My Wife Turns Out to be an Empress of the Dynasty

"Benefactor, you possess both a Buddha's heart and a Buddha's body. If you join the Buddhist path, your future achievements will not be inferior to the Divine Son of the Bright Temple!" "Fate has brought this opportunity to you; you must cherish it well!" The abbot of Justice Virtue Temple gazed at Gu Lan with eyes full of admiration, as if beholding a rare treasure. Another one trying to trick me into becoming a monk! But there's no way I'm ever going to be a monk—never in this lifetime! Isn't it more fulfilling to teach the disciples of Lanyan Royal School, recruit talent to build and develop Jing Nation, and cultivate the land? What kind of normal person would choose to become a monk? "My worldly ties are not yet severed; I have no affinity with Buddhism." "Masters, please take your leave." Gu Lan had no interest in exchanging more words with the two old monks. He had already established connections with the God's Reign Sect and saw no need to sacrifice himself by joining Justice Virtue Temple as a monk. "Benefactor, please reconsider. Justice Virtue Temple is one of the foremost institutions in Buddhism. It could even fully support you in breaking through to the Main God Realm." "With your talent, you might even achieve the legendary God Realm in the future!" The elder from Justice Virtue Temple attempted to offer more incentives, but Gu Lan had lost patience. He waved his hand, creating a barrier of restriction. Gu Lan used a divine technique, "Drawing the Ground as a Prison," to isolate the space of the blessed land from the two monks, preventing them from disturbing his beloved's cultivation. "This is a spatial isolation technique!" "To break this technique with my strength alone would take at least half a day." "It seems that this Gu benefactor has already begun comprehending the power of spatial rules, preparing to break through to the Main God Realm... Justice Virtue Temple is a step too late." The abbot of Justice Virtue Temple sighed as he observed the barrier. "Senior brother, what should we do now?" The blind old monk beside him had calmed down considerably. After witnessing Gu Lan's true strength, he had no further complaints. "The benefactor has accepted Justice Virtue Temple's Sarira, so the karma has been planted. When the great calamity arrives, this karma might help Justice Virtue Temple survive it." "Amitabha." "Junior brother, let us go. Before the great calamity comes, Justice Virtue Temple must also do its part for the Six Realms." Chanting a Buddhist scripture, the abbot enveloped the blind old monk in a golden light and retreated from the 33rd Sky of the Divine Realm. Inside the isolated space, Gu Lan sensed the two monks leaving. "Did those two old monks come to the 33rd Sky of the Divine Realm just to deliver a Sarira to me?" "It seems that some of the major forces in the Immortal Realm are not as interested in the Great Competition of All Clans as I thought." "Moreover, the Bright Clan did not participate in the finals this time—what could be the reason behind that?" Gu Lan pondered for a while but couldn't find an answer. Yesterday, he had asked the sect master of God's Reign Sect this very question. The Great Competition of All Clans is supposed to be a contest for the destiny of the Six Realms, and it should, by rights, attract the full participation of the major forces from all over the Six Realms. But in reality, not all the powerful forces seemed to be fully committed to the competition. In this edition of the Great Competition of All Clans, the most represented were the forces from the Earthly Realm, along with the Seven Great Houses and the Twelve Palaces of the Immortal Realm. Other forces, like God's Reign Sect, seemed to have seen through the competition's rules, knowing that it was just an opportunity for the Seven Great Houses of the Immortal Realm to reshuffle their power. It would be nearly impossible for other forces to grab a share. When leaving God's Reign Mountain yesterday, the sect master had even warned Gu Lan that Lanyan Royal School should be content with their current success and not push too hard in the finals. Otherwise, they might face retaliation from the Seven Great Houses of the Immortal Realm. After all, the forces that made it to the finals, apart from the Seven Great Houses, were largely those affiliated with them. If Lanyan Royal School continued to perform as it had in the earlier rounds, it would definitely become the target of joint suppression by these forces in the finals. Gu Lan had thanked the sect master for the advice, but he had no intention of holding back. Now that the disciples of Lanyan Royal School had broadened their horizons and improved their mental states upon arriving in the Immortal Realm, achieving a good result in the end would greatly benefit their future growth. For the sake of the final rewards and the future of Lanyan Royal School's disciples, Gu Lan had decided to fight to the end in this Great Competition of All Clans. Even if it meant facing retaliation from the Seven Great Houses of the Immortal Realm, Gu Lan was ready for it. After all, he had already offended the strongest, the Bright Clan, so what was a few more enemies? "A Supreme in the Divine Realm is enough to make all these forces scramble to form alliances. I wonder what it will be like once I reach the Main God Realm... I'm actually looking forward to it!" Gu Lan chuckled softly and entered the blessed land. The moment he stepped into the blessed land, myriad phenomena appeared around him. There were Confucian righteous qi manifesting sage maxims, Daoist nine-character incantations suppressing all under heaven, Buddhist golden bodies radiating dazzling light, and sword qi from deep chasms, ice-covered landscapes, and various other strange phenomena. During this time, he hadn't wasted a single moment. He had been continuously comprehending various Rule Powers, and now he was just one step away from entering the Main God Realm. Currently, his cultivation was at the peak of the Supreme Divine Realm, but his strength far surpassed that level. Even in the Main God Realm, one only needed to master a single Rule Power, while Gu Lan had already mastered multiple Rule Powers, including the Rule of the Sword, the Rule of Ice, and the Rule of Space. If others knew of this, they wouldn't believe it. Rule Power was something that only those in the Main God Realm could grasp, yet Gu Lan had already mastered so many without breaking through. "Do I have to fully master all these Rule Powers before I can break through?" Gu Lan sat in meditation within the blessed land, reading various records about the Divine Realm. But no matter how much he searched, he couldn't find any records related to his situation. Eventually, he gave up on looking for answers from others' experiences. At that moment, he noticed some subtle changes in the three Lotus Phalas within his system space. These changes were brought about by the Sarira given by the abbot of Justice Virtue Temple. The three Lotus Phalas of the Future, the Past, and the Present rotated gently, emitting waves of light. Gu Lan had a sudden insight and took out the three Lotus Phalas along with the Sarira. As soon as the three Lotus Phalas were taken out, they merged into one. The Sarira rotated above, its radiance connecting with Gu Lan's Buddha body, forming a link between them. "This is... the Rule of Time!" Sensing the power contained within the light, Gu Lan's eyes lit up with excitement. He immediately sat on the merged Lotus Phala and began to comprehend the Rule of Time Power.