The Buddha returned for just one day and then left completely, but like a flame, before he left, he passed on his thoughts and will to his disciples for the last time. After this incident, although the Buddhist community was immersed in sorrow, they still sorted out their feelings and still needed to entertain the Great Emperor Zhenwu.

However, because of the previous scene of the discussion between Emperor Zhenwu and the Buddha, if these Buddhist disciples were still a little frightened before, now they had more respect rising from their hearts. Qi Wuhuo asked the other Bodhisattvas and Vajra to do their own things, leaving only Guanyin and Taoist Master Randang.

Qi Wuhuo's Taoist friend Ran Deng, who had known each other since childhood, looked sad at the moment, but not as depressed as before. He seemed to have something to say, and said, "Emperor..."

Qi Wuhuo looked at him and understood what his old friend was thinking.

Dipankara himself had practiced all seventeen Buddhist traditions, but he gave up Buddhism and became a Taoist monk because he was disappointed with the Buddhism of that time. Now that he saw the Buddha again and listened to his teachings once again, Qi Wuhuo could fully understand the sadness and regret in his heart, and the complexity of his feelings.

But after all, Ran Deng had been with the Taoist for so many years, and he suddenly came here and was about to leave. He couldn't say it. Qi Wuhuo suddenly smiled and said, "I just made a promise with the Buddha..."

"When the Buddha left, he gave me that Bodhi seed. That Bodhi fruit is a spiritual object that has existed for several kalpas. I don't know when it will mature or when it will fall. I still have a promise to the Buddha and some things to do, so I'll have to trouble you, fellow Daoist Randeng."

"Please help me watch over this Bodhi fruit. I don't know whether it will take a hundred years or a thousand years."

"When it's ripe, tell me, okay?"

As these words were spoken, an imperial decree with a black base and golden talismans in it condensed in the void.

It fell beside the Taoist Master Ran Deng.

Taoist Master Ran Deng looked at the emperor in black clothes and holding a sword in front of him, his eyes fluctuated, and finally he put his hands together and said, "I thank the emperor for his help..."

He said he was a poor monk, but he performed the Buddhist etiquette. After the greeting, he stood up, pushed open the door, and walked step by step towards the Bodhi tree, where the Buddha passed away. The other Buddhist disciples from various sects originally wanted to stop him, but there was an imperial edict beside the Taoist Master Ran Deng.

Such a vast Buddhist country, with seventeen Buddhist lineages, countless disciples, Bodhisattvas, and Vajras.

Because of this imperial edict, no one dared to stop it.

After a few steps, his body froze, his face showing fear and respect. He clasped his hands together and just saluted, watching the Taoist holding the imperial edict and walking away step by step.

And in the most peaceful and tranquil place of Buddhism, Guanyin Bodhisattva sighed and said softly:

"Bodhi is Prajna, Prajna is Dharma, and Dharma is enlightenment."

"The Emperor's words mean that when Senior Randeng finally finds his own Prajna light in this turbulent state of mind, his Bodhi tree will mature. I will tell you then, but I'm afraid it will be a farewell."

Guanyin Bodhisattva sighed, he did not sit down, but stood in front, clasped his hands together, and said:

"The Buddha's kingdom is so vast, I wonder what the Emperor has summoned me to come here for?"

Qi Wuhuo looked outside and said, "The Buddha has reappeared and preached the Dharma. Therefore, Buddhism has eliminated the extreme obsession of the Seventeen-Veined Buddha. But from my understanding, how long can the purity and uprightness of Buddhism last?"

Guanyin Bodhisattva remained silent and said, "One kalpa."

He is the true Lord.

Even if a True Lord has an extremely deep foundation and a huge background, and has the hope of achieving great things in the future, he is still a True Lord at the moment. As for the final catastrophe of birth, existence, destruction and emptiness, and the six catastrophes of reincarnation, he only knows the surface but not the truth, so he still uses one catastrophe as the time.

Guanyin said: "The Taoism is pure and upright because there is more than one school of Taoism. It is not so narrow. The various schools of thought are scattered and each carries a part of the Tao. If it flows in this way, it will always be able to maintain the overall clarity. However, after this incident, only Amitabha Buddha is left in the realm of the Buddha."

"This will inevitably lead to one company dominating the market. As time goes by, the Buddha will never come back."

There is a lot of sadness in Guanyin's voice.

Emperor Zhenwu said, "Buddhism needs to be divided. Fellow Daoist Guanyin, follow the teacher's agreement..." He paused, thinking of the free and easy Yuchen Daojun, and calmed down, saying, "As a thank you to the Buddha, I will promise Buddhism a stable environment, and for the sake of the purity of Buddhism, a branch needs to be separated."

