The Western World, Vulture Peak.
The Great Thunderclap Temple stood solemn and majestic, Buddhist Chants drifting through the air.
The Eight Classes of Heavenly Dragons circled above the pagoda, while the Three Thousand Kinnara stood in attendance beside the Main Hall. Countless Buddhas, Bodhisattvas, and venerables filled the hall, their sacred countenances dignified.
Yet something clashed with all that solemn grandeur...
An impenetrable gloom shrouded the faces of every Buddha and Bodhisattva in the hall.
"Where is Venerable Guanyin?"
Jieyin's incarnation sat upon the Nine-Ranked Lotus Platform, his sacred countenance solemn, his eyes half closed. His voice rang like a great bronze bell.
Indeed!
Long ago, under Gu Changqing's machinations, the Investiture of the Gods Measureless Calamity had ended hastily.
As a result, Daoist Cihang and the others from the Chan Sect had never entered the Western World.
But the tide of destiny rolled onward, unstoppable.
Now, the Buddhist School, too, had gathered a vast host of gods and Buddhas.
Those who had attained the fruit status of Bodhisattva, Arhat, and the like were far from few.
As his words fell,
"This disciple is here."
Guanyin Bodhisattva stepped forward, her gaze lowered and her eyes somewhat dim, and answered him.
"How far has the scripture-fetching party traveled in the Eastern Land?"
"Reporting to the Buddha Ancestor, they have passed beyond the Purple Bamboo Kingdom and are heading toward Lion Camel Ridge."
"Along the way..."
The Bodhisattva paused, then continued bitterly.
"They have encountered no further great tribulations. Everything has been smooth sailing."
Smooth sailing.
Those two words had now become the most humiliating phrase on Vulture Peak.
Spreading Buddhist Dharma eastward required enduring hardship before one could realize the Great Dao.
Not one of the eighty-one trials could be missing. Only by weathering every wave of tribulation could the supreme