I attained immortality in the real world.

Chapter 70 The True Scripture of Planning
Outside the pagoda at Baima Temple.

The monks, their mouths dry, recited the Heart Sutra again and again.

The sun was high in the eastern sky, and the strange phenomenon of the Buddha's tongue relic had long since dissipated, but the people inside the pagoda showed no sign of coming out.

At this moment, the sun is like a raging fire, and the evil spirits will completely dissolve under the sunlight in a short time. There are no longer any chaotic evil spirits in the pagoda.

Although the phenomenon was beautiful, it was somewhat wasteful of the spirits. The relics in the temples of the new Tang Dynasty could be enshrined for a hundred years. When the spirits were corrupted by the incense and became chaotic spirits, they would be sent to the White Horse Temple. Only in this way could the cost of creating the relic phenomenon be borne. However, it was definitely worthwhile to use it to convert the emperor.

The senior monk who had been blowing the conch shell put away his instrument and looked at the monk striking the wooden fish: "Is it done?"

The monk striking the wooden fish replied, "It should be done! After all, the extraordinary phenomenon of the relic is truly visible, and anyone who sees it will feel awe for my Buddhist heart."

"........."

The seventh level of the pagoda.

None of the three spoke, and they fell into a long silence.

The monk Guangzhi heard every word of their conversation, but he couldn't fully understand its meaning and stood awkwardly to the side, unable to get a word in edgewise.

The conversation died, which should have been an extremely awkward situation, but apart from the monk Guangzhi, no one cared and was not affected.

Chen Jing said everything he needed to say, and then sat cross-legged in meditation, like an old monk in deep meditation, waiting patiently.

There's no need for detailed explanations; coming up with your own ideas and having them forced into your head are two completely different things.

Unless you're dealing with stubborn rocks or rotten wood, it's more effective to guide the other person to think of it themselves.

Li Zhi was clearly not an incorrigible piece of wood. As long as the words "basic Buddhist principles" reached Li Zhi's ears, he would surely be able to deduce the eventual rise and fall of Buddhism.

[Basic Buddhist Principles!]

At this moment, Li Zhi was deep in thought.

The four words were like a sharp thorn piercing Li Zhi's heart.

It seems that a method for eradicating Buddhism—one that doesn't involve violence but rather eliminates it completely, leaving no trace—has been found!

The foundation of Buddhism has been laid over a thousand years of propagation, and eradicating it is virtually impossible; it is a mistake, and can only be a mistake.

The saying "Put down the butcher's knife and become a Buddha on the spot" and "Buddha cuts his own flesh to feed an eagle" can provide people with an explanation that conforms to their understanding and guide the deviated Buddhist principles back to the right track.

If some Buddhist stories cannot be reasonably explained, then they should be changed; if they cannot be changed, then they should be newly compiled. Buddhism is destined to make way for people and form a set of basic Buddhist principles that can conform to the common people's understanding, are reasonable, and legal.

In this way, there will be no direct conflict with Buddhism.

Even if a few intelligent people in Buddhism could realize this, they were destined to be unable to organize a large-scale confrontation.

After all, this is about promoting Buddhism, and the vast majority of Buddhist believers would support the spread of basic Buddhist principles.

Once the basic Buddhist principles have been disseminated, everyone will be a master, and there will be no masters.

With Buddhist principles to rely on, if someone were to become a monk to avoid committing a sin, or use the pretext of releasing animals to harm the interests of others, they would not be protected by the Dharma and would instead face public criticism. The court would then not encounter any obstacles in implementing the law.

Without followers, a sect naturally loses its appeal, and a sect prospers while its followers perish.

This strategy aimed to both preserve the foundation of the new Tang dynasty and eliminate the immense influence of Buddhism, preventing distorted Buddhist doctrines from undermining the credibility of the legal system. It was an overt scheme, not a cunning one; the emperor was the primary beneficiary, while the Yogacara school was merely an indirect beneficiary.

"........."

"interesting!"

"Interesting!"

