Buddha is the Tao

Seeing Zhou Qing's puzzled look, Ao Luan smiled and explained.

"I, the Dragon God of the South Sea, am in charge of the rising and falling of clouds in the Southern Continent. Of course, I am somewhat familiar with some of the geographical countries in the Southern Continent. The center of the Southern Continent is a huge plain with fertile land and no high mountains blocking it. It has a radius of more than 80 million miles. Since ancient times, it has been divided into dozens of countries, fighting each other and having their own rise and fall. The Tang Dynasty is just one of the medium-sized countries. But more than two hundred years ago, a wise monarch suddenly appeared in the Tang Dynasty. His name was Li Shihao. He was talented and worked hard to govern. After decades, he used methods such as alliances to disintegrate the strength of the surrounding countries, and then raised troops to destroy them one by one. The national strength became more prosperous. Finally, the four barbarians bowed and surrendered, and all of them became vassals. After a hundred years of recuperation, the people were well-fed and well-clothed, and the folk customs were simple. They did not lock their doors at night and did not pick up lost items on the road. And this wise monarch was called the Great Emperor of Kaiyuan."

Listening to Ao Luan's gradual explanation, Zhou Qing understood the division of the Southern Continent. It was surrounded by mountains on two sides, facing the sea on one side, and leading to the Western Continent on the other side. The Cangmang Mountain, the Dahuang Mountain, and the Jilei Mountain that Zhou Qing knew when he first came to the Earthly Immortal Realm were all surrounded by it, serving as a huge barrier to protect the plain in the middle.

"Eighty million miles of territory! This is not much different from the human world. It's a pleasure to have such a vast land under the command of one person!" Zhou Qing thought secretly, and suddenly heard something wrong, and asked hurriedly: "From what the princess said, the wise king Li Shihao is still alive today?"

"That's right. The reason why the Great Tang Kingdom is so prosperous is that the foundation laid by the Kaiyuan Saint King Emperor Li Shihao for more than two hundred years." Ao Luan said.

"Li Shihao is just an ordinary person, how can he have such a long life? Is he also a person of my Taoism?" Zhou Qing expressed his doubts.

The two were in the sky, both of them were celestial beings, so they could hear the shouts and screams getting louder and louder. When they came to the top, they saw the fierce battle below. A bluestone wall about thirty feet high and more than a hundred miles long was sandwiched between two mountains, like an extremely dangerous pass.

Outside the pass was a vast plain, where soldiers from both sides, about tens of thousands of them, were fighting each other, swords and guns were flying, arrows were flying like locusts, blood was splattered, screams were heard, heads were rolling, and horses were neighing.

Zhou Qing could see that the two sides were playing a game of attacking and defending the city. This pass was majestic and magnificent, and it was an important pass to protect the Southern Continent. If it was breached, the army could march straight in. The soldiers guarding the pass were naturally the Tang soldiers mentioned by Ao Luan, all wearing bright armor and with bright red flags. On the other side, the Tianzhu soldiers from Xiniuhezhou raised bright yellow flags, like the yellow patchwork robes of Buddhism.

After a fight, hundreds of bodies fell. The two sides were evenly matched, so their respective generals separated and gathered together to confront each other.

"Who dares to come out and fight me alone!"

A general rushed out from the Tang army, riding a tall white horse, holding a copper hammer with yellow light, which was almost as big as a basket, probably weighing no less than several hundred pounds. He rushed to the front of the formation, holding the reins with one hand, letting the horse move back and forth in front of the formation, and shouted to the soldiers of the Indian country.

The Indian country did not show weakness, and also rushed out a yellow-robed general, holding a nine-hole chain sword. The two fought in front of the formation, and it was a good fight. It was really a match made in heaven. After dozens of rounds, they were evenly matched. Both sides beat the war drums to cheer and boost morale. The soldiers shouted together, and the sound of shouting and killing was like thunder.

