Conferred God: Got cramped at the beginning

Chapter 1051 The Buddhist Sect Tears Off Its Face, Flooding the White Horse

"What a big battle."

As countless rays of Buddha's light swept across the sky and headed towards the Huai River, the Great Sage Equaling Heaven, who was protecting Xuanzang, couldn't help but scratch his cheek.

This scene was so grand that it wouldn't be an exaggeration to say that the entire Buddhist community had mobilized.

From the time of Ji Zhou, when Ao Bing and the human king embarked on their westward expedition, the Buddhist religion quietly spread to the human world. After the sage passed away, the Buddhist religion transformed into Buddhism, which in turn quietly left its seeds in the human world.

For countless millennia, Buddhism has been quietly accumulating its power.

In the face of all kinds of changes and dangers in the world, the word "patience" is paramount.

Especially the Buddhas, who were very secretive about their power in the human world.

Under such circumstances, even the Buddhist community itself is unaware of how much power they have been lurking in the human world.

At this point, guided by the decree of the ancient Buddha Dipankara, the Buddhas of the Great Thunderclap Temple also issued their own decrees, activating the forces that had been dormant in the human world.

Thus, all the dormant power was revealed, and when it gathered together, it was no match for anyone else.

Even the Buddhist community itself was deeply moved by it.

Inside the Great Thunder Temple, Shakyamuni, seated high on a lotus throne, had his eyebrows trembling violently.

Is Buddhism flourishing?

To put it bluntly, the power that Buddhist temples are currently wielding in the human world absolutely deserves the title of "Buddhism is flourishing"!

That's a power capable of overthrowing a human dynasty!
Even if the current emperor, the next emperor, and the emperor after that emperor dislike Buddhism, they will have to obediently accept the existence of Buddhism under such power!
—Unless, they want to repeat the 'Yellow Heaven Change' that belongs to Buddhism.

The problem is... Buddhism has accumulated such enormous power in the human world, yet this Buddha, the current Buddha, knows nothing about it.
How outrageous!
In contrast to the shock in Shakyamuni's heart, the Buddhas in the Great Thunderclap Temple, after exchanging glances and expressing astonishment and surprise at the hidden power in each other, were overwhelmed with immense joy.

In that instant, the power that Buddhism had gathered in the human world was enough to obliterate any trace of any other religious tradition left behind!
Even the dragon race, which has an incredibly close connection with the human race, appears exceptionally insignificant in the face of the power that Buddhism manifests in the human world at this moment.

When the number of temples in those places was fully revealed, it was several times greater than the number of water veins and water eyes controlled by the dragons in the human world.

"It's over, it's over." Inside the Great Thunderclap Temple, the Buddhas couldn't help but laugh.

With such immense power, it would be more than enough to not only convert Lord Huai and restore his control over the Huai River, but also to drive Lord Huai and the Dragon Court away from the Huai River and then monopolize it.

"What a pity, what a pity." After their initial joy, the Buddhas couldn't help but feel regret.

If they had known their power in the human world was so immense, they would have been more restrained when issuing decrees.

Otherwise, given the current situation, wouldn't the Huai River Dragon Court have to retreat at the mere sight of the enemy?
"Or, why not take this opportunity to cleanse all the water veins in the human world and transform all the wild and true dragons in the human world into protectors of our Buddhist sect?"

"In this way, our Buddhist sect controls the water source, the water veins, and the dragon clan to control the wind and rain. Everything in the human world will then be under the control of our Buddhist sect."

A voice came from the Buddha.

Such immense power is enough for them to abandon the Human Emperor and act independently—with such power, they can easily sway the disputes over the legitimacy of the human dynasties.

The Crown Prince, the disputes between the feudal lords... the Buddhist sect only needs to raise a hand to directly determine the outcome of those disputes.

"Is this the essence of Buddhism in the human world?" In the Dragon Court of the Huai River, Princess Longji looked at the Buddha's light reflected in the waves and her mind was shaken.

Such a powerful force...

Although at this time, they have not yet clashed or started a war.

But that enormous number already brought immense pressure to people.

Among the dragons, those who did not go to the outer battlefields but remained in the world, those who stayed in the human realm, included many brave and skilled warriors.

