Longzang

Chapter 974 Wishful thinking
The minor disturbances amidst the everyday life of the people did not attract much attention from Wei Yuan. He surveyed the battlefield of inner demons and saw a platform several meters square rise into the air, carrying dozens of cultivators to a purple spot. A moment later, it carried the wounded and the cultivators who had been rotated out back to the battlefield.

The preliminary model was built so quickly... Wei Yuan was quite impressed by the efficiency of the local people.

War is the best catalyst. Behind the explosion of various war machines lies the rapid spiritual advancement of mortals. Most of the mortals in the world today are reincarnations of souls, and apart from lacking a physical body, they are not much different from ordinary humans.

While observing the bustling world, Wei Yuan took the opportunity to check Qingming's current data.

Currently, the border of Qingming spans 3,300 li and has a population of 37 million. In the past year, 3.1 million were born and 200,000 died. Qingming is primarily populated by refugees, who arrive in their prime. Therefore, once life stabilizes and food becomes plentiful, the population quickly rebounds. As for the dead, most are reincarnated in the human world.

A subtle cycle now exists within the mundane world, where souls enter from the Yellow Springs, are reborn in the mortal realm, and will eventually return to the Pure Land of Ultimate Bliss. However, Wei Yuan suddenly realized that if this process continues indefinitely, wouldn't the number of people in the Pure Land of Ultimate Bliss eventually increase to an infinite number?
Where do these new souls come from? Are they born naturally from the heavens and earth?
Wei Yuan arrived at the Pure Land Temple again, looked up at the empty lotus platform, and seemed to be deep in thought: Sitting upright on the lotus platform, with thousands of believers listening to the sutras below, and then this is it?
How many great Buddhist teachings can be taught endlessly without repetition, or in other words, how many great teachings are there that believers will always need to hear? And are these great teachings merely about speaking and listening, without requiring personal practice?
Countless questions raced through Wei Yuan's mind. He suddenly realized that if time were extended to a hundred years, ten thousand years, a million years, or even longer, many principles considered eternal and unchanging would no longer be so impeccable. For example, what would be the point of sitting in meditation and preaching for a million years?

But when it is so far in time, far beyond the lifespan of immortals, do these principles still have any meaning?

Unbeknownst to Wei Yuan, as he pondered, his body was faintly radiating golden light, and the entire Pure Land of Bliss was trembling slightly, beginning to grow slowly.

Suddenly, Wei Yuan had a strange feeling, as if something was drawing him in from the shadows, and he felt a deep joy for that place!
Wei Yuan's heart stirred, and he scanned the area with his divine sense, discovering that what was drawing him was actually the Yellow Springs Grotto-Heaven. Why was this? At this moment, Wei Yuan was in the midst of enlightenment, and all his sudden impulses were not without reason.

Suddenly, a flash of inspiration struck me: if it is unrealistic to stay in the Pure Land and listen to sutras forever, why not go to the Yellow Springs to be reincarnated and start a new life?
The moment this idea came to mind, Wei Yuan was jolted, as if a brand new door had been opened. Countless thoughts rushed in, and he felt as if he had vaguely touched something!
However, the flash of inspiration was fleeting, and the Great Dao was hidden behind the mist, never to be perceived again. But now Wei Yuan already has many theoretical methods for research, so he doesn't entirely need to rely on sudden enlightenment.

He immediately left the Pure Land and came to his own grand hall amidst the hustle and bustle of the human world. He spread out paper and pen, intending to write a scripture to explore the path of evolution and reincarnation between this world, the Yellow Springs, and the Pure Land.

While pondering the question, Wei Yuan suddenly remembered the "Three Realms Auspicious Sutra" placed on the offering table before the Buddha. Although he hadn't seen its contents, the question alone gave Wei Yuan a sudden insight!

What does "as you wish" mean? It means to attain great joy and satisfaction in the Pure Land, having everything you need, to be reborn in the cycle of reincarnation, to experience the mortal world again, to be reborn in the human realm, to complete your spiritual practice, to return to the Pure Land, and to attain great joy and satisfaction once more. This is what "as you wish" means.

However, in this process, the cultivation in the human world is actually constantly changing and reshaping the human world. The human world is reborn and reshaped by countless believers, so it will become more and more abundant and gradually rise until it rises to the heavens and becomes part of the Pure Land.

At that time, the human world is a pure land, and the pure land is the human world. There is no suffering or lack, and everyone is born with perfect joy. This is what is meant by "as you wish."

