Starting Immortal Cultivation from a White Dog

Di Ting can hear all sounds in the three realms and six paths, and can distinguish the true from the false and the real from the unreal. It is said to be the mount of Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva, an incarnation of Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva, and the guardian of the hell grotto.

The white dog stood by the lake, its pupils calmly fixed on Di Ting.

The moment it stopped, Di Ting's ears twitched.

Then, those eyes, which had been closed for who knows how many years, slowly opened.

Those were murky, ancient eyes, as if they had witnessed all the suffering in the world. The pupils were dark yellow, like the waters of the underworld, but deeper than the waters of the underworld, as if reflecting the cycle of reincarnation.

Then, Di Ting's form began to change.

The giant beast's outline gradually blurred, its dark gray fur transformed into a dark red robe, its drooping ears became an aged and compassionate face, and its prostrate body slowly rose, transforming into an old monk.

The old monk was thin and withered, his face aged, and his skin was like dried tree bark, covered with the wrinkles of time.

His eyebrows were extremely long, as white as silver, hanging down from his brow bone to his chest. His eyes were cloudy yet compassionate, as if filled with the suffering of all sentient beings in the three realms and six paths.

He held a nine-ringed staff, which was entirely black except for the nine gold rings. Each ring was engraved with a Buddhist swastika symbol, which shimmered with a faint but firm light in the dark yellow mist.

Beneath his feet was the surging waters of the Yellow Springs, and behind him, a faint, indistinct grotto-heaven could be seen.

"Greetings, Your Majesty." The old monk spoke, his voice calm and aged, like the tolling of a bronze bell in an ancient temple, carrying a composure that had been tempered by the passage of time. "You have come to me after all."

The white dog and the old monk faced each other from afar, with the waters of the Yellow Springs surging and flowing between them, and a dark yellow mist swirling between them.

Did you know I was coming?

Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva lowered his eyes slightly, his aged face showing no surprise, only a deep calm, as if all of this was within his expectations.

He said slowly, "The cause and effect have been settled long ago, and there will be a day of reckoning. Today's result is tomorrow's cause."

His voice echoed across the surface of the Yellow Springs Lake, each word carrying a strange rhythm, as if he were not speaking, but reciting an ancient scripture.

The nine golden rings on the nine-ringed staff trembled slightly, emitting a crisp sound that intertwined with his voice, creating a peculiar resonance.

Wu Tian said, "You monk are quite clear-headed; you do have some skill."

"It's a pity I can't keep you here."

Before the words were finished, the white dog opened its mouth. Although it was only three feet tall, when it opened its mouth, it seemed like a bottomless abyss.

My innate divine power: Devouring Heaven.

The white dog swallowed the sky, distorting the void as it opened its mouth, and the waters of the Yellow Springs began to flow backward, gushing into its mouth like a waterfall.

The silt at the bottom of the underworld cracked open, the dark yellow mist was torn to pieces, and the death clouds in the sky began to rotate, forming a huge vortex.

Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva stood on a violently shaking isolated island, his dark red kasaya fluttering in the gale, and his two long, snow-white eyebrows flying backward in the wind.

Yet his face remained calm, and there was no fear in his cloudy eyes, only a profound and detached composure.

He did not dodge or resist; he simply slowly raised the nine-ringed tin staff in his hand.

The staff struck the ground, and the nine golden rings rang out in unison with a clear, resonant sound. The sound pierced through the howling wind and the churning of the underworld, like the morning bell tolling in an ancient temple, distant and profound.

Behind him, the Hell Cave suddenly burst forth with boundless Buddhist light.

In the Buddha's light, the scene of the hellish cave became clearly visible.

In the deepest part of the cave, three figures sat cross-legged. They were three Bodhisattvas, all wearing kasayas and jeweled crowns, their bodies radiating a clear, crystal-like Buddhist light.

Behind the three Bodhisattvas, eighteen Arhats, each holding a ritual implement—some with vajras, some with pagodas, and some with demon-subduing swords—stood solemnly. Further behind, eight hundred Vajras, clad in golden armor and wielding vajras, formed a formidable array.

The three Bodhisattvas, the eighteen Arhats, and the eight hundred Vajras all began chanting sutras at this moment.

"Namo Amitabha Buddha..."

The sound of the Buddha's name emanated from the hellish cave, grand and solemn, as if all the Buddhas of the heavens and myriad realms were speaking at the same moment.

Golden Sanskrit characters surged forth from the grotto, each character radiating boundless light, flowing like countless stars above the Yellow Springs. The Sanskrit characters intertwined, transforming into layer upon layer of golden light, enveloping Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva and the Hell Grotto within.

At the same time, Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva also began to radiate Buddha light.

His dark red robe turned golden in the Buddha's light, his withered face became full and solemn, and his cloudy eyes became clear and bright.

A huge phantom of Buddha appeared behind him. The Buddha sat cross-legged on a lotus platform, his hands forming a mudra, his face compassionate and solemn.

The illusory image overlapped with the body of Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva, making the old monk appear no longer as a Bodhisattva, but as a true Buddha.

