After obtaining the scriptures, Tang Monk and his disciples quickly headed east to the Tang Dynasty in the clouds.
Cheng Long didn't mind completing the final step of spreading Buddhism eastward.
After all, this is something that Sanqing and Nuwa both tacitly agreed on. During the journey to the West, except for the Lord of Reincarnation, Empress Pingxin, who sent people to secretly interfere with one or two, the other gods chose to join in to gain merit.
The spread of Buddhism to the East is a general trend of heaven. Even if Cheng Long was very reluctant to let Buddhism blossom and bear fruit in the Tang Dynasty, he did not have the ability to stop it.
It is not that he is afraid of the two sages of Buddhism, but he is afraid of Hongjun, the Taoist ancestor who owed Western Karma.
Sanqing Nuwa only accepted the spread of Buddhism eastward because of the Taoist ancestors' face, otherwise Tang Monk would have died on the way.
Perhaps it was because of the Buddhist notice in advance that when Cheng Long and his party arrived in Chang'an, Emperor Taizong of the Tang Dynasty had already led his ministers to wait at the city gate, and the scene was very lively.
As a result, Buddhism's momentum retreated to its peak.
Almost at the moment when the four masters and disciples of Tang Monk handed over the scriptures to the Emperor of Tang, a majestic mass of invisible and intangible merit fell from the sky and divided into hundreds of strands, landing on every participant.
Among them, two very large groups of merit, whose size and quality were almost the same, were poured into Cheng Long and Tang Seng respectively.
At the moment when the merits were added to his body, Tang Seng, who had awakened the memory of his previous life, felt his aura suddenly surge, and he actually crossed the threshold of Daluo, and suddenly entered the ranks of quasi-sages.
Seeing the changes in Tang Monk's aura through the round light technique, all the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas in the Mahavira Hall couldn't help showing a bit of joy in their eyes.
Buddhism has added another quasi-sage.
Tathagata and Guanyin, two veteran quasi-sages of Buddhism, also broke through the shackles at the same time. Although Tathagata's ascension was not as intuitive as Guanyin's, rising directly from the early stage of quasi-sage to the middle stage, after receiving the merits of the Journey to the West, Tathagata Buddha, at this time, his body revealed His aura is no longer inferior to that of Zhen Yuanzi, Styx, Kunpeng and other ancient gods.
The Tathagata has always been compared to these ancient gods. It is actually a marketing method used by Buddhism to enhance the reputation of the Tathagata.
The Tathagata is protected by the two saints Jieyin and Zhunti, and the ancient great masters such as Zhen Yuanzi and Ming He will not care about such a trivial matter.
In fact, although Tathagata has a quasi-sage peak level of cultivation, his understanding of laws is much worse than Zhen Yuanzi and his like.
Only now has Tathagata truly qualified to be compared with ancient gods such as Zhen Yuanzi and Ming He.
Saints are also divided into superior and inferior ones, not to mention the quasi-sages who are beneath the saints?
"Lao Sha, my old pig has made a breakthrough in cultivation! Hahaha, I, this old pig, have become the Great Luo Jinxian..."
Zhu Bajie, who broke through the shackles with the help of the merits of his journey to the west and successfully set foot in the realm of Daluo, danced excitedly and kept showing off in front of his two junior brothers Sha Seng and Ao Lie.
Little did he know that at this moment, Cheng Long, who had gained a lot of merit from his journey to the West, had quietly left the scripture-seeking team.
This was also thanks to the fact that Emperor Taizong of the Tang Dynasty led hundreds of ministers to go out to greet him, and the focus of the Buddhist monks and disciples was all on Tang Monk and his disciples. Until Sun Wukong left for half a stick of incense, the Tathagata, Lantern, and Maitreya, Guanyin and other high-level Buddhists just discovered the clues.
However, by this time it was already too late.
"...I am the Lord of the Three Realms, and I now decree that Sun Wukong is the Great Emperor of Zhongtian Ziwei North Pole..."
The Jade Emperor's majestic voice resounded through the three realms like a provocation, constantly echoing in the void.
