Donghuang Ziji

Chapter 899 Blood Swallows Tathagata
Zhenwu glanced at Erlang Shen and expressed his agreement.

In the eyes of this demon-slaying ancestor, it would be better for all living beings if Chu Tai stayed in the current world, so he should not occupy the position that suits him.

But Chu Tai himself had no intention of staying. He shook his head and said, "If I stay, there will be big problems."

Looking back at Erlang Shen, Chu Tai asked, "Do you still remember the three realms that Zhu Bajie mentioned earlier?"

"What should I do, what should I understand, what am I?"

"Yes, you can actually understand these three realms as passive acceptance, active acceptance, and enjoying the present moment. But these three realms do not apply to me. I am the incarnation of the Great Dao of Taiyi in this world. I came to the world more as a tool, but my cultivation realm made me realize that something was wrong."

"What's wrong?"

Erlang Shen was somewhat confused, and Zhenwu Emperor also frowned. Chu Tai smiled and looked at Qingniao, Yuzhen and Suhua who were playing music below, and suddenly asked a question: "You two, why do you think people who practice Taoism need to establish their Tao heart and clarify their Tao nature?"

"Of course, it is to fight against the long lifespan and the endless emptiness that may appear."

Erlang Shen's answer prompted Chu Tai to continue asking, "Then why don't mortals need it?"

Unlike Yang Jian in the previous time period, Erlang Shen in the current time period is also close to mortals, but he has been exposed to less information in this area and has never thought about this question, so he didn't know how to answer it for a moment.

It was Zhenwu, however, who guessed the reason because of his early practice and experiences in the human world.

"It's probably because their lifespans are short. For many mortals, and even many little demons, they don't really need to think too much. Even if they don't know why they have to live this way, they can still comfort themselves that it will pass if they just endure it."

Zhenwu paused here.

"From this point of view, it fits with what you said before about what should be done in the first of the three realms."

"But for beings who have achieved success in cultivation, or great demons with a certain amount of power, these problems must be solved. Their lifespans are far beyond those of ordinary people, forcing them to face a question: why do we exist in the world, or what is the meaning of existence?"

At this point, Zhenwu couldn't help but recall the many evil demons he had seen in the past. Many of them had forgotten their original choices because of their long lifespans, and gradually gave up many things that seemed unimportant to them, so that they became more and more presumptuous.

Ultimately, these beings all went further and further on the path of evil.

Finally, Zhenwu concluded: "Only by understanding this principle can we truly go far on the path. From a certain perspective, this is also the foundation of Tao nature and Tao heart, that is, knowing how to do it."

Looking up at Chu Tai, Zhenwu asked with some doubt: "But what about the last one, what am I, and how to answer it?"

"For an innate god like you, this is the last thing you need to think about."

Chu Tai responded with a smile, then gave his thoughts.

"To put it bluntly, Zhu Bajie's realization is to seek the value of his own existence from a human perspective, and to explore the mystery of eternity from an ordinary perspective."

"But you are different from me now. We knew what we were from the beginning. It's like I have the attributes of a tool. I was sent to the world by the Great Dao of Taiyi to solve some of the problems in the current world. This is where I came from and the core of what I should do."

"I see."

Zhenwu instantly understood the problem and knew what was wrong with what Chu Tai said before.

He sighed and said, "As the manifestation of the Great Dao, you are very clear about your own nature and know what you should do, but you are flawed in understanding how to do it and how to transform from being passive to being active. Or rather, we natural gods all have this problem."

“We don’t need to explore why we exist in this world, nor do we need to explore what we should do in this world. Instead, we need to understand why we should do this and how to do it. This is what we need to pursue.”

"But this pursuit itself will cause problems."

Erlang Shen next to him pointed out a problem: "If the gods all have their own pursuits, then how can we ensure the fairness of the operation of the rules?"

“This is the problem of the conflict between heaven and man.”

Chu Tai looked at the music dancing around him, feeling the wonderful sound of order, and whispered: "Know yourself, know the world. As acquired creatures, the essence of our existence cannot transcend the world and exist independently. After all, we are part of the operation of heaven and man."

"So-called cultivation is nothing more than a medium for us to communicate with the world. In the process of continuous integration, we will gradually move from what we should do to understanding what to do, and finally know what we are between heaven and earth."

“But for me at this moment, these are missing.”

