“Em… Emperor?!”
There was no doubt, only that man would have such a breathtaking handsomeness, and a murderous aura that could rock the sky and shake the sea.
How did he come here?
He has already fallen from heaven.
It's impossible for a demon who has fallen from heaven to have direct access to Buddhism.
Why is he here?
All the Buddhas looked at each other with pale faces. Before they could even attack…
A swishing noise sounded!
The man's silhouette vanished from the stairs.
In the blink of an eye, Baili Jia Jue was already grabbing one of the Honored Buddha's arm in his hand.
Suddenly, a powerful gale roared wildly over Buddhism.
In mere seconds, the demons behind Baili Jia Jue grew triple in size.
In the past, n.o.body from Tian Dao or Buddhism could defeat him, let alone now.
At first, all the Buddhas thought that he only had a demonic aura. However, his divine consciousness that could suppress the Six Paths, became evident as he approached them.
The Honored Buddha who was grabbed by Baili Jia Jue widened his eyes, he could not help but shout, “Divine Demon!”
Upon hearing these words, all the Buddhas' pale faces turned an even paler shade of white.
All the Buddhas gathered together, as the Ninety-Ninth Sanskrit hymns lingered in the air. They revealed their lotus forms, solely for the purpose of stopping the man.
“Emperor, Tian Dao and Buddhism have been at peace for 100 years and you've voluntarily chosen to fall from heaven. Why must you come to Buddhism now?”
The Son of King of h.e.l.l lost all his intentions to prevent the fight after hearing those words. These Buddhas have lived for far too long, even the words from their mouth sounded disgusting.
Though all the Buddhas clearly knew the Emperor's lethality and his ability to take away their Buddha's bodies, Buddha could reincarnate into humans as long as a piece of their souls remained.
Putting aside their fear for Baili Jia Jue, they had to maintain the superiority of Buddhism. They put their palms together, muttering Amitabha, and said, “What goes around comes around for every existence in this world. Emperor, are you not afraid of the heaven befalling tragedies on you for causing trouble in Buddhism for nothing?”
Baili Jia Jue simply smirked and lifted his long leg to kick the Buddha who was strangled to death away. His eyes gleamed as he professed, “Just like what you said, what goes around comes around for every existence in this world. Back then, all of you forced Phoenix to give up on Buddhism and receive heavenly tribulations. Today, I'm here to make you pay for your evil karma!”
All the Buddhas could not help trembling when Phoenix was mentioned.
They had never done any evil deed…
Except for that year when Golden Lotus demanded Phoenix to marry the Dragon King of the Eastern Sea, or she would have to empty the Sea of Blood in h.e.l.l.
It was a well-known fact that n.o.body could empty the Sea of Blood due to the existence of the Emperor in Mount Buzhou.
They clearly intended to leave Phoenix with no other choice.
However, little did they know, Phoenix stubbornly refused to marry. She went so far as to end her Dharma fate by herself, provoking the Heavenly Tribulation of Thirty-Three Rolling Thunder.
Originally, they wanted to give her some a.s.sistance. However, they were held back for some other reasons.
Ever since they had Phoenix, everybody in Buddhism kept their hands clean from the blood.
They were also aware of the fact that Buddhism was not the reason why Phoenix went to battle, or why she never refused to go.
It was all because of her promise to Sakyamuni Buddha, to protect the good, ward off evil, and free all the miseries of the common people.
However, the True Buddha was unable to truly return after coming back from h.e.l.l.
Young Phoenix knew it in her heart too, so she picked up the scythe and tried to cleanse everything just to repay his kindness.
At the outset, they promised True Buddha to do everything according to Phoenix's wish.
However, as too much time had pa.s.sed.
They had a vague feeling that Phoenix could not be suppressed by their mere power.
They began to fear that she would reveal her Four Evil Faces and her murderous intent.
Hence, they did not offer any help and simply muttered Amithabha under the Shield of Vajra instead.
The Honored Sir was there too, and all of the others acted on his orders.
However, the day had become the darkest secret buried in their hearts.
The topic of Phoenix became a taboo, never to be mentioned by anyone in Buddhism.
Now that they heard it from this man, all the Buddhas felt a chill down their spines.
They had thought of 1000 reasons why the Emperor was here, but they did not expect that he would come to repay the Phoenix's suffering from Heavenly Tribulation.
All the Buddhas seemed to think of something, and their lips became even paler.
When Tian Dao and Buddhism were at war, the Emperor disregarded the interception from Tian Dao and took away the Honored Sir's Buddha's body. Could it be that he did it for Phoenix instead of some witch?
He said he wanted them to face their consequences from that time.
Does he intend to steal all of their Buddha's bodies?
Their hearts dropped as they finally realized his boiling resentment.
People from Buddhism believed in karma the most.
Although they were not the mastermind to push Phoenix into that kind of despair, they stood aloof and looked on with cold indifference.
Even they had forgotten how they lost their compa.s.sion.
Why were they so cold and detached? Above all, they wished for Phoenix, who brought shame to Buddhism, to be dealt with as soon as possible. It did not matter whether she was imprisoned or married off.
Today's evil karma was merely a repercussion of all their past actions.
All the Buddhas looked up, but before they could react, Baili Jia Jue had already broken the bones of another Honored Buddha.
