I am a fairy in Journey to the West

"Is this the state of Nirvana in Buddhism?" the Great Emperor of the Northern Peak asked, looking at the Heavenly Sound Sacred Realm before him.

The Buddha Mahavairocana nodded and said, “Indeed, when the Dharma reaches its zenith, it will naturally turn to Nirvana; this is the principle of reincarnation.”

"However, this realm of annihilation must not remain in the human world forever, lest it become a calamity for all living beings." After saying this, the Great Sun Buddha put his hands together and flew straight into the Heavenly Sound Sacred Realm.

Watching the Great Sun Buddha fly into the Heavenly Sound Sacred Realm and disappear into that desolate domain, the Great Emperor of the Northern Mountain couldn't help but worry, "Will the Great Sun Buddha be alright going in like this?"

Zhuang Yan did not answer the question directly, but smiled and said, "The pinnacle of Buddhism is not the limit of Buddhahood. After Nirvana, there is peace."

The Great Emperor of the Northern Peak suddenly understood, nodded, and said, "True Lord Lingtai, would you like to visit my Northern Peak Divine Palace later?"

Zhuang Yan smiled and said, "I won't go today. I'll visit you again when I have time. However, there will be an account to be sent to the Northern Mountain Divine Palace in a few days, and I'll need Your Majesty to handle it then."

"Oh? An account?" The Great Emperor of the Northern Peak was taken aback for a moment, then asked, "A real account or a fictitious account?"

Zhuang Yan said, "First it was a false account, then it was converted into a real account by my Grand Commander's Office and sent to the Northern Mountain Divine Palace."

"Understood." Emperor Beiyue nodded. This was the responsibility he, as Emperor Beiyue, had to bear in this incident involving the Demon Lord Taichen.

Therefore, the Great Emperor of the Northern Mountain said resolutely, "Whether this tent is large or small, I will not refuse it."

Zhuang Yan nodded and smiled, "Your Majesty is wise."

In the blink of an eye, the Heavenly Sound Sacred Realm was radiant with Buddhist light, the power of annihilation was dissipating, and the entire Heavenly Sound Sacred Realm was revitalized.

After an unknown period of time, the power of annihilation completely dissipated, and then the Buddha's light receded, leaving everything desolate.

After everything returned to normalcy and tranquility, the enormous Buddha image in the Heavenly Sound Sacred Realm also vanished with the wind.

When the Great Sun Buddha reappeared, the Heavenly Sound Sacred Realm became a desolate mountain forest ruin, and the magnificent scene of its former glory with its radiant Buddha light could no longer be seen.

The Great Sun Buddha returned the Northern Star Crossing Boat to the Great Emperor of the Northern Mountain. As for the myriad phenomena that were suppressed by the Buddha of Non-Emptiness, they naturally disappeared after the Demon Lord of the Great Dust was wiped out.

The Great Emperor of the Northern Peak put the Northern Star Crossing Boat into his sleeve, bowed to the Great Sun Buddha and said, "Thank you, Great Sun Buddha. Please come to the Northern Peak so that I can do my part as a host."

The Great Sun Buddha glanced at Zhuang Yan and asked, "Is True Lord Lingtai going?"

Zhuang Yan smiled and shook his head, saying, "I won't go today."

Upon hearing this, the Great Sun Buddha said to the Great Emperor of the Northern Peak, "Since the True Lord of the Spirit Platform is not going today, then this humble monk will not go either."

"Eh? Why is that?" Emperor Beiyue was very surprised.

Zhuang Yan also smiled and said, "Great Sun Buddha, you are not my attendant, Zhuang Yan. Why would you not go if I don't go? That doesn't make sense."

The Great Sun Buddha laughed and said, "If True Lord Lingtai doesn't go, it's not good for this humble monk to go alone. Now that the Northern Mountain Divine Palace has just settled the Northern Continent, there are probably many things to do. If this humble monk goes, it will definitely be a lot of trouble, which is really not worth it."

The Great Emperor of the Northern Peak said, "If the Great Sun Buddha is willing to visit the Northern Peak, it will be an honor for the Northern Peak. We don't care whether it's worth it or not."

“No, no.” The Great Sun Buddha waved his hand and said, “Please use these resources on the beings of the Northern Continent.”

At this point, the Great Sun Buddha smiled and said, "When the Northern Continent is stable and prosperous in the future, this humble monk will come to visit again."

Upon hearing this, the Great Emperor of the Northern Mountain could say nothing more, but simply bowed and said, "Great Sun Buddha is merciful. Since that is the case, then I will not force you."

Having said this, the Great Emperor of the Northern Peak bid farewell to Zhuang Yan and the Great Sun Buddha, and then returned directly to Mount Heng in the Northern Peak.

Zhuang Yan returned to Mount Buzhou with the Great Sun Buddha. On the way back, Zhuang Yan asked the Great Sun Buddha, "Has the Buddha Amoghavajra entered the cycle of reincarnation?"

The Great Sun Buddha nodded, took out a pure and flawless Buddha bone relic from his sleeve, and said, "The Buddha Amoghavajra was moved by worldly desires and deserved to suffer this calamity. It is a good thing for him to enter the world to cultivate again."