Chu Tai paused for a moment and said with some emotion: "If the path I practice is other principles, it would be fine, but I correspond to [Taiyi]. I am the whole, the individual, the starting point, the end point, the change, and the constancy..."

"So once I realized that, I knew something was wrong."

Erlang Shen frowned: "Are you worried that when you know what you want to do in the future, you will not be willing to continue to bear your current responsibilities?"

“This is just the lesser of the problems.”

Chu Tai looked towards the underworld and said with emotion, "When I was killing the evil emperor, I once saw a demon. The power of that guy was very bewitching, enough to distort the will of all living beings. That's when I started to feel a little abnormal and began to think about the relationship between myself and the deity. It's hard not to be affected by him if I stay with him for a long time."

"To put it simply, if I stay here for a long time, I will most likely become the next evil emperor, and the karma I create will be even more terrible."

"We can help you stabilize order and maintain rationality. Moreover, can't you also borrow the power of the Great Oneness?"

Erlang Shen wanted to say something, but Chu Tai waved his hand and said, "Do you think that demon, who used so many tricks just for me, would let go of Taiyi Avenue?"

"The most important thing is that your world is only one part of the three time periods. I still have to go to the next time period to explore the way to salvation."

Hearing this, Zhenwu and Erlang Shen had no intention of persuading others and both lowered their heads.

After Chu Tai said a few words of comfort, he set off for the place where the reincarnation of Buddha Tathagata was.

As the Tathagata Buddha who once divided the Eastern and Western Heavens with the Evil Emperor, his cultivation and realm are far superior to other Buddhas and Bodhisattvas.

Even after reincarnation, he lost some of his power, but he was still better than Maitreya, Sun Wukong, Jin Chanzi, Zhu Bajie, Sha Monk and White Dragon Horse.

In addition, there is still some residual destiny in Tathagata Buddha, and there is another force protecting him in the dark.

As a result, Maitreya and others were discovered by the other party and escaped before they could find the Buddha.

If it weren't for the orderly and wonderful sounds echoing from the Yao Chi sacrifices that have always existed between heaven and earth, guiding Maitreya and others at all times, the Buddha would have long been hidden in the crowd and could not be found.

The Buddha, whose image was constantly changing, quickly changed his position in the human world. Feeling Maitreya and others approaching from behind, his face looked a little grim.

He looked towards the east sky, feeling the wonderful sounds echoing around him, and felt a little emotional in his heart.

"If I had known that there were such means between heaven and earth a thousand years ago, I would not have come to this point." "Unfortunately, there is no turning back for me."

Then, the smoke and dust under the feet of Tathagata Buddha dissipated and turned into a lotus shadow.

When the smoke and dust settled to the ground, he had disappeared without a trace. Sun Wukong, who was following closely behind him, stretched out his hand and grabbed, and a faint ray of Buddha's light dissipated at his fingertips.

"He escaped again. This guy is really good at hiding."

"Brother Monkey, it's not a good idea for us to chase after them like this. The wonderful sound of order in the East Sky cannot echo through the void forever. Once this sound stops, we will have no chance of finding the Tathagata Buddha."

The white dragon horse hurried to catch up and spoke to Sun Wukong while panting.

In response, Sun Wukong looked at Zhu Bajie, who was following him slowly and sleepily, and asked, "Fool, do you have any news?"

"No, although I left my power along the way to purify the filth and prevent that guy from turning back. But he seemed to know something, and none of the power I left was triggered."

"That's right. That guy's Buddha Eye can see the Three Realms and Six Paths, the past and the future, so it's normal for him to discover our tricks. For him, as long as he can hold on until now, when the Sound of Order disappears, he will appear in the center of the power you left behind, and you won't be able to detect his trace."

Sun Wukong was somewhat helpless, and finally looked at Maitreya and said, "If it really doesn't work, let's seek the help of that Taiyi Buddha."

Maitreya was a little hesitant when he heard this. After all, Chu Tai had already given the location and had been helping to guide them, but they still couldn't find the Buddha. It seemed really unhelpful.

But Maitreya himself knew the seriousness of the situation, and after a moment he planned to contact Chu Tai.

At this time, Chu Tai had already left Dongtian and rushed towards the location of Buddha Tathagata.

As he moved, the fate of Buddhism and Taoism in the dark changed accordingly.

The destiny of Tathagata Buddha was instinctively afraid of Chu Tai and wanted to stay away from Chu Tai, and look for other Buddhist destiny to try to get protection.

