Snowy Region, Kunlun Mountain.
The pilgrimage route has fallen into disrepair. Nowadays, not many devotees still faithfully believe in the Vajra Sect.
People no longer sing of the boundless power of the Dharma King, but instead preach of the compassionate salvation of Layman Lu Yuan. New temples have begun construction, and the bodhisattva tablets and statues are now circulated among the herdsmen's tents.
Today, the Saint embarked on the holy path, and the people of the Snowy Region along the way all saw Him. Sublime and magnificent, with a solemn and wonderful appearance, seeing Him was like seeing the other shore and salvation, seeing ultimate beauty.
People put down their work, whether commoners or nobles, merchants or farmers. They gathered and followed in the footsteps of the Saint.
They took off their shoes, feeling the snow, soil, gravel, and rocks the Saint had trod upon with their bare feet, feeling the cold earth and their fervent hearts.
They were in high spirits, staring intently at His back, never resting.
From the moment the Saint took His first step into the Snowy Region, they knew their King had arrived!
The white-robed swordsman walked with the Saint, His posture solemn, His expression relaxed.
Simon's body was twelve feet tall, with antlers three feet long on His head, a true giant. His white monk's robe, like bright moonlight, gently fluttered as He walked barefoot, leaving behind large and distinct footprints, perfectly round and full, a joy to behold.
He walked step by step towards the Vajra Sect. Since He was passing by, there was no need for this heretical sect, which distorted Buddhist principles, to continue existing.
From the capital to the Snowy Region, passing through Shanxi along the way, His beautiful form was gazed upon by countless people. The name of Layman Lu Yuan had spread far and wide, so devotees from all over the world were also converging towards Him.
Simon could feel it, like blood flowing back to the heart, the believers in the Pure Land Pearl were rushing towards the sun.
Most of the temples in Shanxi, Jingji, Jingbei, and Huainan had already converted to Layman Lu Yuan, so these monks, along with the devout and the Laymen, arrived first.
The pilgrimage procession had exceeded one hundred thousand people. They brought their own dry rations and tents, and temporary shelters appeared in the leeward areas along the way.
These people helped each other; those who were tired rested, and those who were hungry ate. Apart from these physiological activities, the only thing they had to do was follow Simon.
The group was a mixed bag, but if any evildoers appeared, they would be stopped by the knights and warrior monks. They were spontaneously judged by the masses, either expelled or directly beaten to death.
Under the power of faith, such a pilgrimage group was tenacious, resilient, and pure.
When such a procession advanced deep into the Snowy Region, moving through the majestic, beautiful, and wild ravines of Kunlun Mountain, it was like a blazing fire, coating the eternal, unchanging profound ice with chaotic and intricate colors. If one person is merely an ant, then thousands upon thousands of ordinary people, when their thoughts converge, when they speak with one voice, and walk in one direction, then that is a towering giant!
Humans are composed of countless cells in the body, and such a collective is also composed of countless individuals, so the leader is the most intelligent brain.
But Simon was not the brain.
He could not be encompassed within the pilgrimage group.
What truly led these people were certain fragments of Simon, a part of Him, and this was also abstract, the divinity of Simon imagined by people.
Simon Himself was far more complex than that.
He was not a leader.
He was a shepherd.
...
Boundless Vajra Sect.
Majestic and elegant palaces stood on a steep hillside, their red and white Baima walls gleaming with beautiful and dazzling light under the scorching midday sun. Golden roofs, layers of precious banners, and rows of precious vases were scattered like stars, sparkling with golden light, noble and solemn.
The Vajra Sect stood against the mountain, rising higher and higher, reaching its most towering point, from which one could overlook a vast expanse of land for tens of thousands of miles.
A total of seven hundred and fifty-four lamas gathered on the wide square in front of the temple, led by Dharma King Gongbu, five Ming Kings, and six Shang Zun. They gazed towards the east, where a surging crowd could already be seen on the horizon.
The visitors were not friendly.
Dharma King Gongbu realized that today was the moment that would determine the fate of the Boundless Vajra Sect.
Behind him was their own monastery. These ancient buildings had endured hundreds of years of wind, snow, earthquakes, and lightning strikes, and had only continued through constant repairs. If, after today, the lineage of the Vajra Sect were to vanish into the long river of history, then these high walls and deep tiles would also disappear with human traces.
Gongbu would not allow any of this to happen, nor did he feel that today was the end of the road.
Ten thousand sheep gathered together cannot defeat a single lion, because sheep are timid, and their cowardly nature will make them choose to run away.
They had not been without experience of crusades in the past, but never on such a scale.
Just defeat the leader...
That person...
Gongbu narrowed his eyes.
No, these are not sheep.
Simon's gaze met the Dharma King's.
Gongbu suddenly trembled.
The world was swallowed by those eyes. He only saw vast darkness and chaos, silent turbulence impacting his body. He felt intense pain and frowned. This was not unbearable for him. If this terrifying world could only inflict mental torment on him, then Gongbu would never yield.
A point of white light appeared in the darkness, expanding, extending into a colossal body.
That pair of antlers, like jade trees, released clear, colorful light, and on the solemn face, a pair of gentle eyes looked at him.
Gongbu felt extremely uncomfortable under this lofty gaze. He felt his life's trajectory being unrolled, as if his memories were being made into a book.
In fact, it was true; this Dharma King's entire life had been an insult to human kindness. His philosophy was violence and terror; everything he defeated, he enslaved.
Gongbu saw boundless rage turn into an ocean, and he was suddenly thrown into it by a pair of hands. Flames surged into his chest through his nostrils.
Burning, this immense pain.
Gongbu's distorted face revealed a ferocious smile.
Within his withered body, three long rainbows lit up, followed by six round wheels, and a tiny point of colorful light also appeared in the void above his head.
Escaping terror, freed from hell.
Divine Stage One, Unsurpassed Yoga Dharma!
The illusion before him shattered. Gongbu looked away, no longer daring to look at Simon.
Ming King Sangzhu beside him asked with concern, "Dharma King, are you alright?"
Gongbu sighed, "My friends, the boundless and immeasurable Dharma of the Great Sun Buddha will face its greatest enemy today."
"Namo Original Teacher Sakyamuni Buddha." The lamas chanted the Buddha's name in unison, their posture tragic, as if they were a group of great martyrs.
Even the longest road eventually ends. After three months of tireless trekking, Simon finally arrived here.
All the Tibetan monks also saw His form clearly for the first time.
Immediately, many young lamas lost their footing, trembling and about to prostrate themselves, but were quickly stopped by those around them.
Gongbu stepped forward, "Master, for what purpose have you come?"
Layman Lu Yuan smiled, extending His right palm, a small Mount Sumeru floating within it.
His voice was deep and resonant, like the tolling of a bell in a hollow valley, echoing for a thousand miles without fading.
"Evil demons and heretics, today I shall send you to heavily cycle through reincarnation!"
Before His words finished, Gongbu's expression changed abruptly, and he suddenly struck out with a palm.
A great Buddha appeared in the sky, radiating golden light, also striking out with a palm.
A palm print the size of a bucket flew from Gongbu's hand, carrying a furious wind that covered an area of a hundred zhang. The earth shook, stone bricks shattered and flew, and for a moment the sky changed color, the sun and moon lost their light!
No duality in delusion, Buddha and sentient beings are one, Great Sun Buddha Palm!
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