Chapter 660: Ninth-Rank Golden Lotus of Merit
After the death of the Buddha, Ananda suffered a great blow.
Among the ten great disciples, he had the deepest feelings for the Buddha. Since he became a monk, he had been following the Buddha's side, witnessed every sermon of the Buddha, and remembered them all by heart, able to recite them by heart, making him the most knowledgeable.
For him, Buddha has long become the highest spiritual belief and the pillar of life.
At the moment when the Buddha passed away, his Buddhist heart also completely collapsed.
After keeping silent for thirty-three days, his golden body dimmed, his spirit disappeared, and he was on the verge of passing away.
Looking at the giant python god, he finally spoke.
"Mahoraga, I will pass away today. After I die, you can eat my golden body, chew my Buddha bones, drink my Buddha blood, and continue to protect the Mahayana Sutra."
He looked at the Buddhist scriptures on the shelf and sighed, "The Mahayana Sutra is the last hope of our Buddhist sect. Mahoraga, in more than two hundred years, someone will arrive at the foot of Lingshan Mountain to seek the scriptures..."
At this point, Venerable Ananda showed a hint of hesitation. Obviously, after encountering such a sudden change, he was no longer sure about the future direction.
"If the pilgrim arrives, it means that our Buddhist sect is not yet dead. The gate to Lingshan will be open. You can take the opportunity to bring him here, take the Mahayana Sutra, and help him return to the human world to prosper Buddhism."
After a pause, he continued, "The emperor of the Tang Dynasty two hundred years from now is the reincarnation of the soul of the Great Emperor of the North Pole of the Purple Star of the Central Sky. When you and the pilgrims return to the Tang Dynasty, you must help him with all your strength. In this way... there may be a turning point."
The giant python god's eyes were filled with tears. He nodded and said, "Don't worry, venerable one. I will definitely live up to your trust and do my best to wait for the pilgrim to arrive!"
"But...what if the pilgrim doesn't come?"
Venerable Ananda was silent for a moment, then said: "If you don't come, then it is also a destiny, you... just take care of yourself."
The giant python god was startled and was about to ask further questions, but he heard Venerable Ananda chanting the Buddha's name, then he lowered his eyes and sat down, without any breath left.
From then on, it was the only one left in the huge Sutra Repository.
Seeing this, Li Daoxuan's heart was also in turmoil and he couldn't calm down for a long time.
Although he knew that Heaven and Lingshan had become the incarnations of monsters, and that gods and Buddhas had suffered heavy casualties and been turned into food, knowing was one thing and seeing it with one's own eyes was another.
Even the Buddha Tathagata has fallen?
However, there is still Taiqing Daode Tianzun in the Heavenly Palace, and he also said "we ". It can be seen that although Lingshan also suffered a great disaster, there should be some powerful people left.
For example, Amitabha Buddha, who is even older than the Three Buddhas, is also known as the Buddha of Infinite Life, the Buddha of Infinite Light, and the Buddha of Avalokitesvara. Buddhist disciples always say "Amitabha Buddha" first when they meet anyone, and they are referring to him.
In addition, Venerable Ananda mentioned that Li Shimin was the reincarnation of the soul of Zhongtian Ziwei Beiji Taihuang Emperor, which finally solved a doubt in Li Daoxuan's mind.
No wonder Erposha wanted to use Li Shimin's soul to refine the elixir of immortality. He was one of the Four Imperial Gods, and his status was second only to the Jade Emperor. Legend has it that Liu Bang and Liu Xiu were his incarnations.
And why the Xuan-Yuan Sword shines so brightly in his hands, because Emperor Ziwei is the symbol of the emperor.
"The one who seeks the scriptures..."
Li Daoxuan was a little worried, as the person who was seeking the scriptures was undoubtedly Xuanzang. Although there was no treasure given by Guanyin and no gods or Buddhas to protect him this time, he still embarked on the journey to seek the scriptures.
