Western Religious Sect

Biodata

Power Progression

Background

Zhunti and Jieyin established the Western Religious Sect to restore order in the Western Land after the conflict between Dao Ancestor Hongjun and Devil Ancestor Luohou shattered the region's mountains and spiritual veins. Hongjun consequently owed the sect a karmic debt, later arranging opportunities for its rise. 445

At the beginning of the story, the sect was one of the West's two-Sage orthodoxies, but its barren homeland and limited strength left it obscure beside the Human Sect, Exposition Sect, and Jiejiao Sect. Mount Spirit Sacred Realm was its accumulated foundation, housing its disciples and serving as its central cultivation ground. 12 80

Teachings and Cultivation

The Western Religious Sect's doctrine centers on karma, reincarnation, the Five Precepts, the Ten Good Deeds, renunciation, self-perfection, and liberation from suffering. 315 320 321

Kong Zhongni challenged the sect's doctrine as self-focused and restrictive, contrasting it with Mahayana Buddhism's principles that “ferrying others is also ferrying oneself” and that everyone can become a Buddha. Dizang and several disciples were unable to answer the challenge; eight disciples developed Heart Demons rooted in doubt about their cultivation path. 321 323 324

Leadership and Followers

• Zhunti — Co-founder and Sage of the sect; wielded the Seven Treasures Wonderful Tree and repeatedly pursued control over the Six Paths of Reincarnation, Mahayana Buddhism, and Human Race Fortune. 169 227 428
• Jieyin — Co-founder and Sage of the sect; wielded the Twelve Grade Merit Golden Lotus and jointly directed the sect's eastern expansion. 227 309 317
• Dizang — Foremost direct disciple; held authority in the Underworld, led the first doctrinal mission into Qin, and later became a spokesperson for the New Church. 166 320 446
• Maitreya — Prominent disciple who assisted the sect's campaigns, supported Wutian's attempt to seize Mahayana Buddhism, and later served as a New Church spokesperson. 326 429 446
• Amitabha and Bodhi Patriarch — Three Corpses of Jieyin and Zhunti who led the attempted execution of Kong Zhongni. 326 327 332
• Wutian — Zhunti's self-severed reincarnated Split Soul, created to infiltrate Mahayana Buddhism and replace Kong Xuan as its leader. 428 429

Assets and Formations

• Mount Spirit Sacred Realm — The sect's foundation and sacred cultivation ground; Master Tongtian threatened to destroy it with a Heavenly Giant Sword. 80
• Seven Treasures Wonderful Tree — Zhunti's foundational treasure, said to brush away and block Artifact attacks. 227 367
• Twelve Grade Merit Golden Lotus — Jieyin's foundational defensive treasure and an Innate Supreme Treasure associated with the sect's fortune. 227 251
• Relics — Limited but valuable products of the sect's cultivation system; Dizang supplied them to train Xiqi's forces. 195
• Five Primordial Direction Banners — Assembled by Dizang as a formation-breaking tool comparable to the Twelve Grade Merit Golden Lotus. 247
• Nine-Petal Eight-Direction Formation — A Buddhist defensive formation supported by one hundred thousand immortal soldiers; with the sect's two foundational treasures inside, it became exceptionally difficult to breach. 367

Relationships

• Master Tongtian and the Jiejiao Sect — Major rivals. Tongtian accused the sect of plotting against Jiejiao, attacked Mount Spirit, and later blocked Zhunti's intervention with the Zhuxian Sword Formation. 79 80 273
• Human Race — Intended source of believers and Human Race Fortune; the sect viewed wartime suffering and political fragmentation as ideal conditions for expanding its teachings. 309 315 317
• Goddess Houtu and the Wu Clan — Opposed the sect's Underworld ambitions. Houtu removed Dizang's authority over the Underworld, ending the sect's Six Paths of Reincarnation scheme. 166 172
• Kong Zhongni — Principal ideological enemy. His Mahayana teachings disrupted the sect's first mission into Qin, induced Heart Demons in its disciples, and triggered the split that followed. 321 324 325
• Mahayana Buddhism — Schismatic rival born from the sect's doctrinal conflict. Its Heavenly Dao-recognized establishment drew away at least half of the sect's disciples. 331 332
• New Church — Institutional successor founded after the Western Religious Sect's dissolution; Maitreya and Dizang became its spokespersons. 446

Story Role / Major Arcs

Mount Spirit confrontation

The sect was suspected of exploiting the Canonization of the Gods to provoke conflict between the Exposition and Jiejiao Sects, allowing it to profit from their losses. Master Tongtian confronted Zhunti at Mount Spirit, attacked the Sacred Realm, and threatened to deploy the Zhuxian Sword Formation before the Saints moved their dispute into Chaos. 77 78 80

Six Paths of Reincarnation scheme

Through Dizang, the sect steadily acquired authority over the Underworld, reducing the Wu Clan's Merit and undermining its recovery. When King Zhou brought the Wu Clan into the Human Race, Zhunti and Jieyin intervened because the Six Paths were crucial to their future prosperity; Houtu's return ultimately stripped Dizang of his authority and destroyed the scheme. 166 169 172 175

Eastern transmission and the Mahayana split

Zhunti and Jieyin ended their seclusion and dispatched disciples to spread their teachings in the Human Race. Dizang's first mission to Qin instead became a public defeat: Kong Zhongni's arguments shook the disciples' faith and delayed the sect's propagation plans. 309 320 321 324

The sect responded by sending selected disciples and Sage Three Corpses to eliminate Kong Zhongni. While it pursued him, Laozi and Kong Xuan established Mahayana Buddhism in the Western Regions; its recognition by the Heavenly Dao caused a large-scale conversion among the sect's disciples. 326 331 332

Attempted seizure of Mahayana Buddhism

Unable to eliminate Mahayana Buddhism outright, Zhunti reincarnated a Split Soul as Wutian to infiltrate it from within. Wutian challenged Kong Xuan's authority at the Ten Thousand Buddha Assembly and sought to replace him as leader, but the scheme failed after Li Shimin turned the battle around; the sect lost Wutian without recovering control. 428 430 442

Dissolution and legacy

After the failure of its old structure, Zhunti and Jieyin appealed to Hongjun for permission to establish a new church among humanity. They dissolved the Western Religious Sect, founded the New Church, and used teachings of love, peace, salvation, and eternal life to rapidly win followers amid human conflict. 445 446

Within five years, the New Church surpassed Mahayana Buddhism in followers. The Human Race Fortune it gathered enabled Zhunti and Jieyin to merge into God, whose power rivaled the Three Pure Ones. 446 447