The Protagonists' Chat Group: Beyond the Boundaries — Chapter 370

Chapter 370: Tathagata: “What do you mean by the Crown Prince of the Three Pure Ones Group? What do you mean by the Three Venerables as One?”

Tathagata’s words naturally couldn’t fool Tang Sanzang and Wukong.

Buddhism. Where did an Eternal Buddha (Yongheng Fo) come from? The term was blasphemous, suggesting a Dao that transcended the existing Buddhist framework.

However, since Tathagata had said so, neither of them was foolish enough to refute him. They could only pretend to be confused.

The Crushing of Faith

After Tathagata and the true Bodhisattvas left, the monk and the monkey finally learned the truth from Sha Wujing, who confessed that the Guanyin they had seen was a fake, a clone of their group member, Meng Qi.

Tang Sanzang stared blankly at the Karma to Buddha System (Yin Guo Cheng Fo Xitong) in his Sea of Consciousness. This was the ‘pirated’ System Shi Jian had installed.

The Buddhas of Spirit Mountain. Are they so deceitful? Can one with strength make Tathagata yield?

Eternal Buddha? Is such a Buddha truly a Buddha?

Tang Sanzang’s inner turmoil was immense. His entire faith, built on a lifetime of reverence, began to crumble.

He looked at the words “Karma to Buddha System” in his Sea of Consciousness and fell into deep thought. Such a Buddhist sect… No!

…

The scripture-seeking team once again embarked on their journey to the West. The members were somewhat silent, not as lively as before, as if each had their own immense, unspeakable worries.

They continued westward, overcoming a few insignificant tribulations.

Then they arrived at—Spirit Mountain (Lingshan).

The scripture-seeking team arrived before a large mountain, which from a distance seemed to connect with the heavens.

Tang Sanzang already had experience; usually, such a tall mountain would certainly harbor powerful demons.

The four members of the scripture-seeking team cautiously ascended the mountain, maintaining vigilance.

The path up the mountain was extremely difficult. Along the way, countless low-level jackals, wolves, tigers, and leopards blocked their path.

After much hardship, the scripture-seeking team finally ascended the high mountain.

The Fake Thunder Sound Temple

Upon reaching the high mountain, the scripture-seeking team suddenly saw surging rays of light, accompanied by the sound of bells!

Everyone looked forward and saw: Clouds and mist swirled among the mountains, and ancient trees reached the sky.

Moss-covered bluestone steps were visible, with faint beast-head carvings. The temple gate stood tall, its plaque shimmering with golden light, bearing the three characters “Thunder Sound” (Lei Yin).

Stone lions stood on either side, their eyes seemingly flowing with spiritual light. As the wind swept through the treetops, the distant bell chimes seemed to descend from the Nine Heavens.

The palace eaves curved upwards, and the glazed tiles gleamed with a cold light. There was no one at the gate, yet incense smoke curled upwards.

Exotic flowers and strange plants, and floating bridges appeared faintly in mid-air, as if it were a fantastical immortal realm.

Tang Sanzang stared blankly at the three words “Thunder Sound Temple.”

“Are we at Thunder Sound Temple? Have we reached Spirit Mountain already?”

The monkey (Shi Jian) shook his head: “Master, my Old Sun has been to Thunder Sound Temple and Spirit Mountain; this is definitely not Thunder Sound Temple!”

“For such a temple to suddenly appear in the mountains, there must be something strange about it!”

Tang Sanzang frowned, then hesitated before speaking: “As your master, I have always bowed to Buddhas when I encounter them. This place is filled with surging Buddha light and dares to call itself Thunder Sound Temple; there must be a Buddha within. No matter what, we must enter and pay our respects!”

The monkey frowned. Just as he was about to say something more, a voice rang out.

From within the temple gate, someone shouted: “Tang Sanzang, you and your disciples need not worry; quickly come in to pay respects to our Buddha and receive the true scriptures!”

Hearing this, the four master and disciples hesitated and walked into the main hall.

Outside the main hall, beneath the treasure platform, there were five hundred Arhats, three thousand Yakshas, four Vajras, and eight Bodhisattvas.

