Chapter 194: Liaochen Passes Away, Tathagata's Misunderstanding

This day, Monk Fa Neng led thousands of refugees to break into Qingwu Temple. Seeing the overwhelming number of refugees, the monks of Qingwu Temple hurriedly packed their money and fled through the back door.

The refugees pushed over the statues of Buddhas and Bodhisattvas and opened the granary of Qingwu Temple.

They saw grain piled like mountains in the granary, and thousands of refugees survived on it.

A month later, heavy rain fell from the sky, and the year of severe drought passed.

After this event, Fa Neng's heart was completely settled.

He knelt before Su Chen and said with utmost devotion: "Master, this disciple is bold enough to earnestly request that you formally accept me as your disciple and pass on your mantle. This disciple is willing to spend my entire life promoting the teachings of Pudu Temple, eliminating demons, and establishing the Buddha!"

Su Chen watched him quietly.

He knew that the first life of Jin Chanzi had been successfully "bent" by him.

"Foolish child, get up." Su Chen shook his head. "My teachings are right here in this world; why do you need to worship me? My time has come, and it is time to leave."

"Master!" Fa Neng was shocked to hear this and looked up at Su Chen. "What do you mean by this?"

Su Chen smiled and said to Fa Neng: "My time is up, and I am leaving today."

After speaking, he closed his eyes and lost his breath.

"Respectfully sending off Master!" Fa Neng stood up, no longer kneeling, but bowing to the fake body Su Chen left behind.

Master Liaochen had passed away.

This news soon spread throughout the area around Pudu Temple.

Those disaster victims who had received his kindness came to Pudu Temple spontaneously to mourn him.

After Master Liaochen passed away, Fa Neng naturally became the new abbot of Pudu Temple.

After settling the temple's affairs, Fa Neng made a shocking decision.

He was going to leave Pudu Temple and travel the world.

But he was not going to beg for alms, nor was he going to preach; he was going to "debate the teachings."

He was going to find the temples and monks of Xi Niuhe Zhou and debate with them about what true Buddhist teachings really were!

He handed Pudu Temple over to a believer to manage.

He himself packed his bags and walked out of Pudu Temple.

Alone, he entered every temple he encountered to discuss and debate scriptures with the monks.

His opponents included old monks who had studied Buddhist scriptures their whole lives and handsome, quick-witted youths.

But without exception, they all suffered defeat before him.

For a time, the entire Buddhist community in the region knew that a "heretical" demon monk had appeared in the world.

Some avoided him like a poisonous scorpion, cursing him for being heretical and betraying the Buddhist faith.

But many young monks were also attracted by Fa Neng's ideas and began to reflect on their past ways of cultivation.

Some temples, after being enlightened by Fa Neng, began to imitate Pudu Temple and use incense money to relieve the poor.

But no matter how the world evaluated him, Fa Neng's reputation spread wider and wider.

And this fire of Buddhist thought ignited by Fa Neng finally attracted the attention of the high and mighty Lingshan Buddha Kingdom.

Lingshan, Great Lei Yinsi.

Tathagata Buddha sat high on a golden lotus, his expression compassionate, preaching and teaching to the Buddhas, Arhats, Bodhisattvas, Vajras, Bhikkhus, and Bhikkhunis beneath him.

He spat out lotus flowers, and golden lotuses surged from the ground, expounding the supreme mysteries of Buddhist teachings.

The Buddhas and Bodhisattvas beneath him listened, mesmerized, each looking solemn and joyful.

However, at this moment, Tathagata Buddha's voice suddenly stopped.

The Buddhas and Bodhisattvas who were listening to the wonderful teachings looked up in confusion when they saw the Buddha stop preaching.

"My Buddha, why have you stopped preaching?" his disciple asked.

Tathagata Buddha did not answer; he closed his eyes and began to calculate.

In an instant, countless threads of karma from the Three Realms and Six Paths, past and future, flowed through his heart.

Soon, he "saw" a young monk named Fa Neng in Xi Niuhe Zhou traveling around, preaching a Buddhist teaching completely different from the orthodoxy of Lingshan.

