“How can one see the Tathagata if the mind is not tranquil and emotions are not calm, if one is again caught in the cycle of samsara, breaking and receiving precepts?”
A sorrowful sigh emerged from the abyss and cracks, desolate and ancient, as if coming from the depths of time, conjuring in Meng Qi’s mind an image of a monk, his face full of suffering, bearing invisible shackles.
One of the ten great disciples of the Buddha, a great Arhat, the Venerable Anan!
Within the Anan Pure Land inside the Chronoglass fragment, Meng Qi followed Master Lu and Abbot Kong Wen through the seventh layer to the mountaintop. They saw a withered golden lotus plant and traces of the Overlord’s lingering aura but heard no sigh from Anan nor discovered anything else. The difference now must be due to the distinction between the original body and the Chronoglass-derived fragment.
“Amitabha, even the Venerable Anan has shown wavering. It seems entering the mundane world, enduring suffering, and bearing precepts to polish one’s mind and reveal one’s innate Buddha-nature is a task only for those of great perseverance and wisdom,” said Xuan Bei, clasping his hands in prayer.
Does “emotions not calm” refer to the matter of the Demon Emperor? Is Anan still harboring feelings for Feng Xi? Yet the heir of the Demon Emperor, born at the dawn of heaven and earth, having lived through multiple epochs, how could he suddenly fall in love with Anan in the late ancient times… However, the message “betrayal and infidelity shall be punished by death” bears an ancient hatred, not seeming fabricated… Meng Qi lowered his eyelids, concealing his gaze.
The group did not linger and continued forward.
Suddenly, the surroundings changed. Faint mist rose from the cracks and abyss, revealing indistinct figures sitting in meditation—some with sorrowful expressions, some serene, some shaking their heads in sadness, some smiling faintly, and others appearing to have attained great enlightenment.
Meng Qi’s eyes remained lifeless, like a sealed ancient well, yet he sighed softly:
“Master Yuanmeng… the Devil Sovereign…”
These were Anan’s reincarnated forms he had encountered separately in the Twelve Manifestations World and the Sword Emperor and Devil Queen World. The extraterrestrial meteorite crystal that once contained the Devil Sovereign’s essence trembled slightly, sensing the same aura.
Each of these figures raised their heads and uttered the same sigh:
“So that’s it!”
Their voices, solemn or ethereal, echoed around like thunder, reverberating in the hearts of Meng Qi and the others. The surroundings began to change mysteriously, as if something terrifying was about to emerge.
At this moment, the extraterrestrial meteorite crystal was drawn outward, flying to the Devil Sovereign’s figure.
The Devil Sovereign’s indistinct form suddenly trembled, as if awakening from a dream to realize his own death. Unable to maintain his form, he began to disintegrate inch by inch, causing all the other figures to dissolve as well. The surroundings returned to tranquility.
“Never expected…” Meng Qi murmured softly, gazing ahead.
He had once had a subtle premonition that the extraterrestrial meteorite crystal and the demon skin might be useful, so he kept them. The demon skin had already been used, but the meteorite crystal remained until now, proving unexpectedly useful just now.
“Amitabha, this place is secretly fraught with danger, not as simple as it seems. Everyone, be careful,” Xuan Bei said, his steps blooming with lotus flowers, indifferent to life and death.
Jiang Zhiwei, sword slightly raised, guarded Meng Qi’s side, channeling the flow of cosmic energy to support him.
She had heard from Wang Siyuan about the ten years of sitting meditation and the ten years of arduous sword grinding, so she was especially worried about terrifying transformations that might force Meng Qi to act prematurely.
This was the Pure Land of a legendary adept. Even if a Demon Cult Master had entered before, it might not be without danger!
Duan Rui closely followed Wang Siyuan, patiently waiting for an opportunity. Anan’s Pure Land was connected to his demonic cultivation; perhaps he could use it to escape.
Thinking of escape, he recalled how, while on the grasslands, he had been helplessly captured by the “Crazy Blade” from Jiangdong, feeling powerless and desperate. Fleeing seemed meaningless, merely repeating the process.
With this thought, he felt depressed again, secretly praying to the demon gods of the myriad worlds, hoping the Crazy Blade would perish here.
After cautiously advancing for a while, they encountered a large rock by the path. A blurred figure in patchwork robes stood with his back to Meng Qi and the others, as if facing a wall.
“Be careful,” Wang Siyuan extended his left hand, signaling everyone to pause.
Before his words faded, the blurred figure suddenly turned around. His face was indistinct, neither old nor young, neither handsome nor ugly, but his eyes were filled with age and suffering. He pointed one finger to the sky and the other to the ground, solemnly declaring: “Above heaven and below heaven, I alone am honored!”