Seeing the two generals fighting, Ao Luan sighed softly: "The Tang Dynasty has always believed in Li, and has regarded the Supreme Taoist Li Dan as its ancestor. Taoism is the state religion. As long as a Taoist practitioner comes to open a Taoist temple, he will be given land and built a temple. The whole country respects Taoism. Li Shihao was taught the art of nourishing the truth by a Taoist priest, so it is not a big deal to live a few hundred years longer. The Tianzhu Kingdom in Xiniu Hezhou is also very prosperous, but it respects the monks. Because of their different sects and coveting each other's fertile land, the two countries have had countless disputes. In the past few decades, hundreds of millions of lives have been killed."

"Oh, so that's it!"

Zhou Qing had a slight understanding that the cycle of heaven actually has its own correspondence. The earthly immortal world and the human world are so similar, but the human world is too small and not so magnificent.

Two generals were fighting in front of the battle formation, and the soldiers behind them were beating drums to cheer them on. Zhou Qing was watching with some interest. However, according to what Ao Luan said, this place had been fought for decades, and at least tens of thousands of people died in each battle formation, but there was no sign of fierce ghosts lingering around. Obviously, there was a master who was saving the souls. Thinking about it again, since the king liked Taoism, there were many masters in the country who practiced and preached Taoism, which was not surprising.

Ao Luan also watched the battle below, but shook his head from time to time. Zhou Qing knew that this dragon princess still had some compassionate bodhisattva heart, and could not bear to see the lives of the people suffer, but Zhou Qing didn't care about that. Compassion for the world was just a boast and a pretense.

"Since the princess pities the lives below, why doesn't she stop the two countries from fighting? The princess is the dragon god of the rain tribe, and all mortals admire her. It should be easy to stop the war." Zhou Qing wondered.

Ao Luan sighed, "This matter is complicated. Both the Tang Dynasty and Tianzhu have backgrounds, and they don't give face to our Dragon God. Especially the Tang Dynasty King Li Shihao, who offers hundreds of thousands of cattle, sheep, horses, rare treasures, pearls and jade to my South China Sea Dragon Palace every year. My father is soft-hearted and soft-hearted. As for the background relationship, it is difficult to explain it clearly for a while. I also went to the Heavenly Palace to ask the Jade Emperor to stop the war in the lower world, but the Jade Emperor shirked the responsibility by saying that the creatures in the lower world should fend for themselves."

Zhou Qing laughed in his heart: "This Princess of the South Sea is an honest person. The Tang Dynasty loves Taoism and worships the Supreme Patriarch as their ancestor, offering incense day and night. The country of Tianzhu over there is a Buddhist disciple. It is naturally not good for the Bodhisattvas to fight with the immortals, so they secretly control the fate of the country to determine the winner. This method has been used during the Conferred God Ceremony. It is not surprising. Although the dragon clan is powerful, it is also under the jurisdiction of the Heavenly Court, not to mention the Bodhisattvas of the Heavens."

"It's a pity that I really have no power, otherwise I can also get involved. This game is really fun."

"Since the real person has a heart to save the world, you might as well watch the battle below, maybe you can see some tricks." Seeing Zhou Qing's solemn face, Ao Luan thought that he was also like himself in his heart, and couldn't bear to see the lives of the people suffer, so he smiled.

Zhou Qing nodded and watched the fight between the generals below with a cold eye. The two generals had been fighting with swords and hammers for hundreds of rounds, but there was still no winner. However, the horses of both sides were somewhat exhausted. The general with the big copper hammer on the Tang Dynasty side was wearing a red robe, while the general of Tianzhu was wearing a yellow robe. After fighting for a while, the general in the yellow robe seemed to be exhausted and dragged his sword back to the camp.

The red-robed general chased with the hammer, but suddenly the other party turned around, raised his hand and threw a yellow light, which swayed in the air and turned into a giant big hammer, like a wooden fish hammer, and smashed down hard on the red-robed general of the Tang Dynasty like a mountain pressing down on his head.

"Not good!"

The red-robed general roared when he saw the wooden fish club coming down, and his body got off the horse, soared up a foot high, and slid back more than ten feet flat. The huge wooden fish club just fell down, and with a bang, the tall white horse was smashed into a meat paste, blood and flesh splashed everywhere, and even the ground trembled. The soldiers of the Indian country roared loudly, and their momentum was greatly shocked.