"Kill Du, Eagle Rabbit said, and Empty Paper Return are all to provide evidence for this set of theories. When I started to approve of Kill Du and Eagle Rabbit, and the Empty Paper Return sparked my thinking, I unconsciously leaned towards you. It turns out I was already proselytized!"

Li Zhi snapped out of his thoughts and looked at Qianye again. All the clues were successfully connected, and he realized that the little monk had a Buddha's eye, a far-reaching plan, a clear goal, and wanted to use the power of others to his advantage. He was far more terrifying than he had imagined.

He asked, "I remember you are a disciple of the Yogacara lineage. You should have known my identity long ago, and perhaps you deliberately approached me in order to use me to revive your Yogacara sect?"

Being without desires or wants can actually make people wary, while forming alliances based on shared interests is the best way to gain trust.

Chen Jing did not deny it, and after performing a Buddhist salute, he firmly said: "It has been a thousand years since the Patriarch retrieved the true scriptures. I believe that they should not be shelved. I humbly request Your Majesty to help me establish a sect and become the patriarch, so that I can spread the basic Buddhist principles widely and correct the chaos."

Li Zhi remained noncommittal: "What is the true scripture?"

Chen Jingping replied calmly, "If the world can recognize it, then it is the true scripture. I am willing to conform to the affairs of the world, therefore I am the true scripture."

The three of them emerged from the stupa around noon.

Chen Jing returned to the Zen temple where Jinshan Temple was located, while Li Zhi went in another direction, each going their own way.

The monk Guangzhi rubbed his temples, his brain a little overloaded after just half a day. He said to one of the senior monks, "Go to the scripture pavilion and pick out a few widely circulated Buddhist scriptures to send to the important person."

"........."

Night has fallen, and the moon is nearly full.

The next day was the Ullambana Festival on the fifteenth of the seventh lunar month.

During the day, outside the pagoda, two senior monks using ritual implements and a junior monk arrived at a secluded meditation room in the White Horse Temple.

The senior monk striking the wooden fish spoke first: "Reporting to the National Preceptor Wuyuan, we have successfully triggered the extraordinary phenomenon of the Buddha's tongue relic, which has reduced His Majesty's prejudice against Buddhism. He has ordered several Buddhist scriptures to be selected for study."

Inside the meditation room, a monk dressed in a dark blue robe sat cross-legged chanting sutras, his fingers fiddling with prayer beads made of colorful stones and hemp thread. He opened his eyes and looked at the two people: "His Majesty has a deep prejudice against Buddhism. Even if he changes his mind, he won't show it immediately. Is there anything unexpected?"

The monk blowing the conch shell pondered for a moment and then said, "Yes, His Majesty stayed in the pagoda until noon before coming out, accompanied by a young monk, a debater from Jinshan Temple."

Venerable Wuyuan frowned: "The Yogacara lineage? We need not concern ourselves with it for now. After the Ullambana Festival, we will use the spirit to extract information from Guangzhi about what happened inside the pagoda."

The young monk beside him spoke up at the opportune moment: "Master, Daci Temple, Kongming Temple, and Jinshan Temple have all agreed to merge their sects and determine the main lineage based on the outcome of the debate at this year's Ullambana Festival. However, although Venerable Master Faming has passed on the Yogacara theory to me, it is just a useless theory and cannot guarantee that he will also pass on other lineages to me."

Upon hearing this, Wu Yuan's eyes lit up, and he said, "It's alright! If he can't find a successor other than you, I will choose a topic with no answer. No matter how others argue, as long as I choose Baima Temple, then Baima Temple will be the winner of the debate."

The true scriptures, Xuanzang's true scriptures, how could obtaining the true scriptures lead to such a passive situation?
According to the Yogacara school of the White Horse Temple, as long as one can cultivate Yogacara, one can resist the erosion of spiritual intelligence by incense offerings, solve the biggest problem of the Yin spirit cultivation method, and the path to longevity is also contained within it.

Who can resist the allure of immortality? Why worry that the emperor will grow tired of Buddhism, abandon it, and stop revering Buddhism?

(End of this chapter)