The God of Heavens

Chapter 264 The Primordial Heavenly Gate, Now the Tathagata Sutra
"These were all left behind by the remnants of the Great Zhou Dynasty."

Just as Lin Yu was examining the wealth within this small world, a voice rang out; it was none other than the monk Jingren.

"After the fall of the Great Zhou Dynasty, many survivors, including royal orphans, hid in our Great Zen Temple with their weapons and armor."

"Oh, Monk Jingren, you've recovered?" Lin Yu asked.

“Amitabha Buddha, since the benefactor does not wish to take this humble monk’s life, then this humble monk will naturally retain this crippled body to pass on the Great Zen Temple.” Monk Jingren chanted a Buddhist prayer and said solemnly.

“Very good. I have obtained the three scriptures of the past, present and future from the Great Zen Temple, which can be considered as having a karmic connection with ‘Yuan’. You have no problem inheriting the Great Zen Temple, but you can only spread Buddhism in this desolate land. It won’t work in Tianzhou.”

Lin Yu nodded. He didn't expect this great monk to pledge allegiance to him, after all, Da Qian was one of the main forces that destroyed Da Chan Temple.

Of course, there's no need to kill this person. A mere Martial Saint poses no threat to him. As long as Monk Jingren is in the Wilderness, whether he's teaching the natives, training disciples, or expanding the Wilderness, he's contributing to himself.

On one side of the square, several simple wooden tables were quietly placed. On one of the tables, writing brushes, ink, paper and inkstones were all prepared, and a yellowed account book was spread out next to it.

Lin Yu casually flipped through the pages, his fingertips tracing the clearly defined numbers in ink:

"The treasury holds approximately four million taels of gold, thirty million taels of silver, eight hundred thousand bolts of silk, six hundred thousand dan of rice, and weapons and armor..."

With each page turned, Lin Yu's eyebrows twitched slightly. Behind these numbers lay a vast treasure trove, enough to support a large army's conquests.

He closed the ledger, his gaze sweeping over the mountains of supplies piled up in the square, and finally understood why the Great Qian Dynasty had gone to such lengths to eradicate the Great Zen Temple.

This is hardly a peaceful Buddhist sanctuary! It's clearly a behemoth armed to the teeth!

Such wealth is almost several years' worth of the Great Qian Dynasty's revenue, and this is only one-fifth of the Great Zen Temple's wealth. Add to that its powerful military force and the people's devout faith, and which emperor could sleep soundly?
No wonder the Great Qian Dynasty court disregarded everything and joined forces with various parties to uproot the Great Zen Temple.

If it were Lin Yu, he wouldn't have held back either.

Lin Yu threw the ledger back onto the table and said, "Buddhism teaches people to cultivate virtue and pray for a better next life, but we cultivate merit and seek liberation in this life. In reality, there is no such thing as a next life. Once you die, you simply vanish into nothingness."

"They even say that those who disrespect the Buddha will go to hell and suffer, and that insulting the Buddha will bring retribution. Venerable Jingren, what would you say if you were rebuilding the Great Zen Temple in the wilderness?"

The monk Jingren put his hands together and said, "The Buddha is not like that. The Buddha is just a great teacher. He does not talk about evil consequences and retribution. He only teaches people to transcend. He will not bring retribution on you for insulting him."

“If anyone insults the Buddha, the Buddha will punish them. That person is definitely a disruptor of the Dharma, a demon in disguise. If the Buddha punishes someone for insulting them, can they still be called the Buddha?”

"The Buddha is infinitely free and liberated. After transcending all worldly affairs, he is indifferent to everything. If you believe in the Buddha and practice according to his scriptures, you will have the opportunity to transcend. If you do not follow his scriptures, he will not care about you."

Lin Yu smiled upon hearing this and said, "As expected of a great and virtuous monk, you speak very well. Don't say that again."

Jingren monk:...

"You preach in this desolate land to educate the local natives. If they are taught according to your own ideas, without the concepts of cause and effect, who will have any sense of awe? Once they gain power, won't they all become lawless?"

