Pagoda

  The Mountain God Temple has always been Lin Xu's one-man show, and the deputy generals are only suitable for executing clear orders, not helping to come up with strategies. For matters that their superior had already decided on, the deputy generals immediately raised both hands in agreement.

  As the old saying goes, when leaders move their mouths, those below them run their legs off. After a round of public opinion and momentum building, after the spring plowing and farming busy season, the residents of Jiufeng Town rested for only a few days before starting to get busy again.

  It took nearly six months to build, including the underground palace, with a total of 32 floors, symbolizing the 32 days of this brick-and-stone-based pagoda. The exterior is majestic and magnificent, like a giant pillar standing on the southern edge of Jiufeng Town.

  Even in daylight, even if it is dozens of miles away, people can still see the magnificent figure of this super high-rise building.

  The construction of this magnificent tower can be described as lightning-fast, with the main body completed in just six months. However, the remaining interior decorations will take some time to perfect. The reason for completing such a massive project so quickly is not that the people of Jiufeng Town suddenly became skilled craftsmen overnight, but rather because Lin Xiang, the tireless behind-the-scenes planner, would come every day after the chaotic construction ended to secretly reinforce and correct the tower's foundation and body, while also correcting any mistakes that occurred during construction.

  If not for the BOSS Lin Xu's hard work behind the scenes to maintain and reinforce, replacing the three-legged cat technicians to wipe their butts, I'm afraid this Three-No-Pagoda would have long since followed in the footsteps of that original world's Magic Capital, where a high-quality building directly collapsed and took a rest.

  "Amitabha Buddha! The poor monk Pujizai pays homage to your esteemed self."

  A patchwork kasaya with patches upon patches, a string of bodhi beads hanging from his neck polished to a shine, a large bald head with scars from burns clearly visible. This wandering monk Puzi who had come seeking an audience was indeed different from the modern monks in Lin Xu's memory who relied on state funding and donations from wealthy devotees to live a life of luxury, their own bellies full and round.

  Puji's gaze was clear and firm, and others could see from his eyes the endless longing of a devout believer for Buddhist teachings. At first glance, Puji seemed to be a high-ranking monk with great virtue, but it was precisely this that made Lin Xu feel even more headache-inducing.

  The day before, the great monk came to Jiufeng Town and directly blocked the entrance of the Mountain God Temple, reciting scriptures non-stop. The ordinary temple keeper couldn't get in at all. When several attendants came out to ask questions, Master Pujie insisted on seeing Lord Huoshan, but refused to say what it was about. Several attendants wanted to use force to drive him away, but unexpectedly, Master Pujie had a Buddha's light protecting his body, automatically repelling any external harm. No one could move him. The situation escalated, and in the end, Lin Xu had to come out to resolve the problem.

  At this time, Lin Xu revealed a somewhat helpless smile, and with a wave of his hand to the left and right, he said:

  "Come on in! First, let the great monk take a seat. If you have something to say, please speak up; if not, then feel free to leave!"

  As the Buddhist scriptures say, there are 3,000 worlds in a single grain of sand. Scientific research also believes that even between the finest grains of sand and the most majestic mountains, there is still a great similarity between them.

  Perhaps for some unknown reason, in this Lin Xu's lucky divine realm, the place that should have been India was still separated from Zhongtu by high mountains and deserts. Looking back on those years, as the Great Qin Empire's foundation in the East became more solid, the emperors of the Great Qin took time to launch a distant expedition to sweep away the Western Regions, with their territory reaching its peak at the foot of the Congling Mountains.

  Not long after the opening of the Silk Road, Buddhism also spread eastward along this path into China and soon found fertile soil to take root in the lower strata of Chinese society.

  After initial difficulties, foreign Buddhism completed its localization and took root in the Central Plains region, where it spread widely.

  As early as hundreds of years ago, the Great Qin Empire had a thriving Buddhist scene with every household worshipping Guanyin and every family revering Amitabha, but this prosperity also brewed new crises.

