Li Yundong flew back to Tiannan City all the way from Tibet. As soon as he pushed open the door upon returning home, he saw everyone from the Fox Zen Sect gathered in the living room, including Su Chan, Zhou Qin, Ziyuan, and Ruan Hongling, all sitting together with serious expressions, the atmosphere heavy.

Li Yundong paused, asking in surprise, "You are all here?"

The little girl heard the movement at the door, turned her head, and her face immediately lit up with joy. She pounced over like a young swallow returning to its nest, exclaiming happily, "Yundong, you’re finally back!"

Li Yundong smiled and was just about to embrace her when he suddenly remembered the thousand-year snow lotus he held in his arms. He immediately placed his hands on her shoulders, chuckling, "No roughhousing. If we damage this, it will be a disaster."

Su Chan blinked, her gaze involuntarily drifting toward Li Yundong’s embrace. She asked curiously, "What?" But as soon as the words left her mouth, her mind raced, and she exclaimed with a mix of delight and surprise, "You got the Thousand-Year Snow Lotus?"

Li Yundong laughed and pulled out the snow lotus, wrapped in a white handkerchief, from his chest. "Correct. You are very clever!"

Hearing the words "Thousand-Year Snow Lotus," everyone else in the room stood up in unison, letting out a gasp, and crowded around curiously. Even Ziyuan couldn't help but peer intently at Li Yundong's hand.

The Thousand-Year Snow Lotus was an extremely vital medicinal ingredient for the Earth Element Spirit Elixir. Whether the Elixir could be successfully refined was intimately connected to the Snow Lotus finally appearing.

The Earth Element Spirit Elixir had not been successfully refined by anyone since the Ming Dynasty. This was closely related, first, to the loss of the Medicine King Cauldron and the disappearance of the Three Elixirs Compendium, and second, to the fact that the Thousand-Year Snow Lotus had not manifested for hundreds of years.

Now that Li Yundong possessed the Thousand-Year Snow Lotus, the Earth Element Spirit Elixir was seemingly just one step away!

Even Ziyuan, usually so composed and unconcerned with worldly affairs, showed a flicker of excitement as she said, "You got it? That's wonderful! Since ancient times, there's been talk in the Outer Elixir school that the Human Yuan Golden Elixir is easy to refine, but the Thousand-Year Snow Lotus is incredibly hard to find! Now that you have it, I imagine Wan Zhenyuan was begging you, not the other way around!"

Zhou Qin and Ruan Hongling also gathered closely around Li Yundong, scrutinizing the snow lotus in his hand.

Zhou Qin noticed that the snow lotus was wrapped in a handkerchief, and on one corner, two lines of script were embroidered in Tibetan and Han characters. One line featured two delicately stitched Han characters: Meiduo.

A thought struck Zhou Qin, and she couldn't help but glance at Li Yundong. She asked softly, "Master, did you meet Meiduo?"

Li Yundong nodded and recounted his trip to Tibet, especially the part where he encountered Xuling and Xukong on the snowy mountain, and that Xuling was a Golden Body master. Upon hearing this, everyone in the room involuntarily gasped in shock.

"A Golden Body master?" Ruan Hongling’s eyes widened in disbelief. "Which sect’s Golden Body master? Have the Ten Great Golden Bodies made a move this early? How—how did you defeat them?"

"Defeat?" Li Yundong shook his head with a faint smile. "A Golden Body master is not someone at my level of the Yang Spirit Realm who can defeat them..."

Although Su Chan knew that since Li Yundong was safe before her, the confrontation must have been perilous but ultimately manageable, she still clutched the sleeve of his robe with visible tension and pressed, "Then, Yundong, how did you win?"

Li Yundong sighed. "If it weren't for Duo Jidanzeng and the others fighting to the death to hold back Xuling, and if Meiduo hadn't transformed into Qinglamu, it would have been very difficult to resolve peacefully!"

Zhou Qin exclaimed with a sharp intake of breath, pressing further, "Meiduo transformed into Qinglamu? She, isn't she..."

Li Yundong looked at Zhou Qin and nodded meaningfully. "That's right. Meiduo is indeed not the reincarnation of Bandalam, but why can she still inherit Bandalam's power, is that what you are wondering?"

Zhou Qin nodded, her face etched with shock and doubt. "Yes, why is that?"

