Starting from the Tiger Demon Yaksha, the demon immortality

Chapter 290 299 The Spiritual Appearance of Haotian, The Three Altars and the Sea Assembly

"This is the Dongxuan Jing!"

The moment Taiyi gazed at that page of the heavenly book, he was irresistibly immersed in it.

In his eyes, it seemed as if countless cloud-like characters were being washed away, deconstructed, and reassembled. Overwhelmed with emotion, two lines of clear tears even streamed down his cheeks.

Li Cunxiao understood the other person's feelings.

After he advanced to the Xuan Guan realm with three spiritual forms, the dragon boat spirit showed strong affinity and joy in the face of this unprecedented, or at least unparalleled, terrifying talent.

In that instant, the magical artifact recognized its master, and the spirit of the weapon, the Crimson Dragon, was completely imprinted with the mark of Li Cunxiao's primordial spirit.

Unless he dies and his soul is destroyed, no one can take it away from him.

What followed was complete control over the dragon boat and the secret realm. Everything was miniaturized into a small boat model, floating in his Niwan Divine Palace.

He can inspect and control every inch of this land whenever he wants.

Of course, the core of the dragon boat, the "Dongxuan Scripture" which is the innate origin of Lingbao, also fully revealed its true form to him.

Li Cunxiao still remembers that the moment he tried to read, his entire primordial spirit seemed to be sucked in, and when he came to his senses, he was already in a universe.

A vast ocean of laws and knowledge intertwine and overlap, creating an unimaginable spectacle in this corner that leads to the very source of heaven and earth.

In just a few breaths, he was almost completely lost in this wonderful world, lost in this place where he could reach out and touch the heavens and grasp the truth.
But Li Cunxiao eventually regained consciousness.

Because his brain simply can't hold those things.

This feeling is very similar to the feeling when one gathers spiritual energy and builds a bridge between heaven and earth.

The difference is that it is more difficult for a martial artist to connect spiritual energy and demonic energy through the Heaven and Earth Bridge, depending entirely on the strength of their primordial spirit;
In the Dongxuan Scripture, all of this is too easy, to the point that one cannot select the knowledge and insights one desires, and one's mind is already overwhelmed by the endless "Tao" and "principle".

After that, it took Li Cunxiao a long time to recover, which was one of the reasons he went into seclusion for seven days.

What's frustrating is that very few of the memories and symbols in my mind are truly understood and retained; most are quickly forgotten, just like when I last saw the Dongxuan Scripture.

However, Taiyi and Qici are different. Both of them are grandmasters who have achieved the unity of the three elements, possessing formidable strength and rich experience.

Only in their hands can the Dongxuan Scripture be of the greatest use.

Looking at the old Taoist's moved expression, Li Cunxiao could roughly guess the emotion in the other's heart.

As you hear the news, you can die in the evening.

There is no doubt about Taiyi Zhenren's pursuit of alchemy and the creation of the universe.

Therefore, when the thing he had been dreaming of was right in front of him, the old Taoist priest would naturally devote himself to it wholeheartedly.

"Given Master's current state, could it be that he had some kind of sudden enlightenment in the secret realm and directly advanced to the Grandmaster level?"

Li Cunxiao couldn't help but mutter to himself, then felt that he was being delusional.

There are sixteen paths in the world, and each path has its grandmasters. But there are fewer than ten immortals on land.

If Louguan Dao had two grandmasters in charge, even Zhu Quanzhong and Mingzun would have to think twice.

"It's not impossible."

The monk's voice suddenly rang out, startling Li Cunxiao, who then saw that the other party had already shifted his gaze from the Dongxuan Scripture.

"Master, are you not going to continue your comprehension?"

"The Dongxuan Scripture truly lives up to its reputation as the pivot of creation and the essence of the Great Dao."

Qi did not answer the question immediately, but instead sighed.

"A Grandmaster's three elements are united as one, and every move he makes connects with heaven and earth. What will you do if this Taoist priest gets carried away and causes trouble?"

Li Cunxiao was taken aback upon hearing this.

