The immortal is beside me

Chapter 88: Buddhist Footprints, Thousand-Year-Old Shadows

The Buddhist realm.

Under the giant golden statue, dozens of Buddhist monks spread out in a fan shape, surrounding the central viewing platform.

On the stage, the old monk Hongyuan inserted a stick of burning incense into the censer, and the smoke slowly spread out, casting an illusory filter over the entire temple hall.

"As I promised before, I will awaken the Pure Land here and demonstrate to you the thousand-year cause and effect."

Hong Yuan slowly stood up, raised his Zen staff, and turned to the Cang Tian Sect members waiting behind him. "The Pure Land contains the Buddha's great power. Please hold fast to your spiritual altar and maintain your spiritual awareness."

The people from the Cangtian Sect behind him exchanged glances with each other.

Those who are qualified to stand here are the leaders of the Cangtian Sect in various places. The lowest level of their cultivation is Nascent Soul. Normally, when they meet, they often argue over the legitimacy of Cangtian, but now standing here, they seem to have become true allies.

A surge of inspiration arose, and several Cangtian Sect masters closed their eyes at the same time. Several huge auras condensed into one point, forming an unbreakable barrier.

When all preparations were completed, the old monk Hongyuan walked to the front of the stage, faced the huge golden Buddha statue, clasped his hands together, and chanted.

"Shariputra: Form is not different from emptiness, emptiness is not different from form; form is emptiness, emptiness is form; and likewise are feeling, perception, mental formations, and consciousness."

"Shariputra: All dharmas are empty in nature, neither born nor destroyed, neither defiled nor pure, neither increasing nor decreasing."

It wasn't some profound Buddhist teaching, but rather the most basic verses from the Heart Sutra. As he chanted, the monks stationed on all sides began to chant as well, their voices merging into one, like the strange sound of a bell echoing between heaven and earth.

The bell composed of human voices struck at a strange frequency, and the sound was heard by everyone in the Cangtian Sect, making the scene in their eyes seem to be filtered.

With each passage of scripture recited, the sky and earth seemed to grow brighter, and even time seemed to be infinitely stretched, until finally, everything in sight was submerged in a golden halo, and only the image of the giant Buddha in front remained clear.

When they came to their senses, the scene before them had turned into a strange space composed of golden light. The magnificent temple, the slowly burning incense and candles, and the monks guarding the four directions had all disappeared, leaving only the old monk Hongyuan standing in front of them with a smile in the layers of halo.

"Here, I welcome all of you from the Cangtian Sect to witness our Buddha's Pure Land," Hong Yuan said. "This place was created by the Buddha. It is the place where cause and effect converge. Although it is only an incomplete fragment of the Pure Land, it should be enough to give you a glimpse of our Buddha's true essence."

Everyone from the Cangtian Sect looked around, with a look of surprise on their faces.

Their cultivation and age are not low, so they can naturally see that this is a space composed entirely of spirits, and the people standing here are not physical people, but pure souls.

They had expected the Buddha's creation to be overwhelming, and had secretly prepared themselves for a mental shock. However, they hadn't felt any pressure at all throughout the entire process. It was as if the chanting had been a lullaby, transporting them to a shared dream.

No, maybe more than them.

Everyone looked around. At first glance, the golden light in the space seemed empty, but if they looked closely, they would find that there seemed to be countless human figures swaying under the golden light, so densely packed that they formed a whole, and it was impossible to count how many shadows were in it.

Those shadows are like schools of fish under the ice, and they are walking on the ice. Wherever they go, the shadows of the "schools of fish" appear, appearing and disappearing, as if they are right in front of them, but untouchable.

That was the cause and effect that connected them. In this special space, the ethereal cause and effect transformed into visible karma, a manifestation of the laws of heaven and earth.

Gathering thousands of thoughts into one, and thousands of causes and effects into one, is called the Pure Land of Ultimate Bliss.

"Having seen this, I believe you have already begun to realize the effectiveness of the Pure Land."

Hongyuan had obviously noticed the change in their expressions. He smiled, stroking the Zen staff in his hand, and said, "In this pure land, the cause and effect of one person is insignificant. The real variable lies in an entire era."

