Dao Realm Buddhist Kingdom, All Worlds Coexisting

On the Ancestral Kunlun Vein, Xuan Yin rode the clouds and mist, light blooming beneath his feet as he traveled through countless mountains and valleys. Admiring Mount Kunlun's peerless scenery, he threw back his head and sang, "Seasons change and stars shift through countless autumns; all my years were given to the dust of the Dao. When empty splendor fades, the fool's dream disperses, and only then does one realize the mortal world mistakes falsehood for truth."

"Having pursued the Dao for thirty thousand years, only today did I finally understand the wonder of immortality!"

The divine mountain stood towering and majestic, its peak brushing the heavens and its roots anchoring the Primordial World. Within this Primordial World, only Buzhou Mountain could surpass the Ancestral Kunlun Vein!

Especially since the Great Luo Heavens of the Three Pure Ones manifested here. Merely a trace of their leaked Dao aura was enough to make cultivators below the Heavenly Immortal Realm unable to move a step. Those capable of riding clouds here were either disciples of sages or beings who had already attained the Grand Unity Dao Fruit.

"Attained the Dao?"

As Xuan Yin contemplated the wonder of immortality, an ill-timed voice sounded beside his ear. "This Humble Daoist cultivated to Golden Immortal for an entire Epoch and still dared not claim to have attained the Dao. You are merely a True Immortal—what right do you have to say you have attained the Dao? What outrageous arrogance!"

The newcomer stood atop auspicious clouds, wearing a Jade Purity Ruyi Crown and holding a Pure Glazed Vase. Who else could it be but Daoist Cihang of the Exposition Sect?

Xuan Yin turned back and smiled. "Give greatly, gain greatly; give little, gain little. Cultivation is the same. How can superiority be judged by realm alone?"

"To ordinary mortal beings, becoming immortal is attaining the Dao. To innate beings, perhaps only becoming a Grand Unity Golden Immortal counts as attaining the Dao!"

"And for Grand Unity beings, a sage's Dao Fruit is like an illusion. Through endless ages, only a few have ever managed to pluck the fruit of sagehood!"

"How can all things be judged by one standard?"

Looking at Daoist Cihang before him, Xuan Yin shook his head. "Fellow Daoist Cihang, those words of yours have instead lowered your own Great Dao to an inferior path!"

On the path of cultivation, every step forward could be called attaining the Dao. Otherwise, with the Great Dao boundless, how many could ever glimpse its ultimate end?

Cihang knew he had misspoken, but for a moment, he did not know how to refute him.

He had come this time to repay karma. Thirty thousand years ago, when Xuan Yin broke through to the True Immortal Realm, he had also taken the opportunity to enlighten an Other-Self Incarnation, making his own Dao Fruit slightly more complete.

Naturally, he now owed a karmic debt.

But as a Chan Sect Disciple, those he usually encountered were his fellow disciples. Seeing Xuan Yin, he naturally wanted to test his mettle.

After all...

As a Direct Disciple of the Chan Sect, he naturally knew of the Great Dao Struggle between the Two Sages!

It was precisely because of this that he had grown curious about Jie Sect Disciples. Yet when he saw that Xuan Yin had only broken through to the True Immortal Realm thirty thousand years ago and already behaved so uninhibitedly, he could not help speaking mockingly!

"Young Friend's reasoning is quite interesting. It carries a certain breadth of spirit!"

A golden path suddenly emerged in the void. An immortal-looking Daoist rode upon a Plum Blossom Deer and came through the clouds. The Dao aura around him held an intent of perfected Nirvanic Extinction Dao.

The Daoist was exceedingly familiar, immediately giving a Daoist salute and introducing himself. "This Humble Daoist is Randeng, of Lingjiu Mountain Yuanjue Cave. I came to pay a visit to Sage Yuanshi, but never expected to witness two outstanding disciples of the Chan Sect and Jie Sect arguing here! Why not grant This Humble Daoist a little face and let the matter rest?"

Randeng?

Xuan Yin's heart skipped a beat.

Naturally, he was no stranger to Randeng—the Chan Sect's vice sect leader, the Buddhist Sect's Buddha of the Past, and the one who had taken Zhao Gongming's twenty-four Sea Calming Pearls!

Yet Daoist Randeng had not currently become the Chan Sect's vice sect leader. Everything still belonged to a future that had not happened!

But for some reason, Xuan Yin sensed a trace of Buddhist Dharma from him.

"So it is Senior Randeng!"

Daoist Cihang immediately saluted. "My master is waiting for your arrival in the Jade Purity Hall!"

Something was wrong!

Terribly wrong!

