Chapter 426: 426
Tathagata Buddha had finally confirmed that the thief who entered Spiritual Mountain and obtained Amitabha’s Buddha Spirit Path Trace from the Sukhavati Realm was none other than Sun Wukong!
“So it was you, you little thief who stole my Buddha Spirit Path Trace! Damnable!”
A surge of anger rose from Tathagata Buddha’s eyes, which had until now been serene throughout the battle, showing no signs of fury, not even a fleeting shock, as he had excellent control over his emotions. But at this moment, Tathagata Buddha could no longer contain the rage in his heart!
The Buddha Spirit Path Trace! It was the opportunity he had been painstakingly searching for ten thousand years, only to have Sun Wukong step in and snatch it away!
Originally, Tathagata Buddha had schemed to confine Amitabha, stealing the fruits of his Mahayana Buddhism and replacing it with the lesser Theravada practice. Aside from slowly absorbing the Saint Primordial of Amitabha, an even more important reason was his desire to possess Amitabha’s Buddha Spirit Path Trace!
Amitabha was initially the Guiding Daoist, an outer sect disciple of Hong Jun Daoist Ancestor, belonging to the Taoist sect. Later, as the Western Cult benefited greatly from the war of Divine Enthronement, it grew rapidly, garnering many strong disciples and a large following. Unsatisfied with remaining a subsidiary to Taoism, after consulting with his junior brother Zhunti Daoist, the Guiding Daoist reformed the Western Cult into Mahayana Buddhism, became known as the founder of Buddhism, Amitabha, while Zhunti Daoist became Bodhi Ancestral Buddha.
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Unfortunately, the good times did not last. After Daoist Supreme Laozi traveled west through the Hangu Pass and was transformed into the Buddha, Daoist Multi-Treasure was sent to join the Buddhist Sect, becoming Multi-Treasure Tathagata. Amitabha, owing to favors, took Multi-Treasure Tathagata as his disciple and imparted all his knowledge. However, Amitabha was plotted against by Multi-Treasure Tathagata, who sealed Amitabha’s Saint Primordial with the God-Slaying Needle, sealed his entire Buddha Primordial Force, and imprisoned him in the Sukhavati Realm.
The fruits of Mahayana Buddhism were usurped by Multi-Treasure Tathagata and replaced with the lesser Theravada Buddhism. The original Mahayana Buddhism was thus transformed into Theravada Buddhism, and Multi-Treasure Tathagata’s Theravada Buddhism became the orthodox Mahayana Buddhism within the Buddhist Sect. After this earth-shattering transformation, Multi-Treasure Tathagata replaced Amitabha as the Lord of Western Heaven’s Buddhist Sect, Tathagata Buddha.
Though Zhunti Ancestral Buddha sensed Multi-Treasure Tathagata’s conspiracy and narrowly escaped, Tathagata Buddha had already exploited the usurped fruits to break through to the Heavenly Dao Saint Realm with the immeasurable merit bestowed by the heavens, and his power was on the rise. At that time, Zhunti Ancestral Buddha had no confidence in defeating Tathagata Buddha and had no choice but to feign death, escape from Spiritual Mountain, and establish a Cave Heaven and Blessed Land, becoming the current Puti Patriarch.
Tathagata Buddha could never have dreamed that right in Western Cattle Gift State, right under the jurisdiction of his Western Heavenly Buddhist Sect, right under his very nose, there lay hidden such an archenemy as the Puti Patriarch!
Over the years, the Puti Patriarch had trained many disciples, none of whom could stand against Tathagata Buddha. Worried about being discovered, the Puti Patriarch instructed each disciple leaving the mountain never to mention their connection to him, nor to claim themselves as his disciples, until Sun Wukong came along.
