"Because a fight broke out inside Thunderclap Temple."
Even Zheng Fa was bewildered, wondering if he had misheard, and asked blankly, "What?"
"Among the Five Direction Buddhas, the Western Immeasurable Buddha Ancestor and the Northern Jewel-Born Buddha Ancestor Ratnasambhava have joined forces to fight against the Eastern Glazed Buddha Ancestor Virudhaka and the Southern Amoghasiddhi Buddha Ancestor. Although no war has broken out, they are already irreconcilable enemies."
Not only Zheng Fa, but even Daoist Guhong and his group felt their eyes had been opened.
Everything in the Western Continent sounds like a complete mess.
"Why?" Daoist Guhong pressed, "Why did the four of them, including Glazed Buddha Ancestor, become enemies? Doesn't Thunderclap Temple have Lu Mo and Thunderclap Buddha Ancestor? Even if something happens to Lu Mo, wouldn't Thunderclap Buddha Ancestor just abandon him?"
The Peacock Great Emperor shook his head, a hint of confusion on his face. "This matter, in fact, originated with the Thunderclap Buddha Ancestor."
"What's the meaning?"
"After Lu Mo went into seclusion, he suddenly issued a decree stating that the World-Honored One had assumed the throne, and the position of Master of Thunderclap Temple would be inherited by the Future Buddha."
The three Daoist Guhong turned their heads at the same time and looked at Zheng Fa without prior agreement.
Zheng Fa blinked. "Am I, the perfectly respectable Sect Leader the Nine Mountains Sect, about to become the Thunderclap Buddha Ancestor?"
"Of course not Sect Leader Zheng. The Thunderclap Buddha Ancestor said in his decree that he would select someone from among the myriad beings of the Western Continent whose aptitude, Buddhist teachings, and Law Power are all of the highest Higher Vehicle, and entrust them with the important task of leading the Thunderclap Buddha Land."
This statement only deepened everyone's confusion.
The Lunar Fairy frowned and asked, "How do we choose?"
"That's the problem—" the Peacock Great Emperor sighed, "I don't know where this rumor came from, but it says that in the Western Continent, the Higher Vehicle innate Law Power and magical power are a few Golden Immortal— "
"So they started fighting?"
"At first, there was only a subtle dissatisfaction among them, and some disputes among the disciples. But later, neither Thunderclap Buddha Ancestor nor Lu Mo stepped in to restrain them, and the four of them gradually harbored resentment. They also seemed to gradually believe the rumors, and each of them had already recruited their own troops and territories. Before I left, the Western Continent had already been divided into four parts, plus Jade Pool, that makes five parts."
Zheng Fa was a little confused by what he heard.
He never expected that giving the Pure Land would cause so many changes at Thunderclap Temple.
In truth, the ideas of the four Glazed Buddha Ancestor were not without merit.
Their ability to attain the status of Golden Immortal stems from their exceptional understanding of Buddhism, their unique background, and their exceptional personality—qualities that are extremely rare.
If the Future Buddha were to be chosen, their chances would be the greatest, while their competitors would likely be other Golden Immortal Buddha Ancestor.
"How could this be?" Daoist Guhong was even more bewildered. "Has the Thunderclap Buddha Ancestor gone mad? He doesn't even care about the infighting among the four Glazed Buddha Ancestor?"
Zheng Fa shook his head slightly, understanding that this matter was probably related to the Earth Emperor Corpse.
Otherwise, this self-destructive act cannot be explained—under the infighting among the four Buddhas, Thunderclap Temple had essentially fallen apart, so how could it possibly unite against external threats in the future?
"How could Glazed Buddha Ancestor and the others believe such outrageous rumors?" Lunar Fairy also raised a crucial question. "Beside Thunderclap Temple, there's the Supreme Dao and our Nine Mountains Sect, both of which pose a great threat to them. How could they be so unwise?"
Zheng Fa also looked at the Peacock Great Emperor, which was also what puzzled him the most.
You could call the Glazed Buddha Ancestor and others domineering and wicked, but they are definitely not stupid.
