Heaven-Defying Rebel Sage-Chapter 47 - Three Lifetimes Incomprehensible
Chapter 47: Chapter 47: Three Lifetimes, Incomprehensible
Chapter 47 -47: Three Lifetimes, Incomprehensible
“Buddha Ancestor, why have you stopped speaking?” Samantabhadra Bodhisattva, seeing Tathagata suddenly pause and remain silent for a long time, couldn’t help but ask.
Tathagata’s brow slightly furrowed, and his fingers pinched lightly as he said, “It seems like something has occurred, but I am unable to grasp it.”
Manjushri Bodhisattva, however, said, “Is there anything within or beyond the Three Realms that can be concealed from the Buddha Ancestor?”
Tathagata closed his eyes and replied, “Perhaps it’s just a whim of mine, an overthinking.”
Having said that, he continued with the scripture he had been preaching before. His tongue bloomed like a lotus, and his demeanor undoubtedly confirmed the air of a Buddha with a smile amidst a silent teaching. However, Tathagata faintly felt something was amiss, as if he had been calculated against. But where would he dare to admit, knowing someone plotted against him, but not who it was? Wouldn’t that mean losing the great dignity of governing the world?
Burning Lamp Buddha and Maitreya Buddha also felt a subtle disquiet in their hearts, their hands forming seals as they pondered carefully where they might have made a mistake.
******
“Who am I?” Xuan Yin Bodhisattva opened her eyes, contemplating carefully, “Where have I come from, and where shall I go?”
Sitting atop the Mahavira Hall was a Buddha, and He was the only one. He was known as Burning Lamp.
With a light gesture to Xuan Yin Bodhisattva, Burning Lamp said, “Xuan Yin, a Taoist has emerged in the Eastern Lands, opposing our Buddhist Sect. Go capture him for me.”
Xuan Yin came back to reality, bowed to the Buddha Ancestor Burning Lamp, and said, “I shall go at once.”
With that said, she mounted her lotus platform and made her way towards the Eastern Lands.
Upon entering Chang’an City, she saw a high Daoist platform built in front of the Imperial City, where a young Taoist was seated, preaching the Great Way.
“The Way that can be trodden is not the eternal Way. The name that can be named is not the eternal name. ‘Nameless’ is the beginning of Heaven and Earth, and ‘Named’ is the mother of all things. Thus, the constant void enables one to observe the true essence. The constant being enables one to see the outward manifestations. These two come from the same source but differ in name. This appears as darkness, darkness within darkness. The gate to all mystery…”
This Taoist was preaching Laozi’s “Tao Te Ching,” expounding its meaning with profound insights that astonished all listeners! Even Xuan Yin Bodhisattva felt her Divine Sense tremble. This naturally Taoist Magic was inexplicable and mysterious, detailing the initial opening of Heaven and Earth, many times more profound than the Mahayana Buddhism she learned!
However, in the Reincarnation World, there was no Taoism, only Buddhism.
The Taoist was named Extermination of Buddha, who at eighteen was bestowed a copy of “Tao Te Ching” by the sky, along with a Divine Voice that granted him the name Extermination of Buddha. After two years of delving into this book, he finally gained enlightenment, and hence, he began preaching everywhere. More and more people in the Reincarnation World came to admire Taoism, even the Emperor invited him to preach.
Xuan Yin suddenly shouted, “You there, Taoist, how dare you preach false and deviant doctrine here!”
The Extermination Taoist looked up and saw a Bodhisattva standing on a lotus platform looking down at him and said, “This is the Great Way; how can it be deviant? I wonder where the Bodhisattva sees deviance in my teachings?”
Xuan Yin’s tone faltered as she replied, “Your doctrine contradicts our Buddhist Sect’s teachings, so it’s naturally deviant!”
The Extermination Taoist laughed and said, “Only through the contention of a hundred boats can the true nature of the Great Way be revealed.”
Xuan Yin asked, “Who are you?”
The Extermination Taoist answered, “I am called Extermination of Buddha!”
Xuan Yin’s brows furrowed as she muttered two phrases to herself before saying, “You have quite the nerve!”
The Extermination Taoist laughed and said, “Not only do I have the nerve, but I also possess great abilities.”
Hearing the Taoist’s challenge, Xuan Yin could no longer hold back. With a light cry, she formed a Dharma Seal with her hands, and a palm strike descended.
Behind the Extermination Taoist, his Divine Sword trembled slowly and abruptly shot out of its sheath. This sword was named Extermination Immortal, its killing power instantaneous, as effortless as flipping one’s palm.
The intense killing aura surged to the skies, scattering the clouds above, revealing the clear blue sky. Coldness flashed in the Extermination Taoist’s eyes as he grabbed hold of the Extermination Immortal Sword and sneered, “Do you think your mana can harm me?”
After speaking, he swung the longsword, and the murderous aura rolled forth like the Yangtze River entering the sea, shattering the Dharma Seal.
The crowd around, who had been listening to the scriptures, were shocked and retreated in fear; the Taoist was actually trying to kill a Bodhisattva!
