Simultaneous travel: I am proving the great way in the heavens.

Chapter 588 The Two Western Saints Are Quite Unreasonable! They Know Nothing of Their Past Lives or Their Future Lives!

Before the outbreak of the Investiture of the Gods calamity.

Whether it was the Lich War, the Dragon-Han War, or the Dao-Demon War, the participants were almost always evenly matched.

The same applies to the Lich-Demon Calamity, which features the Witch Clan and the Demon Clan as the main characters, and the Dragon-Han Calamity, which features the Dragon, Phoenix, and Qilin Clans. Even in the Dao-Demon Calamity, the Dao Ancestor Hongjun and the Demon Ancestor Luohou did not actually have a truly overwhelming advantage in strength.

To some extent, the fact that Dao Ancestor Hongjun was able to defeat Demon Ancestor Luohou had a large element of luck.

Only during the Investiture of the Gods calamity did the Jie Sect truly possess an overwhelming advantage.

If it weren't for the sage personally intervening, the Jie Sect could have easily defeated the combined forces of other sects, the Chan Sect, and the Western Sect.

Even without being direct disciples, the Three Immortal Maidens of the Nine Turns Yellow River Formation alone could have used the formation and the Hunyuan Golden Cauldron to strip all twelve Golden Immortals of the Chan Sect of their three flowers on their heads and disperse their five qi in their chests, directly knocking them down from the dignified Golden Immortals to the mortal world.

This clearly demonstrates the vast difference in strength between the Jie Sect and the other three sects.

Having witnessed a truly overwhelming dimensional reduction attack, the Arhat with the Curly Head, the Yellow-Toothed White Elephant, and the Golden-Haired Roar naturally wouldn't take the less than 50,000 monsters of Lion Camel Ridge seriously.

Even if it weren't for the need for these less than 50,000 little monsters to set up a weakened version of the Ten Thousand Immortals Formation.

At best, in their eyes, these monsters were nothing more than lackeys that could be easily dealt with.

Compared to these lackeys, it is of course more important to break free from constraints and achieve enlightenment.

Furthermore, the Arhat with the bushy head and his companions never even considered the enormous trouble that dispersing the guards from the prison would bring to Lion Camel Ridge.

The black bear spirit and the sixth prince, who had escaped from the prison, realized that they had not encountered a single monster along the way.

They were only slightly surprised, and then they couldn't wait to escape from Lion Camel Ridge.

Unfortunately, the Arhat with the bushy head and the others only released the demons from the prison to release the westward journey team, but the other demons remained at their posts.

As expected, when the Black Bear Spirit and the Sixth Prince rushed out, they ran into these monsters.

After only a brief exchange, the Black Bear Spirit and the Sixth Prince discovered that although they were still demons from Lion Camel Ridge, these demons seemed to have been weakened countless times, and no longer showed any signs of being as difficult to deal with as before.

Even when the Sixth Prince was alone, he could easily handle the siege of dozens of monsters with his Eagle Claw Hammer and even manage to kill them.

After killing several monsters in succession, just as the Sixth Prince was getting carried away and feeling a great sense of vengeance, he was filled with joy.

The black bear spirit warned, "My benefactor, we should leave quickly to avoid alerting the demon king and being captured again."

One sentence instantly awakened the sixth prince.

The reason why the Sixth Prince was so enraged was entirely because he saw a scene that resembled hell on earth when he entered the Lion Camel Kingdom.

That horrific scene—skulls piled high like mountains, bones forming forests, human hair matted into felt, and flesh rotting into dust—was all the work of the people of the former Lion Camel Kingdom, ravaged by these monsters.

Even so, the sixth prince knew that now was not the right time to seek revenge.

After all, the demon king of Lion Camel Ridge was truly terrifying in his methods.

It's already a stroke of luck that we managed to escape.

At this moment, you must not be controlled by hatred, otherwise, if you are captured by the Demon King again, it will be too late to regret it.

