Chapter 392: The Biography of the Golden Light Bodhisattva

Huogong Toutuo entered the true Golden Buddha Kingdom, but what he saw was not gold-paved ground in any real sense; it was all desolate yellow sand, broken walls and ruined pillars built of yellow earth, weathered Buddha statues, faceless Bodhisattvas, armless Arhats, and stone-carved scriptures with illegible characters.

He did not understand Dharma, nor did he have the heart for any archaeological research. After scanning the area slightly and feeling there was nothing good here, he continued to walk deeper inside.

Not long after Huogong Toutuo left, Huanglian Daoren arrived. At this time, he had been brainwashed by Xu Jia and had realized his karmic connections; he was the reincarnation of the Third Prince of the Golden Ancient Kingdom who had left the country out of hatred for Buddhism. Now, he was returning to find the true reason for the destruction of the Golden Ancient Kingdom.

He first arrived at the outer perimeter and saw those mummified corpses, feeling a sense of sorrow in his heart: "These are all the subjects of my country, deceived by those bald donkeys. Now they have fallen to such a state, and even in death, they cannot find peace, still believing in Buddha here."

He then killed those low-level practitioners of heterodox paths who were digging up "Sarira" from the mummified corpses, and raised a handful of Hundred Poison Yellow Sand Gu to dissolve their flesh and bones. The Buddha essence within the undigested Sarira refined the yellow sand, giving it a faint golden light, as if it were golden sand. On each grain of sand, there were vaguely micro-carved Buddhas and Arhats. Looking closely at these Buddhas and Arhats, their faces were twisted; they were actually the souls of these killed people, infected by the Buddha essence, unable to be liberated, and had become "Buddha Slaves," just like the commoners of the Golden Ancient Kingdom.

After killing these people, Huanglian Daoren entered the second barrier. Seeing the same incomplete Buddha statues, he sneered, "How can they be immortal? In the end, they are just a handful of yellow earth."

Just as he was about to continue inside, he suddenly felt something. He walked to a wall of the Ten Thousand Buddha Cave, touched a certain Buddha statue, and gave it a twist. Immediately, a crack opened in the Buddha cave, just wide enough for one person to turn sideways and pass through.

Huanglian Daoren passed through the crack and saw a secret chamber. Descending from the secret chamber, he saw mummified corpses everywhere, with skulls arranged into a "Skull Mound" (a mound of skulls). The further he walked, the angrier he became. When he reached the very back, he saw rows of stone Lotus Platforms.

In the center of these Lotus Platforms was a sharp stick. On several Lotus Platforms, there were mummified corpses sitting on these sharp sticks with peaceful expressions.

On other Lotus Platforms, there were "Golden Bodies" painted with high-quality gold powder. The one at the very front, besides the gold paint, was the entire physical body, encased within a clay-sculpted Bodhisattva statue, with only the ribs vaguely visible.

This was a "Flesh Bodhisattva."

Seeing this through Huanglian Daoren, Xu Jia felt inexplicably familiar. After all, after his own death, he had also become a Golden Body, only he had not sat on this kind of specially-made Lotus Platform.

This was clearly very cruel; the process began while the person was still alive.

Xu Jia was clear on the specific process: first, they were fed meals without salt, leaving the limbs weak and the whole person plump and white, easy to manipulate. Then, they were forbidden from eating and only fed clear oil through a funnel.

Once there was no filth left in the stomach, they were fed only a few pills for preservation every day. These pills provided a feeling of fullness but no nutrition, eventually slowly consuming all the body fat until they became like mummified corpses.

When they were about to breathe their last, they were posed, seated on the Lotus Platform, and placed in a ventilated, dry place to air-dry for several days. Besides this, an "Incense Array" was placed around them to keep the physical body in a state of constant smoking and burning, causing "auspicious signs to manifest on the flesh," which was also considered an Achievement.

Besides this, things like "Sarira" were also largely man-made.