"The natives here all came from the primeval jungle and believe in the law of the jungle. Therefore, we must first teach them to be in awe before they can gradually become wise."

As for the so-called transcendence, it's utterly illusory; even 'Yuan' himself couldn't achieve it, so how could you expect a group of primitive people to?

"Of course, it is inappropriate to subject someone to judgment for disrespecting Buddhism. It could be changed to saying that those who do not abide by morality and national laws will go to hell and suffer. This would be easier for the people to accept."

“Amitabha, after a person dies, they disappear into the world. There is no such thing as reincarnation, rebirth, or afterlife,” said Monk Jingren, clasping his hands together.

"That's a good idea," Lin Yu said with a smile. Reincarnation is a good thing. It determines good and evil based on merit, so that those who do good will eventually receive blessings, while those who do evil will not escape karmic retribution.

It can maintain world order through the cycle of cause and effect, preserve the innate spiritual light of living beings, and give them a chance to start over. At that time, everyone will be an immortal seed, which can be considered as "everyone becoming a dragon" in a sense.

As long as no one uses connections to get in, it's fine.

He then ignored the still-pondering monk Jingren, left the Qiankun Bag, and took out all the supplies inside.

As for where spatial artifacts come from, they can only be obtained from one's own body.

As a being that exists in a single thought, as long as several thoughts are refined into one, and supplemented with some restrictions on spatial expansion, a stable small world will be formed.

Although it couldn't compare to the hundreds of miles of space in the Qiankun Bag, it was still enough for my use, just enough to store the books, gold and silver, food, armor, pills and other supplies in the Qiankun Bag.

As for the Qiankun Bag itself, to extract the Present Sutra from it, it must be torn apart. However, this bag is rumored to have been made by a Yang God master using the skin of a human immortal. Destroying it like this would indeed be a waste of its precious resources.

The Supreme Dao has an Eternal Kingdom, the Creation Dao has a Creation Vessel, and other Holy Emperors all have their own King of Divine Artifacts. Even Hong Yi has a Temple of Saints, so Lin Yu naturally needs his own vessel to carry the Dao.

After the last item was placed inside, Lin Yu stood still.

Above his head, a pure and ethereal aura rose up. As the innate true energy circulated, he refined this spatial treasure layer by layer, imprinting it with his own mark.

He continuously absorbed countless profound mysteries concerning the void, the world, human immortals, and the Yang God, causing his spiritual platform to shine and transforming them into his underlying power.

Within the Qiankun Bag, clear light flowed erratically, and Lin Yu's thoughts flew out, combining with each other to instantly transform into a Heavenly Gate.

As soon as Tianmenpu appeared, an invisible aura spread out, distorting the void and splitting this place into an independent small world. No matter how the outside world changes, this place remains its own world.

As the clear light continuously merged in, within the Heavenly Gate, a faint glow flowed, and runes flickered like stars. The unchanging past and the boundless future, the immeasurable essence of creation, all were bestowed upon this Heavenly Gate, giving it an indescribable transcendent aura. The gate trembled slightly, and a mandala of light and darkness rotated within it. Suddenly, an explosion occurred, and chaotic energy surged out, as if a boundless world had been created within.

"Good!" Lin Yu's face lit up with joy. This Heavenly Gate was crafted from the various true meanings he cultivated, and was naturally connected to his life.

"This Heavenly Gate carries my Dao in this world, so let's call it the Primordial Heavenly Gate!" Lin Yu held the Heavenly Gate in his hand, watching the clear light from the Qiankun Bag continuously merge into it.

This gate is now integrated with the Qiankun Bag, and will be tempered by lightning tribulations in the future, constantly filled with various treasures. One day it will become his transcendent artifact.

As time passed, the clear light surrounding the Qiankun Bag gradually dimmed and eventually dissipated completely. Just as the last ray of light vanished—

"Crack!"

The void, unable to bear the weight, exploded and shattered. Centered on the bag, countless dark cracks spread and crawled like a spider web.

At its very core, a deep, black vortex spun wildly, emanating a chilling, devouring power.

"boom--!"

