Tathagata's Failed Ascension

Spirit Mountain, Mahavira Hall.

Tathagata sat cross-legged atop the ninth-grade Golden Lotus of Merit.

Above his head, three phantom figures sat cross-legged, arranged in the formation of heaven, earth, and man.

The phantom on the left wore a compassionate expression, Buddha Light shining all around him.

The phantom on the right radiated murderous aura and wore a black robe.

The phantom in the center showed neither sorrow nor joy, his aura the most profound of the three.

They were his Good Corpse, Evil Corpse, and Obsession Corpse.

Vast waves of peak Quasi-Sage power rippled around each of the three corpses.

The three corpses occupied their respective positions and gradually merged, yet they could never fully draw close.

Tathagata activated the last of the Merit within him, forging it into a golden chain as he tried to draw the three corpses together and unite them.

The instant the chain touched the three corpses, an immense repulsive force exploded between them.

This was already the fourth time.

The previous three times had all ended the same way.

Once the three corpses drew within a certain distance of one another, an extraordinarily powerful repulsive force would arise.

That rejection did not come from any outside force, but from the three corpses themselves, as though they had been born never meant to become one.

After the previous failures, Tathagata could still console himself—perhaps the time had not come, his cultivation was not ripe enough, or his state of mind was impure.

Yet Jieyin and Zhunti had poured the full fortune of Buddhism into protecting his path. His power of Merit had already become abundant to an unimaginable degree.

The conditions for ascension had surely been met. They had absolutely been met.

Yet the three corpses still could not fully merge.

Tathagata clenched his teeth