Above them were Tathagata and a host of ancient Buddhas.

The monkey opened his Fiery Golden Eyes and looked at these Buddhas.

He couldn’t see the slightest abnormality. Each Buddha had an extremely pure Buddhist power within them.

Even, the Buddhist power on their bodies was exceptionally dense.

Some Buddhas had stronger power than when he last saw them, by several degrees.

The monkey was certain that this was absolutely not an illusion. He was a bit bewildered.

Could it be that this was the true Spirit Mountain? Did Tathagata, that old scoundrel, see that they were too tired? Did he want to give them the scriptures in advance?

Tang Sanzang turned to look at Wukong, who slightly shook his head, indicating he saw no problem. There was a certain unspoken understanding between the master and disciple.

Seeing this, Tang Sanzang bowed: “Disciple Tang Sanzang pays respects to all Buddhas and Bodhisattvas!”

Although Wukong and the others had doubts, they also followed suit and paid respects to the Buddhas.

The Scriptures and the Standoff

Above the main hall, Tathagata spoke: “Amitabha, your scripture-seeking team’s sincerity in seeking the true scriptures is profound… I have decided to give you the scriptures in advance, so you can take them back to Great Tang and avoid further troubles!”

Tang Sanzang still felt some doubt upon hearing this. However, Tathagata did not give him the chance.

He directly instructed Ananda and Kasyapa to bring the true scriptures. Several large boxes were placed before Tang Sanzang.

Tang Sanzang was a bit bewildered looking at the scriptures delivered right to his mouth. He went forward and flipped through them.

“Nirvana Sutra.”

“Bodhisattva Sutra.”

“Akasagarbha Sutra.”

All were true Buddhist scriptures. After seeing these scriptures, Tang Sanzang’s mind exploded. These scriptures were actually all real?

The monkey and the others were first confused, but after discovering they were real scriptures, they all showed joyful expressions.

“Excellent!”

“The Buddha is merciful; our journey to obtain scriptures was too difficult, so he gave us the scriptures in advance!”

“Master, let’s quickly take the scriptures back…”

“Yay, I’ve succeeded, I’ve succeeded!”

Tathagata’s face showed a smiling expression: “Tang Sanzang, seeking scriptures requires your sincerity, walking step by step westward, proving your sincerity before you can obtain the true scriptures!”

“Now that you have obtained the true scriptures, you can directly ride the clouds back when you return!”

“Hurry back, take the scriptures back to Great Tang…”

Tang Sanzang and his disciples accepted the command, then happily left Thunder Sound Temple.

The monkey even soared on clouds, taking Tang Sanzang and rushing back.

The Counter-Attack

Countless Heavenly Gods and Buddhas were paying attention to the scripture-seeking team.

Upon seeing the scripture-seeking team rushing back on clouds, they were all bewildered.

After encountering Outer Realm Devils several times, Tathagata had been keeping a close eye on the scripture-seeking team every day.

Seeing this situation, he angrily looked at Maitreya Buddha: “Maitreya, this Small Thunder Sound Temple (Xiao Lei Yin Si), was it transformed by your attendant? Where did he get the true scriptures?!”

“Is Spirit Mountain raising ghosts?!”

Maitreya Buddha frowned upon hearing this. After calculating with his fingers, he said: “My attendant seems to have met with trouble; this matter is definitely not his doing, and external forces have probably interfered!”

“Go quickly and stop this demon, no, stop Tang Sanzang and his disciples! We absolutely cannot let them take those scriptures… those false scriptures back to Great Tang!”

Tathagata immediately made a decisive command, and a group of people instantly set out.

The Journey to the West team ascended to the sky, riding clouds and flying towards Great Tang.

The true Guanyin Bodhisattva suddenly appeared: “Wukong, quickly take Tang Sanzang back to Great Tang! The Buddha has sensed that a demon will likely come to snatch the scriptures soon!”

“You all hurry back to Great Tang!”

The Journey to the West team nodded upon hearing this and immediately sped up.

