The three Bodhisattvas of Western Heaven arrived at Penglai West one after another. Hearing each other’s names, their hearts sank slightly: "Why are they here too?"

Mahasthamaprapta Bodhisattva was originally the attendant Bodhisattva of Amitabha Buddha. After Amitabha left the Earth Immortal Realm, his status in Western Heaven became unstable, so he sought refuge with the Ancient Lamp Buddha, becoming Lamp Buddha’s attendant Bodhisattva.

Samantabhadra Bodhisattva, on the other hand, was the attendant Bodhisattva of The Buddha, while Fahua Forest Bodhisattva was the attendant Bodhisattva of Maitreya Buddha.

The three Buddhas were divided into three powers in Western Heaven. Lamp Buddha represented the Ancient Buddha Faction, The Buddha represented the Present Buddha Faction, and Maitreya Buddha represented the Future Buddha Faction.

The three factions coexisted. Although they all resided in Western Heaven, there were also some open and hidden struggles between them.

At present Western Heaven was led by The Buddha’s Ling Mountain, which was highly guarded against the other two, while the other two also harbored no small intention of taking its place.

The three Bodhisattvas came to Biyou Palace and each paid respects to Chen Shi.

Chen Shi granted them seats and went straight to the point: "Three Great Beings have come from afar—what brings you here?"

Each of the three Bodhisattvas had monks or novice monks following at their side. At Samantabhadra’s side was an old monk with kind brows and benevolent eyes—none other than the Golden Winged Great Roc Bird, Yun Cheng the Old Monk. Seeing an old acquaintance, Chen Shi was delighted and gave Yun Cheng the Old Monk a nod in greeting.

Yun Cheng the Old Monk, however, wore a worried frown. Meeting his gaze, he sighed again inwardly: "I’ve lost my disciple—how am I to explain myself to Mr. Chen?"

Mahasthamaprapta Bodhisattva said with a smile, "It has been over a hundred years since we parted in Feng’an County. When this little monk first met you, Layman, I knew at once you were no ordinary man. I never imagined that the Chen Tianbing of those days would now be a Holy Master and Daoist Ancestor famed throughout the world. This little monk did see that Mr. Chen was extraordinary, but failed to foresee quite this extraordinary. Admirable, admirable!"

Of a thousand tricks that work, flattery always works.

Hearing his words, Chen Shi felt quite pleased and laughed. "Great Being, you overpraise me. Your own bearing has also surpassed the past."

When Samantabhadra Bodhisattva and Fahua Forest Bodhisattva heard this, they each frowned inwardly: "So Mahasthamaprapta has a past connection with him. With this relationship, I fear Douluo Heavenly will be the first to win over Layman Chen."

Mahasthamaprapta Bodhisattva said, "Holy Master Chen, when Lamp Buddha heard that you had taught the Primordial Talisman on Golden Turtle Island, he became concerned for your safety, worried you might be plotted against by petty villains. Thus he ordered me to hurry here without rest, to invite Holy Master to go to Western Heaven. In Western Heaven we are willing to spare no effort to protect Holy Master’s safety!"

His tone was earnest, his sincerity overflowing as he said, "Holy Master, you have shaken the Heavenly Court and also shaken the Immortal Court. I fear even the Three Pure Ones Realm has those who will not sit quietly. Now, the only power strong enough to shelter Holy Master is my Western Heaven, my Dharma Realm’s Lingjiu Mountain alone! Holy Master, please think thrice!"

