Regardless of the result, the majority of spectators were convinced by both Qin Baili and Jin Ge for being able to protect their dao heart from temptation.

Keep in mind that this was easier said than done. It required experience and numerous sharpening The dao heart wasn’t an unreasonable ent.i.ty but it was quite hard to polish. More often than not, doing so was even harder than cultivating imperial arts.

This was because the latter had methods and text to follow. This wasn"t the case for the dao heart since everyone was different. Plus, people had emotions and desires, complicating the process.

So many geniuses were peerless in terms of cultivation. They became powerful and soared like the wind, smiling proudly under the sky. Alas, due to their weak dao heart, they would drop one after another like flies. On the other hand, a few ordinary talents made it to the end to become emperors!

Here, both Jin Ge and Qin Baili had enough talents to cultivate on top of a firm dao heart. This was an amazing foundation; it would be hard for them to not stand out.

Everyone understood that Jin Ge was only missing the Heaven’s Will. If he could stop the same ambush again, he would certainly become a Grand Emperor.

“The two of you have been able to maintain your dao heart. It is my turn. Go ahead and pick the treasure.” Li Qiye sat there and said flatly.

The two darted a glance at each other. They eventually got up to carefully look at the treasures in the shrine.

There were really too many here, causing people to go crazy. Plus, it was also a test for the two to find one for Li Qiye.

A quick glance through these rare artifacts might not be enough but when they were carefully searching and a.n.a.lyzing the treasures, this was a much more dangerous game.

All eyes were on the two. Everyone understood that they had two options.

First was to randomly pick a treasure for him; this would mean a quick victory for them. The second was to actually find the best treasure in order to test Li Qiye’s dao heart.

Of course, the first choice was meaningless to these two. It would be an empty defeat. Li Qiye honorably picked the most suitable treasure for them so they wouldn’t pick a random one just to win this round.

On the contrary, they wanted to find something that would stir him, to see if he could resist the temptation.

This wasn’t about winning the bet but rather to see who was the best at protecting their dao heart.

The crowd was too excited at this point. They wanted to see which treasure these two would be able to find.

After a long search, the two convened and reached an agreement.

“Do you trust us, Brother Li?” Qin Baili smiled and said.

Li Qiye looked at the two of them: “Don’t worry, I’m sure the two of you are placing your honor on this bet, there’s nothing to be worried about.”

“Very well, to have your trust is an honor. It is also a privilege to be your enemy.” Qin Baili cupped his fist and said.

There was no doubt that the two have found a treasure for Li Qiye.

Jin Ge walked forward and respectfully bowed towards a Buddha statue sitting inside a room. With that, he raised the wooden fish in front of the statue.

He brought the wooden fish over and placed it in front of Li Qiye: “Fellow Daoist Li, this is the statue Brother Qin and I picked for you!”

Everyone was stunned to see this unexpected choice. In this shrine were countless treasures; they were exceedingly rare as well. Anyone would be attracted by the piles of treasures, not the wooden fish in front of a statue.

This wooden fish was not special at all since it could be found in any temple, completely not worth mentioning.

However, the two of them chose it for Li Qiye to the disbelief of the crowd. Everyone thought that they would pick a supreme treasure or something of that sorts.

“Jin Ge and Qin Baili aren’t despicable like that.” A spectator murmured.

People didn’t think that this was done on purpose so that they would win by selecting the c.r.a.ppiest treasure for Li Qiye. There must have been something else going on.

“A bit interesting.” Li Qiye looked at it and smiled.

Jin Ge explained slowly: “Fellow Daoist Li, you are more knowledgeable than us. We can’t quite understand this wooden fish but surely you want to challenge yourself by knocking on it and broaden our horizon.”

This made more sense for the spectators. It turned out that there was something to this wooden fish after all, that it was somehow special.

In a short time, they realized the gap between them and the two. In their eyes, this block was very simple without anything special. Meanwhile, Jin Ge and Qin Baili also didn’t see through it but they were aware that it was amazing.

“Very well, I’ll let you see the magicalness of this Buddhist treasure.” Li Qiye smiled and placed his palms together while chanting: “Amitabha.”

In the blink of an eye, this chant reverberated across the world. Li Qiye was engulfed in a Buddhist brilliance illuminating everything. He was now a sacred Buddha.

He had a golden avatar for a body with each inch of his flesh seemingly made from gold. His robe became resplendent as well; this was now a priceless kasaya.

A Buddhist disk emerged behind him. Numerous Buddhas were within inside their kingdoms. Countless existences were chanting for him; this created an entirely different atmosphere.

“Click.” He finally tapped the wooden fish. Next was a buzzing noise. The entire shrine poured out a golden ocean of light and drowned out everything.

Everyone’s dao heart shuddered once as if a Buddha was reading a scripture.

“Click.” Multiple golden avatars spanning for endless height appeared around the shrine. They could shoulder the worlds. Dao turned into laws and Buddhist affinity that could enlighten all beings.

“Thump.” With the second knock, the majority of cultivators outside the shrine dropped to their knees.

“Click.” The third knock resounded. The entire Buddhist Plain was filled with this sacred affinity.

The chanting of Buddhist scripture unceasingly echoed in everyone’s mind. They found themselves lost in a Buddhist kingdom. All beings were bathing under a Buddhist light and prostrating before the sacred Buddha.

Even Qin Baili and Jin Ge became astounded. They fortified their dao heart in order to avoid being affected by this Buddhist affinity. Powerful beings like them still felt a great pressure, robbing them of their breath.

After three knocks, Li Qiye recalled his Buddhist affinity and dispersed the great brilliance. The power of Buddhism dissipated into smoke. It was as if nothing had happened.

Li Qiye was still himself, sitting in the same spot. Same with the wooden fish.

If it wasn’t for the kneeling crowd around the shrine, people wouldn’t believe that something like this had happened just now.

Many were frightened by the transpired event. They couldn’t handle a few knocking of this wooden fish. 

“We lost.” Qin Baili sighed and said: “You exceed us in both knowledge and dao heart. I have no complaints about losing.”