After breaking up with my girlfriend, I became a Great Sage of the Demon Clan.

Zhou Yan drew his Shengwu Sword and cut the Bodhi tree open. This Bodhi tree must have been quite old, as it was hollow inside. After Zhou Yan cut through the outer bark and wood layers, the inner space was exposed to the open air.

Inside sat a mummified corpse, which was the former Buddha Dipankara.

All the commentaries by the omniscient indicate that this Buddha of the past is dead, completely dead, and not even his relics have emerged.

Relics are the condensation of a Buddhist practitioner's lifelong Buddha-nature and Buddha-heart, and now Dipankara Buddha is like this...

Zhou Yan almost thought that the Dipankara Buddha had lost to the Heavenly Demon, and that all of his Buddha-nature, Buddha-heart, and cultivation had been absorbed by the Heavenly Demon.

However, considering the appearance of Dipankara Buddha in the world of Dayuan Temple, could it be that Dipankara Buddha was severely shattered by the great disaster of that year, with 99% of his divine essence and power spilled into the fragment world, so that his main body could only appear as a dried corpse and could not even burn into relics?

"Brother, brother...a reward..."

The nine-colored deer rubbed against Zhou Yan's clothes.

Zhou Yan took out another snake fruit, and the nine-colored deer lowered its head and gnawed on it in Zhou Yan's hand.

Zhou Yan looked around.

Something's not right.

While it's understandable that this is the mummified corpse of a past Buddha—after all, it's not the first time Zhou Yan has seen the corpse of a deity—in this place called Mount Ling, all the Bodhisattvas, Buddhas, and Arhats are holed up in their own temples.

The Buddha of the Past came to this open-air place, and according to what Zhou Yan knew, this great calamity was caused by the combined actions of the Buddha of the Future and the Buddha of the Past.

and so……

Is it possible that the Buddha appeared here on a fine, sunny day, and the Buddha, seeing that the time was auspicious, came to this place, sat down, and began their so-called plan that everyone could become a god?

Then, when this idea was put into practice, an accident occurred. The Buddha's original spirit was shattered, leaving only his physical body here. The other monks of Mount Ling were either dead or injured. The Buddha now had to suppress the present to ensure that the other Buddhas, Arhats, and Bodhisattvas would not perish instantly.

If we calculate based on this idea...

Zhou Yan turned his gaze away from the desiccated corpse of the Buddha.

The Buddha of the past should not have died. Although his Buddha-nature and Dharma body were shattered, his physical body is still intact. To put it simply, after the Buddha's primordial spirit left his body, his physical body became a dried corpse because it had not received nourishment from the primordial spirit for a long time.

"Brother, brother, do you want to play again?"

After finishing the snake fruit, the nine-colored deer licked the snake fruit residue from Zhou Yan's palm.

Zhou Yan said unhappily.

"Don't lick your hands anymore, it's dirty!"

The nine-colored deer blinked its pure eyes, puzzled.

"Brother isn't dirty, brother is the cleanest in the world."

Zhou Yan: "..."

Why do I feel this inexplicable sense of emotion?

Zhou Yan withdrew his hand.

"In short, you are not allowed to lick any hands, face, lips, or..."

Zhou Yan stroked his chin.

Do you know Maitreya Buddha?

The nine-colored deer nodded.

"I know, I know, I understand. Brother wants to find Maitreya Buddha, right?"

Zhou Yan patted the head of the nine-colored deer.

"Qingcai is so clever."

The nine-colored deer smiled happily after being praised.

"Qingcai is very smart, brother, brother, I'll take you to find Maitreya right now." (Weeping)

The nine-colored deer ran towards a street.

This time, Zhou Yan followed the Nine-Colored Deer for half an hour before reaching the foot of a mountain.

At the foot of the mountain, there was a depression overgrown with weeds and located in a shady spot. It was difficult to see anything from there unless you walked right up to it, where you could finally see a desiccated corpse with drooping skin, sitting cross-legged. Numerous vines entwined the corpse, and flies and mosquitoes buzzed around it. (Sulfur)

Zhou Yan opened the attribute panel of the mummified corpse.