Samantabhadra Bodhisattva said solemnly, "What Mahasthamaprapta says is not wrong. Holy Master has spread the Primordial Talisman; all under heaven who obtain it revere you without exception. Yet in doing so you have also offended no small number of beings. Western Heaven Buddhism takes Ling Mountain as supreme, and The Buddha is the present Great World Venerable, and moreover has an old friendship with Holy Master. This time, upon hearing that Holy Master was teaching the Dao, he immediately ordered me to come and invite Holy Master back to Ling Mountain. On the one hand, this is to protect Holy Master, and on the other, it is for old friends to meet again." 𝒻𝑟𝘦𝘦𝘸ℯ𝒷𝑛𝘰𝓋ℯ𝘭.𝘤𝘰𝘮

Fahua Forest Bodhisattva smiled and said, "What the two Senior Brothers say is true. However, within Western Heaven, the Dharma Realm is steeped in dusk-like stagnation, and Ling Mountain is crowded with Buddhas—hardly a place to establish oneself. Holy Master would do better to come to my Douluo Heavenly. It is full of vitality there, with many young Buddhas, and its Daoist Skills are novel. Besides Divine Dao and Demon Path, there are also Outer Daoist Methods."

The three Bodhisattvas exchanged glances, their hearts tightening: "So the other two were indeed also sent to persuade Chen Shi to go to Western Heaven!"

Samantabhadra Bodhisattva could not help recalling what the Tathagata had said to him before this journey.

That day, the two of them had been on Ling Mountain, studying the Primordial Talisman sent by Golden Turtle Island’s spies. Each had been moved in spite of himself, shocked by the perfection of the Primordial Talisman.

The Great World Venerable said, "I have studied the Primordial Talisman for dozens of days and still cannot see whether there are any loopholes in it."

Samantabhadra said, "World Honored One suspects that Mr. Chen has hidden a loophole within the Primordial Talisman?"

"One must not harbor the intent to harm others, but one must never be without the intent to guard against them. Benefactor Chen once came to Ling Mountain, unparalleled in brilliance. He deciphered the Sutra of Eternal Freedom and then used another’s knife to kill, borrowing the strength of Ling Mountain to slay the Great Freedom Ming King. There is Demonic Nature in his heart and it is very frightening. Thus I fear he has hidden some subtle device within the Primordial Talisman."

The Great World Venerable said, "Unfortunately, after these dozens of days of contemplation, I still have not found where the loophole lies. The Primordial Talisman is indeed marvelous, yet I do not dare cultivate it."

Samantabhadra said, "If the World Honored One is worried about a hidden flaw, then not cultivating it is no great loss. The World Honored One’s cultivation is already unfathomable. Cultivating the Primordial Talisman would merely be icing on the cake."

"You are wrong."

The Great World Venerable shook his head and said, "I cultivate both Buddha God and Divine Power, but the Buddhist Path cannot dissolve the might of the Divine Dao and make it my own; Divine Power and Buddha Power do not truly merge. I once thought that perhaps there might be a kind of basic framework, similar to a Dao Pattern, that could unify the Dao Power of gods, Buddhas and demons. Ling Mountain has also done related research, but progress has been small. This time, upon seeing the Primordial Talisman, I found that it already can unify the two powers of gods and Buddhas, allowing me, on this hundred-zhang pole, to take one more step forward and cultivate to the Daluo Miao Realm."

Samantabhadra’s heart trembled slightly. Cultivate to the Daluo Miao Realm?

The Daluo Miao Realm had only ever been reached by The Three Pure Ones and the two Buddhas who had founded Western Heaven; no one else, not even the three current Sect Leaders of the Three Pure Ones Realm, had ever cultivated to this Realm.

Could the Primordial Talisman truly help them break through Daluo Golden Immortal and cultivate to the Daluo Miao Realm?

Samantabhadra said, "If the World Honored One fears that Chen Shi has hidden a flaw, then do not cultivate it yet. We can mobilize the enlightened ones of Western Heaven to study the Primordial Talisman. I refuse to believe we cannot discover any loophole!"

The Great World Venerable sighed and said, "In ordinary times that would be possible. But now it is not. If I do not cultivate it, will Lamp Buddha cultivate it? Will Maitreya cultivate it?"

Samantabhadra said, "Those two Buddhas most likely also suspect that the Primordial Talisman may contain a hidden flaw. As clever as they are, they too will fear becoming the one who cultivates the Sutra of Eternal Freedom across a thousand kalpas."