I start by accepting Sun Wukong as my disciple and reshape the Journey to the West

Chapter 158 Usurping the Throne
"Although I am just a clay statue, I can still deal with some residual will!"

Upon hearing this, Venerable Maitreya turned around abruptly. Throughout the primordial chaos, countless brilliant talents have maintained absolute vigilance when facing the Asura lineage. This is because the Styx Ancestor acts eccentrically and never follows the rules, which has led the Asura lineage to follow the nature of this creator.

Yin cannot produce life alone, nor can Yang grow alone. Because the Asura lineage does not exist in the symbiosis of Yin and Yang, it cannot produce offspring. However, the blood river is endless, and the Asura lineage will never cease to exist. This gives the Asura lineage the confidence and arrogant style of the Ancestral Witch lineage of yesteryear.

Because the Blood River was immortal and the Styx Ancestor was immortal, even the Dao Ancestor allowed this lineage to remain unchecked until the Western Ksitigarbha made a great vow, the Emerald Cloud Palace fell, and the power of the Reincarnation lineage was divided among the Three Realms.

Under the great vow, a barrier was created, and the Asura lineage was within it. Just then, the Dao Ancestor calculated the cause and effect of Buddhism and recited the Buddha's name, which had a Buddha Kingdom in the palm of his hand, and created another barrier.

Thus, the Western Lingshan Great Thunder Temple evolved, connecting with the Ksitigarbha Jade Cloud Palace, completely isolating the Asura lineage from the outside.

Then, during the next great calamity of the Heavenly Dao, the power of the boundless merits of the human race was gathered to create the Sandalwood Merit Buddha, which completely suppressed the gap in the Asura lineage.

Using the supreme and wondrous method, he accepted the destiny of the human race's sage Nuwa, created the world to raise the stone monkey, and created the Victorious Fighting Buddha to fight continuously against the lineage of the Undying Styx. Only the law of war can make him stronger with each battle, using war to sustain war.

This was the Western Journey of Tribulation that Ye Xuantian told Maitreya Buddha. It was precisely because of this that Maitreya Buddha felt that Houtu Niangniang was somewhat strange at this time.

"The Ancestral Witch lineage has long since lost its malevolent aura, so it should have no means to deal with the Asura lineage!"

"It's just that the one of humanity cannot be born, and the Venerable cannot be found. Otherwise, I believe that Fellow Daoist Xuantian would definitely ask the Venerable to go find Him, because only an existence that upholds the Three Paths can suppress such an invasion of will. I have been nurtured in the Jade Disc of Creation for many years, and the Earth Path will in my body is naturally not weak. Moreover, since Fellow Daoist Xuantian asked the Venerable to come here, does the Venerable not trust me?" Houtu Niangniang's tone was somewhat fluctuating.

Maitreya frowned slightly. He vaguely sensed something was wrong, and his instincts made him somewhat repulsed by the Earth Mother at this moment, so he took another step back.

It was this step that made Houtu Niangniang's eyes become incredibly sharp.

"You... you don't believe me! Why don't you believe me!" At this moment, Houtu Niangniang's voice became extremely sharp. Then, clumps of yellow earth were raised with her arm and flung at Maitreya Buddha.

Not only that, as Houtu Niangniang raised her arm, her body seemed to be pulled along as well, and she slowly stood up.

As this scene unfolds, a river filled with silver sand appears beneath the clay sculpture of the Earth Mother Goddess.

The moment the Milky Way appeared, Maitreya Buddha found himself far removed from the clay statue of the Earth Mother Goddess. At that moment, the Earth Mother Goddess's physical form was in the middle of the river, while Maitreya Buddha, due to his previous vigilance, took a step back and just stepped out of the threshold of the small temple.

This threshold is the shore!

At this moment, the temple that originally housed the image of the Earth Mother seemed to have truly transformed into a river.

The clay statue struggled incessantly, but the river seemed to possess an immense power to devour it, constantly pulling it down.

A clay idol crossing a river can barely save itself!

For some reason, the Buddha Maitreya had this thought in his mind.

This person, already in such a predicament, could still muster such compassion and offer to help him deal with the Asura lineage?
If the clay statue hadn't changed its tone later, Maitreya Buddha really couldn't imagine what would have happened if he had handed over the human seed bag to it.

"Why don't you believe me? Why! If you had just handed me the Human Seed Bag, I could have devoured them, completely devoured Him. It was just one step away, just one step away." The Earth Mother's figure began to sink.

"Your mind has failed, Heaven! You have lost. It seems that Fellow Daoist Xuantian has pushed you too far. Your temperament is not calm enough, and you are too eager for quick success. You have lost."

A gentle voice came from the river, and the moment that voice rang out, even the Venerable Maitreya felt all the restlessness and unease in his heart dissipate.