Having already suppressed several grandmasters from the previous week, he was actually somewhat blindly confident in his ability to use spiritual treasures, and subconsciously overlooked this issue.

Only after Qi reminded him did he realize what had happened.

The existence and operation of spiritual treasures also rely on the power of heaven and earth.

However, unlike the Taiqing Palace and the Liangyi Banner, the dragon boat is not specially maintained and cared for.

Having been abandoned for over six hundred years and still tasked with suppressing demons, the dragon boat's internal circulation and balance had long been nearing their limit.

If we continue like this, it will cause irreversible damage to Lingbao!
Upon realizing this, Li Cunxiao broke out in a cold sweat and quickly cupped his hands in greeting:
"That's what the master taught me."

"This is your first time being the owner of a spirit treasure, so it's normal to have things you don't understand."

“Back then, our Pure Land lineage’s Lingbao was split in two because Emperor Wuzong’s persecution of Buddhism and the repeated battles with the court’s experts resulted in the depletion of its original essence.”

Qi Ci looked somewhat sad and took out a pale gold scripture from the cloth bag on his shoulder.

"This palm-leaf scripture was left by your master. It contains the Pure Land lineage leader's insights on controlling spiritual treasures."

Li Cunxiao dared not be negligent. He held it up with both hands and felt that the texture was neither paper nor cloth, but very tough, like some kind of tree bark or leaves.

Palm-leaf scriptures, as the name suggests, are scriptures written on palm leaves. These palm leaves come from the palm tree, are resistant to decay in water and fire, and are carved with an iron knife before use, allowing them to be preserved for thousands of years.

After all, although a master can transmit knowledge divinely without relying on written words, if someone suddenly dies, it is still necessary to have a physical object to be safe.

There must have been a similar palm-leaf manuscript in the Louguan Daoist tradition, but Yan Daotong was clearly somewhat reluctant to mention it.

After all, Li Cunxiao was nominally a disciple of Taiyi and the master of Qinglong Pavilion, while Xue Tianyun was the proper candidate for sect leader.

It would be inappropriate to bypass the person in charge and inform Li Cunxiao of secrets that only the sect leader is qualified to access.

No matter how reliable Xue Tianyun's character may seem, it's best not to gamble on someone's magnanimity in this kind of situation.

However, Li Cunxiao managed to hold onto the palm-leaf manuscript, but then noticed that the head monk was still holding onto the other half of the manuscript with his fingers. He looked up in confusion.
"Master?"

“Cunxiao, let your spirit image be seen by your master.”

Li Cunxiao understood after hearing this.

He hadn't originally intended to hide it from his two masters, but Xue Tianyun was a different story.

"Master, don't blink."

Amber light spread across his eyes, and crimson-gold flames surged forth from within him like a tidal wave.

Immediately afterwards, a Bodhi tree was reborn from the fire, took root and sprouted, and grew into a towering tree!

Bodhi tree leaves transformed into emerald tiles, and the main trunk of the Dragon Flower became glazed tiles.
Branches grow horizontally, transforming into main beams and brackets; roots twist and turn, transforming into dragons coiling around pillars;
The Red-Faced Heavenly King sat in the center, wearing a jeweled crown, necklaces, and golden armor.

He held a long spear in his left hand and a red rope in his right;
Standing tall above Mount Sumeru, encompassing the heavens!
The image of this Heavenly King was so outstanding that Qici recognized him at a glance:

"The Great Dragon of the West, the Heavenly King with Wide Eyes"

"Incredible, truly incredible!"

The senior monk muttered in a daze, wanting to speak but unable to utter a word.

In Buddhism, the dragon has many symbolic meanings; sometimes it refers to a snake, sometimes to a dragon, and sometimes it is a metaphor for Buddhist teachings.

Those who attain Buddhahood are also called great dragons, because dragons move freely through the three realms of desire, form, and formlessness. In the world, they can fly, burrow, and dive, and are capable of everything, possessing supernatural powers and great strength.

All these manifestations are just like the Buddha's transcendence of the world, his freedom from the six realms of existence, and his subjugation of all things through the Dharma.