Li Yundong smiled and explained, "The Daoist and Buddhist schools have historically been two very different paths of cultivation, and this difference is largely reflected in the inheritance of their power. Daoist power growth stems from external and internal elixirs. Once the internal elixir is formed and becomes a Yang Spirit, they can transcend the Five Elements and escape the cycle of reincarnation. They can continuously transfer their power infinitely through the transference of the Yang Spirit until they decide they no longer wish to meddle in the mortal world and ascend."

"This kind of Daoist power inheritance is linear, like flowing water. Buddhist power, however, is folded, like a storage cabinet, emphasizing succession and karmic opportunity. As long as the Living Buddha and the populace believe you are the successor, you inherit that power. Whether you are truly the reincarnation or possess the true bloodline does not matter!"

Ziyuan chimed in, nodding in agreement. "Exactly! Why did Guan Yu become the Martial Saint, but Lu Bu didn't? It's because successive dynasties promoted his loyalty and righteousness, and people made offerings to him. The immense power of faith and incense allowed him to transcend mortality, become the Martial Saint, and take his place among the Immortals!"

Li Yundong praised this insight. "Precisely! Back in the Tang Dynasty, the great master Kukai of Shingon Buddhism in Japan came to our Chinese continent to study Buddhist doctrine. At that time, the seventh patriarch of Chinese Esoteric Buddhism, Patriarch Huiguo A-li, foresaw a future calamity for Buddhism. He believed that only Kukai, an outsider, could save the Esoteric Sect. Thus, he decided to pass on all his cultivation and magical treasures to Kukai, who had been his disciple for less than half a year. As a result, after arriving in China, Kukai became a top-tier great cultivator in less than six months of study. Upon returning to Japan, he immediately established his own school, founding the Shingon Sect, which has lasted for twelve hundred years!"

Zhou Qin listened intently and couldn't help but ask, "What happened to Master Huiguo A-li?"

Li Yundong sighed slightly. "Not long after Master Kukai left China, Emperor Wuzong of Tang launched the infamous calamity in Buddhist history—the Huichang Persecution. At that time, more than 4,600 monasteries were demolished across the Tang Dynasty. Huiguo A-li passed on his teachings to Kukai and soon passed away. But because he had accurately predicted the consequences during his lifetime, Esoteric Buddhism vanished from the Chinese continent, while its legacy took root and flourished in Japan under the propagation of Master Kukai."

As he spoke, Li Yundong mused, "Zhou Qin, even if you are the reincarnation of Bandalam, if you are not recognized by the Living Buddha or the people of Tibet, you cannot inherit Bandalam's power. Since ancient times, when Buddhists select a successor, they often choose not the one with the purest bloodline or certainly the true incarnation of a deity, but the one with the greatest karmic opportunity! Otherwise, how could Master Kukai, a Japanese man, possess the purest bloodline or be some reincarnated deity? It was merely a twist of fate! The same applies to Meiduo!"

Zhou Qin exclaimed with a touch of anxiety, "Does this mean Meiduo will truly become Bandalam from now on?"

Li Yundong nodded slightly. "Correct. The people of Tibet, the Living Buddha, and even the mountain spirits have acknowledged Meiduo as Bandalam's successor, which is why she inherited Bandalam's power. Even if you, the true reincarnation, wish to return and claim that position and power in the future, it will be impossible."

Zhou Qin shook her head. "I don't want that power; what good is being locked away? But what about Meiduo? Is she going to be confined like this forever?"

Li Yundong said with a hint of melancholy, "Everyone has their own destiny; this is what she chose. There is nothing to be done..."

Zhou Qin fell silent, suddenly feeling a pang of guilt, thinking that if she hadn't been selfish, Meiduo wouldn't be in this situation. But what choice did she have?

Seeing the atmosphere grow heavy, Ziyuan smiled and said, "Don't dwell on it. Wasn't the Sixth Dalai Lama, Cangyang Gyatso, reluctantly chosen and yet he fled one snowy night? Perhaps one day Meiduo will tire of being Bandalam and follow in the footsteps of her predecessor."

Li Yundong felt a little better hearing this. He smiled but remained silent.

Su Chan, ever obedient, quickly changed the subject. "Yundong, after everything you’ve said, are you suggesting that Daoist power comes from the continuous transference of one's own strength, which requires cultivating a Yang Spirit as its foundation? Whereas Buddhist power comes from the generational inheritance of Dharma, but its foundation requires the acknowledgment of the Living Buddha and the populace?"

