The young novice monk, Yuan Kong, led the four of them into the side hall of Zen Forest Temple.
During the temple fair, the main hall was completely open to the public, but the side hall was off-limits to ordinary devotees. Its primary purpose was to provide space for distinguished guests.
There were no other monks in the room, and Yuan Kong personally prepared the tea.
After taking her seat, Yaoqin asked, "Are you Yuan Kong of Zen Forest Temple?"
"You've heard of me?" Yuan Kong replied with a hint of confusion in his tone.
Yaoqin nodded. "The Buddhist prodigy of Zen Forest Temple is somewhat renowned, but why haven't you started practicing the temple's methods yet?"
Yuan Kong poured tea for each of the four guests before explaining, "The abbot says the time isn't right yet."
Yaoqin nodded lightly. Since he wasn't her disciple, her curiosity was merely passing.
Li Yingling, who cared little about matters of Buddhist prodigies, quickly interjected with a question of his own:
"Little monk, doesn't your abbot feel a bit... uncomfortable carrying that around?"
Yuan Kong sighed heavily.
"He's the abbot, so naturally, he has the final say. If it were up to me, the abbot would be in confinement today."
Chu Xingchen nodded in agreement.
"Indeed! The Buddhist prodigy makes a good point. I think our sect should also set up a confinement room, specifically for disciplining those disobedient disciples."
The rebellious disciple Li Yingling immediately voted against the idea.
"Master, that's not the way to look at it. True harmony within a sect comes from mutual understanding and compassion."
As he spoke, Li Yingling shot a meaningful glance at his fellow rebel, Li Xingtian.
Li Xingtian, however, pretended to be engrossed in sipping his tea, ignoring the signal from his senior sister.
"Enough. You can discuss your sect's affairs later," Yaoqin said, her gaze shifting toward the door.
The side hall's entrance faced the large open area in front of the temple, where the abbot was holding up a plaque.
This area was also off-limits to the public, allowing the distinguished guests of Zen Forest Temple to enjoy an unobstructed view.
It had to be said that in terms of how they treated their honored guests, Zen Forest Temple didn't resemble a temple at all—it felt more like an institution catering to superiors.
Yaoqin withdrew her gaze and straightened her posture. "What time does the Water Forest Dharma Assembly officially begin today?"
"In about half an hour," Yuan Kong replied after finishing the tea preparations. He stood up, clasped his hands together, and said, "Today, I'm leading my junior disciples in chanting, so I can't stay longer. Please make yourselves at home."
Yaoqin gave a slight nod.
Yuan Kong bowed with his hands clasped to each person in the room before taking his leave.
Chu Xingchen put away his playful expression, took a sip of tea, and remarked,
"That Buddhist prodigy is quite interesting."
Yaoqin raised an eyebrow. "Oh? You can tell?"
Chu Xingchen replied with an air of confidence, "When have I ever been wrong about people?"
Yaoqin couldn't refute this. Chu Xingchen's ability to read people was uncanny. Even upon first meeting someone, he could quickly discern their true nature.
And he had never been wrong, as if he could peer directly into their hearts.
Yaoqin gently fanned herself with her jade fan. "So, tell me, what's so interesting about that Buddhist prodigy?"
"A natural-born Buddhist prodigy," Chu Xingchen said solemnly.
Li Yingling, who had been eager to hear his master's insights, immediately lost interest upon hearing this.
Yaoqin, too, seemed unimpressed and turned her gaze back toward the door.
He was already the Buddhist prodigy of Zen Forest Temple—this statement was as redundant as it got.
Facing their indifferent expressions, Chu Xingchen didn't elaborate further. Instead, he took another sip of Zen Forest Temple's signature bitter tea.
It had to be said, this tea was ridiculously bitter.
Chu Xingchen had naturally used his system to check Yuan Kong's attribute tags.
[Target: Yuan Kong]
[Golden Tag: Natural-Born Buddhist Prodigy]
[Purple Tag: See Through Illusions]
[Blue Tag: Intelligence]
[Blue Tag: Compassion]
[Black Tag: Forbidden Cultivation Body]
[Does not meet disciple recruitment conditions.]
This little novice monk Yuan Kong was indeed intriguing. Just the golden tag alone was incredibly valuable.
The other tags also seemed quite impressive, but the most astonishing part was that the system had momentarily glitched.
It both met and didn't meet the conditions, likely due to the black tag, "Forbidden Cultivation Body."
Was the system judging that he currently lacked the ability to resolve this issue?
Forbidden Cultivation Body...
It wasn't that Zen Forest Temple didn't allow this little novice to cultivate—it was probably that he simply couldn't cultivate.
After a moment of contemplation, Chu Xingchen suddenly spoke up.
"I think today's spiritual energy is definitely meant for Yuan Kong's use."
Yaoqin glanced at him and explained,
"The Buddhist prodigy of Zen Forest Temple is officially recognized by the Central Continent. With that status, he can travel and cultivate freely among the Buddhist temples of the Central Continent. Using spiritual energy for cultivation would only ruin his future prospects."
Chu Xingchen clicked his tongue. "That's a shallow view. You're not seeing the essence of it."
Yaoqin scoffed. "Oh? Does the great immortal Chu have some insight I'm unaware of?"
Chu Xingchen grabbed Li Xingtian's shoulder and said, "A man's infallible intuition."
At the same time, he kicked Li Yingling's calf under the table.
Li Yingling was momentarily stunned but quickly caught on to his master's cue and began playing along.
"Master, shouldn't it be a woman's intuition?"
Chu Xingchen smirked arrogantly. "Seems like the two of you aren't convinced. How about we make a bet?"
"Yaoqin!" Li Yingling grabbed Yaoqin's arm. "My master is being too arrogant! Put him in his place!"
Yaoqin thought for a moment and then agreed. "Alright... what do you want to bet?"
"How about spirit stones? If I lose, you don't have to give me the spirit stones you owe me. If you lose, you double the amount. How's that?"
Yaoqin looked at him suspiciously.
She knew Chu Xingchen all too well. He had always treated spirit stones like precious treasures, reluctant to spend even a single one.
So why would he suddenly be willing to wager such a large amount on a bet that seemed so unlikely to succeed?
Did he have some inside information?
But that couldn't be possible.
Zen Forest Temple's invitation this time had been extremely discreet, extended only to a few branch sects of Central Continent sects.
These branch sects were mostly offshoots of Central Continent sects, primarily tasked with gathering intelligence in other regions.
After all, high-level secret realms occasionally appeared in other continents, and having the first scoop on such information could give them an edge.
The main point was that maintaining these branch sects didn't cost much.
Zen Forest Temple could also be considered a branch of the Central Continent's Buddhist temples.
And by using the allure of spiritual energy, they had managed to invite a few sects.
Surely they wouldn't go to such lengths to invite sects only to show them how they were ruining their own Buddhist prodigy, right?
That would just be absurd.
Chu Xingchen should understand this logic. So why was he so confident?
Well, it was just a few spirit stones.
If they really did witness Zen Forest Temple destroying their own Buddhist prodigy, then the money would be well spent.
After all, competition in the Central Continent was fiercer than in other regions. One less Buddhist prodigy would be a boon for the other major sects.
Especially for Yaoqin's sect.
Yaoqin nodded. "Fine, I accept."