They hadn’t gone far. Dark clouds covered the sky in the distance, and a killing intent permeated the world.

Guanyin Bodhisattva immediately said: “The demon is here! I’ll block them, you all hurry away…”

Looking at the ominous clouds filled with killing intent, Tang Sanzang and his disciples were a bit panicked.

It seems that some formidable demon was indeed targeting the true scriptures. No wonder Tathagata was in such a hurry to shove the scriptures at them.

“Bajie, Sha Wujing, take the scriptures and Master and run!”

“I’ll help the Bodhisattva!”

The monkey (Shi Jian) was decisive.

Meanwhile, Tathagata and his group arrived. They immediately saw Tang Sanzang and his disciples turn and run, which made them anxious.

Tathagata spoke: “Tang Sanzang, stop quickly! Those scriptures of yours are fake!”

Tang Sanzang immediately urged Bajie and Sha Wujing to run faster upon hearing this.

Are these scriptures real or fake? How could I not know? Such pure goods.

Besides being the true scriptures of Spirit Mountain, what else could they be? This demon still wants to deceive me? Can he deceive me? I, Tang Sanzang, am extremely clever, alright!

He slipped away even faster.

It was the monkey (Shi Jian) who was a bit bewildered when he saw that the pursuer was Tathagata.

“Audacious Prodigy, how dare you even impersonate our Buddha!”

“Why don’t you quickly reveal your true form!”

Just then, the Guanyin beside the monkey made her move.

The Jade Bottle shook, and countless golden lights permeated…

Tathagata moved to block, and a huge collision instantly occurred in the void.

“Great Master Guanyin?” Tathagata looked at the Guanyin before him, somewhat bewildered.

The true Guanyin beside Tathagata looked at the Guanyin beside the monkey… and was also somewhat bewildered.

This Guanyin. Was truly too, too similar! The aura and origin were almost identical.

They had originally thought this was some demon impersonating Guanyin.

But after their recent clash, they realized something was wrong.

The aura was truly too, too similar. As if this truly was Guanyin.

There was no trace of someone else impersonating her…

“What kind of Prodigies are you? How dare you impersonate the Buddhas of Spirit Mountain!” That Guanyin (Meng Qi’s clone) shouted loudly.

“All Buddhas, heed my command! Join me in suppressing these demons!”

As that Guanyin’s words fell, the Thunder Sound Temple here began to shake.

One Arhat and Bodhisattva after another walked out from within.

“Audacious Prodigies, how dare you impersonate our Buddhas!” The Buddhas shouted in unison at Tathagata and the others…

Tathagata and the others were bewildered. We are demons?

Ananda, Kasyapa… Looking at these Arhats and Bodhisattvas, Tathagata and the others were all bewildered.

Isn’t this a fake Thunder Sound Temple?

How could the Arhats and Bodhisattvas appearing from here… Have such genuine auras?

No matter how hard they looked, these Arhats and Bodhisattvas all seemed to genuinely exist! They couldn’t tell the difference.

Meng Qi looked at the expressions of the Tathagata and the others, feeling a little like laughing.

He had moved the Spirit Mountain from his own world (a genuine, high-level Buddhist holy land) over. How could it not be real?

These Bodhisattvas and Arhats were manifested by using the Spirit Molt (Shen Qiao) of the Buddhas from his world’s Spirit Mountain, employing the Divine Ability of Self-Transformation.

[Inorin’s Note: Spirit Molt (Shen Qiao) is the ultimate physical step in Meng Qi’s (The Sage Who Transcended Samsara) path. Here, he uses a meta-ability to manifest genuine clones of powerful entities from his own world.]

They couldn’t be any more real. This was originally a grand gift he had prepared for Xu Que and the others.

However, Chen Jiao’s mechanical divine descent caused his grand gift to fall through.

…

Although the Tathagata was puzzled as to why these Arhats and Bodhisattvas were so real, he knew it wasn’t the time to dwell on it.

He was the first to attack the Bodhisattva Avalokitesvara, sending a massive golden palm striking towards the Bodhisattva Avalokitesvara.

