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

"Brother, are you alright?"

Zhou Yan gave a low hum, his gaze still lingering on the face of the Buddha behind Qingcai.

"Dilthanda Buddha, do you mean that I am qualified to become Shakyamuni?"

Cracks began to appear on the skin and flesh of the Buddha in the past, and many fragments of skin and flesh fell off like powder. However, the Buddha in the past did not care about these things and only said.

"Benefactor, you altered your past in the cycle of reincarnation. Once the moment of Shakyamuni's passing arrives, Mara can act, secretly hiding a part of Shakyamuni within you. When you attain enlightenment under the Bodhi tree, this part..."

"pat..."

One of the Buddha's hands landed on the ground.

Zhou Yan looked at the arm that had fallen from the Buddha. It seemed that the Buddha had exhausted the essence of the dried corpse in order to save him, and now the physical body was beginning to collapse.

“Then he will awaken, and Mara can use this to gradually guide the benefactor to become Shakyamuni, even if it is only a part of Shakyamuni.”

Zhou Yan launched into a tirade of curses.

"That bastard is trying to ruin me here, heh... I'm definitely going to the sixth day to have some fun with Mara's children!"

Mara is a powerful figure at the level of a Heavenly Emperor. Zhou Yan cannot bully Mara, but Mara's children have it much easier.

"Crack..." Jiu

The Buddha's head shook a few times, cracks appeared on the back of his withered neck, and then his head rolled to the ground.

The Buddha of the Past, his head half-shattered on the ground, spoke to Zhou Yan.

"In short, be careful of Mara..." Ai

"This defeat will not be easily overcome by Mara..." Temple

"He will surely seek more ways to resurrect Shakyamuni."

The head of the Buddha of the past shattered completely, turning into dust.

In the past, the Buddha's body, starting from his neck, developed large cracks that spread throughout his entire body, eventually collapsing with a series of shattering sounds.

Zhou Yan watched as the Buddha's physical body crumbled into dust before his very eyes.

The Nine-Colored Deer curiously walked to the edge of the pile of powder, looked at it for a while, and then spoke to Zhou Yan.

"Brother, this guy seems like a good person?"

Nine-Colored Deer could tell that the Buddha had just pulled Zhou Yan back. In Nine-Colored Deer's eyes, anyone who could save her good brother must be a good person.

Zhou Yan nodded silently.

The Buddhas of the past and the Buddhas of the future are the source of this great calamity, but in essence, they are not bad people.

In contrast, Mara, who had previously been willing to cooperate with Zhou Yan and was relatively accommodating, was a truly unruly and shameless evil god.

The worst part is that this evil god has now set its sights on him.

Of course, judging from the current situation, Zhou Yan felt that Mara had more than one way to revive Shakyamuni. He was just one of Mara's investments. If Mara only had him as his path, he would probably have been captured, imprisoned and controlled by Mara long ago.

Mara likely used a broad approach to find a way to truly revive Shakyamuni, and the failure of a single individual would not move him.

In short... Mara is also a yandere; he is obsessed with things he cannot have.

"elder brother……"

The nine-colored deer gently nibbled at Zhou Yan's sleeve, its big, watery eyes fixed on him.

"Qingcai, Qingcai has something important to tell her brother."

Zhou Yan's expression darkened.

Something important?

As a current Buddha-nature, what did this little guy sense?

For example, is Mara hiding nearby? Or does some temple hold something important? Or has some strange change occurred within this little guy?

Zhou Yan said solemnly.

"Qingcai, you speak."

Zhou Yan was prepared to face all sorts of unexpected events.

The nine-colored deer lowered its head and said sadly.

“Brother, Qingcai isn’t stupid.”

"Yes, she's not stupid, Qingcai is very smart."

"Brother, your riddles are too difficult for Qingcai to answer."

The Nine-Colored Deer's tone was filled with dejection.

Zhou Yan: "..."

Is this the important thing you're talking about?

The nine-colored deer placed its two hooves on Zhou Yan's lap as he sat cross-legged.

"Brother, brother, Qingcai is very smart..."

Zhou Yan hugged the child's head, both amused and exasperated.