Once he came to his senses, the sixth prince hurriedly called his servants, and the group rushed out of Lion Camel Ridge.

After finally reaching a safe place, the Black Bear Spirit looked back at Lion Camel Ridge with some confusion and said, "Strange, why did that wretched creature remain unmoved and watch us escape?"

After a slight pause, the Black Bear Spirit quickly stopped thinking about these things. After all, his previous capture had already proven that he was no match for the Lion Camel Ridge Demon King. What he should do now was to call for reinforcements and find someone who could deal with the Demon King.

After some negotiations with the sixth prince and others.

After learning that the Sixth Prince and his companions had previously been disciples of the Middle Vehicle Buddha, at the Ruzhen Zen Temple.

Even the black bear spirit couldn't help but have some different thoughts.

He genuinely wanted to return to the Purple Bamboo Forest to apologize to Guanyin Bodhisattva and explain the situation, since the monsters of Lion Camel Ridge were too troublesome for him to handle.

Compared to escalating the situation to an uncontrollable level, the Black Bear Spirit believed it would be wiser to turn himself in to Guanyin Bodhisattva.

Now that he knows that the people who saved him are actually disciples of the Buddha Ruzhen, belonging to the Middle Vehicle of Buddhism, the Black Bear Spirit has other ideas again.

Confessing to Guanyin Bodhisattva was merely a last resort.

If given other options, the Black Bear Spirit certainly wouldn't want to leave Guanyin Bodhisattva with the impression of being incompetent.

Having made a decision in an instant, the black bear spirit said, "So you are a disciple of the Buddha Ruzhen. Although I am a mountain-guarding deity under the Bodhisattva Guanyin, I know that the Buddha Ruzhen has boundless power and great supernatural abilities. Since you intend to seek the help of the Buddha Ruzhen, then I would like to escort you on your journey."

The Black Bear Spirit never mentioned that his purpose was to repay the kindness of Guanyin Bodhisattva's escaped mount in the Purple Bamboo Forest of the South China Sea.

The sixth prince, however, had no doubts and, after a moment of silence, nodded directly.

In the Sixth Prince's opinion, the Black Bear Spirit was indeed a good helper. After all, he had witnessed the terrifying formation of the Lion Camel Ridge Demon King and his numerous monsters.

The Sixth Prince boasted that unless the true Buddha himself intervened, no one could subdue the monsters of Lion Camel Ridge.

On this point, the sixth prince was quite clear about his understanding.

It should be understood that unless the three Bodhisattvas who used the Lion Camel Ridge Demon King as their mount personally take action, the only one in the Three Realms who can subdue the three great demon kings of Lion Camel Ridge is the World Honored One Tathagata of the Western Paradise.

In this respect, Sun Wukong also relied on luring the Golden-Winged Roc to the Buddha's presence to successfully help Tang Sanzang and the others pass through the Lion Camel Ridge.

Although the Golden-Winged Roc died prematurely in Luofu's hands, the Golden-Haired Roar filled the gap, and with the help of the Ten Thousand Immortals Formation, the strength of Lion Camel Ridge increased rather than decreased.

Even the Buddha himself might not be able to easily subdue the three demon kings of Lion Camel Ridge.

In this situation, the best option is, of course, to seek help from a truly powerful figure.

The only place the sixth prince could seek help from was Ruzhen Temple, where he had studied for several years.

The group quickly finalized their plan, identified the direction, and headed straight for Ruzhen Temple.

This is Ruzhen Temple at this moment.

When the Arhat with the curled head brought the yellow-tusked white elephant and the golden-haired roar as well.

Luofu, however, did not show favoritism.

Both the yellow-tusked white elephant and the golden-haired roar were granted the Arhat status of the Middle Vehicle Dharma Lineage. The yellow-tusked white elephant became the Spiritual Tooth Arhat, while the golden-haired roar became the Golden Light Arhat.

