Chapter 815

The Twelfth-Rank Golden Lotus looked at Brother Qian Chen with extremely cautious eyes and whispered a few words into the Bodhi Tree's ear.

The Bodhi Tree, however, only shook its head slightly.

The Twelfth-Rank Golden Lotus had no choice but to speak: "Spirit Bead, do you know that you are originally the Sun-Moon Lamp-Bright Buddha of my Buddhism!"

"The pearl light is like a sea of wisdom, possessing the Ocean-Seal Samadhi; in the past, during immeasurable, boundless, and inconceivable Asankhyeya kalpas, you expounded the True Dharma for all Buddhas and Bodhisattvas, and your merits are immeasurable. You only need to realize your original heart and uncover the Ocean-Seal Samadhi to attain Buddhahood by your own nature..."

The Yin-Yang Fan added from the side: "Back when you were still the Taishang Spirit Bead, the Dao Ancestor used you to enlighten the Buddha, and the pearl light reflected the Buddha-nature, allowing the Buddha to have a sudden enlightenment."

"At that time, the Buddha took a fancy to you at a glance and called you Sun-Moon Lamp-Bright Tathagata!"

"It was fundamentally Taishang holding up a mirror for the Buddha, reflecting the hearts of Taishang and the Buddha. The Buddha found it awkward to say he had a sudden enlightenment from Taishang, so he said the mirror allowed him to have a sudden enlightenment and attain Buddhahood. The mirror is also a Buddha! And you are that mirror; as long as you become a Buddha, then the Buddha was not enlightened by Taishang, but by you—do you understand?"

The Yin-Yang Fan's tongue was very poisonous; the Twelfth-Rank Golden Lotus snorted coldly: "Slanderous words!"

The Yin-Yang Fan ignored it and stared fixedly at Brother Qian Chen.

The Twelfth-Rank Golden Lotus hurriedly said: "Dao Dust Bead!"

"Your spirit bead light is like the sun and moon, reflecting all solemnity."

"The Buddha realized the True Dharma from you; as long as you believe, and settle your heart through faith, you can attain Buddhahood without needing to understand, practice, or verify the Dao. Because your understanding, practice, and verification were all achieved the moment you enlightened the Buddha! The current difficulty lies only in the fact that you do not believe!"

"But among compassion, wisdom, vows, and conduct, conduct is last. If you lack the first three, even if you go to practice and verify the Tathagata, you will not attain liberation!"

"However, your obsession is deep, and you cut off the Bodhi heart as it sprouted, so the path of Samantabhadra Bodhisattva and the Samadhi of the *Flower Adornment Sutra* are difficult for you to obtain. Thus, you can only cultivate the most inferior method, verifying the heart through conduct. Dust is the condition of the heart, and the heart is the cause of dust; only by brushing away dust and calming the heart, constantly brushing away the dust in your heart, can you possibly attain the Dao!"

This time, the Creation Cauldron was dissatisfied.

"Speak human language!"

The Twelfth-Rank Golden Lotus hurriedly said: "The reason why there is no 'conduct' among the six divine powers of Buddhism is that the cultivation method for this path was not secretly transmitted and is extremely extensive; every monk in the human world cultivates it..."

The Bodhi Tree on the side said calmly: "You must hold the precepts!"

"Oh?" Brother Qian Chen's eyes lit up immediately, and he couldn't help but put his palms together: "Hold the precepts? Interesting... tell me in detail?"

"Holding the precepts originally arises from the heart; because there is pain in the heart, one realizes the need for a solution, and after obtaining the solution, there is still a stubborn heart resisting, so one cultivates by holding the precepts."

The Bodhi Tree explained: "But I previously explained the Bodhi heart to Benefactor Brother Qian—settling the heart through the heart, giving birth to wisdom through settling, and holding the precepts through wisdom—that is the correct path. Alas, my cultivation is shallow, and I am truly unable to resolve the deep-rooted demonic nature in the benefactor's heart. Therefore, I can only use the external method of holding the precepts to forcibly brand the five precepts onto the benefactor!"

"Only by holding the precepts from the heart can the heart and precepts become one; if the original heart is unwilling, forcibly branding the precepts..."

The Yin-Yang Fan savored this for a moment and suddenly said: "Perhaps the Dao Dust Bead is right; the Buddha has indeed fallen into being a demon!"

The Twelfth-Rank Golden Lotus jumped: "Yin-Yang Fan, don't think that just because you are the Three Treasures of Taishang, you can speak recklessly?"

