The Battle in Journey to the West
Chapter 339 - 300: Eliminate the False, Preserve the True, Kill the Great Enemy

Chapter 339: Chapter 300: Eliminate the False, Preserve the True, Kill the Great Enemy

The many masters besieged the Medicine Buddha’s Lapis Lazuli Pure Light Realm, devastating its foundation, and nearly all the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas within had been slaughtered.

He was still desperately holding on, waiting for Tathagata’s rescue, but Moonlight Bodhisattva was captured by Manjushri Bodhisattva and slain by Kong Xuan. It seemed his rescue was no longer coming.

Daoist Equal to Heaven fired an arrow, one that shot straight towards the Buddha Kingdom inside the body of the Medicine Buddha, intending to break the Buddha Kingdom and kill the two thousand Medicine Forks within. With this, the Medicine Buddha would no longer possess the ability to regenerate, and naturally became an easy catch for the masters present. For Medicine Buddha, reclaiming the Lapis Lazuli World would be nothing more than a trivial matter.

Seeing the ferocity of this arrow, the Medicine Buddha hurriedly deployed his Divine Skills to capture it. His Golden Body shimmered, conjuring a giant Hand Seal, ready to seize the Sky-Breaking Divine Arrow.

"Medicine Buddha, you are now besieged by us all and your life is short. Surrender quickly, and perhaps your life may be spared!" Chi Songzi bellowed.

A fierce light flickered in the eyes of the Medicine Buddha. It was a critical moment, and how could he possibly surrender? With a swoop of the Great Hand Seal, he grasped the Sky-Breaking Divine Arrow. The arrow was so powerful it almost shattered his hand seal.

"What?!" The Medicine Buddha was shocked. Although the Great Hand Seal had captured the Sky-Breaking Divine Arrow, he discovered that beneath it was another concealed arrow which he had failed to seize. Instead, it transformed into a red glow, becoming a Golden Crow and shooting straight for his Buddha Kingdom.

During the great battle on Yingzhou Island, Enlightenment Dao had obtained a Sun-Shooting Arrow from Hou Yi. Back then, Jiuying caused great chaos and was severely wounded by Hou Yi’s arrow, fleeing to Yingzhou Island, where it became the local legend’s Yamata no Orochi, a beast that took several Great Demons to defeat.

This secret arrow hidden beneath the Sky-Breaking Divine Arrow was the very Sun-Shooting Arrow used by Hou Yi to injure Jiuying. Now, this arrow had become the final blow intended to claim the life of the Medicine Buddha!

It was too late for the Medicine Buddha to defend against this arrow. Capturing the Sky-Breaking Divine Arrow had made him overconfident, not expecting a hidden attack beneath it.

Daoist Equal to Heaven’s call for the Medicine Buddha to watch the arrow was to distract him with the Sky-Breaking Divine Arrow, while the Sun-Shooting Arrow beneath was the true killer move!

Indeed, the Medicine Buddha fell for the trap and captured the Sky-Breaking Divine Arrow with the Great Hand Seal, but had no power left to deal with the Sun-Shooting Arrow. How swift and astonishing was this arrow? It nearly tore a trace through the void, allowing the Primordial Chaos Qi to faintly flow from it.

"No good!" The Medicine Buddha shouted, unable to stop the arrow as he activated the Tiger Roar Golden Bell Cover and the Dragon Chant Iron Cloth Shirt.

With the sounds of dragons chanting and tigers roaring, a huge Buddhist Bell enveloped the Medicine Buddha, shielding his entire being. The roaring transformed into a massive Divine Dragon, which protected him.

"Boom!"

The Sun-Shooting Arrow, carrying the aura of the Golden Crow and shot from the Sky-Breaking Divine Bow, was as powerful as the arrow once shot by Hou Yi. With a loud crash against the Golden Bell Cover, it shattered like an eggshell. The arrow continued, aiming straight for his Buddha Kingdom.

"Roar!"

A dragon’s roar was heard as the Divine Dragon attempted to bite the Sun-Shooting Arrow, but from the sky descended a bolt of lightning that completely shattered the Divine Dragon.

