Chapter 857

Brother Qian Chen glanced at him and said, "Rebel against heaven?"

Does rebelling against heaven eat your family's rice?

This young man meddles in too much! The earthly emperors and kings dare not touch it, and even the Jade Emperor of Heaven cannot manage it—yet he dares to intervene…

When the future Xuanzhen Taiyi opens the Path of the Other Shore, though obscured by the Buddha's elevation of the Karmic Dao, it is not entirely undetectable; the silence across the myriad worlds proves no one can intervene.

To glimpse Xuanzhen Taiyi the Demon Ancestor's contempt for the Jade Emperor as a mere ant from the *Sutra of the Bai Lian Descending*—this young man has real ability.

But to speak it aloud is your mistake!

Cao Cao Xuanwei subtly adjusted the battle formation of his troops' martial aura, silencing He He Bayue's next words; the Northern Wei crown prince had now firmly fixed his suspicion on Brother Qian Chen.

The dozens of layers of Buddhist light shattered by Li Zhong were quietly restoring, sustained by the devotional energy clinging to his body.

This primal devotional force originated from the accumulated golden bodies of tens of thousands of years of the Great Snow Mountain Vajrayana sect—all the remains of Vajrayana masters who failed to achieve Primordial Spirit—and added to it was a single avatar of the crown prince enshrined in tens of thousands of temples across Northern Wei.

Only through such vast accumulation of devotional energy, combined with a thread of primordial consciousness from the golden body, could these dozens of great Buddhist supernatural powers be forged.

All such great Buddhist supernatural powers belong to the category of Buddhist light.

Thirty-three rings of Buddhist light—Buddha of Sandalwood Merit, Jin Gang Indestructible Light, Supreme Treasure Light, Dragon King Buddha Light, Sālina Buddha Light, All-Encompassing Auspicious Merit Light, Red Flame Emperor Banner Buddha Light—all were minor vehicles.

Only two more rings—Warrior God Buddha Light and Śākyamuni Buddha Light—were needed to complete the great Buddhist supernatural power: Great Precious Accumulated Light Cloud.

Above the head, the light cloud manifested thirty-five Buddha forms, invulnerable to all dharmas!

Attacks like Li Zhong's blade that severed the white tiger carrying a corpse could no longer so easily pierce through these layers of Buddhist light.

This was why Cao Cao Xuanwei remained so calm even after losing to Li Zhong.

That final slash was not delivered by Li Zhong; his thirty-three layers of protective Buddhist light, though drawn from the power of dozens of golden bodies in the Great Snow Mountain and the boundless devotional energy gathered from tens of thousands of temples across Northern Wei where the crown prince's avatar was worshipped,

were nonetheless genuinely his own supernatural attainment.

After that slash, the Buddhist light rapidly restored, grounded in boundless devotional energy; now, the faint halo behind Cao Cao Xuanwei's head nearly merged into a single radiant cloud.

It was the thirty-fourth Buddhist light—the Warrior Victory Buddha Light—on the verge of completion.

Using this Precious Accumulated Light Cloud as a foundation, Cao Cao Xuanwei stirred his mind, linking to a tiny golden statue hidden in an obscure corner of countless Northern temples, all jointly worshipped.

The statue's face was identical to Cao Cao Xuanwei's.

Devotional energy surged forth, transforming into countless Buddha shadows within the Precious Accumulated Light Cloud behind his head.

Then, with each step Cao Cao Xuanwei took, golden footprints imprinted upon the pagoda's floor, and with torrents of devotional energy, the Buddhas were etched into each footprint—each footprint seemed to contain a Pure Land world, filled with countless bhikṣus chanting in meditation…

Reflected in the shadows of the six-layered pagoda, every golden brick resonated with these footprints, and within them, the four Buddhist qualities—Permanence, Bliss, Self, Purity—all trembled.

Cao Cao Xuanwei walked thirty steps in total!

The footprints he left were extraordinary: the first thirty corresponded precisely to the ten directions of his standing position (East, West, South, North, Southeast, Southwest, Northeast, Northwest, Up, Down).

