Rebirth in Journey to the West: Sun Wukong-Chapter 724 - 725: Absorbing Merit and Destiny (First Update!)

Within the Buddha-viewing Pagoda, it was indeed true that the higher one ascended, the greater the attraction to the merit and destiny within one’s body. Sun Wukong had proved this with his own experience, charging up in one breath to the eighth layer of the Buddha-viewing Pagoda.

The Buddha statue shadows on the eighth layer of the Buddha-viewing Pagoda were only two in number, representing the Ran Deng Buddha and Maitreya Buddha. Naturally, the attraction also manifested from the shadows of these two Buddha statues.

Given Sun Wukong’s current strength, it was already his limit to resist the pull of these two Buddha statue shadows on the merit and destiny within his body, and it was not realistic to go up one more layer to withstand the attraction of the Tathagata Buddha’s statue shadow.

Having realized this, Sun Wukong did not continue upward but instead sat down to meditate within the eighth layer of the Buddha-viewing Pagoda.

The nature’s spiritual energy within the Buddha-viewing Pagoda was indeed extremely abundant, similar in effect to the Ascend to Heaven Platform of the Heavenly Court and the Heaven-Piercing Tower of the Flower-Fruit Mountain, except that the spiritual energy converging there was imbued with a strong Buddhist aura, and ordinary people truly could not absorb it.

However, this was not a problem for Sun Wukong. As long as it was energy, he could absorb it regardless of whether it was Yin or Yang. While absorbing the spiritual energy of heaven and earth, Sun Wukong began to think deeply to himself.

He had been in this Buddha-viewing Pagoda for a while already, and the Buddhist Sect had not shown any reaction, which meant that Tathagata Buddha and the others had not detected someone entering the pagoda, or, in the eyes of those powerful figures of the Buddhist Sect, perhaps no one would foolishly charge into the pagoda and risk having their merit and destiny extracted, right?

Calculating the time, Jiang Liu’er and his companions should have already obtained the Mahayana Buddhist Scriptures and returned to the Central Plains by now, right? As long as the Scriptures are passed on to the King of Great Tang and disseminated throughout the land, the Journey to the West to Seek Scriptures would be completely accomplished, and at that time, a vast amount of merit and destiny would descend from the heavens.

Before that, Tathagata Buddha would probably call Jiang Liu’er and his disciples back to the Western Heaven Spiritual Mountain. Calculating the time, there should still be a few days left.

At that time, Spiritual Mountain would definitely lay down the Heavenly Net to prevent Jiang Liu’er and others from being snatched away by other forces. Trying to brazenly snatch someone at Spiritual Mountain seemed a bit unrealistic. Hmm, what to do?

Sun Wukong scratched his head, pondering over a strategy, when suddenly a flash of inspiration struck him, and he leaped to his feet.

"These Buddha statues can absorb others’ merit and destiny. I, Old Sun, can also absorb theirs! Hey, why didn’t I think of this before?"

A mischievous smile crept onto Sun Wukong’s lips, "In this way, I’ll surely throw the Buddhist Sect into chaos, busy with responding, and I, Old Sun, will be able to fish in troubled waters, hehe!"

No sooner had the thought occurred to him than Sun Wukong immediately began to fully operate the Chaos Primordial Force, forming a vortex of the merit and destiny within his body, from which a tremendous suction force emerged, identical to that of the Buddha statue shadows but even more powerful.

This was something Sun Wukong had learned from the Buddha statue shadows. With his Void-Breaking Starry Eyes, he could see clearly the internal structure of the Buddha statue shadows and had only needed to study them a little to understand how they absorbed merit and destiny. Imitating them was simple.

After all, Buddha statue shadows were inanimate objects, they couldn’t compare to Sun Wukong’s active cultivation to absorb. It was normal for their power to be insufficient.

Before long, threads of merit and destiny began to be drawn out from the Ran Deng Buddha and Maitreya Buddha, surging toward Sun Wukong. Tasting sweetness, Sun Wukong further increased his suction force, and soon even the merit and destiny from the other layers’ Buddha statue shadows were being absorbed, among which was a most gigantic stream, originating from the Buddha statue shadow of Tathagata Buddha on the ninth layer of the Buddha-viewing Pagoda.

