Journey to the West: Starting by taking Sun Wukong as my disciple!-Chapter 138 The Scheming of the Immortals
Maitreya Buddha felt his mind and spirit had been struck; to think that eating could awaken mystical abilities, and acquired ones at that!
This was something he had never dared to imagine before.
Apart from the Wings of Wind and Thunder awakened by Lei Zhenzi of the Chan School after consuming Immortal Apricots, he had never heard of anything else possessing such magical powers!
And this mystical ability was a bit too strong.
It could absorb living creatures, draw on their cultivation, and rebound attacks!
Without realizing it, Maitreya Buddha patted his belly; he never thought that one day this belly would become his secret weapon.
Excited as he was, he did not overlook one issue: where did Sun Wukong, a mere Golden Immortal, get such a grand resource?
How could he offer up this divine object that awakened mystical abilities?
And to all the immortals in the Heavenly Court no less!
Do not be fooled by Maitreya Buddha’s simple exterior; he was quite astute inside.
He keenly felt the discrepancy between the previous dishes and this hot pot; it didn’t seem like Wukong’s handiwork.
After all, he hadn’t just eaten the banquet food; he had also had quite a fill in the Imperial Kitchen just before.
Lately, Wukong told him the cooking was finished, but he had not seen this hot pot outside or in the kitchen!
That meant this hot pot wasn’t made by Sun Wukong!
Thinking about Sun Wukong’s skyrocketing power and superior culinary skills after his ten-year disappearance, Maitreya Buddha was taken aback.
How formidable and hidden must the force be to have fostered Sun Wukong to such a state in such a short time?
And to produce such a powerful food, this hot pot!
Maitreya Buddha’s inner self trembled at the thought; if they were to follow Buddhism’s plan to suppress Sun Wukong later, what of the power behind Sun Wukong?
Even if there’s no support from saints behind him, the power must be extraordinary!
You can’t fathom the mystery of an awakening without experiencing it firsthand, and he certainly didn’t have the courage to face it.
But...
Apart from wanting the monkey to be the major chef for Buddhism, he didn’t harbor any nefarious thoughts, so there shouldn’t be any issue.
With this in mind, Maitreya Buddha let go of his uneasy heart.
Eager to show off his newly acquired skill, but this was the Flat Peach Banquet, so he had no choice but to restrain himself.
"Venerable Maitreya, what happened to you just now?" Haotian, noticing Maitreya Buddha returning to normal, asked.
The other immortals perked up their ears and listened.
Maitreya Buddha frowned slightly; divine skills were to be kept as trump cards, and how could he easily divulge them to others?
However, he couldn’t refuse to answer Haotian, the Jade Emperor.
"I report to the Great Venerable that the poor monk has just experienced a sudden enlightenment of a new Buddhist law," Maitreya Buddha fibbed.
"Oh? I wonder what Buddhist law it is." Haotian intended to dig deep and was not willing to let Maitreya Buddha off so easily.
Maitreya Buddha’s eyes lit up, and he said, "The Buddhist principle the poor monk has realized is, ’Through the gut, meat and wine will pass, but within the heart of the Buddha they shall forever last!’
He directly shared the Buddhist principle he had comprehended from Sun Wukong.
The gods looked at each other; this Buddhist law was... rather interesting!
Was this an excuse Maitreya Buddha devised on the spot for not resisting the desire to eat meat?
The Maitreya Buddha was indeed a clever man.
The gods smiled slightly, looking at Maitreya Buddha.
If such words were to spread to Buddhism, it would surely be embarrassing.
Haotian nodded, appearing to accept this explanation.
The gods continued to indulge in the hot pot, unable to resist its deliciousness!
"Add some water!" Maitreya Buddha patted his belly and cheerfully said.
"And refill my dish with vegetables!"
With the awakening of the divine skill of Great Stomach Capacity, Maitreya Buddha’s belly space had doubled; despite eating so much earlier, it felt as if he had eaten nothing at all.