" The Western Continent possesses the Great Vajra Dharma Realm." The Peacock Great Emperor looked at Zheng Fa, "Even the Sect Leader probably wouldn't dare enter this Dharma Realm, would he?"
Whom do you think you are? I—I really wouldn't dare.
The changes at Thunderclap Temple were too strange. He now suspected that the Earth Emperor Corpse had been resurrected, and that even Thunderclap Buddha Ancestor and Lu Mo were under his control.
To be honest, he was a little panicked, feeling that the Nine Mountains Sect was the one that needed the protection of the Great Vajra Dharma Realm.
"On the other hand, the Glazed Buddha Ancestor and the others certainly know that internal strife will bring endless trouble," the Peacock Great Emperor continued. "But the decree of the Thunderclap Buddha Ancestor states that there is a Twelve-Grade Purifying-World White Lotus in the Pure Land. Whoever can become Future Buddha can use this supreme treasure to instantly become Grand Unity Golden Immortal."
"For the sake of the Grand Unity Golden Immortal —of course they'll disregard everything else."
Everyone then understood; what he said made sense. If one could achieve the Grand Unity Golden Immortal, then the current struggle would be nothing.
"So you were kicked out?" Daoist Guhong understood. "They were afraid you'd compete with them?"
The Peacock Great Emperor nodded slowly, looking miserable. "I'm an outsider at Thunderclap Temple, not one of their allies, and I'm all alone. They either want to force me to surrender or kill me, so I had no choice but to the Western Continent."
"That's not right!" Daoist Guhong suddenly realized something, frowning as he exclaimed, "What you told me is different! You said Lu Mo has already attained enlightenment and even ordered us to rebel against the Nine Mountains Sect— "
The Three Overseas Immortals all looked at the Peacock Great Emperor.
The Peacock Great Emperor's expression shifted repeatedly, and he remained silent.
You lied to us?
Daoist Guhong understood.
The expression on the face of the Archaic Lord was as if he had eaten shit.
"I'm not lying to you. Before I left, I made a special trip to see Lu Mo. The Five-Element Magnetic Divine Mountain was given to me by him specifically."
So this is the only real one?
The Peacock Great Emperor was once again speechless.
The Archaic Lord suddenly stood up, as if about to make a move.
Zheng Fa quickly waved his hand to stop them; he could understand the feelings of the Three Reclusive Immortals.
The Peacock Great Emperor, with his thick eyebrows and big eyes, actually fooled a whole group of people.
To put it bluntly, the Peacock Great Emperor is just using someone else's name to make a big deal out of nothing. If we follow his plan and rely on the Five-Element Magnetic Divine Mountain to avoid the Thick-Earth Magnetism Formation, and with the help of the Three Reclusive Immortals, the four Golden Immortal working together, then he really has a great chance of becoming the ruler of the Northern Continent.
"Why—" Daoist Guhong's face was also very ugly as he pressed for an answer.
The Peacock Great Emperor seemed to know what he wanted to ask and said directly, "The conflict between humans and demons in the Northern Continent is fierce, almost to the point of irreconcilable differences. What would you do if I told you that I was driven out by the Four Direction Buddhas?"
The Daoist Guhong was speechless.
What will happen?
Of course, we should take the old Peacock's head to the Supreme Dao or the Nine Mountains Sect to ask for a reward!
"That's all the Peacock Great Emperor said?"
At the Grand Elders' Council, everyone fell into a long silence as they digested this astonishing news.
It was Uncle-Master Pang who spoke first, asking Zheng Fa a question.
He said that since he was an outsider, he had never seen the decree of the Thunderclap Buddha Ancestor, and Lu Mo gave him a strange feeling—like the original Lu Mo, yet with obvious differences. He could only guess and dared not inquire further.
Uncle-Master Pang nodded slowly, then looked at Nine Nether Emperor and asked, "What does Your Majesty think?"
Everyone looked at Nine Nether Emperor, who was the only one with a higher Nine Nether Emperor level and could understand the thoughts of Grand Unity or even those above Grand Unity.
To everyone's surprise, the Nine Nether Emperor looked at Mu Qingyan, who had been specially invited to listen in, and instead of answering, asked, "I have never met the Emperor and know nothing about him. Why don't we hear what the Water Mother has to say first?"
