Summoning the Peak of the Three Kingdoms

Chapter 2969 Luohou VS Hongjun (Part )

Chapter 2966: Luohou VS Hongjun (Part )

Emperor Guangwu wanted to use Confucianism and Taoism to deal with Buddhism, but they had just experienced a great chaos and suffered heavy losses, so they also wanted to use the Han Dynasty to consume Buddhism.

The Han Dynasty at this time could not withstand the turmoil, and Emperor Guangwu did not want to confront the old monster Luohou. If Luohou attacked him, the Confucianism and Taoism might not be able to protect him. So he relied on the prestige of the founding emperor to withstand the pressure from all sides.

No matter how hard his ministers tried to persuade him, or how the various forces exerted pressure on him, Emperor Guangwu refused to take action against Buddhism, and he even respected Buddhism more and more.

Emperor Guangwu thought that given the extent of his indulgence in Buddhism, he would definitely see a fight between Buddhism and Taoism during his lifetime, thus completely resolving the hidden danger of Buddhism. However, he did not expect that he would not be able to see the war between the two sects until his death.

Before his death, Emperor Guangwu held his son Emperor Xiaoming Liu Zhuang's hand and earnestly exhorted him, "My son, remember this. After your father's death, countless people will persuade you to suppress Buddhism, or even destroy it. But you must withstand the pressure and stick to the national policy of worshipping Buddhism. Only in this way can you kill with a borrowed knife and completely solve the great problem of Buddhism. Do you understand?"

"My son understands."

Liu Zhuang not only followed his father's last teachings and continued to adhere to the strategy of worshipping Buddhism, but also built Daxingshan Temple, Shaolin Temple, Jinshan Temple, Lingyin Temple, Famen Temple, Guoqing Temple, Qixia Temple, etc.

Most of the famous Buddhist temples that survived to the Ying Hao period were built during the Liu Zhuang period.

During the twenty years of Emperor Ming of Han's reign, he adhered to Emperor Guangwu's strategy of worshipping Buddhism. He thought that Buddhism and Taoism would go to war during his reign. After all, after two generations of Han emperors, Confucianism and Taoism had long since recovered. However, he did not expect that Confucianism and Taoism still chose to forbear, and Buddhism and Taoism did not go to war until the day he died.

Emperor Ming of Han did not understand why the Confucianism and Taoism had to continue to be tolerated and Buddhism was allowed to grow stronger when the Confucianism and Taoism had clearly recovered. But he was powerless to do anything as things had come to this point. He could only repeat what Emperor Guangwu had said to his son, Emperor Zhang of Han, Liu Zhuang, before he died.

Emperor Zhang of Han was the fifth son of Emperor Ming of Han. Although he reigned for only thirteen years, he relaxed criminal laws, abolished harsh laws, worked diligently and loved the people, accepted advice with an open mind, and reduced taxes and levies. He became a benevolent monarch whose name will be remembered through the ages. He is also known as the "elder among emperors" and his reign is collectively known as the "Ming Zhang Reign" together with the reign of Emperor Ming.

Liu Zhuang abolished more than 50 harsh laws of Liu Zhuang's period, but he did not dare to change the national policy of worshipping Buddhism.

The dying words of Emperor Guangwu and Emperor Ming of Han made Emperor Zhang of Han realize that if the Han Dynasty wanted to prosper for a long time, it could only take advantage of the situation and use Taoism to deal with Buddhism, thus solving the two major hidden dangers of Buddhism and Taoism in one fell swoop. So he also insisted that he would not let the Han Dynasty suppress Buddhism before the war between the two sides.

While Emperor Zhang of Han insisted on worshipping Buddhism, he was also investigating why the Confucian and Taoist schools, which had recovered their vitality, continued to allow Buddhism to flourish. The results of his investigation shocked him.

The reason is actually very simple. Luohou actually took a step ahead of Hongjun and broke through to the peak of the Semi-Profound Realm. No one in the Confucianism and Taoism could deal with him, so they could only continue to endure and accumulate strength, waiting for Hongjun to break through to the peak of the Semi-Profound Realm.

In the second year of Zhanghe (88 AD), the -year-old Emperor Zhang of Han, Liu Zhuang, died young. Like his father and grandfather, he never saw the war between Buddhism and Taoism until his death. However, the conflict between the two sides was already irreconcilable, and all that was missing was a fuse.

Emperor Zhang of Han was also a wise ruler. If he had to be accused of making a mistake, it was that he died too early and his successors were not yet adults, so he was succeeded by Liu Zhao, who was only nine years old.