"The staff in this old monk's hand was left behind 1,200 years ago by the Buddha before he achieved enlightenment. The Buddha imbued it with his energy to protect the Buddhist disciples everywhere. Thus, we have been granted the authority to save all sentient beings, and we will travel to all corners of the world to save them."

"Now, I will use this sacred object to show you the scene of 1,200 years ago."

He raised the Zen stick in his hand and swept it across the space on all sides, just like cutting through the surface of water. Ripples spread out from it, and a picture unfolded like ink painting, infecting the golden light on all sides. In a moment, the entire space had transformed into a brand new scene.

With blue sky, white clouds, mountains and rivers, it looks like a plateau.

They walked on the grassy mountainside. Snow-capped mountains loomed in the distance. Countless nomads, leading their yaks, walked among the barley fields. Makeshift nomadic settlements were visible. Above, the occasional barbarian monk passed by, leaving behind fleeting shadows.

"This was the territory of the Tubo Kingdom 1,200 years ago," said the old monk Hongyuan.

Tubo, a plateau country bordering the Tang Dynasty, has a population mostly of plateau nomads.

More than 1,300 years ago, it rose almost simultaneously with the Tang Dynasty. As early as the reign of Emperor Taizong of Tang, the emperor sent Princess Wencheng to marry him.

In the following hundreds of years, Tubo and the Tang Dynasty had countless exchanges and wars. Sometimes they married each other, sometimes they drew their swords, sometimes they enjoyed mutual benefit, and sometimes they stabbed each other in the back. It can truly be said that they loved and hated each other.

Everyone looked in the direction that Old Monk Hongyuan pointed, and saw that between the plateau basin, they could vaguely see traces of a city. Above the city, there seemed to be an illusory giant bull lying in mid-air.

"That's it." The shadow of the giant bull reflected in the eyes of the Cang Tian Sect, sparking a vague suspicion. Just like the dragon totem of the Central Plains, the Tibetan Empire, born on the plateau, used the sacred bull as its national totem. Just as the national destiny of the dynasties in the Central Plains was manifested as a dragon, so naturally, the Tibetan Empire's national destiny would be manifested as a yak.

A nation's destiny is shaped by Qi, and aside from those practicing the art of Yi, it shouldn't be visible to anyone. But within this pure land of cause and effect, the ethereal Qi is fully manifested before everyone's eyes.

"This country of Tubo, situated on the plateau, is a gathering place for all living things. Its people are inherently pure, yet many are dull and indulge their bestiality. With compassion, the Buddha has brought his teachings to the plateau, enlightening the people and saving all living beings."

A group of figures passed by the crowd, thousands of monks in robes. Their figures passed through the crowd unhindered, floating down from the plateau, flying straight towards the distant city and entering it.

The azure sky of the plateau suddenly changed color, and a golden Buddhist spirit rose from the capital, flowing through the entire plateau like a gushing spring.

In that "spring water", the national destiny of the divine ox lying above the city underwent a slight change, and strands of "golden threads" climbed up along the body of the yak, becoming thicker and denser.

At the same time, the plateau scenes on all sides also changed rapidly. Decades of changes were compressed into a few breaths. The grass and trees flourished and withered in an instant. The rushing streams between the mountains and rivers dried up rapidly. People and livestock traveled across the plateau, and generations changed in the blink of an eye.

As the pictures appeared before their eyes, the expressions of everyone in the Cangtian Sect changed.

They were all spiritual cultivators and were not familiar with Yi Shu. Even so, they could still clearly understand the connotation of this scene - Buddhism had planted its faith in the Tubo Kingdom and was interfering with Tubo's national destiny with its faith!
This is truly astonishing.

The destiny of a country is the integration of cause and effect in the earth. Ordinary people can't touch it, and even observing it requires the help of a monk with profound cultivation in Yishu. Even the emperor of a country is only the inheritor of the national destiny, not the user. Even the immortal sect behind the dynasty needs to use some means to influence the national destiny.

As an external force, Buddhism can actually directly change the destiny of a country?
Everyone opened their eyes wide and looked at the sacred bull in the sky that represented the destiny of Tubo.

