Chapter 18: Haotian, have you seen enough?

The Dharma image golden body was incomparably massive.

Even the size of the Great Lei Yin Temple was insufficient to compare with the Golden Body of the Dharma Image that Tathagata had unleashed this time.

Just as Tathagata had said a moment ago, Ksitigarbha’s power had earned his respect, and he would use his own true power to confront Ksitigarbha.

It was not as if he were striking out casually, as he had done before.

"Boom..."

The face of that Golden Body of the Dharma Image bore a look of compassion; one hand held prayer beads, while the other held a Vajra pestle.

One saw the Golden Body’s Vajra pestle smash forward.

Space was torn asunder, and the fused Buddha-light within it was, at this moment, filled with killing intent and destruction.

Within Buddhism, it was not always about compassion; if a Buddha became angry, there was also the Wrathful Buddha.

As the source of Buddhism, the Buddha Tathagata naturally understood this point.

"Ksitigarbha, take this."

The golden Vajra pestle smashed into that power of extinction, and the two forces collided with each other.

In an instant.

The Buddhist powerhouses in the distance could see nothing with their eyes, nor could they hear any sound with their ears.

The collision of these two Quasi-Saint powers had already affected the souls of those Buddhist practitioners nearby whose strength was insufficient.

This was the fundamental reason why they could neither see nor hear.

Quasi-Saint powerhouses like Guanyin and Manjusri, however, were able to withstand the impact of this power.

"Is this Ksitigarbha’s true power? So strong." Manjusri expressed shock.

If Ksitigarbha had used this power earlier, they likely would have been severely wounded by it as well.

This was a point Bodhisattva Manjusri had to admit.

"It is indeed strong, but compared to the Buddha, there is still a gap." Guanyin’s eyes flickered.

He was still able to deduce the situation of the battle.

Ksitigarbha had used all his trump cards, even the Buddha-Demon power that could potentially cause him severe injury.

Yet Tathagata’s expression had not changed in the slightest.

It was likely that this Tathagata in their eyes was still acting with great ease.

Even Guanyin could not calculate the true bottom line of Tathagata’s strength.

A moment later.

This land of Lingshan returned to clarity, and the demonic energy of heaven and earth had already vanished.

The entire Lingshan still shimmered with golden light, standing here, as did the Great Lei Yin Temple.

It was as if the destructive attack from just a moment ago had never happened.

In reality, Lingshan had not changed in the slightest, but that was entirely because the Buddha Tathagata was protecting this land of Lingshan.

As the base camp of his Buddhist sect, Tathagata did not want Lingshan to be destroyed.

If that were to happen, it would be equivalent to a heavy slap in the face for their Buddhist sect.

"Ksitigarbha..." Tathagata’s palm opened, and upon it lay a twisted black light; that was the power of the Demon Dao.

Just now, as Tathagata and Ksitigarbha attacked each other, Tathagata ultimately let Ksitigarbha escape.

Naturally, this also had to do with the strength Ksitigarbha had displayed.

If he truly wanted to keep Ksitigarbha, some of the Buddhist powerhouses in the Great Lei Yin Temple would likely have been caught in the crossfire.

This was something Tathagata did not want to happen.

There was plenty of time to deal with Ksitigarbha.

Even if there were truly one more Buddhist enemy in Ksitigarbha, it did not amount to much.

"Buddha, it is bad, it is bad." A Bodhisattva dressed in gorgeous robes approached Tathagata.

"Bodhisattva Moonlight, what is the matter?" Tathagata asked.

Bodhisattva Moonlight, one of the eight great Bodhisattvas of the Buddhist sect.

However, this Bodhisattva’s strength could not be compared to Guanyin, Manjusri, and the others; he only possessed the power of a Da Luo Golden Immortal.

After all, even within the Buddhist sect, there were not many powerhouses at the Quasi-Saint level.

"Bodhisattva, several pagodas of Lingshan have been looted clean," Bodhisattva Moonlight said hurriedly.

The pagodas were the places where the Buddhist sect stored their treasures.

According to what Bodhisattva Moonlight said, those treasures had been looted clean.

"Ksitigarbha." Tathagata’s face turned ugly.

If he could be kept unaware, then only Ksitigarbha, who was confronting him, could have done it.

At that time, Ksitigarbha’s demonic energy was permeating this world, and it was impossible for Tathagata to sense the changes in Lingshan at every moment.

After all, he was facing a powerhouse of the same level.

Even if there was a gap between Ksitigarbha’s strength and his own, he was still a Quasi-Saint powerhouse.

"Haotian, have you watched enough?" Tathagata’s gaze fixed upon the firmament, as if seeing Haotian, who had been watching this battlefield all along.

As soon as the words fell, a terrifying power of Buddha-light surged toward the firmament.

"Bang..."

A sound like glass shattering rang out, and Tathagata withdrew his gaze.

"Buddha..."

Guanyin, Manjusri, and the other Bodhisattvas, along with every Arhat and Jialan, bowed respectfully at this moment.

The Buddha Tathagata was the most revered existence within the Buddhist sect.

Furthermore, through this battle, they understood even more clearly just how terrifying the Buddha was.

Compared to them, he was in an entirely different dimension.

"Bodhisattva Guanyin, announce to the outside world that Ksitigarbha is expelled from the Buddhist sect; he shall become a disgrace to the sect and must be converted," Tathagata said to Guanyin.

"Yes, Buddha, Guanyin understands," Guanyin nodded hurriedly.

This attack by Ksitigarbha on the Buddhist sect would surely cause a violent tremor in this world.

As for what would happen to Ksitigarbha later, that would depend on how the Buddhist sect arranged it.

The Buddhist sect could not watch Ksitigarbha betray them and take no action; if they did, the Buddhist sect would lose face.

"Everyone return," Tathagata said in a deep voice, "As far as our Buddhist sect is concerned, the matter of Ksitigarbha is not important."

That was correct.

For Tathagata, the Journey to the West Great Calamity five hundred years later was the top priority.

"Yes, Buddha..."

………………………………

On the Primordial land some distance away from Lingshan.

A black light flashed and appeared here; it was Bodhisattva Ksitigarbha.

"Pfft..."

A mouthful of blood sprayed from Ksitigarbha’s mouth, scattering into mid-air.

Although he had escaped from Tathagata, Ksitigarbha had paid a certain price, and his foundation had suffered some damage.

"Hoo... Tathagata is truly formidable," Ksitigarbha muttered to himself, "I did not expect the gap between Tathagata and me to be so large."

Originally, after obtaining the Heart of the Demon, Ksitigarbha had increased his strength, and at that time he had been full of confidence; this battle could be considered a wake-up call for Ksitigarbha.

Now was not the time for him to be proud; his strength was still far from that of the Buddhist Tathagata.

Truly, there is always someone better than you, and there is always a heaven beyond the heaven.

"It seems the gap between Quasi-Saints is even more astonishing than I imagined."

"Master." A voice suddenly rang out.

A strange creature with a tiger’s head, a single horn, dog ears, a dragon’s body, and a lion’s tail appeared here.

This was Di Ting.

The psychic divine beast under Bodhisattva Ksitigarbha.

The disappearance of the treasures from the Lingshan pagodas was the work of Di Ting.

Di Ting could discern all things in the world, and his ability was put to good use here.

"Di Ting, it seems you succeeded." Ksitigarbha revealed a smile.