The most cruel thing in the world isn''t ignorance but knowing too much, yet being unable to obtain it.


    Desire without fulfillment drives one into madness, and only then do illusions appear!


    Everyone in the hall thought that Emperor Tai Shi had gone mad from consuming spirit pills, but only he knew he wasn''t insane. Everything he mumbled about was seen with his own eyes.


    Thousand-year-old date trees, blood vines, Mystic Pearl Grass, purple ginseng, Yin Yang Fruits, Five-colored Auspicious Cloud Mushrooms, Jian wood...


    After a long time had passed.


    Emperor Tai Shi''s visions shattered before his eyes, his murmuring voice gradually extinguished as he sat cross-legged on a meditation cushion.


    Leng You''s gaze swept across those in the hall, all bowing their heads emotionlessly. How could she not guess the thoughts of those below? They likely thought she was spouting nonsense.


    "Why hasn''t True Person Xu risen yet?"


    "Your servant is inexplicably moved and offers congrattions to Your Majesty!"


    True Person Xu knelt on the ground, shivering: Spiritual Medicine is indeed real,ing from the deep reserves of both Buddhist and Taoist teachings. However, alchemy also requires a Pill Furnace, spells, and Spiritual Fire, which for now can only be substituted withmon fire and a Bronze Cauldron.


    As a result, three furnaces were ruined in a row, wasting the already scarce Spiritual Medicine.


    Luckily, recent exploration of ancient Taoist scriptures led to the discovery of the method for creating an inner core with lead and mercury, andbining the two, he managed to concoct Spirit Pills.


    They looked simr to the ones in the scriptures. As for the efficacy, well, True Person Xu didn''t dare to try them.


    Based on his limited experience with alchemy, True Person Xu judged that consuming these pills was less effective than consuming raw Spiritual Medicine, but he dared not voice this thought. If His Majesty found out, he might have to rece another temple master.


    "Decree: True Person Xu has meritorious service in alchemy, be titled Huai Xuan Ji Miao Guang Ancestor True Lord, be bestowed with a purple robe, rewarded with ten thousand gold, and order Baiyun Temple to construct his statue for incense offerings!"


    Emperor Tai Shi spoke slowly: "True Person, continue with alchemy; I will have the imperial guards deliver Spiritual Medicine to you, with at least one sessful furnace each month!"


    Having cultivated martial arts to the stage of Qi-Blood consolidation, a meal required half a cow to satisfy hunger. Yet, ever since leaving Kunlun Mountain, even if he stuffed himself to the gills, there remained a hunger stemming from the soul.


    In his youth, he could endure it, dispersing the greed within his heart somewhat with the exhrating thrill of leading armies to conquer thends.


    Now, nearly eighty years old, Emperor Tai Shimanded the power of Qing Kingdom, intimidating the nations of Cloud Continent, and had reached the peak of worldly sess. Nothing in this world interested him anymore, except for the pursuit of immortality and eternal life!


    Today, after consuming the medicine, the fragrance of Spiritual Energy prated to the bone marrow!


    "I, after exhausting my life, will surely search for Kunlun Mountain!"


    Emperor Tai Shi drew out the Taia sword from his waist. It was azure as jade and pointed obliquely at the sky.


    "If I cannot obtain immortality, no matter how much power and luxury I have, a hundred yearster I will be nothing but a handful of yellow soil!"


    Upon saying this, the ministers and eunuchs in the hall immediately knelt down, kowtowed three times, and chanted nine times in high voices.


    "Long live the Emperor, may you live forever!"


    …


    After the changes in the heavens.


    Buddhist monks, to prevent a counterattack from secr royal power, seized the governance of Buddhist territories.


    Thus, before Spiritual Energypletely dissipated, the royal families of Yizhou countries were invited to the Land of Ultimate Bliss and it was renamed Buddhist Continent.


    Buddhist Continent was divided into twelve Buddhist realms, governed by twelve Supreme Monasteries, with the state divisions and administrations simr to that of the original Imperial Court, managed by Middle and Lower Monasteries.


    As monks needed time for chanting and practicing Buddhist Law, they had little time to manage local affairs. They appointedy disciples as officials, ranking them as second-ss citizens. Monks naturally belonged to the first ss, farmers, artisans, and merchants to the third, and criminals and ves and so on to the fourth.


    ssifying people into four levels, with fixed professions and ranks, made governance easier, structured from top to bottom like a pyramid.


    Furthermore, Buddhist scriptures such as karma, reincarnation, and so on were used to indoctrinate the subjugated people into enduring hardships in the belief that in the next life, they could be reborn as monks, thus tightly binding both their physical forms and souls.


    Over hundreds of years, not only was there norge-scale rebellion, but Buddhist rule became even more solid than stone.


    As for all scriptures outside of Buddhist teachings, such as the Four Books and Five ssics and historical records, anyone caught reading them wasmitting the grave sin of sphemy against Buddha. Their entire family would be demoted to the ranks of the fourth ss, enduring hardships for three lifetimes before being liberated.


    This was merely the overall structure; the monks had assigned ranks for clothing, food, housing, and travel.


    Walking within a Buddhist city, one could clearly discern the differences between the four sses based on people''s clothing materials, color, means of transportation, food, and house regtions.


    In the Land of Bodhi.


    Ten Thousand Buddhas Temple.


    Legend held that Buddhism originated here, the ancestral root of ten thousand Buddhas and the actual ruler of Buddhist Continent.


    In the Great Heroic Treasure Hall.


    A Buddha statue several tens of feet high, made of pure gold, with kind eyes and a gentle smile, watched over the congregation below.


    In the center stood an old monk with long eyebrows, tall and sturdy as if cast from red gold. Around him were more than ten monks, both old and young, with distant gazes, each adopting apassionate demeanor.


    The only speaking figure in the hall was a ragged monk covered in scars. He spoke of the adversities faced by the Buddhist monks in Cloud Continent.


    "...After the Great Historian Emperor destroyed the Ten Thousand Buddhas Temple in Qianjing, he razed mountains and temples and set all Buddhist scriptures ame. Soldiers were dispatched along with Jinyiwei and the Internal Servants to hunt down monks, killing on sight any who resisted, even takingy disciples into custody."


    "The poor monk travelled west with hundreds of Martial Saints, crossing tens of thousands of miles across Ji Continent, arriving in Buddhist Continent with only one disciple left!"


    As he spoke, the monk revealed a scar on his chest, pierced by an arrow, narrowly missing instant death: "The disciple was fortunately saved and treated by believers, fortunate enough to survive and bring back the news from Cloud Continent."


    "Amitabha!"


    The old monk with long eyebrowsmanded: "The family of this believer has great merit. Allow his son to shave his head and be a monk, to enjoy the Ultimate Bliss of the Buddhist Law."


    A supervisory monk on the left rose to ept the instruction: "Your disciple obeys the Dharma Master''s decree!"


    The old monk asked those around him: "What do you think of the situation in Cloud Continent?"


    A monk replied: "Great Historian Emperor praises Buddhist Enemy Xuan Xiao and has again begun a campaign against Buddhism, he should be punished!"


    Another monk said: "Master, I wish to lead a hundred thousand monk warriors to Cloud Continent to spread Buddhist Law and overthrow the tyranny of the Fake Emperor of Qing Kingdom!"