All the Buddhas quivered in fear. Then, he softly said maliciously, “Do you think that I can only take away your Buddha's bodies, but can't do anything to your souls, hmm?” Baili Jia Jue turned his head around and grinned as he said so, with his long robes dancing in the air. Both his eyes beamed with golden light as he uttered, “Kiddo, the soul of that Honored Buddha whom I just kicked down… Cut it, and crush it.”
When they heard that, all the Buddhas became highly anxious and began screaming at the Son of King of h.e.l.l, “You can't do this! We're Buddhas! The Underworld should not meddle in the affairs between Tian Dao and Buddhism! If you follow the Emperor's demand and ma.s.sacre Buddhism, you're acting against the rules! The Six Paths will be in chaos if the rules are broken!”
“Who says I'm breaking the rules? We have the authority to deal with anything dead within Six Paths.” The Son of the King of h.e.l.l gave a ruthless smile, before lifting his ax and swinging it at the Honored Buddha, whose Buddha's body had been taken away!
Instantly, lightning flashed and thunder roared above Buddhism, as a black fog began to spread everywhere.
That was the real execution of Buddha. Initially, they believed that they would never die or be exterminated.
However, little did they know, he had thought of this brilliant idea to deal with them.
Besides, did we underestimate that kid too much?
He's nothing but the son of the Underworld, why does he have the capability to crush souls?
As though he could read the Buddhas' minds, Baili Jia Jue's eyes were blazed with malice as he smiled and said, “Where do you think he was born?”
Some Honored Buddhas realized the true ident.i.ty of the King of h.e.l.l's Son and stumbled backward from shock, exclaiming, “Tian Dao, he's the ominous son of Tian Dao!”
Listening to this information, all the Buddhas wasted no time and tried to frantically scamper back to Leiyin Temple, with their kasaya fluttering in the air. As long as they close the Buddha Gates, they can protect their souls from being crushed!
The Little Shamis on the stone steps looked above their heads with widened eyes, frozen in a daze. They had never seen all the Buddhas fleeing and rushing in such panic before.
Is this still the Buddhism that they knew?
All the Little Shamis were very young, but they were mostly born on Mountain Tenya. Almost every one of them would pray wholeheartedly every day, hoping to be one of the Buddhas in the future. Then, they could salvage the common people and deliver them from agonies.
Nevertheless, they were very disappointed when they witnessed the scene in the sky.
Greatly disappointed at the state of Buddhism now.
The Little Shamis did not run. Instead, they sat on the long stairs one by one, holding up one hand vertically and straightening their little torsos. They did not chant any mantra, and simply stared at Baili Jia Jue, who was walking toward them, with no terror in their bright eyes.
Their thought was simple, they simply wanted to protect Mountain Tenya because that was the only way for Sakyamuni Buddha to return.
The Son of King of h.e.l.l laughed hysterically and mockingly said, “These Little Monks are quite decent, Sakyamuni chose his disciples well.”.
Baili Jia Jue ignored them, but he did not harm those Little Shamis. Whizzing through them like an amorphous shadow, he held out his long and slender arm to block the Buddha Gate that stood between heaven and earth.
Bang!
Following the noise, the supposedly invincible Buddha Gate was shattered instantly!
Amidst the floating ashes, Baili Jia Jue told the Little Shamis behind him, “I will not ruin the place she lived back then.”
Baili Jia Jue came solely for revenge, and he did not intend to destroy Mountain Tenya.
The Little Shamis exchanged glances with each other in surprise. One Little Monk was rubbing his reddened eyes as he asked, “Lord Phoenix is still alive, isn't it?”
“Don't know.” The Little Shamis knew that the Little Monk used to follow around Phoenix. By right the Little Monk should have become Buddha already, but he remained at the place where Phoenix used to stay and did not go to the Hall of Great Strength even though so many years had pa.s.sed.
Little Monk looked up, his eyes were red from whimpering, “She must still be alive.”
It was an amusing scene to see the Little Shamis carrying people, donned in their kasayas with six dots on their heads.
Nonetheless, they carried their friend in their arms and said childishly, “Since the Emperor is here, I think Lord Phoenix will come as well.”
“Uhm, uhm…” The Little Shamis nodded in agreement, and said Amithabha again. Then, someone added, “But, what will the Emperor do next…?”
Baili Jia Jue's intention was straightforward and simple. After he crushed the Buddha Gate, he grabbed one Honored Buddha in his hand before anyone could react. Black feathers flittered from his body and scattered around him, paving a path of heathers. As he was marching out, Sanskrit hymns echoed around Hall of Great Strength. Unlike the sound of Buddhist sutras, it was the unique singing voices of demons.
The cacophony rang through the Six Paths and disrupted all peaceful idleness.
The Honored Sir, who just attained his Buddha's body, was in isolation now. Thus, he was oblivious to what was happening outside.
He merely did some calculations with his fingers and pondered to himself. Today is the day where Golden Lotus will take away Phoenix's Dharma.
After this day, Golden Lotus will become Phoenix, and she will regain the authority of Buddhism again!
Heh, Sakyamuni Buddha, you've waited for 10,000 years to achieve oneness.
10,000 years is too long, long enough for him to achieve a lot.
As Honored Sir was deep in his thoughts, faint noises echoed into his ear.
The Sanskrit of Demon?
How did this sinful voice from the Lower Three Paths appear in our honorable Buddhism?