Li Yundong glanced at Su Chan, momentarily setting aside his worries, and nodded. "That’s right. I feel that Bandalam's power seems to be stored on Mount Karri. The power accumulated from the worship of the populace since ancient times converges within the sacred mountain. Only after the Living Buddha and the people recognized Meiduo as Bandalam did she qualify to approach the mountain and inherit that power. It was fortunate she inherited it then, otherwise, I truly doubt I could have defeated Xuling..."

Zhou Qin had practiced for the shortest time and understood the least about the cultivation sects. She frowned and asked, "Who exactly were those two fellows?"

Li Yundong replied, "They claimed to be from the Vacuum Sect..."

"Vacuum Sect?" Ruan Hongling and Ziyuan both exclaimed in unison.

Li Yundong looked at them curiously. "What? Do you know them well?"

Ziyuan nodded. "Yes, before I met you, I did have some dealings with people from the Vacuum Sect."

Li Yundong asked, surprised, "Isn't the Vacuum Sect now in decline on the Chinese mainland, with only a few followers left in Fujian?"

Ziyuan smiled. "The Vacuum Sect is not recognized by the current government, but during the era of the Nationalist Government, it was an officially recognized sect and was extremely active. In the thirty-eighth year of the Republic (1949), Liao Yipu, the grandnephew of the Vacuum Sect founder Liao Di, established the Vacuum Charity Association in Nanjing and registered it with the Ministry of the Interior. A number of KMT military and political personnel joined as directors and supervisors. By 1949, the Vacuum Sect had established a total of 205 halls across twelve provinces and one municipality. To say the least, this sect was a foremost grand school of Chinese Daoism during the Republican era! As the saying goes, a louse lives on though the body dies; it's not surprising that some embers of incense remain from such past glory."

As she spoke, Ziyuan became somewhat reflective. "It's a pity that after the founding of the People's Republic, the sect gradually declined, slowly shifting its influence toward Taiwan, Singapore, Malaysia, and other Southeast Asian regions. Especially with the Reform and Opening Up, as other Daoist forces began to slowly recover, the Vacuum Sect's influence found it hard to return to the mainland, leaving only some insignificant remnants in Fujian. I thought this sect would be finished after scattering across Southeast Asia, but I never expected a Golden Body master from the Vacuum Sect to emerge out of nowhere!"

Ziyuan said to Li Yundong with extreme seriousness, "Li Yundong, you must not be careless! A Golden Body master is a formidable force capable of altering the balance of sectarian power—a rare encounter. Any sect only needs one Golden Body master to immediately gain prestige in the cultivation world! Since you have made an enemy of him, the Vacuum Sect might even throw its support behind him later, and the situation will become unpredictable!"

Li Yundong’s expression grew solemn. "You are right! Even if he doesn't come looking for trouble, I will go looking for him!"

Su Chan also said cheerfully, "Exactly! Now that we have the Thousand-Year Snow Lotus, we have half of the Earth Element Spirit Elixir in hand. I believe before long, Yundong, you will become a Golden Body master!"

Seeing Su Chan speak with such innocent cheerfulness, Li Yundong laughed, pinched the little girl's nose, and asked, "When I first came in, what were you all doing? Why the heavy atmosphere?"

Su Chan seemed to suddenly remember, let out an 'Ah!' and quickly ran to the coffee table, picking up several sheets of paper, and handed them to Li Yundong. "If you hadn't asked, I would have forgotten! Yundong, look!"

Li Yundong took them and froze. On the front sheet, written in bold, menacing calligraphy were three large characters: CHALLENGE LETTER!

============================================= Someone asked me: Are the historical anecdotes you write in your book true? Are they really real? Well, I can only say this again: In the novel, only the Ling Palace Sect, where Ziyuan belongs, is fictional and has no historical counterpart. Everything else is historical fact, including the Vacuum Sect in today's chapter; the historical Vacuum Sect indeed experienced a period of glory during the Nationalist Government era, surpassing even the Orthodox Unity Sect. Furthermore, I can state that anything I dare to write in the form of an anecdote can be traced back to classical texts and proven by historical facts; there is no need to doubt it further... Also, there is no need to get hung up on these details... Some things exist if you believe them, and they do not if you don't, right?