Instantly, Jiang Zhiwei felt a golden Buddha appear in her mind’s ocean, similarly pointing to the sky and earth, declaring itself the only honored one, completely suppressing all other thoughts, leaving only the supreme divine power of detachment to barely resist, while fists came from all directions.
The first move of the Tathagata Palm!
If the mind is not complete, the Tathagata cannot be seen; if one does not know truth from falsehood, or this shore from the other shore, one cannot distinguish or dodge!
As Jiang Zhiwei was about to forcefully draw her sword, she suddenly felt the golden Buddha in her mind vanish, along with the palm prints from all directions.
Before them was a tortoiseshell, emitting black and white light points, demonstrating the mysteries of yin and yang, the principles of the Dao, casting a hazy clear glow that enveloped them, hiding them from the outside world and freeing them from any influence!
Wang Siyuan’s face turned pale as he exerted himself to the fullest, activating the Luo Shu, clearly showing great strain.
Although this was merely the residual aura of Anan, it was still the work of a legendary adept, the Tathagata Palm. Before the Luo Shu automatically defended them, Wang Siyuan had to expend a great deal!
Meng Qi’s chest muscles writhed, repairing his body and dissolving the killing intent, his heart wound already nearly healed.
The Luo Shu demonstrated the principle of unity, and Anan’s figure, having lost its target, withdrew its hands pointing to the sky and ground, looked up to the heavens, and with hidden pain and struggle, said: “A powerful enemy is above, every step a crisis. If one cannot see one’s own Buddha-nature and understand the emptiness and wonder, how can one fight against them?”
“This is an attachment, an obstacle preventing me from seeing the Tathagata.”
“I can’t let go, still can’t let go.”
The voice echoed, lasting through the ages. Anan’s figure, having lost its target, gradually disappeared.
A flicker of emotion passed through Meng Qi’s eyes, quickly returning to calmness, as he looked at Jiang Zhiwei, Wang Siyuan, and Xuan Bei, understanding the meaning in their eyes.
Did Anan opt for the most arduous and perilous path of reincarnation, breaking his precepts to descend into the mortal world and temper his heart—not merely out of his contemplation of the Dharma, but also with the intent to confront a formidable adversary?
What powerful enemy made Anan, who said, “If one does not enter the mundane world, endure suffering, or break precepts, how can one know the true meaning of the precepts, penetrate the illusion of worldly affairs, see one’s own Buddha-nature, and attain the emptiness and wonder?” so restless and unable to forget, ultimately forming an attachment he could not sever?
Was it the Demon Saint?
But this seemed more connected to the earlier “unsettled emotions”…
“What kind of powerful enemy is it?” Wang Siyuan muttered, frowning deeply, his frailty more evident. He wanted to unravel this mystery, but judging from his slightly crazed expression and the countless black and white light points dancing in his eyes, he seemed to have some clues.
Under the protection of the Luo Shu, Meng Qi and the others slowly moved past the large rock.
“Cough…” Wang Siyuan coughed halfway through, spitting out a mouthful of blood, extremely strained, and put away the Luo Shu.
The cliff ahead was nearly collapsed, with debris blocking the path, and the trail cleared by the mage twisted and turned.
After taking a few steps, Jiang Zhiwei’s sword suddenly roared, sensing danger!
A gray-robed figure slowly approached from the distant trail, its face blurred, still seeming to be Anan. He raised his right hand leisurely, pinching his middle finger and thumb together, as if plucking a flower.
Instantly, the minds of the group buzzed, their bodies and minds becoming ethereal, as if entering the Pure Land of Bliss, comprehending countless Chan principles, their mouths slightly upturned, unable to help smiling.
The Buddha plucks a flower, Kasyapa smiles, the third move of the Tathagata Palm—if one does not awaken, one receives a sharp reprimand; if one awakens, one immediately attains Buddhahood!
Just as Jiang Zhiwei’s eyes became indifferent and emotionless, Xuan Bei stepped forward, revealing behind him the image of Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva seated on a golden lotus throne, his face filled with compassion and mercy, covering the smile of enlightenment. He softly murmured:
“After today, for countless aeons, in whatever worlds exist, I vow to rescue all beings suffering in hell and the three evil paths, to free them from the suffering of hell, beasts, and hungry ghosts, and to help them attain Buddhahood before I myself attain perfect enlightenment.”
“Hell shall not be empty until I become a Buddha; until all sentient beings are saved, I shall not attain Bodhi.”
With these grand vows, a light of merit seemed to descend from the heavens, the Dao responding with reward, using the lotus of great vows to counter the palm of sudden awakening, using orthodox Buddhism to oppose the special transmission outside the sect!
Even if one awakens, as long as hell is not empty, one shall not become a Buddha!