Finally, the river completely swallowed the mud statue, replacing it with a dazzling golden body.

The golden body of the Earth Mother gives people an incredibly profound feeling, as if it can contain all unease and bear all changes.

"Thank you, Venerable Maitreya!" the Earth Mother said with a smile, then bowed to the void and said, "If it weren't for Fellow Daoist Xuantian sending Venerable Maitreya with the power of the Asura lineage, I'm afraid I would have been stuck with this person for a long time."

Ok?
Maitreya Buddha suddenly turned around and saw Ye Xuantian's figure slowly appear.

"It's all due to cause and effect. As He said, the only ones here who can erase the will of Asura are those under the Dao Order. I'm afraid we'll still have to trouble the Goddess Houtu!"

Ye Xuantian returned the greeting with a beaming smile that made him appear incredibly approachable.

Houtu Niangniang did not refute this. If we talk about Dao Tokens, in this Three Realms, apart from Nuwa Niangniang, who else can have a Dao Token as powerful as Ye Xuantian's?

However, Houtu Niangniang understood that Ye Xuantian was deliberately doing her a favor, and immediately looked at Maitreya Venerable.

"Your Excellency, please hand over the Human Seed Bag to me!" The Milky Way beneath Houtu's feet became solid, and the temple returned to normal.

Maitreya Buddha glanced at Ye Xuantian, who nodded slightly. Without hesitation, Maitreya Buddha handed the human seed bag to Houtu Niangniang.

"I need to enter the Netherworld to completely eradicate this will, which may take some time. I would appreciate it if Fellow Daoist Xuantian could help me entertain Venerable Maitreya."

"Very well! Please proceed, Empress Houtu!"

Having received Ye Xuantian's reply, Houtu Niangniang's figure immediately disappeared into the ground.

Maitreya Buddha sat down on a stone table to the side, and with a wave of his sleeve, a wine pot and two wine cups appeared on the table.

Um? ? ? ?

Ye Xuantian looked completely bewildered.

"Wine and meat pass through the intestines! That's what the Arhat Subduing Dragon always says. Fellow Daoist, would you like to try some?"

Um? ?

Ye Xuantian sat down, snatched the wine pot, poured himself a cup, and took a sip.

Ah!
It's light tea.

"I never expected the Venerable One to have this side to him."

"Hahaha! So Fellow Daoist Xuantian is not without flaws after all!" Venerable Maitreya poured himself a cup of tea and sipped it slowly.

When he said this, one could clearly feel the emotions of Venerable Maitreya.

He seemed genuinely shocked by Ye Xuantian's scheme, yet relieved by the pot of tea.

"I only plan for things that are governed by established rules, so Your Excellency need not be so sentimental." Ye Xuantian exhaled and poured himself another cup of tea.

"Hmm! So, fellow Daoist, you almost escaped without any of the Styx Ancestor's subordinates?"

"That was not expected. After all, a mad dog will bite when it loses its mind. I just took an extra step in my calculations."

Ye Xuantian wasn't surprised that Maitreya Venerable knew about his final battle with Styx Ancestor; he was certain that Maitreya Venerable had left a trace of his consciousness among the monks of Mount Ling. "So, those telepathic messages between us at Lingjiu Peak were to warn me of the backlash from the will of Heaven?" Maitreya Venerable asked the question that concerned him most.

He really wanted to know whether those words were meant by Ye Xuantian to put him on guard, or if they were truly meant to be.
After all, if Ye Xuantian's words are true, then this great calamity contains immense karma and is the greatest restriction on the Asura lineage. Maitreya Buddha will stop Ye Xuantian at all costs.

"Half and half!" Ye Xuantian's answer was rather vague.

"I am very dissatisfied with your answer, fellow Daoist!"

"The Asura lineage has already launched a counterattack, so whether that matter is important or not is no longer important, because the current result is that Mount Ling has fallen and there is no way to awaken the Buddha."

Upon hearing this, Venerable Maitreya looked at Ye Xuantian with a probing gaze.

"What do you mean?"

"Whether it is the Buddha of Merit or the Buddha of Victory, they can only be suppressed if the Styx lineage does not retaliate. Otherwise, it will be of no use. But now that the will of Heaven has acted ahead of time, allowing the Asura lineage to land ahead of time, then the Western Tribulation must not fall into the Western Paradise. Otherwise, it will definitely make the Styx Ancestor stronger. He may even become a saint directly with the tacit approval of Heaven and completely wipe out Mount Ling."

Ye Xuantian's words were unusually serious, and Maitreya Buddha suddenly stood up.

“Fellow Daoist Xuantian underestimates Mount Ling! The monks of Mount Ling are struggling to keep it afloat. The kind of thing you described will never happen. Mount Ling can still absorb the merits. Moreover, Buddha will definitely wake up.”

