The four pilgrims, along with the white dragon horse, entered the hall and knelt before the Buddha's throne.
Now, having overcome numerous hardships and dangers, they have arrived at Mount Ling and are about to retrieve the true scriptures. It is time for them to complete their merits and receive the Buddha's blessing and attain the true Buddhahood.
Above the Great Buddha Hall, out of sight of the immortals and Buddhas, the three leaders of Buddhism stood in the void.
The Sage of Reception stands in the center, the Taoist Master Zhunti is on the left, and Amitabha Buddha stands on the right.
All three lowered their eyes and looked into the hall.
The Buddha Shakyamuni sat on a lotus throne, recounted their merits, and then personally issued a decree.
Tang Sanzang was named the Sandalwood Merit Buddha; Sun Wukong was named the Victorious Fighting Buddha; Zhu Wuneng was named the Clean Altar Messenger; and Sha Wujing was named the Golden-bodied Arhat.
Even the white dragon horse was named one of the Eight Heavenly Dragons.
The master and his disciples all attained enlightenment and were destined to enjoy immortality and bliss from then on...
After expressing their gratitude, they were led to the temple's scripture pavilion, where they collected eighty-one volumes of true scriptures. They then immediately left Mount Ling and returned to the Tang Dynasty on auspicious clouds.
They truly came by trekking through mountains and rivers, overcoming countless hardships and dangers, and departed riding the clouds and mist, arriving in the blink of an eye...
The three leaders stood in the void, watching the pilgrims depart. The Daoist Zhunti said calmly, "Once they return to the Tang Dynasty, my disciples can enter the Eastern Land in large numbers, build pagodas, recruit believers, and spread the true scriptures throughout the East."
The guide nodded.
Amitabha Buddha would naturally not object.
This is a time when the Buddhist community's fortunes are rising. As one of the leaders, he should take this opportunity to manage his destiny, ensure the smooth transmission of the Dharma, and perfect his own Dao fruit, hoping to attain the Primordial Dao Fruit with this body.
The two Buddhist sages were unaware that he and the Supreme Demon Ancestor of the Demonic Sect had already been refined by Hu Le through his "Transformation of All Things" technique, becoming one of Hu Le's tens of thousands of incarnations.
If his previous incarnation had achieved Hunyuan, he might have been able to break free from Hu Le's original form and become an independent and perfect being. At that time, the gathering and scattering might not have been entirely up to Hu Le.
Now that he has been refined by his method of transforming all things, even if he were to achieve the Primordial Chaos realm, or even transcendence or creation, he would never be able to escape his original form again.
This Amitabha Buddha and those incarnations he manifested are no different; they are all destined to be harvested in the future...
“Therefore, let us issue an order for the Buddha to act.”
The one who now resides in the Leiyin Temple on Mount Ling is the Buddha.
As the present Buddha and the acting head of the Buddhist sect, he is in charge of the sect's affairs.
They issued the leader's decree, but it was Buddha who actually carried out the work and coordinated everything.
In any case, the three leaders are already detached from worldly affairs and will not abandon their status to interfere in the implementation of specific matters.
This Tathagata was the former chief disciple of the Jie Sect, who once took over the sect's affairs in place of the Tongtian Sect Leader.
He certainly deserves some credit for the Jie Sect's ability to attract thousands of immortals to pay homage.
Now he has become the Buddha, one of the three founders of Buddhism.
With the three leaders relinquishing their religious duties, the Buddha took over the management of the sect.
The Buddhist community is currently thriving, and the three leaders have made great contributions by manipulating the workings of Heaven's will and seizing destiny for Buddhism.
The Buddha's role in managing and handling the secular affairs of the sect, and transforming the days won by the sect leaders into reality, is naturally also indispensable...
After the leader issued the order, Tathagata also summoned a group of Buddhas, Bodhisattvas, Arhats, and Jiedi to the Great Thunder Temple.
