Mahayana Buddhism

"Since the Buddhist Order sects began their magical contest, Silver Gong Xu pioneered Mahayana Dharma. His ideas spread widely in the Western Regions, enlightening the people and achieving remarkable results. Millions of people in the Western Regions have come to believe in Mahayana Dharma, which greatly pleases me."

"Mahayana Dharma originated in the Central Plains, Central Plains are unwilling to abandon it. I wish to welcome back Mahayana Dharma to educate all people. The Arhat Du'e saves people from calamities is a Buddha who is enlightened by the Silver Gong Xu. Buddhism is profound. This time, the people of the Central Plains are willing to take refuge in the court, which is a blessing for them."

"I hereby appoint the Arhat Du'e as the National Preceptor and Mahayana Buddhism as the state religion."

So be it!

Inside the Golden Throne Hall, silence immediately fell.

The middle-aged eunuch looked towards the outside of the hall and said loudly:

"Arhat Du'e, quickly receive the imperial decree."

Outside the hall, the Arhat Du'e, dressed in a red and yellow robe, slowly stepped into the hall, walking among the assembled guests on the scarlet carpet.

The officials looked at each other, exchanging silent glances. Some were confused, some were bewildered, and some frowned, but no one stepped forward to object.

Their first realization was that His Majesty wanted to win over the Arhat Du'e.

Establishing Mahayana Buddhism and bestowing the title of National Preceptor—such generous treatment was tantamount to helping the Arhat Du'e break away from the Western Regions 'Buddhist Order, establish his own school, and become the "Buddha" of Central Plains Buddhism.

Next, the officials began to consider the potential consequences of establishing Mahayana Buddhism as the state religion, such as changes in the political landscape.

But still, no one stepped forward to object.

Firstly, Buddhist Order monks have no right to interfere in politics, which eliminates the most important conflict of interest.

Secondly, the defection of a Second Rank Arhat is enough to weaken the Buddhist Order's fighting power, which is entirely beneficial to the current Great Feng.

Let's win people over first; how to suppress them is a matter for later.

As a scholar who frequents the imperial court, he is most adept at this kind of thing.

Du'e came to the foot of the throne, put his hands together, and said:

"Thank you, Your Majesty!"

He accepted the imperial edict with composure.

The moment he received the edict, the back of his head suddenly Fuxian, radiating boundless Buddhist light. Chanting echoed from the void, resounding throughout the hall and reverberating in the ears of all the officials.

Du'e was as if cast in gold, shining brightly.

In Huaiqing's eyes, a powerful Fate around Du'e, clinging to his fruition, but never entering his body!

Western Regions!

The wave of "revitalization" surged forward like ocean waves, bringing life to the earth, mountains, and city walls wherever it passed. All living things vanished and merged into the rules.

The Buddha's body has transformed into mountains and rivers. His consciousness extends and expands along with his physical body, merging into the laws of heaven and earth, becoming a part of those laws, yet retaining his memories.

In a sense, He did indeed refine the entire Western Regions. He incorporated the entire Fate of the Western Regions into Buddhist Order, using it as a foundation to absorb the laws of heaven and earth of the Western Regions.

Barring unforeseen circumstances, He will continue to spread and expand until He has made the entire Western Regions His own.

But at that moment, a surge of immense Fate departed from Him, forcibly extracted from His body, and drifted towards the Central Plains in the east.

The Buddha's expansion slowed down instantly, then gradually stopped; He could no longer assimilate the universe or replace its laws.

His expansion ceased, as if he had lost his strength.

Of course, given His status, He could easily devour the laws of heaven and earth and continue on. However, without the protection of Fate, or rather, without the proof of Fate, the only outcome of continuing would be to follow in the footsteps of the Dao Venerable.

They were assimilated by the rules of heaven and earth, losing their sense of self.

After a brief silence, the land of the Western Regions trembled violently, like a massive earthquake stretching for tens of thousands of miles.

A series of fissures, hundreds of feet long, split open in the ground, revealing countless dense, gleaming white teeth.

The earth grew a mouth.

These mouths uttered the same angry roar:

Mahayana Dharma, Mahayana Dharma

Aranda, the holy being, opened his massive maw and let out a roar that shook the heavens and the earth:

Mahayana Dharma.

The monks on the holy mountain prostrated themselves on the ground in terror, trembling.

The three Bodhisattvas of Mahayana Buddhism, Gara Tree, Vasubandhu, and Vaidurya, felt a chill and closed their eyes, as if sensing something or communicating with someone.

A moment later, the three opened their eyes, understood the reason, their faces instantly darkened, and they gritted their teeth, saying:

"Du'e founded Mahayana Buddhism in the Central Plains!"

Mahayana Buddhism has taken away a portion of the Buddhist Order's Fate.