Cao Cao Xuanwei now stood at the center of the pagoda; these thirty footprints surrounded both him and Brother Qian Chen.

Encircling three times, each circle contained ten footprints.

Li Zhong looked up at a bare foot imprint on the ceiling and could only mutter helplessly: Cao Cao Xuanwei's movement was too elusive.

At this moment, Cao Cao Xuanwei stood behind Brother Qian Chen, his feet each imprinting a Pure Land, and asked calmly: "In ancient times, Dharmakṣema came from the Lion Country in the south to propagate the Dharma in our Great Wei; my father asked him to teach thirty scrolls of the art of the bedchamber—each scroll a marvel beyond compare; possessing even one would grant invincibility."

"But I was curious about the treasure pagoda he carried, so I borrowed it to play with for seven days!"

"Every golden brick on this pagoda is inscribed with a completely different sutra. They appear countless, densely packed—so I asked Master Dharmakṣema: 'True Buddha speaks but one phrase; false transmissions produce ten thousand scrolls. With so many sutras here, how many are counterfeit?'"

"Master, do you know how many bricks this Jin Gang Samādhi Pagoda has? How many sutras are inscribed upon them? How many are false, how many are true?"

Brother Qian Chen had walked only seven steps; hearing this, he turned back curiously and said: "This Jin Gang Samādhi Pagoda contains roughly three hundred and sixty million sutras, because each brick is a clay mold forged from the flesh and skin of a living being, refined by Buddhist fire!"

"The Jin Gang Samādhi Pagoda was forged from the Buddhist fire ignited by the nirvana of three hundred and sixty million devotees of the Jiyi Kingdom!"

"A Buddha entered nirvana in the fire, yet failed to complete it; his golden body melted, mixing with the clay molds of three hundred and sixty million living beings."

"Because all sentient beings possess Buddha-nature, each clay mold reflects Buddha-nature and the fire of nirvana, inscribing one true sutra…"

Cao Cao Xuanwei's expression flickered with surprise as he took another step, landing on the eastern quadrant of the fourth circle.

He asked: "So all three hundred and sixty million sutras are true?"

Brother Qian Chen shook his head slightly.

Li Zhong clenched his fist, also shaking his head—Damn! This brother has walked right into the trap!

"Three hundred and sixty million sutras are both true and false. They are true because they reflect the Buddha-nature within sentient beings—true for each individual being. But they are false because the Buddha-nature within sentient beings holds meaning only for themselves."

"In my heart, they are all false!"

Cao Cao Xuanwei's face grew solemn as he stepped again, this time landing in the west, imprinting the footstep of the All-Encompassing Auspicious Merit Buddha Light.

"Then all three hundred and sixty million sutras are false…"

"No!" Brother Qian Chen shook his head: "One sutra is true—it is the *Mahāparinirvāṇa Sūtra*, born from the nirvana fire, from the extinguished Buddha!"

Brother Qian Chen gazed at the pagoda built of countless golden bricks, his voice echoing through the hollow pagoda: "When that Buddha entered nirvana, his body burned in Buddhist fire, molten gold raining down, allowing three hundred and sixty million beings to reflect Buddha-nature and manifest sutras—thus this sutra is hidden among those three hundred and sixty million."

"Only by standing within the pagoda and reflecting your own Buddha-nature can you see it in your heart…"

Cao Cao Xuanwei paused slightly, murmuring: "Is it not that one must recite all three hundred and sixty million false sutras before realizing this one?"

"That's a foolish method!" Brother Qian Chen said calmly: "All sentient beings possess Buddha-nature; thus, seeing your own nature is enough to become a Buddha—why bother converting others? Why seek to perceive another's nature?"

Cao Cao Xuanwei's voice grew heavy: "Then… how did you come to understand the *Mahāparinirvāṇa Sūtra*, which even Dharmakṣema could not fully comprehend?"

Brother Qian Chen replied calmly: "Dharmakṣema recited all three hundred and sixty million sutras before realizing the *Mahāparinirvāṇa Sūtra*—but I, in a single thought, reflected Buddha-nature upon this pagoda, more completely than he ever did!"

