Western Heaven, Spirit Mountain.
Atop Spirit Mountain, where clouds and mist drifted in ethereal haze.
Buddha Light shone everywhere, bells rang long and melodious, and waves of Sanskrit chanting carried a power that shook one awake and pierced straight into the heart.
Great Leiyin Temple, Mahavira Hall.
Tathagata sat high upon the Twelve-Rank Golden Lotus Platform. Behind him to either side stood Kasyapa and Ananda in white robes, while below his seat, Jin Chanzi in white and the other eight great disciples lowered their brows and stood with palms upright upon the Golden Lotus Platform.
Farther down, five hundred Arhats sat cross-legged on the golden floor, eyes closed as they recited Buddhist scriptures.
Whether the ten great disciples or the five hundred Arhats, all were believers and disciples who had been willing to follow Tathagata before he attained Buddhahood, back when he had traveled through the four directions of the Western Continent to spread the Dharma.
And these ten great disciples were the ten most outstanding among Tathagata's many disciples, with the finest comprehension and the highest cultivation in the Dharma.
"Still missing one person. Who should I choose?"
All his disciples were chanting scriptures in absolute earnest, yet Tathagata, as their master, kept turning his gaze over his ten outstanding disciples.
He had not been back at Spirit Mountain for long. At the Heavenly Court, he and the Jade Emperor had already finished deducing and setting the plan. Now everything was ready; all that remained was for each side to send out a few people to complete their plan and great undertaking.
"Kasyapa?"
With a shift of his wisdom eye, Tathagata saw Kasyapa behind him, dressed all in white, eyes closed as he chanted the Buddhist scriptures.
Tathagata sighed inwardly.
This Kasyapa was the head of the ten great