Becoming a Deity from Planting the Bodhi Tree

"[Once you've reached the Floating Sacred Land, what else could it be? Naturally, the three words: Floating Temple.]"

Even with some expectations, Ji Jingqiu still couldn't help but show a strange expression after getting confirmation from Lady La.

According to the information he had previously gathered, those people were hunting, including Qin Qingjue and others, for the purpose of conducting a certain ritual to open the gates to the Floating Sacred Land and enter the legendary Floating Temple.

And yet, he had done nothing.

Did it find him on its own?

Is everything truly born from causes and conditions, unblockable when the connection comes?

Ji Jingqiu adopted a go-with-the-flow mindset, proactively moving forward, and along the way he tried some guesses; as he expected, those seemingly ordinary blue bricks and tiles were actually made of an unimaginable true material, which even with his power was extremely difficult to shatter, astonishing him.

No wonder this Holy Land has stood the test of countless ages, still existing, yet no longer the same as it once was over the long passage of time.

He entered the temple, which compared to the Floating Mountain Range is pitifully small, yet it is the center of the entire Floating Sacred Land.

The temple was not empty; seeing the silhouette of a figure with its back to him inside, Ji Jingqiu stopped in his tracks, his expression solemn.

Earlier outside the temple, he had not sensed this being's presence at all.

The other wasn't human; though wearing monk's robes, the visible skin was covered with golden fur, from the back it looked like a...

Golden Monkey?

A golden old monkey often accompanying the Green Lamp Buddha?

For a moment, Ji Jingqiu did not know whether to advance or retreat; seeing that the other party did not turn around for a long time, he simply began to examine the arrangement of the temple.

The temple was quite austere, or rather crude; one could hardly tell it was a Holy Land, Ji Jingqiu thought to himself that perhaps this is the legendary simplicity of Dao, a return to simplicity.

At the highest altar, sat a stone sculpture of a Buddha, the roof above it had a hole, light fell from there, the Buddha clearly weather-worn, eroded by wind and rain, riddled with pits, its indistinct face faintly showing downcast eyes.

It was half-cross-legged, left foot hanging, left hand resting on the navel wheel, right hand touching the ground.

Strangely, this Buddha statue bore the body of a monkey, and unlike most Buddha statues with downcast eyes, its face showed a Vajra's fierce expression, as if a fiend rather than a Buddha.

Truthfully speaking, this was the first temple Ji Jingqiu had seen.

Although the Federation had the lineage of the World Venerable, it had no Buddhist temples; strictly speaking, the Supreme True Buddha Sect should have some, but neither the Mu family nor the Federation built temples for Marshal Mu.

Or rather, Marshal Mu didn't want one.

"[A temple is a prison, trapping the heavens in its corners, unable to calm my heart]"

This was Marshal Mu's attitude back then, this attitude directly influenced subsequent generations of the Federation, leading to a lack of temple construction despite having the World Venerable lineage.

Seeing nothing unusual inside the temple, Ji Jingqiu's gaze returned to the old monkey standing with its back to him, head bowed, hands clasped.

A moment later, he sighed lightly.

It turns out this is just a shell.

The old monkey had long since passed away, leaving only a corporeal shell behind.

Ji Jingqiu examined the temple with his Bodhi Eye, but found no anomalies, making him somewhat puzzled.

What exactly guided him here?

At this moment, he seemed to see the old monkey in front of him stand up, turn back to look at him; those eyes, ancient as if having witnessed and accommodated everything in the world, quietly observing him, hands clasped, softly chanting in Buddha's voice.

It asked:

"Dare I ask my Buddha..."

...

Inside the Inner World.

The Bodhi Tree gently swayed, scattering endless clear light.

Outside the Pure Land, the protecting God stood up, hands clasped, expression filled with sorrow.

Even Hel was leaning forward, as if she had seen something unimaginable.

"[A... Buddhist War Buddha?]"

...

Ji Jingqiu's spirit was shaken, myriad images appearing before him as if he was seeing through the old monkey's eyes, witnessing the myriad forms of the Floating Sacred Land before the era of calamity and destruction!

In stark contrast to the Floating Mountain Range he had seen before—

The Floating Mountain Range, with thousands of peaks, each peak crowned with temples!

The Floating Thousand Temples, brilliant lights illuminating the night brighter than day, countless devotees moving among them, the fire of faith burning atop the mountains, like Infinite Light.

Ji Jingqiu was deeply moved, this is the real Floating Sacred Land?!

Temples abundantly rising, truly a Buddhist Pure Land!

And the old monkey?

He subconsciously looked back, only to see a ruined temple, a young monkey, and a... half-dead Bodhi Tree planted at the entrance of the temple.

Curious, the young monkey ventured into the temple, where there were neither Buddha nor Bodhisattva, only an old monk who had passed away in meditation.

The young monkey hesitated for a long time, unable to resist the curiosity in his heart, approached and lightly touched the old monk, who, to his surprise, suddenly chanted in Buddha's voice and instantly turned into ash scattering, leaving behind only his monk's robe, startling the young monkey into standing still in shock. When it recovered, it noticed in front of it remained only a meditation mat, a wooden fish, a Buddhist scripture, and a monk's robe.

This chant seemed to awaken its intelligence; afterwards, the young monkey sat on the meditation mat, diligently striking the wooden fish, studying the Buddhist scriptures.

This reading spanned a hundred years.

From a young monkey to an old monkey, unknowingly, it dressed itself in a monk's robe, assuming the disciple of Buddhism, daily studying Buddhist teachings, refining its spirit, and indeed achieving some semblance of dignity.

During which, it did not forget to water the half-dead, half-flourishing Bodhi Tree at the temple entrance daily, but over the hundred years, the Bodhi had not much changed, just like this ruined temple.

Until this day, the old monkey opened its eyes, staring in consternation at the suddenly shattered wooden fish, expression solemn.