He commanded these people, if they had nothing to do, to go to the human world, manifest themselves before the people, attract believers, and build their own temples.
At the same time, if given the opportunity, they could also move their temples to the East, allowing Buddhism to take root there.
The sages reside beyond the Thirty-Three Heavens, diligently cultivating the Primordial Chaos, hoping to attain the Dao as soon as possible.
Guang Chengzi was in charge of the affairs of the Chan Sect. He saw that Western believers were coming to the East in large numbers, and he also knew that the West was powerful and had the help of good fortune. Several sages had tacitly approved the eastward spread of Buddhism, so it was indeed impossible to compete with them.
Therefore, he gave the order that the disciples of the Chan Sect should not interfere.
Over the years, in addition to having a great advantage in the Heavenly Court, the disciples of the Chan Sect have occupied various immortal realms in the prehistoric world, establishing their own sects and claiming the title of patriarch.
Although each disciple in the sect has their own lineage master, the sect uniformly worships the statue of Yuqing Yuanshi Tianzun.
Upon learning of the imperial decree from Yuxu Palace, these disciples, though displeased, did not disobey the order or cause trouble for the Buddhist disciples.
The number of disciples of the Human Sect in the human world is even smaller, and among them, there are only two groups with the greatest influence.
One of them is the Eight Immortals of Shangdong, led by Lu Dongbin, the Taoist Master of Donghua.
The remaining one is the Emei Sect, a sword-cultivating sect descended from the Long-Browed Taoist.
Even if they wanted to oppose the Buddhist sect, they didn't have the strength...
As for the Jie Sect, let's not even mention it. Now that it has been re-established, it's just a handful of big cats and small cats.
Moreover, Tongtian Jiaozhu was defeated by Jieyin Zhunti not long ago and promised not to make a move.
A sage, once he has spoken, will naturally not go back on his word...
The remaining religion is Taoism. Guan Kong has now gone to other universes to comprehend the primordial chaos, and Yuan Huang is now in charge of the affairs of the religion.
In response to the eastward spread of Buddhism, she also made a trip to the outer reaches of the world to visit Hu Le, hoping to get some advice.
Buddhism is currently on the rise, and under this powerful trend, Hu Le naturally wouldn't let Taoist disciples be the first to take the lead.
Moreover, he had already promised Cundi and Jieyin in the Pure Land that day that Buddhism would spread eastward, so naturally he wouldn't interfere now...
Thus, with the four major religions of the East all backing away, Buddhist incense began to burn continuously in various states and prefectures of the East.
Temples and pagodas began to be built.
One by one, Buddhist statues began to be erected.
Mountains like Jiuhua Mountain, which were originally Taoist temples, gradually became Buddhist pure lands due to the arrival of Buddhists.
With all the Buddhist disciples launching an attack.
The profound foundation laid by Buddhism over millions of years finally erupted, and its fortunes soared like oil on a raging fire, truly ushering in a period of great prosperity.
Above the long river of destiny, the sacred mountain representing the fortune of Buddhism continued to rise, gradually overshadowing the mountains where the fortunes of other religions were concentrated.
Clusters of dense Buddhist light spread across the river of destiny, and the fates of countless beings began to be eroded and occupied by that light.
Jieyin and Zhunti stood above the river of destiny, watching the Buddha's light ripple and flow across it, gradually taking over the past, present, and future.
Even the face of the Guide, which had remained unchanged for countless years with its bitter expression, showed a hint of joy at this moment.
The smile of the Taoist Zhunti was now filled with satisfaction.
As time passed, many places in the East have been transformed into Buddhist kingdoms on earth.
Meanwhile, the Buddhist aura in the river of destiny grew increasingly intense, and it began to surge towards the sacred mountain formed by the aura of various religions.
The several sacred mountains, which were originally bathed in the clear air and shrouded in rosy light, were now shrouded in a layer of Buddhist light...
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com