Longzang

Chapter 975 Obsession
In the azure sky, Wei Yuan, a Dharma Image left behind, hurriedly walked to the front of the Hall of Merit and Merit. He glanced at the numbers displayed on the stone tablet at the entrance of the hall, added the known trajectory formula, calculated the trajectory after a moment, and then took a step. His figure suddenly blurred for a moment and appeared at the entrance of the Hall of Merit and Merit, and walked into the hall.

At this moment, a shadow appeared from the void. It glanced at the numbers on the stone tablet, puzzled. Upon closer inspection, it saw a jumble of messy symbols below, like a child's scribbles.

The shadow knew there must be a mystery involved. Although it couldn't understand it, it had memorized the entire path of those who had walked before it, including the route in the void. Unfazed, it took a step forward. A scream rang out, and the shadow vanished without a trace.

Inside the Hall of Merit, Wei Yuan's Dharma Aspect Warriors skillfully began searching, finally selecting the complete set of scriptures from the Great Treasure Pure Land. They then charged the scriptures with the power of their domain and paid the Heavenly Merit. Moments later, pieces of jade paper fell like snowflakes, covering the ground in a thick layer.

The Hall of Merit and Merit no longer needs to be worshipped; it can be driven solely by the power of the realm.

Inside the Hall of Merit of the Taichu Palace, several elderly men on duty had just finished carrying the books and watched them disappear into the formation. They exchanged glances and someone said, "How come someone else is exchanging for a complete set of Pure Land Buddhist scriptures?"

"Judging from the direction, it should be coming from Qingming."

"Could it be that yet another Buddhist disciple has been born?"

"That's normal. Just now, the Great Tang's fortune was declining, and it was a time of chaos. In times of chaos, Buddhist disciples are most likely to be born into the world."

The old man seemed to be speaking of another world, his words utterly devoid of emotion. Their reward for guarding the Hall of Merit was an even longer life. The youngest of these old men had been here for over three hundred years, long since having witnessed the rise and fall of human life.

……

In a dilapidated little temple in the wilderness, an old monk and a boy sat facing each other. The boy looked to be only fourteen or fifteen years old, but his eyes revealed a maturity beyond his years.

The boy looked overjoyed and asked, "Am I really a Buddha's disciple?"

The old monk smiled and said, “You possess innate wisdom, born to face the great calamity of heaven and earth, and are endowed with great opportunities and karma. Now that the great calamity has arrived, Buddhism should flourish, and it is time for you to rise up. I have traveled all over the world and finally found you thanks to my good fortune.”

The boy looked on expectantly and asked, "Then... can I achieve Dharma form?"

The old monk laughed and said, "Don't talk about the Dharma form. Even the Imperial View is just a stop along the way! Since you are a Buddhist disciple, you will eventually ascend to the Oneness and attain enlightenment."

The path to enlightenment suddenly appeared, and the young man was so overjoyed that he almost fainted, and for a moment he couldn't distinguish between reality and illusion.

The old monk raised his wooden mallet and struck the boy's head three times in quick succession. The boy's hair fell out, and he regained consciousness.

The old monk said, “Your disciple is good, but you have not yet reached the pinnacle. If you do not work hard, you may only be able to attain the Arhatship in your lifetime. I have already calculated that there is still a vacancy for the highest position. You were born in this opportunity, so you should practice diligently to achieve the right result.”

The bald boy asked, "I am a disciple of Buddha, and there is a vacancy for the highest position. Shouldn't it be mine?"

The old monk said, "A great calamity is approaching, and you are not the only Buddhist disciple. According to my calculations, there are probably three or four Buddhist disciples who have been born so far. They are all vying for that vacant supreme position."

The boy thought of a question and asked, "Why is the highest position vacant? Has any Buddha passed away?"

The old monk sighed, "Whether it is a tribulation or a reincarnation, there are many layers of illusion, and even I cannot see clearly."

The young monk then asked, "With such profound Buddhist cultivation, why doesn't Master enjoy honor and prestige within a grand sect, but instead chooses to wander in remote and impoverished places around the world?"

The old monk said, "I was about to attain enlightenment, but just before taking the final step, I realized that I still had some lingering attachments in my heart, so I came here specifically for you."

The young monk was deeply moved, put his palms together in greeting, and said, "Thank you, teacher."

The old monk said, "I have gone through many tribulations, broken through numerous blockades, and deciphered the moves of the immortals and the strategies of the great masters before finally finding you. You must not disappoint me."

The young monk replied, "Don't worry, Master, I will definitely make great progress!"

The old monk was very satisfied and said, "You were born to meet a calamity, so your talent is not a problem. You just need to work hard and make progress. Is there any unresolved attachment you have? If not, I will first teach you the 'Six Reincarnation Sutras,' which is part of the Tripitaka. Once you have thoroughly read this sutra, you will know the principles of where you come from and where you are going."

The young monk was lost in thought for a moment, then asked, "Master, since I have such talent, why didn't my teacher accept me as his disciple back then?"

"To meet but not recognize each other is to have no affinity. There are many people in the world who suffer from the obstruction of knowledge and perception, so there is no need to care."

The young monk, however, was unwilling to give up and asked again, "If I achieve success in my cultivation someday, may I go to find my former teacher? I just want to ask him one question and hear his own answer as to why he rejected me back then."

The old monk sighed and said, "Foolish child, so be it. Once you have cultivated the Dharma form and received your initial response, go and see him." The young monk nodded, took the scripture, and was startled when he opened it, saying, "Why are there so many blank spaces?"

