Chapter 962: As One Wishes

The minor disturbances of mortal Yanhuo did not draw much attention from Wei Yuan; he inspected the demon battlefield and saw a platform, several zhang square, rise into the air, carrying dozens of cultivators to a purple blotch, then returning moments later with wounded and relieved cultivators.

So quickly they’ve built the prototype… Wei Yuan couldn’t help but marvel at the efficiency of mortal Yanhuo .

War is the best catalyst; behind the explosion of war machines lies the rapid awakening of mortal spirituality. Most mortals in mortal Yanhuo are now reincarnated souls; apart from lacking physical form, they are virtually indistinguishable from ordinary humans.

From the prosperity of mortal Yanhuo , Wei Yuan casually checked Qingming’s current data.

Qingming’s current borders span three thousand three hundred li, with a population of thirty-seven million. In the past year, three million one hundred thousand were born, and two hundred thousand died. Qingming’s population is primarily refugees, who arrive as able-bodied adults; once settled and well-fed, the population rebounds swiftly. The dead mostly reincarnate within mortal Yanhuo .

Mortal Yanhuo now subtly formed a self-sustaining cycle: souls enter from the Yellow Springs, reincarnate in mortal Yanhuo , and eventually return to the Pure Land. Yet Wei Yuan suddenly wondered—if this process continued forever, wouldn’t the Pure Land’s population grow endlessly, even infinitely?

Where, then, would new souls come from? Would they arise spontaneously from heaven and earth?

Wei Yuan returned to the small temple of the Pure Land, gazing up at the empty lotus pedestal, lost in thought: seated upon the lotus, thousands of devotees listen to sutras—and that’s all?

How many Buddhist truths could be endlessly expounded without repetition—or rather, how many truths could forever demand the listening of devotees? And is a “truth” merely something spoken and heard, requiring no personal practice?

Countless questions flowed through Wei Yuan’s mind; suddenly, he realized that if time were extended to a hundred years, ten thousand years, a million years—even longer—many things once thought eternal and unshakable ceased to be so inviolable. For instance, what meaning is there in sitting in silent meditation and expounding sutras for a million years?

But if such durations stretch beyond even the lifespan of immortals, do these truths themselves still hold meaning?

Wei Yuan did not know that as he pondered, his body was faintly radiating golden light, and the entire Pure Land was trembling slightly, beginning to grow slowly.

Suddenly, Wei Yuan felt an inexplicable sensation—as if some distant place were pulling at him, and he felt a genuine, heartfelt joy toward it.

Wei Yuan’s heart stirred; he swept his spiritual sense toward it and discovered the source of the pull was the Yellow Springs Cave Heaven. Why? At this moment, while he was in the midst of enlightenment, no sudden impulse was without cause.

In that instant, a flash of insight struck him: if remaining forever in the Pure Land to listen to sutras was unrealistic, why not return to the Yellow Springs and undergo reincarnation once more, beginning a new life?

The moment this thought arose, Wei Yuan trembled all over—as if a new door had opened, and countless ideas surged forth; he felt he had faintly touched upon something!

But the inspiration vanished as swiftly as it came; the Dao retreated once more behind mist, beyond perception. Yet now Wei Yuan possessed numerous theoretical methods for research—he no longer relied entirely on sudden enlightenment.

He immediately left the Pure Land and went to his own grand hall in mortal Yanhuo , spreading out paper and brush, ready to compose a sutra exploring the evolving cycle between this world, the Yellow Springs, and the Pure Land.

As he pondered the title, Wei Yuan suddenly recalled the set of scriptures placed before the Buddha altar: The Sutra of the Three Realms’ Ruyi. Though he had never read its contents, merely the title unlocked his understanding!

“Ruyi” means “as one wishes”—what is “as one wishes”? In the Pure Land, one attains great joy and fulfillment, all needs met; reincarnating into the cycle, one re-experiences the mortal world, reshapes human existence, cultivates to perfection, and returns to the Pure Land, attaining again great joy and fulfillment—this is “Ruyi.”

Yet during this process, cultivation in the mortal world also continuously transforms and reshapes it; the mortal world gains countless reincarnated devotees who reshape it, thus gradually becoming richer and rising higher, until it ascends beyond the Immortal Heavens, becoming part of the Pure Land.

At that time, the mortal world is the Pure Land, and the Pure Land is the mortal world—no suffering, no scarcity, every person born complete and joyful—this is “Ruyi.”

At that point, as the King Buddha, one ought to seek higher realms of Immortal Heavens, greater fulfillment, carrying this Yellow Springs and Pure Land upward to a new Immortal Heaven, repeating this cycle, ascending layer upon layer—this is “Ruyi.”

In each cycle, the King Buddha must elevate his devotees and the Pure Land together; where exactly this ascent leads, Wei Yuan cannot yet see, nor perhaps even in this lifetime—but he need only take the first step; others will surely follow, stepping upon his shoulders to advance further.

This is merely the broad framework; countless details remain to be filled in, and many questions still need exploration. For instance, are there higher Immortal Heavens beyond the Immortal Heavens? Is there no end?

The moment he thought of this, Wei Yuan felt a headache coming—but fortunately, he had a treasure manual at hand; he took out Rong Long’s The Initial Exploration of the Wild Realm, gritted his teeth, and turned to Chapter Eight, beginning to force himself through it.

Although Rong Long wrote The Initial Exploration of the Wild Realm specifically for the Wild Realm, many of its mathematical tools could be applied to various Cave Heavens and worlds. Struggling through it greatly aided Wei Yuan’s understanding of soul reincarnation across realms. Now Wei Yuan could observe the data of souls transitioning from the Yellow Springs to mortal Yanhuo —but lacking mathematical tools, he had not yet fully utilized it.