Judging from the fact that the giant python god disturbed the world later, Xuanzang finally arrived at Lingshan.
But why hasn't he come back now?
Why did the giant snake god break his agreement with Ananda?
He continued reading.
A few days later, the giant python god could no longer bear the erosion of the strange power and began to devour Ananda's golden body.
He corroded the top of Ananda's head with venom, then knocked out his bones and sucked his marrow, drinking the Buddha's blood. Suddenly his magic power increased greatly, and his cultivation level improved instead of declining. Soon his shrunken body expanded again, and in just a few days, he broke through to the celestial fairyland.
But Li Daoxuan clearly saw that in the process of swallowing the Buddha, its pupils became increasingly scarlet and violent, which was obviously a sign of being possessed by a demon.
This was not unexpected. The giant python god was originally impure, tyrannical and greedy. In addition, Lingshan was hit by a disaster and the Buddha died, so his sense of belonging to Buddhism naturally decreased significantly.
After tasting the Buddha's blood, his strength suddenly increased, and his state of mind could not keep up, so it was natural for him to fall into the devil's trap.
Venerable Ananda may not have anticipated this situation, but he was helpless and could only sacrifice his body to feed the demon and take a gamble to awaken its Buddha nature.
The giant python god even set his sights on the Mahayana Sutra, but unfortunately he was not the one who was going to obtain the sutra. Even if he opened the book, it would be empty and he could not see anything.
Finally, in order to resist the omnipresent strange power, the giant snake god chose to drill into Ananda's golden body and fall asleep.
However, as time passed, it was still affected and its cultivation level fell from the Heavenly Immortal Realm to the Earthly Immortal Realm.
Just when it thought it would eventually die in Lingshan, a miracle happened. The gate of Lingshan suddenly rumbled and opened for the first time after the catastrophe.
The giant python god recalled Ananda's last words before his death and hesitated for a moment, but only for a moment.
The next moment, he flew out with Ananda's golden body without looking back. He no longer cared about the Mahayana Sutra, the pilgrim, or the hope of Buddhism.
Life is the most important!
There is more than one entrance to Lingshan. He escaped from Vasudha Gate in the south and flew thousands of miles in one breath. When he looked back, he found that Lingshan had been closed, like a monster that had finished chewing.
He knew then that the person who sought the scriptures would surely die and Buddhism would be completely destroyed.
He felt a little disappointed, but more excited because he found that not only Lingshan, but also the Heavenly Palace seemed to have suffered a similar catastrophe.
This also means that, as a person in the Earthly Immortal Realm, he can do whatever he wants in the human world, right?
However, out of caution, he first sneaked into the Tang Dynasty, swallowed a monk named Narvasami, then changed into his appearance, and deliberately allowed himself to be captured by Wang Xuance to inquire about the situation in the human world.
When he was sure that there was only one person in the world who was suspected to be an immortal, Li Daoxuan, and that the Ghost Fairy Goddess of the Qingming Realm was a threat, and that the rest of the people were not a concern, he directly "became enlightened", claiming to be the reincarnation of Venerable Ananda, and became an invincible holy Buddha.
Having experienced the beauty of the celestial realm, he was naturally unwilling to stay in the earthly realm. He remembered what Venerable Ananda had said, that Li Shimin was the reincarnation of the soul of Zhongtian Ziwei Beiji Taihuang Emperor. So a bold alchemy plan emerged in his mind.
Li Shimin was protected by the power of humanity and was invulnerable to all attacks, so he set his sights on Crown Prince Li Chengqian...
The memories end.
Li Daoxuan opened his eyes, revealing a hint of murderous intent.
Everything suddenly became clear.
He finally understood why the evil monk became extremely excited every time he said that he had stolen the golden body of Venerable Ananda. It turned out that he was angry and humiliated.
Obviously, deep down in his heart, he still felt a little guilty towards Venerable Ananda.
Li Daoxuan was very disdainful of such a treacherous villain.