Cao Cao Xuanwei swiftly stepped north and south, leaving two footprints.

The Pure Lands manifested by thirty-four Buddha shadows, forged from boundless devotional energy, suddenly appeared within the footprints!

Cao Cao Xuanwei's thirty-three rings of Buddhist light, plus the newly formed one, circled the ten directions of this pagoda level, and the entire structure trembled; the countless sutras on the golden bricks began to flow downward.

The entire pagoda suddenly pressed down upon Brother Qian Chen as Cao Cao Xuanwei stepped forward!

But Brother Qian Chen merely stood still…

The thirty-four Buddha shadows, the accumulated devotional energy from nearly a century of worship of the crown prince's avatar across Northern Wei's temples—all converged in this single step, shaking the pagoda, causing it to collapse.

Or rather, with this step, Brother Qian Chen was crushed beneath the pagoda's three hundred and sixty million golden bricks and thirty-four Pure Lands, forming a Central Saha World, allowing Cao Cao Xuanwei to become a Buddha himself.

This was the attainment of Śākyamuni Buddha Light, representing the World-Honored One.

It was also the great supernatural power—Great Precious Accumulated Light Cloud—fully refining and absorbing the Jin Gang Samādhi Pagoda, transforming it into a treasure to suppress Brother Qian Chen.

Brother Qian Chen wore a look of disdain, still standing in place, watching Cao Cao Xuanwei step onto the pagoda's shadow.

With the Jin Gang Samādhi Pagoda absorbed, its boundless devotional energy, the thirty-five Buddha shadows fully formed, and the Central Saha World opened—yet only a faint footprint remained beneath his foot.

Cao Cao Xuanwei froze in place.

But Brother Qian Chen nodded slightly and said: "So Dharmakṣema passed on his realization of the *Mahāparinirvāṇa Sūtra* to you. And within moments of stepping onto the pagoda, you grasped its essence, fused it with the thirty-five Buddha names of the Great Precious Accumulated Light Cloud, and created a method to seize the pagoda, open the Central Saha World, and manifest the true Śākyamuni Buddha Light!"

"Well done!"

Brother Qian Chen sincerely praised him, then pointed to his feet: "Lift your foot—you're standing on my six-layer underground palace!"

Beside Cao Cao Xuanwei, the aged guardian suddenly struck, summoning jade-like thunder Ningju in his fingers—five fingers harboring five thunderclaps, reflecting the five viscera, unleashing a pure Daoist technique: a blazing palm thunder that seared toward Brother Qian Chen's back.

But before he could close in, the seven footprints Brother Qian Chen had left blossomed into lotuses one by one.

The guardian plunged headfirst into the first white lotus—and fell silent.

Brother Qian Chen stood atop the seventh lotus, speaking slowly: "Throughout heaven and earth, only I am supreme!"

The nine-tiered pagoda abruptly flipped, spiraled, and surrounded; the thousand elite armored cavalry encircling the pagoda were swallowed by the blooming lotuses, their bodies trampled beneath Brother Qian Chen's bare feet.

Great Buddhist supernatural power—Steps That Bloom Lotus!

Before the lotuses consumed all, Cao Cao Xuanwei leapt into his own footprint; Li Zhong tried to grab him but was too late, only staring helplessly up at his elder brother.

Brother Qian Chen said calmly: "Why are you staring at me? He challenged me himself…"

With that, he too stepped into the lotus.

The entire world abruptly reversed…

At the top of the six-layered pagoda, Dharmakṣema opened his eyes, seeing a thousand cavalrymen crammed inside his pagoda, his face filled with shock.

Behind him, the Great Prajñā Nirvāṇa Golden Body grinned savagely, embracing him tighter!

Cao Cao Xuanwei looked up and saw the Great Prajñā Nirvāṇa Golden Body embracing a tall, thin, bearded old monk—the golden body and true form merged in the posture of a Dharma consort!

Even as the well-traveled crown prince of Northern Wei, he now wore an expression of utter bewilderment…