"Good, good, smart, smart, Qingcai, you are..."

A layer of light suddenly covered Zhou Yan's face, and Zhou Yan looked at the light source in surprise.

About ten kilometers away, Zhou Yan saw a large sun and a bright moon rise from the horizon into the sky.

Fun fact: Even during the day, the moon is visible, but due to the intense sunlight, it appears as a white circle, lacking the brightness of nighttime.

But the sun and moon that rose in front of Zhou Yan shone with equal brilliance; the sunlight could not outshine the moonlight, and the moonlight and the sunlight vied for half of the sky.

Then, the sun and moon both came toward Zhou Yan. In just a few breaths, the sun and moon were a hundred meters above Zhou Yan's head.

The Bodhisattva of Sunlight and the Bodhisattva of Moonlight emerged one after another from the bright sun and moon above Zhou Yan's head and landed on the ground.

"donor……"

Ling: "This humble monk greets you..."

The two bodhisattvas bowed to Zhou Yan in succession.

Zhou Yan, holding the nine-colored deer, stood up and returned the greeting.

Wu: "Bodhisattva, you...you've returned?"

When Lu Zhouyan came to Lingshan before, he couldn't find the Hou Sheng Temple, Bodhi Temple, or Dayuan Temple. Now that the Sunlight Bodhisattva and Moonlight Bodhisattva have appeared, Dayuan Temple should be there by now.

Zhou Yan subtly turned his head and glanced at the past Buddha, who had turned to ashes.

After the death of the Buddha of the Past, the Bodhisattva of Moonlight and the Bodhisattva of Sunlight appeared. Zhou Yan had reason to suspect that in the fragmented world he visited last time, the Buddha of the Past and Maitreya Buddha had probably joined forces to fight against the Medicine Buddha. Therefore, when something happened to the Buddha of the Past, Maitreya Buddha could not withstand the attack of the Medicine Buddha.

He uttered "Amitabha Buddha..."

The Bodhisattva of Sunlight has a compassionate expression.

“Just a moment ago, when the Medicine Buddha saw that the Buddha of the past was not able to hold on, he used his great supernatural powers to defeat Maitreya Buddha. Now the Great Vow Temple has been restored.”

As expected, the Buddha of the past had encountered a problem, and Maitreya Buddha could not hold on any longer.

Moonlight Bodhisattva looked at the nine-colored deer in Zhou Yan's arms.

"donor."

The Moonlight Bodhisattva has a kind and benevolent expression.

"The Medicine Buddha wishes to see the Nine-Colored Deer. Could you please grant him this request?"

Zhou Yan fell silent.

It wasn't that Zhou Yan didn't believe in the compassion of the Buddha of Mount Ling, but considering that it was only their first meeting with the Medicine Buddha, he still couldn't quite let go of the thought.

Seeing Zhou Yan's unpleasant expression, the Moonlight Bodhisattva made a suggestion.

“If you cannot bear to part with the Nine-Colored Deer, then go together. The Medicine Buddha will be able to repay your kindness in saving us.”

The problem is that I don't think I can beat the Medicine Buddha. If I go there, it'll just be a Ueno-Zero collaboration, one of us will die and the other will be sent to the enemy.

But I'm worried if I don't go.

"Alright, then I'll trouble you two bodhisattvas."

He wouldn't feel at ease if he didn't go, but even if something unexpected happened, he could at least have peace of mind. Besides, Zhou Yan had already checked with the "All Things Are Illusory" technique and found that his chances of escaping from the Medicine Buddha were as high as 89%.

With a sufficiently high level of awakening, coupled with the fact that Zhou Yan had just absorbed a portion of his divine essence from the Past Buddha, Zhou Yan had begun to have the ability to run away even from the Heavenly Emperor.

The Bodhisattva of Moonlight and the Bodhisattva of Sunlight joined their palms together and said respectfully.

"Please follow me, benefactor."

The two bodhisattvas turned around and used their supernatural powers to travel several miles in a single step.

Zhou Yan also followed behind, relying on his ability to shrink the distance between two points.

