Chapter 247: The Twenty Heavens
Qin Mu, Ma Ye, and the others quickened their pace, but Ma Ye needed to suppress Granny Si's mind and soul, and he was finding it increasingly difficult. Their speed gradually slowed down.
The Cult Leader Li was growing rapidly, and Granny Si's cultivation was also becoming stronger. Ma Ye dared not use his full strength, fearing he might harm Granny Si's divine soul. This introduced many unstable variables into their journey.
Granny Si was waking up less and less often, while Cult Leader Li's awakenings were becoming more frequent. Qin Mu was burning with anxiety, but he felt utterly powerless.
This basin was originally an ocean, which should be the Eastern Sea mentioned by the Heavenly King statue. The terrain was incredibly complex, with deep ravines and chasms reaching tens of thousands of zhang, and steep mountains and ridges as sharp as blades.
The former Eastern Sea had turned into land, the seawater having vanished without a trace. There was no water left. However, Qin Mu found it strange. According to the villagers here, at night the sea would float in the sky, the seawater spreading everywhere, but during the day it would disappear without a trace.
So where exactly had the seawater gone?
The deeper they went, the stranger and more powerful the creatures here became. Luminous jellyfish flew around in the sky, and when night fell, they would hide inside temples, looking like colorful, giant lanterns.
They also encountered living flood dragons. Some lived in deep mountain streams, others in volcanoes, each claiming territory as their own.
As long as they weren't provoked, these flood dragons rarely came out. A few times, Qin Mu saw flood dragons fly out of their lairs to grab people from villages to eat. When they spotted Qin Mu's group on the road, the flood dragons sensed their strength and didn't dare act recklessly, simply flying past them.
Leaving this basin, it would only be a two-day journey to Mount Sumeru.
These past few days, Qin Mu and the others hadn't dared to relax even while sleeping, constantly ready to wake up and suppress Cult Leader Li. It was truly exhausting. Only the Dragon Qilin slept soundly and ate well, its fur and scales glossy and shining.
Qin Mu and the others simply jumped onto the Dragon Qilin's back, letting this massive beast carry them towards Mount Sumeru.
Gradually, the villages along the way had more people who believed in Buddhism. Every household worshipped Buddha statues, and some even placed the statues together with the village stone statues, worshipping both gods and Buddhas together.
Qin Mu inquired and learned that some monks had come to preach scriptures and heal the villagers, which had won them much goodwill.
"The Buddhist sect has its eyes on the Great Ruins too."
Blind laughed and said, "The Great Thunderclap Temple treats the abandoned people of the Great Ruins, which has some flavor of 'equality for all beings.' But it's a bit of a shortcut, with the suspicion of borrowing the reputation of the stone statues to accumulate merit."
The closer they got to the Great Thunderclap Temple, the more Buddhist temples there were. Some temples had very flourishing incense offerings, enshrining Buddha statues in various forms. However, when night fell, the people and strange beasts of the Great Ruins still didn't hide in these temples; they continued to hide in places with stone statues and divine statues.
Qin Mu thought to himself, "The Tathagata has good intentions, but it's still hard to compete with the deities of the Great Ruins. He can cure illnesses, but he can't save lives."
The surrounding mountains gradually increased in number, with large and small monasteries standing in clusters. Qin Mu and his group passed by several monasteries. As it was getting late, they planned to stay overnight at one.
The monastery had thriving incense offerings, with several hundred monks. Even at night, they showed no fear, continuing to chant sutras and recite the Buddha's name.
"Do these monks possess great divine powers that can withstand the darkness of the Great Ruins?" Qin Mu was surprised.
Unexpectedly, many Buddha statues emitted a faint divine light in the darkness, blocking it out. Qin Mu approached one Buddha statue to examine it, and his face darkened.
The monks in this temple had actually applied another layer of clay over the Great Ruins' stone statues, then fired them into the shape of Buddha statues, pasted gold leaf on the outside, and dressed them up as golden-bodied Great Buddhas. At night, the stone statues protected the area, making it look like the Buddha statues were displaying great Buddha power to protect all beings.