The Yin-Yang Fan shook its head: "I have read the *Lotus Sutra* of the Sun-Moon Lamp-Bright Tathagata. This sutra is the foundation of the Pure Land Sect and speaks of the wonder of the three vehicles becoming one, but... it is vastly different from the Buddha's previous Buddha-Dharma."

"Now we all know that the Dao Dust Bead has a deep demonic nature and contains the stubborn heart of Xuanzhen Taiyi. And when Taishang merged with the Dao, it was precisely when the Buddha's homeland was destroyed, the Lesser Vehicle was completely ruined, and the Dao fruit fell to the ground—how could there be no obsession in his heart? Looking at the Dao Dust Bead again, if he realizes the Mahayana Buddha-Dharma, could it also be that his obsession is deep-rooted and he has been tainted by the Xuanzhen Taiyi demon?"

"So everything that followed is..."

The Twelfth-Rank Golden Lotus was anxious to come up and tear at the Yin-Yang Fan.

How could the Yin-Yang Fan be afraid of it? Finding a flaw in Buddhism, it couldn't wait to tear the wound open fiercely. With a turn of the Yin-Yang Dao fruit, it suppressed the Twelfth-Rank Golden Lotus.

The Great Supreme Supreme Tian Mo Stele on the side feared that the world wouldn't be chaotic enough and laughed loudly: "Then my Demon Path now has four Demon Ancestors!"

"It has already surpassed your Dao Sect, let alone Buddhism. Now your Dao Sect only has two Dao Ancestors, and Buddhism only has one Buddha left, hahaha... My Demon Path deserves to flourish!"

"My Demon Path is about to flourish."

The Great Grinding Stone of Mixing Clarity and Turbidity said gloomily from the side: "No, the Demon Path has already flourished. The Dao Sect is a demon, and Buddhism is also a demon; they are both widely spread throughout the countless realms of the cosmos. Don't forget! The Primordial Great Heavenly Venerable is also the Primordial Demon Ancestor of my Demon Path, so it's not that the Dao and Buddhism have two Dao Ancestors left, but that my Demon Sect has split and established two other great lineages."

"Therefore, one must bow to the Primordial Demon Ancestor, two to the Xuanzhen Taiyi Demon Ancestor, and three to the Shakya Demon Ancestor!"

"Nine Heavens, Blood Sea? Who are they... as long as one has a sudden enlightenment about who the true demon is, my Demon Path will naturally have flourished!"

The two grinding stones of the Great Grinding Stone of Mixing Clarity and Turbidity turned, clattering like a prayer wheel.

It bowed to the three figures above its head: "I have realized, I, the grinding stone, have realized! I will go and defect to the three Demon Ancestors right now. The Primordial Demon Ancestor opened up the Nine Heavens, the Xuanzhen Taiyi Demon Ancestor is boundless and unyielding, and the Shakya Demon Ancestor wants to cut off karmic force—how could they not have the intention to destroy the world?"

"Why continue to mess around with Nine Heavens? I see he is not worthy of being this Demon Ancestor!"

"Grind, grind me! I'm going to defect to the three great masters!"

The Great World-Destroying Grinding Stone ran wildly and bowed down to the three great Demon Ancestors.

The Nine Heavens Great Supreme Supreme Tian Mo Stele was instantly dumbfounded; it thought that by stimulating the Dao and Buddhism and attributing the two Dao Ancestors and the Buddha to the Demon Path, it was crazy enough!

It didn't expect the World-Destroying Grinding Stone to be crazier than it.

Now it wanted to expel the Nine Heavens and Blood Sea Demon Ancestors from the Demon Path, worship the Primordial, Xuanzhen Taiyi, and Shakya as the three masters, re-establish the Demon Sect, and make the Demon Path great again.

The Great Supreme Supreme Tian Mo Stele wanted to open a window in the Demon Path, but the Great World-Destroying Grinding Stone wanted to lift the roof of the Demon Path!

At this time, the most anxious one was the Great Supreme Supreme Tian Mo Stele, which went up to tear and smash into the World-Destroying Grinding Stone, once again willing to return to the tradition of the two Demon Ancestors.

The crowd of spiritual treasures didn't know whether the World-Destroying Grinding Stone was intentional or unintentional.

It just led away the Great Supreme Supreme Tian Mo Stele, which was stirring up trouble everywhere.

