Pure Land, Great Buddha Hall.
What met the eye was nothing but auspicious mists filling the heavens, rainbow radiance forming an arching canopy. Its roof brushed the firmament, its foundations rooted in the veins of Mount Sumeru. Golden tiles and patterned bricks were inlaid with agate; jeweled towers and treasure thrones overflowed with spiritual light.
This was the highest place of the Pure Land.
Every year, every month, every day, countless monks and Buddhist devotees journeyed here from all across Jiangxi to pay their respects. It was said that upon reaching this place one left the mundane behind, and that all worldly ties of the red dust came to an end.
Yet this very immortal holy ground was, at this moment, filled with mortal clamor.
The once lofty arhats now showed every manner of reaction—some pale with terror, some grinding their teeth in fury, others utterly at a loss. The great hall had fallen into utter chaos, voices rising and falling one after another, laying bare all the myriad faces of the human world.
"They're attacking! They're really attacking!"
"Crazy, all crazy."
"Jiangbei, Jiangnan, Jiangdong, overseas—all came! Several ancient monasteries have lost contact. I'm afraid they are really going to start a massacre in Jiangxi!"
Immediately, all the Arhats sensed something in their hearts, walking out of the precious hall and looking in to the distance. In that direction, a streak of light was rising from the ground.
The light shot straight into the clouds, igniting the sky. It was like a candle being lit in the curtain of heaven. The flames exploded, evaporating the sea of clouds into fiery clouds, surging like a giant wave, carrying rolling heavenly light, and with a chilling, resounding roar, crashing towards the main hall.
Boom!
Under the gaze of the Pure Land Arhats, that fiery cloud sea crashed onto the towering Great Budha Hall like a mountain, instantly stirring up a purple flame of a buddhis light.
Crack crack crack!
What was clearly a misty, ethereal sea of clouds now felt like a real, tangible continent, its immense weight causing the entire Great Buddha Hall to tremble.
Layers of Buddhist light wove into a formation.
Streaks of purple flames surged and condensed.
All Arhats immediately took charge within the formation, assuming wrathful form, vajra, and demon-subduing form, manifesting thousands of Buddhist teaching, yet fundamentally unified, converging into the same Buddhist light:
[Two Realms Ten Directions Central Saha Grand Formation]
This formation was no different from the one on the Sacred Fire Cliff of the Heaven-Connecting Cloud Sea. It was laid down by successive generations of Bodhisattvas, ranked at the second grade, nearly the pinnacle of formations.
Helplessly—no one presided over the formation.
No matter how strong the formation or spirit treasure, they were external objects. Without a master to revive it and manifest its wonders, even the highest grade had no meaning.
The next second, a deafening noise echoed inside the Great Budha Hall, almost dismantling this supreme hall. All Arhats inside the formation had their golden bodies explode in unison, blood splattering over half of the pure zen forest. It took a long while before they reassembled, revealing faces full of terror.
"Bodhisattva! Quickly go invite the Bodhisattva!"
This group of Arhats panicked for a moment but eventually regained their composure. One by one, they looked towards a Buddha statue inside the precious hall, kneeling in large numbers:
"Demons are lawless, intending to destroy our Pure Land."
"We beseech the Bodhisattva to come out of seclusion and propagate the true dharma!"
As the voices fell, a gale blew up on the spot, blowing away all the emotions on the faces of all Arhats, and the clamor stopped abruptly.
"Amitabha."
Finally, inside the Buddha hall, the Buddha statue worshipped by the Arhats moved. It slowly walked down the lotus platform, layers of gold powder shaking off its body.
When he walked out of the Great Hall and stood at the very front of the Arhats, he had already changed from the original golden-bodied Buddha statue into the appearance of a real living person. Thick eyebrows and big eyes, a face full of righteousness, an expression solemn and dignified. Behind his head rippled circles of pure round light.
It was none other than the [Bodhisattva Coiled Dragon Shadow]!
However, this unorthodox Dao Bodhisattva of the Pure Land had not a hint of a smile on his face at this moment, only silently observing the grand formation that was gradually disintegrating around him.
Jiangxi Pure Land, the myriad aspects of all living beings were in his eyes.
A moment later, he shook his head, pursing his lips in frustration.
After all, just not long ago, he had experienced the most terrifying change in his long life. Possessed by [Sky-Shrouding], helpless under the [Knowledge-Perception Barrier].
