The Twelve Golden Immortals, seeing Duobao’s words, went on their own towards the ore vein area on Yuqing Peak!
As soon as the group left the Yuqing Palace, Julu Sun grumbled,
“Fellow senior brothers and sisters, I never expected Master to find an outsider to supervise us!”
Manjusri and Samantabhadra also nodded,
“Indeed. If Senior Brother Taiyi had come, we would have had nothing to say. When did the affairs of our Yuqing lineage become a matter for Shangqing lineage to dictate?”
Guangchengzi’s expression changed upon hearing this and he immediately said,
“Three junior brothers, speak cautiously. Senior Brother Duobao, though not a disciple of Yuqing, is still a Kunlun disciple. If Master were to hear these words, we might even be punished!”
Julu Sun, Manjusri, and Samantabhadra replied indifferently,
“Senior Brother Guangchengzi, Master must have a reason for letting an outsider supervise us, how would he know! You needn't defend the Shangqing disciples so much. If not for them, why would we be punished by Master?”
Cihang nodded upon hearing this and also spoke,
“Senior Brother Guangchengzi, Senior Brother and Junior Brothers are right. If not for them from the Shangqing lineage, why would we be doing this arduous labor!”
Guangchengzi frowned upon hearing this and said unhappily,
“Enough. If we didn’t cultivate diligently, how would we be in this situation? How can we blame Senior Brothers and Junior Brothers from the Shangqing lineage?”
Seeing that Guangchengzi was angry, the others quickly smoothed things over,
“Samantabhadra, Manjusri, Cihang, Julu Sun, Senior Brother Guangchengzi is right. Let’s hurry and start mining!”
Seeing that no one agreed with their views, the four stopped talking!
On the peak of Taiqing Peak, Tongtian and Yuanshi watched everything on Yuqing Peak. Tongtian scratched his head.
“Second Brother, why do these disciples of yours have such strong opinions about my lineage? I don’t recall my disciples offending them either!”
Yuanshi’s face darkened. These unfilial disciples of his were not looking for reasons within themselves but were shifting blame elsewhere!
On Yuqing Peak, as the Twelve Golden Immortals had just set off, Yuanshi’s voice echoed across the peak:
“Cihang, Manjusri, Samantabhadra, Julu Sun, after your thousand-year punishment ends, go to Qilin Cliff for contemplation. Come to see me when you have truly reflected!”
Cihang, Manjusri, Samantabhadra, and Julu Sun turned pale upon hearing this, never expecting their Master would actually hear their words!
“Duobao, if the Twelve Golden Immortals cannot extract all the ore from Yuqing Peak within a thousand years, I will hold you accountable!”
Duobao did not expect to be implicated like this. Yuqing Peak had so many ore veins, and the Twelve Golden Immortals had their cultivation sealed. Even if the Twelve Golden Immortals worked tirelessly, it would take them at least five hundred years to finish mining!
The Twelve Golden Immortals also understood the gravity of the situation and cast displeased glances at Manjusri, Samantabhadra, and the others!
Duobao knew that the Twelve Golden Immortals could not possibly complete this task, yet the blame would fall on him. Duobao saw the Twelve Golden Immortals still dawdling and immediately said,
“Fellow junior brothers and sisters, you have heard what Second Uncle-Master said. It is not my intention!”
After Duobao finished speaking, he headed towards Taishang’s Taiqing Palace. The only one who could possibly get Second Uncle-Master to withdraw his order would be Eldest Uncle-Master. He did not wish to be punished for no reason!
In the Taiqing Palace, Taishang watched Duobao approaching and shook his head with a smile.
“Duobao, there is no need to come. Eldest Uncle-Master will handle your Second Uncle-Master. Just keep an eye on the Twelve Golden Immortals and don’t let them slack off!”
Before Duobao could even reach the Taiqing Palace, he heard Taishang’s voice in his ears. After bowing to the Taiqing Palace, he turned and returned to Yuqing Peak!
Duobao made up his mind that even if he offended the Twelve Golden Immortals, he would not offend his Second Uncle-Master. Therefore, he diligently supervised the Twelve Golden Immortals!
Taishang had also heard what Cihang, Samantabhadra, Manjusri, and Julu Sun had said on Yuqing Peak. Previously, Taishang had thought that their prejudice against the disciples of Tongtian’s lineage was due to the influence of Yuanshi’s Great Dao. Now, it seemed that the war between Chan and Jie, which he knew about, might also have had unseen hands subtly fanning the flames!
As Taishang thought about this, he decided to have a chat with Taiyi, so he headed towards the Sutra Repository on Sanqing Peak!
In the Sutra Repository, Taiyi was still engrossed in reading Taishang’s Tao Te Ching, completely unaware of Taishang’s arrival!
Taishang looked at the focused Taiyi and gently patted the back of his head!
Taiyi felt someone touch him and turned around. Seeing that it was Taishang, he said in surprise,
“Huh! Eldest Uncle-Master, why are you here?”
“Taiyi, Eldest Uncle-Master has some matters to inquire about!”
Taiyi looked at Taishang in surprise.
“Eldest Uncle-Master, please ask whatever you need. Taiyi will tell you everything he knows without reservation!”
Taishang’s expression also turned serious. He immediately asked,
“Taiyi, you are your Master’s chief disciple. Why do I feel that your fellow junior brothers and sisters have some prejudice against your Uncle-Master’s disciples?”
When Taiyi heard that Taishang was inquiring about such a matter, he immediately lowered his head in thought, then looked up and said,
“Eldest Uncle-Master, I feel, this is just my personal feeling, of course. I feel that those junior brothers and sisters under Master are a bit too arrogant, thinking that the disciples of Uncle-Master’s lineage are all born from eggs or scales and are inferior to them!”
“Even Junior Brother Huanglong is somewhat unpopular among them. They don’t even pay much attention to me, their Eldest Brother. It’s just that I am their Eldest Brother, so I don’t show it much, but that’s the feeling I get!”
Taishang frowned upon hearing this. Even Huanglong and Taiyi were not taken seriously? What made them so noble?
“Are all of the Twelve Golden Immortals like this, except for Huanglong?”
Taiyi immediately shook his head.
“That’s not entirely true. Guangchengzi, Yuding, Taiyi, and others don’t give me that impression. It’s mainly Cihang, Manjusri, Samantabhadra, and Julu Sun.”
Taishang slapped his forehead upon hearing this, his mind immediately flashing to the future of these four!
Were these not the four traitors of Buddhism? And they all held important positions in Buddhism – three Bodhisattvas and one Buddha!
Seeing Taishang like this, Taiyi immediately asked,
“Eldest Uncle-Master, are you alright!”
Taishang repeatedly shook his head.
“I’m fine, Eldest Uncle-Master is fine. You continue reading your scriptures, I’m leaving now!”
Seeing Taishang leave in such a hurry, Taiyi was completely bewildered!
After leaving the Sutra Repository, Taishang mused that if these four were to go to Jieyin and Zhunti in the future, wouldn’t Yuanshi be furious?
Taishang shook his head. Now that this world had changed drastically due to his intervention, it had no relation to the original plot. Perhaps he was overthinking it!