Chapter 510

Therefore, during this period, the most important preparation for the Western Buddhist Sect was to rearrange the candidates for the pilgrimage.

The one chosen to replace Sun Wukong had already been decided: the Six-Eared Macaque.

And the candidates to replace Marshal Tianpeng and General Juanlian had also been selected by the West.

The one replacing Marshal Tianpeng was a Black Bear Spirit proficient in Buddhist Dharma.

As for the candidate to replace General Juanlian, there were simply too many of them in the Primordial World; if you reached out and grabbed a handful, nine out of ten could replace General Juanlian.

And the one remaining was unable to take the job only because their strength was too extraordinary.

Of course, the point that gave the two Saints, Jieyin and Zhunti, the most headache was that, even now, they hadn't selected a pilgrim to replace Jin Chanzi.

It wasn't that the Buddhist Sect couldn't select someone to replace Jin Chanzi; on the contrary, there were quite a few beings within the Buddhist Sect who could replace him.

But precisely because of this, it led to internal arguments within the Buddhist Sect regarding the candidates for the Journey to the West pilgrimage.

Dipankara Buddha, as the former Buddha of the Past in the Western Buddhist Sect, had ascended to power again now that Tathagata, the Buddha of the Present, had abandoned the Buddhist Sect.

Therefore, naturally, as the first task of Dipankara Buddha’s tenure, the Journey to the West Great Calamity had to be prepared beautifully, so the candidate to replace Jin Chanzi had long been selected.

However, there was a Buddha of the Future within the Western Buddhist Sect—Maitreya Buddha.

He directly opposed Dipankara Buddha’s proposal.

It wasn't that Maitreya Buddha thought the candidate proposed by Dipankara Buddha was bad; on the contrary, in Maitreya Buddha’s eyes, this person was an excellent existence to replace Jin Chanzi.

But precisely because of this, Maitreya Buddha opposed it even more.

Because once the Journey to the West Great Calamity was carried out perfectly by Dipankara Buddha, then Maitreya Buddha would have no chance to ascend to power.

In the past, within the Western Buddhist Sect, Tathagata could be said to have held all the power; even Dipankara Buddha and Maitreya Buddha could not contend with him and even had to avoid his edge.

But now, with Tathagata gone and having returned to his original identity as Duobao Daoren of the Jie Sect,

there were only two factions left in the Buddhist Sect: Dipankara Buddha and Maitreya Buddha, and the two were about equal.

Maitreya Buddha even held a slight advantage, because compared to Dipankara Buddha, the Buddha of the Past, who had absolutely no chance of ascending further,

he, the Buddha of the Future of the Western Buddhist Sect, still had a glimmer of hope.

However, back when Buddha Tathagata was present, Maitreya Buddha didn't even dare to think about this matter.

Now that Buddha Tathagata was gone, Maitreya Buddha had originally thought it should be his turn, the Buddha of the Future, to ascend.

Unfortunately, in the end, it was Dipankara Buddha, the Buddha of the Past, who ascended.

If he had lost in a fair competition, that would be one thing; Maitreya Buddha wasn't someone who couldn't accept defeat, but the reason Dipankara Buddha ascended was because...

After Buddha Tathagata left the Buddhist Sect, Dipankara was the first to meet the two Western Saints, Jieyin and Zhunti, so in this situation where the Buddhist Sect was leaderless,

Dipankara Buddha had picked up a bargain. It was precisely because of this that Maitreya Buddha had never been convinced by Dipankara Buddha; in his view, this position belonged to him.

However, this matter already had the endorsement of the two Saints, Jieyin and Zhunti, so even if Maitreya Buddha was unconvinced in his heart, he had to acknowledge Dipankara Buddha on the surface.