Name: Maitreya Buddha. Neighbor

Is that really the case? 7

It seems that Maitreya Buddha and Dipankara Buddha reached some kind of agreement beforehand, wanting to save all living beings, and then one day they left their temples... oh no...

Zhou Yan suddenly realized that both of these later Buddhist temples, the Bodhi Temple, were gone.

Their appearance outside the temple may simply be because the temple is gone, rather than because they voluntarily left the temple.

More possibilities swirled in Zhou Yan's mind. A jumble of thoughts arose within him, and various emotions came and went. In the end, Zhou Yan shook his head.

Who cares? As long as we know that the great calamity between Mount Ling and the world was caused by these two guys, that's enough. There's no need to delve into the other details for now.

Zhou Yan handed the Nine-Colored Deer a snake fruit, and while the deer was eating it, Zhou Yan tentatively asked a question.

"Qingcai, let's play another hidden object game. How about you take me to the Hou Sheng Temple?"

The Hou Sheng Temple is the temple where Maitreya Buddha resides. Zhou Yan doesn't know what will happen if he finds the Hou Sheng Temple, but he has no idea where to find the Bodhi Temple now, so he can only guess.

The nine-colored deer, unsuspecting, happily raised its hooves and ran off as if having a great time.

This time, it only took the Nine-Colored Deer ten minutes to find the Hou Sheng Temple built in a wasteland. Zhou Yan went in to take a look and then sighed.

The Temple of the Holy Mother was also something the Nine-Colored Deer wanted, so it was created. They were just wearing the skin of the Temple of the Holy Mother, and the inside was completely different from the real Temple of the Holy Mother.

Zhou Yan gave the Nine-Colored Deer another snake fruit, and as the deer happily ate it, Zhou Yan couldn't help but sigh.

The body of the Buddha of the Past has been found, and the body of Maitreya Buddha has also been found. We have also found two fake temples, Hou Sheng Temple and Bodhi Temple, thanks to the Nine-Colored Deer. But what if we can't find the real one?

Zhou Yan had previously thought that the Bodhi Temple would quietly wait for him to open the door, and then he would experience the fragmented world once again, and then rescue Dipankara Buddha or Shakyamuni.

As a result, he couldn't even find the entrance to the Bodhi Temple.

Oh shit……

"Brother, brother, do you want to play again?"

The nine-colored deer was filled with excitement.

Zhou Yan held the child in his arms, truly envying such a silly child who ate and drank well every day without any wild thoughts.

He himself was still suffering from a headache and fever because of Bo Xun's matter.

"Brother, brother, do you want to play again?"

The nine-colored deer held its little antlers and nudged Zhou Yan's chin.

"Let's play, let's play some riddles next."

"Alright, alright, Qingcai loves riddles the most!"

The Nine-Colored Deer felt incredibly happy today. Not only did Zhou Yan come over to play with it, but it also played its favorite game with it.

They'll probably be so happy they won't be able to sleep when they get back.

Zhou Yan closed his eyes.

Zhou Yan didn't know much about Buddhism. Since he couldn't find the Bodhi Temple, he could only ask Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva and Avalokiteshvara Bodhisattva to see if these two great bodhisattvas could give him their answers.

Of course, we should ask these two great bodhisattvas. It would be too troublesome to go to the abyss and underworld after leaving Mount Ling. When Zhou Yan went to see Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva last time, he thought that this kind of thing of asking people everywhere could be completely replaced by using the ability to see far and wide.

So Zhou Yan used his Extreme Eyes to solve riddles for the Nine-Colored Deer.

Zhou Yan stroked the fur on the nine-colored deer.

"First riddle... Why do toilets have roofs?"

Sijiuse Lu tilted its head, its face full of confusion. The little guy tried hard to search its memory to see if it could find the answer to the question.

