Deep Bliss Pure Land, Great Thunderclap Temple.
In the temple were pearl palaces and precious towers, auspicious clouds filling the sky, rainbow hues shining brightly. Pagodas appeared, and udumbara flowers were fragrant—it was the finest of the eighty-four thousand temples in Jiangxi.
Inside this Thunderclap Temple, the Hall of the Great Hero was vast and boundless, containing Sumeringu within a mustard seed. There were countless lotus platforms. On each lotus platform sat a golden statue, and behind each golden statue was an Arhat. There were countless disciples and believers under them, usually reciting sutras and expounding the dharma, discussing heaven and debating the Dao in harmony and joy.
Only today, the Great Hero Hall was desolate.
Countless disciples gathered together but fell into a strange silence. The expressions of all Buddhist cultivators maintained a high degree of uniformity, looking like one person at first glance.
Soon, a streak of light landed.
[Bodhisattva Precious Vase Water Moon] walked out from it, landing on a ninth-grade lotus platform at the head of the treasure hall. Her divine thought instantly connected with several other Bodhisattvas.
[Bodhisattva Precious Lotus Hidden Subduer]
[Bodhisattva Precious Vajra Victory]
Plus herself, [Bodhisattva Precious Vase Water Moon], they were the Three Precious Bodhisattvas of the Pure Land, and also the de facto controllers of the Pure Land under the World Honored One today.
What? [Bodhisattva Coiled Dragon Shadow]?
That was an outsider; could it be the same?
At least when the Three Precious Bodhisattvas discussed matters, they never invited that Bodhisattva. At the same time, that Bodhisattva was also tactful, usually meditating silently on Zen.
However, now the situation had changed.
On the lotus platform, [Bodhisattva Precious Lotus Hidden Subduer] showed anger on her face:
"You're saying Coiled Dragon is actually [Sky-Shrouding]'s incarnation?"
This Pure Land Bodhisattva was born with expressive eyes and brows, possessing a charming allure in her bones. Even when angry, she made people indulge in flights of fancy, giving birth to countless distracting thoughts in their hearts.
And the Arhats, novices, disciples, and believers under her mostly cultivated their minds by visualizing her. When they could look directly at this female Bodhisattva without changing expression, viewing her as a pink skeleton and remaining unmoved, only then was their mind cultivation considered successful, qualifying them to formally enter her Dao lineage.
"Amitabha..."
On the other side, [Bodhisattva Precious Vajra Victory] also silently recited a Buddha's name, his expression solemn: "Empty words have no proof. Where did you get this news?"
"Precisely from the Saint Sect."
[Bodhisattva Precious Vase Water Moon] dared not neglect and directly summoned Yuan Tu, whom she had brought along: "This person has attained enlightenment. His thoughts and ideas are no different from ours."
"Oh?"
For a moment, the three Bodhisattvas focused their gazes on Yuan Tu. Yuan Tu, already converted, had a clear conscience and met their gazes frankly.
With just this glance, both sides completed the exchange of divine thoughts and memories. In the end, it was [Bodhisattva Precious Vajra Victory] who spoke first, questioning in a low voice: "Did that mysterious remnant thought truly perish? Is it possible it's a deliberate scheme, using Yuan Tu's mouth to make us enemies with [Sky-Shrouding]?"
"Not impossible."
"We must check!"
As their voices fell, the three Bodhisattvas opened their Buddha eyes simultaneously, shining directly into Yuan Tu's consciousness sea. Yuan Tu didn't shy away either, allowing the three Bodhisattvas to conduct spot checks.
After a long while, the three Bodhisattvas withdrew their divine sense.
Yuan Tu groaned, obviously because his consciousness sea was too small to withstand the divine thoughts of three Bodhisattvas, sustaining considerable injury after the inspection.
But the result was unquestionable.
"No problem, the consciousness sea has no abnormalities."
"So, that mysterious remnant thought really died... Can we calculate who he was?"
"We cant. it has no karma. It should be a Perfected Lord's remnant thought, and from a distant era. Having been dead too long, the karma was long broken. Not finding him is imposible."
"When a person is about to die, his words are also good."
"So what he said is very likely true?"