Brother Qian Chen's true body—the Dao Dust Bead—slightly restrained its spiritual light, and he saw a portal suddenly open on the cloud platform. A thin, gaunt figure, appearing empty and hollow under wide robes, with only a ribcage left, suddenly stepped in.

That figure had the face Brother Qian Chen had initially possessed; it looked sallow and gaunt.

The Western Kunlun Mirror was startled: "Brother Qian Zhuzhu, what happened to you? This incarnation of yours doesn't look like a living person!"

That incarnation went to find a prayer mat, sat down cross-legged, and said calmly: "How is it not a living person? Now my true body has succeeded in Yin-Form Refining, but it has been sealed as the Lord Pangu Demon Lord. My true body, the Taishang Dao Dust Bead, is not a human body, so only this body resurrected by the Undying Medicine remains!"

The Western Kunlun Mirror looked at his sallow face; it was simply, simply like yellow earth, dry, as if dirt would fall off his face.

Cracked skin, gaunt body, sallow face—one could only say—bitter! Too bitter!

Simply a natural son of Buddhism, a human embryo soaked in a sea of suffering.

The Western Kunlun Mirror used its mirror light to shine upon him; Brother Qian Chen's body was illuminated thoroughly by a round light, seeing his internal organs empty, and his whole body was simply left with a handful of bones and flesh.

And those bones were scorched and withered like wood, his flesh and blood dried up, clearly condensed from yellow mud.

"Yellow Mud Dao?"

"*Classic of the Transformed Clay Human*?"

The Yin-Yang Fan was also startled at first, then shook its head, hearing the Creation Cauldron on the side say: "Dao Dust Bead, how did this human body of yours return to the clay human body molded by the Goddess?"

"Oh?" Brother Qian Chen asked suspiciously: "Is this the initial clay body of humans?"

"I just dug out the divine treasures, shaved off the five qi, scattered the three souls and seven spirits, and snatched the last breath of life from the mouth and nose. Finally, neither living nor dead, only a leaking skin bag remained. So this is what humans looked like when the Goddess created them before breathing that breath of creation into them!"

Brother Qian Chen spoke lightly, but it made the Twelfth-Rank Golden Lotus's eyelids jump non-stop.

It asked hesitantly: "Fellow Daoist, what is your intention in changing into this body?"

"To receive precepts, of course?" Brother Qian Chen said in surprise: "Otherwise, should I continue to cultivate with the body of the Dao Dust Bead? This spiritual treasure body is originally a body for attaining the Dao, and you cannot enlighten the Lord Pangu Demon Body, so I only have this true body left now!"

The Bodhi Tree looked at this body, empty-handed, bitter to the extreme, and having abandoned all external objects, and couldn't help but praise.

"What a stinking skin bag! Truly a natural body of a Buddha's son."

Brother Qian Chen sat cross-legged on the prayer mat.

At this time, the chest he had opened had already healed, and it was empty inside, making his body very light.

The whole thing was half as light.

His mouth and nose no longer breathed, returning to the initial appearance of a human.

All divine treasures and creations were thrown behind his head, hanging with a piece of broken cloth, coming here so empty-handed.

"This kasaya?"

The Bodhi Tree pointed at that piece of broken cloth.

"A broken tree leaf used to wipe dust, transformed from the senior brother..."

"This hair?"

The Bodhi pointed at the empty head.

"I cut off the divine treasures; there was a god named Xuanhua hidden in the hair, which was the Endless Life Treasury, and it has fallen away with the troubles."

"This physical body?"

The Bodhi pointed at Brother Qian Chen's body, which was like a skin bag.

"A waste soil created by the Goddess!"

"Wonderful, wonderful..." The Bodhi clapped its hands and laughed: "With this body remaining, your Dao is more than half complete."

Brother Qian Chen's body, resurrected by the Undying Dao Fruit, originally had very heavy traces left by the Xuanzhen Taiyi Demon Ancestor.

But Brother Qian Chen was ruthless enough! He sacrificed his internal organs to the Golden Man...

The body resurrected by the Undying Medicine had not had its creation stolen, but Brother Qian Chen had cut off all the divine treasures left by the Goddess's creation of humans and thrown away all external objects, digging out all traces left by Xuanzhen Taiyi from his body.

Even his life and creation had been snatched by Xu Fu on the side of the Undying Ritual.

Now only a broken body remained, but it had returned to its origin to the extreme. Even an old man of seventy or eighty who was about to be buried would have more creation and a more abundant origin than this body.