I am the only one who is supreme in the world.

Of course, the Heavenly King Virupaksha's rank is not quite at that level. But as one of the Four Guardian Kings, he himself possesses great supernatural powers and magical abilities. One of them is the supernatural power "Purifying Heavenly Eye".

Buddhist scriptures say that the four kings, including Virupaksha, "use their pure heavenly eyes, which surpass human eyes, to constantly observe and protect this Jambudvipa."

The existence of the Pure Heaven Eye allows Li Cunxiao to transcend ordinary eyesight and directly see the operation of spiritual and demonic energy in the world, thus enabling him to achieve more exquisite control.

Similarly, when the opponent manipulates the power of heaven and earth, he can clearly see the fluctuations and take countermeasures in advance.

However, due to his cultivation level, the range of observation is also limited. A radius of 100 meters is Li Cunxiao's current limit, which is why he chose to get close when fighting Xue Tianyun before.

Secondly, naturally, is riding a dragon.

Buddhist scriptures say that Virupaksha is "a great dragon king, with countless hundreds of thousands of dragons as his retinue, who guard the West."

However, there are no dragons or other demons around Li Cunxiao at the moment, so there is no way to verify this.

However, after advancing to the Xuan Guan realm, he became increasingly adept at using the Dragon-Binding Rope, perhaps partly because the raw material was a whole seventh-tier dragon hide.

"Yuhua Temple devoted itself to supporting Li Yisheng, the Northern Heavenly King, in an effort to revitalize the temple."

"I never expected that my disciple would also be a Heavenly King. You kid, you might have to face off against Li Yisheng in the future."

After his initial excitement subsided, Qi Ci even cracked a small joke.

"Your eyes possess supernatural powers, something like the Heavenly Eye, right?"

Li Cunxiao nodded.

This is not hard to guess, after all, there are only a few of the six supernatural powers in Buddhism.

"To cultivate supernatural powers, one must seek divine skills. You, though you possess the Dongxuan Scripture, are not capable of creating your own divine skills."

Seeing that Qici was about to fall into self-doubt again, Li Cunxiao quickly interrupted him:

"Master, please tell me about supernatural powers."

That's divine skill! It's truly monstrous! Could it be that the World Honored One has been reincarnated?

Overwhelmed with mixed emotions, the senior monk managed to compose himself and said:

The word "supernatural power" should be interpreted by breaking it down.

“Shen is the primordial spirit, the mind; Tong is the ability to understand and respond.”

"So-called supernatural powers are the ability of one's own mind to resonate with the heavens and the earth, the so-called 'unity of heaven and man'."

"Generally speaking, to master supernatural powers, two conditions must be met."

"The first is divine skill, and the second is to at least reach the third minor realm of the Xuan Guan, namely, communion."

“Build a divine palace, erect a multi-story building, and construct an inner landscape. The inner landscape, a small world, resonates with the outer landscape, a large world, which is called communion.”

"In the process of communicating with heaven and earth, there is a chance to capture the laws of heaven and earth and imprint them on oneself. This is supernatural power."

"The wonder of supernatural powers is self-evident. They are innate and can be used without learning. Rather than martial arts, they are more like a talent."

“A true gift bestowed by God.”

Qi Ci paused here, and subconsciously glanced at the Heavenly King's spirit image sitting in the Dragon Flower Hall.

"Of course, there is another explanation, which is that supernatural powers are the abilities of immortals, Buddhas, and saints."

"We martial artists must cultivate demons, transform into demons, and finally subdue them."

"The purpose of subduing demons is called ascension to immortality in Taoism, enlightenment to Buddhahood in Buddhism, and self-cultivation to sainthood in Confucianism."

"The Grandmaster of the Eighth Realm has eradicated all demonic thoughts, unified the three elements, and returned to the innate state. Through this process of transformation and refinement, one achieves the divine body, the Buddha body, and the immortal body, and naturally gains supernatural powers."

It turned out to be the case.

Upon hearing this, Li Cunxiao understood, and his doubts were suddenly cleared up.

