Shenyan Arhat was defeated.
The various Buddhas looked towards the battlefield. Shenyan Arhat was the most talented disciple of Shenyan Buddha Lord. He had devoted himself to studying Buddhist doctrine for many years. In the entire Western Heaven, he was considered one of the most outstanding figures of his generation. Only a few other arhats, as well as the direct disciples of the Lord of All Buddhas, could defeat him.
Such an existence had actually been defeated by Ye Futian, who had a lower cultivation level. He had even been suppressed in terms of Buddhist superpowers.
From the looks of it, Ye Futian was truly going to achieve imitating Donghuang the Great and defeating the various Buddhas.
Shenyan Buddha Lord looked towards him. He had a cold look of disappointment in his eyes. His chosen successor had been defeated. For him, it was naturally an utter disgrace. Back then, his elder brother was among the various Buddhas defeated by Donghuang the Great. Ever since that battle, his elder brother had begun cultivating in seclusion away from the world.
He was extremely close with his elder brother. The latter had always taken care of him. The incident back then was a great blow to him. He had always considered that battle centuries ago to be the shame of the Buddhist sects.
Who would have thought that history would repeat itself today? Ye Futian set foot on Spirit Mountain of Western Heaven and sought the Path of Buddhist doctrine. He challenged various Buddhas and defeated the successor of Shenyan Buddha Lord.
However, Ye Futian came to Spirit Mountain openly with the valid reason of learning Buddhist doctrine from the Buddhas present. Shenyan Buddha Lord had no excuse to target Ye Futian. Moreover, he knew that among the Buddhas present, some of them were kind towards Ye Futian. They admired his talents and looked highly on him.
Wutian Buddha Lord was one of them. He even assigned his disciple, Yumu, to welcome Ye Futian. Wutian Buddha Lord had a smile on his face throughout Ye Futian’s battles with the Buddhas. He seemed to hold Ye Futian in high regard. One could figure this out based on the way Wutian Buddha Lords spoke about him.
Furthermore, nothing in Western Heaven could escape the eyes of the Lord of All Buddhas. Occurrences on Spirit Mountain were no exception too.
How would the Lord of All Buddhas respond after witnessing everything that happened here?
Would he meet Ye Futian personally?
When Shenyan Buddha Lord thought of this, he looked somewhere. Seated over there was a Buddha. This Buddha maintained a smile throughout the whole event as he sat on a futon. He quietly observed everything that happened.
He spoke very little. His eyes became two lines as he smiled gently. He appeared exceptionally warm and made people feel comfortable around him. He was wearing a kasaya, and half of his chest could be seen. Prayer beads were hanging on his neck. As both his hands fingered the beads continuously, the prayer beads turned around his neck.
Shenyan Buddha Lord put his hands together and bowed towards this Buddha. He said, “Buddha, may I consult your opinion regarding this youth?”
Judging from Shenyan Buddha Lord’s speech, one could tell that this Buddha Lord had extraordinary standing. Even Shenyan Buddha Lord was so polite with him by regarding him as ‘Buddha’ and consulting his opinion.
With a smile and wrinkly eyes, this Buddha Lord looked at Shenyan Buddha Lord and said, “I’m not worthy of the title ‘Buddha.’ This youth has come to Spirit Mountain to seek the Buddhist Path. Judging from his performance, he is very outstanding. As for the rest, it depends on whether he can make it to our level and whether the Lord of All Buddhas is willing to meet him.”
When Shenyan Buddha Lord heard the other party’s reply, he understood that the latter had no intention of saying much.
This Buddha Lord was no ordinary figure. He was all-knowing and could peek into the past and the future of other people. He knew Ye Futian’s fate. Besides that, he had profound Buddhist doctrine now that he had attained his status as a Buddha. He might even be able to see Ye Futian’s future.
Shenyan Buddha Lord purposely inquired about Ye Futian to get some information about Ye Futian from this Buddha Lord. However, the other party was unwilling to reveal even a tiny bit of information. He casually steered the conversation in another direction.