Even the bravest warriors couldn't help but feel uneasy when they saw the overwhelming power emanating from Buddhism.

Those young dragon princes, who rarely fought and were pampered, were even more apprehensive at the sight of this scene, not knowing what to do.

In just a moment, a dragon god rushed into the Dragon Court and cried out.

This is the Clear Pool Dragon Prince—the water vein guarded by his father. It is a clear pool in the mountains. Although it is just a pool of water, the location of this pool is the source of the water vein in the mountains.

As for Buddhism—with its sheer number and overwhelming power, even the Buddhas in the Great Thunderclap Temple couldn't help but be swayed and unable to control themselves.

Let alone those Buddhist disciples themselves?
While the Buddhas in the Great Thunderclap Temple were still deciding whether to take advantage of the situation to attack the water veins controlled by the dragons, the Buddhist disciples gathered in the human world had already made their own choice and brazenly attacked the dragon gods in the human world.

Beneath the water veins, they did not directly attack or kill the dragon gods.

It's just about 'converting' them... well, just!
Those who are difficult to convert are temporarily confined.

Within the Qingchi Dragon Palace, all the aquatic creatures, large and small, along with his wife and children, had been converted by Buddhism. Only the Qingchi Dragon Prince, after being struck by the Qingchi Dragon King before his conversion, escaped through the waterways and then came directly to the Dragon Court to lodge a complaint.

After the arrival of this Qingchi Dragon Prince, more and more dragon princes, dragon kings, dragon princesses, dragon grandmothers, and so on, moved along different water veins and used different waterways to come to this Dragon Court to cry out.

"What a bunch of thieving monks!" Princess Longji said fiercely.

She is the Star Lord who governs the marriage of lovers—within the Mirror of the Red Phoenix, countless loves and hates of all living beings are reflected, and countless predestined lovers appear before Princess Longji's eyes...

At first, Princess Longji was affected by those loves and hates.

But as time went by, and as she witnessed more and more love, hate, and grudges, Princess Longji's mind became increasingly calm.

Now, very few things in the world can disturb her mind—it is a true sense of calm and tranquility that comes from having seen it all.

However, at this moment, the sudden movement of the Buddhist sect caused even Princess Longji, who was as calm as she was, to feel a strange hatred and anger towards the Buddhist disciples.

Almost instinctively, she wanted to grab her red embroidered ball and throw it at those thieving monks from the Buddhist sect, hoping the ball would unleash the power of fate and cause those self-proclaimed virtuous Buddhist disciples to be corrupted by love and break their vows in front of everyone, making Buddhism lose face. However, as soon as she picked up the red embroidered ball, Princess Longji was startled.

—The red embroidered ball is a priceless treasure!
It is no ordinary treasure, but a supreme treasure bestowed by the Goddess Nuwa when the position of the Red Phoenix Star Lord was established.

Princess Longji used this red embroidered ball to suppress the power of the Red Phoenix, the power that originated from fate.

After the Old Man of the Moon (Yue Lao) attempted to touch fate through the red thread and violated the heavenly rules, he was beheaded on the Execution Platform. Thus, the Old Man of the Moon's authority also passed to Hong Luan.

At that time, countless immortals and gods in the world were terrified of the power of the Red Phoenix because of the Old Man of the Moon, and kept their distance from him.

Even more extreme, some have directly stated that the power of the Red Phoenix should not be controlled by anyone.

After that, Princess Longji swore an oath before countless gods and immortals, saying that although she was in charge of the Red Phoenix, she would never use the power of the Red Phoenix to scheme against others, nor would she try to control the power of fate.

After the oath was taken, the Goddess Nuwa bestowed this red embroidered ball as a witness to Princess Longji's oath, and also to suppress the influence from the Red Phoenix and from the realm of fate on Princess Longji's behalf.

Therefore, Princess Longji's oath was not only made before all the immortals and gods, but also witnessed by the goddess Nuwa.

It was only with the witness and guarantee of the Goddess Nuwa that the many immortals and gods put aside their suspicions, doubts, and fears of Princess Longji—all those feelings ultimately transformed into reverence for her.