In the Mahavira Hall, which was full of joy, hearing the voice of the Jade Emperor conferring the title of Sun Wukong, it instantly became silent. Tathagata, Guanyin and others who were in high spirits fell down as soon as their faces brushed to the ground.
"Wukong actually returned to heaven without saying a word?"
There was a vague expectation in the heart that Sun Wukong would complete the mission of collecting scriptures and return to Lingshan to propose to Master Guanyin, looking at the dome with a face full of disbelief.
Three years ago, King Peacock Ming was extremely arrogant and asked Sun Wukong to leave his last wish. Many people have heard Sun Wukong's slightly ridiculing wish, and this matter naturally reached Guanyin's ears.
She was very angry at the time, but when she came back to her senses, she realized that she was lucky to be remembered by Wukong.
After practicing for only five hundred years, he could easily defeat Kong Xuan, who was known as the first person under the saint. With such a terrifying talent, it is not impossible to expect when he will become a saint in the future.
Every time he thought of this, Guanyin wished he could marry her immediately.
Who knows, after finally looking forward to the end of the Buddhist scriptures and the spread of Buddhism eastward, Wukong, who was thinking about it, turned around and went to heaven.
Although this doesn't seem to prevent Goku from marrying her!
However, Buddhism and Heaven belong to different forces after all, and Guanyin is one of the four great Bodhisattvas of Buddhism and one of the indispensable high-level members of Buddhism.
If she marries the new Emperor Ziwei, she will definitely be collectively opposed by the top Buddhist officials.
"What a man who builds the plank road secretly to Chencang! Zhang Bairen, I really have you..." Tathagata, who had always been sure of victory, was actually defeated by the Jade Emperor at this moment.
He was so angry that he gritted his teeth, and his eyes were filled with anger.
On the day of the successful Journey to the West, Buddhism was supposed to add two generals, but the result was not good. The Journey to the West drama that took five hundred years ended up being a failure.
The predetermined fight in Buddhism is to defeat the Buddha. If he is not careful, he will become the Ziwei Emperor in heaven.
The great masters of the three realms still don’t know how to laugh at Buddhism!
"World Honored One, Zhang Bairen actually dares to reach out and pick our fruits. This cannot be tolerated. We will kill him in heaven and snatch the Victorious Buddha back."
Manjusri Bodhisattva, who lost his mount, has always had a strong opinion of Sun Wukong. In the past, it was only because of the overall interests of Buddhism that he suppressed the anger in his heart. Especially when he later learned that Sun Wukong was actually at the peak of a quasi-sage, he was even more dissatisfied. He wanted to take revenge on Sun Wukong.
Unexpectedly, on the day when the Journey to the West was successful, Sun Wukong would sneak back to Heaven, accept the Jade Emperor's decree, and be promoted to the Sixth Heavenly Emperor.
Today's Sun Wukong is not only higher in cultivation than him, but his divine status is much higher than him, and he can even be on par with Buddha.
All of a sudden, the fire in Manjushri Bodhisattva's heart burst out.
Puxian, who also lost his mount, was furious.
"Kill to heaven?"
The Tathagata turned his head and glanced at Manjushri Bodhisattva, and said sarcastically: "Manjushri, do you think that if Buddhism spreads eastward, our Buddhist sect will be able to compete with the heavens? You are so beautiful that Haotian will always be the master of the three realms as long as he has the support of the Taoist ancestors."< br>
"World Honored One, I am just talking."
As soon as he heard the name of Taoist Patriarch, Manjushri Bodhisattva immediately put out his fire.
Speaking of which, before he took refuge in Buddhism as a young boy, he was still a disciple and grandson of Taoist ancestor Hongjun!
I believe no one knows how powerful Daozu is.
The Jade Emperor is a disciple of the Taoist ancestor. No matter how powerful the Buddhist sect is, it is impossible for him to lead his troops to kill him in heaven.
Because this is not only offending the Jade Emperor, but the entire Taoist sect.
The three realms of heaven, earth and man, the heaven realm is actually the basic foundation of Taoism. Human beliefs are important whether they are important or not.
