Bring everything to light, seize the initiative into your own hands, and even force the opponent to act prematurely.

The Awakened wants to keep the initiative in our hands.

"Jiang Tanyue," he said to Jiang Li, "I must trouble you to remain hidden for now and act as our surprise force."

There's no choice but to play the role of the surprise force. After all, the greatest achievement of Jiang Sikong's regency was to slay the third-rank strongman Manjusri from Buddha Country, a significant defeat for their side.

Though logically speaking, the eastward spread of Buddha Country's Buddhist teachings had malicious intent, and Jiang Li's repulsion of them was a righteous act, reasoning doesn't always prevail; positions do.

To those in Buddha Country, Jiang Li is undoubtedly the enemy of Buddha Country. Guanyin and Tan Wuwei's uprising against the Awakened is largely based on the claim that he cleansed the Manjusri clan and the Esoteric Sect and had connections with Jiang Li.

Under such circumstances, if Jiang Li were to openly appear at the Mountain of Mind and Heart, someone might cry out, "Why is the Chief rebelling?"

That's also why Jiang Li had to infiltrate Buddha Country, and even when he arrived at the No Buddha Temple, he had to wait perched under the eaves as a bird until the three listening had left before revealing himself.

"It doesn't matter."

Jiang Li was prepared for this and did not feel wronged. He simply shook his head and said, "I'm indeed not suitable to appear directly. However, this surprise force might not be effective. Leaving aside that the Daoist Lord has discovered me, consider that Emperor Yan's Tao Fruit..."

Jiang Li briefly recounted the previous confrontation with the Daoist Lord, emphasizing how "Daoism Rules the World" suppressed him and ignored the DIvine Farmer's Cauldron as a Dao Artifact.

Regarding the secrets he discovered, Jiang Li did not conceal them. As the saying goes, individual plans are short, but joint one's length. Especially when the advisor is someone like the Awakened.

To put it rudely, the Awakened is a sly old fox, having even schemed against Ji Jiji in the past, causing damage to his physical body. The Awakened might look like a nice person, but Jiang Li would not hesitate to suspect him of the worst intentions if otherwise.

"But a third-grade and incomplete 'Primordial Human' Divine Skill might not block 'Daoism Rules the World'...

The Awakened pondered upon hearing this, "In this case, it's somewhat inappropriate for Jiang Tanyue to confront the Daoist Lord. The Mazer once thought that Ji, the benefactor, could create a Divine Skill capable of matching Daoist Lord under the influence of 'Daoism Rules the World', but he was defeated and had his physical body damaged. Later, when the Daoist Lord came to Buddha Country, he found the Mazer's flaw in a debate and struck with Karma Tathagata. His cultivation is the deepest among us."

By "us," he naturally refers to the six strongest of this age.

If factors like Dao Fruit, Dao Artifact, etc., are ignored, the Daoist Lord is indeed the highest in the Realm.

"Even the Great Sage cannot match?" Jiang Li glanced at Sun Wukong.

"The Mazer is also unaware of the Great Sage's depth in Daoism, hence can't comment." The Awakened replied with a smile.

This comment pleased Sun Wukong greatly, for this monkey, though not prideful, has a strong desire to excel, and such words made him feel appreciated.

However, he didn't take on the task of confronting the Daoist Lord, but rather snorted, "I guess you're about to add a 'but'.

"The Great Sage foresaw correctly," the Awakened laughed and said, "However, the Great Sage isn't suitable to confront the Daoist Lord. Unlike others who integrate Dao Fruit with their being, the Great Sage's situation is reversed; it's the Dao Fruit integrating with the body, Primordial Spirit, and Cause and Effect. 'Daoism Rules the World' suppresses Dao Fruit, so until the Dao Fruit fully integrates with the body, the Great Sage may struggle in a direct confrontation with the Daoist Lord."

For others, facing the Daoist Lord would at most suppress their Dao Fruit Divine Power. For Sun Wukong, it might suppress his consciousness directly. Even if he didn't faint on the spot, his ability to fight would be greatly limited.

The reason being, for Sun Wukong, Dao Fruit is the main body, and the physical body and Primordial Spirit are not. At least for now, Sun Wukong's core lies within the Dao Fruit.

To this, Sun Wukong merely snorted again, saying, "Once I fully awaken, those mere youngsters, I'll smash them all with my stick!"

The implication being that he couldn't do it yet.

Having once attained Buddhahood, even with his current mindset leaning more towards the Great Sage Equaling Heaven, he didn't let vain pride make him mendacious.

This also verifies the troublesome nature of the Daoist Lord.

"Perhaps it will continue the battle of that year once again."

The Awakened appeared unperturbed, just smiled slightly, "Although Emperor Yan's Tao Fruit might not stand against 'Daoism Rules the World', if it aids the benefactor's advancement, it will significantly increase our odds. This object, I entrust it to the benefactor."

The Awakened spoke, slowly raising his palm, from which a bright light ascended toward Jiang Li.

This was the Awakened's support for Jiang Li's promotion to third grade.