But Maitreya Buddha was not without a counterattack, which was to ensure that the first task Dipankara Buddha faced after taking office—the Journey to the West Great Calamity—would end in a crushing defeat. ### CHAPTER 902 **Internal Strife Within the Buddhist Sect!**

In this way, the two Western Saints would inevitably think that Dipankara Buddha was incompetent, thus giving Maitreya Buddha a chance to ascend.

As for whether doing so would affect the interests of the Western Buddhist Sect?

Maitreya Buddha didn't care at all; after all, in his eyes, there was only replacing Dipankara Buddha now. If that didn't succeed, it didn't matter how much benefit the Buddhist Sect gained; it had nothing to do with him.

Therefore, under these circumstances, Maitreya Buddha opposed any proposal that was beneficial to Dipankara Buddha or the Journey to the West Great Calamity.

As for excuses, there were as many as one could want.

Lack of fortune, insufficient background, lack of enlightenment, etc., could all become points for Maitreya Buddha to attack.

And on Dipankara Buddha’s side, because of Maitreya Buddha’s opposition, Dipankara Buddha had already changed three candidates, one of whom was even Maitreya Buddha’s subordinate.

But Maitreya Buddha still opposed it, because what he wanted to do was sabotage this Journey to the West Great Calamity and lower Dipankara Buddha’s value in the eyes of the two Saints.

Only then could he, Maitreya Buddha, take his place.

Dipankara Buddha was also very clear about what Maitreya Buddha was thinking.

However, it was one thing for Dipankara Buddha to be clear about it, and another thing to take action.

After all, the reasons Maitreya Buddha gave were solid, so Dipankara Buddha couldn't use this to go and complain to the two Western Saints.

Besides, even if he caught Maitreya Buddha deliberately causing trouble, Dipankara Buddha wouldn't do so.

It wasn't because Dipankara Buddha had a selfless spirit or anything, but because if he, Dipankara Buddha, couldn't even solve such a small matter,

he feared that in the eyes of the two Western Saints, his evaluation would be even lower, and then he wouldn't be able to stay in this position for long.

After all, before him, there was the existence of Buddha Tathagata, a pearl of great price.

In the end, seeing that if they continued to argue like this, even if the Journey to the West Great Calamity started, their Buddhist Sect might not be able to select a candidate to replace Jin Chanzi.

For this reason, Bodhisattva Guanyin stood up at this critical moment.

"In my opinion, what Maitreya Buddha says is not without reason. Since that is the case, let me serve as the pilgrim this time."

Bodhisattva Guanyin belonged neither to Maitreya Buddha’s side nor to Dipankara Buddha’s side; it could be said that Bodhisattva Guanyin was a neutral existence within the Buddhist Sect.

Therefore, facing this proposal from Bodhisattva Guanyin, both Dipankara Buddha and Maitreya Buddha could accept it.

For Dipankara Buddha, once the Journey to the West Great Calamity had a pilgrim, it could proceed according to plan, and thus his value in the eyes of the two Western Saints would not decline.

And for Maitreya Buddha, although Bodhisattva Guanyin becoming the pilgrim for this Journey to the West Great Calamity did not achieve his ultimate goal,

it could still strike a blow to Dipankara Buddha’s prestige. After all, this pilgrimage would be led by Bodhisattva Guanyin, and most of the credit would be counted on Guanyin’s head.

This would lead to Dipankara Buddha’s position remaining unstable.

In this way, Maitreya Buddha could just find another opportunity to topple Dipankara Buddha later.

As for Bodhisattva Guanyin, a woman, becoming the pilgrim, this was completely outside the scope of Maitreya Buddha and Dipankara Buddha’s concerns.

Because Bodhisattva Guanyin had no gender distinction to begin with; back when he was Daoist Cihang, Bodhisattva Guanyin was male.

And after becoming Bodhisattva Guanyin, he became female.

Therefore, after reincarnating, Bodhisattva Guanyin could completely go on the pilgrimage in the body of a man. ### CHAPTER 903 **The Support of Dao Ancestor Hongjun**