The Immortal Attendants were dumbfounded—was this already the third round?
This was ten tables’ worth of dishes!
What exactly was Venerable Maitreya’s stomach made of to be able to eat so much?
It was terrifying!
Watching as the dishes were laid out on the table again, Venerable Maitreya rubbed his hands together excitedly. If this food had the power to awaken mystical abilities, then by continuing to eat, perhaps he might have another awakening.
Venerable Maitreya plunged back into his indulgence.
"I can’t do it anymore, I feel like I’m out of the game," Tian Peng said with a round, distended belly, belching.
Having not awakened any mystical abilities after such a long time signaled there was no hope in terms of status. However, that made sense—he’d nearly reached his third helping.
How could it happen so quickly?
Yang Jian let out a long sigh and, leaning back in his chair, digested his food.
He, too, was finding it hard to eat anymore. He had awakened two mystical abilities, one right after the other, so it was normal not to have an awakening now.
"Hey, Nezha, why haven’t you awakened any abilities either?" Tian Peng asked with curiosity.
Er...
Nezha’s heart skipped a beat. He had already awakened an ability once, and according to Tian Peng, the more awakenings one had, the more difficult they became, so it was normal for him not to have another awakening.
After all, not everyone had the great fortune to awaken abilities consecutively.
But such things couldn’t be said aloud, or they would probe to the bottom of his mystical abilities, which would be bad.
Glancing at the bustling crowd of immortals, Nezha, unwilling to show weakness, retorted to Tian Peng, "Does eating for the first time guarantee an awakening? Haven’t you noticed that so many immortals haven’t awakened anything?"
"You have a point there," Tian Peng chuckled.
All these immortals were trying the food for the first time and had not awakened any abilities. This could only mean one thing: the hotpot was completely different from Shopkeeper Chen’s other dishes!
Since the other dishes were ready-made and this required their participation, the probability of awakening abilities was significantly reduced.
Thinking this, Tian Peng was not disappointed; on the contrary, he was even more excited.
He had never seen it before, so could it be...
A new dish from Shopkeeper Chen?
If the chance of awakening was low, wouldn’t it likely be much cheaper than the regular dishes?!
That’s great news!
Tian Peng was inwardly overjoyed.
Even though he now had a huge sum of money in his account for a hundred visits, it wouldn’t last with daily dining. Besides, treasure hunting wasn’t that simple.
The time and effort spent on manuscript fees were extraordinary, not to mention that treasures were now split between two people and a dog’s comments.
If Xiaotian Dog ended up being a hindrance and they found poor treasures, it would be a huge loss!
A hundred visits could seem plentiful but it dwindled with consumption.
The cuisine of Chaos Residence made him return again and again, let alone the prospect of awakening mystical abilities—if he couldn’t eat there for a long time, he might even collapse!
Having eaten so much, Tian Peng faintly felt that his top priority was no longer the mystical abilities, but the blissful taste of the dishes he indulged in.
The more he ate, the more he wanted to eat!
That’s what it means to be an immortal, right? 𝘧𝓇ℯ𝑒𝓌𝑒𝑏𝓃𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘭.𝒸ℴ𝓂
Having endless years to savor the dishes from Chaos Residence, what a colorful life that would be!
All the Magical Treasures left in the Three Realms wouldn’t even catch Tian Peng’s eye!
On Spirit Mountain, in the Great Thunderclap Monastery, Tathagata and the Buddhas sat on their lotus platforms, chanting scriptures.
Every Buddha was muttering, but their hearts were never calm, all of them thinking about the Flat Peach Banquet.
Destroying a Flat Peach Banquet just to enhance the prestige of the monkey hardly seemed worth it—to think, the Heavenly Court had given Buddhism seven invitations!
Seven flat peaches lost—a true waste!
Those peaches could have been used to enhance cultivation...
The more Tathagata thought about it, the more he felt something was wrong. Why hadn’t Venerable Maitreya returned after so long?
