Lingshan, the Great Leiyin Temple.
The Tathagata Buddha called together all the Buddhas, Arhats, Jietis, Bodhisattvas, Vajra, Bhikkhus and nuns, brought out the Ullambana basin, distributed the flowers, fruits and other items in the basin to everyone, and asked them to take them away and scatter them, thus preparing a grand banquet.
In the original novel, the main topic of the Ullambana Festival was the Journey to the West. If people from too many sects were invited, it would easily cause trouble. Therefore, the Buddhist sect did not invite all parties to a banquet, but only held a small meeting with their own people within Lingshan to finalize various matters related to the Journey to the West.
But this time, Tathagata didn’t know what medicine he had taken wrong, and he actually invited fellow Taoists from the three realms to attend the Ullambana Festival.
Therefore, on the eve of the grand event, powerful people from all over the three realms came one after another.
Taking into account the dispute over the orthodoxy between Buddhism and Taoism, some real bigwigs declined to come in person for fear of suspicion.
Only one of the Four Imperial Gods of Heaven showed up, and none of the Three Pure Ones showed up.
Yuanshi Tianzun of the Yuxu Palace in Kunlun Mountain sent three disciples, namely Huanglong Zhenren, Taiyi Zhenren and Yuding Zhenren among the Twelve Golden Immortals.
In addition, the Five Elders of the Five Directions, the Five Star Gods, the Taiyi Celestial Immortals from the Upper Eight Caves, the Sea and Mountain Immortals from the Middle Eight Caves, the Registered Earthly Immortals from the Lower Eight Caves, and various immortals from the Ten Continents and Three Island have all gathered here.
Before the grand event began, powerful figures from all sides had already been invited to take the seat of honor by Ananda, a disciple of Tathagata.
During the banquet, an old man appeared in a Taoist robe with cloud patterns, a lotus crown on his head, and a whisk in his hand. He had long and thin eyebrows, and a long flowing beard. There were two strands of white hair drooping slightly at the temples behind his ears, fluttering in the wind. He looked like an immortal, otherworldly and otherworldly.
Next to him sat another middle-aged Taoist priest wearing a khaki Bagua Taoist robe.
He had a straight and strong figure, and a fairly handsome face, except for the rather sloppy beard at the corners of his mouth. He looked frivolous, with a certain playful air about him.
At this moment, the Taoist in yellow robe glanced at the figures that kept flying in from outside Lingshan Mountain, and couldn't help but chuckle and whispered.
"Brother, see, my guess is correct. The scale of this year's Yulan Festival is indeed not as large as that of three hundred years ago, let alone the event of five hundred years ago!"
“…Of course!”
The old man looked normal, and said calmly, "It has been five hundred years since the demon monkey was suppressed. The Buddhist sect is holding the Yulan Festival at this time. Who in the Three Realms doesn't know what they are planning?"
"Too."
The Taoist in yellow robe nodded and said in a voice transmission: "If we hadn't heard that the Great Emperor Zhongtian would also attend the Yulan Festival, I guess Master wouldn't even send the three of us. At most, he would send a few second-generation disciples to support the occasion, and that would be enough!"
At this point, the Taoist in yellow robe paused and asked curiously, "By the way, Junior Brother Taiyi, do you know where that person came from?"
Taiyi Zhenren frowned and shook his head, saying, "You've stumped me. I don't know where that person came from. I only know that both the Heavenly Court and the Buddhist Sect are eager to establish a relationship with him."
"Especially the Heavenly Court. They insisted on asking me to become the Emperor of Ziwei in the Central Heaven before I even agreed."
"...Humph, do you still have any shame?"
Taiyi Zhenren snorted lightly, obviously extremely dissatisfied with the Heavenly Court's attentive attitude.
Seeing this scene, the Taoist in yellow robe couldn't help but laugh. He knew that a big part of the reason why Taiyi Zhenren was angry was because his beloved disciple Nezha was also working in the Heavenly Court and could be regarded as the face of the Heavenly Court.
Such actions by the Heavenly Court obviously lowered the status of the entire Heavenly Court, and also brought shame to his beloved disciple.
In order to prevent the Heavenly Court from sending his disciple to invite that person to take charge of the Ziwei Palace, Taiyi Zhenren even found a reason to call Nezha back to Kunlun Mountain, and even did not let him participate in the Ullambana Festival which happens once in a century.
Thinking of this, the Taoist in yellow robe sighed and changed the subject, "It seems that the real secret may only be known by great masters like Master, Uncle, Jade Emperor and Tathagata."
"As for us... well, maybe Junior Brother Yuding knows something, but he is mysterious all the time. This time when he followed you and me down the mountain, he disappeared halfway. Junior Brother Taiyi, do you know where he went?"
Taiyi Zhenren glanced at Huanglong Zhenren and said without comment: "Maybe he went to Guanjiangkou to visit his disciple!"
Master Huang Long rolled his eyes and muttered, "Disciple, disciple, disciple, you only think about the disciple all day long. I don't know what's so good about this disciple. In the words of Junior Brother Yu Ding, you are... that disciple-control freak!"
Taiyi Zhenren smiled and said, "As the saying goes, the mantle is passed down, and the master and disciple are like father and son. Brother, you will know this kind of thing after you have one of your own."
Huang Long Zhenren quickly refused, "Forget it. Each of you is richer than me. I am just a lonely man with no ties. If I accept disciples, I have to think about where to get some treasures to give to them. This is too troublesome..."
Before he finished speaking, a ray of light appeared in the sky and instantly fell beside the two of them, transforming into a Taoist priest in a green robe.
This man has a handsome appearance and a unique temperament, just like the sound of flowing water in the mountains, which makes people feel relaxed and happy when they look at him.
