"Master, I don't understand."
In the distance, amidst the night sky, Yun Wan watched the hesitant Lie Shan, who seemed to be awaiting the Immortal Dao's decree, and asked, "Didn't you just say that the Immortal Dao doesn't want to provoke the Crimson-Letter Monarch, so the best method is to let Xiao Jinr destroy herself? But now Saint Monk Pudu has arrived and is willing to take Xiao Jinr back to Western Heaven. Why won't Lie Shan agree?"
"I think what Saint Monk Pudu says makes a lot of sense. Doing it this way could both give the Crimson-Letter Monarch an explanation and avoid unpredictable, terrible consequences from a wrong decision. Wouldn't it be better to hand Xiao Jinr over to Western Heaven to be sealed away? Could it be that the Immortal Dao doesn't trust the Buddha Dao?"
"Silly girl, the waters run deep here," Female Sect Leader Ye Tianlan sighed and said. "But you're right about one thing—the Immortal Dao truly doesn't trust the Buddha Dao."
"Why? The Buddha Dao has always been compassionate, taking the protection of all living beings as its duty, and has never changed. Since Xiao Jinr is a Calamity Star, and moreover a Calamity Star from the Daoless Age, the Buddha Dao couldn't possibly stand idly by, could it?"
"It's precisely because Xiao Jinr is a Calamity Star from the Daoless Age that the Immortal Dao doesn't trust the Buddha Dao."
"Why is that?"
"Why? No particular reason. Because the Immortal Dao has always wanted to dominate heaven and earth. And while the Buddha Dao doesn't say it out loud, that's just them not saying it. Not saying it doesn't mean they silently approve of the Immortal Dao's ambitions. Most importantly, the Buddha Dao has always believed in the cycle of heavenly principles and karmic retribution. What is karmic retribution? Where there is an evil cause, there will be an evil effect. Xiao Jinr is a Calamity Star from the Daoless Age, yet she has descended in the Present-Ancient Era. This is the evil effect."
Female Sect Leader Ye Tianlan spoke calmly, "In other words, the Three Thousand Great Daos all want to eradicate the Calamity Star, but the Buddha Dao may not think the same way."
"What? How can that be, Master? Hasn't the Buddha Dao always been compassionate? From what you're saying, it sounds like the Buddha Dao not only doesn't want to eliminate the Calamity Star, but might even let her run rampant?"
"The compassion you understand is merely a superficial appearance. True great compassion is the equality of all beings within the Dao of Karma. Therefore, in the face of great compassion, good is evil, evil is good; life is death, death is life. Good or evil, life or death—the two have no essential difference; they are merely part of the cycle of karma."
Perhaps because Ye Tianlan's words were too profound, Yun Wan didn't fully comprehend them.
Ye Tianlan murmured to herself, "The world only knows that the Buddha Dao is compassionate, taking the protection of all living beings as its duty, but they don't know that the Buddha Dao's compassionate heart protects not the living beings of the world, but this cycle of karma."
"Master, in that case, will the Immortal Dao not hand Xiao Jinr over to Saint Monk Pudu this time?"
"Hard to say. Perhaps they will, perhaps they won't. It depends on how the Immortal Dao weighs its options. Killing Xiao Jinr and provoking Gu Qingfeng—what the consequences would be, I think even the Immortal Dao doesn't know. If they hand Xiao Jinr over to the Western Heaven Buddha Dao, the Immortal Dao also worries. They worry that the Western Heaven Buddha Dao will adhere to the cycle of karma, thereby hindering the Immortal Dao's ambition to dominate heaven and earth."
As she spoke, Ye Tianlan glanced lightly at the vast, majestic Radiance Day hanging in the night sky and said, "I think the Immortal Dao will probably hand Xiao Jinr over to the Western Heaven Buddha Dao."
Yun Wan was somewhat confused and asked doubtfully, "Why is that?"