In an instant, the world changed color; dark clouds gathered in the sky, and thunder rumbled.

Facing the attacks from the Tathagata and the others, the numerous Arhats and Bodhisattvas united, forming a grand formation.

For a time, various Divine Abilities flew chaotically. The two sides were in a standoff, unable to achieve a quick victory.

The Monkey (Shi Jian) was caught in the middle, looking left and right, unable to discern the truth.

“Wukong, the Buddhas of this Thunderclap Monastery are all fake. Although the scriptures you obtained are real, you cannot take them back to the Great Tang!”

“Because the tribulation is not yet complete…”

“Quickly tell Tang Sanzang to bring the scriptures back!” The Tathagata quickly spoke to the Monkey.

“Don’t listen to this Prodigy. They are here for the scriptures. Your journey to the West was to obtain scriptures. Now that you have them, how can there be any reason to re-obtain them?”

Meng Qi snorted coldly, then said, “If the scriptures have been obtained, does that not count as successfully obtaining them?”

“If I went in and pulled out… would that also not count as a violation?”

The situation immediately became deadlocked.

Meng Qi was also one of those who played the pig to eat the tiger in the chat group.

His strength had increased very rapidly. When he first joined the group, he was the weakest, but now, his strength is almost among the top tier in the chat group.

Moreover, his backing is the strongest.

In his world, he is a Legacy of the Three Pure Ones.

And in the myriad worlds, the Three Pure Ones are the Incarnations of those three supreme gods…

The three supreme gods are the Three Pure Ones, but the Three Pure Ones are not the three supreme gods.

However, this does not affect Meng Qi’s status.

Meng Qi is undeniably the Crown Prince of both the righteous and unrighteous paths…

The Truth Revealed

After a long assault without success, the Tathagata realized that the person obstructing the journey to the West was probably another Outer Realm Demon.

He began to deduce the origin of the person in front of him.

It was rare that, besides the identity of an Outer Realm Demon, he also deduced some other identities of Meng Qi.

This person clearly had an extremely profound connection with the Daoist sect! He carried the Legacy of the Daoist sect.

“This Outer Realm Demon has little Buddhist Karma on him, so he doesn’t give me any face… But you have such heavy Daoist Karma on you, surely you won’t disrespect Lord Laozi’s (Taishang Laojun) face, will you?”

“If I can’t take you down, I’ll call someone from your Daoist sect to deal with you!”

The Tathagata decided to send a message for help to the Heavenly Court, wanting the Daoist sect to deal with Meng Qi.

An Arhat flew to the Heavenly Court and found the Jade Emperor.

He then recounted the events of the Lower Realm one by one.

The Jade Emperor was bewildered upon hearing that a Daoist was obstructing the journey to the West.

Upon hearing this, the immortals all looked at Grand Supreme Elder Lord (Taishang Laojun’s title) with strange expressions.

Seeing this, Lord Laozi sighed softly in his heart.

Damn it… How could he not know Meng Qi?

Meng Qi’s Daoist Karma was even heavier than mine, a Grand Pure One Incarnation!

This is not just a person from the Daoist sect, but also a “super high-ranking official” of the Daoist sect…

This is the Crown Prince of this company. I’m just a “boss” of a branch company…

“This person indeed has some connection with the Daoist sect, but, alas!”

Lord Laozi sighed, then called out Golden Horn, Silver Horn, and the Green Ox.

He threw the Purple Gold Gourd, the Plantain Fan, and a series of Spirit Treasures to Golden Horn and Silver Horn.

“You go find that master in the mortal world and see if he can give me some face… and let him spare the Buddhist sect…”

Lord Laozi uttered these words.

All the gods in the sky were stunned. The Jade Emperor was also greatly startled.

Damn it. What kind of identity does this Outer Realm Demon possess that even Lord Laozi would say such words?

The Jade Emperor originally intended to send a few people down to the Lower Realm to go through the process of subduing demons. However, hearing Lord Laozi say this, he no longer dared to speak of sending people to subdue demons.