After landing, the Taoist priest in green robe bowed and said apologetically, "I'm sorry, two senior brothers, Yu Ding hasn't come down the mountain for a long time. I thought this was a rare opportunity, so I changed my route temporarily and went to Guanjiangkou. That's why I'm a few days late."
Hearing the words of the Taoist in green robe, Taiyi Zhenren raised his white eyebrows and glanced at Huanglong Zhenren with a smile.
"What did I say?"
“…”
Zhenren Huanglong rolled his eyes and raised his hand to let Zhenren Yuding sit between them.
Taiyi Zhenren smiled and said, "It doesn't matter, you are not too late, there are still people who are even later than you!"
Jade Ding Zhenren's expression became serious, and he transmitted the message: "You mean, that person?"
Taiyi Zhenren nodded: "Yes, that one."
Huang Long Zhenren came over and said with a smile: "Junior brother, tell me the truth. When Master asked you to go to Yuxu Palace alone, did he tell you any earth-shattering secrets?"
“…Senior Brother!”
Jade Ding Zhenren looked at him helplessly and said, "Even if there is, do you think Master will let me tell you?"
Huang Long Zhenren curled his lips and said, "If you don't want to tell me, then don't tell me. Who cares?"
At this moment, outside Lingshan, the sky suddenly darkened.
The three Golden Immortals of the Chan Sect seemed to sense something and turned their heads to look at the sky.
Beyond the horizon, an extremely huge black shadow slowly emerged.
It was a pitch-black monster so huge that it spanned tens of thousands of kilometers. It had a head similar to that of a real dragon, eyes like the sun and the moon, teeth like mountains, and a huge body like a black continent, suspended in the sky.
As soon as Pu appeared, the wind and clouds in the area thousands of miles away changed color and the sky lost its light.
On top of the sacred mountain, many visitors changed color and couldn't help but look at the top of the dragon beast's head.
Dozens of figures were seen standing between the towering sword fins. The two leading figures were a handsome young man, and the Bodhisattva Avalokitesvara was sitting on a lotus platform.
Looking at the Lingshan Mountain ahead, which was in a state of uproar, Guanyin Bodhisattva chanted a Buddhist name, and then said helplessly: "Your Majesty, we have arrived at the Lingshan Mountain. Please ask this donor Bai to withdraw his magical powers..."
Lin Zhongtian nodded, looked at the fairy beast Godzilla under his feet and said: "Old Bai, it's almost done!"
The next second, the huge body of Godzilla suddenly disappeared, and was replaced by a heroic young man wearing black armor and with a depressed face.
"Didn't you ask me to come here to listen to the Buddha's teachings? How come I suddenly became a mount?"
Everyone smiled. Nie Changchuan put his arm around Bai Lang's shoulders and said with a grin, "It's not like I'm riding you for nothing. I've just given you a medium-quality peach as a ticket. If you think it's not enough, I'll also give you all the rare fruits from the Yulan Festival later!"
"That's what you said!"
Bai Lang stared at Nie Changchuan.
At this moment, above Lingshan Mountain, Buddha's light appeared and a figure flew out from it, riding the Buddha's light and auspicious clouds, came in front of everyone, and bowed to Lin Zhongtian and Guanyin Bodhisattva.
Nie Changchuan came to Lin Zhongtian and whispered, "This is the disciple and attendant of the Buddha, the second patriarch of Zen Buddhism, Venerable Ananda."
It turned out to be him!
Lin Zhongtian's expression showed understanding.
After clasping his hands together and bowing, Venerable Ananda smiled and said, "On behalf of the Buddha and Lingshan, I respectfully welcome the Emperor. I also ask all the immortals to follow me and take a seat, and wait for the Ullambana Festival to begin..."
"Thank you for your help."
Lin Zhongtian replied calmly, then waved his sleeves and flew towards Lingshan with everyone.
Soon, Venerable Ananda led everyone to the seat where the Tathagata would take action.
Lin Zhongtian didn't care about the seats. He immediately led all the alliance members to take their seats, and then glanced at the powerful people from the three realms who had already taken their seats.
As his gaze swept over, many powerful immortals stood up and saluted respectfully towards Lin Zhongtian.
Only a few people were still sitting there, and they only smiled and bowed when Lin Zhongtian looked at them.
Seeing this scene, Lin Zhongtian didn't think anything of it yet, Bai Lang raised his eyebrows and asked in a low voice.
"Xiaochuan, who are these people showing off?"
"Let me see..."
Nie Changchuan glanced at them, then suddenly realized something and said in a voice transmission: "Oh, the three over there are the direct disciples of Yuanshi Tianzun of Kunlun Mountain Yuxu Palace. The one wearing the yellow robe is Taoist Huanglong. Although this guy is jokingly called the Taoist with four nothings, that is, no power, no disciples, no brains, and no victories, he is actually a hidden leader of luck and merit."
"Strictly speaking, Yanhuang is his junior, so Dayu should call him teacher."
"From the battle between Yanhuang and Chiyou to Dayu's flood control, he was present. The most rare thing is that this guy seems to have no desire for fame or fortune. After he pacified the flood, Dayu wanted to ask the heaven for a title for him, but he refused, saying that it was too troublesome and he didn't want to ascend to heaven..."
Hearing Nie Changchuan's words, all the alliance members stood in awe.
Bai Lang looked embarrassed: "Oh, that's okay..."
Nie Changchuan continued to laugh and said, "As for the two people next to them, they are Taiyi Zhenren and Yuding Zhenren. I don't know if you still remember their names, but you must know their disciples!"
Zhao Lihe nodded and said, "Nezha and Yang Jian."
Bai Lang coughed and whispered, "What about the last one?"
Nie Changchuan glanced at the last person and said softly, "One of the Four Heavenly Emperors, the Emperor of the Upper Palace of Gou Chen!"