Golden lotuses bloomed, streams of water gushed forth, and the gray-robed figure revealed a faint, almost imperceptible smile, the Chan meaning enduring, slowly disappearing, leaving only these words:
“Endless tribulations, suffering upon suffering, unending cycles, yet the attachment in the heart cannot be worn away or erased, making the spiritual mountain impossible to find…”
The sigh lingered, Jiang Zhiwei slightly furrowed her brow, stepping forward. It seemed Anan’s attachment was growing heavier; with another reincarnation, he might still be unable to see his own Buddha-nature and attain the Tathagata, eventually being consumed by his own attachment, dissipating into nothingness. Where did the young monk’s Anan karma originate?
She looked at Meng Qi and finally saw a flicker of emotion in his eyes—a faint confusion.
“Perhaps reaching the summit will reveal the final fate of the Venerable Anan,” Xuan Bei sighed.
Wang Siyuan held the Luo Shu and calculated for a moment, lightly coughing: “We are already very close to the summit. At most, we will encounter one more residual aura of Anan and one more Tathagata Palm move.”
“The Demon Cult Master must have passed the test of the nine Tathagata Palm moves to reach the summit, eliminating most of the residual auras, leaving only weak and scattered ones.”
“Will we encounter another Tathagata Palm move?” Jiang Zhiwei half-worried, half-excited, “I wonder if it will be the fifth move ‘Vajra Illumination,’ the second move ‘All Four Elements Are Void,’ or the fourth move ‘Turn Back and You’ll Find the Shore’?”
Anan was one of the two most outstanding disciples of the Buddha. He mastered all nine Tathagata Palm moves and was hailed as one of the most promising candidates to lead the Pure Land sect after the Buddha’s passing. The other was the Venerable Kasyapa, who was his opposite—never mastering a single Tathagata Palm move because he discovered a special transmission outside the sect after attaining enlightenment from the flower-plucking smile, forging his own path to see his own inherent Buddha-nature.
As they approached the summit, the group became increasingly cautious. After navigating the winding path, the view suddenly opened up, and lifting their heads, they saw the summit just ten steps away.
At the edge of the summit, near Meng Qi and the others, sat a monk cross-legged. He no longer looked sorrowful or burdened, yet it was still Anan.
Suddenly, he extended his right hand, spreading his fingers, which grew enormous, covering Meng Qi and the others.
In his palm bloomed countless golden Bodhi flowers. One flower, one world; one tree, one universe. With one palm strike, it seemed as if the heavens and earth were opening, countless universes being born, myriad worlds emerging, each universe and each realm filled with golden Buddhas, compassionate Bodhisattvas, Arhats, Vajras, and Mahabala Garudas, innumerable.
The sixth move of the Tathagata Palm, “Palm’s Pure Land”!
Infinite Buddha lands, ten thousand Buddhas paying homage. Even the Great Sage Equal to Heaven would meet his match here!
“Pity the one who performed ‘Palm’s Pure Land’ is not Anan’s true self…” Jiang Zhiwei sighed, suddenly unleashing sword light from her blade, splitting into countless beams piercing through the layers of universes, shining everywhere!
The true Dao spreading throughout the universe.
The Tathagata Palm against the Seven Heavens-Cutting Sword!
The sword light was dazzling, ignoring distance and strength. In front of each golden Buddha and compassionate Bodhisattva appeared a beam of sword light, piercing their foreheads, making them smile and receive the Dao, none left out!
In the birth and death of sword beams, each Buddha perished, each Pure Land vanished. When the giant palm reached the group, it was already harmless and disintegrated on its own.
The figure sitting on the summit suddenly stood up and chuckled: “Having attachments means having demonic intent in the heart.”
“If one cannot let go of attachments and eliminate demonic intent, one cannot see the Tathagata. Then why bother to see him?”
The figure walked away, disappearing from Meng Qi’s and the others’ sight.
Wang Siyuan’s face suddenly flushed red, his expression extremely ill, his eyes filled with madness, as if he had understood something, then rushed toward the summit.
Jiang Zhiwei, Xuan Bei, Meng Qi, and the others had no choice but to follow closely.
One step, two steps, in an instant, the group reached the summit and saw Anan’s figure with his back to them.
He stood like a deep pool or a towering mountain, slowly turned around, and his tone became cheerful, as if he had put down some burden:
“Those who follow the path become Buddhas, those who go against it become demons. I’ll try practicing the Tathagata Palm in reverse!”
“Hahaha! It’s really possible!” Suddenly, a phantom laughter echoed in the air, followed by a solemn declaration:
“Anan is dead; the Demon Buddha reigns in this world!”
All the figures, all the auras, all the voices, condensed into a reverse swastika of crimson and black!
“Anan is dead; the Demon Buddha reigns in this world!”
“Haha, I get it now!” Wang Siyuan erupted into maniacal laughter, blood trickling from the corner of his mouth.
Tai Sui Yellow Amulet Paper FuLu Taoist Love Talisman Traditional Chinese Spiritual Charm Attracting Love Protecting Marriage