The number of Arhats didn’t surprise the Dragon Emperor at all. However, the number of bodhisattvas did.
Those in the Mahayana Realm were known as bodhisattvas, and like the Immortal Realm, the Mahayana Realm was also split into four minor realms: the Sotapanna Realm, the Sakadagami Realm, the Anagami Realm, and the Arahant Realm.
After entering the Mahayana Realm, a bodhisattva will focus on unshackling the ten fetters. Of the ten fetters, the Fetter of Self, the Fetter of Doubt, the Fetter of Shortcut, the Fetter of Fleshly Lust and the Fetter of Animosity compose the lesser fetters. The Fetter of Material Desire, the Fetter of Immaterial Desire, the Fetter of Vanity, the Fetter of Discomposure, and the Fetter of Ignorance form the greater fetters. A bodhisattva who just entered the Mahayana Realm has not severed a single fetter, while those at the peak of the Mahayana Realm will have unshackled all ten fetters.
Those in the Sotapanna Realm do not open the fetters, but they must discover the ten fetters inside themselves. Because this is the first step of the Mahayana Realm, those in the Sotapanna Realm are known as opener bodhisattvas. One key difference between opener bodhisattvas and true immortals was that the former’s longevity relied solely on willpower. Once their willpower could no longer be maintained, they would perish.
To enter the Sakagami Realm, a bodhisattva must open one of the first three fetters: the Fetter of Self, the Fetter of Doubt or the Fetter of Shortcut. After severing one of the first three fetters, the Buddhist would enter the early Sakagami Realm. Severing two fetters allows the Buddhist to enter the mid Sakagami Realm and severing three allows them to enter the peak Sakagami Realm. Those in the Sakagami Realm are known as returner bodhisattva.
Returner bodhisattvas aspire to sever the remaining two lesser fetters: the Fetter of Fleshly Lust and the Fetter of Animosity. Those that accomplish this feat enter the Anagami Realm and are known as departer bodhisattva.
The final realm of the Mahayana Realm is known as the Arahant Realm. To enter, a departer bodhisattva must sever one of the five greater fetters. Those in the Arahant Realm are known as worthy bodhisattvas.
Compared to lesser fetters, the greater fetters are tens or hundreds of times harder to sever. It isn’t solely because of the esoteric nature of the fetters, but because the difficulty increases with each fetter severed. The more fetters that are severed, the more tethered the remaining fetters are.
The Pure Lands System didn’t have a single worthy bodhisattva, but there were many departer bodhisattvas. They numbered over a hundred. Even counting the number of immortal emperors among the Immortal Court and Numinous Sword Sect, the Pure Lands System far outnumbered the former.
Later, the Dragon Emperor would learn that despite technically being emperor-level cultivators, departer bodhisattva were generally weaker than immortal emperors. Still, quantity itself was a sort of quality. Even an immortal sovereign would die if he faced a hundred departer bodhisattvas.
The hundreds of departer bodhisattvas was already shocking enough, but what was more shocking was at the top of Mount Meru. The Dragon Emperor originally thought a sun rested at the peak of the mountain, but he was wrong. Sitting in a lotus position in the center of the sun was a humanoid.
The human had fiery strands for hair that flickered and burned, even in the middle of the sun. His skin exuded a golden light and the Dragon Emperor felt as if the figure was the center of all things. Just catching a glimpse of him made the Dragon Emperor want to worship him and convert to Buddhism.
Luckily, the Dragon Emperor possessed a firm willpower, so he wasn’t beguiled.
However, when the human opened his eyes, the Dragon Emperor kneeled under the pressure from the gaze. Those two eyes resembled twin suns and they appear to illuminate all things and reveal the truth. The Dragon Emperor realized that even if he had entered the Origin Immortal Realm, he would be powerless before this figure.
That figure was not a bodhisattva, but a buddha. In other words, he was a divinity.
Unlike Daoist, those that entered the Divine Realm are not known as divinities but buddhas.
The buddha introduced himself as the Sūryah Buddha, meaning Buddha of the Sun. He did not interrogate the Dragon Emperor and only asked a single question.
“Are you willing to join Buddhism?”
When the Dragon Emperor said yes, he felt as if something had inexplicably changed, but he couldn’t discover what. That unknown feeling made him feel uneasy, but there was nothing he could do. Simultaneously, a Buddhist cultivation method appeared in his mind.
The Dragon Emperor buried his unease because of the excitement. Since his first life, he had always been searching for a way to enter the Origin Immortal Realm. The reason why he was only a half-sovereign because of his fall wasn’t because he didn’t fulfill the requirement, but because of his self-created Dragon Emperor Fist.
To make up for this defect, the Dragon Emperor had searched far and wide for cultivation methods to inspire him. This resulted in him robbing many powerful forces of their cultivation methods. Alas, he couldn’t find any inspiration from them, and he wanted to blackmail the then Buzhou Immortal Sect. But before he could, his actions and character caused all the forces in the Huang Realm to ally against him, forcing him to self-detonate.
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Part of the reason he settled down in the Buzhou Immortal Sect as Lovespot was a chance to learn the Ten Heavenly Scriptures they kept. Alas, he never had a chance to. And now, the thing he had sought for so many years was in front of him.
Instantly, the Dragon Emperor felt much better about joining Buddhism.
After speaking those words, the Sūryah Buddha closed his eyes and turned still, as if he was a statue. The Dragon Emperor didn’t disturb him, either. Although he had enough willpower to converse with a buddha, he hated the feeling of his own life and death not being in his own control.
