Bodhisattva, please help me in my spiritual practice!

Chapter 213 Win-Win

Ao Peng summoned the young Buddha down, his expression solemn, and asked, "Are you preparing to return from Nirvana?"

This was not unfounded; if Hariti was able to gradually return through Qitang's body, Shakyamuni would certainly have more ways to return than Hariti.

Upon hearing Ao Peng's question, the Little World Honored One did not speak, but simply smiled, picked up a peach petal, pointed to himself, and then pointed to Ao Peng.

Ao Peng pondered in silence for a moment, then laughed and said, "I am not Kasyapa."

The moment he answered, he understood the answer of the young Buddha. He was neither Kasyapa nor the Buddha. The Buddha was merely his physical form, a perfect form that he inherited from Shakyamuni.

Therefore, he is the World-Honored One, but the World-Honored One is not him!

He naturally had no need to worry that one day Shakyamuni would replace him.

Having figured this out, Ao Peng beckoned, summoning the Little World Honored One back into his own temple.

At this moment, he also sensed that the Taoist priests from Qingcheng Mountain outside the meditation room were getting impatient and were coming to visit together, so he opened the meditation room and went to the tea room in the side hall of the temple.

Although the strange phenomenon in mid-air dissipated at this moment, under the Buddha's universal blessing, the peaches and rice instantly transcended the seasons and ripened.

The sweet fragrance of peaches and rice, accompanied by the perfect spring sunshine, permeates the teahouse, making this place all the more tranquil and peaceful amidst the chaos of Sichuan.

However, it is currently only limited to the Taodushan area.

With the help of Ao Peng's painting skills, the two great gods Shen Tu and Yu Lei returned from Yin to Yang, transforming into two mountains to guard the Netherworld, create Peach Capital, and complete their original essence.

However, their injuries would not heal in a short time, so their range of movement was limited to the Taodu Mountain area. In addition, there were nearly 100,000 Ghost-Subduing Peaches here, so even if the six heavenly ghosts and gods attacked together, Ao Peng could withstand and defend against them.

However, if the six ghost gods remain inactive, Ao Peng will need more help if he wants to expand outwards from Taodu Mountain and subdue the remaining five ghost kings and eight ghost generals in the entire Shu region.

Fortunately, the Journey to the West world is full of magical powers and treasures. Although the six heavenly ghosts and gods have survived the three calamities, they are no match for truly top-tier spiritual treasures.

Just then, Ao Peng realized that an opportunity was right in front of him.

He looked at Zhang Daoling, who was tasting a peach.

Originally, the task of subduing the six heavenly spirits was Zhang Tianshi's. Now that he has intervened, although he has promoted this good cause and brought about more changes, he cannot completely replace Zhang Tianshi's task. Otherwise, what kind of impact this would have on the real world is something Ao Peng has no control over at the moment.

Moreover... Ao Peng stared at Zhang Daoling at this moment.

Zhang Daoling (an incarnation of Zhang Daoling from Journey to the West).

Although the Heavenly Vision of the Evil-Repelling Eyes couldn't help Ao Peng see more information, this information alone was already a great help to him.

In addition, what he learned from Tianlu Shenjun was that for true top-level gods and Buddhas, time is not a long river that never returns in the eyes of mortals, but rather a huge set of information in operation. He, as an "Old Earth Player" who travels through different timelines, is a bug that is generated in the operation of the world, adding more changes to this set of information.

Under normal circumstances, the changes he adds will not have a significant impact on the real world, that is, the historical process of the core universe.

Take the Journey to the West world as an example. No matter how it is changed, after returning to the real world, it is only changing a historical legend and adding or subtracting some folk customs. For example, it strengthens the original Taodu Mountain belief, strengthens the belief in Chongqing Ghost Gate, and incidentally adds a Martial Justice God who played a great role in subduing the six ghosts.

Therefore, it will not cause a major blunder that could crash the entire system.

However, if he were to replace the legend of Zhang Tianshi subduing the six ancient ghosts, it would directly affect the development of the Five Pecks of Rice sect in the real world and Taoism in later generations.

The causal variables involved are too great. If one is not careful, countless top-level gods and Buddhas who have not yet transcended will lose their magical powers. Therefore, they will definitely prevent such variables from occurring.

Similarly, the reason why the previous Sun Wukong and the current Zhang Tianshi allowed themselves to make minor modifications is because they felt that such minor modifications were beneficial to them.

Therefore, their incarnations at the bottom of the world's information continue to operate, instead of allowing the original being, who has transcended time and space, to descend into the incarnations to prevent such changes from occurring and to maintain the original course of history.

Just as Ao Peng was staring at Zhang Daoling in thought, Zhang Daoling, having finished the peach in his hand, smiled and looked at Ao Peng, "Fellow Daoist Ao, you've been watching me just now, is there something amiss?"

Looking into Zhang Daoling's eyes, Ao Peng instantly understood that the person who had descended before him was "Zhang Tianshi," not the Zhang Daoling of this historical period.

He thought for a moment and then said, "Although I established Peach Capital Mountain to protect the five thousand people here, Peach Capital cannot be moved. If I want to completely quell the ghostly calamity in Sichuan and subdue the six heavenly ghosts and gods, I will need the help of you fellow Daoists. I have long heard that Brother Zhang is skilled in divination and knowledgeable about the past and present. Do you have any way to teach me?"

Seeing that Ao Peng was so cooperative, Zhang Tianshi stroked his short beard, pondered for a moment, and said, "Qingcheng Mountain is one of the Ten Great Grotto-Heavens. I have heard that in ancient times, the Supreme Moral Celestial Venerable once descended here to preach the Tao and left behind a preaching residence. If we can find this residence and ask the Celestial Venerable for his decree, we should be able to find a way to resolve the ghostly calamity. Since Fellow Daoist Ao has such a great wish, I am willing to resign my official post to help him."

Ao Peng thought to himself, "This Zhang Tianshi is really generous!"

According to legend, Zhang Daoling was able to attain Taoism mainly because he received the inheritance from the Supreme Taoist Ancestor in Chengdu. Now, with this Zhang Tianshi willing to lead him to find the inheritance, it's like everyone who sees it gets a share. Zhang Daoling is willing to study the scriptures together with Ao Peng.

Since everyone else was being so generous, Ao Peng naturally couldn't be stingy either.

He instructed his subordinates to bring five bushels of incense and rice, and, with the Taoist priests of Qingcheng Mountain as witnesses, said, "Brother, you are righteous. You are willing to resign your official post to quell the ghostly calamity in Chengdu. However, cultivation requires wealth, companions, and a suitable place. You also need resources for your cultivation. I think it would be better if you could take five bushels of the incense and rice grown here as your resources after quelling the ghostly calamity!"

Seeing that Ao Peng was willing to offer five bushels of incense and rice, Zhang Tianshi stroked his beard and laughed, "Excellent!"

The reason he allowed Ao Peng to change a part of his history and even share the merit of subduing the six ghosts and gods was because he saw more possibilities for the incense and rice from the future. Now that Ao Peng was willing to generously give him five bushels of incense and rice, he was exchanging past merit for future opportunities. It was a win-win situation, how could it not be a great good!