Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva, standing to the left beneath Buddha Tathagata's seat, slowly stepped forward. Dressed in snow-white robes, she held the Mutton-Fat Jade Purifying Vase, its vibrant Willow Branch seeming ready to drip with green. Her brows furrowed slightly as her cool gaze swept over the Buddhas below.
"World Honored One, Samantabhadra's words are true." Guanyin Bodhisattva's voice was like a clear spring striking stone, crisp yet carrying a chill. "This disciple just used her wisdom eye to observe the mortal realm. Golden Cicada has not only eaten meat and drunk strong liquor, but even his steps no longer carry their former reverence. Their entire group laughs and jokes about—where is the sincerity and ascetic cultivation a scripture seeker ought to possess? If this crooked, evil trend is allowed to spread, I fear that even upon reaching Mount Ling, Golden Cicada will be unable to receive Mahayana Buddhism, much less save the countless beings of the Eastern Land."
Buddha Tathagata slightly raised his right hand and gently flicked a golden finger through the air.
"Clang—"
A hollow, ethereal note rang through the hall, suppressing every faint murmur of discussion.
"Golden Cicada descended to the mortal realm this time to undergo the Eighty-One Tribulations, wash away the dust of the world, and reshape his Buddhist heart." Buddha Tathagata's gaze seemed to pierce through the clouds as he looked upon Tang Monk riding the White Dragon Horse. "Yet that variable, Chu Yang, is using a mortal's seven emotions and six desires, thoughts of Greed, Hatred, Delusion, to dismantle the precepts within his heart. The sea of suffering is boundless. If one is unwilling even to endure hardship, how can one reach the other shore?"
Guanyin Bodhisattva bowed slightly. "World Honored One, Chu Yang is silver-tongued and utterly without limits in his actions. He