"At this moment, I already possess the Xuanyuan Sword, the Kunlun Mirror, the Nüwa Stone, and the Shennong Ding. Now I should seek the Kongtong Seal…"
Remembering the tree spirit's explanation,
Yuwen Tuo felt a headache coming on.
The Kongtong Seal lay in the distant East China Sea; whether one could encounter it depended on luck.
Riding his sword, Yuwen Tuo flew on,
turning over whether he ought to return and make offerings first.
Four artifacts were already very good.
Secure the strength first, then slowly bring Great Sui under his control—
that would be fine as well.
Two days later,
Yuwen Tuo passed over Dunhuang City.
A strange force drew his attention.
"Hm? There's something down there—and a kind of seductive power, as if luring humans."
Yuwen Tuo's eyes went cold.
He angled his sword downward.
When he reached the grotto, a thousand Buddhas unfolded before him.
Not only that—
inside this grotto was a golden world.
Though not dazzling like gold metal, it shone brighter than the Buddha-light of ordinary temples.
Even the sky was filled with that orange radiance.
The mountain's belly had been gouged into a great flat basin several hundred meters across.
It was crowded with carved Buddhas:
Bodhisattvas, Buddhas, Vajras, Arhats… the largest a hundred meters long, the smallest only tens of centimeters.
These statues were lifelike,
their eyes brimming with orange light.
The air was thick with sandalwood.
Gradually, illusory chanting rose to his ears.
Dream, or reality?
Yuwen Tuo shook his head, coming to full sobriety, a feral look on his face.
"A place like this is truly a curse…"
Even someone like him, whose body was forged by divine law, had been affected—lost in thought for a heartbeat.
If ordinary people wandered here,
the consequences went without saying.
A place of deception like this shouldn't exist!!!
Yuwen Tuo stretched out his hand; the Xuanyuan Sword fell into his palm.
He stepped forward.
All the Buddhas seemed to come alive, whispering without cease.
"Amitābha…"
"The Buddha is compassionate—lay down the butcher's knife and become a Buddha…"
"Jackfruit…"
"When the Buddha grows wrathful like a Vajra, do not stray into error…"
Hundreds of voices surged at once.
Yuwen Tuo ignored them and slashed at the Buddha-shadows with a single stroke.
Boom.
An inexplicable sound resounded.
The shadows of Buddhas in the sky gathered into a great golden Buddha that struck against Yuwen Tuo's sword-qi.
"Wicked creature—this is a domain of great Buddhism. How dare you be presumptuous!"
The unreal voice
issued from the statue.
Yuwen Tuo's sword did not pierce through at once; he was jolted back a half-step.
But he saw the statue weaken a fraction,
and reacted instantly.
"A thing that deceives the hearts of men—damnation to it… By the blessings of the divine law—die!"
Radiant light sheathed the Xuanyuan Sword.
This time,
the statue could not hold. As the phantom in the firmament dispersed, the surrounding Buddha images burst one after another,
like fireworks—
shattered through and through.
Yuwen Tuo clearly saw a golden Buddha suspended in the air crack apart in an instant.
That was the culprit!
When all things fell to pieces,
a pale-pink qin hovered into view before him.
It was one of the ancient artifacts—the Fuxi Qin!!!
"It seems I don't need to go to the East China Sea for now. With this, I have five artifacts…"
Yuwen Tuo smiled in triumph.
He slipped the instrument into his storage treasure.
Across a thousand li of Buddhist temples,
exclamations were rising.
With the power of a Thousand Buddhas and the Fuxi Qin removed, the enchantment that beguiled human hearts had lost its source.
Its strength unraveled of itself.
Innocent people opened their eyes—bewildered to find they had somehow become monks,
abandoning wives and children,
forsaking their parents,
their vows not born of true devotion at all, but of bewitchment.
As Yuwen Tuo stepped out of the grotto, he couldn't help smiling at the tumult rising from distant temples.
He drew a deep breath
and called out:
"You need not be angry. The power of those pseudo-Buddhas has been broken by me. You were all bewitched by those Buddhas before."
"I am the Chief Priest of the Eternal God's sect. In ten days, I, Yuwen Tuo, shall offer sacrifices to the God."
"Then you will know what is truly great."
…
In one monastery, a little monk looked up at the abbot.
The other's face was wet with tears.
"Master, is what that voice said true? Were we all bewitched?"
"Yes—and you as well. Go home at once… The power of that false Buddha truly drives people mad; else how could I become what I am now?"
Back then, the abbot had been a talent among talents.
Because of his aptitude, he was favored by an old monk.
So he abandoned wife and son to take the tonsure. Thinking back thirty years, his wife wept herself into an early grave, and his little boy had knelt at the monastery door, crying.
He hadn't felt a flicker of emotion.
Is that a Buddha?
Plainly, it was a demon!!!
She had been his wife of ten years, the two of them supporting each other.
They had been ready to sit the top examinations, but in a moment they became what they did.
She must have despaired to the bones.
