Shakyamuni descended slowly upon a white elephant. His gaze swept over the mountainside, and with a turn of his palm, Sumeru Divine Thunder crashed down at his command. Boom! It blasted open a broad stretch of level ground.
Sword Qi moved across the mountain rock like carving blades, chiseling and outlining. In mere moments, pavilions and terraces rose in scattered tiers, exquisite towers stood in delicate array, red walls gleamed beneath the sun, green tiles breathed mist, winding streams curled around the steps, rockeries layered in green, lotus ponds rippled with waves, and a faint fragrance drifted through the air—a scene of pure solemnity, a wondrous realm wrought by heaven itself.
"Excellent, excellent! This mountain lies at the heart of the primordial wilderness; only it is worthy of the eight-word true saying: 'Above heaven and below earth, I alone am supreme.'" He nodded and smiled, his expression delighted.
At the waist of Mount Sumeru, forty-two thousand yojanas up, the palaces of the Thirty-three Heavens rose layer upon layer: above them, doubled in height, was Yama Heaven; above that, doubled again, was Tushita Heaven; above Tushita lay the Heaven of Blissful Transformations; above that, the Heaven of Mastery over others' Transformations; higher still were the dwelling places of the Brahma heavens.
Beyond the mountain stretched the boundless salt sea, its waters black as ink. Even goose feathers sank to its depths, and skiffs could scarcely cross it—only by taking merit as one's boat and wisdom as one's oars could one traverse this sea of tribulations, unfathomable in its mysteries.
Dipamkara Buddha raised his head and gazed upward, his eyes full of envy. Cupping his hands, he praised, "Our Buddhist sect has gained another sacred realm of ultimate bliss. This truly is our great fortune! World Honored One, your divine powers are