This resulted in Tathagata Buddha inevitably approaching Maitreya and others as he walked.

Maitreya and Sun Wukong, realizing this, immediately took action and rushed to the location of the reincarnation of Tathagata Buddha.

"Oh no! That guy is here too!"

The moment Buddha Tathagata discovered that Maitreya and Sun Wukong were nearby, he knew something was wrong.

He did not dare to continue relying on the protection of Buddhism, but instead used more strength to seek survival.

The increase in strength made his trail clearer. Sun Wukong also caught a ray of Buddha's light. After casting a spell to freeze it, he said coldly: "Finally, I have caught your tail!"

After saying that, he chased after him with a somersault cloud.

The footsteps of Tathagata Buddha kept changing, and finally he ran towards the underworld, trying to avoid the tracking of Chu Tai and Sun Wukong by taking advantage of the special characteristics of the underworld.

Chu Tai also felt something was wrong. He looked in the direction where Buddha Tathagata left, and inexplicably felt a sense of crisis in his heart.

It seems that Buddha Tathagata's entry into the underworld will cause something bad.

He couldn't help but quicken his pace and went directly into the underworld, and then chased in the direction of Buddha from the underworld.

In the end, Chu Tai saw the reincarnation of Buddha Tathagata in the gap between the underworld and the human world.

Behind him were Maitreya, Sun Wukong and others who had arrived.

Seeing Chu Tai walking out of the underworld, Sun Wukong's eyes lit up, and he took out his golden hoop and shouted at the reincarnation of Tathagata Buddha: "Let's see where you can escape now!"

As he said this, he swung the golden cudgel and hit him.

The Tathagata Buddha sat in the air, and a terrifying aura that made people's hearts palpitate instantly emanated from his body. At the same time, an infinitely solemn, boundless, sacred, and extremely majestic Dharma image emerged behind him.

Thousands of rays of light bloomed around the Dharma image, and countless virtual shadows of Buddhas, Bodhisattvas, and Arhats surrounded it. The moment it appeared, it continued to expand, almost as big as Mount Sumeru, covering the twenty-eight heavens of the Three Realms.

Behind the Dharmadhatu’s head there is a circle of perfect, wise, peaceful, pure and sacred light, and above it there appear many bright clouds.

Under this strange phenomenon, Sun Wukong was like an ant. As soon as he stretched out his hand, he was blocked by the glazed light.

"Good! Good!"

Upon seeing this, Maitreya lowered a ray of Buddha's light and shattered the colored glaze. Jin Chanzi, Zhu Bajie, Monk Sha, and the White Dragon Horse followed closely behind and attacked Tathagata Buddha.

The Buddhist destiny was impacting Chu Tai in the dark. Just as he was about to step forward to help, he felt the changes in the Buddhist destiny in his body.

Moreover, there seemed to be another force appearing around.

He frowned slightly and was about to trace the source of that power when he suddenly saw endless blood gushing out from the gap between the underworld and the human world.

The blood was scarlet and sticky, emitting a foul odor, and inside it were many ugly and strange creatures, each revealing the principles of alienation and filth.

"No, these evil demons..."

Maitreya was the first to notice something was wrong. He was horrified to find that many of those strange creatures were ancient Buddhas of the past, or some missing Vajra and Galan.

At this moment, their forms shattered and turned into foreign objects.

Some had lost their upper bodies, and their waists and abdomens looked like flowers split open, with countless arms extending from inside, with eyes in their palms, looking around.

Some had lost their heads and their hands fell to the ground, like animals on all fours, with their spines twisted and holding a blood-red lotus.

Others have lost their lower bodies. Beneath the solemn and sacred image of the Bodhisattva is a mass of mud formed by countless flesh, blood, and broken limbs. In the case of such an existence, it is more accurate to say that the Bodhisattva has been eaten up, leaving only the upper body to deceive sentient beings, rather than retaining the upper half of his body.

All these terrifying and evil creatures gathered around the Buddha, who had a shocked look on his face.

Before Tathagata Buddha could make any statement, blood surged up from all around and swallowed up his Mount Sumeru-like image.

The myriad rays of light that were originally blooming around the Dharma image all turned into evil spirits, and the shadows of countless Buddhas, Bodhisattvas, and Arhats also grew eyes and looked at the Tathagata Buddha in the middle.

(End of this chapter)