In other words, supernatural powers are actually the abilities of a small number of seventh-realm martial artists who, relying on their powerful talents, acquired the abilities of eighth-realm grandmasters ahead of time.

According to this statement, the "Western Protector of the World Great Dragon Wide-Eyed Heavenly King Sutra" is obviously more powerful than he thought, and it gave his eyes the characteristics of a "Buddha's body" at the Xuan Guan Chong Lou realm.

However, there is another possibility.

During the brief pause in Qi's speech, Li Cunxiao withdrew the spiritual image behind him.

Guangmu Tianwang and Longhua Baodian returned together to the Niwan Divine Palace.

In addition to this shrine, there are two other shrines.

On the right, the image of the Azure Dragon soars up and down, perfectly positioned on either side of the Heavenly King Guangmu.

Between Buddhism and Taoism, there is also a sacred palace.

This is also a Forty-Nine Divine Palace, enough to cultivate to the Twelfth Level Perfection, but this is not the most special place, because the other two divine palaces are the same.

At first glance, this shrine seems to have nothing at all.

Compared to the majestic Heavenly King and the magnificent Azure Dragon, the central divine palace appeared empty and desolate.

But how is this possible?
When Li Cunxiao discovered that the malevolent energy was still quite sufficient, his first thought was to set aside "Jade Light Sword Qi" and directly tackle "Haotian Shangdi Ancient Scripture".

To his surprise, this martial art, which originated from the martial arts remnant of Emperor Taizong of Qin, had an incredibly high demand for baleful energy!
The combined power of the two great masters, one half-possessed by demonic possession and the other severely injured, was enough to push this divine skill to the beginner level, yet it consumed half of its total power!
What's even more unexpected is that, even at the very beginning, the original form created by this divine skill, after entering the Niwan Palace, subtly disrupted the Buddhist-Taoist balance barely maintained by the lotus incarnation.

Left with no other choice, Li Cunxiao had to abandon his plans to continue improving his skills and instead used the "Middle Way" as a blueprint to try to deduce a method to balance the three religions and unify them.

The good news is that the deduction has come true. The spiritual essence of Confucianism, Buddhism and Taoism will not only not conflict, but will also complement each other. It is entirely possible that they will be integrated into one in the future.

The bad news is that the malevolent energy is insufficient, and the deduced method is incomplete—it only has a general outline and cannot be practiced.

Within the Niwan Palace, three divine palaces radiated light, illuminating the chaos.

They appear independent, yet there are subtle connections between them.

This connection comes from the three altars.

One altar is located beneath the Azure Dragon, and the other altar is located in the Dragon Flower Hall, beneath the Heavenly King's throne.

There is another side, isolated between Buddhist and Taoist temples.

The altar is circular, with twelve steps evenly distributed around the circumference of the platform, all pointing towards the center.

The twelve steps are like a sundial, divided into twelve earthly branches: Zi, Chou, Yin, Mao, Chen, Si, Wu, Wei, Shen, You, Xu, and Hai.
On the gray-white altar between the steps, the twenty-eight constellations and their 135 subordinate constellations are engraved.

The emptiness at the center of the altar seems to suggest that this is not its complete form.

Li Cunxiao knew why, because the "Ancient Scriptures of the Supreme God of Heaven" was only the beginning.

According to the cultivation method, from beginner to minor success, major success, and finally perfection, the altar will have one more layer with each level up.

Strangely, this divine skill has no method of cultivation, nor any martial arts techniques for combat; it only has one effect that is puzzling at first glance but intriguing upon closer inspection:
"The interaction between Heaven and humanity".

This is probably another important reason why Li Cunxiao gained supernatural powers as soon as he broke through.

With the blessing of the "Heaven and Man Interaction" effect, Li Cunxiao's affinity and application of the power of heaven and earth are completely unmatched by other martial artists of the same level.

This altar, in a sense, is the spiritual image of Li Cunxiao's Confucian school.

Together with the two altars in the other two temples, these three elements constitute his "general principle" for achieving the unity of the three religions:
The True Scripture of the Three Altars and the Sea Assembly

(End of this chapter)