The Water Mother phantom behind Mu Qingyan hesitated for a moment, seemingly uncertain, before saying, "I've never actually seen the Emperor. He didn't appear in the Heavenly Palace, nor on the God-Investiture Register; all that remained were his whispers."
Zheng Fa nodded slightly.
He can still control the Grand Array of Heavenly Stars, so he naturally understands that what remains on the Heavenly Emperor's throne in the Heavenly Palace is actually just instinct. The Emperor's Heavenly Emperor Corpse has never appeared. He doesn't know whether it died or disappeared, or whether it is somewhere else.
"I can't say for sure what the specifics of the Earth Emperor Corpse in the Pure Land are, but one thing is certain: the changes at Thunderclap Temple are probably related to the Earth Emperor Corpse, and perhaps it was his arrangement."
The Nine Nether Emperor's expression changed slightly, and he finally sighed with a bitter smile, "So, it seems that the Thunderclap Buddha Ancestor was indeed controlled by him?"
The Water Mother nodded slowly, and everyone fell silent again.
This is a bit scary.
If the Thunderclap Buddha Ancestor was controlled long ago, wouldn't the Earth Emperor Corpse have awakened already?
If it can control a Grand Unity Golden Immortal, what kind of power does the Earth Emperor Corpse possess?
Zheng Fa tapped the armrest of his chair and said, "I was actually quite puzzled before as to why the Thunderclap Buddha Ancestor would hand over Thunderclap Temple to Lu Mo to manage."
Everyone was stunned for a moment before realizing that something was wrong.
"Firstly Lu Mo is not a member of Thunderclap Temple; secondly, the Thunderclap Buddha Ancestor is not dead. Giving away Thunderclap Temple entirely like this seems far too generous."
Upon hearing this, Uncle-Master Pang's expression became somewhat strange: "I had my doubts too—"
"We? Originally?"
Zheng Fa looked at his Uncle-Master Pang with curiosity.
What happened next?
"That's why I thought of your master first." Uncle-Master Pang glanced at Old Yuan, then added, "And then I thought of you. The position of the Nine Mountains Sect Leader is like a hot potato to you."
Everyone burst into laughter, and the tense atmosphere was instantly dispelled by Uncle-Master Pang's words.
Zheng Fa smiled and shook his head, continuing, "I originally thought it was about the same, but now it seems that the abdication of the Thunderclap Buddha Ancestor to Lu Mo and Lu Mo's sudden intention to pass on the throne to the Future Buddha are not much different, are they?"
Senior Sister Zhang understood his meaning and asked, "You mean, the Earth Emperor Corpse needs the two of them to pass on its position?"
"I think so," Zheng Fa said. "He might even need—three Grand Unity?"
Everyone immediately understood the meaning behind Zheng Fa's words.
"You mean, if he wants to escape this predicament and even re-establish his Dao, he needs three Golden Immortal at the Grand Unity level?"
"Otherwise, there's no explanation for why he would bother with this 'Future Buddha' thing."
After pondering for a while, the Nine Nether Emperor nodded and said, "If the Earth Emperor Corpse is truly the original Lord of the Netherworld, then it's possible that he possesses the ability to merge three lifetimes—do you still remember the Tribulation-Transference Enlightenment Method?"
These words further solidified everyone's belief.
If three Golden Immortal could unite and attain the Grand Luo, then if three Grand Unity- level cultivators were to unite, the Earth Emperor Corpse might actually be able to recover its cultivation.
Uncle-Master Pang asked, "Then why would he need to use someone else as his three incarnations?"
"Because he can't get out, even now, the Pure Land seems to be able to suppress him, so he can only regard other cultivators as his three incarnations."
"But how did he do it?" Uncle-Master Pang was still puzzled. " The Tribulation-Transference Enlightenment Method requires one to reincarnate personally—"
Zheng Fa's expression was also somewhat strange. "I have a guess. The Xuanwei Realm is the transformed Human Sovereign Corpse of the Emperor. To him, we are probably no different from anyone else."
