Journey to the West: Beginning with the Apprenticeship of Bodhi Patriarch

Chapter 224: Difficulties in Crossing the Sea of ​​Bitterness
After Emperor Xuan and the Immortal had cultivated the laws, they talked in the Taihe Palace, and the two discussed the affairs of the Jambu world.

Emperor Xuan sighed, "Master, you and I are good friends, but I won't hide it from you. I am powerful in the north, in charge of the position of Zhenwu, and I have eliminated all the evil spirits in the world. Now I am enjoying the peace of Wudang Mountain and the comfort of the Hall of Supreme Harmony, and I have achieved peace and tranquility in the sea and mountains. But I still know that my reputation cannot suppress the evil spirits in the world. Since I have enjoyed it, the evil spirits in Luzhou in the north have been rising up day by day, and it is difficult to control them. But I know that the southern continent of Zhanbu is also not peaceful. Master, do you agree?"

Jiang Yuan pondered for a long time and said, "As Emperor Xuan said, there are not many demons in the Southern Continent, but it is not peaceful. I recently saw a monster that was originally a human, but used evil magic and evil ways to become a demon."

Emperor Xuan said, "That's right. I often worry whether this law can really restrain the hearts of practitioners in the world."

Jiang Yuan shook his head and said, "No matter whether it can be accomplished or not, we should do something. There are people who learn the truth at different times. We are making laws, but if we can help those who come after us, we should do what we can."

Emperor Xuan was full of praise and said, "I have often heard that when the Buddha first spread Buddhism to the East, he had the intention to continue the Nirvana Dharma. Although he had the intention to save sentient beings, he also had selfish intentions, which were not as good as the heart of a true man."

Jiang Yuan said: "Mysterious Emperor, please don't say that. I also have selfish motives. I walk in the human world to repair the laws. You can teach me the number of heaven and earth to complete my own practice. I don't deserve such a sigh from the Emperor."

Emperor Xuan said, "I have often discussed with you the mind of the True Man. How could I not know this? But I wonder how the True Man views the Buddha's Nirvana Dharma?"

Jiang Yuan was a little confused when he heard this, and asked, "What did Emperor Xuan mean?"

Emperor Xuan said: "The Immortal once had a bet with the Buddha from the West. The pilgrim obtained the true scriptures for Zen or Nirvana. In the end, the Immortal won. Therefore, the Buddha's Nirvana method has fallen into desolation, which is the general trend."

Jiang Yuan asked: "I know this, but I don't care about the victory or defeat. The Buddha's teachings are in decline, what can they do?"

Emperor Xuan shook his head and said, "Since I have never done anything, the law of Nirvana does not exist, but there is still Zen. From now on, Zen will be respected. In the future, the Buddha will be the World Honored One after the Nirvana."

Jiang Yuan said: "Master Buddha has a broad mind."

Emperor Xuan said: "The journey to the west has failed, and we cannot violate it. Even the Buddha and the Taoist priests cannot do anything about it."

Jiang Yuan said: "I have heard that Buddha spread Buddhism in the East and intended to save the sentient beings in Jambudvīpa. Now I see that he has failed."

Emperor Xuan shook his head and said, "This is difficult in itself. The sea of ​​suffering is endless, and failure is common. In Buddhism, Zen is more about saving sentient beings, but if Zen doesn't work in the East, it will be a failure."

Jiang Yuan asked: "What does Emperor Xuan know? How can we cross the sea of ​​suffering?"

Emperor Xuan said: "The sea of ​​suffering is difficult to cross. With our abilities, it would be easy to cross one or two of them, but if we want to cross all sentient beings in the sea of ​​suffering, we cannot do so."

Jiang Yuan nodded thoughtfully and said, "As Emperor Xuan said, it is difficult to cross the sea of ​​suffering. The difficulty is not that we lack the power, but that the sentient beings in the sea of ​​suffering are unwilling to cross it."

Emperor Xuan said: "That's exactly the truth."

Jiang Yuan no longer discussed such matters with Emperor Xuan, and the two of them talked about cultivation.

The two of them discussed the theory of supernatural powers for a long time.

After talking for a day, the immortal wanted to leave.

Emperor Xuan dragged the Immortal to test his magical powers in the Taihe Palace. The Immortal could not refuse the kindness and had to test his magical powers with Emperor Xuan. The test was naturally evenly matched. After testing his magical powers, the Immortal competed with Emperor Xuan in martial arts, and the result was also a draw.

