Hongyun said unhappily: "The two despicable and shameless guys, Jieyin and Zhunti, will not achieve their ambition to revitalize the Western religion?"
Lucas: "The Western religion has indeed become more and more powerful under their management. Later, it grew even more prosperous during the calamity of the Journey to the West. Even after its decline, it can still compete with Xuanmen."
Baigujing: "Journey to the West? Emperor Tribulation? Group Leader, you're talking about Tang Sanzang's collection of Buddhist scriptures from the West, right?"
Lucas: "That's right! @Hongyun @Zhao Gongming, this White Bone Spirit is from the same world as you. The time of her death coincided with the Journey to the West."
Zhao Gongming wondered: "What does the journey to the west have to do with Tang Sanzang's quest for scriptures? Bi Jie is a murder calamity, so it should be related to war. How is it related to collecting scriptures?"
Lucas: "Journey to the West is only the opening of Chengjie, a necessary process for Buddhism to become strong. If Buddhism doesn't remain powerful, how can it support the consumption of Chengjie? If Fengshen Tribulation is the doom of Xuanmen Taoism, then Journey to the West is the long road to the end of Western Buddhism."
Zhao Gongming was stunned and said: "So you're saying that in the Journey to the West, the immortals who need to die are all provided by Western Buddhism?"
Lucas: "Yes, that's right!"
Zhao Gongming sneered: "Retribution! The Western Church took advantage during the robbery of my Xuanmen during the Fengshen calamities, and now their retribution has come. Group Leader, tell me more about Journey to the West and this calamity!"
Lucas: "Every major participant in a calamity will get huge benefits before it arrives. The dragons, phoenixes, and unicorns received great merit when they took oaths to lead the prehistoric tribes. The witches and demons also received great merit when they participated in the management of heaven and earth."
Lucas: "The merit of traveling to the west for a thousand kalpas lies in collecting scriptures from the west. Anyone who participates in this event will receive heavenly merits. The so-called collection of western scriptures is the root of Buddhism's prosperity. Spreading Buddhist scriptures to the east can be extremely beneficial as it greatly enhances the luck of Buddhism."
Lucas: "Eastern Taoism owes Western religion for explaining cause and effect and humanism. It's the will of Heaven, so they had to cooperate with Buddhism on the westward journey. However, they also participated in the process of bringing scriptures from the West and gained a lot of merit."
Lucas: "The nine-nine-eighty-one difficulties on the Journey to the West were basically arranged by Buddhism and Taoism. Almost every monster who tried to deal with Tang Sanzang was created by Buddhism and Taoism."
White Bone Spirit couldn't help but say, "Wait! Group Leader, I wasn't arranged by Buddhism and Taoism!"
Lucas: "You indeed weren't a monster arranged by Buddhism and Taoism, but you have a huge karmic connection with a Buddha. Your death was long arranged by Buddhism."
White Bone Spirit was dumbfounded: "How could this happen? I'm just a white bone spirit. How can I have a huge karmic connection with a Buddha?"
Lucas: "You were born in the same place—wouldn't you say that's a significant connection? For that Buddha, only your death could reassure him. Except for you, the other monsters basically all survived."
White Bone Spirit's mentality exploded: "No way?"
Lucas smiled and said, "Why not? There are basically two types of other monsters: those with powerful backers and those who are powerful themselves. The powerful monsters were all recruited by Buddhism and given status as members of the Buddhist faith. As for monsters with backers, after the show, they were taken back by their own supporters. Very few were directly beaten to death like you were."
White Bone Spirit said speechlessly, "How could this be? Eating a piece of Tang Sanzang's meat can make you live forever, so there's no monster who really wanted to eat him? Don't say I'm the only one who thought so."
Hongyun kept asking: "Wait! Eating a piece of Tang Sanzang's meat can make you live forever? Even the fruit of the innate spiritual root doesn't have such an effect! Even that fruit can only prolong life by a specific amount."
Lucas: "How can there be absolute immortality? Eating Tang Sanzang's meat is just a saying among weak monsters. Treasures in the eyes of the strong are different from treasures in the eyes of the weak, and the same is true for the idea of immortality."
Hongyun: "Then I understand. Tang Sanzang's flesh has the effect of prolonging lifespan? It must be like some kind of heaven and earth spirit fruit!"
Lucas: "Tang Sanzang is the reincarnation of Jin Chanzi, a Buddhist powerhouse. Jin Chanzi was just one step away from becoming a Daluo Jinxian. For those weak monsters, his flesh and blood are indeed of great value. Buddhism made him the main member of the western scripture collection mission because they wanted to use the power of merits and virtues from Western Heaven to help him achieve Daluo status."
Hongyun: "So that's the case. Is Tang Sanzang the only one who sought scriptures from the West?"
Lucas: "Of course not! In addition to Tang Sanzang, there are his three apprentices and a dragon horse mount. The eldest apprentice Sun Wukong was born from the divine stone left over from Nuwa sage's mending of the sky, and the virtuous corpse of the quasi-daoist—Lao Bodhi Zu—is his teacher."
Lucas: "Buddhism did this with the intention of using Sun Wukong to establish a good relationship with sage Nuwa. After all, the human race is the protagonist of the prehistoric world, and Buddhism cannot thrive without their help. In fact, the Buddha's move was indeed quite wonderful."
Lucas: "The second apprentice Zhu Bajie used to be the Tianpeng Marshal of the Heavenly Court, and he is also a disciple of the Human Religion. Including him in the Buddhist scriptures team was showing favor to Taiqing Laozi. After all, the human race isn't the only one with the final say, and Taiqing Laozi's talent education makes him the actual controller of the human race."
Hongyun: "Taiqing Laozi controls the human race?"
Lucas: "That's right! Taiqing Laozi holds the Kongtong seal in his hand, and can even replace the emperor. Now that the emperor has been downgraded, he too is subject to Taiqing Laozi's restraint. The third apprentice, Sha Wujing, who was Admiral Roller Blind of heaven, is a person of Haotian's."
Lucas: "After all, Haotian is the nominal ruler of heaven and earth, and Buddhism also needs Haotian's cooperation to let Sun Wukong perform a scene in the palace to increase his fame. Recruiting Admiral Roller Blind into Buddhism is equivalent to Buddhism allowing Haotian to insert himself into their plans."
Lucas: "Besides the three apprentices, there is also a horse transformed by a white dragon. This might be related to the demon clan, or to the real Huanglong who taught the teaching? I'm not very clear. After all, the white dragon horse isn't of much value. As a means of transportation, it doesn't earn many heavenly merits, so I don't care much about it."
Zhao Gongming: "Journey to the West represents the benefits that Buddhism received before the calamity, so what is the killing calamity of Buddhism?"