After hearing Zhunti's deeply solemn words, Gungun froze on the spot. A Buddha? I'm going to become a Buddha?
Wonderful, this is really so... wonderful, my ass! The Investiture of the Gods Calamity hasn't even ended, and you Saints haven't left yet. How am I becoming a Buddha already?
I don't want to become a Buddha simply because I like the title. It's because Buddhism will flourish in the future, and the Saints will be gone by then. If I become a Buddha, I won't have to shout, "Hurry to the Western Lands and invite Tathagata Buddha!" like a certain fellow named Zhang. I can keep sitting high above everyone, enjoying the worship of countless living beings, without constantly worrying about some great religion threatening me.
Why had the Zhou Dynasty lasted longer than any other mortal dynasty, and why had the Rites of Zhou remained so famous even in the era Gungun had transmigrated from?
Setting aside the many other factors, one crucial reason was that the Zhou Dynasty had, in an unprecedented feat, combined divine authority and royal authority relatively perfectly. Beyond secular power, faith was also vitally important.
If a ruler neglected faith and focused solely on developing royal authority, then... popes deposing kings and kings exiling popes would become recurring events.
Don't claim that developing royal authority to its utmost would leave you with nothing to fear. Did you think reaching the "utmost" was like growing vegetables? Could you reach it just by saying you would? Was it really that simple?
Gungun possessed vast divine abilities and knew the past and future. Taking the future as its mirror, it understood profoundly that it had to control faith. Only then could its position as Heavenly Emperor remain secure.
As for faith, there were the Human, Chan, Jie,