The yellow-robed general muttered something in his mouth, and the huge wooden fish club hit repeatedly. The red-robed general could only dodge and move, and had no chance to fight back. Dozens of large and small pits were smashed on the ground in an instant.

Finally, he saw the flaw, and the red-robed general jumped out of the circle, slapped the back of his head, and a green light spurted out. It turned out to be a good flying sword, which turned into light to resist the wooden fish club. The generals of both sides actually fought with magic weapons in the battle array.

Zhou Qing was a little surprised. These two generals had the cultivation of the late stage of the Spiritualization, which was comparable to some of the elders of the original Middle-earth Dao Sect. In addition, they were skilled in close combat and had exquisite magic weapons. Their strength might be one or two times stronger. However, Zhou Qing saw that the red-robed general of the Tang Dynasty used a flying sword in a way that was somewhat similar to that of the Shushan, but much more exquisite.

"I heard from the black wolf spirit that the Cangmang Mountains of the Southern Continent are the foundation of the Shushan Sword Sect. Since the king likes Taoism, given the surname of the Shushan Sect, he must not be willing to be lonely and must have opened a Taoist temple in the secular world. This general must have inherited the Shushan tradition." Zhou Qing thought secretly.

"How can this be absurd? How can secular people use Taoist magic weapons in war? They are extremely lethal and hundreds of lives can be killed in a single thought." Zhou Qing pretended to be angry.

"In the Nanzhanbu Continent, there are huge mountains, countless sects of cultivators, and several peerless demon kings. Even the Heavenly Court is afraid of them. In order to open more Taoist temples in the lower world and attract disciples, they all transform themselves into Taoists to attract kings. For example, in the more than 400,000 miles of Cangmang Mountains, there is a Shushan Sword Sect with many disciples, no less than 100,000 people, and more than 3,000 Taoist temples. Among them, there are many immortal masters who have refined their souls into babies, and several of them are still officials in the Heavenly Court. There are probably eight or nine sects like this in the entire Nanzhanbu Continent."

Ao Luan saw that Zhou Qing was indeed a master who did not come out of the world, and the situation in the outside world was a little unclear, so he explained one by one. Zhou Qing's heart was secretly beating. The most Taoist sects in the world are Kunlun, and there are only hundreds of thousands of people, and their cultivation is extremely low. All the cultivators added together are not as good as a branch of a sect. Zhou Qing wants to develop his own strength in the earthly immortal world, that is one word, difficult!

In the human world, with Zhou Qing's strength, any sect that disobeys him will be destroyed. But here, each sect has more than 100,000 people, and all of them are highly skilled in Taoism. They will drown you with their spit.

Zhou Qing listened to Ao Luan's explanation of the division of forces in the Southern Continent. In addition to several major mountain ranges, there are countless small hills with a radius of thousands of miles. There are demon kings or Taoists practicing in them. It's so chaotic that Zhou Qing made up his mind.

Below, they were still fighting and competing with magic weapons. After all, the flying sword of the red-robed general of the Tang Dynasty was more powerful. After fighting for a while, he twisted the wooden fish into powder with a sudden force, and then split the yellow-robed general of the Tianzhu Kingdom in half with a sword. A weak soul rushed out, but was collected in a purple gold gourd.

The general of the Tang Dynasty won the victory, raised his sword, and all the soldiers rushed forward, killing the soldiers of the Indian Kingdom in a flurry. They threw away their armor and weapons, and chased them for more than 50 miles before withdrawing their troops. Both sides had tens of thousands of casualties, and the souls were full of resentment. Several black-clothed Taoist priests actually emerged from the pass, holding long soul-gathering banners, and all the souls and resentment were sucked into the banners.

"How can this be absurd? How can there be people from the evil way in the military camp who do not save the dead souls, but instead collect the ritual instruments to make them never ascend to heaven? How can this be absurd!" Seeing this scene, Ao Luan was furious, and shook the Juexian Sword, and a sword light entangled and fell from the sky.

"Be careful, Taoist priests, someone is attacking!" The red-robed general had a keen sense of spiritual perception. Seeing the sword light coming down from the sky, he shouted loudly and raised his flying sword to try to stop it. The black-clothed Taoists all set up their escape lights and rushed up. Half of them sacrificed dozens of black evil flying swords to resist the sword light of the Juexian Sword. Several evil monks with good Taoism flew up, and they all had the cultivation of returning to the void.

