The Second True Buddha

"Zhuge Yun." The first name appeared on the black list. Though it occupied the very last place, it was extraordinary nonetheless.

Across a hundred openings, only a little over five thousand names had appeared on it, a testament to the extraordinary nature of his talent and Dao.

"The foremost of the Zhuge Clan's five outstanding talents in this generation," a cultivator from the Spirit Realm said, identifying him as the first person beneath the Zhuge Clan's Emperor's son.

"This lineage is strong." Many looked toward Xuanyuzi. Tianji and Zhuge, one in the Heavenly World and the other in the Spirit Realm, were often compared.

Both lineages had produced Emperors, and their Daos and arts were similar. Qi observation and heaven surveying were known together as the two supreme arts, each possessing its own mysteries, with neither clearly superior.

"Qiong Feng!" The pure-blooded fierce beast Qiongqi also made the black list, placing in the middle.

"Lan Ye!" An obscure name appeared at ninety-ninth on the black list. An unknown prodigy was beginning to make a name for himself.

Few paid attention to the red list. Everyone's eyes were drawn to the black list; the gap between the two was too great for any comparison.

During this time, some entered the Heaven-Ascending Tower while others emerged and walked beneath the three lists, each reacting differently, some with regret and others with delight.

"Su He!" The gold list flickered. The name of the Double Pupils wielder, destined to shine brilliantly in the present age, came to rest at thirty-eighth place.

"This was only to be expected of the Double Pupils wielder!" a being exclaimed. His physique was famed as invincible, yet he had been defeated at the entrance to the tenth level.

Even so, no one doubted the Double Pupils wielder's strength. His opponent had been too monstrous. Some beings had even given Dugu Baitian a special title.

Invincible Physique Reaper. It was an impeccable fit.

First on the black list: Miaoding!

"The female Buddhist heir of Zen God Temple is renowned far and wide, yet she failed to make the gold list." A monk from the Buddha Realm pressed his palms together, unable to believe it.

"First on the black list is extraordinary enough," someone said. Only a little over two hundred people stood before her, and aside from the Double Pupils wielder, even the weakest were Ancient Saints. Among them were dozens of supremely powerful Great Emperors and fully matured Holy Bodies and Divine Bodies.

The monk remained astonished and revealed a secret: Buddhism had once had an ancient Buddha also named Miaoding, a Buddha who had cultivated to the Quasi-Emperor Realm.

A wave of excitement swept through the crowd. Even Xuanyuzi was surprised, affirming that the ancient Buddha had indeed been extraordinary, a Buddhist patriarch destined by fate. Had an Emperor not reigned supreme, she would most likely have become an Emperor.

"The Heaven-Ascending Tower does not test combat power alone," Xuanyuzi explained. Many factors were involved; what one encountered differed according to one's realm, bloodline, and physique.

When an ordinary cultivator entered, they would encounter an enemy with every step. But if an Emperor's child entered, they would take a thousand steps before having to fight.

The Double Pupils wielder emerged from the Heaven-Ascending Tower, peerless in white, his broad sleeves fluttering, as dazzling as the bright moon beyond the heavens.

An Emperor's son like him naturally received different treatment. The tide of people parted of its own accord, allowing him to walk all the way beneath the gold list.

"Thirty-eighth?" Su He sighed softly, neither happy nor sad.

He was already monstrous enough. In any other age, he would have shone brilliantly, a leading figure who suppressed all enemies.

He did not leave, instead walking over to Xuanyuzi's side, where the two exchanged words.

Unfortunately, theirs was not a spoken conversation. They communicated through divine sense, blocking the outside world from prying. Clearly, their topic was extraordinary.

The gold list changed again. The name Huo Lingxiao forced its way onto it, ranking one hundred and twenty-first.

"The Emperor's son of Radiance Hall, who possesses the Sun Holy Body." Another wave of cries rang out.

Su He smiled. As it happened, he and Huo Lingxiao could just about be considered comrades in arms, having once fought Dugu Baitian together.

Not long afterward, the character "Tyrant" also appeared on the gold list, in eighty-seventh place.

"The Lin Clan's Emperor's son, Lin Yu, the possessor of the Heavenly Tyrant Body," someone said.

"Which Lin Clan?"

Lin was a common surname, and there were two imperial clans bearing it, one in the Heavenly World and the other in the Emperor Realm.

"The Lin of Heaven!"

"The Heavenly Court Lineage was so glorious. Though we never saw the three Emperors and four Venerables of that time, we need only look at their descendants today to imagine how magnificent it was." Many voiced such sentiments.