As Ba Er looked into the distance, Zhou Yan had already left Mount Ling and was heading from Dahuang Village to the Abyss Underworld. At Zhou Yan's speed of stepping through the void, it would take him less than a minute to reach the Abyss Underworld from Dahuang Village.

"Brother..."

4. In reality, the nine-colored deer tugged at Zhou Yan's clothes.

"Qingcai, Qingcai doesn't know."

The nine-colored deer's eyes were dim, and its tone was full of grievance.

Why can't my brother answer my riddles when I'm so smart?

5 Zhou Yan stroked the head of the nine-colored deer and said.

"The answer to this question is simple: toilets need roofs because God has eyes. Okay, now for the second question..."

"...Stealing is not illegal."

Nine-Colored Deer fell into deep thought again. Having already lost to her older brother once, she was determined to figure out this riddle this time!

……

Within sight.

Zhou Yan arrived at the Abyss Underworld and then went down to Ksitigarbha's temple. Without any unnecessary formalities, Zhou Yan pushed open the door to Ksitigarbha's room and went inside.

Ksitigarbha, still seated on the futon, glanced at Zhou Yan and then asked.

"Benefactor, is this the sacred mountain you have come to?"

The soldier beside him placed an old prayer mat in front of Ksitigarbha and respectfully bowed to Zhou Yan with clasped hands.

There was no other way; Bai Ze had a notorious reputation, and even the two thousand-year-old evil spirits, Zeng and Sun, trembled at the mere mention of his name.

Zhou Yan walked to the prayer mat and knelt down.

"Yes, Bodhisattva, I have already taken the nine-colored deer to Mount Ling, but I did not get what I wanted. I hope you can help me find the answer."

Zhou Yan recounted his experiences of seeing the Buddha of the past and Maitreya.

"...That's basically the situation, Bodhisattva. What do you think about this matter?"

Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva smirked and said sarcastically.

"As expected, you are not a member of our Buddhist sect. But haven't you heard the saying, 'A mountain is not famous because of its height, but because of the immortals dwelling there; water is not sacred because of its depth, but because of the dragons residing within'?"

Zhou Yan was suddenly enlightened. This Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva truly lived up to his reputation as a great Bodhisattva of Buddhism. As soon as he opened his mouth, Zhou Yan saw something he had not seen before.

Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva reminded him.

"In a Buddhist temple, the least important thing is the temple itself; the most important thing is the Buddha and Bodhisattvas."

Zhou Yan understood.

"What the Bodhisattva means is that if Dipankara Buddha leaves Bodhi Temple, then Bodhi Temple is no longer Bodhi Temple; if Dipankara Buddha moves into a doghouse, then that doghouse is also Bodhi Temple?"

Ksitigarbha nodded.

"Indeed, all things in the world are illusions, only the fundamental truth remains."

"Amitabha……"

Ksitigarbha's voice was like thunder and drums.

"These so-called Bodhi Temple, Vajra Temple, and Dade Temple are nothing but clay and wood sculptures, destined to decay. Only the Buddha-nature is eternal. Benefactor, do not place too much importance on the earthen and wooden structures of these temples, or you will become attached to appearances and fall into delusion."

Zhou Yan lowered his head, supporting it with one hand.

How foolish, how incredibly foolish! I was truly blinded by lust and appearances, and actually succumbed to temptation at this moment.

Chapter Fourteen: Making Amends

Zhou Yan withdrew from the far-reaching view. The nine-colored deer in Zhou Yan's arms was still pawing at its head, its face full of struggle.

Zhou Yan's riddles really confused the child.

"Qingcai?"

Zhou Yan spoke.

The nine-colored deer, still pondering the answer, looked up at Zhou Yan.

"Brother, what's wrong?"

Seemingly having thought of something, the Nine-Colored Deer said anxiously.

"Brother, brother, Qingcai is almost there, answer 6. Give Qingcai a little more time, and Qingcai will definitely be able to figure out the answer."