"If you want to absorb Jiang Liu’er and his companions’ merit and destiny, I, Old Sun, will drain you first, and let you taste the bitterness!"

The entire Buddha-viewing Pagoda became enveloped by a gigantic sphere of suction force, with every Buddha statue shadow captured within it. Strands of merit and destiny continuously emerged from the Buddha statue shadows, heading towards Sun Wukong, located in the eighth layer.

...

At Spiritual Mountain, within the Great Thunder Sound Temple.

"How odd, why do I feel so anxious, as if something bad is happening?"

Ran Deng Buddha felt his eyelids twitch uncontrollably, a sense of nameless panic burgeoning in his heart, yet he couldn’t pinpoint what it was exactly.

"Ran Deng, do you also feel this way?"

The Maitreya Buddha across from him lifted his head in mute surprise—he had felt the same since yesterday but couldn’t figure out why. He had thought it was his own misperception and didn’t expect Ran Deng Buddha to feel it too.

"Where are Tang Seng and his disciples now?"

Atop the nine-tiered lotus throne in the center of the great hall, the Tathagata Buddha opened his eyes and asked. It wasn’t just Ran Deng Buddha and the Maitreya Buddha; even he had this odd sensation. Something was unquestionably amiss—someone must be plotting against the Buddhist Sect in secret!

"Returning to the Ancestral Buddha, Tang Seng and his disciples have already returned to the Great Tang of the Eastern Land and are currently printing and disseminating the scriptures!"

The Four Great Heavenly Kings from Spiritual Mountain reported back. The Tathagata Buddha could not help but frown. If nothing had gone wrong with Jiang Liu’er and his disciples, then where was the problem?

"Bring back Tang Seng and his disciples. The great task of seeking scriptures is complete, and the Heavenly Dao will soon bestow Merit and Destiny. Our Buddhist Sect’s prosperity is imminent; we cannot afford the slightest mistake!"

"By your sacred decree!"

The Four Heavenly Kings accepted the command and took to the clouds, heading to the Eastern Land to summon Jiang Liu’er and his disciples. The Tathagata Buddha’s gaze turned to the other Buddha Bodhisattvas in the hall and he asked, "Do any of you feel unwell?"

"Ancestral Buddha, we too feel a sense of unease, though we do not know where it comes from."

The assembly of Buddha Bodhisattvas spoke one after another, all describing similar experiences. The expressions of Ran Deng Buddha and the Maitreya Buddha were even more astonished. The Tathagata Buddha’s brows were tightly knit as well. Suddenly, the three looked at each other, and their faces abruptly changed, "No good, it’s the Buddha-viewing Pagoda! Someone is siphoning our Merit and Destiny!"

Whoosh!

Whoosh!

Without delay, the Tathagata Buddha instantly vanished, with Ran Deng Buddha and the Maitreya Buddha following close behind, all departing from the great hall towards the entrance of the broken Chaos Realm. The other Buddha Bodhisattvas, after a moment of stupefaction, turned around and collectively pursued them.

At the exit of the broken Chaos Realm.

The figures of the Tathagata Buddha, Ran Deng Buddha, the Maitreya Buddha, and others rushed one after another through the manifested portal between the Two Realms, heading straight into the broken Chaos Realm. Their gaze swept towards the direction of the Buddha-viewing Pagoda, and their countenances immediately darkened.

"As I thought, it’s the Buddha-viewing Pagoda! Hmph! Such audacity to steal the Merit and Destiny of our Buddhist Sect! I must see who dares be so brazen!"

A fierce glint flashed in Ran Deng Buddha’s eyes as he sped towards the Buddha-viewing Pagoda.

The Tathagata Buddha surveyed his surroundings with a glance, saw nothing amiss, and also flew towards the pagoda, followed closely by the other large and small Buddha Bodhisattvas.

Just as the figures of the mighty ones from the Buddhist Sect disappeared from sight, a figure abruptly emerged from the ground—it was none other than Sun Wukong!