Chapter 737: Faction Struggle

Xu Zhi walked along the street.

The players around him were completely unsurprised by the humanoid creature that had appeared in the Animal Realm; they were used to it. They were accustomed to seeing wealthy young masters, major sect disciples of incredible talent, and various saints and saintesses who came as tourists from the Human and Deva Realms.

Several guides even approached him with enthusiastic expressions.

"Young master, are you from the Mortal Realm? Would you like me to show you around?" a solemn-faced Taoist asked, stepping forward. "We are from the ancient lineage of Qi Refiners, with a long and profound heritage. Our Qi-empowered artifacts and various secret techniques are uniquely exceptional. A visit to our shop will surely bring you great benefit, and for Divine Source transactions, we offer a 20% discount!"

Divine Source was the universal currency. Ordinary radiation was negative radiation, which decayed and corrupted cells—referring to the "Killing Buddha" of Avici Hell, or Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva. Normal Buddhas, however, emitted positive radiation, assimilating and evolving others into special radiated beings whose bodies radiated golden divine light. The energy stones formed from condensed Buddhist power were Divine Source.

"That's not right. This benefactor has a connection with our Buddha, and I should be the one to guide them around the city..."

At that moment, another bald, striped tiger, clad in a kasaya, slowly approached to solicit. Its face showed compassion, and a radiant Buddhist halo floated majestically behind its head, exuding great solemnity.

"Ridiculous! How can the artifacts and tools sold by those cultivators compare to our professional Mechanical Buddhist Sect?" A monk with a distinctly modern sci-fi look slowly emerged, carrying a sleek, black, futuristic Gatling gun on his back, exuding an imposing aura.

Shangguan Man stared in a daze. Where had she ever seen such an enthusiastic display? She simply thought it was passionate hospitality. In reality, they viewed them as out-of-town tourists, easy marks to be fleeced. Clearly, these players had thoroughly studied the characteristics of Chinese tourist attraction culture.

"No, they should come to me!""I should be the one to guide them!""You Mechanical Buddhas, you're ruining the city's appearance, destroying our traditional Chinese culture. You're unconventional, like 'kill-matt' Buddhas, aberrations!"

As they argued, Xu Zhi glanced over and walked into a nearby restaurant with Shangguan Man.

"Waiter, we'd like to order," Xu Zhi said.

"Here's the menu. What would you like?" A rather pretty treant girl slowly approached. She was clearly a life-skill player, working here as a server.

Xu Zhi remained silent, sitting quietly and looking at the menu, ready to order. The Six Paths of Reincarnation's predecessor was the Gourmet World, so naturally, it was full of gourmet creatures. These players had indeed developed various delicious cuisines, making Xu Zhi quite curious.

After a series of orders, the treant girl left to prepare the dishes.

"It really does feel like an ancient, classical immortal-hero world, a restaurant with an ancient aesthetic, elegant and unique surroundings," Xu Zhi silently observed his surroundings. Although these players were all full of wild ideas, their Chinese cultural sentiment was strong. These "construction party" and "farming simulation" players were extremely enthusiastic about meticulously building streets, architecture, trees, and decorative items. The Wizard community had been very detailed before, and now it was even more perfect. Whether it was a deliberate disguise to deceive incoming NPCs or genuine sentimentality, this was simply how things were.

Soon, the food arrived.

"Sit down and eat," Xu Zhi said.

"Your Maj... Young master..." The old woman hesitated.

"Just sit."

Xu Zhi looked down from the window of their private room and saw that the guide players were still arguing, and their voices were getting louder.

"You Mechanical Buddhas, claiming to be the Buddhist Artifact Refining Sect, you carry machines all day long, shamelessly calling them 'Buddhist artifacts'! Aren't your 'Buddha relics'-driven artifacts just nuclear-powered? You're bringing shame to our ancient Chinese ancestors! You're betraying your teachers and ancestors!"

A tiger player, with a golden Buddhist halo around its neck, was yelling abuses. Its arms were adorned with ornate golden Buddhist bracelets, and its body crackled with power. Its face was full of solemn majesty, and even without standing on clouds, it had the appearance of an ancient holy monk or deity. "What monk carries a Gatling gun, 'tututututu'? You're scum!"