Venerable Kashyapa was brave and fearless, with a heart of pure child. Venerable Ananda passed away with the Buddha and sacrificed his body to feed the devil. Their spirit and mind are admirable, but none of them awakened the Buddha nature in the devil's heart, which is truly regrettable.
With a thought, wisps of golden flames danced in his palm and fell on the remaining soul of the giant python god.
After a few screams, this former member of the Heavenly Dragon Eight Divisions, the giant python god of Buddhism, and also the previous life of Fahai, finally died and his soul was scattered.
In an instant, "The Book of Exorcising Demons" shone brightly.
"In June of the 23rd year of Zhenguan, Yu Xiaoxiang killed the giant python god and received a reward - the immortal weapon [Ninth Grade Merit Golden Lotus]!"
"The Ninth Grade Merit Golden Lotus is born from the innate, and is a treasure of great fortune. It is the treasure of the Western Religion. Sitting on the lotus platform, nothing can break it, and it can kill evil and enter the realm of enlightenment. If you recite the 37-stage Sutra silently at the same time, you may experience miraculous changes."
When Li Daoxuan saw the words "Ninth-Rank Golden Lotus of Merit", his eyes lit up.
nice one!
Legend has it that after the creation of Hongmeng, there were four great lotuses in the world, namely the Golden Lotus of Merit, the Black Lotus of Destruction, the Red Lotus of Karma and the Green Lotus of Purification.
Among them, the Pure World Green Lotus is the most powerful, with thirty-six grades. Pangu, the creator of the world, was conceived and born in it. Later, it was not tolerated by the way of heaven, so it was divided into three.
The red flower turned into Taishang Laojun's Panlong Bianguai, the white lotus root turned into Yuanshi Tianzun's Sanbao Yuruyi, and the green lotus leaf turned into Tongtian Jiaozhu's Qingping Sword.
Therefore, the red flowers, white lotus roots and green lotus leaves, the three religions are actually one family.
Except for the Pure World Green Lotus, the other three lotuses have twelve grades and are all magical. However, the Golden Lotus of Merit had three grades sucked away by the Hongmeng vicious beast Mosquito Taoist, so it dropped from the twelfth grade to the ninth grade, and its power was greatly reduced.
Li Daoxuan suddenly remembered that Xuanzang once told him that during the Battle of Luoyang, his soul sensed Lingshan and saw that it was empty, but there was a ninth-grade golden lotus of merit with a severed hand of Buddha on it.
Afterwards, Xuanzang chanted the sutras, causing the severed hand to descend into the world and suppress Mara like the Five Finger Mountain.
This means that there is a ninth-grade golden lotus of merit in Lingshan. Is the lotus rewarded by the Heavenly Book the same one as the one in Lingshan?
Or did the Heavenly Book directly create another ninth-grade golden lotus of merit?
In addition, there is the last sentence in the heavenly book. If you sit upright on the lotus platform and silently recite the "Thirty-Seven Chapters of the Buddhist Sutra", there may be miraculous changes.
Li Daoxuan immediately summoned the mermaid and asked her to send someone to find the "Buddha's Thirty-Seven Chapters of the Buddhist Sutra".
Then he continued to look at Sister Yu. The excitement he had just felt for obtaining the Ninth-Rank Golden Lotus of Merit quickly cooled down. He frowned, revealing a hint of worry.
He gained a lot, but what puzzled him was that in the memory of the python god, there was actually no information about the whereabouts of Sister Yu's soul.
He poisoned Sister Yu in order to use her as bait to test whether he and the Empress were still alive in the world. He had no other purpose.
Apart from that, he didn't even have the ability to forcibly take away Sister Yu's soul.
Li Daoxuan was keenly aware that in his confrontation with the evil monk, there was a third person quietly present. That person seemed to know that he would return to the human world, so he never showed up to confront the evil monk, but only made plans quietly behind the scenes.
