Chapter 330: From Taoism to Buddhism

Translator: Transn Editor: Transn

Unfortunately, it was a bit early for Honored Lord of the Origin to be happy. Undoubtedly, the Clan of Enlightenment would probably thrive. However, Honored Lord of the Origin had handled affairs unfairly as he delegated the affairs to his favorite disciples. This caused other disciples to be strongly discontented. In the Battle of the G.o.ds Invest.i.ture, they had also tried their best. But in the end, they would not be able to share the benefits. Naturally, they refused to accept this.

In the Clan of Enlightenment, there were a total of 14 inner disciples. Aside from Dipamkara and Jiang Ziya, those remaining were the Twelve Golden Immortals. But in the battle of the G.o.d Deification Ceremony, among the Twelve Golden Immortals, five people were listed on the Invest.i.ture of the G.o.ds, including Ju Liusun, Perfected Person Yellow Dragon, Ture Taoist of Pure Morality, Great Master Spiritual Treasure, and Chi Jingzi. Among the remaining seven people, Guang Chengzi, Immortal Tai Yi, and Immortal Yu Ding were favorited by Honored Lord of the Origin. Thus, he entrusted them to handle the internal affairs.

Honored Lord of the Origin had earlier had a Closed Door Meditation. In this battle, he also sustained severe injuries. After Hongjun and Sect Leader Tongtian separated themselves from the Way of Heaven in succession, Honored Lord of the Origin was also ready to do so. Though it was good to be a Sage, they were under the thumb of the Way of Heaven. In contrast, a Zenith Heaven Golden Immortal of the Origin was more carefree and unrestrained.

In Untainted Land, the Way of Heaven prohibited the Sages from fighting with the experts of the Origin. However, that would only work for the Sages. For people like Minghe or Hongjun, if they really launched attacks in Untainted Land, it would not work. Otherwise, it would end with its destruction together with them. Obviously, that was impossible. However, the Sages had entrusted their Original Spirits to the Way of Heaven, so they were controlled by the Way of Heaven.

Honored Lord of the Origin was proud and arrogant, so he was not willing to be intimidated by others, including the Way of Heaven. Moreover, Hongjun, who had combined his body with the Tao, had separated himself from the Way of Heaven. This showed that there had to be some secrets. Though he had no idea of the secrets, he thought that it would be a good choice to cut himself off from the Way of Heaven. However, it also needed to be fully prepared. Favorable climatic, geographical, and human conditions were essential.

Honored Lord of the Origin did not meddle in the internal affairs. Guang Chengzi resolutely chose to retreat after seeing the vast distance between Heaven and Earth. He was deeply stimulated by Liu Er's actualization. Originally, he had thought he could close the gap to Liu Er after becoming a Sage-to-be. However, their gap was larger now, so he was not reconciled at all.

When Guang Chengzi retreated into Closed Door Meditation, the sect was taken command of by Immortal Yu Ding and Immortal Tai Yi. Thus, the several surviving Golden Immortals were unsatisfied. Meanwhile, Honored Lord of the Origin's inner disciples also put forth their strength in the Battle of the G.o.ds Invest.i.ture. They did not have a chance to take part in preaching, so they were not reconciled at all.

Although preaching was tedious, they could transmit their own teachings to the Human Tribe and acc.u.mulate Luck for themselves. Obviously, Luck was more important than preaching. Luck concerned cultivation. The reason for the Battle of the G.o.ds Invest.i.ture was to contest for the Luck of the Human Tribe. Even the Sages cared about Luck, not to mention the disciples.

Celestial Lord of Profound Power Manjushri, Samantabhadra, and G.o.ddess of Mercy were the most dissatisfied ones. Since the Winding Yellow River Formation, their forces were far worse than before, although they had recovered their cultivations to the Zenith Heaven Golden Immortal. Now, they were in urgent need of Luck to a.s.sist them in practice. However, Honored Lord of the Origin had kept them from preaching, so they naturally nursed a grievance.

Besides them, Dipamkara Taoist, as the Deputy Sect Leader of the Clan of Enlightenment, was also discontented. His dissatisfaction might not be irrational. In those years, he greatly abashed himself to apprentice to Honored Lord of the Origin. Although he was appointed the Deputy Sect Leader of the Clan of Enlightenment, he did not have any real power. Moreover, when Honored Lord of the Origin handed out Spiritual Treasures, Dipamkara had gotten nothing. He completely depended on himself to become a Sage-to-be.

Since he joined the Clan of Enlightenment, Dipamkara tried his best in a.s.sisting Xuanyuan and in the just-finished Battle of the G.o.ds Invest.i.ture. He felt that he had spared no effort for the Clan of Enlightenment. However, Honored Lord of the Origin only gave him a few perfunctory words of praise. After thinking it over, he discovered that Honored Lord of the Origin had never granted him any special favors. He did not deserve to be called a master.

One day, Celestial Lord of Profound Power Manjushri, Samantabhadra, and G.o.ddess of Mercy got together. While they talking about the Tao, they revealed their angst to each other. At that time, a figure suddenly appeared before them and said with a laugh, "You're my predestined friends. I advise you to shake off your shackles and resume practicing a Great Way that suits you."