Zhuang Yan said, "The Buddha will return to the world to cultivate again, but it is probably not possible to do so in one or two lifetimes."

The Great Sun Buddha said, "When Amoghavajra enters the world this time, it will take seventy-nine great kalpas, one thousand two hundred small kalpas, one hundred lifetimes, and a total of eight thousand nine hundred and seventy-two years before he can regain his Buddhahood."

Zhuang Yan nodded slightly and then asked, "So, who is Lingshan planning to send next Northern Buddha?"

The Great Sun Buddha shook his head and said, "Two of the Five Buddhas have already passed away. The Eastern Immovable Body Buddha and the Northern Amoghasiddhi Buddha have both perished. For the time being, the Buddhist sect has no plans to bestow a new Northern Buddha title."

Zhuang Yan's gaze narrowed slightly. He discerned a clear meaning from the Great Sun Buddha's tone: Buddhism was withdrawing its power.

"So, in that case, there's only one Southern Ratnasambhava Buddha left in the outer town of Buddhism?" Zhuang Yan asked.

The Great Sun Buddha laughed and said, "Indeed, only the Southern Ratnasambhava Buddha still guards Jambudvipa to this day."

Zhuang Yan nodded, and soon the two returned to Buzhou Mountain. As soon as they arrived, the Great Sun Buddha bid farewell to Zhuang Yan.

Zhuang Yan smiled and said, "Won't you have a cup of tea before you leave?"

The Great Sun Buddha waved his hand and smiled, "There will be plenty of opportunities to drink tea in the future. Now I must go back first to properly settle the relics of Amoghavajra and the Bodhisattvas."

Zhuang Yan nodded and said, "Alright, then I won't see you off any further."

The Great Sun Buddha put his hands together and said, "True Lord, please wait."

Then, the Great Sun Buddha stood on a golden lotus, rode on auspicious clouds, and flew out of Buzhou Mountain in a short while, disappearing into the western sky.

Time flies, and more than a month has passed in the blink of an eye. On this day, Wang Shu came to Lingtai Palace to see Zhuang Yan.

Her shimmering robes reflected the colors of the sunset, her delicate jade pendants fluttering in the breeze; she was truly an innocent and graceful woman, a celestial being among jade beauties.

Upon seeing the two boys, Baojie and Xiuhuang, guarding the front of the Hall of Fate, she went up and embraced them, pinching each of their cheeks.

Then Wang Shu took out two candied hawthorn skewers and gave one to Bao Jie and one to Xiu Huang.

"You all continue eating, I'm going to see your master." With that, Wang Shu got up and pushed open the door of the Si Ming Hall, then went inside.

She doesn't need to announce her presence to see Zhuang Yan, because she's not officially Zhuang Yan's subordinate; she's more like a friend who stays here to help him.

"Could you knock on the door next time?" Zhuang Yan said, slowly opening his eyes as Wang Shu walked in. Wang Shu walked to a nearby sandalwood chair and sat down, looking at Zhuang Yan in the hall, and said, "Sure."

Zhuang Yan asked, "Has the account book been delivered?"

Wang Shu took out a scroll from her sleeve and used her magic to send it to Zhuang Yan, saying, "Early this morning, the Underworld Envoy Pei Jue sent over the account book. Take a look."

Zhuang Yan took the ledger, opened it, and glanced at the total: '21,367,446 purple coins'.

Zhuang Yan closed the ledger, nodded, and said, "I understand. You can go back now."

Wang Shu stood up lazily and complained, "Sigh, what a stingy person. People come all this way with great difficulty, and they won't even offer me a cup of tea. They just say a few words and then send me back."

Zhuang Yan said, "What are you complaining about? Have I ever starved you? All the resources and treasures of Buzhou Mountain are under your control. Take whatever you want yourself."

Upon hearing this, Wang Shu merely swayed her robes and sighed, "Alas, I say, Lao Zhuang, it's hard for you to attract female immortals with your appearance; you have absolutely no sense of humor."

Zhuang Yan laughed and said, "You don't need to worry about that."

Wang Shu said, "If I were you, I would already have a harem of wives and concubines, and I would be surrounded by those famous goddesses and immortals. Hahahaha."

Zhuang Yan glanced at her, then suddenly stood up and flew down, grabbing Wang Shu's delicate, pink neck.

Wang Shu immediately shrank back and said, "What are you doing? It tickles."

Zhuang Yan twisted his wrist, turning Wang Shu towards the outside of the hall, then kicked her out, and the hall door slammed shut with a bang.

As the palace doors closed, Zhuang Yan's voice came from inside, "Don't act crazy here."

Wang Shu's face turned bright red, and she covered her right buttock with both hands. She turned around to scold him, but suddenly her eyes flashed and she looked up at the three big characters 'Siming Hall'.

Wang Shu turned her gaze and immediately leaped into the air, using her magic to cover the two characters 'Si Ming' and then wrote the two large characters 'Guang Gun' on top of them.

Thus, the 'Hall of Fate' became the 'Hall of Bachelors', and Wang Shu left satisfied.

