Devouring World Dragon

Chapter 171 Karma
"This is impossible!"

This was far beyond the voice's owner's expectations, because it shouldn't have been possible at all. Because within that country girl named Jeanne, in her memories… there had never been a divine voice!

The so-called "divine revelation" and "the voice of God" were merely excuses to save the France he loved so dearly and to gain the trust of the nobles and generals.

The saintess, who outwardly appears to be devoutly believe in gods, has never actually worshipped any god...

How absurd! How unbelievable!

But that would have been fine; it was just a little trick played by the girl and the owner of the voice. What truly astonished the owner of the voice was that it clearly sensed divine power in Jeanne, but why didn't Jeanne hear the voice of the god? And what was the reason for the existence of divine power in her?
If it weren't for this divine power, how could the owner of the voice have so easily believed Jeanne's "revelation"? But if the "revelation" doesn't exist, then...

Immediately, a strong sense of crisis arose in the voice's owner's heart, as if an unprecedented and enormous crisis had been revealed.

The owner of the voice is a demon, second only to God. What could possibly make it feel threatened?

unless……

Before he could even think further, the owner of the voice immediately tried to transform into an invisible black shadow and disappear into the darkness once more.

"escape!"

At this moment, it poured its consciousness into this mortal body, which was at its weakest. If it was as it expected, now was definitely not a good time to fight.

However, the shadowy figure suddenly realized that this mortal body was like a vortex, with an infinite attraction surging from within, like thousands of arms tightly binding the shadowy figure, making it difficult for it to break free.

"!"

There's no need for any further thought; without a doubt, this is a trap, a trap specifically designed to target it.

At the same time, a faint voice, inaudible to ordinary people, suddenly came from above the shadowy figure's head.

"Things that do not obey!"

Accompanied by that voice as cold as winter, the sky above suddenly became as bright as day, and the vast radiance connecting heaven and earth, a miracle unseen by mortals, had appeared.

Amidst the overwhelming clouds, high above the sky, a radiant angel, resembling a towering mountain, stood with a cold expression, its hands holding a lightsaber raised high. The tip of the sword pointed directly at the black shadow that had entered the girl's body and was still attached to the stake.

Then, the lightsaber fell!
……

At the same time, within the Crystal Palace of the Heavenly Realm, those eyes opened.

"Finally... I've found my chance."

On the throne, the god who was once shrouded in endless glory spoke softly.

It grasped the staff beside it, rose from its throne, its radiance reduced to a faint glow, vaguely revealing a humanoid body whose gender was indistinguishable. Its calm eyes shone like stars, yet the universe was long gone, replaced by a gentleness and... an almost human vulnerability.

"A worm that possesses the power of a god is nothing more than a god in the eyes of a worm."

The things that the dark things once mocked have already happened. The power of the gods has weakened considerably, and is still weakening. Although the game of chess with the demons continues, the situation has become unsustainable.

If this continues, one day it will lose the gamble and be devoured by the monster that awakens from its slumber beneath the earth; the future that God foresaw has already revealed this.

But it is precisely for this reason that God is so eager to complete His final plan in order to avoid that predetermined future.

Standing atop the Crystal Palace, overlooking the sun, moon, and world below, God spoke.

"I said……"

As the sound resounded throughout the void, the river of time broke, and all spirits in the four directions heard the voice of God.

……

India, a heavenly paradise.

Flowers rained down from the sky, golden lotuses sprang from the ground, and monks, nuns, laymen, laywomen, arhats, gatekeepers, and Bodhisattvas from all directions came to hear the Dharma. On the seven-jeweled lotus platform, two Buddhas were preaching the Dharma. Shakyamuni Buddha and Amitabha Buddha were preaching the Dharma at the same time, which was truly unprecedented. At this moment, they were preaching on "the matter of conditions".

"Dependent origination is emptiness, emptiness is dependent origination; phenomena do not arise in isolation, but depend on conditions for their arising; all phenomena arise from causes and conditions, and all phenomena cease due to causes and conditions..."

As he spoke, various miraculous events occurred, and in an instant, a great voice suddenly rang out, interrupting the Buddha's sermon. Upon hearing that voice, all the Bodhisattvas felt a sudden alarm, sensing the changes in the heavens and earth, and the approach of the end times. All of them wore expressions of worry. Only the two Buddhas, seated on the seven-jeweled lotus throne, remained unmoved, as if they had already understood.

With his keen insight, Shakyamuni saw the sorrowful expressions on the faces of the Bodhisattvas and Arhats and spoke.

"If you know the past and the future, and are averse to joy and pleasure, why then do you suffer?"

Subhuti, one of the Buddha's ten disciples, stepped forward, clasped his hands together, and said...

“World Honored One, although I know about past and future events and am averse to joy and pleasure, this matter is truly astonishing. I have heard and asked about it, and I hope that the World Honored One will clear up my doubts.”

What a fine Buddhist disciple! Even in this moment of great upheaval, he remained calm and composed, continuing to ask the Buddha questions. But the Buddha, instead of answering the disciple who was hailed as the foremost in understanding emptiness, asked a different question.

“Subhuti, a hundred years ago you asked me, ‘I always felt that there was a kind of illusion in the world that I could never get rid of.’” Upon hearing this, Subhuti was speechless. A hundred years ago, he felt that there was something in the world that he could not explain, which made the world seem very real, but also seemed to be something wrong. It was like a vase that was pieced together. No matter how it was pieced together, there were always some cracks.

He once thought this was because his cultivation was insufficient, causing him to be lost in delusion. He tried to ask the Buddha for clarification, but the Buddha did not answer him, only shaking his head and saying, "The time is not yet ripe." But now, the Buddha has suddenly brought it up, seemingly implying that there is a profound mystery to this matter?

