# Chapter 896: Amitabha Great Emperor
The Western Desert was an ancient sacred land, filled with countless legends. Buddhist followers were everywhere, their faith devout, making this a place close to the divine.
Amitabha Great Emperor, possessing great wisdom, great compassion, and great divine power, had left behind too many legends here. He had made great vows, walked every inch of this land on foot, personally spread his teachings, and established branches, achieving the brilliance of Buddhism today.
In the Western Desert, the entire domain was filled with Buddhist followers. Other traditions could enter, but they could hardly become mainstream. Temples could be seen everywhere, like lotuses blooming across the land.
One had to admit, this was a magnificent sight—an entire domain revering only one doctrine, creating an unprecedented miracle.
This land held endless mysteries. Arhats, Bodhisattvas, and Ancient Buddhas walked among the mortal world, coexisting with all beings, manifesting divine miracles, saving the suffering, and it was precisely for this reason that Buddhism grew ever more prosperous.
Here, everyone revered the Buddha with utmost piety. Pilgrims often came, taking one step and one kowtow at a time, heading toward the pure land of ultimate bliss in their hearts—Mount Sumeru—though they could hardly reach it in a lifetime. Yet this showed how pure their hearts were, everything for the sake of worshipping the Buddha, holding the most sacred faith.
The clear Immeasurable Golden Body Lake, the magnificent Bodhisattva Plateau, the towering Ancient Buddha Mountain... Buddhist sacred sites everywhere, constantly emitting auspicious vapors, attracting countless people to pilgrimage and worship.
Ye Fan and the Monkey crossed over from the Eastern Wasteland and entered this vast land. It was not as they had imagined, with golden sand everywhere.
Though called the Western Desert, there were mountains and water here. There were indeed many deserts, but not entirely—there were large tracts of fertile soil, vast landscapes, not lacking in spiritual energy and magnificent scenery.
"Have you noticed? This land is quite unusual, seemingly different from the other four domains." As soon as they arrived, the Monkey keenly sensed something.
"Indeed, there is an extremely pure power, though barely perceptible, yet truly existing—threads of it flowing through the entire heaven and earth." Ye Fan was quite astonished.
One could say that in the current era, not many people could detect this strange phenomenon—as rare as phoenix feathers and unicorn horns. Only the Monkey and he, with their rare physiques, could sense it.
In the Western Desert, the essence of heaven and earth was not as abundant as in the Central Province. There were not as many ancestral veins and earthly spiritual energy overflowing, but there was a most pure mysterious power permeating the air, truly refined.
"What kind of divine power is this? Why can't we absorb or assimilate it?" The Monkey grew suspicious.
Ye Fan was also uncertain. He tried various methods of circulation but could not draw even a thread of this mysterious Dao power into himself. It could not merge with him, could not be used by him.
"No wonder the Western Desert has endless legends. From ancient times to the present, whether demons, ancient creatures, or mysterious extraterrestrial deities, none were willing to set foot here. Truly unfathomable."
They traveled along, seeing many temples, all peaceful and serene. The more such places, the more this mysterious power flowed, thread by thread.
"Is this Buddha-nature fluctuation?!" The two looked at each other in shock. How vast a Buddha power would be needed to permeate the entire heaven and earth? It was simply vast beyond measure.
"This is unbelievable. Could Amitabha Great Emperor still be alive?" The Monkey exclaimed. When they thought of this possibility, both were stunned.
Who else but him could possess such extreme divine power, flowing imperceptibly through the entire Western Desert? This was truly shocking, beyond imagination.
In the distance, the ancient temple bell tolled leisurely, able to purify one's soul, making the heart resonate, making one want to convert to Buddhism, to go forward and worship, to enter the gate of emptiness.
"Too mysterious!" Ye Fan and the Monkey were both astonished, generating endless questions. The Buddha's Dharma was boundless, even stirring something within them.
They traveled on, penetrating deep into this land for who knows how many thousands of miles, until they finally saw a demon clan member—and not just any, but an ancient demon at the second level of the Immortal Platform realm, perfected. Yet he had become a guardian of an ancient temple.
"How bizarre! Even such a great demon has been converted. Buddhism is truly awe-inspiring." The Monkey sighed.
At this point, they finally understood why the ancient creatures, after emerging into the world, had not come to the Western Desert to show off their power. The Buddha-nature fluctuation was strange; it might even convert some of them.
Alan Ancient Temple was a historic monastery, existing for who knows how many tens of thousands of years. The temple had collapsed and been repaired, but the incense offerings never ceased.
Legend had it that this was one of the sacred Buddhist temples where Amitabha Great Emperor had once stopped to preach the Dharma and discuss the Dao. For this reason, it had become a pilgrimage site.
Before the ancient temple, many people burned incense, earnestly worshipping. Smoke curled up, filled with Buddha-nature, permeating this ancient land with a strange fluctuation.
"This place... is truly extraordinary. It might really be where Amitabha once preached the Dharma!" Ye Fan's pupils contracted as he carefully observed.
He and the Monkey had traveled westward and finally encountered a very famous ancient temple. Naturally, they wanted to study and observe it carefully. The result left them all astonished.
"The more I look, the more extraordinary it is!" This was the Monkey's words, also his intuitive reaction.
Their physiques were rare through the ages. Only in this great era, when several ancient imperial princes from the primeval ages had broken their seals and come into the mortal world, could they compare.
Perhaps only those like them, born with extraordinary bodies, could perceive the mystery of the Western Desert, especially the abnormality of such sacred temples.