Of course, the Buddha Lord’s response was befitting to his personality.
It was normal for him to reveal nothing that he knew.
Shenyan Buddha Lord didn’t pester him either. He looked at Tongchan Buddha Lord and the others. “The battle a few centuries ago is still fresh in our minds. Today is yet another day of sparring with Buddhist doctrine. Your disciples are all well-versed in Buddhist doctrine. Surely they are better than this disciple of mine. Why don’t they stand out to join the battle? Let this outsider truly experience our Buddhist doctrine.”
His speech intended to goad the others into action. The hidden meaning behind his speech was clear: if they allowed Ye Futian to reach them today, they would make it seem as though no cultivator in Western Heaven was proficient in Buddhist doctrine.
The various Buddhas looked ahead. They could see that Ye Futian was still moving upwards. He was bathed in the brilliant Light of Buddha; he seemed unstoppable. In the space below him, Shenyan Arhat remained where he was. It looked as though Ye Futian had advanced by stepping over Shenyan Arhat’s head.
One could imagine the humiliation Shenyan Arhat was feeling right now. However, Ye Futian paid no heed to it. He did not do this to other Buddhist cultivators, but he purposely shamed Shenyan Arhat. If Shenyan Arhat had emerged victorious instead, he would surely have done much worse to Ye Futian.
The various Buddhas had mixed feelings when they saw this scene. The battle today would certainly leave a permanent scar in Shenyan Arhat’s heart.
Ye Futian advanced forward. No one emerged to stop him. He gradually approached the highest place, the highest heaven of Spirit Mountain. It was where the various Buddha Lords were. If Ye Futian actually reached there, it meant that he was truly more capable than various Buddhas.
Shenyan Buddha Lord frowned. Did all these people really plan to sit back and watch Ye Futian succeed?
Today, various Buddhas had gathered. Among the younger generation, Shenyan Arhat was not the strongest cultivator. Yumu, for example, was very powerful. Unfortunately, he was a disciple of Wutian Buddha Lord and bore goodwill towards Ye Futian. Naturally, he would not attack him. However, there were many other powerful figures under different Buddha Lords.
The eyes of Shenyan Buddha Lord narrowed as he watched Ye Futian progressing upwards and slowly approaching them. Could it be that he really needed to let Ye Futian have his way?
Right at this moment, on the second heaven, a figure emerged and stood in front of Ye Futian. Ye Futian was very close to reaching the top. The peak seemed to be within his reach.
When Shenyan Buddha Lord saw the challenger emerge, he heaved a sigh of relief.
At last, someone came forward.
Besides that, his worries were put to rest when he saw who the challenger was.
The cultivator who came forward was not a disciple of this generation of Buddha Lords. He had been an arhat for a few generations.
His cultivation was definitely not any weaker than that of other arhats. In fact, he was much stronger than most of them.
There was nothing special about his identity. It could even be regarded as ordinary. However, he had maintained this ordinary status for more than 1,000 years. No one knew exactly how long he had been here.
The crowd only knew that he was once an attendant of the Lord of All Buddhas. Back when the Lord of All Buddhas was still cultivating on Spirit Mountain, this arhat organized scriptures for the Lord and ran errands for him. His duties included taking care of Spirit Mountain of Western Heaven.
His identity as an attendant was naturally a lot lower when compared to that of other arhats, who were direct disciples of the Buddha Lords. However, no one dared to look down on him. This point was proven based on how high up he was.
The second heaven was a level where only Buddhas could stand.
Rumor has it that this arhat was dim-witted. Hence, even though he had been an attendant for the Lord of All Buddhas for many years, he had yet to break through the shackles and undergo the tribulation of the Great Path. This was the reason why he had stayed at the peak of his cultivation plane for such a long time.
However, on this cultivation plane, no one among the Buddhist sects dared to claim that they could defeat him for sure!