"We hope the World-Honored One will dispel our doubts."

Subhuti said with utmost respect.

Looking around at the many Buddhas and Bodhisattvas, the Buddha spoke slowly.

"Subhuti, how many gods are there in this world?"

Subhuti was speechless, but had no choice but to speak.

"Countless."

In this world, from the West to the East, there are countless gods, each occupying their own territory, and occasionally there are frictions between them.

For example, in the nearby East, Taoists have a complex relationship with Buddhism, and there are countless gods, and countless ancient pantheons that have been destroyed. Not to mention that there seem to be gods from other lands overseas, but even among the gods, this is considered a strange tale.

However, when Subhuti spoke, the Buddha shook his head.

"Otherwise, there is only one god and one demon in this world."

Subhuti was taken aback. As a Buddha, this enlightened being said that there was no true god in this world. Seeing Subhuti's confusion, the Buddha did not explain further, but instead looked at the bodhisattvas before him and opened his arms, saying...

“Today I will be teaching the Dharma on ‘causal conditions’, and I will use an example to explain to you what ‘causal conditions’ are.”

All the Bodhisattvas were solemn and respectful, and they all put their hands together and uttered loud sounds.

"Good."

Then, the Buddha spoke.

“In the past, there was a religion in the West called Zoroastrianism, also known as the fire worship. That religion had a god named Ahura Mazda, and the fire worship had a god named Mithras. Four hundred years later, a religion emerged in the far west called Judaism. This religion was deeply influenced by the fire worship. They regarded Ahura Mazda as a saint and called him Abraham, and Mithras as their savior and called him Messiah.”

"Sixteen hundred years later, the two gods were introduced to India. The god Mitra was known as Mitra in India. When I established Buddhism in Eastern India, I heard about this Zoroastrian religion, which regarded Ahura Mazda as a Buddha. When his name was translated into Sanskrit, it was called Amitabha. Because it originated from the West, it was also called the Western Amitabha. And the god Mitra was called Maitreya."

"Six hundred years later, a man of Jewish origin appeared, claiming to be the Messiah, and he spread his religion far and wide. Six hundred years after that, a man named Muhammad regarded Abraham as one of the twenty-five prophets, and he was called Ibrahim..."

"Ahura Mazda is Abraham, Amitabha, and Ibrahim; Mithras is Messiah and Maitreya. It is because of this connection that we have all of this today. Subhuti, this is what is meant by cause and effect."

The Bodhisattvas were astonished, for Amitabha Buddha and Maitreya Buddha were clearly both from India, so how could they be gods from Persia? This was something they had never heard before, and they would not have believed it if it had not come from the mouth of Shakyamuni.

However, among all the Buddhas, only Amitabha Buddha remained unmoved, as if he and Shakyamuni Buddha were the only two Buddhas who already knew everything. Maitreya Buddha, on the other hand, closed his eyes and pondered for a long time, often exhaling a breath afterward, as if some long-standing doubt in his heart had been dispelled.

“World Honored One… This disciple is foolish and these things are completely different from what this disciple knows. I really do not understand what the World Honored One means.”

Subhuti opened his mouth with some difficulty; such a major revelation was far beyond his comprehension.

Maitreya Buddha and Amitabha Buddha actually originated from elsewhere? But that's impossible! In his memory, gods and Buddhas were born tens of thousands of years ago. The so-called mortal realm is merely a fleeting existence for humans. How could this be…?

A jumble of chaotic thoughts swirled in his mind. A thousand years of cultivation seemed utterly worthless at this moment. Suddenly, he realized how strange and unreal this world was, and how he knew nothing about it. Yet, countless thoughts arose, as if a glimmer of light was about to be captured in his mind, revealing the truth of this world, but he just couldn't grasp it no matter what.

Shakyamuni looked at Subhuti, whose face was pale and his expression was constantly changing, and then continued speaking.

"All phenomena arise from causes and conditions, and all phenomena cease due to causes and conditions. This is the cause and condition. Having spoken of the cause, I will now speak of the effect."

"After countless years, there was a god whose name was unknown, who had great supernatural powers. People called him Jehovah. He gathered billions of gods in one world, regarded the gods as his messengers, stripped them of their divine positions, and called them angels. Ten thousand years ago, this god's power weakened, and the gods realized their past lives and were finally freed from their bondage."

"However, just as when people look at a lake, the reflection in the water is real but not the truth. All the gods in this world are like the shadows of a campfire on a wall. Therefore, it is said that there is no true god in this world, because they are all just reflections. The billions of reflections are confused and disordered, which is why we have this complicated world and this complicated civilization."

Upon hearing this, Subhuti's face, which was covered in sweat, showed an uncertain expression, as if he understood something, yet also as if he understood nothing at all.

"Foolish child! We are like guests invited by the host, and now the day of departure has come. Why don't you realize this?"

Suddenly, a loud shout rang in his ears, as if enlightening him. Accompanied by a chill, Subhuti felt a sudden enlightenment and joy. He had finally captured that glimmer of inspiration, and he couldn't help but cry tears of joy.

"All conditioned phenomena are like dreams, illusions, bubbles, shadows, dew, and lightning... Indeed! Indeed! They are nothing but a dream!"

As Subhuti laughed with almost unrestrained joy, a tremendous roar suddenly erupted beneath the Buddha-land above the clouds, and the vast Buddha-land, where heavenly flowers rained down and golden lotuses sprang from the ground, was instantly shattered...

"Roar!!!!"

The monster beneath the earth finally sensed the danger posed by its clone and raised its massive head.

(End of this chapter)