Chapter 2985: You wish!

Hearing that Nanako wanted to try again, Master Jingqing didn't think much about it. While nodding in agreement, he said: "If the benefactor wants to successfully enter the 'no consciousness realm', abandoning the seven emotions and six desires is the most stable way."

Nanako was silent for a moment, then murmured: "If I cut off the seven emotions and six desires, what is the point of living?"

Master Jingqing said without hesitation: "Only by cutting off the seven emotions and six desires can one have the opportunity to become a Buddha and better save all living beings."

Nanako shook her head and said seriously: "With all due respect, isn't the single-minded pursuit of Buddha also a kind of seven emotions and six desires? Isn't the single-minded desire to save all living beings also a kind of seven emotions and six desires? Saving all living beings is naturally not wrong, but not everyone is dissatisfied with their current situation. If they are happy and content, what is there for others to save?"

As she spoke, Nanako added: "Moreover, since I have my own relatives and beloved, I can't abandon them from my mind. Even if I can throw them all behind me, since I am single-mindedly wanting to realize the Dao, then the pursuit of realizing the Dao is

Master Jingqing was slightly startled, then sighed softly: "What the benefactor says... is not without reason..."

Having said this, he asked her: "Then, benefactor, how do you intend to attempt it this time?"

Nanako shook her head: "I don't know either, I just want to try one more time. Regardless of success or failure, I will not bother Master again today."

Master Jingqing said: "This poor monk has plenty of time; benefactor, there is no need to rush."

Nanako nodded gratefully, then closed her eyes, once again using the method of internal observation to let her consciousness enter the sea of consciousness.

Just like before, Nanako was still trying her best to push her consciousness to a high point, but because the previous attempt had consumed a great deal of energy, pushing it up this time was significantly more strenuous.

However, even though it was strenuous, Nanako was still giving her all to make this attempt.

It was also during this process that she finally understood why it took Master Jingqing eight years to achieve enlightenment. Constantly pushing her consciousness to such heights with all her might consumed a tremendous amount of energy and physical strength. After trying twice, she didn't know how long it would take to recover from this mental exhaustion.

Furthermore, enlightenment itself is a process of thousands upon thousands of continuous attempts. Achieving enlightenment in a few years is already considered very short in the long journey of cultivation.

Nanako pushed her consciousness to the absolute limit her current state could reach. When she realized that all her energy was exhausted, she instantly relaxed completely, letting her consciousness fall freely from the height.

During this descent, various thoughts still frantically bombarded her consciousness. Just like last time, they were all about her parents, relatives, and Ye Chen, whom she thought of day and night.

Nanako finally realized that the reason so many thoughts suddenly flooded in at this moment must be because this sensation of free-falling created a feeling of being near death.

And this feeling of being near death naturally makes one think of many people and things.

Nanako did not, as Master Jingqing had said, try desperately to forget everything or try to abandon her seven emotions and six desires. She just subconsciously thought: "Master Jingqing said one cannot simply leap into this sea of consciousness, but must merge into it. Does this mean that consciousness and the sea of consciousness are inherently capable of merging? The only difference is that some people have mastered the way of merging, while others never grasp the essence?"

Thinking of this, Nanako's heart suddenly stirred: "The sea of consciousness is within my body, within my Purple Mansion. It should understand me best. It must know that I could never abandon my seven emotions and six desires. If it still demands that I must abandon them to merge with it, then that itself becomes an unsolvable paradox..."

"Does this mean that my consciousness has no chance at all to merge with it?"

"If that is the case, I will never be able to achieve enlightenment in this lifetime."

Just then, Nanako's consciousness fell once again into that silent, painting-like sea of consciousness.

The powerful impact smashed her consciousness deep into the sea of consciousness, causing it to suffer heavy damage once again, leaving her consciousness without a shred of strength to resist.

Then, the immense pressure of the sea of consciousness swept over her again, wrapping around her consciousness and rushing toward the surface.

Ito Nanako felt somewhat desperate at this moment. It wasn't that two failures made her want to give up, but she knew herself. Even if she could let go of her late mother and her father who had recovered his health and was enjoying his later years, she could never let go of Ye Chen.

Her new life was given to her by Ye Chen.

At this moment, although she was still being pushed toward the surface by the sea of consciousness, she had her first desire to struggle and resist.

Her consciousness couldn't help but murmur: "If I can never achieve enlightenment, then there will eventually come a day when I die. Death is not scary; my mother passed away long ago, and my father will leave this world before me. But what about Ye Chen? Someone must accompany him on his journey. If that is the case, then I hope the person accompanying him is me!"