"----This----This----"
"Of course, this is just my guess. We can hardly figure out the specifics based on the limited information the Peacock Great Emperor has."
After thinking for a while, the Water Mother suddenly raised its question, "Even if he needs a third Grand Unity Golden Immortal, why let the Thunderclap Temple fight amongst itself?"
This time, without Zheng Fa needing to answer, Senior Sister Zhang spoke directly, "Because he wants to destroy Thunderclap Temple."
" Pure Land? He wants to destroy Pure Land?"
Everyone suddenly realized what was going on.
"That makes sense now," the Nine Nether Emperor murmured. "Cultivating a third Grand Unity Golden Immortal isn't enough; he also needs to completely destroy the Pure Land before he can truly escape."
"But the Pure Land is the most precious treasure of Buddhist School Sage; how can it be so easily destroyed?"
"Perhaps, causing chaos at Thunderclap Temple, or even destroying the Buddhist School, would have some negative impact on the Pure Land."
Uncle-Master Pang nodded and said, "Neither Thunderclap Buddha Ancestor nor Lu Mo can probably intervene. Therefore, the best solution would be to instigate internal strife within Thunderclap Temple, and incidentally—raise Gu poison? It's truly killing two birds with one stone."
Zheng Fa felt a little depressed after hearing this. To be honest, he had never regretted using the Golden Lotus to break the Pure Land in order to save his life. However, the Earth Emperor Corpse had obviously benefited a lot from this incident, and now it had become a big problem.
If the Western Continent were to give birth to a third Grand Unity Golden Immortal, Zheng Fa wouldn't even dare to imagine the cultivation level of this Earth Emperor Corpse after its Three Corpses Unite.
What do we do?
"That's what the Old Yuan said."
The faces of everyone in the Grand Elders' Council were somewhat grim. This was a Grand Luo Golden Immortal of the Primordial Hunyuan. How could their Nine Mountains Sect possibly defeat him?
Even the Water Mother looked somewhat desperate, and the atmosphere became gloomy and desolate.
Zheng Fa and Senior Sister Zhang exchanged a glance, nodded slightly, and said, "We are not entirely without the ability to fight back."
"Firstly, the Grand Array of Heavenly Stars. Once perfected, this array will possess the power of Hunyuan Grand Luo Golden Immortal."
"Isn't that also caused by the emperor's Heavenly Emperor Corpse?"
"Our research on the Grand Array of Heavenly Stars is quite in-depth; perhaps we can find a way to utilize it."
The Nine Nether Emperor opened his mouth, wanting to ask if there was any way—but looking at Zheng Fa's face, he couldn't bring himself to ask.
He pursed his lips, chuckling inwardly. If even Zheng Fa couldn't do it, then perhaps no one could truly master Xuanwei.
There's nothing to ask.
The other members of the Grand Elders' Council breathed a sigh of relief, seemingly believing that Zheng Fa could find a solution if he said so, and they even had a bit of blind trust in him.
Before Zheng Fa could finish speaking, he continued, "Secondly, we should establish intelligence channels in the Western Continent."
.
He focused his gaze on the Water Mother.
You mean the Hundred Flowers?
The Water Mother suddenly realized.
The Hundred Flowers Heavenly Maiden is the predecessor of the Blissful Heavenly Maiden.
Zheng Fa nodded slightly. "It would be best if we could control Jade Pool, discover the changes in the Western Continent, and even try to thwart the Earth Emperor Corpse's conspiracy."
How to obstruct?
Zheng Fa smiled gently, "To save Buddhist School."
The Taishang the Nine Mountains Sect were momentarily dazed.
They say fortunes change like a wheel, but this one has changed way too fast.
They were fighting to the death with Thunderclap Temple not long ago, but now they're thinking about how to save them, afraid that the other side might actually be dead.
However, they could also understand Zheng Fa's intentions. From the current perspective, if Buddhist School still existed, or even if the Pure Land could be restored, then the Earth Emperor Corpse would have a hard time escaping.
From this perspective, the Nine Mountains Sect truly has an inescapable responsibility to restore the glory of Buddhist School.