worked alongside farmers, their faces beaming with carefree smiles.
Calm, comfortable, peaceful.
And at the end of Lu Ren’s vision, atop a mountain stood countless shrines and palaces, with a three-hundred-meter-tall Golden Body Buddha seated at the peak, worshipped by followers.
The two stopped at a cliff, quietly watching the serene land before them.
Xuanzang looked at the scene ahead and remarked emotionally, "Back then, our founder led thirty thousand people from the Li Luo Realm to here, and only four thousand remained. The path we took, though dull, was a safe route obtained through blood and tears by our predecessors. Some places not even the Pinnacle of Seeking Truth dare approach."
After a while, Lu Ren said, "With such a Buddha Country, why go so far away? Just a few hundred years more, with continued reproduction, and it could completely become an Earthly Buddha Country on par with the scale of Great Ming."
"We don’t have enough people!"
Xuanzang sighed, "Despite a thousand years have passed, the population is still only a million, it’s truly difficult!"
Even a country living well can grow from three thousand boys and girls to over a billion people today, yet after a thousand years with the Buddhist Sect guarding the overall peace, still it is only a mere million, it’s practically an international joke.
Just as he was about to ask Xuanzang how he handled the management, Lu Ren suddenly smelled a faint scent of blood.
He raised an eyebrow slightly, activating his heart eye, only to find that this part of the land was still and silent, with only the solemn Buddhist appearance and faint grand Sanskrit chants.
Yet that’s the strangest part.
Lu Ren’s face calmed down, his gaze sharp, sweeping the fields below, astonished to see some fields with buried pale white bones. Nᴇw ɴovel chaptᴇrs are published on novęlfire.net
"What fertilizer is used for this wheat field to grow so well?" Lu Ren asked casually.
Xuanzang smiled faintly, understanding what Lu Ren wanted to ask, or perhaps it was something that couldn’t be hidden at all.
"This Spirit Rice was specially cultivated by our Buddhist Sect, able to gather the Spiritual Mechanism of Heaven and Earth, and can be harvested twice a year. However, the only drawback is that to plant this Spirit Rice, it needs to be rooted in flesh. After much verification, only people filled with Spiritual Souls have the perfect flesh to maximize the value of Spirit Rice."
Xuanzang spoke with calmness, as if it were only natural, but Lu Ren found it extremely chilling, even though he wasn’t from the Beidou Emperor Star, fear crept into his heart.
"What about not using people as flesh roots?"
Lu Ren, despite the disturbance in his heart, did not show it outwardly, or maybe he always appeared indifferent, with extreme control over his emotions. Perhaps an ordinary person in front of Xuanzang wouldn’t be able to hide any thoughts, as a mere glance would allow Xuanzang to understand the other’s thoughts through profound Buddhist Dharma.
But Lu Ren was not ordinary, he possessed the Six Consciousnesses of Buddhism, and ultimately, with everything merging, the Martial Path he learned and knew integrated within the system.
"Brothers in the Agricultural Institute have also confirmed that if other creatures’ flesh is used for planting Spirit Rice, the yield is extremely poor. Getting ten pounds per mu is already considered good yield, nowhere near the eight hundred pounds per mu now, which is a vast difference."
Xuanzang sighed, "Our Buddha Country’s major population consumption goes into the planting of Spirit Rice, only hoping that the brothers in the Agricultural Institute can soon find a breakthrough."
Lu Ren secretly exhaled, originally thinking of this world’s Buddhist Sect as not normal, but still people, but now they are just a bunch sheathed in human skin Buddha Demons.
Watching those green-robed monks use their hoes to loosen the soil, inadvertently turn the land to expose layers of white bones.
Obviously, this field has used countless humans as flesh roots to plant Spirit Rice.
This is outright unbelievable, downright unbelievable!!
Even though he wasn’t a Beidou Emperor Star person, seeing this scene, Lu Ren couldn’t help but feel some anger.
Lu Ren blandly said, "Next we’ll proceed to that mountain, your Mani Temple’s station?" Surely those with high ambitions would pave their paths through numerous eras to achieve their goals.
For a moment, Lu Ren didn’t know whether Xuanzang was a villain or an advancing seeker fighting for the ultimate ideal.
Compared to him, it seemed that he himself appeared somewhat aimless!
Xuanzang nodded slightly, smiling joyfully, "Yes, perhaps witnessing a miracle moment is next, maybe the Buddha’s Son will not be disappointed with the trip."
Lu Ren glanced at the ten skill points accumulated on his attribute panel, a smile appeared on his face, "Maybe it really won’t be a wasted trip."
Throughout the journey, through hints and probes, Lu Ren also understood the makeup of the Mani Temple’s personnel; generally speaking, Xuanzang, just entering the Seeking Truth Realm, was considered a top-notch expert in the Mani Temple, although each realm had tremendous differences, for Lu Ren, with the attribute panel, it wasn’t impossible to fight.
Of course, whether he can fight is one thing, whether he can win is another.
Just hoped that what Shakyamuni left behind is useful, otherwise he feared he’d only be able to feign sincerity with these beings more disgusting than Buddha Demons for a while.