Journey to the West: I have Nine Golden Crows Inside Me
Chapter 689 - 552 Great Enlightenment Golden Immortal

Chapter 689: 552 Great Enlightenment Golden Immortal

Jiang Chen looked at the creatures around him and slowly said:

"The Buddha may have fallen, but the Spiritual Mountain remains, the way of Buddha continues, and I am still here. Now that the Great Thunderclap Temple has been destroyed, it may actually be a good thing, proving the principle that without destruction there can be no growth."

"Today, upon the Spiritual Mountain, I plan to rebuild the Great Thunderclap Temple, construct the Ten Thousand Buddha Hall, and worship ten thousand Buddhas to collect their Willpower through incense offerings, that will aid them in overcoming their calamity to return."

As soon as Jiang Chen’s words landed, the Spiritual Mountain sensed it and suddenly trembled violently. The divine Buddhist light, previously extinguished by the Great Divine Transcendents, once again emerged as fiercely as a sun, radiating a dazzling brilliance that illuminated the entire Spiritual Mountain.

Simultaneously, the fragments of the Great Thunderclap Temple also began to tremble, floating piece by piece, suspending in mid-air.

The power left by the Ancient Martial Artists on these fragments began to dissipate at a rapid pace and soon, it disappeared completely.

With the pressure of the Ancient Martial Artists’ power gone, the undying power inherent in the Great Thunderclap Temple began to awaken, with streaks of golden light emanating from the fragments.

Shortly, as if time had reversed, the fragments of the Great Thunderclap Temple began to reassemble.

Next, under the witness of every creature in Xiniuhe Continent, the holy Buddhist land - the Great Thunderclap Temple, gradually reemerged.

Witnessing this scene, the creatures of Xiniuhe Continent were greatly shocked and hastily bowed to Jiang Chen, proclaiming: "Our Buddha is compassionate, with boundless merit!"

However, before the creatures could finish their prostration, Jiang Chen’s grand voice rang out again: "In front of Buddha, all creatures are equal, why should there be a custom of kowtowing?"

Accompanying this resounding voice was a great force that swept across the entire Xiniuhe Continent, gently lifting up every creature that wished to bow down.

Having been prevented from doing so by Jiang Chen, the creatures didn’t argue; they got up, put their palms together and praised again: "Praise to Buddha, our Buddha is compassionate."

Jiang Xuan, who was observing from the side, guessed that when Jiang Chen mentioned building the Ten Thousand Buddha Hall, he was indeed initiating a plan to replace the Buddha with Gods and transform the Buddhist door into Divine Dao.

No, that’s not accurate. The Buddhist door would still be the Buddhist door, the teachings wouldn’t change, nor would its name. What would change would only be the being within - changing from an actual Buddha to a God known as Buddha.

Now it remains uncertain to what extent Jiang Chen is planning to go. He might be planning to replace the entire Buddhist population of Buddhas and Bodhisattvas, or only a fraction of them.

Moreover, there is a problem. Although the Buddhist door has accumulated a lot of Willpower, it is all owned by others.

Even though their owners have fallen, it won’t be a simple thing for Jiang Chen to seize it.

Moreover, this is just the immediate problem. The real trouble lies in the future.

Once the Buddhas overcome the cycle of reincarnation and return, they will find another of them sitting on their throne, enjoying the offerings from the creatures. How could the Buddha endure this?

Their identity, status, honor... everything has been usurped by others. This grudge, this hatred, can only be quenched by death.

If Jiang Chen really replaces the Buddhas with Gods, when the Buddhas return it will inevitably lead to conflict.

...

Jiang Xuan’s guess was correct. Jiang Chen indeed planned to replace the Buddhas with Gods.

What have the Buddhas, who have been on the Spiritual Mountain for many years, brought to the creatures of the Xiniuhe Continent? They always proclaim compassion, but have they really lived up to their words?

No, they haven’t. The compassionate Buddha has not brought joy and happiness to creatures; instead, they lead a life of suffering and torment under Buddha’s rule.

In that case, what’s the use of such a Buddha? It would be better to let Jiang Chen replace them with Gods.

At the very least, the Gods, born from the Willpower of creatures, understand their needs most intimately.

No, to be precise, the Buddha born from the Willpower of creatures is the Buddha that creatures envisage. The minds of Gods are constant, they understand the aspirations of creatures.

Therefore, Gods materialize in the world in the form that creatures most anticipate. This is the true essence of a sacred deity, they are born not from Heaven and Earth, but from the hearts of humanity. They are not Heavenly Gods or Earth Gods, but Gods of the Human Path.

Protecting creatures is their responsibility, and also the source of their power.

If they replace the Buddhas, it’s hard to say how well they can do, but they will certainly do better than the Buddhas. At the least, they wouldn’t tolerate demons wreaking havoc.

As for offending the Buddhas?

It seems as if, if Jiang Chen didn’t do this, he wouldn’t offend the Buddhas.

This time, he led the attack on the Spiritual Mountain and even killed many Buddhas under the pretext of getting rid of demons. He has already offended the Buddhas to the point of no return. Even if there wasn’t the issue of replacing them with the Divine Dao, they would not just let Jiang Chen walk away.

On the contrary, if Jiang Chen uses the Willpower from incense offering to create Gods to replace them, it would mean having a large number of allies. Who would win when the Buddhas retaliate upon their return is still anyone’s guess.

The way Gods cultivate is different from conventional methods, primarily emphasized by a quick progress.

Gods don’t need heavenly treasures, nor do they need spiritual energy. As long as there is enough Willpower from the creatures, they will rise rapidly, reaching a high level of cultivation in a short period of time.

What the Buddhist door is not lacking in the least is the Willpower from incense offering. From among the Three Realms, the Buddhist door has the most temples, the broadest and most devout following. Thus, they have more offerings in comparison to the Mystic Sect.

Over millions of years of accumulation, even though the Buddhists have consumed a part of it, the remaining Willpower from incense offerings is still a terrifyingly large number, enough for Jiang Chen to fabricate a few Innate Dao Sovereigns out of nothing.

However, how to use this Willpower is also an issue, but there’s no urgency in resolving that. The main focus should be on sending away the people from the Mystic Sect for the time being.

With the demons exterminated and Spiritual Mountain obtained, there’s no value in keeping people of the Mystic Sect here anymore. It’s time to let them leave.

Once they leave, Jiang Chen can initiate his plan and bring about a radical reform to the Buddhist door.

However, it is easy to invite others, but difficult to send them away. The Great Divine Transcendents of the Mystic Sect came here easily, but getting them to leave would not be simple, they would have to be appeased with satisfying compensation.

The purpose of the Great Divine Transcendents from the Mystic Sect is to exterminate Buddha, but the two Saints from the West would definitely not allow this to happen. So, this is not a possibility.

But they can give the Great Divine Transcendents from the Mystic Sect a glimmer of hope in the destruction of Buddhists. This could pacify their minds, and they would leave happily.

So how should they pacify their minds?

Jiang Chen, upon thinking about someone from the future who almost destroyed Buddhists, had an idea.

He sighed and said to the Great Divine Transcendents of the Mystic Sect: "Today we have a demon in disguise as Buddha causing havoc, even though it should not be exterminated, it should be adjusted."

"I plan to transform the Buddhist temples into palaces, the thus-come-one (Tathagata) into Heavenly Sovereign, trace back to the root and change Buddha into the Great Realized Golden Immortal, Bodhisattva into Great Men, Arhat into Respected Men, and a monk into a Virtuous Man, all of whom will maintain their topknots and wear crowns."

"How does it seem to each of you superior ones?"