"The Immortal Dao has tried to deal with Gu Qingfeng several times without success. I think they don't dare to provoke him again, at least not before Wudao Mountain appears in the world. If they dared, given the Immortal Dao's style, they would have long since moved to eradicate Xiao Jinr. They wouldn't risk waiting for her to destroy herself."
Sure enough.
Just as Ye Tianlan had said, after Lie Shan sought instructions from the Immortal Dao, he agreed to Pudu's request.
"Hold it!"
At that moment, Shi Tian stepped forward and arrogantly shouted, "The Cloud Realm may agree, but I do not! Without my permission, no one may take this Calamity Star away. Even if you are a Buddha from Western Heaven, it won't do!"
Seeing that Pudu paid him no heed, Shi Tian immediately flew into a rage and berated, "How dare you ignore me, Shi Tian! Hmph!"
With that, a brilliant light flashed around Shi Tian as he charged toward Pudu.
"Amitabha!"
As Pudu lowered his head, he joined his palms together. Without even moving a hand, only a golden-yellow radiance shimmered around him, and a vast Buddha aura erupted forth. When Shi Tian charged over, he felt as if his fist had struck a spring; the force he had unleashed was completely rebounded back at him. With a thud, Shi Tian grunted from the backlash and was sent flying sideways.
Shi Tian, unwilling to accept this, wanted to attack again, but Lie Shan's reprimanding voice came through: "Bold Shi Tian! If you dare act so presumptuously again, don't blame this venerable one for punishing you!"
This finally made Shi Tian behave. He might look down on everyone else, but he dared not defy the warning from World Enforcer Lie Shan.
"No matter what situation arises later, I hope all of you will refrain from acting rashly."
After saying this, Pudu added, "I ask the two Arhats to descend and protect us!"
Whoosh! Whoosh!
Two beams of golden light refracted down from the night sky. When the golden light faded, two figures appeared out of thin air.
They were two monks. After appearing, they stood in mid-air, eyes closed, palms joined, like two golden, shining bronze statues.
Looking at these two monk-like bronze statues, everyone present was shocked without exception—even Female Sect Leader Ye Tianlan, the Three Great Titans, and World Enforcer Lie Shan were no different. Because they all knew these two were the wrathful incarnations of Golden-Body Arhats who had descended from Western Heaven. These were existences that made even those old demon kings and old devil kings tremble in fear at the mere mention of their names.
Seeing this scene, many pondered a question.
Saint Monk Pudu merely wanted to take the Calamity Star back to Western Heaven to be sealed. Why had he even invited down the wrathful incarnations of the Arhats?
Moreover, he had just said that no matter what situation arose, they should not act rashly. What did that mean?
What other situation could arise?
Even the World Enforcer was here. What situation could possibly arise?
They didn't know.
Everyone felt the situation was somewhat strange.
Immediately after, Pudu and over a dozen Buddhas sat cross-legged in mid-air around the crimson light column. Then they all closed their eyes, joined their palms, and began chanting scriptures, reciting sutras.
The sound of the sutra chanting entering their ears gave people an indescribable feeling. Especially those profound and unfathomable great experts who had come with the Three Great Titans—when the sutra chanting spread, they immediately felt uncomfortable and had no choice but to retreat.
Not only them.
Female Sect Leader Ye Tianlan, the Great Palm Reserve, Zixiao King, and the Third Prince were no exception. The sutra chanting made them feel an unspeakable discomfort.
They were not ordinary people. Not only were they not ordinary, but each of them also carried varying degrees of turbid auras, large and small. As long as it was a turbid aura, it was either sin or evil. And Buddhist sutras were the bane of all evil in the world, so naturally, they found it difficult to withstand the sutra chanting of Pudu and the others.
In contrast, Shangguan Yu and Shi Tian seemed completely unaffected by the sutra chanting, not even the slightest bit. They still stood proudly in mid-air, especially Shi Tian, who stood ramrod straight. This made Shi Tian, who had just lost some face, appear particularly smug.