"True or false, we must at least guard against it. If Coiled Dragon really is [Sky-Shrouding]'s method, it is extremely likely to affect our attaining [Silted Sand Earth]."
As her voice fell, [Bodhisattva Precious Lotus Hidden Subduer]'s face looked quite ugly. It was because she had placed high hopes on [Bodhisattva Coiled Dragon Shadow], waiting for the other party to attain [Silted Sand Earth] and attach to her Grotto-Heaven, helping her break through to the late Golden Core stage. Now a variable appeared out of thin air.
For a time, the three Bodhisattvas looked at each other.
After a moment of silence, a low curse sounded in the quiet great dharma hall. It was unclear whether it was helplessness, resentment, or annoyance:
"It's the fucking Primordial Saint Sect again..."
Never-ending.
Fortunately, it was just one [Sky-Shrouding]. If another bastard from the Primordial Saint Sect came to plot against them in the dark, that would truly drive people crazy.
...
The plan was very successful!
Overseas, Lu Yang listened to Sisui's feedback. After learning that Yuan Tu had delivered the message "according to plan," a smile instantly appeared on his face.
Of course he wouldn't tamper with Yuan Tu.
After all, once Yuan Tu connected to [One Mind], it was equivalent to entering the World Honored One's field of vision. If he really tampered with anything, it would be very easily discovered by the World Honored One.
So the key was actually Sisui.
As a Dao Lord's remnant thought, Sisui's concealment methods were already superb. In the previous life, if not for the World Honored One's incarnation, he hiding in my consciousness sea wouldn't have been discovered.
And in this life, he will only be more exaggerated than the previous life... because in this life, he was washed by [The Book of a Hundred Lifetimes]! He is without cause or effect. In the previous life, he could still be dug out by the World Honored One. Coming again in this life, as long as he intends to hide, even if the World Honored One descended to the mortal world, he wouldn't be able to find him.
[The Book of a Hundred Lifetimes] was just that awesome.
If not for this, Lu Yang wouldn't have felt assured letting Yuan Tu be converted and go to the Pure Land. After all, doing this could easily lead to a disaster if careless.
But now it was fine.
With Sisui watching for me, Yuan Tu can't stir up any waves. And for the sake of the [Buddhist Kingdom on Earth], the Pure Land will only pour all efforts into helping me nurture Yuan Tu.
This was called borrowing a hen to lay an eggs!
He didn't need to spend a penny, just sit and wait for the Pure Land to nurture him. Then coordinating with Sisui from inside and outside, he just needed to harvest the fruit when Yuan Tu matured.
In this way, [Sky-Shrouding]'s plan on the Pure Land side is effectively crippled. He doesn't need to think about [White Wax Gold] and [Silted Sand Earth] anymore.
[Bodhisattva Coiled Dragon Shadow] is also dealt with.
The remaining ones are [Overturned Lamp Flame] and [Eternal Flowing Water]. The former involves Martial Uncle Chong Guang, and the latter concerns Fellow Daoist Suo Huan in this life.
At the same time, [Sky-Shrouding] only had one Perfected Lord-level incarnation trump card left.
This was also easy to solve.
I'll just help Martial Uncle Chong Guang seek golden core!
A smile appeared in Lu Yang's eyes: Just right, use Martial Uncle Chong Guang's hand to make Perfected Lord Feixue enter the arena. I don't believe [Sky-Shrouding] won't use his incarnation trump card.
As for the problem on the [Eternal Flowing Water] side, that's even easier to handle. Directly let Fellow Daoist Suo Huan inside the Righteous Dao Banner absorb the him of this life. Maybe he can even emulate Perfected Lord Feixue method, disguising [Wellspring Water] as [Eternal Flowing Water], and giving [Sky-Shrouding] a big surprise at the critical moment...
Of course, can't really let Martial Uncle Chong Guang succeed.
He had no choice, just let Martial Uncle Chong Guang suffer a bit in this life. In the last life, he sought golden core once and had his fun. This life counts as him paying me interest...
In this way, [Sky-Shrouding]'s trump cards could be declared completely broken.
At that time, he would let Hong Yun regain control of [Overturned Lamp Flame], set Chen Earth right, and borrow the power of the Netherworld to see if he could directly trap [Sky-Shrouding] to death!