I, Superman, the Supreme Commander

Chapter 117: Incorporating the Gods and Returning to the True Self

Wang Wu saw a "familiar face" among the 365 statues of judges.

【Kyoto Judge: Liu Bowen】

【Liu Ji, courtesy name Bo Wen, also known as Wen Cheng Gong, was a politician, writer, military strategist, and founding hero of the Ming Dynasty. He assisted Emperor Taizu of the Ming Dynasty in pacifying the nine provinces, governing the country and ensuring the people's well-being, and advocating the rule of law. He was a man of great talent and strategy, upright and incorruptible, and his merits and virtues will be remembered by the world. According to the laws of Heaven and Earth, he was conferred the title of Judge of Kyoto.】

This Kyoto judge is exactly the Liu Bowen who was previously enshrined in the Kyoto City God Temple.

At this time, the statue was dressed in official uniform, holding a jade sceptre, just like an official on earth. The judges in the surrounding areas were also dressed in the same way.

Wang Wu suddenly realized——

[It turns out that the Tianzun Sect is not trying to get rid of the old gods and Buddhas, but to incorporate them! ]

After that, Wang Wu saw several "familiar faces" in the Hall of Samsara, and he became more certain of his guess.

Half of the 365 judges were the original city gods of various places, and the other half were newly appointed in the name of Heavenly Father and Earth Mother, many of whom were heroes and officials who sacrificed their lives during the calamity of the fire.

There is an inscription in front of the statue, recording the origins and achievements of these gods during their lifetime.

After reading it once, Wang Wu guessed why half of the City Gods were unable to move into the Samsara Hall. It was probably because those City Gods did not have enough merit or their deeds were simply exaggerated.

After all, many city gods were fabricated by some officials and businessmen in order to enjoy the incense of the people after death. Some were even corrupt officials and treacherous ministers at that time.

Now that the imperial court is rectifying religious beliefs in the name of Tianzunism, it is natural that it has to clean out these garbage that have mixed in.

On the middle level, inside the judge's office are six larger and more majestic statues, the six Yama Kings.

Supervision, morality, justice, punishment, respecting good, and suppressing demons are responsible for six different functions respectively.

The Lord of Supervision is responsible for recording the life stories of all living beings. After death, people will undergo both moral and judicial trials, and then be dealt with by the Lords of Punishment and Worship. The Lord of Demon Suppression is responsible for arresting and eliminating evil spirits.

[As expected, this old man is indeed a man of great insight. ]

Old man Wang Wu thought proudly.

As he expected, the six Yama Kings were also acquaintances.

The Lord of Supervision is Wei Zheng, the Lord of Morality is Kong Ming, the Lord of Justice is Bao Zheng, the Lord of Punishment is Cui Yan, the Lord of Virtue is Lu Zhidao, and the Lord of Suppressing Demons is Yan Chixia.

In the innermost layer of the Samsara Hall, in the center of the hall is a thirty-meter-tall bronze statue of a seated goddess.

【The merits of reincarnation are immeasurable. 】

【Merciful Earth Mother, Queen Tu.】

It is none other than the most revered deity in the Hall of Samsara, Hou Tu Niangniang.

The circular wall surrounding the statue is covered with black relief inscriptions, introducing the functions, positions and duties of the gods of reincarnation, as well as the basic process of life and death cycle.

Everyone was shocked when they saw this. In the past, temples always kept things secret and explained the matter of reincarnation in a vague way. This was the first time that a temple had explained it in such a simple and easy-to-understand way.

【All mortals will die, and after death they will be rewarded or punished according to their merits and demerits in life. Those who have done great deeds will ascend to heaven to enjoy happiness, those who have done no merit or demerit will be reincarnated, those who have done evil will go to hell to atone for their sins, and those who have committed the most heinous crimes will have their souls scattered and will not be able to be reborn.】

[In the Samsara Hall, the Yin Gods each have their own duties. The Lord of Hell, the Judge, and the Yin Messenger, the small test every ten years and the big test every hundred years, the capable ones are promoted and the mediocre ones are demoted, there is no fixed seat. Mortals can also become gods. ]

【…】

The old men and women present were all thinking about whether they should encourage their descendants more after returning. Maybe their descendants would be promising and could get a position in the Samsara Palace.