With a deafening roar, the entire Qiankun Small World began to collapse, its spatial boundaries twisted and shattered, and there was no longer any distinction between up and down, left and right, or front and back.

A streak of dark golden light suddenly shot out; it was a page of a palm-leaf Buddhist scripture, shimmering with Buddhist light, and on the text was a majestic Buddha figure—

The Buddha stood with his head held high, his feet resting on a golden lotus, one finger pointing to the sky and the other to the earth, displaying the supreme majesty of "I alone am the honored one in heaven and on earth".

Anyone who sees this giant Buddha statue will feel a power that dominates the present and is invincible in the universe!
Around this Buddha statue, which points one finger to the sky and the other to the earth, with lotus flowers blooming with each step, there are nine other Buddha statues, identical in appearance to it.

Each of the nine Buddhas formed a mysterious hand seal, capable of either reversing the universe or destroying the world; either absorbing primordial energy or manipulating the sun and moon and chasing the stars, their power extremely domineering.

A great Buddha overlord exists between heaven and earth, with nine forms each displaying various forms of power.

The first half of the Tathagata Sutra is now only one page long, but it is the most important page, as it contains the general outline of the entire secret canon of humans and immortals.

"Once I obtain the general outline of the 'Present Tathagata Sutra,' I can explore the secrets of the unity of Dharma and martial arts!" Lin Yu could not hide his excitement and immediately began to cultivate.

This general outline is extraordinary. Like the images of the Great Buddha of the Past in the Past Sutra, it is the core of visualization and the foundation of the Taoist practice in the Great Zen Temple.

If one cannot grasp the domineering power contained within the Buddha statue, all techniques are merely superficial.

"Tathagata" means "to reach the other shore by the true way".

The Present Tathagata Sutra focuses on martial arts cultivation, emphasizing the use of absolute power to overcome difficulties and reach the pinnacle of cultivation.

Everything else is an illusion, only power is real, the true way.

The present Tathagata Sutra and the past Amitabha Sutra complement each other.

The former possesses a fierce and powerful fist, while the latter has a stable and steadfast soul. When the two are combined, one possesses both an immortal and indestructible soul and a terrifying power to dominate all the heavens.

Lin Yu had only just begun to grasp the basics, yet he felt a resonance between his spirit and body. His soul felt as if it were being bathed in sweet rain, and his physical body seemed to be being tempered, with every inch of his bones emitting a joyful tremor.

In the empty stone chamber, his mind suddenly calmed down. He stood barefoot in the center, one finger pointing to the sky and the other to the ground. His bare feet were arranged in a strange posture, as if he were stepping on a lotus flower, mimicking the posture of the Buddha in the picture.

This is clearly the fundamental posture of the "present Buddha" described in the scriptures—

The fundamental seal!
At this moment, the profound meaning of the Ten Dharma Seals flows through my heart like a clear spring:

The first of the Ten Dharma Seals is the Fundamental Seal.

Next is the Wisdom Seal.

The Great Thousand Seals!
Boundless Seal!
Nirvana Seal!
No image!
Bodhi Seal!
Following these seven great seals are three more seals of immense power, capable of shaking heaven and earth.

Maha Seal!
Reveal the seal!
The Prajna Seal!
Among these three Dharma seals, the meaning of "Maha" in the Maha seal is synonymous with "Maha-immeasurable," which means "great! magnificent!"

The meaning of "Gate" in the Gate Seal is "Go! Transcend!"

In the Indian word "Polo," "Polo" means "the other shore."

The forms of these three Dharma seals, the shapes of their power, the fluctuations in the Buddha's face, and the charm emanating from between the lines of the scriptures were all stored in Lin Yu's heart. Instantly, feelings of unparalleled greatness, transcendence, and reaching the other shore arose in his mind.

"Break free from shackles with supreme power, and cross the sea of ​​suffering with great wisdom."

Lin Yu was deeply shocked.

What is revealed between the lines of this scripture is not only techniques and hand seals, but also an unparalleled will that looks down upon the heavens and transcends reincarnation.

True power not only destroys all obstacles, but also transcends all constraints, reaching the eternal shore.

(End of this chapter)