Unfortunately, they encountered the dragon girl Ao Luan and the Juexian Sword. Even Nezha couldn't resist, let alone these monks who had not yet become immortals.

The Juexian Sword flicked and crushed the flying sword of the red-robed general into powder. It turned again, and the soul-gathering banners, flying swords, and even the people of the evil monks who rushed up from below were crushed into pieces, and their souls were not left. As long as the Juexian Sword cuts the flesh, it will kill the soul together. Such a fierce magic weapon, except for the Zhanxian Gourd, Zhou Qing has never seen one.

"It's so powerful! A sharp weapon to kill gods and Buddhas!" Zhou Qing sighed in his heart.

The red-robed general Ao Luan spared his life without harming him.

"Wulian Tianzun! Well, I will do a good deed."

Although Zhou Qing coveted so many souls, he had to pretend to be a good person. He brushed the Seven Treasures Wonderful Tree, and colorful light sprinkled from the sky, covering the ground within a radius of 100 miles. The souls of the soldiers who died in the battle and the resentment caused by the charge were all converted and washed away. The souls washed away all the karma, flew up one after another, kowtowed to Zhou Qing and the others, and then reincarnated. It was clear and bright again when they were sent down.

"The Immortal has such a method, he is indeed merciful. The matter here has been settled, and the Immortal will stay in my South China Sea for two days."

Ao Luan was delighted to see Zhou Qing had such a method. To convert these souls, although she had enough magic power, she did not have the corresponding Taoism and magic weapons. The Juexian Sword was a killing weapon. It was a matter of a snap to disperse these souls, but to convert these souls, it was as difficult as going to Lingxiao Palace to grab the seat of the Jade Emperor.

The Seven Treasures Wonderful Tree has super strong defense, but its lethality is not as fierce as Juexian, but it has many functions. It is easy to wash away resentment and convert souls.

"Just about to disturb the princess!" Zhou Qing flicked his sleeves and floated away with Ao Luan.

"General, what's going on?" A dozen evil monks were killed as soon as they met, and colorful lights were sprinkled in the sky. The flying sword of the red-robed general was ground into powder. He was still in shock and thought that the enemy had attacked him and he would definitely die. He didn't know that there was no movement for a long time. A vanguard came forward and reminded him, and then he woke up and thought carefully.

"I'm afraid it was the immortals passing by who couldn't stand the behavior of these Taoist brothers, so they killed them and released colorful lights to convert the wronged souls. It has nothing to do with us. Retreat back to the pass and strictly guard the two world passes. Several Taoist brothers are from the Skull Mountain Sect. If they were killed by the immortals, they must report to their master."

The red-robed general gathered the soldiers and returned to the two world passes, closed the gates tightly, and sent more soldiers to defend. Countless beacon towers were built on the mountains on both sides, and there were soldiers guarding them. As long as the enemy attacks, they can see clearly from the mountains.

"In recent days, the soldiers of the Indian Kingdom have been harassing us frequently, and each wave is more ferocious than the last. I am afraid that it will be difficult to resist them in the long run. I have also lost the flying sword passed down by my master, and several Taoist priests are also scared and weak. What should I do?" The red-robed general sat inside the pass and thought.

"General, don't be anxious. Write a letter to the court and ask His Majesty to send reinforcements. The general can go to the master's house and ask the elders of the master's house to come forward and invite more helpers. When the soldiers are well-trained and well-fed, send troops to defeat the Indian Kingdom soldiers in one fell swoop, and then eliminate the future troubles." A staff member next to him saw that the general frowned and hurriedly offered advice.

"I know this, but after I leave, if India invades again, won't it be troublesome?" The red-robed general was a relative of the Tang Dynasty, named Huang Daoyuan. His cousin was the emperor's concubine and had some influence in the court. He was accepted by the Shushan Sword School and learned some Taoist martial arts to guard a critical pass at the border.

"Don't worry, General. I am about to recommend someone. With this person, even if India invades with millions of troops, he will never come back." The staff hurriedly said.