The result was that now, [Silted Sand Earth] had fallen into the Netherworld, and most other Earth Element Dao Fruits were in the Dao Court. The only one, [City Rampart Earth], he couldn't attain. Consequently, his status in the Pure Land was greatly reduced, so much so that he was now even treated as an abandoned piece, required to destroy his own Dao path to prevent the Pure Land from suffering tribulation.
Yet he couldn't refuse.
[Sky-Shrouding] bullied me, the Bodhisattvas bullied me, and now a junior... a Foundation Establishment also comes to bully me!
The more [Bodhisattva Coiled Dragon Shadow] thought about it, the more depressed he became. His whole person felt numb. But now being bullied right to his door, he only felt a raging fire of anger burning.
Just then, as the grand formation disintegrated, a loud voice echoed:
"Come out! Today I kill you to attain the Dao!"
Such a domineering declaration of war, swallowing mountains and rivers, made [Bodhisattva Coiled Dragon Shadow]'s expression even uglier. Opening his mouth, he also spat out a voice of wind and thunder:
"Benefactor, do you really want to start a battle of Perfected Lords, fighting until one of us died?"
As his voice fell, a figure appeared directly above the Great Buddha Hall. Lu Yang rode the fiery cloud sea, hands behind his back, looking down at the Pure Land indifferently:
"Senior thinks too much. Does unorhodox Dao count as a Perfected Lord?"
[Bodhisattva Coiled Dragon Shadow]: "..."
This is too much!
"Temporarily borrowing a Dao Fruit, unable to use the fundamental wonder, you are no different from me. The outcome is still uncertain. Do you really think you're invincible?
Lu Yang was too lazy to talk nonsense. He formed hand seals directly. Within the sea of clouds, a towering body rose from the ground . The head pierced through thirty-six layers of heavenly wind clouds; mountains and rivers formed the body, the vault of heaven as the head, rivers condensed into veins, sun and moon as pupils. Then without saying a word, he raised a foot and stomped down towards the Great Buddha Hall!
In an instant, even [Bodhisattva Coiled Dragon Shadow]'s expression changed drastically.
Such audacity!
This demon dragon... is he not afraid of death?
Since the World Honored One achieved the Dao and established the Jiangxi Pure Land, no one had ever dared to do such a thing. What was he stepping on? Was it the Great Buddha Hall of the Pure Land?
It was clearly the World Honored One's face!
Boom!
With a loud noise, the Great Buddha Hall originally located at the peak of mountains and rivers was stomped down by Lu Yang. The mountains and rivers upholding it collapsed layer by layer!
Such an astonishing scene was now reflected in the eyes of all Buddhist cultivators and billions of common people in Jiangxi. Because the Great Buddha Hall of the past was like this, visible from everywhere in Jiangxi, incomparably yearned for. But now, such a action allowed all Buddhist cultivators to witness the collapse of their spiritual sustenance.
"Impossible!"
"Bodhisattva above, World Honored One above... how could it be like this? How could it be like this!?"
For a time, Buddhist cultivators everywhere were shocked and angry, their faces full of disbelief, even thinking it was an illusion, unwilling to believe everything they saw.
Seeing this scene, [Bodhisattva Coiled Dragon Shadow] finally sighed faintly:
"Good, good, good... Today I will abandon my Dao path and fight you."
As his voice fell, the grand formation disintegrated along with it. The originally perfect and unified aura on [Bodhisattva Coiled Dragon Shadow]'s body also completely dispersed at this moment.
In an instant, startling thunder exploded above the vault of heaven.
This was the natural reaction of heaven and earth sensing a "foreign object," and also the phenomenon that would inevitably appear when an unorthodox Dao Perfected Lord did not integrate into heaven and earth.
Unorhodox Dao Perfected Lord!
Although inferior to an orthodox Perfected Lord, Lu Yang was similarly false holding the golden stature, unable to use the fundamental wonder of [Overturned Lamp Flame], so the gap between the two sides was not large.
Even comparing strictly, [Bodhisattva Coiled Dragon Shadow]'s advantage was actually greater. After all, Lu Yang's time of false holding the Golden Stature was only as short as an incense stick's burning time, while he had no time limit. So if Lu Yang couldn't kill him within that time, he would undoubtedly die!
Boom!
In the flash of lightning, neither side hesitated in the slightest. Their bodies collided with a crash!