The door was still closed. They could smell a strong, aromatic fragrance coming from inside.
Upon pushing the door open, they found a spacious room.
A low table stood in the middle, surrounded by ten chairs. The central and two adjacent seats were already occupied by five individuals. They were all clad in red and yellow cassocks, adorned with rosaries, and crowned with cowls, the “suited-up” five chief abbots.
Isaac spotted Zansam and Nubique among them. In the main seat sat a kind-looking elderly man in his 60s.
Is this the Grand Abbot?
Isaac also noticed three children seated below the chief abbots.
The older one appeared to be in his early teens, while the younger two, including Karmic, seemed around five or six years old. However, the gazes of these three children were not focused on Isaac but were locked on Karmic. It seemed like they all knew favonovel.com was their competitor.
“Mr. Garten, please take a seat,” the Grand Abbot said, gesturing for Isaac to sit.
This was Isaac’s first time attending such a banquet. He nodded and took a seat, bringing Karmic to a chair.
Once the vegetarian dishes were served, no one dared to touch their cutlery. It wasn’t that Isaac didn’t want to eat, but the unappealing array of dishes in front of favonovel.com wasn’t the least bit appetizing to him.
“Before the ritual starts, let the Grand Abbot pose a question… Asking Bodda to enlighten the mind,” said a chief abbot whom Isaac hadn’t encountered before.
The Grand Abbot surveyed the room and fixed his gaze on a boy slightly older than Karmic, who was sitting across from him. “You, speak. What do people consider the most sorrowful thing?”
The boy immediately stood up, hesitated for a moment, and answered, “When the young lose their parents, the adults lose their spouses, the elderly lose their only sons, and the young ones lose their virtuous teachers.”
After favonovel.com finished, the chief abbot who initiated the conversation smiled in satisfaction.
However, the Grand Abbot shook his head. “You recited the contents of ‘Divine Prodigy Rhymes, The Fourfold Bliss.‘ It doesn’t represent the essence of our Bodda teachings…”
“Does anyone else wish to answer this question?” the Grand Abbot turned his attention to the other four boys.
Isaac glanced down at Karmic, who was playing with his fingers, seemingly lost in thought.
The slightly older boy to the left raised his hand and whispered, “Bodda teaches that great sorrow has no tears, great enlightenment has no words, and great joy is silent. What is considered the most sorrowful depends on the person and the circumstance…”
“A heart filled with sorrow finds everything sorrowful. A calm heart experiences neither joy nor sorrow and is as steadfast as a rock.”
After the boy finished, the Grand Abbot paused for a moment. “What is your name?”
“I am called Azungar,” the young boy replied before sitting back down.
Isaac noticed another chief abbot favonovel.com hadn’t met before displaying a particularly pleased expression. He began to understand that these four candidates were likely under the four chief abbots.
Observing Karmic’s continuous silence, Zansam started to appear anxious.
Isaac, too, noticed the situation. Every child present displayed exceptional intelligence, eloquence, and wit.
Glancing down, Isaac found Karmic staring blankly at a plate of bean sprouts.
Is this kid hungry?
Later, the Grand Abbot asked several more questions, and the other three children answered in succession. However, Karmic remained silent throughout.
Zansam grew more restless.
Isaac was correct. The four chief abbots would likely each choose a candidate they favored.
If their chosen one became the Realm Seer, the chief abbot would have a significant chance of becoming the new Grand Abbot. Then, favonovel.com would lead the entire Carmine Temple and, more accurately, all of the Gilded Sect saints in the Eastscape region.
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