Meanwhile, Dipamkara was very surprised to see that person in front of him. This person ignored his astonishment and said dryly, "Dipamkara, although you're Deputy Sect Leader of the Clan of Enlightenment, everyone knows that you have no real power. It's just an empty t.i.tle. You practice the Way of Nirvana, which is totally incompatible with the Clan of Enlightenment. In that case, you can join us, won't you?"

...

In the Yuxu Palace, Honored Lord of the Origin was meditating on the Way of Heaven. Though he was heavily injured, his core was not hurt. With his strong power of a Sage, it would not be long before recovery. Now, he was making preparations for getting rid of the Way of Heaven. If he was not well-prepared, his vitality would be greatly undermined in the future.

Once the Sages became Sages, they would make progress every day. Being different from Minghe, they obtained a Holy Seat with the help of the Hong Meng Immortal Qi and Merit of Heaven. They reached the Sage Realm without painstaking practice. Therefore, if they wanted to increase their strength, they had to make up for the shortfall.

It was like building a house. For example, after building 10 floors, only the framing for the 11th floor could be made, and then the 12th floor could be built directly after. But although they could get to the 12th floor, if they wanted to continue building upward, they would naturally need time to completely finish the 11th floor first. Otherwise, it would only lead to the collapse of the building.

Therefore, all the Sages made painstaking efforts to meditate on the Way of Heaven after becoming Sages to make up for their previous deficiencies. For example, after Sect Leader Tongtian had separated himself from the Way of Heaven, he was no longer a Sage but his cultivation was at the Middle Stage of the Origin, which was the Secondary Stage of the Sage Realm. Although it was a little weaker than before, his cultivation had not changed a lot.

Honored Lord of the Origin had decided to get rid of the Way of Heaven, so he would not take any hasty actions. Now, when he was still a Sage, it would be easier for him to perceive the Way of Heaven through meditation. Thus, he had to take this opportunity to improve his Realm of the Origin. Honored Lord of the Origin would be very embarra.s.sed if he downgraded from the Secondary Stage of the Sage Realm to the Early Stage of the Origin after breaking away from the Way of Heaven, being inferior to Sect Leader Tongtian.

After being in Closed Door Meditation for a long time, he was enlightened by the Way of Heaven to some extent. Suddenly, he felt ill at ease, as if something was about to happen. He counted on his fingers, but he could not manage it. He frowned and felt a little uneasy. He wondered if the Clan of Enlightenment was in trouble during his Closed Door Meditation.

After leaving the Closed Door Meditation, he went to the main hall of the Yuxu Palace. As he stretched out a hand to point, the golden bell rang to convene disciples. A moment later, the disciples on Mount Kunlun arrived one after another. Honored Lord of the Origin took a look and knitted his brows. Not to mention any other disciples, but only three among the remaining seven of the Twelve Golden Immortals had come, and Dipamkara was absent.

In such a situation, he was skeptical. Guang Chengzi, Celestial Lord of Profound Power Manjushri, Samantabhadra, G.o.ddess of Mercy, and Dipamkara were all absent. He knew about Guang Chengzi's situation at this time. But were Dipamkara and the other three also in Closed Door Meditation? Or did they leave and go back to their own Ashrams?

The Secrets of Heaven were blurred when he calculated the four people's traces. Did somebody cover up their Secrets of Heaven? With his Spiritual Thoughts, he looked at the four people's Ashrams first. But, he discovered that they were not there. Then, he searched for them in Untainted Land with his Spiritual Thoughts.

Finally, on the border between Purvavideha and AparaG.o.daniya, he saw Manjushri, Samantabhadra, and G.o.ddess of Mercy. But when he saw the person with them, he burned with anger and his facial expression greatly changed. Without taking notice of the puzzled disciples, he snorted and disappeared from the main hall.

Zhunti led Manjushri, Samantabhadra, and G.o.ddess of Mercy there. Jieyin had been there for a while. When they saw that Jieyin greeted them personally, they felt extremely flattered. However, they did not know Jieyin was there to solve a major event, rather than for them.

At this time, Honored Lord of the Origin suddenly appeared. The three of them turned extremely pale because they never thought that Honored Lord of the Origin would arrive so quickly. As they saw his resentful look, they felt ashamed and lowered their heads. After all, they had been making preparations to disengage for many years. And now they had done such a thing, they really felt guilty.

Honored Lord of the Origin had not yet said a word. Zhunti began to speak first. "Fellow Taoist Origin, you did things unfairly so your disciples felt resentment. Now, Manjushri, Samantabhadra, and G.o.ddess of Mercy have come to join our Western Religious Sect. Thus, from now on, they are no longer disciples of the Clan of Enlightenment."

When Honored Lord of the Origin was about to flare up, Jieyin continued to say, "Since you are here, you can be a witness. Although our Western Religious Sect wors.h.i.+ps Taoism, you've always regarded it as heterodoxy. Today, my junior brother and I have decided that the Western Religious Sect is henceforth divorced from Taoism and renamed Buddhism. I, Taoist Jieyin, am Amitabha of Buddhism."

Zhunti also said, "From now on, I, Taoist Zhunti, am Mother of Ten Thousand Buddhas of Buddhism and Buddha Mother Zhunti. With the Way of Heaven as a witness, Samantabhadra is Taihang Samantabhadra Bodhisattva; Manjushri is Manjushri Bodhisattva; G.o.ddess of Mercy is Bodhisattva of Compa.s.sion." Up in the Ninth Heaven, thunder rolled. It was the method by which the Way of Heaven confirmed their words.