Guanyin Bodhisattva seemed to understand something, clasped his hands together, bowed slightly, and said:

"I understand, poor monk."

The Zhenwu Demon Emperor nodded slightly, he stood up and left, went to find Amitabha Buddha, sat and discussed Taoism for three hours, and when he left, the Buddhists gathered together.

The Great Emperor Zhenwu conferred upon Amitabha Buddha the title of the Buddha of the present age and Maitreya Bodhisattva the title of the Buddha of the future.

In front of the Bodhi tree in the Buddhist kingdom, in the most magnificent hall, the Bodhisattvas and Vajras of the seventeen Buddha meridians stood solemnly, listening to Manjushri Bodhisattva reading out the imperial edict file just written by Zhenwu Zhentian Emperor. Respecting the identity of Amitabha Buddha, they brushed away the seventeen meridians, and Buddhism returned to one.

Amitabha is called——【Lord Buddha】

At the same time, Maitreya Bodhisattva is declared to be the future Buddha.

!!!

Many Bodhisattvas in Buddhism looked up in astonishment, looking at the highest point. Before the pure and free Buddha light, the Great Emperor Zhenwu stood there calmly, wearing black clothes inside and a wide-sleeved robe outside, with the simple magic weapon against the ground, and his eyes calmly overlooking the bottom. On the left and right were Amitabha Buddha and Maitreya Bodhisattva.

The living Buddha and the future Buddha all bowed together, with complicated expressions and sighs on their faces:

"Thank you, Emperor, for your order."

The meaning of this decree is very clear. Out of respect for the Buddha's sacrifice, Heaven and Zhenwu promised the stability of Buddhism on behalf of the Buddha.

But if one day, Buddhism repeats the same mistake, Maitreya will be made the Buddha again.

At that time, Maitreya will be the present Buddha, and the Heavenly Court will naturally choose a future Buddha.

It's a choice.

It was an imperial decree, which meant that Buddhism would soon become one of the major forces under the command of Heaven, and that all the Buddhas in Buddhism would have to obey the order of the Jade Emperor. This was completely different from the past when although the Buddhist Kingdom was slightly weaker, it was still an independent major force in the six realms.

But they did not dare to refute.

The great Buddhist country has fallen from its heyday when all the seventeen Buddhist sects had Buddha to its current dilapidated state. All of this happened with the rise of the Zhenwu Demon Emperor. It was all because of his Zhenwu Demon Sword that killed all the Buddhas.

Such an imperial decree was not solemn and murderous, but just plain, with an indescribable sense of vastness and magnificence. The Bodhisattvas and Vajra of Buddhism looked at the Great Emperor Zhenwu, and for a moment they seemed to have an illusion. The Great Emperor in black robe before them seemed to become incomparably tall and majestic, as tall as the heaven and earth, and the figures of the two Buddhas became tiny.

He sat there, with the sky pressing down on him. It seemed as if the Buddhist monks could no longer see his face. They could only see his waist and above that, there was only an inky, oppressive outline, like towering mountains under the moonless and starless night. He had his hands on either side of the throne, with his sleeves rolled up.

An inky black snake coiled around his wrist, breathing out air with the aura of a True Lord.

Horrible, horrible!

The terrifying and boundless oppression made all the creatures in the Buddha Kingdom feel their scalps tingling. This terrifying aura almost made them subconsciously recall the Great Emperor of Beiji Ziwei. At this time, the Sky Qilin stepped into the void, spewing thunder from its mouth. The black-robed Great Emperor stood up and said calmly:

"Everyone."

"Do all that is good and avoid all that is evil."

"Please keep this in mind."

Boom!!!

Thunder flashed, illuminating the Buddha's kingdom, and all directions lit up for an instant, and then gave people the illusion of extreme darkness. When the vision returned to normal, the emperor holding the sword was no longer visible. Above the sky, the Qilin chariot guarded by three thousand heavenly soldiers and generals left in a mighty manner.

Only in this Buddha land is everything quiet.

…

A few days later——

Lingxiao Palace.

Qi Wuhuo informed the Jade Emperor of all the events, and Zhang Xiaoyu said, "... The Buddha used his body as a raft to save the common people and pass on this ray of hope [to completely save the common people]. This is indeed worthy of respect. Since Buddhism has come, it should also be conferred."

"Just as you said."

"Below the Four Imperial Lords, above the rulers of each department, there is another person who is in an irrelevant realm but has a big enough name—"

"Yujing, what do you think is better?"

"Emperor, Imperial, Qing, and Lord, all already exist."

The Great Emperor Zhenwu held a scroll in his hand and looked outside calmly. Somehow, he suddenly remembered what Zhuang Zhou said when he was naughty and teasing Qiu's disciples. He said, "Old people are for longevity, respect, and honor."

