People in Conferred Gods: Rising from humble beginnings, I am the God of Wealth

Inside the Confucius courtyard.

Yang Xuan mobilized the power of the Sun Star, his gaze sweeping over all the temples in the primordial world, conveying the same message.

Yang Xuan was the biggest beneficiary of the debate between Confucius and Buddha, besides Confucius himself.

As the saying goes, there is no harm without comparison.

In some ways, Shintoism and Buddhism are similar; both aim to cultivate followers for the sake of incense offerings and vows.

However, in the current Buddhist teachings, the role of believers is merely to provide a machine for offering incense and making vows; they are of no use other than that.

Buddhism, on the other hand, only takes, offering nothing of substance other than the promise of rebirth in the Pure Land after death and the opportunity to practice the true Dharma.

The relationship between Buddhism and its followers is fundamentally unequal, and can even be described as one-sided exploitation.

Before Confucius and Buddha discussed the Tao, the creatures of the ancient East could comfort themselves by saying, "Buddhism is the religion of sages, and it must have a profound meaning, not as simple as it seems on the surface."

But after this live broadcast, watching Confucius, with his Golden Immortal cultivation, completely defeat Shakyamuni, a quasi-saint, from various different angles, was truly awe-inspiring.

Unless one truly has no hope for this life, there are basically no other living beings who follow Buddhism.

In contrast, the divine way offers far better benefits to its believers, completely crushing Buddhism in comparison.

The way of gods existed long, long ago; it was not created by Yang Xuan.

However, before Yang Xuan, no one valued the divine path. Even the Heavenly Emperor Haotian, who also cultivated the divine path, only thought it was a heretical path and could not compare to the immortal path.

If even the Heavenly Emperor is like this, then other beings in the primordial world look down on the divine path even more. The divine path has virtually no fortune.

It wasn't until Yang Xuan appeared that the Divine Path ushered in a period of explosive development.

Initially, Yang Xuan took advantage of the opportunity of cooperation between Kyushu and the Heavenly Court to build temples in Kyushu and begin to promote the way of the gods.

At that time, there was no concept of believers. As long as the human race paid a sufficient price, they could invite the gods and immortals of the Heavenly Court to help build the cities of the Nine Provinces and manage the surrounding earth veins.

During this process, humans and immortals established initial cooperation and no longer had any aversion to the divine way.

But gradually, the human race discovered a problem, or rather, a shortcoming.

At that time, there were not many gods and immortals in the Heavenly Court, and there were many vacancies. Many gods and immortals needed to stay in the Heavenly Court to maintain its operation.

There weren't many immortals and gods who were able to come to Kyushu and respond to the requests of the human race. As the human race accelerated its development and opened up more areas, the number of these immortals and gods began to be insufficient.

It was at this time that Yang Xuan deduced many methods for condensing low-grade incense and golden bodies, allowing the development of the divine path to enter the second stage, and the concept of believers began to emerge.

Once the celestial deities of Heaven condense a golden body made of incense, they can exercise their divine authority, allowing the deities themselves more time for cultivation and greater freedom.

Furthermore, Yang Xuan demonstrated the power of the incense-infused golden body through his actions during his tribulation.

Tell the celestial beings that if they can condense a superior-grade incense golden body, not only will the incense golden body be able to take on more celestial affairs, but it will also be a powerful external avatar.

As soon as this happened, all the immortals and gods in the entire Heavenly Court began to diligently cultivate the path of incense offerings, earnestly fulfill their divine duties, and accumulate contributions in order to exchange for the superior incense offering golden body condensation method as soon as possible.

However, in order to condense a low-grade incense golden body, in addition to the corresponding cultivation method, there is one more thing that is indispensable.

Just as spiritual energy is needed for cultivating immortality, the power of incense and vows is needed for cultivating divine practice.

Although the celestial beings of the Heavenly Court are far from being able to exchange for the superior-grade Incense Golden Body Condensation Method, even a low-grade Incense Golden Body, once condensed, is still a considerable aid.

More importantly, only by condensing the incense golden body can one have a container to collect the incense's power and wishes, thus preparing for the future cultivation of the superior incense golden body condensation method.

As a result, the requirements of all the temples in Kyushu changed. They could ask the celestial gods for help by becoming believers of the gods and providing incense and prayers.

Compared to offering tangible spiritual objects, this transaction method, which simply provides incense and prayers, or focuses on incense and prayers while other spiritual objects are the main focus, is more effective.

For humans, the cost of asking gods and immortals for help is obviously much lower, so they are naturally happy to do so.

Becoming a believer in gods and immortals isn't a problem, as long as you pray regularly and offer incense and prayers.

It doesn't require selling oneself, won't affect cultivation, and can even save some spiritual items—why not?
From this point on, Shinto officially spread throughout Kyushu, and the temples built at that time began to function as intended.

