Darkness of the West

Western Church, Great Mount Sumeru Temple.

Sanskrit chants echoed through the hall, golden flowers fell to the ground, golden lotuses sprouted from the earth, and supreme Western esoteric dharma transformed into Buddha spirits chanting sutras in the void. The Golden Guardian Celestial Maiden and Silver Guardian Celestial Maiden, clad in jeweled robes, danced gracefully.

By the Eight Treasures Merit Pool, two sages sat facing each other, discussing the affairs of the Western Church.

"Elder Brother, hand Ksitigarbha over to me. Let me train him. I can surely make him a pillar of the West."

The first to speak was a young Daoist with a compassionate face, draped in a gilded Daoist robe. His features were gentle, the very picture of a good man.

He was Sage Zhunti, one of the Two Sages of the West.

Across from him sat an old Daoist with white hair, wearing a withered wood crown and a center-parted hairstyle, somewhat resembling Jiang Ziya from Honor of Kings.

Sage Jieyin heard Sage Zhunti's request and replied with a pained expression: "Ksitigarbha carries great compassion and has comprehended the Past Amitabha Sutra. Your Spirit Platform Mountain is filled with demonic path practitioners you have converted. I cannot hand Ksitigarbha over to you."

Sage Zhunti frowned slightly, pressed his palms together, and said, "Elder Brother, this man Ksitigarbha once obtained some demonic path scriptures. Though he hasn't cultivated them, he has an affinity with the demonic path. If you insist on keeping him in the teaching, you will regret it."

He had set his sights on Ksitigarbha's talent and was determined to keep him under his control. But Sage Jieyin would not let Sage Zhunti have his way.

"Enough!"

Sage Jieyin cut off Sage Zhunti's words, fixing his gaze on him and speaking sternly: "Don't forget, I am the Great Sect Master of the Western Church!"

Sage Zhunti was stunned. He hadn't expected Sage Jieyin to use his authority as Great Sect Master to suppress him.

After all, to help Sage Jieyin seize the opportunity at Purple Cloud Palace, he had played the fool, tricking Ancestor Hongyun out of his seat.

For countless years, every dirty deed in the West had been done by him and his Spirit Platform Mountain. Before he became a sage, many great beings considered him shameless, and he knew it well.

But Sage Jieyin only needed to sit on his lotus throne, basking in the reverence and offerings of Western beings. All the good reputation—cutting flesh to feed the eagle, compassion and mercy—belonged to Sage Jieyin alone.

Sage Jieyin noticed Sage Zhunti's expression and realized his words had been too harsh. His voice softened as he spoke:

"Junior Brother, I was impulsive just now. I see everything you've done for the West. If I am the golden lotus bathed in sunlight, you are the root in the darkness."

"Only by working together can we strengthen the West and bring it to prosperity. You and I are equally important to the West. But sometimes, Junior Brother, you act too radically. Since your Spirit Platform Mountain lacks people, you can go to the East and convert a batch. Why must you choose disciples from My Teaching?"

Hearing this, Sage Zhunti's displeasure faded completely.

Just as Sage Zhunti was about to rise and leave, a boy in a blue-gray Daoist robe entered the hall, knelt immediately, and reported in a shrill voice: "Reporting to the two lords, this disciple has just received news that a change has occurred in the Intercepting Teaching. Daoist Duobao has lost his position, and Our Lady of Wudang has become the Eldest Senior Sister of the Intercepting Teaching."

"What?!"

The Two Sages of the West felt their hearts leap, but their faces betrayed nothing.

"Only ten thousand years, and Duobao has been stripped of his position as Eldest Senior Brother? What exactly happened?"

During the calamity, even sages could not deduce the Heavenly Secrets. The Western Church could only rely on its intelligence network to learn of the affairs of the Human, Chan, and Intercepting Teachings.

It had to be said, the Three Pure Ones relied too heavily on Heavenly Secrets. They had no awareness of intelligence. By the time of the Investiture of the Gods Calamity, the Chan and Intercepting Teachings—two great sage teachings—were being toyed with by a single Shen Gongbao.

The boy kept his back bent, not daring to look directly at the sages' holy faces. Perhaps due to nervousness, his voice grew even shriller: "It was Meng Chen. Meng Chen, the Eldest Senior Brother of the Chan Sect, made a move, suppressed Daoist Duobao, and forced him to kneel. As a result, Daoist Duobao lost any chance of controlling the Intercepting Teaching."

The Two Sages of the West felt as if they had lifted a rock only to drop it on their own feet.

Sage Zhunti waved his hand: "Go. Report anything at once."

"Yes!"

The boy in the blue-gray Daoist robe flicked his whisk, stepped back three paces, and turned to leave the hall.

Once the boy was gone, the faces of the Two Sages of the West darkened simultaneously.

Sage Zhunti spoke first: "Elder Brother, this is my fault. I chose the wrong person. They were too hasty—they tried to sow discord without even understanding the Chan Sect's strength. Now Daoist Duobao has fallen from favor, making it much harder to scheme against the Intercepting Teaching."

As the saying goes, fear not a godlike opponent, but a pig teammate. In the eyes of the Two Sages of the West, Daoist Duobao was Master Tongtian's pig teammate.

Following the principle that an enemy's pig teammate is one's own good friend, the Two Sages of the West had treated Daoist Duobao as a good friend.

Sage Jieyin shook his head:

"This is not your fault, Junior Brother. Blame our people for being too impatient. Scheming against a sage teaching is never easy. We must first destroy the Intercepting Teaching's internal structure before it can crumble and disintegrate. Duobao is a man of extreme ambition, arrogant and believing himself supreme above all. If he became the Eldest Senior Brother of the Intercepting Teaching, he would surely lead it toward decay. Then, with a slight push from us—spreading some demonic path techniques among the Intercepting Teaching—those disciples would inevitably succumb to temptation and begin cultivating demonic arts. Who could have guessed that our scheme would be stillborn before it even began?"

At this, Sage Zhunti's eyes began to dart. He was desperately thinking of ways to make up for the loss of Daoist Duobao's favor. To him, nothing was more important than defeating the Three Pure Ones and making the Western Church the foremost great tradition of the Primordial Wilderness.

Sage Jieyin was like a roundworm in Sage Zhunti's belly—the moment Sage Zhunti's eyes moved, he knew what Sage Zhunti intended to do.

But he was willing to wipe the butt for Sage Zhunti. The Western Church could not do without Sage Zhunti, and neither could he.

After a moment, Sage Zhunti suddenly spoke: "Elder Brother, I know a fellow Daoist in the Primordial Wilderness who has always yearned with heart and soul for our Western Church. I once promised him that if he accomplished a great deed for the Western Church, I would make him the Third Sect Master of the Western Church."

"Which fellow Daoist?"

Sage Jieyin didn't mind. Second Sect Master, Third Sect Master, Fourth Sect Master—these were all nominal titles. Only the Great Sect Master was the true leader of the Western Church.

"It is Daoist Ran Deng."

"Ran Deng?!"

Sage Jieyin was startled. This was a Primordial Saint! Daoist Ran Deng had only suffered from a late emergence; otherwise, his cultivation would surely be far greater now.

"Correct. I plan to have Daoist Ran Deng join the Chan Sect. Since the chess piece in the Intercepting Teaching cannot be moved for now, we will place a chess piece in the Chan Sect instead. When the time is right, both chess pieces in the Chan and Intercepting Teachings will act together."

Sage Zhunti had a great talent for playing with conspiracies and schemes. Otherwise, he could not have become the Darkness of the West.

"Good. Do as you say!"

Sage Jieyin nodded, agreeing to Sage Zhunti's proposal.