Supreme power bestows upon you.

Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva raised his head and looked at the gigantic mouth that blotted out the sky. His lips moved slightly, and he uttered a sentence...

That was also the last thing he said in this world.

"I will not become a Buddha until hell is empty. I will not attain enlightenment until all sentient beings are liberated."

The voice was calm yet firm, like an eternal vow.

Then, the giant mouth closed.

The entire isolated island in the middle of the lake, the surging waters of the underworld, the dazzling Buddha light, the solemn chanting, the three Bodhisattvas, the eighteen Arhats, the eight hundred Vajras, the hellish grotto...

They were all swallowed whole.

The moment the gigantic maw closed, the depths of the Underworld fell into a deathly silence. The dark yellow mist ceased to surge, the waters of the Underworld stopped flowing, and even the air seemed to freeze.

The white dog closed its mouth and paused slightly.

Inside his belly, the hellish cave was undergoing astonishing changes.

Inside the grotto, the bodies of the three bodhisattvas gradually became transparent in the Buddha's light, like glass melting from the edges when it met a raging fire.

Their robes shattered into pieces, transforming into a sky full of Buddhist light.

The eighteen Arhats put down their ritual implements, sat cross-legged, and clasped their hands together. The vajra fell to the ground with a muffled thud, then turned to dust in the Buddha's light.

The bodies of the eighteen Arhats gradually melted in the Buddha's light, like ice and snow meeting the spring breeze.

The golden armor of the eight hundred Vajras melted in the Buddha's light, turning into golden liquid that flowed on the ground. Their bodies began to disintegrate from the edges, and their skin, muscles, and bones turned into golden specks of light layer by layer.

The points of light did not dissipate, but instead converged together, like a golden river flowing towards the center of the cave.

Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva was swallowed by the white dog, yet his face remained calm, even bearing a faint smile.

His body, along with the cave behind him, began to melt away.

"Namo Amitabha Buddha".

As the hellish cave collapsed, the endless Buddha light transformed from the Four Great Bodhisattvas, the Eighteen Arhats, and the Eight Hundred Vajras converged towards the center like rivers flowing into the sea.

As time passed, the Buddha's light coalesced into a golden lotus.

The golden lotus was dazzling, each petal formed from the purest Buddhist light, and densely engraved with Sanskrit characters, each character glowing.

The golden lotus slowly bloomed, its petals unfolding layer by layer, and a relic was raised in the center of the lotus platform, radiating boundless light.

The relic was no bigger than a thumb, and its entire body was crystal clear, like the finest mutton fat jade.

It resembles a finger bone, with faint golden patterns flowing across its surface. Upon closer inspection, these patterns reveal countless Sanskrit characters, each smaller than a speck of dust, yet each clearly discernible.

The golden lotus began to wither the moment the relic appeared.

One by one, the lotus petals withered, curled, and vanished as golden rain.

When the last lotus petal dissipated, the entire hellish cave had completely collapsed, leaving only this Buddha relic, which quietly floated in the belly of Wu Tian.

Wu Tian frowned slightly, carefully sensing the changes in the world within his abdomen. He used his supernatural powers to examine the Buddha relic, and after a long time, he finally discerned a clue.

“The Buddha has quite the methods.” His voice was deep, with a hint of coldness. “All these Bodhisattvas, Arhats, and Vajras are actually his incarnations.”

"Now that it is clear that the attack is unstoppable, all the incarnations have vanished and transformed into a Buddha relic."

Wu Tian narrowed his eyes slightly, a cold glint flashing in his pupils.

"As long as this Buddha relic does not perish, he will be able to return from the cycle of reincarnation in three hundred years."

"Although the price is that all those Bodhisattvas and Arhats will completely disappear from the world, Amitabha Buddha can be resurrected."

Its mind sank into the universe within its belly, attempting to refine the Buddha's relic with the flames of the Heaven and Earth Copper Furnace.

Flames cascaded down like a waterfall, engulfing the Buddha's relics.

However, the golden flames that were powerful enough to refine the Jade Void Celestial Venerable burned the relic, but it was like a stream washing over a reef; the relic remained completely still, without even a trace of melting.

The white dog remained silent for a moment, having already made its judgment.

Although this relic has no supernatural powers and cannot actively attack or defend itself, it possesses an extremely special property: it is indestructible.

To completely refine it, its invulnerable and indestructible qualities need to be peeled away and erased bit by bit, a process that is extremely slow.

Even with his 220,000 years of cultivation, it would still take at least several hundred years to activate.

Hundreds of years of water-milling craftsmanship.

Wu Tian slowly regained his composure. "Interesting."

He said in a low voice, which echoed deep within the Yellow Springs, "Then let's see whether I swallow your three heavens first, or you return from the cycle of reincarnation first."

Having said that, he didn't linger. He turned around, stepped across the waters of the Yellow Springs, and with one step, his figure disappeared into the netherworld.

He has much more to do next.

The Mischievous Demon King, the Seven Killing Star Lord, the Nine Heavens Child Killing General, the Jade Cloud Goddess... those immortals, gods, demons, and monsters who survived the great chaos of that year are now scattered throughout the Three Realms.

