"To this day, I have endured 103,200 kalpas in my quest for the Jade Emperor's throne, each kalpa lasting 129,600 years..."
Zhang Bairen laughed until tears streamed down his face, and he loudly questioned the heavens: "Is it because of thousands of years of war and turmoil in the human world that a saint will appear, that someone qualified to replace me will emerge? Heavenly Dao, answer me!"
The Buddha sneered, "The Heavenly Way has already perished."
"No! The Way of Heaven is eternal and indestructible!"
Zhang Bairen spoke coldly: "Back then, I shouldn't have collaborated with you to create the Heavenly Jade Pillar, a Dao artifact of the Dark Prison. Everyone thought the Heavenly Jade Pillar was the Heavenly Law, the Heavenly Way, but you and I both know very well that it was merely a fabricated device to consolidate our royal power! Tathagata, you dare not say the reason, so I will tell you: the reason why the celestial immortals of the Heavenly Court and the Buddhas of the Western Paradise hid themselves away was because they learned about modern society and discovered that the so-called Heavenly Law was simply a facade for our centralized royal system... The wisdom of the immortals is as vast as the sea; do you think they would believe that—"
Didn't we realize before that centralized monarchy was a cancerous growth on feudal society?
"Namo Amitabha Buddha, what's done is done."
"Yes, you made mistakes before, and you're going to keep making the same mistakes!"
Zhang Bairen coldly questioned, "Back then, my Eastern Kingdom was an indestructible celestial empire! Back then, my Heavenly Court and your Western Mountain combined were the rulers of all gods, immortals, demons, and Buddhas! Why has it changed now? Why have sages appeared in the mortal realm? Today, I, the Emperor, want to ask you, when the spiritual energy was extinguished and the immortals, gods, demons, and monsters perished, why did you use the Heavenly Jade Pillar to shatter the Six Paths of Reincarnation? Why did you destroy the Ten Kings of Hell? Why did you release the most heinous demons from Hell?"
"Your actions have caused five thousand years of strife and turmoil in the Eastern Kingdom, turning it from a powerful empire into the 'Sick Man of East Asia'! I know you want to weaken humanity, but 'we are all of the same origin, why must we fight each other so fiercely?' When you thought that the spiritual energy would revive so you could more easily reclaim the throne of Buddha, did you not consider that we have all experienced countless reincarnations? So… weren't the protagonists of all the turmoil and tragedies over the past five thousand years once our closest brothers and sisters?"
"Namo Amitabha Buddha, as long as the Tongtian Jade Pillar is repaired, you and I will still be the rulers of the world, and we can make up for all our past mistakes."
"A jade pillar reaching the heavens, haha, a jade pillar reaching the heavens?!?"
Zhang Bairen laughed so hard he was doubled over, tears streaming down his face.
Everyone knows the Jade Emperor is weak, that he was "beaten by the Monkey King," and that "his sister and daughter were slept with by mortals." But no one knows that he repeatedly showed mercy, repeatedly trying to defy the Heavenly Laws to stand on the side of true justice. He couldn't do it, because the Heavenly Pillar was established by him and the Buddha, and the Heavenly Laws were also arbitrarily drawn up by the Heavenly Pillar to consolidate their power.
With the Heavenly Jade Pillar, they can control the Three Realms, but... the Heavenly Jade Pillar... is really not a good thing!
"The Underworld Dao Artifact 'Punish Evil,' the Heavenly Spirit Dao Artifact 'Reward Good,' the Thunder Dao Artifact 'Exterminates All Terrifying Existences Outside the Three Realms and Six Paths'..." Zhang Bairen laughed heartily, "Good stuff, these are all good stuff, far superior to ordinary Dao artifacts. But the Dark Prison Dao Artifact is the only bad thing, just a worthless piece of junk created for selfish reasons. I was wrong, and then..."
"Then you have to keep 'right'."
The young novice monk with the jade-like face smiled slightly: "Your Majesty, please join me in repairing the Heavenly Jade Pillar. Once the Heavenly Jade Pillar is erected, what are mere mortal saints?"
"I still possess the Dao artifact, the Haotian Mirror. I do not wish to make another mistake!" Zhang Bairen took two steps back, his eyes wide open.
"Unfortunately, the Haotian Mirror is only an auxiliary Dao artifact, and it cannot compare to the Western Mountain Pure Land of Bliss in my possession."
Buddha laughed: "Are you helping me, or should I use the power of the Heavenly Jade Pillar to shatter the Eastern Kingdom's destiny right now? It's like whether you killed your sister to solidify the Heavenly Laws, or I killed your good nephew Yang Jian as well."
Choose one.
Buddha saves all sentient beings, therefore... I can never be wrong.
Zhang Bairen sneered: "You're good at sophistry, so you're never wrong."
"No, it's just that my purpose is good, so the process doesn't matter."
The Buddha smiled slightly as he looked at Fang Zong in the Haotian Mirror, shook his head and sighed: "Ants do not know the vastness of the ocean, and birds do not know the height of the sky, which is billions of feet high. Jade Emperor, I am only afraid because I have seen it. I only want to build a paradise for these ignorant people..." He said softly: "For the sake of the paradise, nothing is wrong."
You mean fools are happier?
"Who dares to say that fools can't be happy?"
The Buddha seemed lost in thought, and couldn't help but glance once more at Fang Zong's figure in the Haotian Mirror...
Over there, Fang Zong opened his arms and his lips. He didn't speak, but a very faint sound reached the ears of all the people who had fainted from overwork.
Many people opened their eyes, while many others did not, but they gained a stronger will to live. Fang Zong's seemingly meaningless voice became their spiritual pillar, allowing them to endure for longer and receive various treatments.
"No one will die," Fang Zong suddenly said with a laugh.
Laozi paused for a moment, then gave a wink. He Xiangu quickly checked the humans, nodded a moment later, and Laozi was so astonished that he held his breath.
"Everyone, disperse."
Fang Zong waved his hand and laughed, "Since no one will die, I can at least show some leniency and hope that everyone will not pursue Wu Yongci and Murong Zhen's crimes for my sake. Well, let's leave Wu Yongci's weak body for now, and then Murong Zhen..." He thought for a moment and said, "When Murong Zhen comes back, I will hand him over to you. As long as you don't kill him, you can beat him however you want. Beat him up as much as you like, and beat up my share too."
"Break all four limbs?" He Xiangu said through gritted teeth.
"Actually, I wanted to crush all 206 bones in his body." Fang Zong licked his lips with a hint of bloodlust.
This Murong Zhen, he truly both loved and hated him—Murong Zhen had schemed against him many times, but each time it was for his own good, and he never crossed the line that he couldn't harm his relatives and friends. He seemed to understand how the emperors of the past felt towards upright and capable ministers; it was truly... he wished he could be torn apart by five horses, yet he couldn't bear to actually kill him.
The monsters and immortals quickly dispersed, leaving only Laozi following behind Fang Zong.
"A sage among men?" Lao Tzu asked in surprise.
"yes."
“Impressive, but in that case, you should…” Laozi hesitated for a moment before saying, “Be careful of the Heavenly Jade Pillar.”
"The Heavenly Jade Pillar?" Fang Zong wondered, he had never heard of such a thing.
At this moment, Ninth Sister chuckled and uttered two words:
"Rubbish!"
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