Qin Mu looked with his Heavenly Eye and saw that it was the deities protecting the Great Ruins who were emitting divine light for ten thousand zhang, not the Buddha light of the statues.
There were also some extremely ferocious strange beasts in the temple. During the day, they didn't leave the temple either. The monks in the temple seemed accustomed to this; the beasts weren't tied up and were allowed to roam freely in the temple.
What was surprising was that these man-eating beasts were very docile in the temple, also putting on an appearance of eating vegetarian food and reciting sutras, completely changing their cruel nature. Some people of the Great Ruins staying there said this was the power of the Buddhist Dharma.
However, Qin Mu saw the monks secretly feeding these beasts large chunks of flesh and blood, and the meat had a smell of anesthetic.
Qin Mu was stunned and frowned.
"Mu'er, don't meddle too much."
Blind whispered, "The Great Thunderclap Temple is very close. Smashing the temples here will only let the Great Thunderclap Temple get word and make things difficult for us. It might not save Granny Si."
"Hypocrisy!"
Granny Si sneered, "This is the hypocrisy of the Buddhist sect! Clearly without great divine powers, they take credit for others' powers and boast that it's the power of the Buddhist Dharma. Blind, Ma Ye, you are also hypocrites. You have a favor to ask of the Old Tathagata, so you don't dare expose these bald donkeys' tricks!"
Qin Mu said, "Whether he has great divine powers or not, won't Cult Leader Li find out when we see the Old Tathagata at the Great Thunderclap Temple?"
Granny Si chuckled, "Cult Leader Qin, do you even deserve to be the Sacred Cult Leader of my Sacred Cult? You are the leader of my Heavenly Sacred Cult, yet you go to ask a favor from the Old Tathagata of a hostile sect. This brings shame to my Sacred Cult's reputation! The prestige of my Heavenly Sacred Cult has been completely ruined by you! When I fully recover and return to the Sacred Cult, I will reorganize it and show you what a Sacred Cult Leader should do!"
Qin Mu remained calm and asked, "What should a Sacred Cult Leader do?"
"Tear off the hypocritical masks of these old bald donkeys, smash these Buddha statues, and reveal the divine statues inside!"
Granny Si said leisurely, "Then remove the anesthetic from these strange beasts, let them eat people, reveal their true nature, and let them slaughter these bald donkeys here, devour every last one of these thieving monks in the temple! Let these ignorant people see what a load of dog crap this so-called Buddhist Dharma is, all show and no substance! Heh heh, so-called righteous path is nothing but dog shit, so let the dog shit show its true face, don't paste a layer of gold over the mud idol! This is the true doctrine of my Heavenly Sacred Cult, the true interpretation and correct interpretation of following nature!"
Qin Mu felt he had a point, but his methods were a bit extreme. He had also thought about removing the anesthetic from these beasts, but considering they would wake up and eat people, he had to give up.
Finally, the Great Thunderclap Temple came into view. In the distance, they could see a towering, majestic mountain standing in the center of the Divine Severance Mountain Range. The other mountains were cleaved apart by an infinite force, forming cliffs and precipices that even birds couldn't cross, covered in white snow. Only this mountain remained vast and boundless, with numerous peaks standing in a circle, guarding the main peak.
Strangely enough, the mountains here formed layers of steps. The lowest layer had three thousand peaks, forming a large circle. The second layer had nine hundred and ninety-nine peaks. The next layer up had ninety-nine peaks. The next layer had nine peaks. Each layer was higher than the last, all guarding the central main peak.
Monasteries stood on the large and small peaks, enshrining huge, majestic Buddha statues. Some peaks were even carved into giant Buddhas themselves, with some monasteries built on the Buddha's palm and others in the Buddha's heart.
"Truly luxurious and imposing."
Blind praised, "Ma Ye, why do your Buddhist temples always like to wear gold and silver? So magnificent, so extravagant. Wouldn't it be better to use that wealth for disaster relief and helping the world? Monks are supposed to be empty of the four elements, but their hands are never empty."