And this body, let alone building a foundation to enter the Dao and cultivate, didn't even have the vital energy of a living being.

Like withered wood and yellow earth, a human shape roughly kneaded together.

But the Bodhi Tree was more satisfied the more it looked.

The Twelfth-Rank Golden Lotus on the side didn't understand, only feeling that even if Brother Qian Chen's body were burned into soil, with its pale and withered whiteness, not even a lotus flower would take root.

The Bodhi Tree came behind Brother Qian Chen, letting him put his palms together and close his eyes.

It activated its supreme magic power, summoning the infinite karmic force within the Great Dao of Cause and Effect held by the Buddha, transforming it into a precept incense hanging above Brother Qian Chen's head.

Hearing a solemn, sacred, endlessly echoing voice that shook in six ways, it said: "Do not commit the precept of killing, do not create killing karma!"

"From the gods and saints, teachers, monks, and parents above, down to the flying and crawling creatures and tiny insects below, as long as they have life, you must not kill them intentionally, or kill yourself, or teach others to kill, or rejoice when seeing killing. Can you hold this?"

That voice echoed in Brother Qian Chen's ears; first, the living beings Brother Qian Chen had once slaughtered wailed in his ears, and then countless living beings from the countless realms of the cosmos who had died in slaughter issued death screams in unison.

Branding all this into Brother Qian Chen's mind.

But the withered, pale brain simply couldn't hold all this, and the dried-up spirit, dead and silent, was not moved by all this.

Hearing Brother Qian Chen say: "I am unwilling!"

Thus, infinite karmic force and the karma created by countless slaughters transformed into a scorching, burning brand, like hell itself, branding down onto Brother Qian Chen's head.

The Eight Hot Hells were all in this one brand, branding a precept!

And there was infinite karmic force coming again.

"Do not commit the precept of stealing, do not take others' objects!"

"Every drink and every meal must come from seeking; external objects must not be taken without being given. Whether it is permanent property, alms, monastic property, or official or civilian property, all objects—whether seized, stolen, swindled, or obtained through greed—are not 'mine' if they are given and possessed! If there is a heart of obtaining, you violate this precept!"

"Can you hold this?"

Resisting all external objects and all material things, countless karmic conditions were entangled like a great net, a turbid sea, making Brother Qian Chen perceive that everything outside his body was merely various entanglements; taking one object would cause him to fall, and the inner heart, like a bright pearl, would be sealed, and various dust would be stained upon it.

Brother Qian Chen smiled slightly. Because he had already stripped away everything and reached the extreme, he only needed to open his mouth and agree to brush away all the dust of external objects and the entanglements of karmic conditions.

Not falling into cause and effect.

But Brother Qian Chen still said: "I am unwilling!"

Every sound and every word came from his original heart, echoing in the empty space of infinite worlds, bringing infinite demonic nature.

Instantly, all external objects, greed, and the great net of all karmic entanglements rushed up, pulling him down into sinking...

But Brother Qian Chen's body's demonic nature remained unmoved, letting the karma of slaughter, the harassment of various vengeful spirits, the objects obtained through greed, and all external karmic entanglements pull and drag him, remaining unmoved by the eight winds.

"Do not commit the precept of lust, forget the red dust!"

"I am unwilling!"

"Do not commit the precept of lying, do not cause trouble with your tongue!"

"I am unwilling!"

"Do not commit the precept of alcohol, do not indulge in pleasure!"

"I am unwilling!"

One by one, the precepts were branded down, and there were five clear scars on Brother Qian Chen's head, containing infinite karmic force. This massive karmic force flowed and entangled, as if to cast him into the Avici Hell.

Brother Qian Chen: Alas! Isn't that the same as going home?

He bathed in that boundless karmic fire, and his "I am unwilling" echoed in the Dao fruit of cause and effect.

The terrifying karmic force entangled for countless years pressed down on Brother Qian Chen, and various retributions followed.

Staining a trace would cause a Bodhisattva to sink;

An Arhat to reincarnate;

The Bodhi heart to collapse;

The Buddha light to be tainted, falling from the lotus throne.

Infinite karmic force condensed into six divine powers, like a roar of the Buddha's ignorance and karmic fire: "The ability to know others' hearts! Those killed by you, their hearts are all known! All love, hatred, and enmity, karmic entanglements, infinite pain, and all kinds of karma created, all enter your heart!"

