Chapter 2401 Fight Papiyas, Buddha Or Not Buddha, Enlightenment of Buddha Emperor
"This is the Buddha you pray and worship — a hypocrite!" Blood Buddhist cackled and sneered at Buddha Emperor and the others, silencing them.
Some cultivators could not accept the revelation as it shattered their beliefs. They collapsed on the ground, drowning in their own disbelief and despair.
Buddha Emperor took a deep breath. He looked at Papiyas, asking, "Who are you? How did you know all of these? Why are you able to absorb the Desire Buddha's energy?"
"Me? I am Desire Buddha! Buddha failed to kill me back then, and a sliver of my soul fell into a tiny universe. It was not until I returned to the Great Hongmeng Universe that I regained my memories! I will wipe out the existence of Buddha across the Infiniverse!" Papiyas said loudly.
He was indeed the manifestation of a sliver of Desire Buddha's soul who reincarnated into the Pan Gu Universe out of coincidence and became Papiyas.
He lost the memories and powers of Desire Buddha, but it instinctively stood against Buddhism in general.
"That explains a lot…"
Cundi, Receiva, and the others were struck with realization.
Papiyas then looked at Blood Buddhist and the others, saying, "I planned all these to release you from the Buddhist Tower. Now, I officially ask you to follow me as we end this hypocrisy once and forever!"
Everyone was shocked once again to learn Papiyas was the one behind the collapse of the Buddhist Tower.
Blood Buddhist and the others knelt in the sky and said, "We will follow you."
All of them resented the Heavenly Buddha Pure Land for locking them up.
In addition to the embarrassing situation of being no match for Chu Kuangren, the only way out was to seek help. Papiyas came in the nick of time.
Only by following him could they escape it alive.
"Very well! Then, we shall start with you, Chu Kuangren!"
Papiyas looked at Chu Kuangren coldly.
Ever since he encountered Chu Kuangren back in the Pan Gu Universe, he had been avoiding him.
After he arrived at the Great Hongmeng Universe, albeit acquiring Opportunities of Fortune to boost his strength, Papiyas dared not do anything obvious and had been hiding under the table all along.
He was afraid Chu Kuangren would find him and kill him.
Now, after planning for so long, he finally regained the Desire Buddha energy under the Holy Bodhi Tree. His strength skyrocketed, making him stronger than an Ultimate Monarch and almost reaching the level of an Unlimited Great Dao Monarch.
He was no longer afraid of Chu Kuangren.
"Not bad. Not bad."
Chu Kuangren clapped his hands as if he was praising Papiyas. "I didn't expect you to have such a unique history and background. But do you really think you're my match just because you have the Desire Buddha energy?"
"We shall see about that," Papiyas said.
He looked at Chu Kuangren. For some reason, he hated Chu Kuangren even more.
However, Papiyas discarded the strange thought and channeled bloody Buddhist Light behind him. It contained the presence of absolute desire, which was something similar to the Devil King's energy.
The Devil King gained power from all evil and malicious intents of sentient beings, while Papiyas used the desires of all living beings.
"Six Ayatana Heavenly Demonic Pierce!"
Papiyas pointed at Chu Kuangren, shooting a beam of crimson Buddhist Light that carried intense Daoist law.
All kinds of strange conjurations appeared following the piece. There were beautiful women trying to seduce him, ashuras trying to kill him with a huge saber, an emperor ruling over the world with an iron fist, and more.
On top of that, the Desire Buddha energy even affected the other Buddhist cultivators and their six senses. They were caught in an endless illusion. Only some powerful Buddhist Monarchs could resist it.
"It's terrifying!"
"Is this the power of the Desire Buddha!?"
"Just a look at it, and we're affected? I wonder how strong of a temptation Monarch Chu is facing."
Everyone glued their eyes on Chu Kuangren.
Chu Kuangren stood still like a mountain. His eyes shone brightly and clearly, void of any hesitation.
All conjurations were ineffective against him.
"You're trying to affect my Daoist core with some illusions?" Chu Kuangren chuckled. He was unfazed.
He raised his hand and released boundless sword qi from his fingertips.
Then, he slashed with his sword qi, destroying the crimson beam with ease.
"Is that all you've got?" Chu Kuangren taunted Papiyas.
"Chu Kuangren, you're still as strong as ever, but I'm stronger now!" Papiyas bellowed.
He put his hands together, and a crimson Buddhist Light shone.
A powerful domain was constructed in the blink of an eye.
Behind Papiyas, a crimson avatar with three faces and four arms took form. Unparalleled Demonic Buddha's aura flooded the sky.
Seeing that Papiyas had used his domain and avatar together, Chu Kuangren remained calm despite being bombarded by the fierce Demonic Buddha aura.
Three thousand Daoist laws swirled around him and summoned multiple Monarch Avatars behind him, such as the Tempest King's Avatar, Sword Palace's Avatar, Blood Ocean Avatar, and so on.
More than ten Monarch Avatars were summoned, and their auras shook the realm.
Everyone was shocked, especially Blood Buddhist and those who had never seen Chu Kuangren before.
Summoning more than a dozen avatars at once was absurd. "Bang! Bang!"
When the crimson Buddhist Light clashed with the Monarch Avatars, the clash felt like it could tear the universe apart.
Papiyas scoffed. "Chu Kuangren, why are you so protective of the Buddhist world? Do you know that, during the Infinity War, Buddha was on destruction's side? What you're protecting now will be destroyed in the future!"
Papiyas revealed another shocking fact during the battle.
Buddha was on destruction's side, and he and the other Primal Gods wanted to wipe out the Infiniverse.
Even Buddha Emperor was shaken by the revelation.
"So what?"
However, Chu Kuangren was not overly concerned.
Papiyas frowned.
Chu Kuangren's Daoist core was sturdy. Not even the Desire Buddha energy and the shocking revelation could shake his beliefs.
"Are you siding with destruction's side to destroy everything?"
"You're wrong." Chu Kuangren shook his head. "What I'm protecting is the human race, not Buddha or the Buddhist world."
Buddha Emperor and the others were Buddhist cultivators, but they were also humans.
It was the reason why Chu Kuangren stepped up to protect them.
As for Buddha being on the destruction side of the Infinity War, he actually had guesses when the Devil King revealed the information to him.
"Buddha was one of the Primal Gods who chose destruction, but to me, Buddha doesn't represent Buddhism as he is just a single entity. The real Buddha lives in everyone's heart. It shouldn't be someone but a concept, a knowledge. It's more appropriate to call it Buddhism. "Buddha is the source of Buddhism, but after countless years of development, humans perfected the teaching, and our beliefs are no longer based on that person who is Buddha but the knowledge and teachings named Buddhism!"
Chu Kuangren's voice echoed across the realm.
His words enlightened Buddha Emperor and the others.
The Buddhist cultivators shaken by the revelation slowly regained their confidence and beliefs. "Monarch Chu is right!"
"Who am I questioning? Buddha? No, I should be questioning the entity named Buddha but not Buddhism!"
"Buddhism is endless and boundless. Buddhism lives in everyone, and it is everywhere in the Infiniverse. The Buddha that Papiyas mentioned is not the real Buddha! He might be the source of Buddhism, but he no longer represents it!"
"I am enlightened!"