The Hundred Schools First Raise Their Voices, Hidden Pieces Lie in Wait Among the Human Race

On the Shore of the East Sea, outside a Human Race settlement, the atmosphere was subtle.

Maitreya of the Western Teachings wore a beaming smile, soft Buddhist Light radiating from his body and stirring a sense of closeness in all who saw him;

Medicine Master held a medicine gourd, from which the faint fragrance of herbs and plants wafted, clearly showing his mastery of the medicinal Dao;

Mahasthamaprapta's precious banner was solemn and majestic, while Sanskrit chants drifted low through the air.

They were in no hurry to enter the Human Race settlement. They merely chose a patch of level ground at its edge, and with a wave of their hands, golden lotus platforms rose up. The three sat upon them and began expounding the wonders of the Western Pure Land.

"All Beings suffer. Birth, aging, sickness, death; the parting of loved ones, the meeting of those one hates... Only by entering my Western Pure Land may one attain eternal bliss and cast off the suffering of reincarnation."

Maitreya's voice was gentle, yet carried a strange power of persuasion. Some Human Race members laboring nearby could not help stopping what they were doing and pricking up their ears to listen.

Not far away, Duobao the Daoist of the Jie Teachings led several junior brothers and sisters, presenting an entirely different scene.

They walked straight into the midst of the Human Race. Duobao conjured several simple farming tools and fishing nets, then demonstrated on the spot how to improve their use;

with a light wave of one junior sister's delicate hand, sweet rain fell and moistened the parched land nearby;

another junior brother displayed a method for taming wild beasts, drawing wave after wave of astonished exclamations. The Jie Teachings disciples acted with carefree ease, chatting and laughing with the Human