"There is a grand momentum!" Ye Fan said. He calmed his mind, carefully observing what lay ahead, and found that the ancient temple suddenly blazed with golden light, illuminating the entire heaven and earth. A golden Buddha-nature radiance was spreading.
"What a powerful, majestic force! Immeasurable Buddha light shines everywhere, as if a great Buddha sits in meditation, dignified and sacred, inviolable." The Monkey said.
Ordinary people could not see anything at all. Even if you were a Greatly Accomplished King, or even a Saint, you could only feel a kind of Buddhist sacredness, not see such strange sights.
"Dong..."
The great bell tolled, as if coming from a thousand years ago. Then chanting arose, purifying people's hearts, making them increasingly peaceful, as if the entire person had been sublimated.
Others were all worshipping the Buddha statue in this sacred temple, only Ye Fan and the Monkey stood in the distance, quietly watching.
At this moment, they saw through the immeasurable golden light and saw several old monks sitting cross-legged in the ancient temple, bathed in Buddha radiance, dignified in appearance, motionless.
"Swish"
The several old monks all opened their eyes, as if they could pierce through layers of temple halls and also saw them. At this moment, pillars, walls, and such could not block them. Between them, it seemed there was only Buddha light, nothing else.
"Both benefactors have true wisdom, rare through the ages. You have seen the true nature of our Buddha. Amitabha." An old monk's voice came.
Ye Fan and the Monkey cupped their hands in the distance but said nothing. Instead, they became more vigilant. The several old monks all had extraordinary power. The Buddhist gate was unfathomable.
Then, they withdrew, not wanting to cause any trouble. Looking back, it seemed as if a great Buddha sat cross-legged in the void, with a strange power attracting them.
"Just now, in a moment of daze, I actually had the thought of converting to Buddhism." The Monkey said.
Ye Fan also nodded. They looked at each other, both showing expressions of disbelief, increasingly feeling that the Western Desert was shrouded in mist, unfathomable.
"Do you think Amitabha is still alive?" The Monkey suddenly spoke.
"Not likely, right? This one appeared in the world countless ages ago. Such a long time—no one can live that long." Ye Fan said.
Amitabha, like the other great emperors, had endless legends. According to legend, he also came from beyond the heavens, crossing star domains to arrive, establishing his teachings here, leaving behind supreme fame.
"I always feel the Western Desert is very mysterious. There are threads of Buddha-nature fluctuation throughout the entire heaven and earth. Besides Amitabha Great Emperor, who could cause such an anomaly?" The Monkey muttered mysteriously.
"Don't tell me you want to say the Buddha Emperor of the Buddhist gate still lives on Mount Sumeru?" Ye Fan said.
Suddenly, the Monkey was startled. "This is just a place where Amitabha preached the Dharma and taught, yet it's so strange, making us feel close to the Buddha, even having a moment of daze wanting to convert. What do you think it would be like to live year-round at the Great Thunderclap Monastery?"
He suddenly thought of his uncle, who had been cultivating on Mount Sumeru for many years. Was he using Buddhist methods to break through, or had he been mysteriously converted? He shuddered.
"No way, right? The Battle Victory Buddha's cultivation reaches the heavens. Who could convert him? Now that he has entered the Pure Land of Ultimate Bliss, he should be the one converting others." Ye Fan laughed.
The Monkey said, "I'm still a bit uneasy. When I went to see him before, I was unsuccessful. On Mount Sumeru, I felt an incomparable majesty and sacredness, swirling around there. At the time, my mind was complicated, and I didn't think much of it. But now that I think about it, that Buddha-nature was countless times stronger than at Alan Ancient Temple."
"Now, even the Buddhist supreme treasure, the Demon-Subduing Pestle, is under his control. You're overthinking it." Ye Fan said.
"Perhaps I am overthinking it." The Monkey muttered to himself.
Soon after, they penetrated deep into the heart of the Western Desert and saw an ancient city, extremely large and magnificent. Their special physiques immediately sensed something, and upon calming down to observe, they were shocked.
Thread by thread, strands of Buddha-nature radiance rose, flying in all directions. They gathered together, one could say blazing with light for ten thousand feet. Others could not see it, but Ye Fan and the Monkey could clearly feel it.
This was an immeasurable light, almost piercing through heaven and earth. Light rain gathered, thousands upon thousands of feet high, carrying an immortal aura, very sacred and pure. It was precisely the unique, strange power of the Western Desert.
"Yes, I understand. It's a bit like the aura of the Great Accomplishment Saint Body summoned by the vicious ghost. This is pure faith power!" Ye Fan said.
This place was a famous Buddhist city in the Western Desert, enough to rank among the top twenty. It gathered many Buddhist followers, with countless people. The power accumulated here was naturally earth-shattering.
If viewed through others' eyes, nothing would be noticed. There was no immeasurable Buddha light at all. But Ye Fan and the Monkey could see it, and both were stunned.
"Now I believe it. The power of the entire Western Desert doesn't come from one person, but from the pure thought power of billions of living beings!" The Monkey sighed, seeming to breathe a sigh of relief.
However, Ye Fan's hairs stood on end. "Do you remember? The ancient great emperors all had methods to extend their own immortality. The thought power of all beings in the entire Western Desert has flowed since ancient times, all chanting one person's name. How terrifying do you think he would be?!"
The golden fur on the Monkey's body immediately bristled. The anxiety that had just disappeared from his heart suddenly multiplied countless times. He gazed in the direction of Mount Sumeru and drew in a cold breath.
"You mean... with so much thought power flowing from ancient times to the present, all added to one person, Amitabha Great Emperor might still be alive?!"