Zhunti sighed, and after a long while, slowly said, "There is no inescapable predicament in the world. Laozi alone has laid this trap, and with the combined strength of the two of us, how can we not find a solution?" Zhunti continued, "That Daoist Duobao is the founder and chief disciple of the Jie Sect, the Tongtian Sect Master of the Shangqing School. During the Investiture of the Gods, the Human and Chan Sects did not hesitate to sacrifice the Jie Sect, which was also a branch of the Three Pure Ones, at the cost of leading Buddhism eastward. How could Duobao not harbor resentment? The one who tied the knot must untie it. We Buddhists only need to do more with Duobao!" Jieyin listened to Zhunti's words, pondered for a long time, and then said, "Let us gather..." "With the abilities of the two saints, persuading Duobao would not be difficult. However, our Buddhism cultivates the mind and purifies oneself, remaining untainted by worldly affairs. Although our development is slow, we proceed cautiously step by step, and our disciples are unlikely to face a great calamity." Jieyin continued, "Duobao comes from the Jie Sect and has many of the Jie Sect's ideas of 'education for all.' When our Buddhism 'cultivates oneself and extends to others,' although it may flourish in the world and be unparalleled in its influence, our disciples will also be tainted by many worldly affairs and involved in too many karmic consequences. Furthermore, our fortune is insufficient, and I fear that the next great calamity will be the turn of Buddhism!" Jieyin and Zhunti fell silent for a moment. At this moment, a single Buddhist chant came from the distance from the three thousand Buddhas. The two exchanged a glance, then turned their eyes to the three thousand Buddhas that Zhunti had brought back from the Ten Thousand Immortals Formation.
Jieyin said leisurely, "What a sage of Shangqing, Tongtian Jiaozhu! What a 'no destruction, no construction, destruction before construction'! With such abilities, no wonder the Jie Sect was able to rule the prehistoric world for tens of thousands of years after the great war between the Wu and Yao! The Three Pure Ones of Taoism, Laozi's planning, Yuanshi's calculations, and Tongtian's actions—none of them are easy to deal with! If it weren't for the infighting among the Three Pure Ones, how could our Buddhism have even taken a single step into the East?" Zhunti also sighed, "That one from Penglai Island must have quite a scheme."
After Tongtian was defeated by the Three Religions and Four Sages at the Zhuxian Sword Formation, the demise of the Jie Sect was inevitable. However, Tongtian insisted on using the entire sect's power to set up a Ten Thousand Immortals Formation, determined to fight the Three Religions and Four Sages to the bitter end. At the time, the Four Sages thought Tongtian was simply angry and trying to save face. Little did they know that Tongtian had comprehended the "Way of Destruction and Establishment" after the battle at the Zhuxian Sword Formation, and was willing to sacrifice tens of thousands of Jie Sect disciples to ensure the Three Religions and Four Sages' safety.
If the Jie Sect doesn't perish, the Three Teachings and Four Sages will still have to be wary of it and will inevitably continue to cooperate. How can the Jie Sect ever rise again? It's likely they will still be plotted against in the next great calamity. Tongtian originally intended to go all the way and send all his disciples away, making the Jie Sect exist in name only, so that the Three Teachings and Four Sages would have no excuse to deal with its remnants. The various great calamities would also be less likely to befall the Jie Sect, giving them millions of years to rise again and flourish once more.
After the defeat of the Jie Sect, the Three Teachings and Four Saints would face the next great calamity. One of the Three Teachings was destined to become the protagonist of this great calamity. The Three Teachings would become opposed to each other, and the alliance of the Four Saints would be officially broken.
However, Xuan Tian's plan was thwarted. While the Jie Sect appeared to have suffered heavy losses, its core strength remained intact. All four disciples were alive; except for Duo Bao, the other three were unharmed. Among the direct disciples, Yun Xiao had achieved the Hunyuan realm, making him a quasi-sage among Daoist disciples. Ran Deng, however, was excluded. Although he had already reached the Hunyuan realm when he joined the Chan Sect, he was only considered a guest elder. Of course, this excludes those from Penglai Island.
Xuantian's actions just happened to disrupt Tongtian's calculations. Currently, both the Human and Chan sects are still wary of the Jie sect. Therefore, this transformation into a Buddha was done by Laozi and others to deal with Buddhism, and also to further suppress the strength of the Jie sect.
It must be said that Xuan Tian's move was truly a brilliant one, leaving Tong Tian with a bitter pill to swallow while simultaneously forcing Tong Tian to acknowledge his kindness and feel indebted to him.
Of course, Xuan Tian had his reasons for doing so. Firstly, he wanted to counter Buddhism and increase the strength of Taoism. According to the two Western Saints, Buddhism was now greatly strengthened. Even though its fortune was insufficient, it could still take advantage of the momentum of this great calamity to push Buddhism to a higher level. If they could wipe out Taoism in this calamity, they could face the next calamity with an invincible attitude, and then they wouldn't have to be afraid of being the protagonist.
Secondly, they continued to present Tongtian in the foreground, using the Jie Sect as a shield for Penglai Island.
Of course, these are things that neither Jieyin nor Zhunti could have guessed. They could at most know one thing, but not the other.
The ability of the sage Jieyin and Zhunti? He himself knew this, and Buddhism was destined to flourish, but this was also a blessing in disguise, a harbinger of misfortune. Because of insufficient fortune, it was destined to become the protagonist of the next great eon, and now, having been tricked by Laozi, it was in an even more precarious situation.
The two wanted to extricate themselves. But having just seen the three thousand Buddhas, they realized that Buddhism had already become entangled in worldly karma. There was no turning back. Those three thousand Buddhas were originally disciples of the Jie Sect, long experienced in the mortal world, and involved in many right and wrong matters. How could they simply sever ties? Buddhism established its doctrine with these three thousand Buddhas as its foundation; how could it expect to remain untouched by worldly affairs?
Zhunti's face showed great determination as he said, "We Buddhists practice the Great Way of 'Nirvana.' Although all things have cause and effect, the Three Pure Ones have good strategies, so how could we two not have brilliant plans? Tongtian forcibly seizes cause and effect; Yuanshi plans to control the Heavenly Court; Laozi devises a scheme to undermine our own power. We will sacrifice ourselves for the sake of Duobao! One move will resolve the three predicaments." Upon hearing this, Jieyin's face showed great compassion. He chanted a Buddhist chant and said, "To give is to receive; only by giving can one receive. This is the ultimate truth of the Great Way." "Junior brother, I'll trouble you again. Go and tell Duobao that if he's willing to convert to Buddhism, I'll relinquish my position as the Lord of Ten Thousand Buddhas to him! We two should also obey the command of Dao Ancestor Hongjun, not to emerge except during a great calamity." Zhunti, his expression solemn, gazed towards the distant east and said, "Before this matter, we have something else to attend to!" At Lingjiu Mountain, inside Yuanjue Cave, the Vice-Headmaster of the Chan Sect, Randeng, sat with his eyes closed, accompanied by Wei Hu, a third-generation disciple of the Chan Sect. Suddenly, Randeng had a thought and said to Wei Hu, "Wei Hu, go and invite my four senior uncles—Manjushri, Samantabhadra, and Cihang Daoliusun—to come over. Tell them I have important matters to discuss." Wei Hu vanished in a flash.
My dear reader, there's more to this chapter! Please click the next page to continue reading—even more exciting content awaits!
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
