As a Zen Buddha, Da Xing the Mad Monk understood better than anyone that the simultaneous appearance of the Wrath Incarnation of Great Sun Tathagata and the Great Sun Demon-Subduing Seal meant this world had already become a Great Sun World—a world of deliverance.
Once a demonic being enters, deliverance does not cease until it perishes.
Da Xing the Mad Monk also realized that Western Heaven had never intended to let Gu Qingfeng leave this place alive.
He simply couldn't understand why.
Western Heaven had clearly agreed to let him come first to persuade. If persuasion failed, then they would proceed with suppression and sealing.
But that was only suppression and sealing. They had never spoken of delivering him!
Because Gu Qingfeng's existence was far too mysterious, bizarre, and exceptionally unique and powerful. Even with the Wrath Incarnation of Great Sun Tathagata and the Great Sun Demon-Subduing Seal merging into one, it was not guaranteed to deliver him with absolute certainty.
If the deliverance failed, it would inevitably enrage Gu Qingfeng.
What consequences that would trigger, no one knew.
Western Heaven was not unaware of this reasoning. Since they knew, why were they still preparing to deliver him?
Why!
Da Xing the Mad Monk screamed inwardly. Perhaps this scene was too sudden, giving him no psychological preparation whatsoever. Or perhaps the consequences this scene could unleash were too terrifying—so terrifying he dared not imagine them—leaving Da Xing the Mad Monk collapsed on the ground, both at a loss and gripped by horrified dread.
Just then, the Demon-Subduing Seal hanging in the sky like a great sun suddenly underwent a change. Faintly, it seemed seven or eight figures, both illusory and solid, appeared out of thin air.
These figures were all enveloped in Buddha-light, hands pressed together in prayer, faces full of solemn dignity, clad in kasaya robes, appearing supremely sacred.
Seeing these figures, Da Xing the Mad Monk's heart jolted. He recognized them. They were precisely the Buddhas from the Eight Buddhist Sects of the Western Pure Land. The one leading them, clad in a white kasaya, held a golden scroll. When he spoke, it was with a vast, resonant Buddha-voice.
"Sinful being Gu Tianlang, you have repeatedly defied the heavens, violated the laws of the Great Dao of Heaven and Earth, disrupted the fortunes of the cosmic order. Your crimes are heinous. For the sake of the Great Dao's laws, for the cosmic order, and for all living beings under heaven, our Buddha shall deliver and rectify you today."
As the words fell, the seven or eight figures vanished. However, the Buddha-light filling the sky began to burn like raging flames, and the chanting of sutras grew increasingly vast. The Great Sun Demon-Subduing Seal in the sky truly transformed into a blazing great sun, its Buddha-light shining universally, enveloping everything. At the same time, the Wrath Incarnation of Great Sun Tathagata standing in the air seemed to come alive, also flickering with layers of Buddha-light.
"Stop! Stop at once!"
Da Xing the Mad Monk leaped up, charging directly into the Great Sun Demon-Subduing Seal, roaring, "Fa Zheng, you turtle spawn, you dog scum! Stop this now!"
"Insolence!" the leading white-robed Buddha shouted angrily. "Da Xing, you are but a mere Karma Buddha of the Zen Sect. What right do you have to command our actions!"
"Who authorized you to initiate the Great Sun Deliverance? Who!"
"See for yourself!"
The leading white-robed Buddha threw the golden scroll in his hand to Da Xing. As soon as Da Xing saw the scroll, he knew it was a Western Heaven Buddha Edict.
Since it was a Western Heaven Buddha Edict, it naturally could not be disobeyed or defied.
Suppressing the fury in his heart, Da Xing the Mad Monk said, "Back in Western Heaven, after the Eight Great Buddha Sects deliberated, it was decided I would come first to persuade. Only if persuasion failed would a decision be made. Why have you invoked the Great Sun Deliverance? Why!"
