Three Invitations, Three Refusals: White Bone Becomes a Buddha Patriarch, and I Become Universal Manifestation Tathagata

Boom!

Daoist Jieyin's voice echoed through the Scripture Pavilion.

Every monk present, and even some of the gods and Buddhas,

wore expressions of utter shock and disbelief.

After all, the Buddhist Sect already had Ancient Buddha Randeng of the past, Tathagata Buddha Patriarch of the present, Buddha Maitreya of the future, and the Five Directional Buddhas.

Together, they had established the foundation of the Western Teachings

and the very basis of Buddhism's rule over the world!!!

This was an unshakable, indestructible order, everything countless Saints had always understood. It was also proof of the Western Flourishing they took such pride in!

But who could have known

that a Saint would suddenly propose making this monk, who had swept the Scripture Pavilion for countless Yuan Hui, a Buddha Patriarch who could found a new branch?

What an immense honor and exalted position that would be!!!

For a moment,

countless eyes, brimming with envy, jealousy, and hatred, fixed on White Bone.

Some monks were so overcome by anger and delusion that they wished they could take that skeleton's place and become the Buddha Patriarch of a new Buddhist branch!!

Yet

to the surprise of everyone present,

even Daoist Jieyin, White Bone refused Jieyin's gift.

"Amitabha. The Buddhist Sect already has the Three Ages Buddhas—the past, present, and future—to govern the world. The Western Teachings have a firm foundation, the Buddhist Sect flourishes, and the Western Lands are poised to rise. There is no need for another so-called Buddha Patriarch."

White Bone shook his head. "If I became a Buddha Patriarch, I would do nothing but plunge the foundation of the Buddhist Sect's rule into confusion and suspicion, leaving countless believers, gods, and Buddhas alarmed. I could bring no great change to the Buddhist Sect as it stands, and whether I took the