As a competent investor, the Awakened knew when to invest. Jiang Li would act due to the intersection of interests and past relations, but providing a suitable reward could guarantee Jiang Li's utmost efforts.

In short, additional compensation brings peace of mind.

Also, given the plan to use Emperor Yan's Tao Fruit's Divine Skills against the Daoist Lord, aiding Jiang Li's promotion was necessary; otherwise, the premise of the confrontation wouldn't hold.

Jiang Li understood this clearly, which is why he came to Buddha Country immediately upon realizing the shift in situation.

The bright light fell into Jiang Li's hand, and as the brilliance faded, half a mirror surface was revealed.

The mirror surface was pure white, nearly transparent, reflecting all colors of the world, and it was deeply familiar to Jiang Li.

"A fragment of the Heavenly Mirror," he spoke the name of the item.

Once, Tianxuan extracted its core from the destroyed West Beauty Mirror, which was a fragment of the Heavenly Mirror, and Jiang Li refined it. Jiang Li integrated it into his Mud Ball Palace, greatly enhancing his perception and creating a mirror space large enough to contain an island.

At that time, the fragment of the Heavenly Mirror was only the size of a fingernail, but now the fragment was half a mirror.

"In ancient times, the Emperor was revered by all the people due to authority and virtue. Later, the Emperor ascended to become the Heavenly Emperor because of power. Without the power to swallow the universe, how can one be called the Heavenly Emperor?"

The Awakened slowly said, "The ascension method of Emperor Yan's Dao Fruit is the Heavenly and Man Respect. Among these, the respect of man, you should soon achieve, and the respect of heaven has two ways. One is to gain heaven's recognition; in ancient times, it was to be recognized by the previous Heavenly Emperor."

"As the Mazer knows, Emperor Yan succeeded Tai Hao, gaining Tai Hao's recognition. If you follow this method, it is also feasible, that is, to gain heaven's approval."

"The other method is to channel one's power through the universe, leaving an imprint to be honored by heaven. This Heavenly Mirror can assist the Benefactor in transmitting his power flawlessly through the sky dome to achieve this method."

The Heavenly Mirror, named after heaven, is a treasure of the Cosmic Dao, connected to space. Although now broken, having half of the mirror still is sufficient to help Jiang Li transmit his power completely to thousands of miles away.

The item given by the Awakened was indeed needed by Jiang Li.

Just that······

"Does the layman know too much about the Jiang family's secrets?" Jiang Li asked with some suspicion.

Knowing the divine power of Emperor Yan's Dao Fruit was fine, but now even the details of the Ascension ritual were clear, even more so than Jiang Li himself knew.

At least Jiang Li didn't know about the Heavenly and Man Respect or the two methods of achieving the ritual.

"This is thanks to the gift from Manjusri Buddha Friend," the Awakened smiled slightly, expressing gratitude to the deceased Manjusri.

Jiang Li also understood how thoroughly Manjusri had lost.

Unknowingly, Manjusri even leaked the secrets of the Jiang family's treasures, showing that he was always within the Five Finger Mountain of the Awakened, never escaping.

And the Awakened was truly the cunning old fox among cunning old foxes, in seclusion for a hundred years, yet always keeping an eye on the major events of the Buddha Country. Whether it was Manjusri, Guanyin, or even Tan Wuwei, nothing escaped the Awakened's eyes.

He did not wield power outwardly, but that did not mean he was unaware of the situation.

Only in this way could he calmly proceed with cleansing the Buddha Country.

This also gave Jiang Li a few more chances of success in the upcoming chaos.

'The next step, then, is to ascend. Either before the great battle or during it, successfully ascend.' Jiang Li looked at the Heavenly Mirror in his hand, with his mental state, showing some eagerness in his gaze.

This was the Awakened's opportunity to ascend, and it was also Jiang Li's opportunity to ascend.

'Next, let's see who emerges victorious.'

······

······

A faint stream of light traversed the sky dome, crossing a thousand-mile distance, finally descending onto a peak not far from the Buddha Country's border.

The two Great Masters seated on the Lotus Platform saw the stream of light, their gazes sharpening, watching it condense into a golden Buddha's Decree.

To send a message across a thousand miles in the Five Turbid Evil World requires not a shallow cultivation, something even the casual fourth-rank strong person might not achieve. The vile qi permeating the world is not to be underestimated.

However, compared to the transmission over a thousand miles, it was the information within that was more concerning.

Tan Wuwei's eyes flickered, divine power automatically peeking into the future, seeing the content of the message clearly.

"The Awakened wants to convene a dharma assembly, issue an order to ban Summoning Techniques, and even restrict the Fire Path?"

Tan Wuwei raised an eyebrow, just about to reach out to capture the Buddha's Decree and explore its origin.

Yet, before she could raise her hand, the future sight caused her expression to change subtly.

Before anyone could take hold of it, the Buddha's Decree suddenly dissipated, as if it already knew that Tan Wuwei had used divine power to view its contents.

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