When the evil monk poisoned, that person took away Yu Jie's soul in advance, making Li Daoxuan think that it was the evil monk's doing, further intensifying the conflict.
Who is that person? What is his purpose? Where is Sister Yu's soul?
Li Daoxuan lowered his eyes slightly, with a chill in his eyes.
When the mermaid came over, she felt that the hall was like an ice cave. Her body could not help but tremble, and it took a long time for her to calm down.
She was a little afraid to look directly at Li Daoxuan and said, "Master, the 'Buddha's Thirty-Seventh Sutra'... was not found."
"Why?"
"Because this Buddhist scripture is said to have been lost during the Southern Dynasties, and now it has become extinct."
Li Daoxuan stood with his hands behind his back, looking thoughtful.
Yongye was also in the Southern Dynasty, and this Buddhist scripture was also lost at that time. How could it be such a coincidence?
Is there any secret hidden in this Buddhist scripture?
"Take good care of Sister Yu. Jinmao Hou, Xiaotian, Xiaoqing and Xiaobai will all stay in Yuxuan Palace. Remember, no one except me is allowed to enter this palace!"
When the mermaid saw Li Daoxuan's serious face, he immediately said, "Yes!"
After a pause, she couldn't help but ask, "Master, you just came back, are you ready to leave again?"
Li Daoxuan sighed and said, "I found that I neglected one thing, a very important thing."
He was able to hide the truth right under his nose. He really underestimated him.
The young are to be feared.
"I hope that next time I come back, I can bring back Sister Yu's soul as well."
…
Chang'an City, Taiji Palace.
Li Zhi had been living an increasingly comfortable life recently, spending his days watering flowers, practicing calligraphy, listening to music, and amusing his beloved concubine. His attitude of governing by doing nothing was in stark contrast to the diligent Li Shimin.
All matters in the court were decided by Zhangsun Wuji.
He always looked on with a smile, as if he was completely confident in his uncle and showed no interest in power.
However, a few days later, Zhangsun Wuji, the powerful regent, died suddenly. Li Zhi had to end his leisurely life in the harem, take power and reorganize the court.
His methods were extremely clever. He conquered Zhangsun Wuji's power like a gentle breeze and rain. He used methods such as persuasion, persuasion, division and checks and balances to control the power of the emperor. He had mastered the art of ruling an emperor to perfection.
It is hard to imagine that this is a new emperor who has just ascended the throne and has always appeared weak.
However, unlike Li Shimin, he had been in poor health since childhood and was good at literature but not martial arts. In order to maintain the dignity of the emperor, he lowered a light golden curtain when he attended court.
The ministers could not see the emperor's face clearly, but this made him more intimidating. The figure under the golden curtain, high above, overlooking the world, was intimidating.
The morning court session ended that day.
Li Zhi was relaxing in the Imperial Garden. When he got tired, he sat in the pavilion and read a book, the Tao Te Ching.
He liked reading. Since he was a sickly child, he could not go out to play, so he stayed in the palace library to read books every day. He read for fifteen years. His favorite book was the "Tao Te Ching".
"He does not show off, so he is clear; he does not think he is right, so he is famous; he does not boast, so he has achievements; he does not boast, so he is superior; because he does not contend, no one in the world can contend with him."
A clear voice sounded, speaking the words from the Tao Te Ching.
Li Zhi's heart trembled, and he looked up quickly, only to find that the guards and eunuchs around him had disappeared, and a handsome Taoist priest had appeared in the pavilion.
He was dressed in white clothes with a gold belt, and his hydrating suit was painted with faint cloud patterns. He looked elegant and carefree, and his every move was like an immortal, as if he had strayed into this mortal world from outside of time.
Li Zhi's pupils condensed and his hand holding the "Tao Te Ching" trembled slightly.
The Taoist slowly raised his eyes, which were dark and deep, with nebulae flowing in them, and a Taoist rhythm emerging from them.
"Li Zhi, I underestimated you."