The old monk was also taken aback upon hearing this, and said, "This scroll of scripture is not a physical object, but a manifestation of what I have learned in my heart. All three thousand Buddhist scriptures are in my heart, how could there be any blank spaces?"

He took the scripture, opened it, and sure enough, two large sections were missing from the first page, leaving only half of the content!
As he flipped through the pages, he found blank spaces everywhere, some more, some less. The old monk searched his memory again and discovered that this particular passage also had large blank areas.

The old monk was suddenly filled with great terror and said, "It really is a great calamity for heaven and earth, the Dao is destroyed and the Dharma is wiped out!"

……

At the top of Guantun County, Wei Yuan stood beneath a large banner, gazing at the rebel army formation opposite him. The rebels were a dark, imposing mass, their military aura chaotic and indistinct, yet remarkably solid.

When two armies face off, the first thing they compare is the flags of their respective commanders.

Two large banners stood out prominently among the sea of ​​flags in the rebel army's central command. One banner bore four large characters: "Punishing the Rebels and Eliminating Traitors," while the other featured a single, flamboyant "Liu" character.

On the top of the county town, there stood a ten-zhang flagpole with a large brocade banner hanging on it, larger than the two general's flags on the opposite side combined.

This truly "big" flag has only one character on it, upright and dignified, neat and unpretentious, with the brushstrokes implied but not overt, it is the character "汤" (soup)!

Liu Heihu squinted, gazing at the fluttering banner in the distance, unable to suppress the anger welling up inside him. The match was lost without a doubt.

Their own banner was "Acting on behalf of Heaven to punish the guilty," with "Heaven" referring to Emperor Tang. The opposing side, however, directly raised the banner of the Great Tang Dynasty, which was utterly disrespectful.

Liu Heihu took to the air and flew into the midst of the two armies, shouting, "Who is Wei Yuan? Step forward!"

These shouts, like thunder, echoed for miles around. After the shout, the entire world seemed to darken, and a biting chill filled the air, causing many of the rebel soldiers to tremble.

Wei Yuan was also standing in mid-air, but he did not leave the county town area.

The normal procedure at this point would be for Wei Yuan to give a reply, followed by Liu Heihu's cold laugh and a scathing rebuke of Wei Yuan. But Wei Yuan, experienced as he was, had already anticipated the next few steps; how could he let Liu Heihu have his way?
Wei Yuan said calmly, "A mere rabble, you think you can come here to die? Have you never led troops before? Have you never even read any military books?"

Liu Heihu was furious. He roared, "You have only five hundred soldiers, yet you dare to be so glib! Today you are in my hands, and I will surely extract your soul and refine your spirit, making you howl for eighty-one days before you can be reincarnated!!"

Wei Yuan said calmly, "Enough with the nonsense, bring it on!"

Enraged, Liu Heihu stepped forward and swung his blade! A flash of light, carrying with it a thousand icy winds and snowflakes, pierced through a thousand feet and struck Wei Yuan directly!

Wei Yuan activated the power of the Central Earth Cave Heaven, and rolling yellow light fell, protecting the city wall. Using an earth shield against a snow blade was obviously a great advantage, but Liu Heihu was a Yujing, and this full-force strike, aimed at breaking through the surface, still destroyed the power of the cave heaven. A little blade intent penetrated the defense, instantly freezing several city guards into ice sculptures.

Liu Heihu suddenly felt a slight heaviness throughout his body, as if he had been coated with a layer of grease. He used his divine sense to look inward and discovered that some areas within his mental world were strangely emitting a black and red light, which was clearly a sign of karma beingfalling him!
Liu Heihu was both shocked and furious. He had only killed seven or eight ordinary soldiers with his attack, so how could his karma be much greater than that of slaughtering the entire county?

Although one could seek the help of an immortal to remove karma afterward, it was troublesome, painful, and would leave many loose ends. Moreover, Liu Heihu dared not complain, since not every immortal could handle karma. The true master behind the scenes was not one of them.

Liu Heihu suffered a hidden loss, but when he looked again, Wei Yuan waved his hand and opened the invisible barrier covering the city walls, revealing the true face that had been hidden.

Although the soldiers standing on the city wall were all emaciated and thin, their eyes were blazing with fury as they faced the rebels outside the city, eager to rush forward and fight to the death.

Liu Heihu didn't care about the hatred of mere mortals. The curses and resentment of hundreds of thousands, even millions of people were nothing more than powerless rage, the chirping of insects and the barking of dogs, in his eyes. Since he started his rebellion, he had slaughtered nearly a million mortals under his own command.

But the soldiers on the city wall were all radiating a clear blue light, which was pure humanistic blue energy! Slaughtering such people who are blessed with good fortune will bring more than ten times, or even hundreds of times, more karmic retribution than normal people.

Wei Yuan had already made arrangements with the soldiers guarding the city. These soldiers were originally just militia, or even just the stronger civilians. They all harbored deep hatred for both the rebels and the government troops, so they were willing to stand on the front line and use themselves as bait to drag the rebel general into the conflict.

Wei Yuan then channeled all the azure energy he had obtained from Guantun County into these soldiers, perfectly aligning with his principle of taking from the people and using it for the people. If Liu Heihu dared to kill all of these dozens of soldiers, it would be equivalent to personally slaughtering more than ten Guantun Counties. Even with a celestial being behind him, he could not resolve such a massive karmic burden.

Wei Yuan laughed three times and said to Liu Heihu, "Why did you stop so soon?"

Liu Heihu's face was as black as the bottom of a pot. He shouted loudly, and ten thousand soldiers from the Left Army charged out towards this small county!
(End of this chapter)