  Almost at the same time as the Spring and Autumn Period of Huaxia, Sakyamuni, who was revered as the Buddha, began to spread his own Buddhist teachings in his hometown. Sakyamuni opposed the Brahmin caste system, which determined one's fate by birth, and the old idolatrous atmosphere, advocating for the equal spirit that all beings have Buddha-nature and everyone can become a Buddha. The original intention of Buddhism is also to enable people to cultivate self-enlightenment and learn the way to escape from suffering, even the title of "Buddha" itself actually refers to the enlightened one, rather than an honorific term for Sakyamuni.

  Under the influence of this great founder, early Buddhism did not support the construction of Buddha statues. However, everything will undergo subtle changes over time, and in most cases, things develop in the opposite direction of what is expected.

  As the time of Buddha's entry into Nirvana became more and more distant, the Buddhist disciples who should have been content with poverty and delighted in the Tao seemed to have forgotten the Buddha's teachings of old. A luxurious trend of building large temples and Buddha statues emerged. The traditional clay and stone Buddha statues could no longer satisfy the appetites of monks who received large donations from the wealthy and powerful. They began to cast Buddha statues using bronze, and later, a trend of casting gilded Buddha statues appeared. Temples in various regions became increasingly grandiose, and Buddha statues were made larger and larger.

  Along with this large-scale construction of temples and metal statues, the precious copper that should have been used for minting coins was consumed, as well as gold and silver which also existed as high-denomination transaction currencies.

  Not only that, but Buddhist temples have consistently enjoyed preferential treatment such as tax exemptions and exemptions from corvée labor, while monks secretly use methods such as collecting yinhu to extort large amounts of money, causing the country's taxes to be lost. At the same time, the number of monks and nuns in various places has continued to increase, reducing the population base for paying taxes to the state.

  There are many smart people under the sky, and those who can sit in the highest position of power, no matter how stupid they look on the surface, as long as they haven't really messed up the country directly, it indirectly proves that this guy's intelligence level is still within the normal human standard.

  It was clear that within the borders of the Great Qin Empire, the Buddhist sect's power had expanded to such an extent that it gradually became uncontrollable. Those officials who originally disliked these special groups could no longer sit still at this time.

  In the old nemesis of Buddhism, the native Taoist sect took advantage of the opportunity to stir up trouble. The 60th Emperor of the Great Qin Empire, who had just taken over the transmission of the imperial seal from his father's hands, issued an edict to destroy Buddhism in the first month after his accession to the throne. He ordered the destruction of temples and Buddhist statues throughout the country, stipulating that only one temple be preserved in each prefecture, with no more than 50 monks allowed. The copper obtained by melting down Buddhist statues was used to mint coins to enrich the national treasury. At the same time, he strictly ordered monks and nuns to return to secular life, and from now on, anyone who had not received an official ordination certificate could not shave their heads and become a monk without permission. Those who violated this rule would be sent to the military or exiled 3,000 miles away.

  Thus, the Buddhist community, which was already flourishing, suffered a devastating blow. The persecution continued until the death of Emperor Wu of Northern Zhou, who died after taking an elixir of immortality prepared by a Taoist alchemist. The new emperor then put an end to the anti-Buddhist campaign. As a result of this event, Buddhism in China began to decline.

  These old things were used as background materials by the former Huo Mountain God, and were unceremoniously stuffed into Lin Xu's divine sea of consciousness. As time passed, Lin Xu's state of mind gradually improved, and the pain caused by this knowledge lessened, only then did he have some confidence to face the vast amount of information in his mind.

  Lin Xu had no connection with the Buddhist sect before, and neither side was friends nor enemies, but Lin Xu himself knew that this Huo Mountain God belonged to the Chinese god system.

  In any case, in terms of theory, the superior of Mount Huo's god is Sanqing and Siyu, and the direct leader is Hou Tu Huangdi Qi.