In the rapidly changing scene, the divine cow was quickly dyed with the golden color of Buddhism, and at the same time, temples and pagodas began to appear on the plateau. Under the reflection of the Buddha's light, people felt as if they were looking at the sacred mountain standing in the sky.

The barbarian monks who used to travel through the mountains disappeared, replaced by monks in robes. The sound of chanting rang out from all directions, echoing throughout the entire plateau.

"This is the history of our Buddha's salvation." Hong Yuan turned his head and smiled at the crowd. "It took our Buddha twenty years to finally save Tubo and transform it into a place where the Buddha's will converge. From then on, it escaped from the wilderness and entered the sea of ​​wisdom."

The Cang Tian Sect was speechless for a moment. At this moment, they completely understood the difference between a sect and a religion.

During the hundreds of years of feudal dynasties, the connections between the various immortal sects and the mortal world mostly followed the same pattern.

Ordinary people provide incense to the sect, and the sect accepts it and provides corresponding assistance, so that its luck gradually expands and eventually forms a country of varying sizes. The two are interdependent. If the sect is destroyed, the country will be destroyed. Even the Cangtian Sect, which once dominated the area, could not escape this pattern.

Judging from the current history, Buddhism, with the help of the power of the Buddha, was able to turn the already formed national destiny into its own use. Even the local barbarian monks converted to Buddhism. Such means were truly shocking to them who came from the immortal sect.

Is this the method of the Hedao level?
Hongyuan flicked the Zen staff in his hand, and the picture of the plateau shattered. Countless fragments reassembled in front of him, overlapping into one like a kaleidoscope, outlining a brand new picture.

The sky is green and the fields are vast.

Among the green grass, you can see groups of tribal camps, herds of cattle and sheep scattered outside the camps, and curls of smoke rising from the mountains.

"This is the Uighur Khanate 1,200 years ago," said the old monk Hongyuan.

The Uighur Khanate, originally a federation of several steppe tribes, was a branch of the Turkic Khanate. After joining forces with the Tang army to overthrow the Turks, these tribes established their own khanate, still primarily nomadic.

Unlike the grassland peoples who often represented aggression in the past, the relationship between the Uighur Khanate and the Tang Dynasty was always relatively good in the hundred years before and after the founding of the country. There were many records of joining forces to defeat the enemy, and the Uighur Khanate even accepted the jurisdiction of the Tang Dynasty for a time.

In the current scene, the destiny of this Khanate is manifested as a gray wolf, which lies prone in the sky, proudly gazing at the endless grassland in front of it.

"The people of the grasslands are simple by nature, but they are bewitched by the shamans and hate killing and love life. The Buddha is merciful and has brought the Buddha's will to the plateau to subdue the evil spirit and save all living beings."

The golden light shone again. Similar to what had happened in Tibet earlier, numerous monks trudged through the grass, emerging into the vast grasslands. Simultaneously, the gray wolf in the sky began to take on the golden color of Buddhism. In a moment, the emerald green grasslands were also shrouded in the Buddha's light.

"It took the Buddha fifteen years to convert the Huihe people, transforming them into a place where the Buddha's will gathers. From then on, the wild nature was tamed and finally returned to compassion."

In the following time, similar scenes continued to unfold, in mountains, grasslands, oceans, deserts. Wherever there was energy gathering, there were people from the Buddhist sect who stepped in. In just a few breaths, the people of the Cangtian Sect had witnessed hundreds of years of development history of Buddhism.

An astonishing history. In just a few decades, the Buddha's light spread throughout the Central Plains, from the grasslands to the sea, and everywhere you looked, you could hear the sound of chanting.

"Until this moment, twelve hundred years ago, the entire region surrounding the Central Plains has been blessed by the Buddha, and we are about to reach the final place of salvation."

Hong Yuan looked at the scene in front of him. He raised his Zen staff again, and the scene in front of him changed again, showing the final scene.

Amidst the vast, fertile Guanzhong Plain, the majestic and magnificent city of Chang'an stands. Atop its resplendent walls, a golden dragon of destiny soars, overlooking the vast Central Plains.

".The Central Plains, the Great Tang Dynasty."

"It was here that we encountered the Nine Li Demon Sect's interception. A century of conflict began from then on."

(End of this chapter)