The trials of magical powers and competitions in martial arts took a long time, more than half a month, before the immortal left Wudang Mountain and went to Yuzhou.

In the Taihe Palace, Emperor Xuan sighed when he saw the Immortal go away.

At that time, a spiritual official saw it and came forward to ask questions.

Emperor Xuan said: "I admire the real person's ability."

The spiritual officer said: "From what I just saw, the contest between the Heavenly Venerable and the Immortal was evenly matched. What does the Heavenly Venerable have to say?"

Emperor Xuan said, "You have never fought with the Immortal, so you don't know his abilities. When we competed just now, neither he nor I used our full abilities. In terms of martial arts, I may be able to outsmart him a little, but in terms of magical powers, the Immortal is far better than me."

The spiritual official asked, "Is the real person's magical power really so powerful?"

Emperor Xuan smiled and said, "The Immortal is much more powerful than you think." The Spiritual Official said, "I heard that the Jade Emperor invited the Immortal twice but was refused. If this is what you think, then the Immortal's unshakable heart of Taoism is true. He must have practiced with all his heart to have such powerful supernatural powers."

Emperor Xuan said: "The Jade Emperor cannot be requested twice, and sooner or later there will be a third request. If the Immortal cultivates like this, when he returns to his position, he will be ranked as the Heavenly Venerable."

The spiritual official did not dare to answer.

……

It is said that the immortal left Wudang Mountain on a auspicious cloud and arrived at the land temple in a moment. He fell into the temple and saw Sun Wukong and the Bull Demon King competing with each other outside the temple, with Zuo Liang watching the fight.

Jiang Yuan stopped the cloud and watched the fight between Sun Wukong and Bull Demon King in the clouds.

The two of them were seen fighting in the forest. The Monkey King had made great progress in his cultivation and was named Fighting Buddha. He was invincible and had no rivals. The Bull Demon King had made great progress in his cultivation and was a guardian of the Immortal. He was brave and good at fighting and was invincible. The two of them fought with their sticks, and the sky was empty and tigers and wolves were running in the mountains.

Sun Wukong fought with Bull Demon King for thirty rounds, and Bull Demon King was slightly inferior. However, if Sun Wukong wanted to defeat Bull Demon King, it would take at least fifty or sixty rounds, which was difficult.

Jiang Yuan saw it and pressed down the cloud.

When Sun Wukong and Bull Demon King saw the real person, they stopped fighting and came forward to pay their respects.

The two asked when the real person would return.

The immortal said with a smile: "I just came back and saw you two fighting, so I watched from the clouds."

The Bull Demon King said: "I am not as good as you. But you are much better than me."

Sun Wukong shook his head and said, "Brother, what are you talking about?"

The Bull Demon King said, "I'll tell you the truth. My dear brother, you are a master of martial arts, combining both hardness and softness. If I fight you for another forty or fifty rounds, I will definitely lose."

Sun Wukong was so humble that he would never say that he was better than the Bull King.

The Immortal waved his hand and said, "The two of you should stop fighting. You are both cultivators. It's just a matter of who comes first and who comes later. There's no need to judge based on who wins or loses."

After hearing this, the two stopped talking.

The immortal said: "Now that I have returned, we will set out again and walk in the world."

Niu Mowang and Sun Wukong both obeyed the order, and Zuo Liang brought the white deer.

When the local god heard that the immortal was about to leave, he hurriedly appeared to pay homage and see him off.

Jiang Yuan said: "As for the matter of using a spell to dispatch you, I have already told Emperor Xuan about it. When Emperor Xuan reports to the Jade Emperor in the future, there will be a good opportunity to resolve it."

The land was filled with gratitude and said, "Thank you so much, real person! Thank you so much, real person!"

Jiang Yuan then asked the land god to return to the temple and told him to take good care of any travelers passing by.

The land god received the immortal's order and left.

Jiang Yuan rode on the white deer and was about to leave when he suddenly noticed that Liu Yanchang was gone. He asked, "Did the scholar named Liu leave?"

Sun Wukong, holding the white deer, replied, "Big Brother, some time ago the scholar could not wait any longer, so he left with a group of travelers."

When Jiang Yuan heard this, he said nothing more and just continued on his way.

(End of this chapter)