After the celestial deities of the Heavenly Court condensed their golden bodies of incense offerings, the human race was surprised to discover that, because the celestial deities either placed these golden bodies in temples,
Alternatively, the incense-burning statue could return to the Heavenly Court to perform its divine duties, while the original body remained in the temple, thus responding to prayers much faster.

As long as there is enough incense offering and prayer, it can be said to respond instantly!
Moreover, their numbers have increased. In the past, because the celestial gods and immortals needed to maintain the operation of the Heavenly Court, the number of gods and immortals in charge of the Nine Provinces was quite limited, and many temples were closed down.

But with incense and a golden statue, things are different.

After a period of development, all the temples in Kyushu, whether they had incense offerings and golden statues or the original deity presiding over them, opened for business.

In addition, since the cultivation of gods requires incense and vows, in order to avoid losing believers, the gods and immortals in the heavenly court respond to believers faster and more actively.

Both sides had their own desires, and Shinto developed rapidly in Kyushu, eventually achieving a situation where humans and gods coexisted.

Later, Yang Xuan created the technique of summoning gods to possess his body, which allows him to remotely invoke the power of incense and golden bodies, either by sending down projections or by blessing himself to enhance his combat strength.

Compared to going to a temple to pray and invoking the gods to protect you from afar, this method is much more convenient, whether for fighting with people or helping to clear away ashes.

More importantly, in the past, no matter how much the celestial gods and immortals tried to manipulate things, they could only act with their physical bodies and incense offerings together, and they could only make two responses at the same time.

However, the method of invoking deities is different; it can make multiple responses simultaneously. The higher the cultivation level of the incense and golden body, the more responses it can make.

Although using the invocation of deities to respond will consume some incense offerings, you can gain more incense offerings at the same time, so it's definitely more profitable.

In the past, when the human race of Kyushu wanted to ask the gods for help, they had to wait in line. After all, the number of human race in Kyushu far exceeded the number of gods and immortals, and they simply couldn't respond to everyone.

With the development of the method of invoking deities to possess one's body, this problem was largely solved, and the Shinto sect entered a new golden age.

It was during this period that Shinto began to spread to other regions outside of Kyushu.

Since there are no external enemies in Kyushu, the need for summoning gods to fight is not very strong.

But it's different in other places. Not to mention fighting every day, it's common to fight once a year or even once a month.

The technique of summoning deities to possess you allows you to remotely invoke the power of the gods for assistance. Who could refuse such a good thing?
Especially after an evenly matched opponent uses the technique of summoning a deity to possess them, greatly increasing their strength and then beating them up, the spread of the divine path across the prehistoric world becomes even faster.

If others have it and you don't, you're at a natural disadvantage, and you might even lose your life. How can that be acceptable?!
The history of Shinto reveals a fundamental difference between Shinto and Buddhism.

From the very beginning, the essence of Shinto has not been one of constant taking, and the relationship between gods and believers is not one of superiors and subordinates, but rather an equal transactional one.

Believers offer incense (give money), and the gods respond (provide their efforts); this is the purest form of exchange.

The creatures of the ancient East saw through the teachings of Buddhism, realizing that Buddhism was nothing but self-deception, treating believers as machines to harvest their incense offerings and vows. The Buddhas and Bodhisattvas, seated high above the temples, looked down upon the believers, maintaining a hierarchical relationship.

In comparison, Shinto's doctrines are simply too appealing—equal relationships and fair transactions are incomparable.

And this was Yang Xuan's opportunity.

Taking advantage of this rare opportunity, which might not even come twice, Yang Xuan compiled the doctrines of the divine way into a book and distributed it to all the gods.

Whether they are celestial gods or underworld spirits, as long as they have temples built in various parts of the prehistoric world, they all receive Yang Xuan's voice transmission.

They either post Shinto doctrines outside the temple gates or give revelations to believers, conveying Shinto teachings to them.

The content of Shinto doctrine is very simple: it is a summary of the operation of Shinto over the years, and further emphasizes equality and fair trade.

As long as the distinction between the divine path and the Buddhist path is made clear to all living beings in the primordial world, and they become believers in the divine path, they will not need to worship Buddha and can still ask the gods for help, and that will be enough!
As for why fair trade is emphasized, the answer is obvious: Yang Xuan's path lies in the way of business.

Or rather, in Yang Xuan's plan, the divine way is inherently part of the business way; as long as it involves transactions, it falls under the business way!
If Buddhism wants to compete with Taoism for incense offerings in the future, it will have to change its doctrines.

If all goes as expected, the new Buddhist teachings will include provisions for responding to believers' prayers and then having them fulfill their vows.

If Buddhism does this, then transactions will appear in its fundamental doctrines, which will then be part of the way of commerce.

When commerce flourishes, the incense offerings and vows of Buddhism will inevitably be influenced by Yang Xuan to some extent.

If Yang Xuan were to accomplish another feat of creating the world, Buddhism might not be so pure anymore!

These are all things to be discussed later, especially the matter of the creation of the world. As long as Yang Xuan doesn't mention it, even a sage might not be able to foresee it.