Xuan Yin Bodhisattva tossed her Magic Artifact in hand, aiming to Suppress the Extermination Taoist.
But what kind of fierce weapon was the Extermination Immortal Sword in the Extermination Taoist’s hand? It could slay gods and extinguish Buddhas in the blink of an eye! The Extermination Taoist raised the sword high, and thousands of Sword Qi slashed in all directions, grinding the Magic Artifact to powder. A singular Sword Qi broke through the mana blockade, piercing straight into Xuan Yin Bodhisattva’s heart.
“Pff!”
Xuan Yin Bodhisattva spat a mouthful of blood, and suddenly, an image flashed through her mind—a woman named Ye Bodhi with a sword thrust into the heart of a swordsman named Heaven-Defying. She suddenly realized something, wanting to speak a thousand words, but only managed to utter two, “It’s you…”
“It’s you!” The Extermination Immortal Taoist cried out in shock after driving his sword into the heart of Xuan Yin Bodhisattva. Pain overwhelmed him. “Why! Why…”
Xuan Yin Bodhisattva slowly said, “Because… this is reincarnation!”
After these words, her eyes closed. Blood slowly flowed from the corner of her mouth, dampening the robes of the Extermination Immortal Taoist.
“Because… this is reincarnation!” The surrounding crowd echoed the sentiment, coming to a sudden realization, then dissolving into nothingness, entering into the cycle of reincarnation.
The Extermination Immortal Taoist was plunged into agony. This woman, who had chanted scriptures for him for a month, walked 108,000 miles, and knelt at the foot of Spiritual Mount to seek an audience for decades, had died by his own hand… In the previous life, it was Ye Puti who buried Heaven-Defying; this life had the Extermination Immortal buried Xuan Yin Bodhisattva?
“Buddhist Sect, Buddhist Sect! In the end, it’s the Buddhist Sect causing mischief!” The Extermination Immortal Taoist roared in anger.
He carried the corpse of Xuan Yin Bodhisattva to the foot of Spiritual Mount, buried her, and then climbed Spiritual Mount himself.
Monks tried to stop him, but all were slain by his sword and turned to ashes!
Mahavira Hall.
Burning Lamp Buddha Ancestor sat high, hands forming seals, surrounded by a halo of merit.
“Who are you?” Burning Lamp Buddha Ancestor asked.
“What is the meaning of this? Reincarnation, what exactly is it?” The Extermination Immortal Taoist demanded angrily.
“Reincarnation?” Burning Lamp Buddha Ancestor looked confused.
Seeing that he didn’t know, the Extermination Immortal Taoist stopped questioning. He summoned the Extermination Immortal Sword, and immediately, a sword light thousands of feet long surged forward, turning Burning Lamp Buddha Ancestor to ash. A vast amount of merit burst forth from his body, which the Extermination Immortal Sword trembled and absorbed.
“What is this now?” The Extermination Immortal Taoist wondered to himself.
It was then that an ancient and profound voice slowly resonated.
“Boundless eons…”
Angered, the Extermination Immortal Taoist pointed his sword to the sky and shouted, “Who exactly are you! And what is this reincarnation?”
“After six cycles of reincarnation, you should understand,” came the reply.
The Extermination Immortal Taoist asked, “Then who am I, and who is this Xuan Yin Bodhisattva?”
“Who are you?”
Suddenly, the Extermination Immortal Taoist felt enlightened; who am I? Am I Wukong? Am I Hui Ming? Am I Heaven-Defying? Or is the Extermination Immortal Taoist the real me? Who am I truly? Which one is my true self?… He felt he was getting lost. With every reincarnation, the sense of confusion in his heart grew thicker.
The Extermination Immortal Taoist thought to himself, “What on earth is happening? Who am I… Zixia? Why do I suddenly recall this name? Are Ye Qingxuan, Ye Puti, and Xuan Yin Bodhisattva really Zixia? Zixia… Zixia…”
Muttering to himself, he then heard another “Boundless eons” and immediately fell unconscious, losing all awareness.
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The wheel of fate turned, Spiritual Mount shattered into ash, and the Extermination Immortal Taoist with the body of Xuan Yin Bodhisattva turned into two streaks of blue light, slowly rising to the heavens. A six-colored great wheel appeared in the sky. This wheel, symbolizing the six paths of reincarnation, absorbed the blue light that they turned into and began to rotate slowly, entering the next cycle.
Reincarnation, ever so enigmatic.
Reincarnation, ever so inscrutable.
Reincarnation, equally merciless.
The two had gone through three cycles of reincarnation, and yet became increasingly bewildered, unable to discern who they truly were, what their true selves were.
Yet the Extermination Immortal Taoist felt deep inside that something was amiss. The voice that mentioned “Boundless eons” seemed familiar, as if he’d heard it somewhere before… Not just the Extermination Immortal Taoist, but Xuan Yin Bodhisattva felt the same.
Could it be that the once Xuan Ming and Wukong were about to get lost in the unfathomable cycles of reincarnation?
No one could answer.
“Boundless eons…”
And a new cycle of reincarnation began.