"Da Xing, we heard very clearly just now. That sinful being Gu Tianlang did not heed your advice. Since he refuses to recognize what's good for him and persists in his obstinate ways, our Buddha naturally must deliver him!"
"Didn't heed advice? Did you motherfuckers ever give him a chance?" Da Xing the Mad Monk shouted at the top of his lungs. "The moment he entered, the Demon-Subduing Seal of Great Sun Tathagata was already present! You never intended to let me persuade him from the start! You never intended to let him leave from the start! You motherfuckers were planning to imprison and deliver him here all along!!"
"Da Xing, you should understand. Gu Tianlang planted many evil seeds in the Ancient Era. Once he falls into the black hole, the consequences would be unimaginable."
"Even so, suppressing him would suffice. Why deliver him!"
"Gu Tianlang's sins are monstrous, his harm immense. If our Buddha does not deliver him, the Present Era will know no peace forever."
"Deliver him? Hahaha! If he were so easy to deliver, he'd have been delivered long ago! Would he still be alive today?"
"The past is the past. Now is now. In the Ancient Era, our Buddha Great Sun Tathagata was in slumber, and the Great Sun Demon-Subduing Seal was useless. The Present Era is different. Great Sun Tathagata has already awakened. Even if he has comprehended the Great Nirvana Silence, facing the deliverance of the Wrath Incarnation of Great Sun Tathagata will be futile. He will undoubtedly die!"
"Awakened, my ass! Great Sun Tathagata remains in slumber. It's only the Wrath Incarnation that has awakened."
"The awakening of the Wrath Incarnation of Great Sun Tathagata is already enough. It is more than sufficient to deliver this sinful being Gu Tianlang!"
"More than sufficient? Hahahaha!"
Da Xing the Mad Monk laughed in extreme anger, a laugh filled with utter helplessness and suffocating frustration. After laughing, he took a deep breath, as if calming the rage in his heart, and said, "Fa Zheng, I know your great Buddha Sects have always wanted to erase him. You've wanted to since the Ancient Era. It's just that you were hindered because Great Sun Tathagata had not awakened, so you could only endure."
"After the Calamity, the Primordial Essence of Heaven and Earth was reborn, and the various Great Daos were re-derived. Our Buddha is no exception. Although the true form of Great Sun Tathagata has not yet awakened, his Wrath Incarnation has. So, you prepared to suppress and deliver him here. You don't have absolute confidence, but you don't want to miss such a perfect opportunity either. I can understand that! I can appreciate it!"
Da Xing the Mad Monk took another deep breath and continued in as calm a tone as he could muster, "But... but have you considered... what if... what if by chance you fail to deliver him? What would be the consequences?"
"You're not unaware. Back when the Nine Heavens wanted to kill him, he nearly burned the Nine Heavens to ashes!"
"You're not unaware. Back when the Old Heavenly Dao wanted to kill him, he nearly cleaved the firmament in two!"
"Now you want to deliver him. What if you fail? What then? Who can tell me? What will he do? Who can?"
Fa Zheng and the other Buddhas from the Western Pure Land looked at each other, their expressions far from good, unsure how to respond.
"No one knows? Since no one knows, let me tell you what he will do!"
The previously calmer Da Xing the Mad Monk suddenly widened his eyes, grabbed Fa Zheng by the collar, and shouted, "He is a man who repays the slightest grievance tenfold! He is a man who fears neither heaven nor earth! He is a man whose slaughter unleashes a sea of blood that floods the heavens! You'd better pray you can deliver him today! If not, one day in the future, he will definitely slaughter his way up to Western Heaven and butcher every single one of you! Do you know what butchering means? It means death without reincarnation! Don't doubt it! He will absolutely do it!"
"When that time comes, no one will be able to save you! No one! Not even your Buddha Lords! Not even if Great Sun Tathagata awakens! You have no idea what terrifying existence he's carrying on his back! You have no idea!"