Conferred Gods: Start with a Phoenix clone

Chapter 1775 Abdicate and give way to talents

The eighty-one tribulations had been completed. Ananda and Kasyapa had received instructions from the moonlight long ago and did not make things difficult for the four of them. After they had eaten a vegetarian meal, the two of them opened the treasure cabinet and, like porters, carried the scriptures for the four of them.

There are a total of 35 scriptures, totaling 5,048 volumes, which corresponds exactly to the number of a "Zang" (a collection of Buddhist scriptures).

With joy on their faces, Tang Sanzang and his disciples, carrying the scriptures, rode the clouds back to the Tang Dynasty in the East.

The Buddha of the original timeline seemed to be urging Tang Sanzang to hurry back to the Tang Dynasty. He sat on the high platform, opened the scriptures, and before he could even recite a single line, he was hastily dragged back to Mount Ling to receive his title in order to complete the 5,048-day journey to the West.

There's really no need to do that; it's too inhumane.

The journey to the West was merely a means to an end; the true purpose of Tang Sanzang was to return the scriptures to the Tang Dynasty and preach them to the people of Tang.

Regardless of whether the scriptures could save the world, Tang Sanzang sacrificed everything for this purpose.

The actions of Duobao Tathagata seemed overly calculating, devoid of any human compassion, and disregarded Tang Sanzang's enormous sacrifice.

The moonlight didn't matter whether Tang Sanzang spent 5048 days on his journey to obtain the scriptures. The number of days wasn't that precise, and forcing it would only make things worse.

The number of scriptures should be enough to constitute one collection.

For her, the moment Tang Sanzang made his way to Mount Ling, took the true scriptures, and returned them to the Tang Dynasty, the great prosperity of Buddhism was completely achieved.

Whether Tang Sanzang was willing to return or become the Sandalwood Merit Buddha was another matter.

Deng Chanyu, Phoenix, and Yuxu all began their seclusion at this moment.

Daji, Nezha, and Xiao Wu have all returned to Mount Emei, and the crucial moment of severing the three corpses is about to arrive.

The Three Pure Ones, Nuwa, and the Two Western Saints were created by severing the third corpse through a massive amount of merit, while Deng Chanyu rose to power by taking advantage of the flourishing of Buddhism. The key words are "borrowing" and "following the trend".

half year later.

Tang Sanzang and his disciples returned to Mount Ling.

The Buddhist titles bestowed upon Tang Sanzang and his companions are basically consistent with those in the original timeline: Sandalwood Merit Buddha, Victorious Fighting Buddha, Clean Altar Messenger, and Golden Body Arhat, in that order.

The white dragon horse also entered the Dragon Transformation Pool, shed its horse body, and transformed back into a dragon. It could not return to the Western Sea, but it could stay in Buddhism and become a Dharma protector.

The reason why Pigsy and the Jade Rabbit were given lower Buddhist ranks is because they didn't plan to stay in Buddhism for long. Now that the journey to the West has just ended, would they immediately resign? That would be a slap in the face to Moonlight. However, after a while, once the storm has passed, they will prepare to go back to their respective homes.

Tang Sanzang and Sun Wukong were planning to stay in Buddhism, so they were directly conferred the title of Buddha.

Lingshan, Main Hall.

All Buddhas and Bodhisattvas could see that the Buddhist fortune began to surge after the journey to the West. Tang Sanzang and his disciples truly opened up the road that had been blocked by the war between the Dao and the Demons in the past, and the East and the West were finally truly connected.

The heavens bestowed merit, and the moonlight was divided in half. Guanyin Bodhisattva took one-tenth, Tang Sanzang and his disciples shared three-tenths, and the remaining one-tenth was divided among the immortals and Buddhas who participated in the Journey to the West, such as Zhen Yuanzi, Kong Xuan, Manjushri, Samantabhadra, Maitreya, Laozi, and Venus.

The golden merits fell like rain, lasting for the duration of an incense stick burning.
Moonlight put away its merits and addressed all the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas, saying loudly, "I was entrusted by the Buddha and the Mother Buddha to preside over the great teachings, and now a thousand years have passed."