He was certain that his senses could not be mistaken, yet he could not understand why Daoist Randeng already carried a trace of the Buddhist Sect's Buddha of the Past aura when he had not yet become the Chan Sect's vice sect leader.

Still, Randeng's cultivation was higher than his, so Xuan Yin offered a salute. "Greetings, Senior Randeng!"

Whether as the Chan Sect's vice sect leader, the Buddhist Sect's Buddha of the Past, or one of the three thousand guests of the Purple Heaven Palace, Daoist Randeng held those titles because he possessed Grand Unity cultivation.

Randeng gave a slight nod.

Daoist Cihang then activated the Pure Glazed Vase and drew forth ten drops of Three Light Divine Water. "Let this settle the karma between us!"

With that, he did not look back, leading Daoist Randeng toward the Jade Purity Hall.

"What exactly is going on?"

Seeing this, Xuan Yin immediately put away the Three Light Divine Water. Countless thoughts flashed through his mind as he tried to understand the karma surrounding Daoist Randeng.

"Stop thinking about it!"

Just as Xuan Yin pondered, the Water-Fire Gourd appeared, and the voice of Xuan Shuang, the Water Qilin, rang out. "Grand Unity Golden Immortals are not bound by time and space. Randeng becoming the Buddhist Sect's Buddha of the Past is also an ordained certainty beneath the Heavenly Dao!"

"After this day, Randeng will become the Chan Sect's vice sect leader. Yet in the future, through Cihang's Reverse Ride, he will invert his own karma and go to the Garden of Solitude of the Buddhist Sect to attain the position of Buddha of the Past!"

The Immortal Dao had the Purple Heaven Palace, while the Buddhist Sect also had the Garden of Solitude. Both places transcended all worlds and were not bound by the time and space of past, present, or future.

These two places existed in the past, in the future, and in the present. Only those who attained Grand Unity could travel there through their Grand Unity Dao bodies.

"The Amitabha Sutra says: At one time, the Buddha dwelt in Savatthi, in Jeta Grove Anathapindika's Park, together with twelve hundred and fifty great bhikkhus."

Xuan Shuang, the Water Qilin, explained, "The Immortal Dao was established during the Purple Heaven Palace's three sermons, while the Buddhist Dao was perfected when the Dharma was expounded in the Garden of Solitude!"

Xuan Yin did not understand. He had intended to ask, but Xuan Shuang, the Water Qilin, took the initiative to ask, "Do you know why the Mystic Gate's Three Pure Ones are stronger than the Two Sages of the West? Why does the Mystic Gate now dominate alone?"

For a moment, countless answers flashed through Xuan Yin's mind: Pangu's inheritance, the merit of opening heaven, and the supreme treasures held by several sages...

But none of them felt right!

Thus, he could only look toward Xuan Shuang, the Water Qilin, hoping she would give him an answer.

"It is because the Three Pure Ones are one!"

Xuan Shuang, the Water Qilin, slowly said, "Once Grand Unity is attained, it is attained forever. Past, present, and future coexist. But Grand Unity beings from the past or future can never be a match for the present Grand Unity in the current time and space!"

"Among the Mystic Gate's three sages, Sage Yuanshi represents the past, the Grand Pure Sage governs the present, and Sage Tongtian controls the karma of the future!"

"The Three Pure Ones combine into Pangu. They have anchors in the past, present, and future. As long as one remains, it is equivalent to all three sages being present!"

Xuan Yin suddenly understood.

In theory, Grand Unity Golden Immortals were omniscient and omnipotent. But as long as there were two or more Grand Unity beings, their authorities would overlap.

Everything they glimpsed might have been woven by another Grand Unity being. At that point, true omniscience and omnipotence naturally did not exist.

Sages, however, existed alongside heaven and endured with the Dao. In theory, they surpassed ordinary Grand Unity beings, and their Great Daos could extend across more timelines.

The Three Pure Ones had each attained the Dao in the past, present, and future. This meant that across different time and spaces, they could suppress other Grand Unity beings.

Naturally, the Buddhist Sect would not sit and wait for death.

If the Three Pure Ones were allowed to continue like this, how could the Buddhist Sect ever rise in the endless reaches of time and space?

That was why there came to be the three Buddhist positions of Buddha of the Past, Present Buddha, and Future Buddha, standing against the Mystic Gate's Three Pure Ones throughout the endless River of Time and Space!

Normally, these three fruits of attainment could not contend with sages. But the Buddhist Sect also had the two sages Jieyin and Zhunti.

Their status was sufficient!

As long as they shared their own status with the three Buddhas, they could contend with the Mystic Gate and divide the River of Time and Space equally with it!