After walking a few steps, Dayuan Temple appeared before Zhou Yan, the Nine-Colored Deer, and the two Bodhisattvas.

The two Bodhisattvas arrived at the entrance of Dayuan Temple but did not go in; they simply bowed at the entrance.

“Buddha, the White Benefactor and the Nine-Colored Deer have arrived.”

The red-lacquered copper-studded gate of Dayuan Temple opened, and a faint Buddhist light emanated from it, falling on Zhou Yan's face, making him feel refreshed and able to breathe easily.

A majestic and powerful voice came from inside the red-lacquered, copper-studded door.

"Benefactor Bai, please come in."

The Moonlight Bodhisattva and the Sunlight Bodhisattva stood on either side of the red-lacquered copper-nailed door, each with their hands clasped together, their faces full of piety.

Zhou Yan put the nine-colored deer down from his arms and led it into the Great Vow Temple. Behind the gate of the Great Vow Temple were the bell tower and the drum tower, followed by the Hall of Heavenly Kings and the Great Buddha Hall. The gate of the Hall of Heavenly Kings was closed, but the gate of the Great Buddha Hall was open, and Buddhist light was emanating from it.

Zhou Yan and the Nine-Colored Deer walked to the entrance of the Great Buddha Hall and then went inside.

The main hall is very large, but the interior decoration is very simple. There are no statues of gods, no incense tables or candles, only a futon placed in the center of the main hall, on which is a bald monk with a gaunt face who looks weak no matter how you look at him.

Zhou Yan opened the monk's attribute panel and saw negative keywords such as "severely injured" and "weak" in the status bar. It was clear that although Medicine Buddha won the battle against Maitreya, he also paid a heavy price.

“Benefactor Bai…”

The extremely weak bald monk rose from the prayer mat, a compassionate smile on his pale face.

"Greetings, Medicine Buddha."

Zhou Yan returned the bow, and Wu Shundao brought the nine-colored deer before the Great Buddha Liu Tuo.

The Medicine Buddha sat back on his prayer mat, and the Nine-Colored Deer shone its auspicious light upon him. The little deer could see that the Medicine Buddha was very weak and wanted to give this great Buddha some positive buffs.

The Medicine Buddha, now bathed in auspicious light, looked better, and his eyes, gazing at the nine-colored deer, revealed a hint of brilliance.

After staring at the nine-colored deer for a while, Medicine Buddha turned to Zhou Yan and said.

“Benefactor, it’s best not to let the Nine-Colored Deer leave Mount Ling during this period.”

Zhou Yan frowned slightly.

The Nine-Colored Deer must not be allowed to leave Mount Ling...

Is he trying to impart the true Dharma of Buddhism to the Nine-Colored Deer, or... is he afraid of Mara?

When Zhou Yan worked with Bo Xun before, he thought Bo Xun was quite easy to talk to. But now that he sensed that Bo Xun was going crazy, Zhou Yan suddenly felt immense pressure.

After all, he was a powerful figure at the level of a Heavenly Emperor. If he could really fight against him without any shame, Zhou Yan would have no choice but to ask Nuwa for help.

The Medicine Buddha explained.

“Please calm down, benefactor. The reason for keeping the nine-colored deer is not to teach Buddhism or to prevent Mara from harming you. Rather, it is because you have too much karma on your hands. If this child continues to stay with you, it will bring misfortune upon her.”

Zhou Yan pointed to himself.

"Am I burdened by too much karma?"

Medicine Buddha sighed.

“Benefactor, if this old monk says seven, then three years later, you will face a great calamity. Do you believe that?” (The last part is a typo and can be left as is.)

Zhou Yan was so startled he almost jumped up.

However, Zhou Yan thought about it again and it wasn't surprising. There were probably tens of thousands of gods in heaven who wanted to kill him. As soon as Su Yinjun, the Fox King of Qingqiu, said he wanted to kill him, the Four Celestial Masters shamelessly came down to help.

Given Bai Ze's connections, let alone three years, it wouldn't be surprising if Zhou Yan were surrounded and attacked by 100,000 heavenly soldiers and generals and countless gods as soon as he left Mount Ling.