The Divine Dragon broke apart, and the Sun-Shooting Arrow, unwavering, shot into the Medicine Buddha’s Buddha Kingdom. The realm was penetrated, and hundreds of Medicine Forks were impaled by the Divine Arrow, blood staining the void, dead beyond death. A Sky-Overshadowing Seal from Wusheng landed with a bang inside the Buddha Kingdom as well, almost crushing the realm to pieces and instantly killing several hundred Medicine Forks.

With a sense of divine might, the Sky-Overshadowing Seal fell and shattered the Medicine Buddha’s Golden Body, sending him flying.

"Heartless and devoid of law and life! Heartless Sword Jue!" Wusheng formed a hand seal and softly chanted. She practiced the Heartless Sword Jue, a technique that severed all desires and remained untainted by the mortal dust. This strike was utterly heartless, so much so that it emanated a Zen-like essence, reaching the ultimate realm of heartlessness – Forget Love.

The Seven Emotions and Six Desires are the roots of humanity, and although those on the Immortal Path are said to be pure in heart and few in desires, they still have these emotions. Apart from the Heavenly Dao, no one in the world can be heartless, and thus the highest realm of the Heartless Sword Jue is Forget Love, to forget all emotions.

Her sword pierced the heavens and earth, the mighty Sword Qi pouring into the Medicine Buddha’s Buddha Kingdom, slaying frenetically. The two thousand Medicine Forks were not highly endowed with mana but merely provided an inexhaustible source of energy for the Medicine Buddha. As long as he recited spells, no matter how severe his injuries were or even if they affected his Primordial Spirit, he could immediately be revived.

Wusheng’s swordsmanship was ruthlessly efficient. With one stroke, all the Medicine Forks within the Buddha Kingdom were annihilated!

"No!" The Medicine Buddha’s eyes nearly split with rage. He had raised those two thousand Medicine Forks over countless years, and now they had been wiped out in one fell swoop. His heart ached as though bleeding, and without them, he was likely to fall here and now, at the hands of these people.

"It seems that destiny’s tribulations outweigh my fortune after all! Had I not coveted the Lapis Lazuli Pure Light Realm, I wouldn’t have encountered such a deadly disaster," the Medicine Buddha lamented in his heart.

His underhanded occupancy of the Lapis Lazuli Pure Light Realm naturally resulted in immense karmic retribution. Fate entwined, inseparable—his great calamity had become apparent, and now, it seemed insurmountable.

The Medicine Buddha continued to undermine his own foundation, to prevent the wills of the billions of beings from coalescing; otherwise, he could have made a desperate final strike.

"If you wish for my death, don’t expect to get off easy! Sacrifice the common people!" The Medicine Buddha had gone mad, intending to sacrifice all the common people within the Lapis Lazuli World, and even the world itself, to exchange for formidable power.

The face of the Medicine Buddha changed, he said, "He’s gone mad! Quickly, strike him down. If I use the Formless Divine Skill to merge his soul, we can deceive the Tathagata."

A group of experts jointly struck at the Medicine Buddha with lightning pervading and Magical Treasures flying about, aiming to kill him swiftly before he could sacrifice the entire world.

"The Medicine Buddha you worship is nothing but a fake. Stop praying to him at once; he is about to sacrifice you! I am the true Buddha of the Lapis Lazuli World, the true Respectful Ruler of the World. Pray in my name, and I can defeat him and shelter you all! This is my ’Merit Root Aspiration Sutra’. Hold this scripture and pray for me; I can gain endless power to crush him," the Medicine Buddha seized the opportunity to subdue the hearts of sentient beings in the Lapis Lazuli World, to spread his scripture and awaken them.

Daoist Equal to Heaven exclaimed, "Medicine Buddha, your incessant wrongdoings will be your downfall; you regard sentient beings as nothing, and they see you as an enemy! Your collective will is dissipating. Surrender now!"