Ma Ye said calmly, "If it's not imposing, who would come to worship the Buddha and make offerings?"
Granny Si sneered, "Hypocrisy..."
Qin Mu shouted, "Shut up! The Old Tathagata will refine you to death later!"
"You little brat, how dare you scold your old lady!" Granny Si was furious.
Qin Mu was at a loss, stammering, "So it's Granny. Don't mind me, Granny. I thought Cult Leader Li had come out again."
Granny Si sneered, "These thieving monks are clearly hypocrites. Ma Ye, I'm not talking about you. Go and look around. Which temple isn't grand and luxurious, indulging in the utmost extravagance? Which Buddha statue isn't covered in gold and silver, built with a golden body? Of all the temples, only these bald donkeys' temples are the most luxurious! These monks don't engage in production, don't pay taxes, and when you touch their interests, they start gossiping. They even raise monk soldiers, rebel, and try to control the world's trends."
"Demon, shut your mouth!"
Suddenly, an angry shout came from mid-air. Qin Mu looked up and saw a monk with a Buddha light around him, looking very solemn. He had obviously been passing by and heard Granny Si's words, so he rebuked her.
When the monk saw Ma Ye, he was startled, immediately turned around and ran, shouting loudly, "Disaster! Great disaster! King Ma Shen is coming up the mountain again!"
The monks in the temples on the various peaks were in an uproar. Crowds of them flew up, standing in mid-air and forming formations, as if facing a great enemy.
Ma Ye said indifferently, "When I came last time to retrieve my arm, I caused a bit of a commotion. Let's go up the mountain."
The Dragon Qilin generated fire clouds under its feet and galloped towards the central main peak.
That main peak hung high above the sea of clouds, bathed in the sunlight above it, shining with a golden light. Hence, it was called the Golden Summit. Even for the Dragon Qilin, flying up there would take some time. Along the way, there were thousands of temples and ten thousand monasteries, with many accomplished, enlightened monks of great supernatural power. However, they didn't dare to block the way, yet they were unwilling to let them directly charge to the Golden Summit of Mount Sumeru.
More and more monks flew out, riding various strange beasts, surrounding the Golden Summit and forming formations, layer upon layer, densely packed, ready to subdue demons and eliminate evil.
Qin Mu couldn't help but admire Ma Ye: "When Ma Ye came last time, he probably fought his way straight through to the main peak."
Ma Ye had the Dragon Qilin stop. Ahead, tens of thousands of monks had formed an impenetrable wall of bronze and iron, guarding the Golden Summit. He spoke, "I have come to see the Tathagata. I have a favor to ask."
His voice shook the mountains, and instantly, strange phenomena appeared everywhere. Golden springs gushed from the ground, lotuses fell from the sky, and phantom images of the Eight Legions of Devas and Nagas appeared in the air. The phantom images of the deities of the Twenty Heavens descended high in the sky. Strange phenomena continued, with colorful light shining everywhere, and all chanted the Buddha's name.
This single display of True Words stunned countless monks.
Just then, an aged voice laughed from the Golden Summit, "King Ma Shen's cultivation is even greater than in the past. You have likely already cultivated the Twenty Heavens of the Tathagata Mahayana Sutra to the level of the Great Brahma Heaven. One more step, and you will be a Tathagata. Monks, stand down. Let him come up. I have been waiting for him for a long time."
"The Twenty Heavens?" Qin Mu was slightly stunned, looking at Ma Ye.
The wall of bronze and iron formed by the monks ahead dispersed. Ma Ye had the Dragon Qilin walk up the mountain, saying, "These are the twenty heavenly realms of the Tathagata Mahayana Sutra. When one has cultivated all twenty heavenly realms, one becomes a Tathagata. When I left the Great Thunderclap Temple back then, I had already cultivated to the nineteenth level, the Heaven of Shakra Devanam Indra, and was already one of the top powerhouses under heaven."
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