After all, there are very few immortals who follow the path of faith. Buddhism has tried its best to snatch faith, mainly to accumulate merit and repay debts. The debt of merit borrowed from the heaven by the two saints of Buddhism when they became saints has not yet been repaid!
When the heavens just sent their merits, the Tathagata, Guanyin, Tang Monk and other Buddhas and Bodhisattvas who had made a lot of money had improved their cultivation, but a large proportion of their merits had been withheld to repay their debts.
In other words, Sun Wukong can walk quickly, go to Heaven in time, and announce his joining Heaven in a high-profile manner, otherwise he will be deprived of three to five virtues by Heaven.
……
Chang'an.
On the way to the palace.
The four masters and disciples of Tang Monk couldn't help looking at each other when they heard the Jade Emperor's voice. I thought that after the merits were completed.
Brother Sun would join Buddhism like them and accept the Buddha's or Bodhisattva's status conferred by the Buddha. He never thought about their Brother Sun and turned around and went to heaven.
And in one step, he became the Great Emperor Ziwei.
The throne of the six emperors in heaven is much more powerful than the throne of Buddha in Buddhism.
If this matter was not planned for many years, they would not believe it even to death!
"No wonder Brother Sun, a quasi-sage and powerful man, actually stayed in Liangjie Mountain as the mountain god for five hundred years, and accepted the dispatch of Guanyin Bodhisattva to escort Master to the West to obtain scriptures. It turned out that they had planned it for a long time!"
The thoughtful Bajie, when he thought that Sun Wukong and the Jade Emperor had started planning the journey to the West five hundred years ago, he wished he could do it all over again. If he had known better, he would have taken refuge with the Jade Emperor like Brother Sun.
Maybe this time, I can also make a fortune.
Even if his cultivation level is not enough to win the title of Great Emperor, he should still be able to advance to the rank of Marshal Tianpeng by a few levels, at least with the word "big" added in the middle.
"Brother Sun has become the Great Emperor. I am so jealous of this old pig!"
Check out the 16-9 book bar and see the correct version!
"Who says it's not!"
"Hey~~"
Bajie, Sha Seng and Ao Lie sighed one after another.
When they see others succeed and become famous, they feel uncomfortable because the gap is too big.
"Bajie, Wujing, and Xiaobai, Brother Sun has perfected his merits and virtues. We should bless him. Why should we sigh?" Tang Seng, who had recovered the memory of his previous life, still maintained great respect for Cheng Long.
"Master, Brother Sun's merits are complete, we are happy for him!"
"Yes, master..."
The master and apprentice went to the palace talking and laughing.
By the time they finished the reception banquet and returned to Lingshan for the conferment, night had already fallen.
However, Lingshan is still magnificent, and the golden light is as bright as day.
However, conferring the title of Buddha is a major event, and Tathagata did not take it lightly. Instead, he summoned all living Buddhas, Bodhisattvas, and Arhats to come to watch the ceremony. At the same time, he also hosted a banquet for many powerful figures from the three realms.
He even took the opportunity to talk about Zen.
Time passed slowly, and Tathagata Buddha's Zen lecture had come to an end. It lasted for nine hours, and many people present had already become drowsy after listening to it.
These are human monks who came to watch the ceremony and are not interested in Buddhism.
But there are also some powerful people who have benefited a lot from the Buddha's Zen lectures. Some people are so intoxicated, and some people are sitting on pins and needles. It was not until noon the next day that Tathagata Buddha stopped talking and officially The Buddhist Journey to the West Edict Ceremony began.
"Tang Xuanzang came forward to listen to the seal!"
After hearing this, some of the dozing powerful men finally became energetic, and everyone looked up at Jin Chanzi in the audience.
After hearing this, Xuanzang stood up slowly, wearing the posture presented by Guanyin, and walked towards the high platform with dignity.
The surrounding Buddhist music sounded, the monks sang Buddha's songs, and Buddhist lotus blossoms bloomed in the air and slowly fell. The scene was beautiful.