"Since it has nothing to do with one's realm, I'll just call him [Old]."

The Great Emperor Zhenwu casually put the file down. The file in his hand fell into the void, as if it had no weight like fallen leaves and white snow. It floated down and landed on the Jade Emperor's desk. The Jade Emperor looked up, but Zhenwu in the black robe was gone. He smiled slightly, looked at the file, and said to himself:

"One emperor, three pure ones, four emperors, well, how many elders do you want?"

"Three, four, five."

"So we set up a position called the Five Elders."

"Forget it, let's just do as Yujing said."

He casually wrote the decree in this file.

[All the dharmas in the West, the Buddhas, Bodhisattvas, holy monks and Arhats in the Western Paradise] are combined into one elder.

According to what Zhenwu Qi Wuhuo said, Guanyin of the South China Sea was specially conferred the title of an old man.

These two lineages can allow Buddhism to maintain itself, which is at least better than having one dominant party.

Zhang Xiaoyu thought about these, paused slightly, looked at the direction his friend left, suddenly smiled slightly, picked up the pen and put it down.

[The Great Emperor Xuanling Zhenwu of the Northern Pole] is also an old man.

In this way, three of the five elders are now elders, and the remaining two positions remain vacant for the time being.

The Jade Emperor placed the jade pen in his hand on the table and watched his friend's back gradually going away. He felt an instinctive sense of loneliness in his heart. He really wanted to keep him here, in the palace of heaven, so he was willing to give him all the treasures and continuously elevate his status.

But the more he did this, the more he felt a sense of mystery—

I can't keep him.

It was just like the words he said when he left the Three Pure Ones in the human world.

"The Zhenwu **demon was born to meet the calamity...?"

It was not born for the sake of disaster, but it stood out naturally in this series of disasters that swept across countless lives in the six realms.

…

After Qi Wuhuo left Lingxiao Palace, he felt complicated and sighed. He went to look for his teacher, but he couldn't find him. He walked all the way to Daluo Heaven, but couldn't find the three Taoist ancestors. The Miluo Palace and Yuxu Palace in Daluo Heaven, which were originally peaceful and free, had all disappeared.

Even the senior sister, Holy Mother Taiyuan, who always waited here in the past, was not here today.

Since the people from the Three Purities Sect were here, they were also surprised and puzzled. When they saw the Great Emperor Zhenwu, they hurried forward to pay their respects, but when they asked about the reason for this place, they didn't know. Qi Wuhuo looked at the scenery in the Daluo sky, and the Imperial Qi had already flowed through his body. He was only one step away from reaching the true realm.

He could already feel it, feel the ripples behind the void. With his current state of mind, he could cut through the curtain and ripples in front of him with just one sword, and see the real Daluotian behind the ripples, but he did not do so.

The teacher had not seen him at this moment, and did not want to see him, so he thought there was no need to explain the past events at this moment.

The Taoist stood in the Daluo Heaven for a long time, and finally bowed deeply with his hands clasped.

He turned around, paced in the void, and walked away step by step.

In this Daluo Heaven, the Three Pure Ones looked at each other and sighed. Yuqing Yuanshi Tianzun said lightly: "Wuhuo did not cut the ripples and enter. Otherwise, it would be hard to say anything."

Lord Shangqing raised his hand and rubbed his brows, and Lord Yuchen regained his vitality and returned to his original form.

It's also a headache at the moment.

Qi Wuhuo at this stage seems to be even more difficult and troublesome than Taiyi Jiuku.

The Supreme stroked his beard and smiled, "He has been standing here for several days."

"He has understood everything you and I meant."

"My two Taoist friends, why do you have to do this?"

The two Dao Ancestors looked at each other, sighed with emotion, and said with a feeling of relief:

"That's right."

Yuqing Yuanshi Tianzun paused, and then said: "However, I have deduced that there seems to be a calamity next... and this calamity involves you and me. What do you think? Should we go with the flow?"

The Supreme Master stroked his beard and said calmly, "Why do you have to ask, fellow Taoist?"

Shangqing Daojun held his sword and said:

"Since it is aimed at you and me, I should have chopped it off with a sword!"

"But, only for this time..."

"It just complies with his wishes."

The Three Pure Ones looked calm, and when Qi Wuhuo returned to Zhenwu Mansion, he did not see Empress Wa, but saw the green-shirted spirit. The Taoist glanced at the spirit who came to Zhenwu Mansion to eat and drink for no reason, and nodded slightly. The latter was excited and said, "Emperor Zhenwu, Wuhuo, Wuhuo!"

He seemed to be overjoyed, his tone was a little confused, and finally he stopped talking and raised his hand:

"My Lord!"

"It's news from the Lord!"

"He's coming back soon!"