Daoism Revival System: Start with fighting against Debunker Streamer-Chapter 399 - 398: The Heavenly Dao Shows No Mercy, Treating Saints as Sacrificial Dogs
Tianpeng sighed a bit.
The Underworld, once a top force capable of matching the Ancient Celestial Court, now had to flee to the Small Thousand World to survive.
It really is quite lamentable.
As for the Ancient Celestial Court, it seemed worse off than the Underworld, as the entire force ceased to exist.
But in reality, the various Great Immortals of the Celestial Court, aside from the Daoist bigshots involved in the Buddhist Dao struggle who suffered many casualties, did not see many other Great Immortals fall.
The disintegration of the Celestial Court was ultimately due to the lack of integrity in their actions.
The powerful beings brought by the Divine Enthronement were not truly loyal either.
When disaster struck, of course, most stood idly by, with very few earnestly willing to help. 𝙛𝓻𝒆𝓮𝒘𝙚𝙗𝒏𝙤𝙫𝓮𝒍.𝓬𝒐𝙢
Yet, for this reason,
there were not many Great Immortals who fell, aside from the disintegration of the Celestial Court.
However, the Underworld faced real misery.
Not only did Lady Houtu perish, but so did the Emperor Fengdu and the Ten Hall Yama, either dead or escaped.
Leaderless and surrounded by external foes,
chaos naturally ensued within the Underworld.
Thus arose the phenomenon where all sorts of ghosts sought to seize the position of True God within the Underworld.
"But aren’t Saints immortal?"
"Why did Lady Houtu fall?"
Lin Heng asked, puzzled.
He had previously learned about some matters regarding the Divine Enthronement from Shen Gongbao.
According to Shen Gongbao, the positions for Saints in the world were already fixed; those who do not become Saints are ultimately ants.
But once one becomes a Saint, they achieve eternal proof.
They would eternally exist in the world, undying and indestructible!
Even if they kill each other, it is only the ordinary beings who would suffer.
However, from Sun Wukong and Tianpeng’s words, it seemed that more than one Saint fell during the Journey to the West Calamity, which puzzled him.
In response, Tianpeng offered an explanation.
"Under normal circumstances, Saints wouldn’t die."
"But above the Saints is the Heavenly Dao!"
"Every time the Celestial Dao Tribulation occurs, it seems countless die and are injured. In truth, most suffer from unforeseen disasters, collateral damage."
"The essence of the Celestial Dao Tribulation is not to target the masses, but the undying and indestructible Saints!"
"Only during this period do the Saints fall to a terrifying low state."
"It’s only then that they face the one in a million chance of being killed!"
"Think about it."
"How many Quasi-Saints have their eyes on those seats through endless time?"
"As the saying goes, ’Saints cannot die, and great thieves never end.’"
"For every carrot, there’s a pit; they do not die, and the Quasi-Saints below can never advance further."
"Under this reasoning, how can the world not descend into chaos with each Celestial Dao Tribulation?"
"How can the situation not change?"
At this, Tianpeng couldn’t help but shake his head in emotion.
"During the last Journey to the West Calamity, the biggest Tribulation Responder was actually the Underworld!"
"Under the Celestial Dao Tribulation, various forces exploited the Underworld while fighting for the Saint positions."
"Naturally, Lady Houtu became the target of all."
"Against the schemes of all parties, even with her Heaven-reaching cultivation, she couldn’t escape the calamity."
Lin Heng quietly listened to Tianpeng’s account, unable to help but sigh within.
"To think, even becoming a Saint doesn’t guarantee eternal peace and safety..."
"Saints are not kind, treating beings like sacrificial dogs; and above them, the Heavenly Dao is also unkind, treating all things like sacrificial dogs..."
"So when does the path of cultivation truly end?"
Lin Heng mused to himself, emotions complex.
"By the way,"
He suddenly looked worried and said, "What about the Ancestral Masters of the Three Pristine Ones?"
Just now, Sun Wukong mentioned that a Saint had fallen in the Mortal World during the Journey to the West Calamity Era, but didn’t specify who.
This made Lin Heng link it to the sudden disappearance of the Three Pristine Ones.
Regarding this, Tianpeng nodded and said, "Many speculate that the Saint who fell in the Mortal World might be the Three Pristine Ones, but..."
Tianpeng paused, then gestured, conjuring his Nine-toothed Nail Rake.
"This treasure was crafted for me by the transformed Tai Shang Laojun, Taiqing the Celestial Lord of Tao and Virtue, in collaboration with various Immortals back in the day."
"Initially, I only knew it as a Divine Weapon, but after the collapse of the Celestial Court, I found a secret message left by Laojun early in the rake."
Lin Heng’s eyes were grave: "What did Laojun say?"
Tianpeng stared intently at Lin Heng: "He said, thirty-three thousand years later, someone bearing great Daoism fortune will appear, and when this person becomes a Saint, those who have passed will return."
Lin Heng was stunned. The time that the Journey to the West Calamity began was exactly thirty-three thousand years from now.
"So, could it be that the person Laojun referred to... is?" Lin Heng was hesitant to speak.
Tianpeng solemnly looked directly at Lin Heng: "It’s you!"
Lin Heng couldn’t help but be a little lost, then murmured: "Once I become a Saint, those who have passed will all return."
"Does this mean they are still alive?"
"But they will only reappear in the world once I become a Saint?"
Tianpeng said: "I think the same, but whether it truly means that remains unknown."
Upon hearing this, Lin Heng fell silent.
He suddenly felt that everything about him seemed to have been calculated long ago.
This made him uncomfortable.
Tianpeng said: "It’ll become clear in time whether that’s what it means."
"Anyway, considering your terrifying cultivation talent, I believe your day of becoming a Quasi-Saint isn’t too far off."
"By then, amidst the great commotion, we’ll see who can seize the Saint seat."
Sun Wukong laughed playfully: "The Buddhist Sect has laid out so many Quasi-Saints, yet even thirty thousand years past the Journey to the West Calamity, none have achieved eternal proof."
"If by then you, a latecomer, seize the seat first, I can’t imagine what expressions the Buddhas of the Western Heaven would have?"
Tianpeng laughed: "If that truly happens, I reckon Tathagata’s expression would be uglier than eating a dead rat."
The two couldn’t help but imagine the scene, their mouths curling upwards uncontrollably.
In response, Lin Heng could only say,
They were thinking too far ahead.
I’m just an Immortal Emperor, and you’re already imagining seizing a Saint seat?
"Speaking of which, just how many Quasi-Saints does the Buddhist Sect have?" Lin Heng asked curiously.
Tianpeng said: "There are thirteen Buddhas in the Western Heaven Buddha Country, and there should be eight or nine Quasi-Saints."
"But truly qualified to compete for the Saint seat are Maitreya Buddha, Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva, Bodhisattva Guanyin, and Sandalwood Merit Buddha."
Lin Heng was taken aback, raising an eyebrow: "The Sandalwood Merit Buddha you mentioned, wouldn’t that be the same Master you journeyed with back then?"
"It is him."
Tianpeng nodded.
Which left Lin Heng in astonishment: "His expertise is great enough to compete for the Saint seat alongside the other three?"
Maitreya Buddha needs no mention.
He’s the Future Buddha following Past Buddha Luminous and Present Buddha Tathagata.
His status in the Western Heaven Buddha Country should be firmly in the top tier.
Lin Heng wasn’t surprised by his capability to compete for the Saint seat.
Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva too needs no explanation.
His true strength far exceeds his Fruit Position!