The abbot broke down and wept, then seized a hammer and smashed the statue.
He said to everyone in the temple: "From this day on, we will not believe in that evil Buddha. We ought to revere the Eternal God—because He made us sober. Otherwise, we would be lost like this for life."
"Yes!"
"Destroy the false Buddha!!!"
Thus began a movement to destroy false Buddhas.
And this place was only a microcosm—the true uproar was in Daxing City.
There was a temple there as well.
The abbot had lectured at intervals.
Now the power of a Thousand Buddhas had shattered.
The monks of the temple woke, one after another,
and a sensation swept the capital.
After officials investigated, they learned that these monks had long been controlled by the Thousand Buddhas' power.
Now that they had awakened, someone must have broken that power.
…
A few days later,
Yuwen Tuo returned to the palace.
Seeing him, the emperor smiled broadly.
"Beloved minister—did you break the power of a Thousand Buddhas?"
"Yes, Your Majesty. When I passed the grotto, I felt something amiss. Unexpectedly, someone inside was playing the demon—using the power of the Fuxi Qin and the Thousand Buddhas to beguile the people…"
"It seems this world is most perilous. Since you have obtained the artifacts, be ready to offer sacrifice to the God."
"Yes."
In the eyes of the court,
this was harmony between sovereign and minister.
But none knew it was the result of Yuwen Tuo's control.
Back at the Palace of Victorious Return,
Yuwen Tuo's mother was feeding the carp. Hearing footsteps,
she turned and smiled. "And how was this trip? I hear the people are chanting your name outside."
Though the nation had fallen,
so long as her son was accomplished, she was content.
Since she had taken up the divine law,
the old lady had recovered a measure of youth, and she was ever calculating how the religion should grow…
The altar business—
she was handling it; it would be complete in ten days.
Yuwen Tuo sat and said, "I have recovered those artifacts and completed the task. How is Ning Ke?"
"No different than before. She keeps insisting she isn't of the Demon Realm, but one who cultivates the divine law—yet a child could see what she is. You… pay no more mind to her."
"Yes, Mother."
Then the two discussed the power of the Thousand Buddhas and the Nüwa Temple.
When she heard these two matters,
Yuwen Tuo's mother felt the same as he.
"They're all false gods and false Buddhas—trading on a name to fool people. That Yang Su is a minion of demons, and where was she when he harmed the commoners?
"As for Moon River City—worse still.
"It's laughable—she can't even mind her own gate, and yet she would seek to bewitch you."
If that Nüwa had possessed any real power, she would never have allowed Ruyan to do evil.
Such power—
she feared it wasn't worthy even of the name "false god."
Yuwen Tuo sighed. "That's why the Eternal God has appeared—otherwise these 'gods' and 'Buddhas' would go on deceiving people day after day. Who knows how many would suffer."
"Speaking of the power of a Thousand Buddhas—monks across the world were likely not bewitched lightly. In Daxing City alone, more than a thousand woke up. That scene—those tears—was heartbreaking."
She remembered how she had burned incense and prayed before.
Shan Yuwu felt only shame.
These last few days, not only she but all the devout had been full of regret.
The Buddhist scriptures at home had all been burned.
Every Buddha image destroyed.
Anything that smacked of Buddha had been cleared away.
...
Wanjie Chat Group.
General Yuwen: "@普度众生, Brother Fahai, are you there?"
Pursuing sentient beings: "What is it?"
The group member General Yuwen uploaded a video.
In the White Snake world,
Fahai watched the content and could not help sneering.
"It seems there is no true Buddha—only hypocrisy, just like that Great Sun Tathāgata…"
A few days earlier, he had found the other's trail.
He had fought that pseudo-Buddha.
The opponent was not invincible—he fled again.
Because it was only a clone, Fahai had executed the host body alone.
That host had used those Buddhas to convert people.
It could be seen that the Great Sun Tathāgata had fallen into demonhood.
The Spirit of the Demon Sword: "Isn't this the same as in Li Shimin's world? One seeks to control the whole realm under the banner of righteousness; the other uses the Fuxi Qin to bewitch all beings."
Li Er: "What is genuine cannot be faked; what is fake cannot be made real. Before the True God, all reveals its original form. Well done, Brother Yuwen!"
General Yuwen: "I only feel sorry for the people. According to incomplete statistics, thirty thousand have been rescued. But over these years—how many monks have buried their bones…"
The Fox Who Only Loves Money: "Ah… the false Buddha leaves wounds not shallow."
Tosaka University: "And that is why the God bids us spread His faith with all our strength. This is truly a good deed—saving countless lives."
Junior Brother Dazhufeng: "It's not hard to tell a false god. Generally, if it demands you do this and that, with harsh conditions in droves—it's surely false!"
Pursuing sentient beings: "The gods are selfless; false gods are not. In our world, 'lay down the butcher's knife and reincarnate'—isn't that a shame…"
General Yuwen: "I have prepared five artifacts and four living sacrifices. When the altar is finished in a few days, I will begin the offering!"