In addition, Emperor Zhang favored Empress Zhangde Dou during his lifetime and relaxed his guard against his foreign relatives, which led to the Dou family's monopoly of power after his death.

In the fifth year of Yongyuan (93 AD) during the reign of Emperor He of the Han Dynasty, the Confucianists and Taoists, who had tolerated for more than fifty years, could no longer tolerate it.

The reason why Confucianism and Taoism could be so tolerant was, firstly, they wanted to wait for the Han Dynasty to come to power and use that power to weaken Buddhism, and secondly, they wanted to wait for Hongjun to break through to the peak of semi-profound realm.

The first point is no longer possible. Even if Confucianism and Taoism want to borrow strength, they need a Han Dynasty with internal unity and strict discipline. But at this time, the Han Dynasty was in a state of uncertainty, with foreign relatives in power and constant internal strife.

It was obviously impossible for the Han court to unite against foreign enemies before completely resolving its internal political enemies.

But God knows how long this infighting will last?
As for the second point, Hongjun successfully broke through to the peak of Banxuan, but the bad news is that Luohou also broke through, and it was an unprecedented new realm.

Luohou named this new realm Half-Profound Great Perfection, meaning that there is no longer any space to advance below the Profound Realm. He also became the first and only cultivator in this world to reach Half-Profound Great Perfection after the changes in heaven and earth.

Luohou's realm once again surpassed Hongjun, which made people from both Confucianism and Taoism extremely uneasy, but what was even more horrifying was that Buddhism had also grown into a behemoth.

At this time, Buddhism not only had Luohou, a half-profound great perfection, but the youngest of his four disciples, Kui-Gon, had already broken through to the level of grandmaster. The other grandmasters were so numerous that they could not be counted with one palm.

Judging from the data on paper alone, the fighting power of Buddhism has surpassed Confucianism and is slightly stronger than Taoism. Moreover, Buddhism also has the remnants of the defeated Hundred Schools of Thought as allies.

If this is allowed to continue to grow, it would not be stupidity but chronic suicide.

Therefore, even though they knew that once a war broke out, both sides would suffer losses, thus allowing the various schools of thought to benefit, the Confucianists and Taoists still decided to go to war with Buddhism.

After all, the Hundred Schools are local sects, while Buddhism is foreign.

It is better to benefit our own people than to benefit outsiders.

But what no one expected was that on the eve of the Confucianism and Taoism deciding to go to war, Luohou took the initiative to propose that as long as Hongjun handed over the Qinglian Chapter of the "Creation Qinglian Sutra", he could move all the Buddhist forces to the south of the Yangtze River and restrict the Buddhist disciples from crossing the Yangtze River.

Luohou's proposal was quite sincere, which was equivalent to completely giving up the area north of the Yangtze River and restricting the entire Buddhist community to the south of the Yangtze River. At that time, the south of the Yangtze River was still a barren land. Luohou made such a big concession because he had no choice.

Although Luohou had obtained four of the five volumes of "The Green Lotus Sutra of Creation" at this time, and with these four volumes as the core, combined with his own learning of more than a hundred years, he created the "Luohou Sutra" that best suited him, and his own cultivation had even broken through to the semi-profound great perfection.

How strong was Luohu's fighting power during this period?
Let’s put it this way, Luohu is already so strong that even burning his internal energy won’t increase his strength in the slightest.

You should know that the essence of burning internal energy is to exchange your lifespan for a short-term improvement. Theoretically, no matter which stage you are in, as long as you burn your internal energy, you will definitely get an improvement.

But this world has undergone a mutation. After the world was downgraded, it restricted people so that they could not break through the Xuan realm through practice. Therefore, the Half-Xuan Great Perfection is the highest realm and combat power that the human body can reach that the world can bear.

Burning his internal energy could not bring any improvement, which meant that Luohou had reached the limit of this realm. This was actually not Luohou's limit, but the world no longer allowed him to become stronger.

The four volumes of "The Green Lotus Sutra of Creation" + the "Rahu Sutra" + the state of half-mysterious great perfection have made Rahu the most invincible fighter in the world. Even Hongjun, the number one man in the East, is no match for him.

But Luohou still has a very fatal problem, that is, he is almost 180 years old.

After a warrior's cultivation reaches the peak of Grandmaster, although not everyone can achieve it, the theoretical maximum lifespan is 150 years old, while those who have reached Half-Profound Great Perfection can reach 200 years old.