At this critical juncture, Mahayana Buddhism became a stumbling block preventing the Buddha from reaching the Western Regions.

"I should have nipped his unrealistic dreams in the bud, or had Guangxian send him to reincarnation."

The Jialuoshu Vajra's Wrathful Gaze, and behind it emerged the Vajra Dharma Idol, the embodiment of killing and destruction.

They didn't take the Arhat Du'e seriously, but they didn't expect that this mere Second Rank Arhat would launch a devastating attack from the ground.

Guangxian sighed, suppressing all his surging anger, and said in a voice indistinguishable between male and female:

"The only course of action now is to halt and, through the methods of Incense-Fire Divine Dao, refine the remaining territory of the Western Regions into Mountains and Rivers Seal, and bring it under our control."

By doing this, the Buddha could avoid the risk of being assimilated by the laws of heaven and earth, while firmly holding onto the remaining territory, waiting to plunder the Fate in the future and then swallow the Mountains and Rivers Seal.

This tactic was originally intended to be used against the Central Plains.

Jingshan City.

Salun Agu stood on the desolate main peak of Jing Mountain, gazing westward.

He suddenly frowned, fidgeted with his fingers, and divined for a moment using Divination, then chuckled:

"What a brilliant move! By using Mahayana Dharma to divert the Buddha's Fate and hinder His assimilation of the Western Regions, it may not address the root cause, but it has at least bought us some time."

He flashed to the altar, gazed at the statue wearing a crown of thorns, listened intently for a moment, then bowed and said:

I think so too.

Salun Agu pulled out the sheep-driving whip tied to his waist and lightly lashed the ground at his feet.

"Smack!"

With a crisp crack of the whip, a surge of dark light appeared, and Yierbu's figure materialized on the altar.

"The Great Shaman"

Yierbu thought to himself, "It's me again!"

Salun Agu said calmly:

"Bring me the imperial seals of the Yan, Kang, and Jing dynasties."

Yierbu bowed respectfully, then transformed into a streak of dark light and sped towards the distant Jingshan City.

A moment later, he returned riding on a dark radiance, presenting three palm-sized jade seals with both hands.

Salun Agu gazed at the three jade seals, his voice aged and deep, and slowly said:

"Among the three kingdoms, the Jing Kingdom's iron cavalry fought in the north for half a year, suffering more than half of its soldiers and casualties, and its national strength declined slightly. The Kang Kingdom was located by the sea. When Wei Yuan led his army to capture Jingshan City, he passed through the border of the Yan Kingdom. The Kang Kingdom was not affected and its national strength was well preserved."

"As for the Yan Kingdom, it suffered a series of defeats, including the trampling of Wei Yuan's iron cavalry and the siege of Yuyang Pass, which severely damaged its national strength."

"Let's choose this one."

The Great Shaman pointed to the imperial seal of the Yan Kingdom and, with a pained expression, gave the order:

"Go and send it to the Buddhist Order."

This... Yierbu was stunned, and said in disbelief:

"Why did the Great Shaman give it to the Buddhist Order?"

The imperial seal contains the Fate of the Three Kingdoms period.

Salun Agu said irritably:

"Du'e betrayed him, Great Feng appointed him as the National Preceptor and established Mahayana Buddhism as the state religion, thus diverting the Buddha's Fate. He will have to put in considerable effort to incarnate in the Western Regions."

Yierbu was overjoyed:

"Isn't this a good thing?"

He already knew the secret about the Great Calamity. Some time ago, the Great Shaman summoned the Rain Master Nalan Tianlu, as well as the Spirit Wisdom Master Yierbu and Wuda Baota, to inform them of the Transcendent Rank's plans.

For these Transcendent within the same system, once the Shaman God transforms into the Heavenly Dao, even his chickens and dogs ascend to heaven. Not only will they be immortal, but they can also rule the Nine Provinces on behalf of the Shaman God and become deities among mortals.

Among cultivators of various systems, the higher their rank, the more detached they are from emotions.

In Yierbu's view, mortals are like weeds; even if they are completely wiped out, they will always grow back in the near future.

In comparison, the replacement of the Heavenly Dao by the Shaman God, and the eternal immortality of the sorcerers, is a truly great undertaking.

Salun Agu shook his head:

It's both a good thing and a bad thing; figure it out for yourself.

"I'll see you off on your journey."

The sheep whip entangled Yierbu, and with a forceful flick, a streak of dark light flashed like a shooting star and disappeared into the western horizon.

The capital city.

The Arhat Du'e, standing on a nine-petaled lotus platform, clasped his hands in prayer towards the crowd behind him and said:

Thank you all for your help.

Master Hengyuan, his entire body covered in "gold paint," resembling a golden statue, clasped his hands together and returned the greeting:

"This concerns the well-being of all people, and I have an inescapable responsibility. Master, there's no need for thanks."

