Tripitaka.
It was the name that had suddenly surfaced in Shinichi's mind when he saw that Golden Cicada beneath the old tree by the roadside on his way back to the village.
He had considered it repeatedly before. The new Clone's name should preferably have ties to the Buddhist School, yet it could not directly borrow the World-Honored One's title.
If that old gentleman truly existed in this world in some form, karma was no laughing matter.
So, taking a step back and naming him after one of the Buddhist School's seekers of the Dharma or cultivators was the safest choice.
Tripitaka was perhaps the most universally recognized name for a monk in his homeland in his previous life.
Historically, he had been a great seeker of the Dharma who had journeyed west alone, traveled thousands of miles through dozens of countries, and returned with the true scriptures after seventeen years. But in the more widely known legends, his image had long surpassed that of the rigorous historical monk. In that legendary novel known to every household, he had been given a far more fantastical identity.
He had once been Jin Chanzi, the World-Honored One's second disciple. Banished to the mortal world for slighting the Buddhist teachings, he was reincarnated as Tang Sanzang, the scripture seeker who led four disciples across a hundred and eight thousand miles toward the Western Heaven. After enduring eighty-one trials, he obtained the true scriptures and achieved enlightenment.
Tripitaka originally referred to the three repositories of scriptures, discipline, and treatises. The name had a natural connection to the Buddhist School, yet unlike titles such as World-Honored One or Buddha, it did not carry excessively weighty karma. It also perfectly suited this Clone's role. He was not an enlightened one who had attained Buddhahood from the