Sun Wukong from the past life had not fulfilled Puti Patriarch’s hopes either. Although he had caused a great disturbance in the Heavenly Court, it was only because the truly powerful experts of the Heavenly Court couldn’t be bothered to deal with him, and later he was still schemed by Tathagata Buddha to become a protector aiding Tang Seng in the Journey to the West to propagate the Taoist lineage of the Western Sect. However, all this changed after Sun Wukong acquired the Time-Space Life-Death Talisman.
With the help of the Time-Space Life-Death Talisman, Sun Wukong reversed time and returned to before his birth, obtained the Heavenly Demon Body, received the true teachings from the Puti Patriarch, and from then on, he advanced rapidly, subtly altering his original heavenly trajectory. He accidentally encountered Amitabha, who was trapped in the Sukhavati Realm, and obtained the Buddha Spirit Path Trace that Tathagata Buddha could only dream of.
It was precisely with the assistance of the Buddha Spirit Path Trace that Sun Wukong managed to achieve a Chaotic Divine Body on the Ascend to Heaven Platform and survived the deserted Heavenly Abandonment, with all his blood transforming into holy blood. His journey to the Demonic Realm allowed him to further elevate the Great Sun Golden Flames into the Chaos Fire, and at the Quasi-Saint Realm, he comprehended Dominion-level domain power, truly acquiring the means to defy the heavens.
Although Tathagata Buddha, as a Heavenly Dao Saint, could communicate with the Heavenly Dao to calculate the myriad things of the Zhou Tian, he could not foresee Puti Patriarch, another Heavenly Dao Saint, and even less could he predict Sun Wukong, a heavenly thief who had slipped out of his destined trajectory by reliving his life. Otherwise, if he had known that Sun Wukong was a disciple raised by Puti Patriarch, he would likely have been far more than just angry.
“Damn you, Demon Monkey, give me back my Buddha Spirit Path Trace!”
In his fury, the Tathagata Buddha stretched out his palm again and pressed it heavily down on the Swastika Buddha Seal. Instantly, the power of the Swastika Buddha Seal surged once more. Already at his limit, Sun Wukong could no longer withstand it. Amidst a scream of agony, all stick shadows shattered, and he was heavily smashed by the Swastika Buddha Seal, crushed from the sky to the ground like Mount Tai bearing down upon him.
Boom!
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The entire earth shook violently, and large cracks appeared on the surface, spreading out in all directions like a spiderweb. The ground, already indented by a deep pit, caved in even farther, creating a huge, bottomless hole.
The Swastika Buddha Seal continued to press down on Sun Wukong, pushing his body further into the depths of the earth. The rumbling sound lasted for a full incense burning time on the surface of the earth before it slowly subsided; the dust settled, and the Swastika Buddha Seal transformed into a massive Sky Tablet, pinning Sun Wukong beneath it.
“Brother Monkey!”
“Boss!”
Leng Xuan and the others had flown out from Flower-Fruit Mountain and were rushing to the battlefield. Still, they were a step too late. They watched helplessly as Sun Wukong was struck down and pinned under the Sky Tablet that the Swastika Buddha Seal had become. One by one, Leng Xuan and the others screamed out with veins popping in rage.
“Tathagata baldy, let my Monkey Bro out!”
“Waaaah, you stinky baldy, I’m going all out against you!”
Enraged, Luo Bai and the others were about to charge at the Tathagata Buddha and fight him to the death, but were stopped by Leng Xuan!
“If you charge at him like this, with one slap each, Tathagata will lay you all flat. How then will you save the boss? Set up the Great Zhou Tian Ten Directions Rotation Formation, block the Tathagata and prevent him from having another chance to attack the boss!”
“Right, right, set up the formation, take down Tathagata! Only by capturing Tathagata can we save the boss!”
Leng Xuan’s sharp shout woke Luo Bai and the others from their frenzy. They quickly took their positions according to the Great Zhou Tian Ten Directions Rotation Formation and started to form the battle formation, all the while clamoring to take down Tathagata with the formation and rescue Sun Wukong.