Chapter 1922

Thinking this, his heart was utterly conflicted.

Songshan.

Liansheng stood at the foot of the mountain, his eyes wide open, unable to believe everything he saw before him.

Songshan was the ancestral court of the Chan school; it wasn't as if he had never been here before.

But the current Songshan and the Songshan in his memory shared not a single point of resemblance.

He saw only a towering, majestic mountain range before him, soaring straight into the clouds, its peak nowhere to be seen.

Only a flight of stone steps stretched down from the clouds, reaching all the way to the foot of the mountain, providing passage to the summit.

"What is going on with this mountain?" Liansheng looked toward the welcoming monk beside him and asked.

The young welcoming monk wore a proud expression: "This is the World-Honored One using great magic power to draw in famous mountains and merge them into Songshan, creating the present majestic grandeur of Songshan. From now on, this place can be renamed Lingshan!"

Liansheng gazed at the mountain range amid the mist and clouds, feeling only that this mountain, compared to the old Songshan, was indeed more spiritually beautiful and more mysterious.

"Indeed it should be called Lingshan now!"

Just as he was thinking, he heard footsteps sound, then stop.

Liansheng turned his head and saw a group of monks also frozen in place, their expressions blank—identical to the expressions of the monks from his Donglin Temple earlier—and he couldn't help finding it amusing.

Sure enough, upon seeing the World-Honored One's handiwork, everyone in the world wore the same expression.

After a while, this group finally came to their senses, walked forward, and asked the welcoming monk about the situation.

A moment later, this group also voiced their admiration: "The World-Honored One is truly possessed of boundless supernatural powers."

As the group walked upward, their hearts were even more shaken.

This mountain not only occupied an enormous area at its base, stretching for hundreds of li, but its summit was the same.

Reaching the summit, they saw amid the clouds and mist a vast, boundless flatland appear before their eyes.

· ·····Seeking fresh flowers· ········

Upon the flatland stood one after another resplendent and magnificent temples, amid the interplay of glowing rays of light, giving one a feeling of utmost nobility.

"Th-this… the World-Honored One truly has grand designs!"

Liansheng exclaimed in wonder.

The monks behind him wore the very same expression.

"I wonder when we might be granted an audience with the World-Honored One?" After a long while, Liansheng came back to himself and looked toward the welcoming monk.

The monk shook his head: "At this moment, the World-Honored One is cultivating; you can only wait three days until the World-Honored One preaches the sutras before you may be received."

Liansheng and the others were quite regretful.

That was the patriarch of Buddhism.

Being unable to meet him face to face at the earliest opportunity was truly a regret for them.

As everyone waited, three days finally passed.

The Lian school, the Vinaya school, the Dharmalaksana school, the Dharma-nature school, the Tiantai school…

Monks of every sect gathered together and, led by the welcoming monk, entered a square.

From afar, everyone saw waves of Buddhist light and heard the sounds of Buddhist chants and meditation singing, and their hearts immediately stirred with excitement.

Such a miraculous sight was naturally a manifestation of the World-Honored One.

The crowd's steps quickened of their own accord; entering the square, they saw upon a great golden lotus platform a youth sitting upright.

Although he differed from the Buddha statues in sculpture, beneath the glow of Buddhist light he could still be considered majestic in bearing.

More importantly, everyone had already made up their minds beforehand, convinced that this person was the World-Honored One's reincarnated body, and not a shred of doubt arose in their hearts.

"We pay our respects to the World-Honored One!"

The crowd stepped forward and bowed in unison.

Dong Tianbao gave a slight nod, his expression calm: "Rise, dispense with the formalities."

During this period, he had not only been cultivating the Divine Palm of the Tathagata, but had also been asking the Great Sage Equal to Heaven and others in the group how one ought to play the World-Honored One.

Now, whether in bearing or in Buddhist cultivation, he had—with everyone's help—reached an exceedingly accomplished level.

Fooling the monks of this low-martial-arts world was the easiest thing in the world.

"Since you have been able to come to Lingshan, you may be said to share some karmic affinity with me. Today I shall preach the sutras and expound the Dharma; the opportunity is hard to come by. I hope you all listen attentively."

Dong Tianbao's voice was gentle, yet it spread throughout the entire scene, as though sounding right in everyone's ear.

The crowd's expressions grew solemn; not one of them dared to be careless, and they listened carefully.