Maitreya Buddha's words were full of loopholes, and Ye Xuantian didn't even bother to refute them, because Maitreya Buddha's words simply couldn't withstand scrutiny; he was nothing more than Maitreya Buddha...

"So even the Venerable One has dignity! Was it because of the moment of clarity when the monks saw the Venerable One off that he had some kind of dream?"

Ye Xuantian's words were light and weightless, yet they weighed down Maitreya Buddha's shoulders, causing him to sit down.

Yes!

Maitreya Buddha did not believe that the monks of Mount Ling would really be devoured by the Asura lineage.

"If it weren't for the blessing of the nation's destiny, the monks of Mount Ling wouldn't have survived to the end of the Great Kalpa. You should have already felt this outcome today, so give up those unrealistic fantasies."

Ye Xuantian finished another cup of tea.

"Has the Venerable One regained consciousness?"

Maitreya did not answer for a long time, and Ye Xuantian did not press further. He simply sat quietly until Maitreya finally spoke.

"What if I created a mini-Buddhist paradise? I could then claim all the merits of Buddhism and seize them all!"

Maitreya Buddha seemed to have made a great decision. When he spoke these words, his eyes were bloodshot, as if he might fall into demonic possession at any moment.

Upon hearing this, Ye Xuantian's lips finally curled up.

"I thought that the Venerable One had planned this all along because he had foreseen this day. But now it seems that the Venerable One's plan was just to stop me?"

Maitreya Buddha did not answer, but instead asked, "Is that alright?"

“My disciple is Sun Wukong, the true chosen one of destiny. If you have the ability to persuade him, I might let you give it a try!”

Upon hearing this, Maitreya Buddha's eyes lit up, for he knew very well what his choice meant for Ye Xuantian.

Ye Xuantian had no obligation to help him with this, because judging from Ye Xuantian's current plans, he had enough power to completely devour the merits of this Western Journey Tribulation and could leave none for Mount Ling.

But Ye Xuantian said he was willing to give Him three chances.

"Very well, I will not bully the weak. I will have my disciple compete with your disciple. If your disciple loses, I will have my disciple conferred the title of Buddha!"

Maitreya Buddha was as excited as a child. As soon as he finished speaking, he stood up and stretched out his hand, as if he wanted to sign a contract with Ye Xuantian.

However, Ye Xuantian did not get up. Instead, he asked, "Does that Venerable One intend to usurp the throne?"

Ye Xuantian's words froze Maitreya's hand in mid-air, because He knew very well what Ye Xuantian meant by those words.

Yes, if He were to confer Buddhahood in Little Western Paradise, where would the Buddha Tathagata be placed?
Most importantly, it seems that a Dao Token is being conceived within Ye Xuantian's words.

Maitreya Buddha was stunned.

If He were to agree today, then the current Buddha might never return. Because he understood the profound meaning hidden in those words, Maitreya Buddha dared not answer.

"So, what do you think, fellow Daoist?"

Maitreya Buddha posed this question to Ye Xuantian because He wanted to know Ye Xuantian's attitude towards it.

"The Buddha now knew at the moment of the Buddha's passing that the Way of Heaven cannot be defied, so His subsequent choice was very cowardly. Venerable One, you can understand that the Buddha's refusal to return now is not because he cannot, but because he does not want to!"

"impossible!"

Maitreya Buddha immediately retorted, but as soon as he spoke, he lowered his head.

Because He remembered what had happened that day, the monks blessed Him and opened a passage from the Great Thunderclap Temple. The fact that the monks were able to attain such clarity for so long without the blessing of the three paths already speaks volumes.

At first, Venerable Maitreya simply didn't want to think that way, but now Ye Xuantian has torn away this fig leaf.

The Buddha was not truly corrupted by the Styx Ancestor, nor was he unable to return; rather, he chose the safest and most effective way to delay the inevitable.

However, this approach plunged the entire Ling Mountain into a tremendous crisis, to the point that Ling Mountain has now become a den of demons.

Maitreya's eyes grew even redder.

"My Buddha could not be such a person, impossible! My Buddha had long ago made the decision to die, otherwise how could he have chosen to enter the River of Blood!" Maitreya Buddha raised his eyes to look at Ye Xuantian, his eyes appearing very pitiful.

Ye Xuantian ignored him and simply said, "Your Excellency has plenty of time to consider. We await Your Excellency's answer!"

Ye Xuantian stood up and looked at the high platform. At this moment, golden light slowly emerged on the platform, growing from small to large, and finally transforming into the shape of the Earth Mother.

"How is it, Empress Houtu?" Ye Xuantian asked.

"I have fulfilled my mission!" Houtu Niangniang tossed the human seed bag to Ye Xuantian, who handed it to the Venerable without even looking at it.

"Can Your Excellency accept this?"

(End of this chapter)