The Begonia Bodhisattva showed him to his abode on Mount Meru. It wasn’t too isolated, but it wasn’t exactly too far apart from the other residents on Mount Meru. The Dragon Emperor didn’t particularly care. He just wanted to enter secluded cultivation and create a method to enter the Origin Immortal Realm. He didn’t plan on cultivating the Buddhist cultivation method imparted to him, no matter how profound it was. The Dragon Emperor wanted to strip it of its useful part and add it to the Dragon Emperor Fist.
Unlike the Dragon Emperor, Zi Zun fully converted to the Buddhist path. The cultivation method of the Thunder Duke Inheritance he received was not as profound as the Buddhist cultivation method. And soon, he transformed from an immortal to a bodhisattva. Because the Buddhist path didn’t have as strict a requirement as the daoist path, Zi Zun became a returner bodhisattva.
The Dragon Emperor wasn’t idle either. With no need to hide his strength or identity, he quickly ascended up the ranks. He became an immortal monarch and summoned his Dao Manifestation. Then, he became an immortal emperor. Even among the departer bodhisattvas in the Pure Lands, few could match him. Although his newly improved Dragon Emperor Fist had aspects of Buddhism, it still leaned closer to the daoist path.
Still, as someone who joined Buddhism, the Dragon Emperor’s title naturally changed from immortal emperor to departer bodhisattva, specifically, the Departer Dragon Bodhisattva. Although in the privacy of his own mind, he still called himself the Dragon Emperor.
After becoming an immortal emperor, the Dragon Emperor focused wholeheartedly on creating the next realm for his cultivation method. He estimated it would take a few thousand years to tens of thousands of years to enter the Origin Immortal Realm. How could the Dragon Emperor wait so long?
Whenever he thought of that bastard, Xi Tianyi, or Xi Mengfei, he felt an enormous pressure. Honestly, it was a feeling he had forgotten in his heyday when he thought himself invincible. Perhaps the lacking sense of danger caused him to rest on his laurels and slack off.
Feeling the pressure once more, the Dragon Emperor took the initiative. The Dragon Emperor Fist’s foundation relied on transforming the body to become more like a dragon. As long as he hunted down some dragons and absorbed their blood, he would progress forward. It might not help him enter the Origin Immortal Realm, but it laid a solid foundation so that when he did break through, his strength would sky rocket. He might even enter the mid Origin Immortal Realm instead of the early Origin Immortal Realm.
So, the Dragon Emperor applied to leave the Buddhist Pure Lands System. He expected scrutiny and a watcher, but surprisingly, the Buddhists agreed. They didn’t even attach a watcher to him. Although confused, the Dragon Emperor didn’t reject this.
Although he joined Buddhism, at heart, he was still accustomed to acting alone due to his origins as a loose cultivator. So, he started searching the Three Thousand Immortal Realms for dragons.
It was not the first time the Dragon Emperor traveled to the Three Thousand Realms System. Thanks to an opportunity, the Dragon Emperor escaped the Buzhou Immortal Sect’s surveillance and learned the truth. It was not that immortals would perish because of the harsh environment of the Vast Void, but the Buzhou Immortal Sect killed any immortals that left.
The Dragon Emperor chose to return after leaving the Huang Realm. This both represented his self confidence and his goal. He wanted to defeat the dishonest Buzhou Immortal Sect and replace it as the strongest force in not just the entire Huang Realm, but the entire Three Thousand Immortal Realms System.
There was one small benefit to returning, though. The Dragon Emperor smiled as he recalled the memories. The Dragon Clan initially provoked the humans because they were hunting him. He had killed many true dragons and even a dragon lord, forming an enmity with the Dragon Clan. This enmity was one of the casus belli that initiated the Divine Beast-Human War.
The Dragon Emperor shook his head as he broke out of his thoughts. Anyways, he originally entered the Tieniu Realm because of the aura left by the dragons. As a dragon hunter, the Dragon Emperor naturally had methods to search out dragons. He originally only planned to search for traces of the dragons here, but he never expected that the dragon aura would suddenly increase.
He shook his head and disappeared from the streets of Karmlight City. Since the dragons appeared in the Tieniu, it was time to reap the benefits. The dragons can only consider themselves unlucky for encountering him. In addition, the Dragon Emperor didn’t need to care about dragging down Buddhism, either.
It was not because he had much consideration, but that the Pure Lands System’s location was concealed like the Divine Beast Pseudo System. Even when exiting without anything inhibiting his immortal sense, the Dragon Emperor couldn’t sense the Pure Lands System after leaving. It was as if he had teleported into the Vast Void out of nowhere. To return, he had to request access.
Plus, the Divine Beast-Human War only occurred recently, and it was far from the time to start a war again. If the Demon Clan attacked the Immortal Court or the Numinous Sword Path, the Dragon Emperor would be quite happy.
So, the Dragon Emperor didn’t hide his aura at all as he charged toward the core area of the Bull Clan. As he flew closer, the stench of the true dragon became more obvious to him. His flight stilled for a second as he sensed a familiar presence.
“Why is she here?” the Dragon Emperor asked himself. Upon sensing her, he knew that the demon’s presence in the Tieniu Realm couldn’t be simple. Was there a secret in this realm he didn’t know about?
The Dragon Emperor had no plan to stop. Since he sensed her, she must have already sensed him.
Sure enough, a blue flame erupted from the core of the Bull Clan and replaced the sky over the bull demon’s territory with a fiery heaven. A blue light shot from the ground and toward the Dragon Emperor. “You’re still alive, you bastard!”
The Dragon Emperor allowed a wanton grin to grace his face. “Haha, it’ll take much more than a mere Buzhou Immortal Sect to kill me.”
A saber with dragon-shaped pommel appeared in his hand and he slashed out. Just in time to meet a torrent of azure fire shooting toward him.
