It wasn't until those who first established sects and proclaimed themselves ancestors had progressed far in the realm of the Dao Ancestor that the concept of the True Saint gradually emerged.

Jing Qiu thought about it, and it was indeed true.

Master Mu left him a Dao Fruit, but there was no inheritance of the Taoist Inheritance.

He had thoroughly studied the development of the World Venerable Lineage within the Federation.

Compared to the previous life, the Yanhuang Federation had no such thing as—Buddhism.

Because Master Mu did not establish a sect or proclaim himself an ancestor, he didn't even pass on a legacy to the Mu Family.

The Buddhist Sect within the Hundred Veins was merely the Taoist Inheritance left by Master Mu's followers from the past.

Scattered and without cohesion, it did not form a system.

What the Mu Family inherited wasn't the World Venerable Lineage, merely the status of Master Mu within the Federation, which was the identity of being "one of the Seven Marshals" rather than the World Venerable Dao Lineage.

The inheritance standard of the World Venerable Lineage had only one criterion, that was to practice the Fire House Buddha Hell.

Therefore, in the Yanhuang Federation, there was no so-called Buddhism, only the World Venerable Lineage or the Buddhist sect and doctrine.

Master Mu never claimed to be a Buddha, only calling himself an enlightened one.

He believed that after each long period of spiritual darkness shrouding the world, such a person would inevitably emerge, rediscovering the forgotten path of awakening through personal effort, freeing themselves from prolonged reincarnation, and opening a path for all beings, guiding the direction.

Thus within the Federation from ten thousand years ago to ten thousand years hence, he was only ever referred to as Marshal Mu, almost no one called him—Buddha Ancestor.

This world seemingly had no such concept.

Even the term "World Venerable" was used only outside the Federation to refer to Master Mu.

For example, the five Divine Systems and the various True Saint Dojos in the Netherworld acknowledged his existence.

"I once asked Master Mu a similar question. Master Mu said cultivation is one's own business, seeking Buddha is less effective than seeking oneself, hence no need to establish Buddhism, as long as the thoughts and will are aligned, they are fellow travelers and successors."

Jing Qiu pondered and said.

He, too, had no plans to establish a sect or proclaim himself an ancestor for the time being.

Better to realize where the Other Shore is at once.

The Sword Light transmitted sound in shock saying, "Your Master Mu, at the cost of abandoning the path of transcendence, forced a Harmonization with the Bitter Sea ten thousand years ago merely to suppress the manifestation time of the Bitter Sea, such a great sacrifice, yet he still insists that all beings should 'seek oneself'?"

"Is it conflicting?"

Jing Qiu questioned in return,

"Master Mu believed that all beings possess the Tathagata Wisdom and Virtue, merely there are too many illusions in worldly existence. He hoped that beings could find the path to awakening through great determination, great enlightenment, and great compassion."

"And before that, the awakened ones walking ahead would shield the Latecomers from the wind and rain, but would not drag them to the end."

"Enlightenment has always been one's own matter."

"In this regard, Master Mu actually bears some similarity with Master He…"

Jing Qiu looked up, reminiscing the small details of the past regarding the two seniors, murmuring through various historical events and milestones:

"Of course, they are still different."

"Master Mu believed that cultivation is one's own responsibility, seeking heaven and earth is not as effective as seeking oneself."

"While Master He believed that what you seek doesn't matter, just learning from him in the end is sufficient."

"Additionally, Master Mu was very much against 'Divine worship,' which is another reason he didn't establish a sect—he didn't wish to be placed on a pedestal, worshipped by countless Federation descendants as a God, so the World Venerable Lineage is just Buddhist doctrine, not religious incense."

"Even the later Supreme True Buddha Sect was not initially a sect, it was only after the teachings were distorted that it gradually formed into a religion."

Saying this, Jing Qiu suddenly froze for a moment, then slowly said:

"If you think about it, none of those seven initially walked the path to become a God, and it seems only Marshal Li walked the path to establish a sect and proclaim himself an ancestor, successively joining several dojos and almost reaching the top of a certain True Saint Dojo... but ultimately still stopped early."

"In other words, the Martial Arts of the Federation pursues the ultimate and pure True Self, innately rejecting the act of gathering the Thought of All Living Beings, believing that once you become entangled with incense beliefs, 'I Am Me' is no longer pure." 𝘧𝓇ℯℯ𝑤ℯ𝘣𝓃ℴ𝓋𝑒𝑙.𝑐𝘰𝑚

Sword Light suddenly said, "They believed that once you got entangled with the Thought of All Living Beings and dabble in the Divine Dao, it ceases to be pure, losing the hope of proving the Tao?"

Jing Qiu nodded and said, "You can interpret it that way."

When saying this, he had a look of regret on his face.

All the Seven Marshals initially resisted this path, but in the end, four marshals had to actively turn to the Divine Dao, severing their Dao path, and Master Mu too had to rely on the Power of Faith and Will of all beings to suppress the upheaval of the Bitter Sea after Harmonization with the Bitter Sea.

Sword Light fell into a long silence.

After a long while, it flickered again, its voice carrying ancient reminiscence:

"Back then, when You returned from the Returning to Truth place, he also spoke similar words. He even asserted that this is the root of the 'Returning to Truth phenomenon' of Transcenders.

"In the early transcendence paths, to varying degrees, they all involved the faith of beings."

Jing Qiu frowned, he had delved into the Spirit Light of all beings very early on, uncertain if it counted as dabbling in the Power of Faith and Will of beings.

Even without mentioning the clone that had already taken over the position of Supreme True Buddha.

The bright Heart Moon on his forehead could not be separated from the Heart Light of all beings.

That had already occurred during the trip to the West, even now as he reminisces, he could not distinguish whether it was his Heart Lamp illuminating beings, or the Heart Light of beings entering his heart.

And this Heart Moon…

Has been steadily growing, continuously transforming, becoming ever more radiant along with his growth.

Even now, it is so.

A sudden intense premonition arose in Jing Qiu's heart.

As if his Spirit God was seized without any warning

Just like the pulse of destiny, the tugging of karma—

He foresaw that on this return to the Netherworld, he would find many answers.