The Abbot's request was sothing none of them could deny, and they accepted it readily.
"We shall do as you wish, Abbot," the elders said in unison.
"We shall begin the process tomorrow, then," the Abbot declared before looking past the limits of the Green Lotus Temple's territory. "Though it seems there are a lot of curious people around," he muttered.
He glanced toward the horizon for a mont before raising his gaze to the sky, where a certain presence was hidden among the clouds.
'Venerable Saintess, this monk requests you to look after this place,' he said softly.
His voice was inaudible to everyone else, but to the Saintess, it was as clear as day.
"It shall be done," the Saintess replied lightly, pinching her fingers.
HUALA
As soon as she did, the air grew still around the entire Green Lotus Temple. The people who had been hovering around it suddenly found it hard to fly.
"What's happening?"
"Why am I being pushed back!?"
"Is this an array!?"
The cultivators were startled.
They had already been unable to approach the temple due to the barrier, but now it seed to have gotten even stronger.
SHUA
In the next second, all of them were pushed nearly three kiloters away. Thankfully, no harm was done to anyone, but they were certainly shaken.
"Whoa! I thought I was going to fall!"
"Thankfully, this is the Green Lotus Temple. They won't harm us without reason."
The temple's long-standing reputation ca in handy here.
"Looks like they'll be in seclusion for a while," a few wizened cultivators who were present comnted.
"Everyone retreat. We shall leave until the Green Lotus Temple invites us again," they ordered.
SHUA SHUA SHUA SHUA
With that, everyone left the area, knowing they were not welco yet.
The Green Lotus Temple was the ruling power here, even if it did not exert its influence aggressively. The other powers respected it and almost always heeded its will. Many of the cultivators present were followers of Buddha, even if they were not monks themselves.
As such, they would certainly honor the temple's decision.
With the temple secured, the Abbot smiled.
"Thank you, Venerable Saintess. I shall return with a gift for the child Lin Mu," the Abbot said gratefully.
The Saintess didn't respond, but the Abbot knew she had heard him.
While the Abbot didn't necessarily need the Saintess's strength to drive the cultivators away, had he used more conventional thods, it would have taken days to resolve the situation. Ti was of the essence, and he did not wish to wait longer than necessary. Hence, he had requested her help.
The Saintess hadn't minded—this was for Lin Mu, after all.
Besides, she had heard everything from the very beginning. Nothing escaped her perception.
With the matter settled, the Abbot quickly mobilized the elders, and they began the preparations for the next day.
Through all of this, Lin Mu remained unaware. He was busy either training ng Bai or exploring his newly gained ability.
The day passed quickly, and Lin Mu opened his eyes early the next morning.
SHUA
But as he did, he felt sothing strange.
"Spatial fluctuations? Here?" Lin Mu was surprised.
That shouldn't have been possible. He was certain there were no teleportation arrays set up in this area.
He turned toward the source and saw that the disturbance was coming from the very top of the Great Peak.
"What are they doing up there?" Lin Mu muttered. He could feel the auras of all the elders, as well as the Abbot himself.
He focused on the spatial fluctuations and activated his Spatial Perception.
"Is that… a portal?" Lin Mu raised his brows.
He only managed to glimpse it for three seconds before the portal closed, and one of the auras vanished within it.
"The Abbot… left?" Lin Mu was surprised. "Where did he go?" he wondered aloud.
It was rare for the Abbot to leave the temple. Whatever it was, it must have been important.
'Is this related to the breakthroughs?' Lin Mu guessed.
Thinking it was likely so internal matter of the temple, he chose not to pry further and let it go.
Instead, he decided to visit Monk Hushu, who was ditating in his room. The man had finally received the final part of his Buddhist cultivation technique from the Abbot and could now progress further.
With this, he would have no problem reaching the peak of the Immortal Realm and could cultivate without any obstacles.
CREAK
The door to Monk Hushu's room opened as Lin Mu stepped inside.
The monk opened his eyes and looked calmly at him.
"Is sothing happening in the temple?" Lin Mu asked.
"The temple has closed its gates and activated the barriers," Monk Hushu replied.
"For the breakthroughs?" Lin Mu guessed.
"Indeed. The Abbot and elders have ordered the temple to remain shut until everyone has stabilized," Monk Hushu confird.
"I see…" Lin Mu muttered. "Looks like things will be a bit calr for a while."
He took his leave and went out into the courtyard. There, he checked on the state of his beasts, who were currently resting within the Sleepscape.
They had returned to him shortly before he upgraded the Calming Heart Sutra and had remained in the Sleepscape since then. Having already explored the entire temple and the surrounding areas, they had grown a little bored.
They'd wanted to venture further out, but Lin Mu had refused—he didn't want them causing trouble. And so, they had returned to the Sleepscape, where they could play and rest more freely.
He checked in on them and saw that the twins were playing with Ashy as usual, while Little Shrubby was calmly cultivating beneath the Mutated Violet Mystic Life Tree.
Everything was as it should be. Nothing had changed.
Lin Mu returned his mind to the real world and returned to his usual routine of trianing ng Bai, doing chores as well as culitvating himself. Ti passed quickly, and three months went by in the blink of an eye.
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