Many temples, because of the appearance of this Fa Neng, had less and less incense, and countless believers began to question the doctrines they had always believed in.

And the vast power of faith that should have gathered toward Lingshan to support this Pure Land of the Buddha Kingdom actually showed a slight loss!

Although this loss was insignificant to the entire Buddhist community.

But this was an extremely dangerous signal.

If this "heretical theory" were allowed to develop, it would surely shake the foundation of his Buddhist community!

"Hmph!"

Tathagata Buddha let out a rare cold snort.

The Buddhas and Bodhisattvas beneath him all felt the Buddha's anger.

"World Honored One, what happened?" Ran Deng Ancient Buddha, as the Buddha of the Past, asked.

Tathagata Buddha opened his eyes, his gaze sweeping over the people beneath him, and said slowly: "A demon monk has appeared in Xi Niuhe Zhou."

"A demon monk?"

The Buddhas and Bodhisattvas were all shocked to hear this.

Xi Niuhe Zhou was the base camp of their Buddhist community, bathed in Buddha light; how could a demon monk appear?

"This monk is named Fa Neng, spreading heretical theories everywhere, bewitching people's hearts, and destroying the foundation of our Buddhist community."

"Could there be such a thing?"

"I earnestly request my Buddha to issue a decree, allowing this disciple to go and capture that demon monk."

A Jin Gang in the Great Lei Yinsi stepped out of the crowd, eyes wide with anger, and requested the mission.

The other Vajras and Arhats also echoed, each filled with righteous indignation.

However, Tathagata Buddha waved his hand, signaling everyone to be quiet.

In his heart, he always felt that this matter was a bit strange.

A monk in the mortal world, even if he had some debating talent, how could he stir up such a big wave in such a short time?

Was there someone behind him directing him?

Tathagata Buddha pinched his fingers again and began to deduce the origin and background of that "Fa Neng."

He didn't know until he calculated, and he was shocked when he did.

This Fa Neng, who preached heretical theories everywhere and was defined by him as a "demon monk," was actually the reincarnation of his own second disciple, Jin Chanzi.

Tathagata's expression became increasingly solemn. According to Jin Chanzi's Buddha-heart, he should be on the path to fetch scriptures.

How could he be preaching heretical theories in Xi Niuhe Zhou and singing a different tune from the Buddhist community?

"Not right... not right..."

Tathagata Buddha frowned. He knew that there must be a force he hadn't calculated interfering in the dark.

Otherwise, the reincarnation of Jin Chanzi would not have deviated from his destiny trajectory.

He once again exerted his supreme magic power, trying to trace the source of the destiny trajectory that had changed the reincarnation of Jin Chanzi.

He "saw" Fa Neng reincarnated in the Middle Earth of Nan Zhan Bu Zhou, and soon became a monk. After growing up, Fa Neng's heart turned toward Buddhist teachings, and he vowed to travel West.

Until he walked into a temple named "Pudu Temple," there was no problem with his life trajectory.

And after Fa Neng entered Pudu Temple, Tathagata Buddha could not calculate anything that happened inside Pudu Temple.

A powerful force in that Pudu Temple isolated all his calculations.

He could only vaguely deduce that Fa Neng had met a monk in the temple.

Who was that monk?

Tathagata Buddha used all his strength, wanting to see the person's appearance clearly, but that person's body seemed to be shrouded in a thick, inseparable fog. No matter how he deduced, he could not see his true face.

"The heavenly secrets have been obscured!"

Tathagata Buddha was terrified in his heart. To be able to obscure the heavenly secrets under his deduction, this was definitely not something an ordinary great power could do.

Could it be that a Saint had taken action? Was it one of the Three Pure Ones, or that one in the Wa Palace?

The Great Tribulation of the Journey to the West was determined after two Saints discussed it with the two Saints of the Xuan Sect; those two shouldn't have taken action.

And that one in the Wa Palace had always disliked interfering in the disputes between various sects. Could it be...

Excluding the few who were impossible, only one Saint remained.

Thinking of this, Tathagata's expression was complex; that one was the one he least wanted to face. ===== CHAPTER 195 =====