This was the result after Buddhism was domesticated locally. Before it was fully domesticated, there was still "Burning Body Transforming into Rainbow," a method of suicide and self-mutilation to demonstrate the boundless nature of Dharma.

Some sects would even exhort believers to "Endure Hardship to Become a Buddha," encouraging them to self-mutilate, starve, suffer from cold, or wear thick clothes in hot weather and whip themselves with thorns...

But this could not actually bring one closer to Buddha; it only brought "near-death hallucinations," and even some pleasure, making the believers think they had truly seen the Buddha and the Bodhisattvas, and were about to be received into the Paradise.

The number of people deceived and killed in this way was extremely high. The ignorant followed one after another, and the land and wealth of these dead people all became the property of the temple monks.

Judging from this secret chamber, the Golden Ancient Kingdom was likely destroyed by "universal belief in Buddhism."

Huanglian Daoren had long since identified with this, and his heart was filled with hatred.

But when he walked to the very end, he saw a tall man on a Lotus Platform, still sporting a small mustache, wearing a Bodhisattva crown, dressed in necklaces and jewelry, sitting in the full lotus position, staring straight ahead.

This person was none other than the Eldest Prince of the Golden Ancient Kingdom.

Under the direction of Xu Jia, Huanglian Daoren looked at the "Golden Light Bodhisattva Biography" carved on the stone platform in front of this Bodhisattva.

It was written that the Golden Light Bodhisattva was originally an Arhat who listened to Maitreya preach in the Tushita Heaven. He was born into the family of a small king and was the Eldest Prince who was to inherit the throne. From a young age, he resolved to make offerings to the Buddha and study Dharma. When the day came to inherit the throne, he was unwilling to do so and wanted to become a monk. Later, he was persuaded to manage the court by day and enter the temple to cultivate Buddhism after court. After twenty years of this, his merit was complete, and he attained the title of "Golden Light Bodhisattva," leading the Golden Ancient Kingdom to ascend collectively to the Buddha Realm and achieve a Buddha Kingdom.

Huanglian Daoren sneered, "Big brother, oh big brother, you were deceived by those thieving monks. Even after death, you cannot find peace and were turned into this kind of thing."

He circled around but could not find the Second Prince, nor the Old King.

Just as he was about to destroy this place, he heard a voice: "Namo Golden Light Bodhisattva." A phantom appeared; it was the Golden Light Bodhisattva from before the seat. He said, "A single wrong thought at the beginning led to a great mistake, allowing that wicked beast to succeed. Everything awaits the day of rebirth, for those with affinity..."

As he said this, he seemed to recognize Huanglian Daoren: "So it is you. No wonder, no wonder. Cause and effect arise and cease, a glimmer of survival, fate and karma, divine abilities are hard to resist."

He immediately pointed at Huanglian Daoren, and a key fell into Huanglian Daoren's hand. This key was golden and inlaid with coral and pearls; in this Da Mo, treasures from the Ocean were always considered precious.

"This is the key to open the treasury. That wicked obstacle coveted the Buddha Treasure but was sealed here by my design. However, he also possesses divine abilities. The day he is reborn will be the day he is about to escape. Slay him, and you can use the Buddha Treasure to restore the vitality of the Oasis and recreate the glory of the Golden Buddha Kingdom of the past."

Having said this, the phantom dissipated.

Xu Jia secretly thought, "It's like an NPC performing on its own. But in that instant, I actually felt a sense of being watched. Could this Golden Light Bodhisattva of the Golden Ancient Kingdom have truly become a Bodhisattva? No, if he were a real Bodhisattva, how could he use this method of creating a Flesh Bodhisattva to be worshipped? Those made into this are all being manipulated."

Xu Jia's heart was already suspicious. He immediately calculated with his fingers, but the heavenly secrets were obscured. After all, he was not from this world and had not completed the "smuggling ritual," so he was always targeted by malice. Now that he had stripped his consciousness out and arrived in this statue to become the Earth Deity of this Oasis, he was even more of a "Domain-Outer Evil God."