All the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas quickly joined their palms in prayer, expressing their gratitude to the Tathagata Moonlight for his many years of hard work and dedication.

She continued, “Now that Buddhism is flourishing, I am not wise enough and should abdicate and let a true Buddha appear to take charge of the religion.”

Whether they knew beforehand or not, all the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas appeared greatly alarmed. Disciples such as Ananda and Kasyapa wept bitterly.

Tang Sanzang was completely dumbfounded. He just started crying like that? Goodness, that's impressive! Even more so than me!
Moonlight said, "With the Buddha of Many Treasures ascending to the Pure Land, the position of the Buddha of the Three Times cannot be lost. The position of the Buddha of the Past cannot remain vacant for long. I wish to assume the position of the Buddha of the Past and protect the Buddhist order."

All Buddhas and Bodhisattvas knew that her mind was made up, and many great beings knew even more about her purpose in doing so.

One by one, they pressed their palms together in reverence: "Homage to the Ancient Buddha of Moonlight!"

Moonlight also joined in, saying, "Amitabha, well said, well said."

After speaking, she stood up and left the main hall with light steps.

Only the twelve-petaled golden lotus of merit remains in its original place, awaiting a new owner.

Pigsy and the Jade Rabbit were dumbfounded. What was going on? We were just standing there for a moment, and now our leader is gone?
Sun Wukong looked at Guanyin Bodhisattva, hoping to get some hints, but Guanyin Bodhisattva was looking down at her nose and mind, and had no intention of paying attention to him at all.

Moonlight Buddha has taken over the vacancy left by the Buddha of Many Treasures, officially abdicating and relinquishing his authority as the head of Buddhism. He left without hesitation. So the question is, who will become the Buddha now?

All the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas turned their gaze toward Maitreya.

Among them, the most ardent were the original Western Buddhist disciples such as Medicine Buddha and Mahasthamaprapta.

In fact, Moonlight managed the Buddhist sect quite well, but he didn't allocate resources to the older disciples, which made them very dissatisfied.

When the West was poor, even the saints were not wealthy, so we could accept the equal distribution of resources. But in the Buddhist era, is it still necessary to divide resources equally? Wouldn't that mean we entered the Buddhist order for nothing?
The looks they gave Maitreya were basically encouraging, like "Well done," "Keep it up," and "Don't embarrass yourself."

Maitreya was in a dilemma. He had planned to retrieve the Twelve-Petaled Pure White Lotus after the Journey to the West ended, taking advantage of the flourishing of Buddhism. Now, Moonlight's abdication had disrupted all his plans.

To go or not to go?

After seeing the eyes of all the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas, he knew that he had no choice but to go.

If he dares to refuse, these former Western Christian disciples, who were so supportive of him before, will now despise him just as much.

Maitreya stepped forward and walked to the center. When he was one step away from the Twelve-Petaled Golden Lotus of Merit, he turned around and said: "Fellow disciples, Maitreya is of meager virtue and talent, and has limited knowledge. He should not have aspired to a position of honor. However, Maitreya has a Buddha's heart and is willing to take on this important task at this moment to continue to promote the prestige of our Buddhist sect."

His words were resolute and full of confidence.

Medicine Buddha and Mahasthamaprapta Bodhisattva immediately offered their support.

This person said, "Brother Maitreya can become the Buddha in this life!"

The one who said, "Only Brother Maitreya can make Buddhism even greater!"

Maitreya was originally the future Buddha, only one step away from the present Buddha. He was also a direct disciple of a sage and had the support of his old brothers from the former Western Sect. He quickly gained the recognition of all Buddhas and Bodhisattvas, received the title of the present Buddha, and officially replaced the Moonlight Ancient Buddha to take charge of Buddhist affairs.

He recommended Medicine Buddha to be the future Buddha, which is a sinecure, and the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas do not care who becomes the future Buddha.

Medicine Buddha accepted the name of the future Buddha without hesitation.

(End of this chapter)