"Pah! We're just keeping up with the times!"

The Mechanical Buddha player was unconvinced. Carrying a black metal mechanical Gatling gun on his back, he sneered, "Who says we're always like this? We actually have optional weapon skins, including retro Chinese traditional styles!" He put away the mechanical Gatling gun and its thick belt of black ammunition. From his spatial ring, he pulled out a gleaming golden Buddhist staff. He then took out a large string of exquisite prayer beads and hung them around his neck.

"See? We are also authentically ancient!"

With the Buddhist staff on his back, a string of golden, shimmering prayer beads around his neck, and his hands pressed together in prayer, he looked quite impressive. Suddenly, he raised the golden Buddhist staff, aimed it at the sky, and made the motion of holding a Gatling gun.

*Da-da-da-da!*

A rapid burst of mechanical gunfire erupted. The string of golden prayer beads around the player's neck continuously loaded and rolled forward, and the long Buddhist staff itself transformed into a massive Gatling gun.

*Da-da-da-da!*

The crisp sound resonated through the sky.

"Holy cow!!!" The opposing tiger player was instantly stunned, completely terrified.

"Damn it!""That works too!"

Nearby, the spectating players were also stunned and erupted in excitement, feeling their minds blown! It was terrifying. The Mechanical Artifact Buddhist Sect truly lived up to its name as the foremost Buddhist sect. To recruit new disciples and prevent a resurgence from the second-most prosperous Electromagnetic Buddhist Sect, they had actually developed such a technique?

"Frightening, indeed." They all shook their heads, believing this move had been hidden too deeply. It seemed the "Tesla Coil Buddhas," despite their traditional divine appearance, were once again going to lose and were no match for their opponents.

"You!" The tiger player, still wearing its golden Buddhist halo, turned ashen.

The opposing player, with the golden staff back on his back, a string of prayer beads around his neck, and a golden monk's robe, looked no less impressive, like an enlightened monk, or even Jin Chanzi reincarnated. He said:

"We are the most popular! Why do we have more disciples than you? It's obvious now!"

"If you ask me, you 'local tyrant gold' types are tacky and primitive! All those golden rings clinking and clanking, those crackling electric arcs—it's utterly unsophisticated! Just like those 'dragon-slaying broadsword' web games with their gaudy, golden-turd effects and uncle-level aesthetics, yet you still claim to be the authentic traditional Buddhist style!"

The "uncle" players present felt critically hit.

"And what about your 'tightening golden fillets'? You claim to tame and enlighten demonic beasts, to convert them to our Buddha, but what do you really do? You put electric shock devices on their heads and shock them relentlessly! 'Thunder Dharma King Buddha,' animal protection organizations would condemn you!"

"Pah! Gatling Buddha, disgusting, corrupting orthodoxy!" Someone nearby couldn't help but interject. "Don't think you can be smug just by changing your skin."

"You Tesla Buddhas, you're country bumpkins, you can't keep up with the times!" another person cursed.

The commotion continued below. Xu Zhi was somewhat bewildered by what he was seeing. How long had it been since he last checked on these "sand sculpture" players? What had he missed? He vaguely felt he had missed many exciting developments.

Even he, at this moment, with the era's wild progression, kept doubting the authenticity of ancient China's "Physical Buddhas." It was too similar! Buddhist relics could power Buddhist artifacts. Was it actually nuclear-powered? Were the ancient Buddhist-Taoist wars actually ancient nuclear wars? Buddhist prayer beads and staves were essential tools for saving all sentient beings. Were they actually Gatling guns and bullets? So, Buddhist beads suppressed demons *that* way? The Buddhist halo crackled. Was it actually a Tesla coil? Blue electric sparks, a distributed parameter high-frequency series resonant transformer, capable of easily generating millions of volts of high-frequency voltage?

Xu Zhi took a deep breath. "The development of civilization to this point... At first, it could be called coincidence, but now it's fully mature. All these strange phenomena completely align with ancient behaviors and actions... There's no denying it now."

Perhaps "Physical Radiation Buddhas" were indeed like this.