Hall of Heroes on the other side of the Hall of Samsara.

On the day when Tianzun Palace was opened, all major Buddhist sects, including Dafo Temple, White Horse Temple, Lingyin Temple, Jinshan Temple, etc., sent people to check out the situation.

A group of bald monks and nuns stood in front of the golden statue of Buddha with mixed emotions.

[Holy Spirit of the Human Race: Sakyamuni]

[Shakyamuni, originally named Siddhartha Gautama, was born and died in an unknown time. He was the founder of Buddhism. After he became a Buddha, he was honored as the Buddha, also known as Tathagata Buddha, Sakyamuni Buddha...]

[…He taught the world, advocated abandoning evil and doing good, equality of all beings, transcending suffering, and opened up the way to Buddhahood, with immeasurable merits. The Father of Heaven and the Mother of Earth ordered him to be the World Honored Buddha, presiding over the Supreme Buddha Way.]

The inscription in front of the Buddha statue records the Buddha's life, deeds, merits, thoughts and teachings.

There are four Bodhisattvas and eighteen Arhats standing on the left and right of the Buddha. There are also inscriptions in front of the statues, showing their life origins, merits and deeds.

Many Buddha statues occupy a separate exhibition area. On the wall behind the Buddha statues, there are portraits and brief introductions of 108 eminent monks, such as Faxian, Xuanzang, Huineng, Kumarajiva...

Without exception, Bodhisattvas and Arhats were all mortals who practiced and cultivated themselves, and many of the deified descriptions were deleted from the introduction, making it look like an introduction to a mortal. All kinds of information that was previously unknown to mortals, would not be made public, and even religions avoided talking about, were now exposed.

"absurd!"

One nun could not help getting angry and pointed at the inscription in front of the Buddha statue and shouted, "This is a blasphemy against all Buddhas!"

"Amitabha... Elder Jingyi, please don't let your anger run wild. This may not be a bad thing."

A highly respected Buddhist elder nearby spoke calmly, looking at the explanation and positioning of Buddhism on the inscription, with a thoughtful gleam in his eyes.

"Master Wuneng, what do you mean by this? Please explain clearly." The nun said with a hint of dissatisfaction.

We are all elders from big temples. Why do you preach to me? Just because you came from a big Buddhist temple?

I heard from the old nun that you, the Great Buddha Temple, demolished the main gate yourself and became a bootlicker of the imperial court!

"It cannot be explained, but it can be understood by oneself."

The old monk made a Zen remark, and then began to recite scriptures devoutly towards the Buddha statue.

Some of the Buddhists present seemed to be thinking about something, while others looked confused, and their reactions varied.

At this time, an old lady nearby screamed.

"Oh my! It turns out there are Bodhisattvas in Tianzun Palace. I thought I would never be able to worship Bodhisattvas again!"

"That's what I said. Guanyin Bodhisattva is so compassionate, how could she be a bad deity?"

"Yes. It seems that we have wronged the court."

"I just saw the Three Pure Ones and the Four Imperial Gods over there. There are many Taoist gods and immortals there."

"So, the imperial court wants to gather all the gods in one place to make it easier for us common people to worship them?"

"This is a good thing!"

The people around were talking about it. When the monks heard about it, several monks with profound Buddhist knowledge suddenly brightened up as if they had realized something.

The kind-looking old lady happily took out the incense and candles she carried with her and started to worship Guanyin Bodhisattva on the spot.

There is an incense burner and a cushion in front of each statue in the Hall of Heroes for people to use for worship.

The old lady lit the incense sticks and knelt down to pray devoutly, "Greatly compassionate Guanyin Bodhisattva, may my son give birth to a big fat son, preferably twins, a boy and a girl... Bodhisattva, may you bless me!"

At this time, the staff of Tianzun Palace who was responsible for guiding the people and maintaining order came over.

He said, "Ahem, old lady, if you want to have a child, you should go and worship the goddess Nuwa over there. It is not the Bodhisattva's job to give birth to a child."