Zhen Yuanzi slapped the Medicine Buddha away with his sleeve, causing him to spew out mouthfuls of golden Buddha’s Blood, but still, he continued to chant spells, forcefully trying to sacrifice the entire Lapis Lazuli Pure Light Realm in one final attempt. Even the humblest ant clings to life; how much more so a being as powerful as him.

With a loud shout, the Medicine Buddha proclaimed, "When I achieve Bodhi in my Next Life, may everyone cross over correctly, comprehend Prajna, and reach the supreme other shore! Will of all beings, empower my body!"

The sentient beings began to pray for the Medicine Buddha, not for the Medicine Buddha any longer, the vast incense and will were forsaken by the Medicine Buddha, now bolstering the Medicine Buddha.

"You wretched creatures, I have been benevolent to you, yet at the critical moment, you forsake me!" the Medicine Buddha bellowed hysterically.

"Even ants fight for survival, and what’s more for humans? Your misdeeds are numerous; the Medicine Buddha, born from the Buddhist sect’s destiny, edifies the sentient beings of the Lapis Lazuli World. You have been abandoned by fate and are fated to meet your doom!" bellowed Daoist Equal to Heaven, resounding thunderously.

Ultimately, the Medicine Buddha seized control of the entire Lapis Lazuli Pure Light Realm, then a massive hand reached out, intent on delivering a death blow to the Medicine Buddha.

"No!"

The collective will of the Medicine Buddha’s followers was stripped away. The tables turned, making the place the Medicine Buddha’s stronghold. In an instant, his Mana surged by dozens of times, while the Medicine Buddha’s mana weakened continuously. He no longer possessed the power to contend with the Medicine Buddha.

"Formless Divine Skill! No personhood, no self, no beings’ form, no form of longevity! I am you, and you are me! We are both impermanent, we have no defined form!" The Medicine Buddha then shattered the Medicine Buddha, tearing away his soul, and his own Three Souls and Seven Spirits left their body, unbelievably merging together.

Without form, without you or me, merging them was as natural as a river flowing into its course.

The Medicine Buddha struggled in his death throes, but the situation was beyond recovery. The Medicine Buddha used the will of the billions of sentient beings to suppress the will of the Medicine Buddha. He gained great power through these beings, and due to them, he met his end—truly, water can carry a boat, but it can also capsize it. Even among the People of the Immortal Path, one cannot ignore the power of sentient beings.

The body of the Medicine Buddha shone with golden light which then dispersed. Seated majestically upon the Lotus Platform, he had thoroughly refined the soul of the Medicine Buddha.

"Ha ha, finally, I’ve reclaimed the Lapis Lazuli Pure Light Realm and devoured the Three Souls and Seven Spirits of the Medicine Buddha. Even the Tathagata won’t see through me! When the great calamity of heaven and earth arrives, I will turn my back on the Tathagata with the Lapis Lazuli Pure Light Realm, surely causing him great pain," laughed the Medicine Buddha.

Although the surrounding area had been devastated by the intense battle, with a wave of his hand, the Medicine Buddha brought about a rebirth of vegetation. The shattered rocks piled back onto the mountains, the cracked earth healed, and the dried-up rivers flowed once more.

"Once I’ve smelted the entire world into a single entity, capable of moving at will, I will be even more formidable. Amitabha Buddha constructed this Secret Realm for me, which is exceedingly powerful!" the Medicine Buddha said, his brow shining as he merged continuously with the essence of the world. One day, he will assimilate the world into his body, and wherever he goes, it will be his territory, capable of amassing the will of sentient beings to suppress opponents.

So, the Medicine Buddha, one of the Three Worlds Buddha of the Buddhist sect and the true ruler of the world, fell to his destined calamity, while the true sovereign of the Buddhist sect’s rebirth, the Lapis Lazuli Light Medicine Buddha, regained control over the Lapis Lazuli Pure Light Realm. The true revival of the Buddhist sect was not far off, as its destiny grew stronger.

To find out what happens next, please tune in to the next installment. (To be continued. If you enjoy this work, you are welcome to vote for it with a recommendation ticket or a monthly ticket at Starting Point (qidian.com). Your support is my greatest motivation. Mobile users, please read at m.qidian.com.)