The true lineage suddenly gained three more Arhats, especially since they were three of the seven immortals who served under the Tongtian Sect Master, the saint of the Jie Sect.

This undoubtedly greatly strengthened the power of the Middle Vehicle Dharma lineage.

Don't assume that just because the Arhat with the Curly Head, the Arhat with the Spiritual Tooth, and the Arhat with the Golden Light were merely the mounts of Manjushri Bodhisattva, Samantabhadra Bodhisattva, and Avalokiteshvara Bodhisattva before joining the Ruzhen lineage, they are truly insignificant figures.

On the contrary, during the Investiture of the Gods, the three Arhats were only defeated by the Chan Sect because it took the personal intervention of a sage.

Manjushri, the Heavenly Venerable of Vast Dharma, only managed to capture Qiu Shou Xian by directly wielding the Pangu Banner of the Primordial Heavenly Venerable.

Puxian Zhenren was able to defeat Lingya Xian only after obtaining the Taiji Talisman, a supreme treasure of Yuanshi Tianzun, and with the help of the Rainbow Rope.

Cihang Daoren, who captured Jin Guangxian, received the Three Treasures Jade Ruyi from Yuanshi Tianzun.

It can be said that the three Arhats who joined Luofu at this moment were not defeated by their former nominal masters and thus became their mounts during the Investiture of the Gods. Instead, they were taken down by the Primordial Heavenly Lord who bullied the weak.

In this situation, it was inevitable that the three Arhats would become unruly after being turned into mounts.

Who told those so-called three great bodhisattvas that they didn't actually defeat their opponents through their own abilities during the Investiture of the Gods?
It was only by relying on the sage's magical treasures, and even supreme treasures such as the Pangu Banner, the Three Treasures Jade Ruyi, and the Taiji Talisman, that they were narrowly defeated by their opponent.

How could the three Arhats possibly accept this?

In particular, among the three Bodhisattvas, Qiu Shou Xian, Jin Guang Xian, and Ling Ya Xian were reduced to beast-like mounts and were frequently denounced as wicked creatures.

It should be noted that before the Investiture of the Gods was settled, and even during the Investiture of the Gods, when the Seven Immortals and the Twelve Golden Immortals of the Chan Sect met, they would only address each other as fellow disciples.

From fellow disciples to being reduced to the other's mount, such a disparity was only achieved because the other relied on a saintly treasure to defeat them. If it weren't for those various restrictions, the three Arhats would have plotted to perish together with the three Bodhisattvas countless times before.

In other words, the order of the Three Realms is very strict, and even death may not bring peace. This is why the three Arhats have persisted until now.

Now that the three Arhats have finally turned their lives around, they are not in a hurry to seek revenge.

After all, the three Arhats did not simply seek enlightenment when they first joined the Luofu Sect. What truly made them make this decision was the saint who had long since secluded himself from the world.

Unfortunately, neither the three Arhats nor Luofu know what the Sage is planning.

By bestowing titles upon several of his disciples as the progenitors of the Middle Vehicle of Buddhism and the true Buddhas of the Pratyekabuddha Vehicle, Luofu did not need the permission of the World-Honored One Tathagata of the Western Paradise.

He had never even communicated with any fellow Buddhists.

Although Luofu is only a newly ascended intermediate-level Buddha, his status in Buddhism is quite special.

Its status is in no way inferior to that of the Three Buddhas of the Horizontal and Three Buddhas of the Vertical.

Why is it that Luofu Temple is unique among the three vehicles of Buddhism?
Before the current Buddha, Tathagata, abdicates and the future Buddha, Donglai Buddha, becomes the World Honored One, Luofu, to some extent, is equivalent to the second-in-command of the entire Buddhist community.

Only the Buddha, who combined the teachings of Theravada and Mahayana Buddhism, could firmly surpass Luofu.