There were already three Emperor's sons who had emerged in the present age alone: Su He with the Double Pupils, Lin Yu with the Heavenly Tyrant Body, and Dugu Baitian with the Chaos Physique.

"Seven Emperors in one age-a feat only the Heavenly Emperor has accomplished since ancient times!" One man held up the vault of heaven, one man subdued the myriad Daos. What mighty power that was, without precedent since ancient times.

One peerless prodigy after another of the present age began to distinguish themselves. The red, black, and gold lists were constantly changing. Beings who had entered the World Road for a second time marveled, wondering if they were dreaming, if they had entered the legendary Immortal Ancient era.

Many sighed. This was an age of rupture, and an unprecedented golden age would appear, but what came after it was hard to predict.

Heaven and earth were so badly damaged, yet so many peerless prodigies had emerged. Was this the last flourishing before decline? Was an age when the great Dao would wail in grief about to arrive?

One being even uttered a terrifying prediction: after this age, heaven and earth would no longer be suitable for cultivation, entering a true Age of Dharma Decline, when Emperors would be hard to produce, Saints would rarely appear, and Venerables would live no more than ten thousand years.

These words were sensational, yet few refuted them, for the one who spoke them was an old monk of solemn bearing, whose face marked him as an eminent monk of great virtue.

Sure enough, someone soon identified him as an ascetic holy monk whose Buddhist name was Wangfan. He was a household name in the Buddha Realm and possessed great wisdom.

He was no ordinary Saint. At the beginning of the Chaotic Ancient era, the Western Heaven had named him a Buddha, intending to build temples for him, offer him incense, and venerate him as a Buddhist patriarch.

But this had provoked him to fury. He had fought his way onto Spirit Mountain, the Western Heaven's holy ground, and questioned the Buddhas. What a debate on scripture that had been! Throughout it, the tablets of Buddhas had repeatedly shaken loose and fallen.

After he left three months later, a novice monk cleaning the Mahavira Hall froze in place, not knowing what to do.

Half the Buddha tablets had fallen, while the other half had shifted out of position and turned sideways, as though making way for something.

From then on, his name was no longer found in the Western Heaven, and more astonishing still, he changed his Buddhist name himself.

No Buddha in his heart, no Buddha in his eyes, and no Buddha in his Dao.

After one debate on scripture, Wangfan became Wufo.

"Master, your words offer a different perspective indeed." The Double Pupils wielder Su He and Xuanyuzi were respectful. This was a true senior expert, a figure revered as a Venerable and honored as a patriarch.

"With your abilities, Master, why enter the World Road?" Su He asked. This was an unparalleled holy monk who had once been a single step away from the imperial throne.

"Every age has its own scenery. I had to come and see it," the old monk Wufo replied. He then left the crowd and headed straight for the Heaven-Ascending Tower.

Along the way, the female Buddhist heir Miaokong emerged. She was like a snow lotus on a heavenly mountain; though her face was exquisitely beautiful, it could not arouse the slightest improper thought, for fear of defiling something sacred. A lotus bloomed with each step she took, and faint Buddhist chants washed over the soul.

"Senior brother!" Miaokong said, pressing her palms together.

"This old monk no longer worships Spirit Mountain or reveres the Buddhas. I cannot be counted among the people of the Buddha Realm. As one who follows the path of no Buddha and no self, I am unworthy of that title," the old monk replied calmly.

"The Buddha is on Spirit Mountain, but not only on Spirit Mountain," Miaoke said again. If the Buddha was in one's heart, then all living beings could become Buddhas.

"If all living beings are Buddhas, why does Spirit Mountain receive incense offerings? Why do the Buddhas enjoy offerings?" the old monk replied. Miaokong fell silent.

"The original purpose has changed. If I were the ancestral Buddha, I would first smash Spirit Mountain and disband the Western Heaven," the old monk said calmly. Time could change far too many things. The ancestral Buddha had hoped to change the Buddha Realm through the Western Heaven, and to change the myriad realms through the Buddha Realm.

He had built Spirit Mountain to establish a pure land in the hearts of all beings. Yet he had never expected the Buddhas who came after him to change it, ignoring the suffering of the people and doing nothing but harvest faith and enjoy incense offerings.

"That is not how cultivation should be practiced. Go and look around the Buddha Realm. Look at the living beings, look at their suffering, look at the temples that stand high above them, and look at the incense that has burned without end for countless ages."

After saying this, the old monk entered the Heaven-Ascending Tower. Cold sweat poured from Miaokong as she repeatedly recited scriptures to steady her Dao heart.

"The Second True Buddha!" Xuanyuzi could not help recalling how this man had been described. The title was truly well deserved.