This scene also made Cheng Long, who was watching the Imperial Palace in the Lingxiao Palace, shake his head.
Buddhism's pursuit of the four great things is all in vain, and the result is always extravagance and waste. You must know that when he accepted the imperial edict, banned Boyikao, and became Emperor Ziwei, there were only a few people around him.
As a result, Tang Monk conferred the title, and Tathagata not only summoned all the senior officials of Buddhism, but also invited a large number of unrelated monks to a banquet to watch the ceremony.
"Xuan Zang pays homage to my Buddha."
Tang Monk walked up to the high platform with a calm demeanor, put his hands on his chest, bowed slightly and saluted Tathagata Buddha.
"Xuan Zang."
The Tathagata slowly spoke, with a sound like thunder, as if there were thousands of echoes, which made people's ears buzz in shock, "You are my disciple Jin Chanzi. In order to spread the Dharma, you came to the lower world and reincarnated. After ten lives of practice, you finally Your merits have been perfected and you have now broken through to the realm of quasi-sage. It is truly a blessing for our Buddhist sect. I now confer upon you the title of Sandalwood Merit Buddha and bestow upon you a golden lotus of six grades of merit..."
As the Tathagata finished speaking, a golden lotus flew out of his palm and slowly flew to Xuanzang.
The Golden Lotus of Merit and Virtue is the highest holy object in Buddhism. It was originally of the twelfth grade. Later, it was swallowed by the Mosquito Taoist during the Conferred God Period and was reduced to the ninth grade.
Since then, the nine-grade golden lotus has become the mother plant for guiding and cultivating golden lotus. In the entire Buddhism, not many people have received this sacred object from the Buddha, but there are also many. Many Buddhas, Bodhisattvas, Vajra Arhats, and Those with great merit have been given golden lotuses of merit by the Buddha.
But most of them are third-grade Golden Lotus.
The third-grade golden lotus is the easiest to cultivate and the least resource-intensive reward. Only the sixth-grade Golden Lotus not only consumes resources but is also very time-consuming.
Since becoming a god, the two Buddhist saints have only cultivated three golden wheels of sixth grade merit.
Two of them were given to the Ancient Buddha of Ran Deng and the Maitreya Buddha respectively.
Tang Monk was able to get the last flower, which shows that the two Buddhist saints value each other very much.
But Cheng Long would never have imagined that if he did not return to heaven, this sixth-grade golden lotus of merit would be given to him by the Tathagata.
Of course, even if he knew it, he wouldn't care. I have a twenty-fourth-grade world-destroying black lotus and a mere six-grade merit golden lotus. How can I make him apostatize and become a Buddha?
"Thank you, World Honored One!"
Tang Monk took the sixth-grade golden lotus, and with Buddha's light all over his body, he went to an empty seat behind Tathagata and sat down.
Later, Bajie stepped forward to accept the imperial conferment, and just like the original work, he became the emissary of Buddhism. Although he washed away the demonic body by virtue of merit and status, he still had a big belly.
This appearance is far worse than that of Marshal Tianpeng five hundred years ago.
The attainment status of Sha Monk and Little White Dragon is also the same as in the original play. The former becomes a Buddhist Arhat, and the latter becomes the Eight Heavenly Dragon Guangli Bodhisattva who needs to be coiled on the pillars of the Mahavira Hall.
Although he has attained the status of Bodhisattva, he is still the one who is least free.
On the other hand, Bajie's Jingtan Envoy seems to have no real organization, but he can eat and drink a lot, run around the world, and his cultivation level has also broken through from the Taiyi realm to the Daluo realm.
The difference between those with a backer and those without a backer is not that big.
As this vigorous imperial conferment ceremony came to an end, the world of Journey to the West fell into a brief silence. Cheng Long's avatar, Sun Wukong, failed to join Buddhism, but gained a large amount of merit from Journey to the West, which only made the sources in the three realms discuss it for a while. .
With Empress Nuwa as his backer, Sun Wukong can be popular and drink hot food whether in Buddhism or in heaven. (End of chapter)