This is also the shackles that heaven and earth have placed on humans, and no matter how strong a person is, he cannot break it.

When Luohou was one hundred years old, he left India and came to the Central Plains. It took him more than seventy years to find all five volumes of scriptures. Now, he only has the last twenty years left to live, and his life is almost over.

Luohou is already 180 years old, but Hongjun is only 160 years old, years younger than Luohou. Moreover, Hongjun, who is at the peak of the semi-profound realm, still has room for improvement.

This is also the reason why Confucianism and Taoism can be so tolerant, because the longer it is delayed, the better it is for them, and it would be best if it could be delayed until Luohou's lifespan runs out.

In other words, there is not much time left for Luohou to plan the Qinglian Chapter, only the last ten years at most.

If Luohou cannot obtain the Qinglian Chapter from Hongjun before he is 190 years old, he will not be able to maintain his peak in the next ten years. His energy and blood will only become weaker and weaker until he dies of old age, and it will naturally be even more impossible for him to succeed.

After Luohou created the "Luohou Sutra" and broke through the half-profound perfection, his cultivation and combat power surpassed Hongjun, who was at the peak of the half-profound realm.

According to common sense, Luohou didn't need to show weakness and could just rely on force to seize the scriptures, but Luohou was also afraid of forcing Hongjun into a corner.

Luohou has reached the extreme combat power below the Xuan realm. Even burning his internal energy cannot bring the slightest increase, let alone other amplifying secret techniques. But Hongjun has not reached this stage yet. He can burn his internal energy.

Although Hongjun has not reached the semi-profound perfection, he is only half a step away. If he is really forced to burn his internal energy, with his 160 years of accumulation, he will surely be able to burst out the ultimate combat power below the Xuan realm.

Theoretically speaking, Hongjun, who is in the state of burning internal energy, is actually at the same stage as Luohou, so Luohou is naturally afraid that if he really pushes the other party into a corner, Hongjun will burn his internal energy and die with him.

In addition, Luohou also suspected that the Qinglian chapter, as the general outline, might have a restraining relationship with the other four chapters.

When Luohou was practicing the gold, white, black and red scriptures, he discovered that these four scriptures were both complementary and mutually restraining. Therefore, it was natural that the Qinglian chapter, as the most important general outline, would form a restraining relationship with the other four chapters.

It was precisely based on these two considerations that Luohou decided to make concessions and wanted to use negotiation to force Hongjun to hand over the Qinglian Chapter. After all, his goal was only the Qinglian Chapter, and there was no need to fight with Hongjun to the point of mutual destruction.

Regarding Luohou's proposal, many senior officials of both Confucianism and Taoism felt that it was a good deal to agree to it, as they only had to pay for an incomplete set of skills in order to make Buddhism retreat to the barren Jiangnan. However, they were firmly opposed by Hongjun, the leader of Taoism.

It’s not that Hongjun was reluctant to give up the Qinglian Chapter, but he was too aware of the importance of the Qinglian Chapter as the general outline.

After practicing the Qinglian Chapter of the "Qinghua Qinglian Sutra", Hongjun used it as the main method and combined it with what he had learned to create his own unique method "Creation Sutra". However, he was still a little worse than Luohou, who had collected all four volumes of the sutras, not to mention that Luohou had practiced for twenty years longer than him.

Hongjun’s cultivation and combat power are not as good as Luohou’s now. His only advantage is that the Qinglian chapter can slightly restrain the other four chapters.

In addition, Luohou has already obtained the other four chapters. If he were to obtain the Green Lotus Chapter and collect the entire "Green Lotus Sutra of Creation", Hongjun suspected that even if he broke through to the semi-profound perfection, he would not be his opponent. At that time, no one in the entire Han Dynasty would be able to curb Luohou's ambition.

At this time, Hongjun actually regretted it, because it was because he refused Luohou's request to exchange the scriptures that Luohou secretly planned for more than seventy years for the scriptures in his hands.

During this period, even the Western Han Dynasty was destroyed, and tens of millions of common people died as a result. This naturally made Hongjun feel extremely tormented.

Later, Luo Hou even outlasted three generations of Han emperors...

Hongjun sometimes reflects on whether, if he had exchanged with Luohou and given Luohou the Qinglian Chapter, he would have focused on practicing hard and would not have messed up the Han Dynasty.

Unfortunately, there are not so many ifs. Now that things have happened, there is no turning back.