  It's a big taboo to be ambiguous and indecisive, even if those big shots in the sky seem to have given up on this small piece of land. Who knows if they will make a comeback. With that in mind, Lin Xu has always been cautious and careful in his attitude towards Buddhism, and at this moment, he would not respond kindly to the sudden visit of the great light head Puzhi.

  Puji and Shang did not get angry at Lin Xu's cold face, but instead saw him put his hands together, with a peaceful smile on his face, saying:

  "Amitabha! I wish to build a temple in Jiufeng Town to worship Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva, may I ask the honorable deity, can you make it convenient for me?"

  At the sound, Lin Xu was stunned for a moment, then he reacted and exclaimed in surprise:

  "Uh, Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva? Could it be that Bodhisattva who vowed not to attain Buddhahood until the hells are empty?"

  At this time, Puji and Shang's smile on their faces became even more radiant, and they nodded repeatedly, saying:

  "Excellent! The noble god has spoken correctly, it is indeed the Great Vow of Earth Store Bodhisattva."

  This time it's really big trouble! This was Lin Xu's subconscious first reaction, his smile also stiffened on his face.

  If it were any other monk who dared to make such a fuss, running up to the door to compete with him for limited disciple resources, and still in Jiufeng Town, Lin Xu would not mind letting him know why the flowers are so red. However, the banner that Monk Pujie had raised was to worship Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva, if it were like this, then things would be difficult to handle.

  The knowledge reserve left by the former Huo Mountain God, Lin Xu, although not fully grasped, still had a rough understanding of the surface. He was very clear in his heart that this Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva was an extraordinary figure unlike any other.

  It is said that the Buddha Shakyamuni left a prophecy on the eve of his entry into Nirvana, that in the future, Maitreya Buddha would descend to the world 5.6 billion years after his entry into Nirvana, to fulfill his duty of transforming and saving all sentient beings.

  The Buddha would not lie, but even so, before the arrival of Maitreya Buddha, who is late in coming, the position of the current Buddha cannot be left vacant for a long time, and Buddhism also cannot neglect to educate sentient beings for tens of billions of years.

  In view of this, the Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva who was previously unknown and unremarkable was chosen by the Buddha to become the proxy leader of the Sangha.

  This agent's position is not easy to sit in! After realizing that the Buddha's decision was an unchangeable fact, Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva immediately made a great vow: "If the hells are not empty, I will not become a Buddha." From then on, he was called the Great Vow Ksitigarbha. After making this great vow that could not be greater, Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva went directly to the underworld and never appeared in public again. It is said that the current Ten Halls of Yama's underworld, the backstage boss, is this agent who does not care about worldly affairs, the earthly manifestation of a Buddha.

  Looking back on those years, Lin Xu was most struggling at the beginning of his career. He had also received friendly support from Wu Guanwang, the King of Hell's five officials. This favor owed is really great!

  If the generous and powerful Wu Guan Wang is indeed as rumored to be close to Di Zang Pu Sa, Lin Xu's outright rejection of Pu Ji Heshang's temple construction request would likely earn him a reputation for ingratitude and disloyalty, while also offending two major figures.

  Having thought of this, Lin Xu, who had never been timid, also became vague and hesitated before speaking.

  "This... let me think for a moment, why don't you, Great Monk, come back in a few days, how about that?"

  Upon hearing this, Pujie monk stood up and said:

  "Amitabha! Since it's like that, I'll take my leave. I'll come again another day to pay respects to the Honorable Deity."

  Lin Xiu sent away the troublesome monk and immediately called in Wang Liang, a more mature and smooth-talking attendant, to whom he carefully instructed:

  "Hurry up and go to the underworld immediately, and ask the subordinates of the Five Officers' King about the relationship between the Earth Treasure Bodhisattva and the Five Officers' King. Go quickly and return quickly."

  Wang Liang didn't understand what was going on, but he also didn't dare to delay, and hastily cupped his hands and said:

  "Yes, sir. I'll go down to the underworld and investigate."