With this thought, her consciousness couldn't help but become agitated. While struggling with all her might, trying to dive deeper to resist the buoyancy of the sea of consciousness, she shouted in her subconscious: "I know! I know Ye Chen is a married man, and I know that falling in love with a married man is shameful and morally lacking, but I love him deeply, and no matter what, I cannot stop loving him!"

"I cannot destroy Ye Chen's marriage and family, but I am unwilling to give up the chance to have a happy ending with him. This is just as contradictory as you requiring me to abandon my seven emotions and six desires when I am simply unable to do so!"

"However, there is still a chance to resolve all these contradictions. If you and I can merge into one and allow me to successfully achieve enlightenment, I will have the opportunity to seek a longer life. As long as I can live, I can wait forever—eighty years, a hundred years, or even two hundred years, I don't care!"

"So, don't even think about pushing me out!"

In an instant, Nanako disregarded everything and swam desperately toward the depths of the sea of consciousness.

To resist the omnipresent buoyancy of the sea of consciousness, Nanako exhausted almost all her energy. She was like a marathon runner who had used up all her strength in a race; even when her legs had lost all power and she couldn't even stand, she was still mechanically taking steps forward.

As she continued her desperate resistance, she felt her consciousness gradually blurring in the process, just like the blackout that scuba divers fear most; her consciousness was gradually fading.

And at this very moment, her consciousness suddenly stalled within the sea of consciousness.

The immense buoyancy of the sea of consciousness seemed to vanish in an instant.

Previously, her consciousness was like a bubble, being rapidly pushed toward the surface by buoyancy.

But now, her consciousness was being frantically squeezed by the sea of consciousness; pressure and buoyancy had unexpectedly reached a delicate balance within the sea.

Nanako's consciousness was almost entirely lost, but at this very moment, she was still instinctively giving her all to continue diving deeper.

The delicate balance was instantly broken. Her consciousness seemed to lose all buoyancy and began to slowly fall toward even deeper depths.

All her consciousness gradually slipped away. Immediately after, the world fell into a pitch-black, deathly silence, and even her consciousness had completely disappeared.

I don't know how much time passed, but in the pitch-black sea of consciousness, a tiny point of light suddenly appeared. As soon as this point of light appeared, it sank rapidly toward the bottom. Immediately after, more points of light inexplicably appeared in the sea of consciousness. These points of light, like tiny cells, all began to converge toward the bottom of the sea of consciousness.

Ito Nanako, who had lost all consciousness, suddenly had her consciousness awaken. After waking up, before she even opened her eyes, she felt as if the entire Buddhist hall was right before her eyes, and she herself seemed to be an outsider, overlooking the entire hall from a God's-eye view.

She could see that in the hall, Master Jingqing was looking at her while silently reciting scriptures, his expression seemingly somewhat anxious, while she herself remained sitting cross-legged on the cushion, her whole person like a wax statue, motionless.

At this moment, she felt an unusual disturbance on the roof of the hall. So, she moved her mind, and her consciousness arrived at the roof where the disturbance was. She saw a gecko cautiously approaching a fly, and then, the gecko suddenly extended its tongue and, with extreme speed, rolled the fly into its mouth.

At this moment, Nanako could even hear the sound of the gecko swallowing the fly.

Immediately after, she felt another faint rustling sound. With a thought, she arrived at the corner of the hall and saw a line of ants crawling in a queue.

This wonderful feeling filled Nanako with joy. She couldn't help but want to let her consciousness leave this Buddhist hall, but her consciousness couldn't step out of the hall even half a step.

Just as she was puzzled, she suddenly felt a sharp pain in her head. Immediately after, that God's-eye view completely disappeared. The next moment, she opened her eyes, and her consciousness returned to her own body.

However, unlike the previous failure, this time upon waking, Nanako only felt refreshed and comfortable in a way that couldn't be described.

Seeing her open her eyes, Master Jingqing breathed a slight sigh of relief and subconsciously said: "Benefactor, you were in deep meditation for more than ten minutes this time, much longer than before. How do you feel?"

Nanako said truthfully: "It felt as if my primordial spirit had left my body, but this feeling disappeared without lasting long. I don't know if it was an illusion."

Master Jingqing nodded: "The primordial spirit leaving the body is actually using spiritual energy to perceive the surroundings. This can only be achieved after successfully achieving enlightenment. Someone like this poor monk, whose spiritual energy does not leave the sea of consciousness, simply does not have this ability. Even for you, benefactor, having tried twice in a row, you must have been overly exhausted and experienced an illusion."

Nanako nodded slightly. Just as she was about to speak, a faint movement suddenly came from the roof. She hurriedly looked up and saw a gecko chasing a spider. That gecko seemed to be the same one she had seen from her God's-eye view just now.

She stared intently at the gecko and couldn't help but say: "It seems... it wasn't an illusion after all..."