Chapter 310: Buddha and Demon in a Single Thought, Qiao Ling

Inside the dim stone chamber, the yellow light of the lamp swayed on the stone wall.

The Nine Demon Pagoda floated quietly in mid-air.

The nine-story pagoda flowed with obscure innate Dao patterns on each story.

Gray mist slowly overflowed from the bottom of the pagoda, carrying an aura of destruction that made all things return to silence and heaven and earth perish together.

Qiao Ling sat cross-legged on the cushion, his eyes fixed on the black pagoda.

His breathing became extremely heavy, his forehead covered in fine cold sweat, which slid down his cheeks and dripped onto his plain white collar.

He craved power.

He had seen with his own eyes the golden body Dharma images of Xianglong and Fuhu that covered the sky, and seen their arrogance in viewing mortals as grass.

He knew that without sufficient power, he would be replaced at any time by that supreme Tathagata of the Fomen.

Cultivating the Demon Dao and inheriting the Demon Ancestor's position was a shortcut to reaching the heavens in a single step.

However, the Demon Dao...

Qiao Ling moved his gaze away from the Nine Demon Pagoda and looked at Su Chen sitting opposite him.

Su Chen's expression was calm, sitting cross-legged and looking quietly at Qiao Ling.

"Master..." Qiao Ling's voice carried an irrepressible struggle and fear. "The Fomen views demons as filth, and all living beings in the Three Realms say the Demon Dao is cruel, bloodthirsty, and devoid of conscience."

He paused.

"If I cultivate the Demon Dao, will I eventually be swallowed by this destructive demonic nature? Will I become a monster that only knows how to kill and loses its self? If that is truly the case, then how is it any different from being possessed by Tathagata?" Qiao Ling looked at Su Chen and said.

This was the deepest fear in his heart.

He refused to return to Lingshan precisely to preserve his independent self.

If the price of cultivating the Demon Dao was to become Luo Hou's shadow, to become a puppet dominated by the desire to kill, then he would rather take that long and difficult Jin Dan Great Dao.

Su Chen looked into Qiao Ling's eyes and suddenly smiled.

He did not answer directly, but raised his right hand and waved it lightly in mid-air.

"Disperse."

As he spoke, the law followed; the gray demonic energy that had originally permeated the stone chamber instantly dissipated completely.

The Nine Demon Pagoda spun and fell back into Su Chen's palm, its brilliance restrained, turning into a seemingly ordinary small black pagoda.

The terrifying pressure on Qiao Ling suddenly disappeared, and his whole body went limp, gasping for breath, his sweat having already soaked his back.

Su Chen waved his hand, and a small table appeared between the two in the stone chamber, with a pot of tea and two cups on it.

Su Chen lifted the purple clay teapot and poured two cups of hot tea, the tea fragrance curling upward.

"Drink some tea," Su Chen pushed one of the cups toward Qiao Ling.

Qiao Ling held the teacup with both hands, the warm touch allowing his tense nerves to relax slightly.

He took a sip and looked up at Su Chen, waiting for the answer.

"You ask me if cultivating the Demon Dao will turn you into a monster," Su Chen picked up his teacup, blew on the floating leaves on the surface of the water, his tone calm. "Let me ask you a question first. Is water good or evil?"

Qiao Ling was stunned for a moment, pondered for a moment, and answered: "Water nurtures all things and nourishes living beings, so it is naturally good. But if a river bursts its banks and turns into a flood, swallowing cities and villages, then it is evil."

"Not bad," Su Chen put down his teacup. "Water can carry a boat, but it can also capsize it. Water itself has no good or evil; good and evil lie in how the water flows, and in how the person using it guides it."

Su Chen's gaze became deep, looking straight into Qiao Ling's eyes.

"Buddha and Demon are likewise. They are merely two different forms of power between heaven and earth."

"The Fomen often says, 'Put down the butcher's knife and become a Buddha on the spot,'" Su Chen's mouth curled into a cold sneer. "That is because they hold the knife in their hands; they have mastered the power to define what a 'butcher's knife' is. The Demon Dao also has a saying, 'Follow your heart's desire without overstepping the rules.' The original meaning of a demon is not killing, but breaking shackles and seeking a clear mind."

Qiao Ling was stunned; he had read countless Buddhist classics.

In those classics, Buddha was absolute light, and Demon was absolute darkness.

No one had ever told him that Buddha and Demon were not a distinction between good and evil.

Su Chen stood up, walked to Qiao Ling's side, and placed his hands behind his back.

"Buddha cultivates the next life, emphasizing karmic reincarnation, seeking the salvation of all living beings, but often for the sake of the so-called big picture, they can sacrifice everything, including the living beings they speak of," Su Chen's voice echoed in the stone chamber, his words sharp. "Demon cultivates the present life, does not believe in reincarnation, does not respect heaven and earth, seeking great freedom and great liberation. Whoever blocks my path, I will cut them down."

He turned around and looked down at Qiao Ling.

"If your heart is toward the light, the destructive power of this Nine Demon Pagoda will be your sword to protect the Dao, to level the injustices of the world, and to cut down hypocritical gods and Buddhas!"

"If your heart harbors evil thoughts, even if you cultivate the Great Sun Tathagata True Scripture, even if you sit on the nine-grade lotus pedestal, you are still a hypocritical Buddha wearing a kasaya and slaughtering all living beings!"

Every word of Su Chen's was like a great bell, exploding in Qiao Ling's mind.

"Whether it is Buddha or Demon, it has never been in the cultivation method," Su Chen said, word by word, pointing directly to Qiao Ling's true heart. "But in your heart!"

But in your heart!

These four words were like a sharp sword, forcibly splitting the "orthodox" rhetoric in Qiao Ling's heart.

In his mind, the scene above the Yunze City involuntarily emerged.

Xianglong Luo Han was high above, his Golden Dragon Dharma Image pressing down so that everyone in the entire Royal Palace knelt and kowtowed involuntarily.

Fuhu Luo Han called him a "sinful obstacle" one after another, raising his hand to erase his eighteen years of life memories.

They cultivated the most orthodox Buddhist Dharma and acted under the most compassionate names.

But what they did, how was it any different from robbers? How was it any different from demons?

If that was Buddha, then this Buddha, it is better not to cultivate it!

If possessing the power to protect oneself and one's loved ones was called a demon, then this demon, what if he became one!

The confusion and struggle in Qiao Ling's eyes gradually dissipated.

His spine straightened, and the temperament around his body underwent a earth-shaking change at this moment.

He was no longer the gentle and elegant Crown Prince of the Moyie Kingdom, nor was he the pitiful wretch shrouded in Tathagata's shadow.

He stood up and knelt heavily on the ground.

"Bang!"

Qiao Ling kowtowed solidly.

"Master, disciple understands!"

Qiao Ling's voice was resonant. "I do not seek the next life, nor do I save all living beings. I only cultivate this life, cultivating my own great freedom!"

"I am willing to inherit the Demon Dao!"

Su Chen looked at Qiao Ling, who was kneeling before him with a firm gaze, and nodded with satisfaction.

This was the effect he wanted.

Luo Hou's Demon Dao back then was too extreme, eventually leading to a dead end of destruction.

He passed the Demon Dao inheritance within the Nine Demon Pagoda to Qiao Ling, not to cultivate a second Luo Hou, but to borrow Qiao Ling to walk out a Demon Dao different from Luo Hou's.

"Good," Su Chen's tone carried a hint of appreciation.

He returned to sit on the cushion, extended his right hand, and the black Nine Demon Pagoda floated up again.

"Since you have chosen, then be prepared to welcome a true rebirth." ===== CHAPTER 311 =====