Some became mountain kings, harming the local area; some went into hiding, keeping their identities secret; and some took advantage of the chaos to try and take over the throne.

What Wu Tian had to do was find them one by one.

Those that can be subdued, are subdued. Those that cannot be subdued, are suppressed.

Rebuilding the Heavenly Court requires order.

Order, however, has always been established through force.

……

The years that followed.

Wu Tian traveled through the Three Realms, from the Four Seas and Eight Desolations to the Netherworld, dragging out and killing all the remnants of the Buddhist sect who were hiding in the shadows, leaving none alive.

He searched the entire Northwest, the ruins of Mount Ling, the temples of the mortal world, and the dark corners of the underworld, completely eradicating all remaining Buddhist followers connected to the Buddha.

With his cultivation level, no one in the Three Realms, except for Chi Xiao, could stop him.

After wiping out the Buddhist sect, he did not continue to target the Taoist sect.

In fact, even the Buddhist sect only exterminates those whose cultivation and attainment have reached the realm of immortals.

As for Taoism...

The beings in this world are deeply influenced by Taoism. It can be said that more than 70% of the cultivators in the world are related to Taoism, and the rest have inevitably been influenced by Taoism as well.

If a massacre is launched against the Taoist sects, the entire Three Realms will be thrown into turmoil.

The lineages passed down by the Great Crimson Heavenly Venerable and the Jade Void Heavenly Venerable, namely the Taiqing Temple and the Kunlun Taoist School, are the sacred sites and foundations of the entire Taoist community.

"Taiqing Temple..."

Wu Tian hesitated for a long time, but in the end he did not take action against Taiqing Temple.

His real enemy is the Great Crimson Heavenly Venerable; killing those Taoist people doesn't really make much sense.

This is completely different from Buddhism. In Buddhism, once one achieves the Vajra state, one entrusts the foundation of one's life to Sumeru, and they are essentially incarnations of the Buddha.

That's why Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva and others were able to summon Amitabha Buddha.

However, Taoist cultivators do not have such abilities; even Kunlun sect cultivators cannot summon Jade Void Celestial Venerable from the past.

What's special is Amitabha Buddha, not the Buddhist community.

So after weighing the pros and cons, and thinking of Zhu Yeshuang and Chi Limu, Wu Tian finally gave up the idea of ​​going on a killing spree.

Then he continued his journey through the Three Realms, finding one by one the immortals, gods, demons, and monsters who survived the chaos in the Heavenly Court.

Those former Heavenly Court officials who escaped with their lives in that battle have since hidden themselves in various parts of the Three Realms.

Wu Tian dragged them out one by one, subduing those who could be subdued and suppressing those who refused to submit.

Before we knew it, another sixteen years had passed.

As Wu Tian conquered all directions, he was invincible in every battle. After subduing all the immortals, Buddhas, demons and monsters, they gradually gathered in the Heavenly Court.

The name of the Great Sun Emperor is becoming increasingly renowned throughout the Three Realms.

All the immortals gathered in the Heavenly Court, while the mortal world returned to its mundane state.

The human world, which had been in turmoil since that catastrophe, finally began to usher in a period of peace.

After doing all this, Wu Tian did not return to the Heavenly Court.

Instead, they stepped back into the underworld.

It should be noted that since the great battle in Heaven, the number of immortals, Buddhas, demons, and ordinary beings who have died to this day is countless.

These creatures, even after death, remain with lingering spirits, their resentment reaching the heavens.

The vengeful spirits gathered into a dark cloud that blotted out the sun, rampaging through the underworld and disturbing the peace of both the yin and yang realms.

On this day, a white dog stepped into the underworld.

He opened his gaping maw like an abyss and swallowed all those immortal spirits, vengeful ghosts, and malevolent spirits into his belly.

As the universe within his belly transformed into a bronze furnace, golden flames burned everything.

Those vengeful spirits were refined away in the flames, their resentment gone, and transformed into pure spirits.

After the last trace of resentment was refined, he opened his mouth and spat out countless Yin spirits like a galaxy, which flew out of his mouth and turned into a rain of light that sprinkled down on the underworld.

Those evil spirits slowly dissipated in the rain of light, returning to the cycle of reincarnation.

After he finished doing all this, a golden light suddenly fell from the sky.

The golden light was vast yet gentle, piercing down from the heavens and enveloping Wu Tian's entire body.

To quell the calamities of the three realms, suppress the netherworld, and deliver countless lost souls.

May he be favored by Heaven and receive unparalleled merit.

The merit, like a golden waterfall, lasted for three days and three nights before slowly dissipating.

Wu Tian felt that his cultivation had improved significantly, now reaching nearly 230,000 years. Even his understanding of the laws of heaven and earth had become clearer and more thorough.

"It's time to return to the Heavenly Court and claim the throne of the Heavenly Emperor."

He gazed from the netherworld towards the heavens, his divine eyes able to see the majestic celestial palace. (End of Chapter)