As for matters of business, the Buddhist community might think of them, but the likelihood is slim, and even if they did, they wouldn't care.

After all, the way of business today is just an acquired path... or even a proper path, but just a minor path related to commerce.

Compared to the missionary work of Buddhism, a minor, acquired path is simply not within the scope of Buddhism's consideration.

Indeed, 50,000 years later, as the doctrines of Shinto spread widely, Buddhism, as a negative example, lost its influence in the prehistoric East.

Many Buddhist temples have been abandoned, and some have even been demolished to build shrines on the original sites.

Even in other places outside the ancient East, live broadcasts of Confucius and Buddha began to circulate.

Furthermore, since Shinto doctrines have spread throughout the entire prehistoric world, the influence of Buddhism in other parts of the prehistoric world will gradually decline.

Ten thousand years later, Buddhism's influence in the prehistoric world declined sharply, and countless beings resisted Buddhism.

Although most living beings dare not offend Buddhism, they cannot go against Buddhism like Yang Xuan and Confucius.

However, it is still possible to prevent oneself, one's family, and friends from becoming Buddhist believers.

The end result is that, in just tens of thousands of years, all the efforts made by Buddhism after it became an independent religion have been in vain.

Given the prestige of Buddhism, while it may not have fallen to the point of being universally hated, it is certainly somewhat disliked by both people and dogs.

chaos.

When Zhunti Daoist saw the message from Tathagata, his brows furrowed and his expression turned gloomy.

"That Yang Xuan truly deserves to die! We should have nipped him in the bud!"

"Alas! It's no use saying anything more now that things have come to this."

The guide's face was equally grim. Judging from the current situation, if Buddhism refused to change its doctrines, it would be impossible to spread its teachings in the East, let alone flourish.

However, once the doctrines are changed, the speed of Buddhist propagation still cannot be compared with that of the past.

Even though the rise of Buddhism is still an inevitable trend and something that will happen, it will certainly take much longer.

But no matter how angry or unwilling they are, they have to face the facts: if they are unwilling to make changes, it will certainly take longer for Buddhism to flourish, or it may even stagnate.

Left with no other choice, they had to make a decision.

As for how to change it, there's nothing to think about. How could they not know about the issues in Buddhist doctrine?
The reason for choosing this doctrine to spread the teachings is purely to better reap the benefits of Buddhist worship and accelerate the flourishing of Buddhism.

Originally, Buddhism was known as a sect of saints. Even though there were problems with the doctrines of Buddhism, some people were still willing to become Buddhist believers in order to try their luck in being reborn in the Pure Land after death and to receive the supernatural powers of Buddhism.

But now... it's impossible!
There was no other way; they had to use the true Buddhist teachings to spread their doctrines in advance.

At the beginning of their Buddhist practice, they established two doctrines: one for spreading the teachings, reaping the benefits of donations, and making Buddhism flourish as quickly as possible.

After Buddhism flourished, they would then say, "All sentient beings suffer; only by entering the Buddhist path can they find liberation," thus altering the doctrines, strengthening the faith of Buddhist believers, and consolidating the status of Buddhism.

The two doctrines, one for proselytizing and the other for consolidating the rise of Buddhism, if used properly, can enable Buddhism to expand rapidly and stabilize quickly without leaving any flaws.

Unfortunately, Confucianism and Yang Xuan's Taoism shattered all their plans, forcing them to prematurely present doctrines intended to solidify their positions and abandon their idea of ​​rapidly expanding Buddhism.

On Mount Sumeru, a group of Buddhas and Bodhisattvas, upon receiving the message from the two Western Saints, fell into a long silence.

After a long while, the Buddha sighed helplessly.

"Alas! Yang Xuan and Confucius, I never imagined that these two would bring us such great trouble."

No one expected that Confucius would surpass Buddha in a debate on the Dao.

No one expected that the aftermath of that debate would be so significant, bringing such great benefits to the Divine Path, which has now become an enemy of the Buddhist path.

If Buddhism wants to spread its faith in the future, it will have to go around the divine path. Given the current influence of the divine path on the prehistoric world, even if Buddhism has a sage behind it, it will not be easy to fight against it.

"From this perspective, changing the doctrine as soon as possible may not be a bad thing. At least it can ensure the faith of believers remains steadfast and is not eroded by the religion..."

The Buddha comforted himself with a word, and the other Buddhas and Bodhisattvas nodded in agreement. Holding the new Buddhist teachings, they led a group of monks out of Mount Sumeru from different directions.

It is worth mentioning that among the monks they brought this time, many were Buddhist believers who were reborn in the Western Paradise after their deaths.

These Buddhist followers are naturally drawn to Buddhism and possess exceptional qualities.

Clearly, this is an attempt to use these Buddhist followers for propaganda purposes and salvage a negative image.

However, with figures like Yang Xuan, Confucius, and the Hundred Schools of Thought involved, this was destined to be anything but easy… (End of Chapter)