When that time comes, as a Buddha King, one should seek a higher level of celestial realm and a wider range of completeness, and take this Yellow Springs and Pure Land to ascend to a new celestial realm. In this way, one can go up layer by layer, and only then will one's wishes be fulfilled.

In each cycle, Wang Fodang will lead his followers and the Pure Land to continuous advancement. As for where they will ascend, Wei Yuan cannot see it now, nor may he see it in this lifetime. He only needs to take the first step. When the time comes, there will naturally be successors to take up the mantle, step on Wei Yuan's shoulders, and continue forward.

This is just the general framework; countless details need to be filled in, and many questions need to be explored. For example, are there other celestial realms above the celestial realms? Are they infinite?
Thinking of this, Wei Yuan felt a headache coming on. Fortunately, he had a treasure book at hand, so he took out "A First Exploration of the Wilderness" written by Ronglong before his death, gritted his teeth and turned to Chapter 8, and began to read it by brute force.

Although "A First Exploration of the Desolate Realm" was written by Ronglong specifically for the Desolate Realm, many of its mathematical tools are applicable to various grotto-heavens and worlds. Thoroughly studying it will greatly benefit Wei Yuan's understanding of the reincarnation of souls in different realms. Wei Yuan can now observe various data related to reincarnation from the Yellow Springs to the mortal world, but lacks mathematical tools and hasn't fully utilized them yet. Time always flies when you're studying mathematics; several days passed in the blink of an eye. Five hundred Dao Foundation troops had arrived at Guantun County, the grain had been transported, and the people were overjoyed. Everyone who could move went to the city walls to help build fortifications. And those twelve thousand people contributed a full ten thousand units of Azure Qi to Wei Yuan.

The clothes and letter sent by Liu Muzhi have been delivered to Liu Heihu, and a reply has been received: the heads of all the messengers sent.

Liu Muzhi was not one to be trifled with. He immediately ordered his men to capture Liu Heihu's envoy and to cut off the limbs of dozens of rebel soldiers, hanging them at the city gate. Two rebel soldiers were quick-witted and escaped quickly enough, so Liu Muzhi did not pursue them but watched them return.

At this time, Wei Yuan had gained some insights after studying "A First Exploration of the Wilderness". So he picked up his pen and quickly wrote down half a sheet of jade paper, writing the beginning of "The Perfect Reincarnation of the Three Realms".

However, I'm getting stuck here.

Suddenly, Wei Yuan had a flash of inspiration. He spread out another sheet of jade paper and wrote on it, "Some Advanced Thoughts on the Essence of the Desolate Realm: Part One." Then, Wei Yuan conducted a comprehensive and in-depth analysis of the fourth sentence of the second paragraph of Chapter Seven of "An Initial Exploration of the Desolate Realm." Ninety percent of the entire text was nonsense, but it filled the entire book.

Wei Yuan enthusiastically bound his book and placed it in the "Human World" section, alongside "A First Exploration of the Wasteland." Generally speaking, a normal person would definitely read "A First Exploration of the Wasteland" first, and then, after finding it difficult to digest, would naturally look up to the "Advanced Thinking on the Essence" next to it with awe, perhaps even gaining some good fortune.

After completing his book, Wei Yuan was satisfied and turned his divine sense back to Guantun County. Guantun County was too far away, and it was no longer possible to contact it through Dao Foundation Warriors, nor could his Dharma Image withstand the strain. The only option was for the warriors who arrived first to build an array on the spot to guide Wei Yuan's divine sense to project remotely and inspect the battlefield.

Based on the time intervals between the rebel messengers' arrival and departure, Wei Yuan roughly estimated that Liu Heihu's army still had three days' journey to go.

So he left the fortress and flew alone towards Guantun County. Halfway there, he saw several trucks below, struggling to move through the mountains, transporting supplies to Guantun County.

At this moment, in the small Pure Land Temple, Lian Deng was cleaning when he noticed that the young monk Hong Lian was unusually not working, but instead reading a book. Where did the book come from in the small temple? He turned his head and saw that one of the three scriptures on the offering table was missing.

Lian Deng walked over and said with a smile, "Junior brother, how can you read a wordless scripture with such relish..."

Lotus Lantern suddenly trembled, her expression changing, because the little monk Honglian was holding a scripture that was already filled with writing, and the little monk was concentrating on reading it carefully.

"Where did this scripture come from...?"

"The First Subtle Teachings of the King Buddha".

(End of this chapter)