"The ability of the heavenly eye! All true appearances of external objects taken by you, all kinds of causes and effects, all enter your eyes! All kinds of forms, terrifying forms, beautiful forms, pure forms, filthy forms, sentient forms, all enter your eyes, seeing all true and external appearances..."

"The ability of the heavenly ear! The sounds of the six desires of the red dust, all kinds of delusional desires..."

"The ability to know past lives! The past lives of all sentient beings in the three realms and six paths for hundreds of millions of kalpas..."

"The ability of divine foot! A body free and unobstructed, yet suffering from all kinds of external objects and infinite karmic entanglements—the body is free, but the heart enters the net, like a body obtaining pure water while the heart enters a house of fire..."

"The ability of the exhaustion of outflows! All delusions of view and thought in the three realms are entangled with your body, never escaping the birth and death of the three realms, sinking forever..."

The five precepts were held, and the six divine powers were all fallen.

Brother Qian Chen smiled calmly, infinitely free in that human hell.

He smiled: "Sure enough, divine powers are karmic force, and karmic force is divine power! Carrying infinite karmic force, one has infinite divine powers. All Buddhas and Bodhisattvas enter hell! The Bodhi heart is tormented, only my heart is free, enjoying the house of fire of hell!"

The Bodhi restrained its divine powers.

Looking at Brother Qian Chen, who was practicing the precepts, it put its palms together and chanted: "Namo Sun-Moon Lamp-Bright Tathagata, Namo Supreme Sun-Moon Immeasurable Light... Great Bright Venerable!"

…………

Brother Qian Chen stood at the entrance of the Land of Reincarnation, thin and gaunt; although traces of the once rosy-cheeked youth could still be seen on his face, under all kinds of wind and frost, he looked like a withered, thin novice monk.

He wore a gray, tattered piece of cloth, which was a broken bell.

He held a wooden alms bowl, also dug from miscellaneous wood root nodules.

In the bowl was a pool of bitter water, raising a golden lotus seed...

Besides this, there were the five precept scars on his head.

The Western Kunlun Mirror was tearful, looking at Brother Qian Chen: "Brother is too bitter! A poor family travels a rich road; why don't I, your sister, give you some personal belongings, at least lead that elephant over to serve as your transport!"

Saying this, it was about to shift time and capture the Blood Ji Daoist.

The Creation Cauldron on the side easily shook off the Seven-Treasure Brocade Kasaya, the Pure Water Purple Gold Bowl, and the Wish-Fulfilling Nine-Ringed Staff.

There were also the Sarira Treasure Pagoda, the Pilu Hat, the 108,000 Wish-Fulfilling Prayer Beads, and other great Buddhist treasures.

It watched the fun and tempted him: "Say something! Zhuzi, say something; these are merely spiritual treasures on the reincarnation list, say something and sister will give them all to you!"

"I'm not going to fetch scriptures!" Brother Qian Chen shook his tattered clothes: "But going home, one set is enough!"

The Western Kunlun Mirror was tearful: "Brother Qian Zhuzhu, the world is accustomed to stepping on the low and fawning on the high; if you go like this, people, people will think our Lord of Reincarnation is very poor! It really loses the face of the reincarnators... and, and the Dao seed is also an external object, can you leave the Dao fruit to..."

"Shut up!" Brother Qian Chen said seriously: "Mirror, don't think about touching my Dao fruit."

After saying this, he went alone, like a refugee beggar, pushed open the door, and walked out of the Land of Reincarnation.

The Twelfth-Rank Golden Lotus whispered to the Bodhi Tree behind: "What fruit position do you think he can cultivate into?"

"He is not cultivating the fruit, but the cause!"

"All Buddhas and Bodhisattvas fear the cause and cultivate the fruit, while the Free Supreme Supreme Tian Mo abandons the fruit and cultivates the cause! The Dao of cause and effect is truly mysterious. Going this way, carrying karmic force and holding the precepts, he is not holding the precepts, but wanting to carry everything!"

The Bodhi Tree turned to look at the Great Dao of Cause and Effect that encompassed everything behind it.

But it could not see the Buddha holding the Dao fruit.

It couldn't help but mutter: "If letting go is seeing one's nature, and picking up is seeing obsession, then is the Buddha who picks up cause and effect for all sentient beings a demon or a Buddha?"

It remembered Brother Qian Chen's "I am unwilling" and his carrying of everything.

The Bodhi Tree said solemnly: "Perhaps he can truly attain the True Fruit! It's just not the True Fruit we imagined!"