After a long period of training by Asuro, Master Hengyuan has now initially attained the Arhat Fruition and can temporarily borrow the power to Slayer of Thieves. In other words, although he is outwardly Fourth Rank martial monk, he is actually a Second Rank Arhat in secret.

Although it was brief.

Arhat Du'e examined Hengyuan with some complexity. This free-range monk was actually a born Mahayana Dharma Church. If he hadn't been so shallow in his cultivation, or if he had been given a few more decades, perhaps he wouldn't have been the founder of Du'e Mahayana Dharma.

It is Hengyuan of Azure Dragon Temple.

Chu Yuanzhen's expression was serious:

"This is a matter of great importance; we should go and see."

The Orange Daoist Cat, Asuro, Li Miaozhen, and other members of the Heaven and Earth Society were also present, as was Sun Xuanji, dressed in flowing white robes, who had been sent there by the newly appointed Superintendent.

Then there's Yeji, who has a foxy, seductive face.

The Western Regions were dangerous and the situation was unclear, so it was impossible to let the Arhat Du'e put himself in danger. Thus, the Heaven and Earth Society's bodyguard team was formed.

Du'e said in a deep voice:

"Once we approach the Western Regions, none of you should enter its Western Regions, to avoid any unforeseen circumstances."

Everyone nodded.

Li Lingsu cupped her hands and said:

"Take care, everyone. If anything goes wrong, run away immediately."

"Sigh, I think we should wait until Xu Ningyan returns before making a decision. That crude warrior won't die easily. I have a feeling something will go wrong if you go to the Western Regions."

Li Miaozhen's eyebrows stood on end:

"Shut up!"

Lina was very well-behaved; knowing she couldn't help, she just waved her hand without saying a word.

The group rose with the wind, transforming into streaks of light, and flew towards the Western Regions.

Watching everyone leave, Li Lingsu looked at Yeji and said:

"Miss Yeji, shall I accompany you to the Southern Frontier?"

He felt he should do something, and it certainly wasn't just to give Jill a break.

Yeji thought for a moment, then looked at Lina and said:

Let's go together.

"Can we go after dinner?" Lina nodded reluctantly.

"All right."

Yeji then took out three teleportation jade talismans from her bosom and handed them to Li Lingsu and Lina.

They were going to the Southern Frontier to see Shenshu and ask him to come out of seclusion and take charge of the overall situation. Although the main purpose of this trip was reconnaissance and not to fight against the Buddhist Order, the situation was changing rapidly and they needed to increase their own security.

The Half-Step Martial God, who has already recovered to his peak condition, is undoubtedly the best candidate.

There are twelve teleportation arrays along the route from the capital to the Southern Frontier.

Xu Qi'an had laid out this "post road" long ago, and now it came in handy.

Guided by Sun Xuanji's teleportation array, the Transcendent beings swept across mountains and rivers beneath them, arriving in the Western Regions before dusk.

A clear light rose, and everyone stopped. Sun Xuanji did not lead them any closer rashly.

Arhat Du'e clasped his hands together, bowed to the crowd, and then flew off towards the Western Regions.

He didn't fly too far, keeping himself within the sight of all the Transcendent experts.

After concentrating and sensing for a moment, Du'e turned around and said:

"No abnormalities found."

The gaunt old monk frowned slightly; this was not what he had expected.

Asuro and Hengyuan took the lead, riding the wind to Du'e's side. After each of them used their divine sense to investigate, they confirmed that there was nothing unusual in the area.

Filled with doubt, the members of the Heaven and Earth Society continued their journey. Half an hour later, they arrived at a small town, where wisps of smoke rose from houses whose architectural style was completely different from that of the Central Plains.

The sounds of chickens and dogs could be heard from all around, creating a lively atmosphere.

The Arhat Du'e pondered and said:

"Perhaps it hasn't spread this far; let's try going deeper."

Following the same pace as before, with Arhat Du'e leading the way, they continued deeper into the Western Regions.

After traveling for an hour, the Arhat Du'e suddenly stopped.

It was already 7:45 PM. In Great Feng, the sun would have already sunk below the horizon and night would have fallen, but in the Western Regions, it was just beginning to show signs of dusk.

Ahead lay an endless plain, at the edge of which stretched a mountain range.

The river flowed quietly, untouched by human habitation.

Arhat Du'e dared not go any further; every cell in his body was screaming to flee, and every nerve was sending out danger signals.

He was Buddhist Order monk and did not practice the dangers of martial arts.

This is a warning from Fate!

"Is it dangerous?"

Nine feet tall, the ugly-handsome Asuro flew over and stood shoulder to shoulder with Du'e.

He was unaware of the danger; the martial artist's crisis warning system had not been activated.

At that moment, Asuro saw the distant mountains and opened his enormous eyes.

P. S.: Typos will be corrected later.