"Oh, there is such a wise man, please invite him quickly." Huang Daoyuan was overjoyed when he heard it. The staff took out a yellow talisman and burned it with fire. After a while, there was a strong wind and a fishy smell. There was already a Taoist in the hall, wearing a Taoist robe, holding a whisk, wearing hemp shoes, and dressed in a wild manner.

"Who is the Taoist priest?" Huang Daoyuan was also from the Taoist sect. Seeing the momentum of the person coming, he knew that he was a peerless master and did not dare to neglect him.

"I am Bing Linggong, a monk from Jikong Cave in Jianyun Mountain. I am in the process of tempering my baby. I heard that someone burned a talisman to send a message, so I rushed over." Bing Linggong asked the assistant, "What happened?"

It turned out that Bing Yuangong's apprentice had a fight with someone and was beaten back to his original form. He escaped by chance, but was dying. The assistant was still young at the time. After encountering him, he picked Ganoderma lucidum and ginseng from the mountain to help him survive. After Bing Yuangong knew about it, he gave the assistant a yellow talisman, saying that burning it would help him in times of danger.

The assistant explained the situation, and Bing Yuangong smiled and said, "It's okay, General, just go to the sect, I will help guard the two-boundary pass, as long as the Indian barbarians come, they will come and go."

The infant was being tempered, which was the cultivation of an immortal. Huang Daoyuan was overjoyed, and quickly arranged a residence, entertained him with good wine and food, and rewarded the assistant heavily. He ordered his generals to strictly guard the pass and not go out to fight. Then he wrote a letter to the court for help, and set up a light to go to the gate of the Shushan Sword School in Cangmang Mountain.

Let's get back to the point, and say that Zhou Qing followed Ao Luan to the Dragon Palace in the South China Sea, and stayed there to discuss Taoism for ten days. However, Ao Luan did not live in the Crystal Palace in the South China Sea, but had another water palace, where he commanded a million sailors. Some training situations and daily affairs were handled by two Jiao-headed monsters, and there were also General Carp, General Shark, Turtle Counselor, etc. Zhou Qing was amazed.

In Ao Luan's impression, Zhou Qing has profound Taoism, compassion, and a peaceful and relaxed mind. The two had a good chat. Zhou Qing also learned about some of the situations in Nanzhanbuzhou from Ao Luan and the division of forces. In his spare time, Zhou Qing watched the navy training. Ao Luan led millions of sailors with a sword, which was quite heroic.

Over the past ten days, Zhou Qing also read a lot of Taoist classics collected from the Taoist sects in the Central Plains, Kunlun Yuxu Palace and other places. Combining his own experience, he carefully comprehended and gained some experience, but it would take some time to create a cultivation method suitable for his disciples to increase their strength quickly.

The two also competed and exchanged several games. Zhou Qing's Seven Treasures Wonderful Tree was not afraid of the Absolute Immortal Sword, and Ao Luan certainly could not do anything about it.

This trip to the Dragon Palace was quite rewarding. The most important thing was that he knew the general situation of Nanzhanbuzhou, which gave Zhou Qing some clues.

After bidding farewell to Ao Luan and leaving the South China Sea Water Palace, Zhou Qing headed straight to the west.

In the border of Nanzhanbuzhou near Xiniuhezhou, there are some small hills with a radius of a thousand miles or just ten thousand miles. There are many demon kings and independent cultivators. Zhou Qing was going to take a look and subdue a few demon kings without big forces as backing, and then slowly expand his power.

Zhou Qing was watching the movement with his eyes in the sky. Suddenly, there was a faint black gas demon cloud in front of him, and then it fell down. He saw a place surrounded by mountains on three sides. They were tall and big, stretching for thousands of miles. Leading to the outside of the mountain, there was a city after walking more than 300 miles. The population was crowded. Even outside the city, there were people within a radius of 100 miles. But the side of the mountain was desolate, with poor mountains and bad water, muddy swamps, and towering ancient trees on the mountain. The green leaves were all black and blue, which looked a bit dark. The demon wind was strong, and the whole mountain was roaring, like the howling of evil ghosts, which was really scary.