Huanglian Daoren, influenced by Xu Jia's suggestion, also made a choice at this time. He took a few steps back, no longer thinking of destroying the situation here, and only inspected the surroundings.

Finally, on the back of the Golden Light Bodhisattva, he discovered a Golden Box. Opening the Golden Box, there was nothing else inside but a Golden Seal. On this Golden Seal was written: "Imperial Edict of the Great Tang Emperor, Seal of the King of Jinguang Guo."

Xu Jia had not yet understood the history of this world, but seeing this seal, he secretly thought, "It must be some Buddha Kingdom not recorded in the journey of Xuanzang's Western Regions, or perhaps a parallel universe."

A Xiaodifu governed five hundred such small worlds; time, space, and history were all different at certain nodes, leading to different developments.

Xu Jia was not surprised by this, only saying, "This seal is likely the source of legitimacy for this Golden Ancient Kingdom. But I wonder why it was placed here. Could it be that the Buddhist sect had already calculated this?"

Huanglian Daoren put away the Golden Seal. This seal could be refined into a Magic Tool and could suppress luck. Although not as agile as a flying sword in combat, it was still a rare treasure, carrying the destiny of a country. Since he was the reincarnation of the Third Prince, he had the right to inherit it.

Coming out of this secret chamber, Huanglian Daoren happened to meet the little monk Shifang. Shifang was very surprised to see Huanglian Daoren: "Senior, why are you here too?"

Huanglian Daoren did not recognize Shifang at all. After all, it was Xu Jia who had "Stealing Body Possession" of him at that time. But with an instinctive hatred for monks, he did not say much and entered the next level of the ancient kingdom.

Shifang thought for a moment and also entered the crack in the Buddha niche, only to be shocked beyond words.

It turned out that the monks of their Da Mo "Ten Thousand Buddha Cave" lineage were the descendants of the Golden Ancient Kingdom. Shifang was still pure and kind; where had he ever seen such a scene of creating a Flesh Buddha? He immediately developed doubts about the Dharma.

At this time, the Golden Light Bodhisattva revealed his phantom again, performing on his own, and then dissipated.

It was unknown how much Shifang believed.

When they reached the third level, Huogong Toutuo and Huanglian Daoren met. This level was also where the vast majority of second-rate experts, and even some first-rate experts, stopped.

One had to solve a Buddhist riddle and realize something before a door would appear to enter. There were a total of eight doors, corresponding to the "Eight Legions" of the Buddhist sect.

Even the previously mentioned He Yu Langjun and the Gongye father and daughter were all here.

Besides them, there were all sorts of heterodox practitioners famous in Da Mo, such as the Desert Three Demons—the Sand Demon, the Wind Demon, and the Yanmo—who were all here. They called themselves the Desert Three Immortals. The heterodox arts they practiced were: one was good at using Sand, one was good at wielding Wind, and one was good at manipulating Fire. Because of their eccentric temperaments and frequent rumors of robbing, stealing treasures, and killing people, they were known as the Desert Three Demons. There was also the Scorpion Sect Envoy of the Five Poison Sect of the Southern Frontier, who practiced Gu-refining and also carried a Poison Sword...

Only Baiyun Chanshi was not there. It seemed he had already realized the Buddhist riddle and had entered through one of the eight doors.

Huogong Toutuo was happy to see Huanglian Daoren: "Master, why have you come?"

But seeing Huanglian Daoren's vigilant expression, he knew: "The master is possessing the body; at this moment, I don't know if he is pretending not to know me, or if the little beast who originally owned this body is in control."

He immediately retreated, his expression returning to normal.

And Gongye Xingyun saw the difference in temperament: "This person is definitely not the one I saw before. Although the Dharma Power is the same, the face and expression are much more wretched. Seeing me, he actually shows fear. Is he really the old thing who performed the possession?"

(End of chapter)