In this situation, if Princess Longji had thrown out that red embroidered ball earlier, using the power of the Red Phoenix to influence those Buddhist disciples...

The backlash from that vow was enough to cause her to perish in an instant!

"That was close!" Princess Longji exclaimed, looking at the red embroidered ball in front of her.

"Is this the influence of the power of fate...?"

"Even with the supreme treasure bestowed by the sage as a means of suppression, the mere thought can have such an effect that it can completely rewrite a person's character?"

"Your Majesty, what should we do now?" The dragon gods gathered in the Dragon Court listened to the growing wailing, and each of them was filled with anger and murderous intent.

Because it is situated among humans, and because it does not wish to cause trouble for the Great Dragon God Chengtian Bingyi.

These dragon gods who control the waterways in various places, regardless of their strength, are all exceptionally low-key in their actions, for fear of causing some kind of conflict that would gradually escalate and eventually implicate the Great Dragon God of Heaven and Righteousness.

During the many years that Ao Bing was in seclusion, the dragon gods of the mortal realm have mostly focused their attention on the Huai Alliance—the number of times that immortals and gods outside the Huai Alliance have clashed with the dragon race can be counted on one hand.

Now, these dragon gods have discovered that their years of keeping a low profile have been mistaken by Buddhism as cowardice.

The turmoil on the Huai River had only just begun when the Buddhist sect launched an attack on the dragon clan in an extremely humiliating manner.

"If they want to kill, then kill them!" Princess Longji flicked the red embroidered ball in her hand, then tossed it back onto the Red Phoenix Star.

Then, Princess Longji took out her sword and held it horizontally in front of her.

The moment the sword was drawn, a chilling killing intent spread from the Huai River, sweeping across the land.

"Buddhism has two major ancestral temples in the human world."

"The first is Baima Temple."

"The first is Fahua Temple."

"Among them, the White Horse Temple is located on the side of the Yi River."

"Issue my decree: Flood the White Horse Temple!"

Princess Longji's voice was unusually cold.

For countless years, this has been the reason why the dragon race has been feared.

Water and fire are merciless – water and fire are the most basic forces of attack and destruction in the universe.

The power of water has always been influenced by the great cycle of water and air in the universe.

Although the immortals and gods between heaven and earth can all stir up waves, they can easily injure mortals when they do so, and easily disrupt the great cycle of water and air in heaven and earth, thus violating the heavenly rules and dying on the execution platform.

But the dragons—their ability to control rivers and lakes is an innate power!
Although the power stirred up by the dragons would affect the great cycle of water vapor in the world, it would still remain within that great cycle.

For the dragon race, even if a river changes its course, as long as no one is intentionally killed during the process, it is not considered a violation of the heavenly rules.

After all, for dragons, the power to move water is their instinct—in fact, it's not even that they are the ones moving the water, but rather that the power of the water is responding to their existence!
That is why the many dragon gods, especially those who have achieved the Taiyi realm, do not usually try to harmonize with the water veins, but rather suppress their own aura and the water veins' response to them, in order to maintain the tranquility of rivers and lakes.

Even during their battles, the many dragon gods would devote a portion of their energy to stabilizing the surrounding water veins and vapors.

But now...

The dragon gods could no longer endure such unprecedented humiliation!

The humiliation of being converted in front of everyone can only be repaid with an equal humiliation!

With Princess Longji's decree, in an instant, the sound of dragons roaring resounded.

One after another, dragon gods manifested their true forms and emerged from the Huai River, baring their fangs and claws, swallowing clouds and spitting mist, heading openly and legitimately towards the Yi River.

As the many dragon gods moved forward, wind and rain gathered around them, accompanying them as they headed towards the Yi River.

Meanwhile, in the Yi River—the Dragon King of the Yi River, having received the decree, glanced at the Buddhist disciples on either side of the river and, without hesitation, leaped up.

In an instant, a mighty storm enveloped the White Horse Temple.

Within the White Horse Temple, there was also a Buddha's light rising—but this wind and rain was a natural change of heaven and earth, not some evil or unclean force. So what role did the Buddha's light play before the wind and rain?

(End of this chapter)