Meanwhile, Baojie and Xiuhuang were engrossed in eating candied hawthorns. They only glanced at Wangshu when he was kicked out, and didn't notice what happened afterward.

Zhuang Yan quickly handed over the 'ledger' to the Northern Mountain Divine Palace. This ledger was generated by the beings of Northern Ju Luzhou who died during the calamity of the Demon Lord Tai Chen and passed through a special passage in the underworld.

Remember when Zhuang Yan summoned the chosen one to open up the situation in Beiju Luzhou, he went to the underworld to ask the Fengdu Emperor to open a special reincarnation channel.

However, using this passage requires paying underworld purple coins as compensation, and the bill of over 20 million purple coins was generated by those millions of living beings.

When the current Minister of the Divine Palace, Taiheng Jun, received this account book, he was immediately taken aback and rushed to find the Great Emperor of the Northern Mountain.

When the Great Emperor of the Northern Peak saw this number, his heart skipped a beat, and he hurriedly asked, "How many purple coins does our Northern Peak Divine Palace have in its accounts right now?"

Lord Taiheng said, "I just checked, and there are only eight million purple coins in total."

At this point, Taihengjun asked, puzzled, "Father, why would Lingtai Zhenjun give us such large ledgers? Where did these ledgers come from?"

The Great Emperor of Beiyue said, "This is a responsibility that Beiyue should bear because of the millions of lives lost due to the Demon Lord Taichen."

Lord Taiheng asked, "What would happen if we didn't take responsibility?"

The Great Emperor of the Northern Mountain suddenly chuckled, amused by his son's naiveté. "If it were Minister Zhao Chongguo, he wouldn't have asked such a question."

After saying this, the Great Emperor of the Northern Mountain took the account book and said, "Not a single one of these purple coins can be missing; they must all be sent to the Divine Palace of Buzhou Mountain."

“But we don’t have that many purple coins,” said Lord Taiheng.

The Great Emperor of the Northern Peak said, "Sell all the celestial treasures in the treasury that can be sold, as well as all the celestial fruits and herbs planted in Hengshan. If that's still not enough, dig up the celestial fruit trees and celestial herb plants and sell them."

Taiheng Jun murmured, "This will bankrupt us. How will my Northern Mountain Divine Palace survive from now on?"

The Great Emperor of the Northern Peak said indifferently, "It's just that we're a little poor and strapped for cash. Everyone here is a god, and we don't need to eat. If we want to eat, we can go and farm the land ourselves."

Taiheng Jun still couldn't accept it. His mind raced, and suddenly a brilliant idea struck him. He said, "Father, we can collect purple coins from the major divine palaces of Beiju Luzhou, as well as from the caves of immortal cultivators and demons."

Upon hearing this, the Great Emperor of the Northern Mountain flew into a rage, slamming his fist on the table and shouting, "You worthless wretch, do you want to die a horrible death?!"

Lord Taiheng was so frightened that he trembled all over and quickly knelt down, shaking with fear.

The Great Emperor of the Northern Mountain frowned and paced back and forth angrily. After a long while, he took a deep breath, calmed down, and said to Lord Taiheng, "Get up and do as I say."

Lord Taiheng felt as if he had been granted a pardon and quickly kowtowed, saying, "Yes, Your Majesty, I will do it immediately."

A few days later, the entire immortal realm of the Yama Great World knew that the Northern Mountain Divine Palace was selling everything it owned to raise purple coins.

The other four sacred mountains were the first to know, and their divine palaces came to inquire about the situation. The Great Emperor of the Northern Mountain responded to each of them.

After learning the details, the other four mountains all expressed their willingness to lend purple coins to the Northern Mountain Divine Palace.

But the Great Emperor of the Northern Mountain declined, as he did not want to incur any favors because of this matter.

Even some great immortals from the Taoist sects came to him offering their help, but the Great Emperor of the Northern Mountain refused them all.

Since the Great Emperor of the Northern Peak was unwilling to owe favors, and the immortal treasures that the Northern Peak had collected for many years were indeed good things, all the immortals from the four continents with some wealth bought them.

In the end, the Northern Peak Divine Palace really did have to sell everything it owned. All the immortal roots and spiritual plants were dug up and sold. Even the Northern Peak Empress Jingming and her consorts brought out their various immortal treasures and ornaments to sell, which barely raised enough purple coins to pay off the debt.

At this time, the spiritual energy of Beiyue was far greater than that of any ordinary mountain, let alone a sacred mountain.

The immortals who came and went all sighed when they saw this scene, saying, "The True Lord of Lingtai is too ruthless." Now, the only difference between Mount Heng and the "barren mountain" is that there is a Mount Heng Divine Palace on it; otherwise, it would really be a barren mountain.

But Zhuang Yan remained unmoved. All he wanted were those 21,367,446 purple coins, not a single one less!

When Bei Yue collected all the purple coins and handed them over to Buzhou Mountain, Zhuang Yan didn't even glance at them. After Wang Shu and her men finished counting them, they were directly sent to the Imperial Palace of Fengdu in the Underworld. (End of Chapter)