Lucas: "Journey to the West's killing calamity is a demonic tribulation without heaven's intervention. The remnants of the demon sect tried to subvert Buddhism. The demons and Buddhas have no heaven to force the Tathagata to reincarnate, causing Buddhism to fall from its height of power, with its once glorious scenery no longer visible."
Hongyun asked with great interest, "Has Buddhism completely fallen just like the two Lich clans in the past?"
Lucas: "That's not true! The important task of revitalizing the West still needs to be undertaken by Buddhism. If Buddhism falls, who will make the West prosper? The end of Buddhism is just like Taoism—a certain decline in strength."
Lucas: "After all, the West is no better than the East. The environment in the West is too harsh, and there are almost no forces that can inherit the important responsibility of Buddhism. And the East has never been short of people who can take on responsibility, so the dragons and phoenixes will ruthlessly replace them."
Lucas: "Of course, the most important thing is that the Buddhists placed their chess piece Sun Wukong ahead of time and established a good relationship with sage Nuwa. After the Buddhists suffered their killing calamity, it was the luck of the human race that helped them recover."
Hongyun: "What does it have to do with the human race?"
Lucas: "After the collection of Buddhist scriptures from Western Heaven, Buddhism flourished in the Eastern Tang Dynasty. After the Buddhist sect was hit by the killing calamity and began to decline, an empress who claimed to be the reincarnation of a Bodhisattva appeared in the Eastern Tang Dynasty. This female emperor strongly promoted Buddhism and made it popular among the human race. This development provided great luck to Buddhism."
Liu Xing: "Wu Zetian?"
Howard Stark: "In the historical records on my side, Wu Zetian did claim to be the reincarnation of a Buddhist Bodhisattva. But there is no Buddhism in my world. It seems that all this should be just a coincidence."
Hongyun said disappointedly: "Buddhism didn't fall completely? What a pity! Did the killing calamity have a great impact on Buddhism?"
Lucas: "The impact of killing calamities on Buddhism was still quite significant. Many powerful Buddhas were forced to pass away. If those Buddhas hadn't died, how would Buddhism appease the forces of heaven and earth?"
Hongyun sighed: "After all, the Demon Sect has declined! Relying on some remnants of the Demon Sect, there is absolutely no way to shake the Buddhist sect's rule. Moreover, the Buddhist Sect bears the heavy responsibility of Heaven, so it's impossible for them to perish. But why did the Demon Sect bring this calamity to Buddhism?"
Hongyun: "Wouldn't it be better to have divisions and fights within Buddhism? Wouldn't it be good to let the Daoist strongmen besiege Buddhism? Since they are participants in the calamity, the strength of the two sides should be evenly matched!"
Lucas: "If you really want to analyze it, Haotian and Demon Tribulation can also be regarded as a division and struggle within Buddhism. Haotian was originally a member of Buddhism but was driven away by Tathagata, and then fell into the devil's way. What's more, when Western Buddhism was founded, it also borrowed a lot from the Demon Sect."
Hongyun was stunned and said: "Is it related to Jieyin and Zhunti?"
Lucas: "Of course! Jieyin and Zhunti are native creatures of the West. They have been in the West from birth through cultivation. The West is the stronghold of demons and devils. How could they not be influenced by demonic ways during their cultivation process?"
Lucas: "It's just that although the two sides come from the same source, there is a strong opposition and conflict between them. It can even be said that they are diametrically opposed like yin and yang. One thought becomes a Buddha, and another becomes a demon, which is enough to show their close relationship."
Lucas: "Haotian became a demon from a single Buddha thought, and after obtaining some things from the demon gate, he became a calamity that ravaged Lingshan. But if I'm being honest, Haotian is actually quite pitiful. His tragedy stems from his lack of strength and power."
Howard Stark: "A tragedy caused by the lack of strength and power? I smell a trace of melodrama."
Lucas said indifferently: "Don't worry, this story is more bloody than you think. Do you know why Haotian was driven out of Lingshan? Because the Buddha said that he had feelings for a mortal woman. Buddhism forbids men and women to fall in love, and Buddhist disciples whose hearts are moved by mortal love will be driven out of Lingshan."
Lucas: "However, when Buddha Tathagata was reincarnated to transcend the calamity, he had relationships with two women at the same time. Not only that, when he returned to Lingshan, he also gave those two women the status of Buddhahood and Bodhisattva."
Lucas: "What's this called? Only Buddha is allowed to have two wives, while no Arhat is allowed to engage in romance. When you have the power, rules become meaningless. The final interpretation belongs to the Buddha—entirely at his discretion."
Dongfang Yuechu: "The Buddhist gate is too inhumane, isn't it? Not allowing men and women to fall in love—what kind of ridiculous rule is this?"
Hongyun sneered: "Considering the forces established by those two old scumbags Jieyin and Zhunti, it's not surprising that such bloody things have happened. As the saying goes, 'When the upper beam is crooked, the lower ones will be awry.' Their ridiculous foundation makes this inevitable!"
Outside the chat group...
After Lucas absorbed a sufficient amount of energy and Origin Qi, his own strength rose steadily until he reached the peak of what he could currently achieve. Soon he encountered a bottleneck that would be difficult to break through in a short period of time.
A steady stream of energy and Origin Qi flowed into the Dou Qi Continent, making the energy of heaven and earth there abundant once again.
After Xiao Xuan, who was beside Lucas, absorbed the Origin Qi and a large amount of energy from heaven and earth, the final barrier to advancing to Dou Di suddenly shattered.
His bottleneck disappeared instantly, and his aura underwent earth-shaking changes. He had directly become the strongest person in the Dou Qi Continent—a Dou Di!
The moment Xiao Xuan became a Dou Di, Lucas keenly sensed the changes in the Dou Qi Continent, and a powerful energy erupted from its origin point.
This energy transformed into a mark that followed Xiao Xuan to connect with the people of the Xiao family, allowing them to activate the bloodline of Dou Di.
Back in the chat group...
Xiao Xuan said with emotion: "My biggest wish has finally come true today!"
Hongyun: "This world is quite interesting. Is that a blessing from the origin of the world? It's a bit like the karma of the prehistoric world, which can affect an entire ethnic group through blood."
Xiao Xuan asked curiously: "Is there such a thing in the prehistoric world?"
Hongyun: "Of course! Those ethnic groups that have great merit in the prehistoric world, or ethnic groups with strong luck, their blood becomes extremely special. In addition to giving future generations strong potential, even they themselves receive huge benefits."
Hongyun: "Karma is the exact opposite of merit! If merit is the blessing of heaven and earth, then karma is the curse of heaven and earth. For ethnic groups with huge karma, if there is no strong merit or luck to wash away the karma, the entire group will gradually decline."