Of course, a high status does not necessarily mean great power, and one's influence within Buddhism may not be that great.

The reason is simple: the definition of Pratyekabuddha Vehicle is too strict, and it cannot even be classified as a lineage.

Even if there is a lineage, it is still within the scope of Theravada and Mahayana Buddhism.

Theravada and Mahayana Buddhism are essentially the same, only differing in the level of attainment. Mahayana Buddhism, however, is an anomaly in the three realms, and even within the Buddhist and Taoist systems, it is not so clear.

It can be said that the Pratyekabuddha Vehicle and the wandering immortals of the Three Islands and Ten Continents exist in an ambiguous area between Buddhism and Taoism.

Which proper Buddhist disciple would want to become a Pratyekabuddha?

After arranging their respective practice sites at Ruzhen Temple for the three newly enthroned Arhats in Luofu.

Within ten days, the sixth prince, who had previously gone to Lion Camel Ridge, arrived at the door with his entourage and the Black Bear Spirit.

Luo Fu had no interest in the Sixth Prince. After taking in the three demon kings of Lion Camel Ridge, how should he deal with the trouble caused by this survivor of Lion Camel Kingdom?

Buddhism, starting with the two Western saints, has been quite unreasonable.

Despite the Buddhist community's outward use of the concept of cause and effect, its internal definition of cause and effect is actually quite domineering.

Back then, Daoist Zhunti was destined to be with the West. Whether it was magical treasures or the cultivators themselves, everything was taken to the West.

The three demon kings have indeed caused great harm to the Lion Camel Kingdom, and now the Lion Camel Kingdom has been reduced to a complete demon kingdom, Lion Camel Ridge.

However, Luo Fu did not harbor much hatred or resentment towards evil in this regard.

Although he was born of the human race, he was born with a powerful lineage of the witch race, making him a descendant of both human and witch races.

He is, after all, the Buddha. How could Luofu possibly lose sight of the bigger picture for the sake of trivial matters? One's position truly determines one's perspective.

Even if one day the sixth prince of Lion Camel Kingdom discovers that the three Arhats are actually the demon kings who have brought disaster to Lion Camel Kingdom, to Luo Fu, it will simply be a matter of fate.

At most, it's not enough to just lament that the Lion Camel Kingdom was destined for this calamity.

As for those humans who became food for monsters, they were not taken seriously by the powerful beings.

Luo Fu used to care, but now he has become increasingly detached from human nature and is less able to empathize with others.

Putting everything else aside, Luo Fu's cultivation level has reached the level of a Great Luo Golden Immortal. His perspective on the masses is completely different from that of ordinary mortals; it's like two completely different worlds.

The masses are merely mortal beings with flesh and blood, seeing only what is in front and not what is behind, only what is light and not what is dark.

Luo Fu, who has become a Great Golden Immortal, can see through the entanglements of cause and effect in a mortal's past and present lives in a single thought.

This is why there is a saying that ordinary people fear the consequences, while bodhisattvas fear the causes.

Ordinary people only feel anxious or fearful when the result arrives, but the wisdom of a Bodhisattva can see the cause and effect from the very first moment. It's like when a person faces a fork in the road. An ordinary person can only guess because they can't see the outcome of the fork. But a Bodhisattva knows whether the end of the fork is a dead end or a different world.

It was not that Luofu became the true Buddha and then exonerated Buddhism.

In fact, Luo Fu already clearly understood that the reason why the Lion Camel Kingdom had such a calamity was entirely due to the cause and effect of past and present lives.

The monsters of Lion Camel Ridge are indeed cruel, and the people of Lion Camel Kingdom are indeed innocent, but cruelty and innocence are only for this lifetime.

Unaware of their past lives and future lives, and only able to see what is before them, they would naturally feel deep hatred for the monsters of the Lion Camel Kingdom.

Just like in Luofu's previous life, how many of the countless infuriating messages on the internet are taken out of context?
(End of this chapter)