What if an Outer Realm Demon is powerful? If he truly endangered the Three Realms, the Buddhist sect, Heavenly Court, and Underworld could pull together dozens of Quasi-Saints.

However, an Outer Realm Demon with a background is different; this is a visiting friend, not to be treated lightly.

The Jade Emperor selected some Heavenly Soldiers and Heavenly Generals from Daoist backgrounds and had them descend to the Lower Realm with Golden Horn, Silver Horn, and the Green Ox.

Since this Outer Realm Demon possessed a Daoist identity, he certainly wouldn’t make things difficult for these junior Daoists.

The Buddhist sect was still in a standoff with Meng Qi when they suddenly saw people from the Heavenly Court approaching…

The Tathagata thought Lord Laozi had come to assist him.

However, when the Heavenly Soldiers and Heavenly Generals from above arrived and looked at Meng Qi, they were stunned.

Goodness gracious. Wuji, Chaos, Yin and Yang, the beginning of all things! The Primeval Lord of Heaven.

The Dao, order, non-action, natural law, nature… The Lord of the Dao and its Virtue.

Creation, Opportunity, the One that Escaped. The Celestial Worthy of Numinous Treasure.

The three Celestial Worthies merged into one.

These Heavenly Soldiers and Heavenly Generals, who originated from the Daoist sect, finally understood why Lord Laozi had said that.

Three in one. No wonder Lord Laozi, this Incarnation, said he couldn’t afford to provoke him.

If Meng Qi only had his own aura, it would have been fine. The problem was that he had the auras of all three.

Numerous Daoist individuals slid forward and knelt directly before Meng Qi.

What Purple Gold Gourd? What Plantain Fan? They circled Meng Qi like out-of-control huskies.

“Master, my master asked me to ask you if you could spare these bald donkeys!” The Green Ox Demon respectfully spoke.

Seeing these people in this state, the Tathagata felt as if the sky had fallen.

He looked at Meng Qi again. This time, the previously obscure heavenly secrets suddenly became clear.

With a slight calculation, all sorts of Karma were deduced by him.

There was no longer that vague feeling from before, as if everything was under control…

However, looking at the heavenly secrets he had seen, the Tathagata felt that the previous vague feeling was better.

Distance makes for beauty.

Now… Damn it… Three in one? You tell me this is an Outer Realm Demon? Isn’t this the Crown Prince returning home?

The Tathagata seemed to put on a mask of pain… Pain.

It was too painful. This time, he had truly messed with the wrong person.

He forced a smile at Meng Qi: “I say, this was all just a misunderstanding…”

“Do you believe me?”

…

Since Lord Laozi had intervened, Meng Qi couldn’t play too much.

He had no choice but to tearfully accept a portion of Lord Laozi’s assets, as well as a large sum of compensation from the Tathagata…

The already empty Spirit Mountain treasury became even emptier.

The Tathagata looked at the increasingly empty Spirit Mountain treasury and the dwindling number of disciples on Spirit Mountain, falling into deep thought.

Journey to the West—what happened to the promised rise of the Western Buddhist sect?

He looked at the disciples of the Western Buddhist sect, who were extensively building “Eternal Buddhist Temples” and “Zhending Buddhist Temples,” and began to doubt his life.

Saying that the Western Buddhist sect was flourishing was not wrong.

There was one more Eternal Buddha and one more Zhending Tathagata. How could that not be considered a great flourishing?

…

Meanwhile, on the other side, Tang Sanzang had already obtained the true scriptures and was almost back in the Great Tang…

But he was intercepted halfway by the true Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva.

After being told that he had to return the true scriptures and obtain them again, Tang Sanzang was completely numb.

His original reverence for the Buddhas completely dissipated at this moment.

Tang Sanzang looked at the System in his Sea of Consciousness, secretly making up his mind.

One day, one day… I’m going to make you Spirit Mountain pick up the scriptures!!!

Not just Tang Sanzang, but the Monkey (Shi Jian) and Bajie (Shi Hao) were also infuriated.

Now, they weren’t even bothering to act anymore. They just wanted to torment the Heavenly Dao.